Guild Wars

"Back home, we used to have a proper training regime for both the Magus and the Knight Inheritance. Luckily for a brat like you, I'm well versed in both." Misery began after popping a new bottle out from his Inventory.

"Now, let's begin. The Knight Inheritance Training usually starts once a child is 4-5 years old, because there is no limiter on bloodline awakening. When you're born, your bloodline is awake and active so there is no need to wait for long periods to start training." Misery began explaining, Sublime moving to the side to give him and Kiran enough space.

Kiran himself was listening with rapt attention. He knew that his Uncle was doing him a huge favor, and he was grateful for it. Not to mention that if he could activate his Knight Inheritance properly, the boost in power could allow him to try for a Divine Class and surpass Essence Stalker!

"At that age, we start by inducting our little brats into the Apprentice Knight stage. This requires light physical training interspersed with some mental training. Always remember, brat, to become a perfect warrior, you need to have a harmony of body and mind."

Misery took a deep swig of his rum. "After all, what's the point of having the toughest, meanest body if your mind is too slow to keep up with the flow of battle? You'd just get toyed to death."

Misery emptied the bottle and tossed it behind pointing at Kiran. "Back home, we jokingly referred to this phase as 'how to not stab yourself but the enemy'."

"So we're gonna start with basic weapon training and theory. None of the hand-to-hand unarmed shit you do as a monk or whatever, Knights fight with either the sword, the spear, or an axe." Misery chastised.

"I'm not gonna take my time to teach you like we do in the Lineage. After all, you're not as feeble as those kids where we would spread the training days to Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays with only 2-3 hours per session to not damage their young bodies."

Misery picked his spear from the ground where it was pierced and pointed it at Kiran coldly.

"We're gonna be sparring with a new weapon till you find your preferred one. You will still have to train at least a secondary weapon in case your main one gets taken from you in battle or during capture."

"Manifest a spear and defend yourself!" Misery roared as he charged in adeptly.

Kiran hurriedly manifested a spear using the training room's settings, which was the same as what Misery held. Even though it was a perfect copy of Gae Bolg, it could only be used in the Training Hall for training, for obvious reasons.

Kiran narrowly parried Misery's first strike, but his uncle had gone easy with that one and telegraphed his attack. Besides, both of them were using Control, and Kiran had the advantage with his VoP at Tier 3.

Misery would not make Kiran switch off his Control, that would be utterly retarded. Having Control was a boon, as it would drastically shorten the training time by almost a thousand times.

How? It was obvious.

The Void of Perfection was a feat of the brain expanding your senses outwards, creating a dome-like domain. Everything within could be seen, heard, and smelled at a minimum of Tier 2 control intimately, as if it were right beside you.

So with Tier 3, Kiran was able to see the movement of Misery's muscles, the movement of his legs, and the amount of force he used in all his actions. His superior brain enhanced by VoP would record all of this and be able to replicate it with ease.

What was training? It was the act of showing another person an act or activity repeatedly until they were able to satisfactorily mimic it.

How does a person master an act or activity? Through repetition!

You repeat until the body and the mind memorize it passively. For example, in learning how to drive, you watch the instructor drive, and try it yourself while he is by your side correcting you until you get it right.

If Misery and Kiran were without Control, the former would have to repeat certain moves over and over until the latter memorized them mentally and could replicate them physically.

This process was what separated the talented from the talentless. Some had better minds and could memorize faster, while others had better control over their bodies and could replicate faster.

Some teachers also used alternative enhancing methods like pain. That's why you see martial masters whipping their students during training when they made a mistake. The fear of pain would stimulate the mind and body to quickly memorize and replicate the action in order to avoid punishment.

So back to Kiran, who had perfectly encapsulated then memorized everything with his VoP which gave him a better quality and efficiency towards it than any other talent could give another person.

Then there was replication. With Body of Godliness at Tier 2, one could indirectly and directly control muscles. One was active and the other was passive. We've seen much of the BoG from Draco's fighting, so it doesn't need to be elaborated on how it can handle perfect replication.

As long as Kiran had the image of what he wanted to do in mind, his body would move to execute it perfectly.

So now, you understand why Control made any form of training 1,000x easier and faster. It also shows just how overpowered and precious Control was as a racial ability.

Yeah the bloodlines are great, but they're volatile and rely on a resource called Bloodline Energy, which, unless you were a protagonist like Draco or Eva, was set at birth with no way to change it. Control was eternal and never 'ran out'. In fact, Control was an elaborate technique, not an ability, which is why it had that advantage.

Personally, it made sense why the Gerdo Galaxy Humans rose to the top among races like Dragons, Tomegamon, Phoenixes, Angels, and the like.

In just thirty minutes, Misery had shown Kiran all forms and battle styles with a spear for attacking, counter-attacking, and defense. He and Kiran were now fighting as equals, the lad able to easily ward off his attacks even when he got serious.

