The Extra's Rise - Chapter 374

Chapter 374: Martial King (2)

“What kind of training will I do?” I asked as Magnus led me to a training ground nestled between ancient trees.

We were no longer in Avalon as we had moved to Amarion Forest, the largest forest in Slatemark Empire for the training to take place in.

“What do you think you lack right now, Nightingale?” Magnus asked, his eyes evaluating my stance.

“Well, I am facing the Aspect wall if you are asking about that,” I responded, trying to hide my frustration.

“Not that,” Magnus shook his head, his silver hair catching the light. “I can’t help with that. Instead, think about the Crown Challenge. The level you achieved back then. How was that achieved? You went beyond 100% because you entered the flow state with the challenge and desire of beating Lucifer Windward and Jack Blazespout and coming first. I am going to help you achieve this state normally, thus boosting your abilities by ten to twenty percent overall.”

‘Smart,’ Luna commented in my mind, her voice a cool whisper. ‘Since the Aspect wall is something you must surpass yourself, he is going to make sure everything else is top notch.’

“I don’t understand,” I said, frowning. “Are you saying we’re trying to recreate the flow state?”

“No,” Magnus replied, his expression severe. “I’m saying we’re going to make your normal state about twenty percent more powerful than it currently is. That will bring you closer to what you achieved in flow state. Then, when you do achieve flow again, you’ll be that much stronger.”

The implication hit me. “So my baseline becomes stronger, and my peak becomes even higher.”

“Exactly,” Magnus nodded. “I saw you use bare-handed martial arts as well. That was very interesting, though weaker compared to your sword work, it was effective. So, I will train you in a simple way.”

“How?” I asked, curiosity piqued.

“Fight me,” Magnus said as danger exploded over my body, a pressure so intense it felt like gravity itself had increased tenfold.

I barely managed to summon my sword from my spatial ring and raise it to deflect a flying sword strike. My eyes widened as I felt the power behind his casual attack.

“You have experience, a lot,” Magnus said, his posture relaxed despite the ferocity of his strike. “So now, try to fight me. Try to kill me. Become someone who can even endanger me. Of course, the current you is far from hoping to achieve that. So, I will hold myself back by not using my Gift and use an appropriate level of strength. When you pass, you can go back.”

“When I pass?” I asked, a knot forming in my stomach.

“I don’t care if you have school or award ceremony, you aren’t going back till you achieve that,” Magnus smiled, a predator’s grin. “So, are you ready?”

“Of course,” I said as my eyes shone with determination.

Instantly, I activated everything. Lucent Harmony coursed through my veins, the gentle melody becoming a crescendo of power. Soul Resonance gave me Soul Vision and Mythic Body, my perception heightening as my physical form became reinforced with spiritual energy. Erebus’s Deepdark and Bone Armour materialized around me, shadows and calcified plates interlocking to form a second skin. Purelight radiated from within, a counterpoint to the darkness. All elements answered my call. 100% from the start.

“Good,” Magnus smiled as he took out his own longsword. Instantly, the longsword was enveloped with his enhanced aura composed of wind, fire, earth, lightning and space elements.

I didn’t wait for him to make the first move. Activating God Flash, I disappeared in a burst of speed, reappearing behind him with my sword aimed at the base of his neck.

Magnus didn’t even turn. His blade simply shifted, perfectly intercepting my strike. The clash of our weapons sent shockwaves across the training ground.

“Predictable,” he said, still not looking at me. “Your God Flash has a tell—a slight ripple in the air before you move.”

I gritted my teeth and transitioned into Tempest Dance Technique, my Grade 5 art. My body became a whirlwind of motion, each strike flowing into the next, my sword a blur of deadly arcs and thrusts. The technique started slow, almost deceptively so, but each successive movement built upon the last, momentum accumulating with every strike.

Magnus parried each attack with minimal movement, his blade finding perfect counterpositioning against mine. Not wasting an ounce of energy.

