~ Third Person Pov ~
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Knock~
Knock~
"Hello, Mr. Jang...? Are you here?" Ayano called out.
He heard footsteps approaching the door, slowly... In just the span of a few seconds, the door slowly opened. The old man stepping out this time.
"I didn't expect you to come so early, quite eager aren't y-" But the old man instantly stopped his sentence. His old gaze becoming thinner...
'Is this really the same person that I trained yesterday?' He thought, incredulously. "Come inside; quickly boy, I need to see something."
Ayano being a bit confused, didn't say much, "Oh... k, then?" He headed in, with Eli closing the door behind him. Eli didn't waste any time, he practically teleported beside Ayano because of how fast he was; feeling all over his body, including his neck, abdominal, arm and even legs...
'Ermm~' He squirmed in his mind.
Being slightly weirded out by this sudden approach, he didn't do much, however he had realized that the areas the old man were feeling out, were the areas where he was dealt pretty heavy damage yesterday to. And based on that, he had an idea of what the old man was likely so concerned about.
Eli on the other hand, began sweating slightly. He had never seen something like this. 'Just, how? It feels as if the boy didn't come here at all yesterday...? He's, perfectly healed up. Not a single sore or torn muscle in sight? In fact, I don't even see a scar...' He then stopped for a moment, thinking.
He placed a hand on his chin, 'Could... It be that the boy even has, that?' He thought. But, when he looked again. It didn't seem possible, nor would he have mistaken it for anything else either...
'This... Changes things, greatly.' Eli thought to himself.
"Listen..." Eli suddenly said. "The training will have to advance a few steps ahead of schedule... but even then. I don't think it will change the outcome much." He finished, mumbling the last sentence.
Ayano raised a brow at that, "Hmm? What do you mean?"
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Ayano stood in the center of the basement. However, he had one simple thing added, that would make his training become much more difficult.
"A, blindfold?" Ayano asked. "I can't even face your properly without one!"
Eli crossed his arms, his face returning to that unreadable, stern calm Ayano was quickly getting used to... The sudden shift from concern to discipline was sharp — but not unfamiliar. It was the kind of shift you only see in people who've seen far too much, and no longer have time to waste on slow walks to the truth.
"You can't rely on your eyes forever, boy," he said, voice steady but lacking the harshness of mockery. "Anyone can dodge what they see. But real fighters—no—survivors... they react to what they feel. Instinct. Pressure. Airflow. Sound. Down to ones very Breath."
He stepped closer, and even though Ayano couldn't see him anymore, he could feel it — the weight of his presence, like gravity itself shifted a little.
"You healed in less than a day from wounds that should've left you limping for at least a week." Eli's voice lowered, but it definitely wasn't quiet — it was, deliberate and heavy as well. "That's not natural, boy. And I don't care what kind of gift or curse you carry, it means one thing: you're no longer someone who I can afford to train at a human's pace."
Ayano didn't answer right away. He could hear something being dragged across the floor — maybe a chair, or a metal frame — then a clang, followed by a sudden gust of movement.
WHAM—
'CRAP!' Ayano flinched as something narrowly missed him, striking the ground where he'd been a moment ago. Even blindfolded, his body had shifted slightly just in time.
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The old man paused, smiling.
"...You felt that, didn't you?" Eli suddenly asked.
Ayano hesitated, but then gave a nod. "Yeah... I did. Barely."
"Good. Because from here on out, you're going to need more than 'barely' if you want to survive what's coming to you." Eli's tone was still firm, but there was something new in it now — not just urgency, but a strange kind of respect. Wariness to it, even.
Whatever he'd seen — or not seen — in Ayano's body earlier, it had changed the way he looked at him.
"You're walking a road that's far darker than most people know off," Eli muttered, stepping away to the edge of the room. "So, we'll train you in the dark... until your body knows what your eyes can't see."
And just like that, the clatter of wood and steel filled the basement again.
Ayano took a slow breath through his nose. 'So this was what the advancement meant, huh?' No titles or promotions, but being thrown deeper into the void — and now he was learning how to move before it swallowed him.
He activated his training mastery, now focusing on the technique aspect while he tightened the blindfold. 'Alright, then... Let's see what I can do.'
The basement felt colder now. Or maybe that was just the effect of the blindfold, stripping away his most relied-on sense and making everything else feel sharper, rawer. The air prickled faintly against his skin. It smelled faintly of dust, sweat, old steel, and something else—almost like ozone, like a storm waiting underground.
Ayano stood still, breathing through his nose, arms loose at his sides. Every sound echoed a little too loudly now. The faint creak of Eli pacing nearby. The click of his shoes. The soft jingle of something metallic shifting weight in his hands.
Then—CRACK!
A short wooden staff slammed into Ayano's ribs from the left.
"Rngh—!" He staggered sideways, his balance slipping before he caught himself with a footstep.
"You waited." Eli said, voice calm, unmoved. "Don't wait."
Ayano grit his teeth. "I didn't wait. I just—"
THWACK!Another strike, this one lower, caught his thigh.
"React. Don't explain."
