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"huuu!"
Opening my eyes to the room I found myself still at The Dome, the vibrant background gone and endless white expanse remained.
'How long… It's half past eight, not that long'
Cracking my neck with the satisfying pop, I stood up and moved towards the sparring ground.
'Well it's not like I don't like the challenge or am a coward, the hesitation is more from the fact Mom never keeps it simple always coming up with some demonic plans to train me'
'She never stopped until she has broken or beaten what she wanted to and hell no one can even stop her'
'Well Aunt Nora is always present, so that's a relief that she would fix the wounds'
'Last session Mom broke my right leg and hand at the very start and forced me to evade and attack her bearing that pain in a very brutal way'
'Gosh just remembering that pain sends a shiver down my spine, thank god I haven't come to love or like the feeling of putting myself in pain'
'Building pain resistance my a$$'
'Huu'
Sighing as I exited The Dome, Lost in thoughts when I heard chatter and quiet voices.
Broken out of my thoughts, I looked to see what the commotion was about.
' Seeded Candidates huh'
I ran in with a group of newly seeded candidates gearing up for their training in The Dome.
'Ahh It's Ser Salvos'
Ser Salvos stood ahead, his broad frame unmistakable even among the group gathered.
Even though he is only in the simple Military Knight uniform, He's a man of imposing stature—towering over most, his muscular form hardened by years of battle. The single scar running down diagonally across visible on his face and countless over hands spoke of his prowess.
As I approached, his sharp green eyes caught sight of me, and immediately, the conversation among the recruits halted. He turned fully, and in one fluid motion, dropped to one knee before me.
"Your Highness," he said, his deep voice reverberating in the still air. His head was bowed, fist clenched over his heart in the traditional knightley salute.
There was a subtle aura of unwavering strength about him that I couldn't help but respect much like Mom, Uncle Sebastian and others.
'gasp'
I heard several of them gasping.
"At ease, Ser Salvos," I said, " let's not dwell on the formalities "
He stood slowly, his height and presence once again dominating the space. As he looked at me, I gave him a nod of acknowledgment, meeting his gaze.
I allowed myself a small smile.
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He turned and gestured towards the 9 young candidates, probably in their late teens or early twenties all eagerly watching me.
'Man I swear I could see the twinkle in their eyes, It's a little unnerving being the recipient of admiration and their gazes'
'One thing I'll probably never get used to'
"Your Highness, These are the new seeds, all promising and hard working that I can assure"
A mixture of boys and girls, I could hear tidbits of their hushed whispers.
Whispers of "It's Prince ___!"
"That's our prince! "
"Yeah, But I have bigger muscles!"
"Yeah, girls still like big macho muscles more than handsome faces, right guys?"
'Whaa…, what's wrong with these guys? Guess boys will be boys, huh, dumb always comparing sizes.'
'Damn! Ser Salvos I get it now, you scheming fox… more like rock but still I'm pretty sure he wants me to show off'
'Huu'
Sighing
'I guess I could show off a little'
Calming my mind and gazing towards the group, I roused my will as the whispers stopped, matching the gazes of candidates as my presence manifested.
A formless pressure descended on everyone present, even the Knight, now that I had their attention I lightly coughed and addressed them.
" It's my pleasure to meet you know, I hope you all will become the people that Our House will be proud of"
My words seemed to break the spell and they remembered themselves.
'Thud'
Following Ser Salvos' lead every single candidate bowed deeply, banging their hands over their hearts in a salute.
Unknowingly a light grin spread around my face, I left them to their practices.
'That felt good, the salute part not the speaking one… huuu I suck at orating'
Shaking my head as I moved away, towards my next training venue where Mom awaited.
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"Huu"
'Finally, i reached, the damn mountain why aren't their paths here'
Reaching the sparring grounds I found Mom, my sister, and Aunt Nora already present sitting across the seats placed around the arena.
Mom was waiting for me at the grounds, her long platinum blonde hair tied up in a bun and pale blue eyes calmly locked onto me.
'Sh!t Am I late…'
"You are finally her Lexi, Sebastian arrived ages ago..", Mom calmly stated.
"Um had a little run-in with the new candidates so …"
'She brought it right….'
I saw her gesturing to take my place, so I hurried to comply.
Mom was in her training gear along with her real spare sword.
'Yup again real fucking real sword which can slice a rock pretty easily,...yup perfectly normal according to her'
"Again with this look Lexi, a wooden one will dull your senses and will be worthless in the long run"
With a stern gaze, she continued," Besides it will only give you a flesh wound should you drop your concentration"
"Yes Mom"
' Damn she always has her reasons,.. All these spars and his cute little sister started calling him battle junkie … '
"Alexis, sit here", Mom gestured towards the seats.
I quietly sat down along with my cute little sister, Arisa while not forgetting to ruffle her hair gently.
"Alright, before we delve into combat it's high time I properly explain to you about our house origin art,
The name EXIRA was termed by your father who was also the first user of it"
" EXIRA in its most primitive and barebones form would be a type of mental manipulation, where the user can assert dominance over others."
"As you delve more into the mysteries the one truth remains – EXIRA is fueled by one's pure emotions, most importantly one's will"
"That's the first tier of EXIRA where it is formless and can be used to do literally anything, mimic any other power be it elemental or physical but it is most efficient in is asserting dominance over others"
"When you would realise why that is so, you would find your path to the next tier"
"From there is an unknown path I cannot tell what yours will be since every single EXIRA user has different core abilities - Me, Nora, Sebastian, Mathias, have different Tier I properties."