Misery then paused and nodded. "When he returns, I shall have to thank our Guildmaster for teaching you Control. Without it, we would have had to spend weeks even if you were a talent not seen in generations."

Kiran was panting thoroughly. He had expanded his VoP and used his BoG in order to replicate and memorize everything, so he was actively burning stamina and calories with each second.

Misery was barely tired because he was just moving his body without active Control, only the passive one. This was another big difference between the two types of Control.

"To pass the test to receive the methods to become a 1st Order Knight, the younglings would have to defeat 3 Beginner 1st Order Knights chosen randomly as to not cheat, each of whom use one of the three main weapons for a Knight."

Misery took a swig of rum. "Obviously the 1st Order Knights would not be going all out and just stick to the basic moves and maneuvers. After all, just like a standardized exam, the point is to make sure the examinee has understood the basics of what was taught and is able to replicate it satisfactorily."

He then placed his spear to the side and manifested a blue sword that shone with a lovely luster. "Now let's move onto sword training."

Kiran spent another thirty or so minutes being shown the ropes by Misery until he was on par with the older man. When Misery was satisfied with his progress, he also did the same for the axe.

Sublime watched with interest, also picking up some of these moves not so she could fight herself, but so she could counter all of Kiran's moves and continue to press him down, hehehe.

Oh wait, she couldn't do that anymore, they were half-siblings.

… then again, these were just their avatars in the game. As for the real world…

…

…

Maybe just every once in a while?

As long as no one found out... after all, it would be truly a shame to waste all that 'training' to teach him all her preferences.

"Alright, now to do the test, you know what to do." Misery stated as he moved a few meters back and began drinking freely.

Kiran nodded and used the setting of the Training Hall to spawn three Knights dressed in armor who each wielded a sword, spear, and axe. He set their difficulty to the max in terms of techniques, otherwise they wouldn't be able to faze him with control.

Kiran easily fought with all three at once who had the same stats as him. Their synergy and skills were top-notch, but against a Control master, it was meaningless unless they had Control too.

The gap between having Control and not having Control was simply too big. That was why everyone shat their pants when they heard someone had Control, even armed men with guns.

Kiran eventually laid waste to all of them in the end, their forms shimmering out of existence as he only panted slightly. A battle on this level pushed him to refine the basic movements he learned from Misery and form his own combat system to respond to varied attacks from his enemies.

Misery clapped by the side, having tossed five bottles around already. "Not bad at all. Now stand in the horse stance."

Kiran was surprised that an Asian style would be used for their training, but remembered that England once ruled the entire world and were known for ehem, 'borrowing' things from others, Kiran entered the horse stance and watched as Misery walked around him in a circle once. His uncle slowly corrected his form bit by bit until Kiran held what was considered to be the perfect form of the stance.

"Now, close your eyes and channel your Merlin Lineage Bloodline Energy." Misery commanded.

Once Kiran did, he was surprised that he could now find his Merlin Lineage energy with ease, whereas before it had remained obscure to him. Not only that, but he could control it as easily as his Internal Force, or Noble Energy.

Kiran then found that there were two pathways he could pass his energy through, but one was blocked from him while the other was open. This left him confused, but Misery sensed this and explained.

"You're feeling two pathways for your energy, right? One is for your blood vessels, leading to your heart and towards the rest of your body, and the other is for your nerves and synapses, leading to your brain then your spine."

Misery opened a Rare Rank brew he had been saving and sniffed it happily before taking a sip. "The blood vessels are obviously for body strengthening, limited to those of the Knight Inheritance, while the nerves are for mind strengthening, limited to those of the Magus Inheritance."

"Unless you specifically have both Inheritances, you can only use one and not the other. For example, I have the Magus Inheritance activated though it is speculated that I also have the Knight Inheritance. However, I do not have access to it and so have not strengthened my body using the official pathways."

Kiran was confused. "Then how come you can fight like a Knight?"

Misery shrugged. "That's just it, I can fight LIKE a knight, not AS a Knight. There's a difference. As a Magus, I'm constantly using a few 2nd Order and 3rd Order spells to passively boost my physique. Along with my Control and the fact that I have physically trained in weaponry and knight-related activities with Walter and co, I can mimic a Knight's fighting style."

"I see, so you're a 3rd Order Knight not because you're officially there, but because the spells you use can buff your physique to that level." Sublime exclaimed with shock.

Misery tipped his bottle to her. "Sharp, Little Princess. If I can devise a 4th Order spell to boost my physique and various senses, I will be able to mimic a 4th Order Knight loosely as long as I understand their techniques in battle."

"However, doing this is unwise for obvious reasons. Training as a Magus or Knight is hard enough without trying to foolishly multi-task. Also, I am constantly wasting Bloodline Energy every second I fight as a Knight to power the passive spells, whereas an actual 3rd Order Knight would have these boots passively."

