29 Decision

Alfred sighed, opening his eyes in the process. "Master… I think I will stay with you." Standing up, Alfred bowed deeply, showing his conviction to the choice he made.

"I see…" Cysandoth said with a hint of sadness in his voice. "Well, if that's your choice, there is no reason to delay the inevitable."

Sit, Öthe."

After Alfred sat down, Cysandoth moved around to Alfred's back and placed his hands on his shoulder blades. "Over the next few years, every time possible, I will be assisting in your refinement process. A simple explanation is that I will connect you with my refinement cycle."

Alfred nodded.

"Until morning, you will refine with my help. We will do this every other day until you are an advanced martial artist, including other sessions throughout each day," Cysandoth said. "Thankfully for me, you have a similar refinement path as I took, so I won't have to do much different than I usually do, however-"

Pfffffffffffsshhhhhh~"

Cysandoth exhaled a plume of vapor from his mouth and nostrils. "You will have to control the äura that comes from my cycle. The difference of speed and volume will be nearly incomprehensible for you, but I believe that you should be able to learn quickly enough so the äura doesn't rip you to shreds."

Alfred nodded again, getting into his typical position he liked for refinement. Steeling his heart, Alfred activated HSM before beginning to refine, this time looking more introspectively and visualizing the flow of äura within his body. Every fiber of äura spreading to his muscles, bones, tendons, veins, nerves, skin, hairs, even to his neurons he felt spread and seep in.

Heard his master ask him if he was ready, and despite hearing it in slow motion, he easily understood what was being said as if it were how it naturally sounded. So, he simply said softly, "Yes," in response.

Then, in an instant, Alfred's core shook. His relatively calm, contained, and efficient metaphorical river vanished, being replaced by a colossal, godly, and downright inconceivable rush of äura faster than he had ever seen anything move. His simple level 2 HSM wasn't going to cut it.

Alfred came to this realization the moment he processed the äura rushing in. And without hesitation, he instantly forced himself to move to the most taxing, but powerful level of HSM that he was able to use.

Finally, the äura had slowed enough for him to think. 'What was I doing….'

'...'

'Ow! What was…'

'Ah! I'm supposed to be refining… damn, that hhhh-'

Alfred, in that moment, felt each and every part of his body being slowly shredded. In that instant, he remembered the torture he was put through at the beginning of his journey. Then, his mind went blank.

.

.

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"...Yes"

Cysandoth, after hearing his disciple's affirmation, stopped containing his natural flow of äura. Instantly, he noticed a few differences between Öthe and himself. There was a more powerful flow of energy going to her brain, and a focus he did not impart on his disciple to strengthen specific areas of the brain. It didn't really bother him, though, and he simply adjusted the flow of äura within him to properly cover these differences.

'Hmm… what's this-'

Then, his eyes shot wide open. A thick bloodlust flowed from his disciple like none he had ever seen before. It was not directed at him, nor at anything within their vicinity. 'This is not the bloodlust of a child! But, I have confirmed her age and background… how, just how is this possible?'

Even Cysandoth, one of the great masters of their time, the "Mad One", who had chased constant dangers like a suicidal maniac in an attempt to manifest, who had faced ancient masters with a smile, felt his neck tingle from this bloodlust.

But, then, just as it had come, it vanished. He then realized that his disciple's heart, breath, blood, and brain had all paused during that moment. However before he could stop the process they all returned, making Cysandoth question whether or not what he experienced was real or not.

.

.

.

Within Alfred's mindscape where he had unknowingly placed himself during his meditation, he was sitting down in the same position he was in in real life slowly breathing up and down to calm himself.

He had spent nearly three days' worth of perception there calming down from the burst of hatred he felt for the man who tortured him. Finally, he had his mind back.

'I must control these currents!'

Alfred was sitting in his mindscape practically at the bottom of an ocean of äura. He could not move any differently than in real life, so he was stuck cross legged in a lotus position staring at äura for as far as his eye could see.

He noticed the pain was still there, but he had placed it at the back of his mind to focus on the task at hand.

'When I circulate äura, I think of the purpose of that äura. It then follows my directions without question. Why?'

This äura is larger in volume and speed, but how is it any different from the natural flow of äura I experience?' he thought. 'I have no answer for that now, so all I can do is just focus 100% into refining.'

In the real world, a vein bulged on Alfred's forehead, but it was covered by a strand of hair that had gotten loose from his braid. He had shut off all thoughts within himself and simply thought of what his äura was supposed to do.

'Agility. Dexterity. Endurance. Joints. Muscles. Bones. Heart…. Abdominal. Back. Calves. Thighs. Gluteus Maximus. Triceps. Biceps. Deltoids. Trapezius. Pectorals. Latissimus Dorsi…'

He remembered, visualized, listed, and even flexed each muscle, bone, tendon, etc. that was affected by the refinement. Initially, the flow was finally reigned in before it did any permanent damage to Alfred's body or mind. And, after a few hours, the flow had finally been reigned in enough to lessen the pain to a degree that even a normal person could accept, increasing the efficiency of the procedure to a worthwhile degree.

