Lys stood still for a second. He thought hard about what he should do now.
‘Should I use it or act like I do not know what she means like yesterday? It is a system skill after all. No one in this world has anything like it, right? So, won’t she figure it out instantly if I show it to her in person? I’m sure she will know something is different about this technique. After all, this is not even a technique; this is my skill.’
Vessa did not explain what she meant when she asked him to use it on her. She did not ask him to describe it. She just stood there in front of the whole group and waited. Her arms stayed crossed over her chest.
But the way she said it made it clear she already knew something about what he had done with the merchant. She was not guessing. She had seen something like it before or knew what it did.
Lys noticed that. He did not ask her how she knew. It is his fault. He shouldn’t have used it in broad daylight, in front of a whole crowd. He had gotten cocky back then, but now he regretted it. If it were someone else instead of Vessa, they would have gotten on his back by now to get to the bottom of this unique ability.
Now he knew how careless it was to do something like that.
He took a slow breath and focused within himself. As the aura of intimidation activated, he felt it come on right away.
A small pressure built in his chest and spread out through his body. Then he took the first step of the footwork drill. The aura cut out almost right away. It disappeared like it had never been there.
He stopped in place. Then he activated it once again and took one step further. But it disappeared again.
Vessa watched with no change of expression on her face. Her eyes stayed flat, almost like she was calculating in her head about something. “Again. I don’t feel anything.”
Lys wiped his hands on his pants and tried once more. He activated the aura and started the drill. This time, he made it two steps before it slipped away.
Like that, he stopped and tried again. This time, he made it four steps. The aura still cut out. The pattern stayed the same every time he tried it. It seemed like the skill needed his full focus. The moment his body needed attention for the footwork, the skill slipped from his grasp.
It also pulled hard on his mana. He felt a small draining feeling start in his chest and spread to his arms and legs as he continued to use the skill over and over again.
He kept at it. Activate. One step. Lose it. Activate. Two steps. Lose it. Activate. Three steps. Lose it.
As he continued like that for a while, sweat ran down his face and into his eyes. He just wiped it away with his sleeve and tried again. His legs started to feel heavier. His breathing grew louder. Yet he didn’t stop.
The other partners had gone back to their own drills a few paces away, losing interest in his trick.
Doran muttered counts under his breath and practiced his stance over and over. Kord moved in silence with steady steps. Kira punched the air and reset her feet each time.
None of them looked at Lys or spoke to him. They kept their eyes on their own work while Vessa was sitting beside them.
Lys kept working. Activate. Move. Gone. Activate. Move five steps. Gone again.
As time passed like that, the sun felt hotter on his back. Sweat ran down his neck and soaked the front of his shirt. His mana felt very low now. A tired feeling sat in his muscles and made every step take more effort than before.
He tried again. Activate. Move six steps. The aura held a little longer this time, but still slipped away at the turn. He stopped, breathed in deep, and tried again. Seven steps. It still slipped. He kept going. The work felt dull and endless, but he did not stop.
Vessa stood at the edge of the yard and observed for a long time. She did not speak. She just watched his feet and his face. She shifted her weight once but stayed quiet. After many more tries, she stepped forward. Her eyes had a kind of understanding in them.
“I see,” she said. “You are thinking about it the wrong way. Stop.”
Lys wiped sweat from his eyes. His chest rose and fell fast. His shirt stuck to his skin in wet patches.
“You don’t think about your breathing exercise while you drill, do you?” she asked.
Lys shook his head. “Of course not.”
“Then don’t think about this either. It has to stop being something you do and start being something you are. Go again.”
She turned and walked back inside the guild building after saying this to him. The door closed behind her with a solid Thud sound. Before she went inside, she said to no one in particular, “Finish the rest on your own.”
Lys stayed in the yard. The other partners kept their own routines, too.
He heard Doran’s steady counts and Kira’s sharp breaths. So, he started again. Not wanting to slack on training now that the instructor was not here.
He tried to keep the aura on without thinking about it. He activated it and began the footwork. It slipped after three steps. He activated it again and tried to let it sit there while he moved. It slipped after four steps. He started over. No big change came. Just the same slow work, over and over. It was getting frustrating for him at this pace, yet he didn’t stop, just kept going, over and over.
-----
He lost track of how many times he tried. The sun moved across the sky. Sweat ran down his arms and made his hands slippery. His legs felt heavy, and his chest burned from the mana drain. He activated the aura and took six steps before it cut out. Then he stopped, breathed, and tried again. Seven steps this time. It still slipped. But he kept going. The work felt dull and endless, but he did not stop.
Doran finished his set and walked over to the water barrel. He dipped the cup in it and drank. He looked at Lys for a second while he drank. “You good over there? Take a rest if it’s too hard. No need to perfect whatever you’re trying to do in just a single day, you know.” His voice sounded tired but friendly.
Lys nodded once. He did not stop moving. “Yeah. I’m okay. Just working on something.”
Doran wiped his mouth. “Yeah, looks rough. Take it easy, or you will drop before lunch.” He set the cup down and went back to his drills.
Kira was breathing harder than before. She reset her feet and glanced at Lys. “Whatever you are doing, it is clearly not working,” she said her own piece as if everyone was taking turns and it was her turn to say something, whatever it is.
Though her tone was sharp, she did not laugh. She just kept at what she was doing.
Kord, on the other hand, said nothing. He kept his steps even and his eyes forward. The man seemed to be in a zone or something.
Lys focused on the feeling of the dirt under his boots and the air moving in and out of his lungs. He tried to let the aura sit there like it belonged. After that, he activated it and took eight steps. But it slipped again as usual.
So he started over. Nine steps this time. It slipped again. He wiped his face with the bottom of his shirt and kept moving.
-----
After trying for another hour or so, he finally managed to take it up to eighteen steps before it slipped again, making Lys curse out through his murmur.
By now, Doran had also finished another set and sat on the low bench. He stretched his legs out in front of him. “You have been at that same spot for a while,” he said. “What is it, some new stance Miss Vessa gave you?”
Lys kept doing it while talking. “Yeah, something like that,” His voice came out rough.
Kord walked past and picked up the water cup. He drank slowly, then set it down. He looked at Lys once but said nothing. Then he went back to his own footwork.
But before starting his drill once again, he turned to Lys and said, “I think you are trying too hard on a single thing. If it is not working, maybe just stop and do normal drills like the rest of us.”
Without waiting for an answer from Lys, he started doing his thing again.
-----
The sun climbed higher. The yard grew hotter. Lys lost count of the tries after that. His shirt was soaked through. His boots felt heavy on his feet. The mana drain sat like a weight in his chest. He kept moving anyway.
After a long time, the back door of the guild building opened. New footsteps sounded on the stone at the edge of the drill yard.
Lys looked up from his stance. The aura flickered out the moment his attention shifted.
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