Chapter 56
Due to his previous endeavours, after just two weeks of meditating with Alistar by the riverbank Zech had finally managed to nurture a small amount of aura within him. Once he’d accomplished this, the boys had taken it upon themselves to try their hands at sparring, which they ended up doing on most days. They met each evening after dinner at that same spot by the Greyline, meditating side by side for an hour or so before engaging in a heated match of mock combat for at least two more.
Zech had learned the first defensive stance rather easily, but the truly difficult part of mastering a technique was learning to manipulate one’s swordsman’s aura in order to fuse it with their movements. Once this was achieved, the power of the technique would increase significantly. This process took countless repetitions and the utmost patience, not to mention that it was quite taxing on the body. Swordsman’s aura wasn’t an endless source, after all. Once it was exhausted, so too was the user.
According to Tramon, if a swordsman used too much energy they could fall into a comatose state, or, in more serious cases, they could die. Keeping this in mind, the two of them would take breaks quite frequently, pausing to meditate or to fish until they were well rested. Alistar had read several books and scrolls on the art of swordsmanship that detailed different styles as well as reputable warriors and masters of each school, and on some occasions he would bring these writings to share and ponder over with Zech.
"It’s already been over a week and I’ve hardly gotten the hang of the Crown Style’s first stance," Zech had sighed back when he’d first lain eyes on the reading material that Alistar had brought him. "There’re two other stances in the lowest tier, and then three more in the next one, and three more after that..." Contrary to his tone, his eyes had been alight with fiery determination. "And some stances have more than one technique. Just thinking about it makes my head spin."
"It’s a lot," Alistar had agreed. "And that’s only to become a lower practitioner of the adept stratum."
"It’s hard to believe that all that’s just for the Crown Style."
"Just think about it. There’re three tiers in the first stratum and four tiers in all of the others, with a total of five stratums. Apparently there are hundreds of other styles, so imagine all the other techniques out there that we might be able to learn one day."
"Why are you smiling? That’s thousands of hours of work, you know."
"You say that, but you’re smiling too, aren’t you?" Feet dangling in the cool waters of the Greyline where they’d sat along the riverbank, Alistar had splashed the other boy with a laugh before snatching up his wooden sword, standing with enthusiasm and then taking up the defensive stance that they had just mentioned. "We might as well get back to it, since there’s still so much to do."