"On top of that, an actual 3rd Order Knight can overpower me physically once they activate their Knight skills and abilities, which drain Bloodline Energy. Knights aren't just beefcakes who swing weapons, they have various abilities they use to fight. I cannot replicate any of that."

Kiran and Sublime nodded in understanding, one of their biggest questions being answered. Though Sublime had been with the lineage since childhood, she hadn't trained much in her bloodline because her family wanted her to integrate with Eva and spy on her.

If she had been too well versed in the bloodline matters, she could have given away the trick and ruined their plan. It was only after Eva comforted Sublime that she had started to train herself and reached 3rd Order by herself.

"Right, so pass the energy through your body. There is no specific rule or pattern, just keep cycling it for as long as your energy holds out." Misery instructed lazily.

Kiran nodded and began cycling the energy. He immediately felt like someone was pumping air into his body, and his internal organs were being squeezed because of increased pressure from outside. This discomfiting feeling strengthened with every cycle, until it became a low pain that made him furrow his brows.

"If you think that's painful, imagine doing that but for your nerves. The Little Princess can tell you how bad it is." Misery mocked with a smile.

Sublime nodded. The sensation for Magi was far worse than for Knights, because they could train their bodies. Magus couldn't exactly train their brains in the same way, so they bore a lot of pain to rise through the ranks.

Otherwise, with Misery's prowess, he wouldn't have stayed at the 5th Order. If he tried to enter 6th Order, and he had before, he would likely explode his skull and have his brain matter fly about.

There was no easy power-up in this world. Even for normal humans, becoming fit and buff required the pain of exercise, much less for this kind of extreme supernormal powerup.

Kiran eventually emptied his tank and began panting. Before he could relax, Misery thwacked him in the ribs with his spear, making Kiran grunt in agony.

"Don't you dare release that form I carefully prepared! Wait like that until your Bloodline Energy refills and start again! Repeat this process until your body is saturated with bloodline energy and ascends to a 1st Order Knight." Misery chided while absentmindedly drinking more rum.

This was where the purity of your bloodline came into play. The higher your bloodline percentage, the more Bloodline Energy you had and the faster it recovered. So those with higher percentages recovered faster and could input more per session, meaning they broke through faster.

Kiran was lucky his was relatively high for this era, so his Bloodline Energy recovered in about half an hour. He then restarted the process and felt his internals feel more stifled with each session that came after that.

This repeated for a few hours until Kiran felt like his internals would implode from the pressure, and when he reached his limit and thought he was about to die, he did explode, but not in the way he thought.

It was more like a barrier or limiter within him exploded, allowing more of himself to leak through new pathways he never discovered. Kiran felt unprecedentedly comfortable and wonderful, like he had been in the best spa at the moment.

"Yeah, enjoy that feeling. The universe is fair. If you're gonna brave through excruciating pain, then pleasure will naturally be your reward." Misery enlightened with a knowing smile.

Kiran soon came down from his high and released his body from the horse stance. He was shocked though, when the popping of his obviously locked joints created small booming sounds.

Kiran gazed at Misery with shock, only for his uncle to throw an empty bottle at his head. "Brat, what are you so shocked about? Has everything I've been saying passed through one ear and left the other? You were in that horse stance suffering that pain not because you were bored, but because you were using your Bloodline Energy to power your body from the fundamental level."

Misery manifested a new bottle and opened the cork. "Of course, you will experience a power boost with every order you climb. This is only the first order and you're so shocked? When you reach 3rd order and above then what will you do?"

Kiran shook his head rapidly and regained his wits. His uncle was right, he was being a little dumb. He had been passively strengthened by his Noble Energy before, so this should not surprise him.

Oh right, his Noble Energy!

With eyes that lit up in excitement, Kiran passed his Noble Energy from his Buddha Lineage bloodline through the same vessels that he passed his Merlin lineage bloodline through.

However, instead of a power-up, Kiran felt excruciating pain and fell to his knees, coughing up blood. Misery by the side nodded his head in satisfaction, as if expecting this.

"Good, I was gonna ask you to do it, but it seems you got greedy yourself. Idiot, if other bloodlines could simply replicate our methods, would we have any right to stay in the Advisor's class? We'd probably be the lowest of the 9 Lineages!"

"Now get up, it is time to properly begin the 1st Order Knight training, and this one is far more brutal than what came before." Misery prompted as he rose to his feet.

.........…..

In the Portal Center of Vita Kingdom, two forms coalesced that captured the eyes of other players. One was an exotic-looking fellow that resembled John Wick and the other was a valiant elf with a lion that followed behind her.

They took a few steps into the inner section at first, but paused when the male froze in place, his eyebrows furrowing.

With a tilt of his head towards a different direction, he muttered to himself.

"I sense… magic."