Alfred continued his trance from there.

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.

Finally, after morning had passed and only a few hours remained before the events of the day began, Cysandoth removed his hands from Alfred's back.

Relatively quickly, the excess äura was used by Alfred, returning him to his original flow of äura.

He opened his eyes, and stood up. However, he misjudged his newfound strength slightly, and stumbled a bit forward. Catching himself, he looked up to his master expecting an explanation.

"Heh, Öthe, you have finally pushed beyond the civilian stage, becoming an apprentice martial artist. You weren't far off, but don't expect each refinement we partake in to be nearly as impactful as this. The stages of martial arts are not simply there for categorization's sake, they are serious thresholds where the body will unlock the flow of äura," he explained.

Continuing, he said "It was already impressive enough for you to have beaten that child with the spear from the stag continent, as you were a peak civilian, while he was an apprentice."

Alfred nodded, taking in the information.

"Here"

Alfred looked up, and reflexively caught the pill flying at his head. "What's this?" he asked.

"Eat it, it will give you similar benefits a night of natural sleep would have. It can't completely replace it, so don't use them for more than three nights in a row without expecting negative effects," Cysandoth said. "Now, let's eat before the fighting starts."

"Growl~"

Alfred's stomach seemed to agree with his master's statement, so he followed without question.

There, both Alfred and Cysandoth finished their early breakfast swiftly. The pair got some looks from the few that were in the canteen that early, mainly due to Cysandoth as he wasn't really seen anywhere but the SE by other slaves/gladiators.

Continuing his typical routine, Alfred started refinement right away.

"Öthe," Cysandoth whispered.

Alfred understood right away and faced his back to Cysandoth while staying in his lotus position.

For the next hour and a half, Alfred toiled away at the mentally taxing refinement strategy with his master. Over the roughly ten hours he spent refining last, he found out that the sheer volume of äura circling through him allows him to just barely maintain HSM throughout the session. Alongside making it possible for Alfred to even circulate the äura in the first place, it also gives him an opportunity to advance his HSM level at an insane pace similar to how fast his martial artist level is.

'I'm so glad I chose this option. This benefit didn't even cross my mind. Had I known, I wouldn't have had to think about my choice,' he thought.

Soon, the guard rounded the corner, prompting Cysandoth to remove his hands from Alfred's back. Noticing the äura slowly returning to normal, Alfred opened his eyes and walked ahead with his master to the SE.

There was considerably less slaves and gladiators inside of the SE when compared to the day prior. In fact, only about 75% were left by Alfred's rough estimation.

Knowing the pattern, Alfred lined up alongside the other child slaves of the Bear continent.

Nearly without delay, once the participating slaves lined up, the doors were opened, letting them all pour out to the arena. Along with everyone else, Alfred saw the numbers laid out the same way as the previous day.

As expected, everyone went to their spots, prompting the arena to reveal the slightly larger circles.

'Will it keep getting larger all the way up to the end?' Alfred thought.

From what he could tell, the same amount of solid ground was kept, essentially doubling the size of each arena.

'This creates an interesting dynamic…' Alfred thought. 'For slaves who can use multiple weapons, this increase in area may influence their choice in weapon…'

The racks appeared.

'For me though,' he picked up his sword and shield. 'I know no other weapon enough to be sure of victory.'

Across from him was a child he recognized. Alfred smiled ever so slightly.

It was one of the slaves from the Elephant continent that wasn't part of the colosseum, otherwise known as an "Independent".

He had an annoyingly smug look on his face as he took his time choosing one of the many high quality weapons that adorned his rack. Such expensive equipment can only come from a wealthy patron, and such patrons would never invest in a worthless prospect.

Alfred took a few calming breaths and confidently readied himself across the independent.

As he was loitering around his rack, he took a look over towards Alfred.

"Hmpf! I commend you, Girl, for making it this far. However!"

He reached over to the rack and drew a sword and shield similar to Alfred's.

"Today shall be the last day you spend up on these pedestals!" he said tauntingly.

Alfred's expression didn't change. 'I really do forget that these slaves are only children. Does he really believe that copying me will have any effect? I hope I wasn't this childish back then…'

Alfred's silence and deadpan were incorrectly interpreted by the independent.

"I was once a slave in this colosseum! Just like you! However, the merchants of this great nation noticed my talent and bought me out! An incompetent like you stands no chance! Fret not, for you only need forfeit to escape unscathed!"

Holding in laughter, Alfred struggled to keep his poker face in tact. The kid's self important rambling that was intended to seem imposing and righteous was very funny coming out of the kid's mouth.

'I might enjoy smashing this kid's face into the ground.'