Ayano hissed through clenched teeth. The blindfold clung tight against his eyes, offering nothing. His hands tightened into fists. This was different from the previous training. No stances. No forms. No flowcharts in his mind of how this kind of fight would unfold...
It was just—now.
He slowed his breathing, trying to calm the storm inside his chest. He focused on his other senses: the slight shift in wind pressure, the sound of fabric brushing against itself when Eli moved, the creak in the wooden floorboards that always followed a pivot—
WSSH!
Something passed just inches from his nose. A feint. He didn't move, but his skin prickled as though it wanted to.
Then—
CRACK!
A direct blow to the shoulder knocked him a step back.
"Too late, again!" Eli muttered. "Your body knows before your mind does. But you're still listening to the wrong one."
Ayano's breathing quickened.
'Okay… focus. Don't chase the sound. Let the sound of him come to you.'
He waited now—not like before, where tension had coiled in his limbs—but with patience. Not trying to predict, not trying to fight time.
The air shifted again. A rustle of movement behind him.
He stepped forward on impulse—whoosh—!
—just barely dodging the arc of the staff sweeping for the back of his head.
His heartbeat thudded hard in his chest. But he didn't smile. Didn't feel proud either. Just... aware. Aware that something inside him had moved, not consciously, but like a reflex that didn't quite belong to him.
"Good..." Eli said behind him. "You're starting to listen to me. Not just to me... but, to yourself."
Ayano adjusted his stance. But before he could reply—
SLAM—!A jab landed squarely into his stomach. This time, he hadn't felt it coming.
He doubled over slightly, the wind pushed out of him, stumbling back and catching himself on one knee. His teeth ground together. He hated this. Hated how unprepared he felt. How clumsy. It wasn't like him to be this vulnerable, even to himself.
"Hmm... You're, getting angry?" Eli said, from somewhere to his left now. "Don't."
"What? How can I not?" Ayano snapped, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "You hit like a damn truck going a hundred miles an hour, and I can't see anything—"
"You're not supposed to see, boy." Eli cut in. "You're supposed to feel. And you're supposed to fail."
Ayano's breath had slowed again. A beat passed. Then another. A faint scrape. Not close. Far side of the room.
Tap~ Tap~
Footsteps... Ayano's body leaned ever so slightly to the right.
And this time—
SWISH—!He ducked just as the staff cut the air above him.
Then—
CRACK!Ayano's fist shot forward out of instinct. Not clean. Not controlled. But it collided with something — a wrist? A forearm?
Eli made a noise of surprise. Brief. Muted. But it was there.
Ayano didn't celebrate. He kept his guard up now, just listening, his body tight and waiting, not with fear—but with readiness.
"...Better," Eli murmured. "You're not there, yet of course. But now... you're beginning to fight like someone who can actually survive."
Ayano's chest rose and fell, his skin slick with sweat, jaw clenched. He didn't smile. Didn't say anything clever either. But under the blindfold… he kept his focus. And waited.
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The next few hours passed in a blur. Every time Ayano thought he had a grip on his senses, he found himself pushed to the edge again, falling, stumbling, and rising again. His body wasn't quite in sync with his mind yet, but it was getting there.
And though he was bruised, exhausted, and sore, there was something undeniably different now. Ayano was learning not to trust his eyes, not his instincts or his strength alone, but the quiet power that came from deep within him—the kind that only revealed itself when everything else had been stripped away.
Finally, Eli's voice broke through the haze, the old man's tone no longer stern, but almost… contemplative.
"That's enough for today," Eli said, his voice quieter than before. "You've got serious potential and talent, kid. But both of them means nothing if you don't learn to utilize either..."
Ayano let out a long breath, his body was aching, his chest heaving with exhaustion. The blindfold slipped off, and he blinked a few times, adjusting to the light again. His senses felt raw, his awareness heightened beyond anything he had ever experienced, and that was just a few hours...
He looked at Eli, whose eyes, though still sharp, held something deeper now, a flicker of something more than just his usual calculation.
"I don't think you'll ever be a normal fighter..." Eli said, his tone oddly approving. "But you might just become something more."
Ayano nodded, slowly getting up from the floor. He could already tell that the beating today was even worse than yesterday's, 'I guess this is the price to pay when aiming for strength...' He thought.
'Status...'
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___________________
Strength: 524 / 1000
Defense: 525 / 1000
Agility: 525 / 1000
Spirit: 533 / 1000
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Keiji looked keenly at the increases today.
His spirit had gotten much more of a significant boost compared to the attributes, while the rest only got half of what they were yesterday, at their best. Still, He was glad for the increase. Even though he focused on sharpening his sense. The boost was pretty moderate.
While Eli had completely, different thoughts...
'To think the boy would already reach such a level in only a few hours. I wonder, just what will occur by the end of this month? At this rate, I might even need to add anotherhandicap to the mix; but that would only inadvertently make the boy even stronger than he already is...' He thought, excitedly.
Not only that, he found something quite peculiar about Ayano.
'Despite him being so skilled in various many martial arts at his age. To the point of perfection. The boy strangely doesn't show any signs of that particular mastery...' Eli looked towards Ayano once more, shaking his head.
'Maybe... Some talents just aren't meant to be fully understood...'
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END