Zes, it is one of the three powers, used mainly by warriors. For the sake of context, the other two powers are magic used by mages and divine power used by priests.
Zes and Magic are just different forms of mana and divine power is a different kind of energy entirely.
If I were to call Zes in the words of Murim, it would be weapon aura or weapon qi. In poetic words, It would be the art of condensing one's Mana into the steel of a blade, turning a simple edge into a conceptual extension of the body.
"Come!" Boran provoked, his orange eyes flaring as a thin, vibrating film of orange Zes coated his sword.
I did not waste time, I coated my Sword with Light Purple Zes and then I Dashed towards him trying to stab him but..
CLANG
He parried the stab with a flick of his wrist. I didn't fight the momentum; I dropped my center of gravity and swept the blade toward his lead leg. He hopped back with a dancer's grace. Before I could recover, he brought his heavy blade down in a thunderous overhead slash.
I raised my sword to block, the steel groaning under the pressure. In that split second of contact, Boran's foot shot out in a lightning-fast gut-kick. I shifted my weight, catching the blow on my shin instead of my stomach, but the sheer kinetic force was enough to send my feet sliding back across the obsidian sand.
"Good intuition, Kid. I put enough strength in slash, so that it could distract you from my next attack but you still saw the kick coming and countered it" He said and took his stance again "And unlike how you normally take on my attacks like a stubborn Masochist, This time you decided to step back. Good Judgement, kid"
I dashed forward again but this time...
Blink
I used Minor Teleportation Blink to vanish, reappearing directly at his back, in his blind spot. I swung a vertical slash at his exposed back, the wind whistling through the steel but...
CLANK
He blocked it with his sword, his eyes still facing the opposite direction. He did it without even looking back.
"Nice try, kid. But you're too obvious. During the whole time when you were charging towards me your line of sight was not pointing at me but rather behind me. You were looking not at the target to attack but the target place to teleport"
Sensing my attack's not gonna work I used his sword as a support to push my weight back. Boran turned towards me.
"Is that so ? Then how about this!"
Wind slash
My wind slash are not strong enough to cut flesh yet, But they are strong enough to create smoke screen by blowing the dust. So, I attacked the dust near Boran.
In the middle of the dust screen I used the same teleportation attack but this time from the side.
BLOCK
and blocked again.
"Good tactic but I can still feel your presence, Kid" He said.
After that I kept attacking him head on instead of using tricks. We kept exchanging sword blows. Sometimes I would attack continuously and he would defend while sometimes it would be the other way around.
And like that Half an hour passed.
I lay flat on the obsidian sand, staring up at the blue sky. My chest felt like it was being crushed by an invisible weight, my lungs burning with the effort of stabilizing the chaotic residue of Zes and Magic. It was a brutal, bone-deep exhaustion.
"Good job kid" he said, looking a little tired.
"Yes, it was a fine showing, Tyler," Vivi added, her silver hair shimmering as she approached. "Now, are you ready for the magic grind? Your mana pool should still have more than enough drops of mana left, I assume?"
Seriously ? Have you ever heard the phrase 'Take a Break' Woman-I mean, Teacher. yeah, teacher.
"Yes!" I said.
And with that, I started my magic training. And then after that what seated me was two hours of magic grinding and our training ended with another spar with Boran, as always.
"And This concludes today's training," Vivi announced "and we are giving you a three day break." Vivi informed me.
"A break?" I asked, though I already had a hunch but still. "Why the sudden generosity?"
"The day after Tomorrow is the Royal celebration of New Year." Vivi said, her voice turning uncharacteristically soft. "You've been avoiding it for all these years. But this year is not possible. So, you might need some preparation time for the ball"
Well, honestly, there's not much to prepare.
"Understood"
With that the training was over and I was about to leave when I remembered something.
"Oh! And Vivi, about that thing...."
"That thing ? " She looked at me and started thinking "oh! That... yeah, what about it ?"
"I plan to do it today. So am i ready ? " I asked nervously.
She looked at me and smiled "Don't worry, you're more than ready. But...."
"Yeah ?"
"Are you sure you want to do it by yourself ? You know, we can do it right now if you want."
I looked in her eyes and saw the genuine concern in it "No, I want to do it myself"
"Sign... alright, a teacher should also respect her student's will"
"Thank you"
"Just make sure to draw it correctly, the mana flow should be correct, don't be discouraged if one element does not work and do not be disappointed even if its not a high-" I interrupted her rambling.
"Relax. Relax, have some faith in your student, Vivi" I said, trying to assure her otherwise she might keep on her rambling.
She looked at me with concerned eyes for a bit and after a short silence she said "....yes, I should, ....but seriously... Why do you want to attempt it alone when you have a literal genius mage like me by your side."
Has my narcissism finally infected her as well ? Well, she is not wrong though.
"I know that it is not exactly one of my field of specialists but still...." She said, still trying to convince me into seeking her help.
"Nope. I will do it solo. By myself" i again refused her final try of convincing me.
"Sign... Alright, do what you want." She said sulking.
Is she pouting ? How Cute
and with that out of line I came back to Arbutus palace and went straight for my room
I can't wait