Aunt Nora stood up, and moved to stand beside Mom.
"Even Daemon and Rose have different Tier I properties Lexi, and they are vastly different to mine or Mathias's abilities"
Aunt Nora held out her hand and a white light formed.
'So cool, I miss Daemon and big sis Rose she was so reliable to have… when they are returning from the battlefields '
" Don't worry Lexi…, They both will probably be back in a few months and are okay"
' Are they mind reading or am I that obvious …'
Aunt Nora chuckled, " Your face tells everything, Lexi, you should really practice your poker face"
" Ahmm Nora, you didn't interrupt me just for that "
Mom's stern voice froze even Aunt Nora.
"Umm of course no, Alexi look this is my EXIRA tier form "
A bright light erupted from her hands, although bright but was not blinding.
'It feels so relaxing…"
"Comfortable isn't it Lexi?"
"Yes Aunt Nora, it feels comfortable"
"That's EXIRA even at tier I it affects your mental state and more, This is the core aspect of EXIRA regardless of what your powers form out to be it will always have an aura or feeling emmotions to it"
Nodding my head vigorously I felt myself captivated by EXIRA but Mom and others have always been tight-lipped, so any new information was good.
"My core abilities are Heal, Lexi that's all there is to it"
"Well That's more than enough for now Nora "
"Now Alex you have never experienced EXIRA combat-wise, so a quick rundown of tier 0EXIRA ready?"
"Artoria… you sure?..."
Aunt Nora's worried voice sounded.
"I will tone down the strength around 5 % for the demonstration, it's better for him to get used to it"
'Yay finally, I could learn more… let's see what I can lea..r..n…..'
Alarm bells rang in my head.
I could feel all my thoughts, my dream leaving…
Gone…
' what was i thinking…. nothing … '
I don't know how long I was in that state when a surge of power rose from me pushing back the…
' To push back… push… what?'
' Am I under threat … why can't I just stay here… there's no burden, no responsibilities here…'
The power surged more…' burden, responsibility '
These words struck a chord as the power surged madly threatening to burst as all the thoughts, dreams… no myself came back to me
'Pop'
The Darkness broke away and the view of the training ground came back to me,... Mom, Aunt Nora, Ari, and Uncle Sebastian were all there.
'Hufff'
'Huff'
I grabbed my knees breathing heavily.
'Wat da fuk!, just happened… the darkness… the emptiness…'
Looking around I saw Ari, who was sitting beside me unaffected. She tilted her head cutely to one side.
" Brawther, Are you okay?... your face is very pale like you saw ghost"
Ari's cute and baby voice broke me out of my stupor as she patted my head in a comforting manner.
Chuckling at her antics, I shook my head and saw Mom's calm gaze locked on me and Aunt Nora's worry was visible.
Closing my eyes and taking deep breaths to calm my banging heart.
'That was scary as fuk!, that power surge was EXIRA, that broke me out, or else I would have lost there'
'Scary… that's too scary'
Shaking my head and gently squeezing Ari's tiny hand gave immense relief.
"That was the burnt of EXIRA onto your foe, and calm down Nora he is okay"
"As I said it was only 5% of my EXIRA strength though I used technique to multiply the strength by quite a percentage"
'Techniques and that was really only 5% strength, I'll reach that level too'
Seeing my confusion Mom clarified,
"EXIRA at its base first form is just mental manipulation, you trying to assert your will, your desires onto others and like all things it has horrible efficiency rate until you reach tier I until the to really make use of EXIRA more than a paltry trick to make an impression or at most stun lock an enemy you would need techniques"
"As for how the interaction occurs between EXIRA and your enemy that's up to you to test and figure out the strength and percentages"
" You have just awakened your EXIRA and not to mention you haven't even been in a combat against a true enemy where death is just a misstep away"
With me lost in thoughts Mom walked past me onto the training fields with her sword, warming up.
Taking the cue I also got up, Aunt Nora patted me on the back with a reassuring smile.
'At Least Aunt Nora is here, she would fix me real quick''
'Haa'
Sighing, I joined Mom taking my training sword and warming up for the thrashing.
'Mom's preferred weapon choice for training was claymore, a long, heavy, broad and frankly I am happy she went one for strength weapon rather than her original longsword type'
'Mine was a simple longsword, decently broad and long built for speed"
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'Fuu'
Taking a deep breath and focusing on myself, slowly getting into a battle stance increasing my perception to limits, relaxing my body, grim form on my weapon.
'Fuu, Let's do my best and I need to actively channel EXIRA else I would be fucked and will never know'
'Knowing Mom she will use absolute limits of power of what I can handle, the task is to learn'
'Focus, Alex…Focus'
As My emotions and will aligned, the hidden power came surging, I channeled it towards my whole body enhancing base capabilities.
'Okay let's do this, what's the worse that could happen"
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'Slash'
' thud'
"There will be unknown variables in a real battle, variables beyond your control but manipulating them would make you come out victorious."
Radiant Blue eyes looked down,
" There will be pain much much more intense than what you are going through now, if this much makes you lose your reason, your will to stand then…"
A cold voice resounded in the training grounds.
'Splurt..'
'Grr'
Gritting his teeth MC roused his own EXIRA to alleviate some of his mother's and matched her gaze.
Two eyes met each other, one radiant blue, calm and carrying absolute authority looking down and other pale blue eyes holding back chaos and absolute resolve.
".Y….YES!...MoTHEr!"
"Good Nowattachthose hands back…"
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