“Your technique is good,” he commented as he deflected a thrust. “But you’re too reliant on the pattern. You need to feel the flow of combat, not just execute memorized sequences.”

As if to demonstrate, he suddenly switched from defense to offense, his sword becoming a silver flash. I raised my Bone Armour to block a strike I couldn’t dodge, only to feel the force of it radiate through my entire body, cracking the calcified plates.

Knocked off balance, I tried to compensate by channeling earth energy to stabilize my footing, but Magnus was already there, his blade a whisper from my throat.

“Dead,” he announced calmly.

I backed away, reassessing. Swordplay wasn’t working. Time to switch tactics.

Dismissing my sword, I shifted to CQC, my hands glowing with concentrated fire and lightning. My movements became more unpredictable, incorporating feints and misdirections I’d learned from countless battles.

A spinning kick aimed at Magnus’s knees was met with a simple side-step. I followed through with an elbow strike charged with lightning, which he caught in his palm, absorbing the energy without flinching.

“Better,” he acknowledged. “Unpredictability is good. But you’re still relying too much on your enhancements. Abilities are tools, not crutches.”

His open palm struck my chest, sending me flying back twenty feet. I crashed into the ground, air knocked from my lungs.

I pulled myself up, dust and dirt clinging to my Bone Armour. “Again,” I demanded.

Magnus nodded approvingly. “That’s the spirit.”

Days bled into each other. Each session ended the same way—with me defeated, often humiliatingly so. But each time, I learned something. A weakness in my stance. A tell in my attacks. A gap in my defenses.

On the seventh day, Magnus changed the parameters.

“No enhancements today,” he declared. “No Lucent Harmony. No Soul Resonance. No elemental manipulation. Just you, your sword, and whatever natural skill you possess.”

“That’s not fair,” I protested. “Those abilities are part of me, part of my fighting style.”

“And they’re becoming a limitation,” Magnus countered. “You rely on them too heavily. Today, we strip everything back to fundamentals.”

Reluctantly, I complied. Without my enhancements, I felt naked, vulnerable. My sword, normally an extension of my will, felt heavy and unwieldy in my hands.

The first exchange was brutal. Without God Flash to augment my speed, Magnus seemed to move like lightning. Without Bone Armour to protect me, every glancing blow left bruises that blossomed purple against my skin.

I was defeated in seconds.

“Again,” Magnus commanded.

For three days, I fought without enhancements, getting battered and bruised, but slowly improving. My natural reflexes sharpened. My swordsmanship, stripped of flashy techniques, became more efficient, more precise.

On the fourth day of this new regimen, something clicked. During an exchange, I found myself anticipating Magnus’s movements not through Soul Vision, but through pure instinct. I parried a strike I shouldn’t have been able to see coming, my body moving before my mind had time to process the danger.

Magnus paused, a rare smile crossing his features. “There it is. Now we’re getting somewhere.”

The training evolved. Some days with enhancements, some days without. Some days with my sword, others with just my hands and feet. Magnus pushed me, forcing me to integrate my natural instincts with my supernatural abilities.

“Your enhancements should amplify your natural skills,” he explained after a session. “Not replace them. When they work in harmony, that’s when you’ll see true growth.”

By the end of the first week, I could maintain Tempest Dance Technique for longer than before, the momentum building to levels that made even Magnus work harder to counter. My CQC had become sharper, more instinctive, my strikes finding gaps in his defense that I wouldn’t have noticed before.

But it still wasn’t enough. Each day ended with the same result—me on the ground, Magnus standing over me, his blade at my throat. The gap between us remained vast, a chasm I couldn’t seem to bridge.

“Patience,” Magnus advised, seeing my frustration. “Real growth doesn’t happen overnight. It’s incremental, almost imperceptible until suddenly, it’s not.”

I nodded, but doubt had begun to creep in. Would I ever be strong enough to face the Aspect wall if I couldn’t even land a single clean hit on Magnus?