Chapter 302: Instruction
With Misla inviting him to come and teach the children a second time, Vahn once again found himself encircled by more than thirty attentive gazes. The presence of Riko, Nanachi, Mitty, and Prushka reminded him that he needed to visit Faputa, but before that, he spent fifteen minutes walking the children through the same exercise as the day before and an additional two hours observing the teen group’s flight training.
"Damnit! Take...off...already...!" growled Bonney, her intense focus and frustration causing a vein to bulge in her forehead as she managed to get the ground around her to bend away from her as if pushed by a powerful wind but failed to get off the ground.
"You need to relax..." said Vahn, resisting the urge to reach out and place his hands on Bonney’s sides from behind as he explained, "Tensing your body causes the flow of energy to become muddled because it gathers in your muscles to reinforce them. This isn’t reinforcement training. Focus on your breathing and envision each breath you take flowing through the top of your head, down the center of your body, and through the soles of your feet..."
"Grrrrr..."
Though she quite literally growled, Bonney did her best to follow Vahn’s instructions. The vein in her forehead didn’t completely disappear, but it became significantly less prominent. She also stopped sweating buckets, reducing the rate at which she was depleting her stamina.
Moving on from Bonney, Vahn couldn’t help smiling when he saw Prushka posed with her eyes tightly closed and her hands balled into fists at her sides. More notably, her fluffy and feathery ears were flapping, producing a fair amount of wind but ultimately failing to get her off the ground.
"Same advice," said Vahn, extending his left hand to tousle Prushka’s soft and fluffy hair as he added, "Bukujutsu translates to Sky Dancing Art for a reason. Imagine yourself as a fairy dancing gracefully in the wind. It’s not about exerting yourself, but being free and fluid with your movements..."
"Alright! Prushka will do her best so she can dance through the sky with Papa Two~!" exclaimed Prushka, balling and shaking her fists excitedly as Vahn exhaled a slightly strained chuckle, wished her the best, and moved on. Nanachi happened to have a potent Earth affinity, so he likely wouldn’t be able to fly any time soon. Mitty, on the other hand, had an inordinately potent Fire affinity, causing the pressure radiating from her fluffy body to feel warm and smell fragrant, reminiscent of freshly dried, slightly starchy laundry.
"Nnaaaa...this is impossible..." muttered Nanachi, looking despondent as he pointed out, "Rather than getting lighter, I feel like my body is getting heavier..."