Bailey and Markus went out, as usual about halfway to the tree line.
Markus warmed up with his usual activity now, essence circulation throughout his body. However, now he began to let essence flow from him and coat his hand.
Without being prompted he began to experiment, allowing it to flow upwardly and downwardly, understanding how it were as if his blood flowed outside his body but was still controlled.
He had an idea.
"Instructor Nuune, if essence can flow and become a shell, then can it not be used as a shield around the body. Now I can't release too much- but is it possible to release enough to cover your entire body?" Markus asked.
In his focus on the flow and feeling of essence armouring his body in different places at a time, he missed Bailey's paling expression.
'He thinks of stuff in days what others spend years developing. I want to see what else comes across his mind.' She thought before she spoke
"In theory yes. But it would require exceptional control. On top of this, it would consume quite a lot of essence, depending on the thickness. But you misunderstand one thing. This shell does not make you invulnerable. A strong piercing attack will tear through your shell. Moreover, if someone of a higher rank attacks your shell, you will come undone. It may work but only at the higher levels- currently it would only waste your essence." Bailey told him
"I see… so it is possible. And even if it does fail- I've seen the older years use the limited protection to avoid taking too much damage!" Markus tried to make it work
"…at your level- sure. If you keep training your essence should become of a higher quality, reaching stage two- or as you know it to be the learner stage. Your upperclassmen will at most be stage 3- learned. So their attacks will likely tear through your shell. Element compatibility also matters. You are resistant to water but weak to fire and stone. These are all things you will learn as time progresses."
"So currently I am an apprentice?" Markus asked, deflated
"Yes. Quickly approaching 'learner' but not quite there yet. By learning body augmentation and essence preservation, you will feel a qualitative change in your essence gathering. Your body will feel lighter as a wind user and will begin to concentrate the essence you have, making it of a higher quality." She informed him, encouragingly at that.
"That's great! Yeah! So what are we doing today?" He asked
"Focus on your essence flow while I get you a stick." She said, heading for the forest.
Markus continued practicing, feeling more comfortable by each minute passing.
Soon enough, Bailey came back with a sturdy looking stick that looked like a charred sword.
"I burnt the outer layer to avoid splinters. Don't want you making excuses." She said, throwing him the stick.
Markus tried to catch it but it bounced off his arms and on the ground.
"Goodness gracious kid- pick it up." She said, facepalming.
Markus picked up the stick and focused on its form.
"It feels… so strange. I know we talked about extending essence to it but it feels as if… I don't know- like nothing."
"That's because it is nothing. You are not improving the stick but instead are using it to mould your essence."
"I see…" he said as he began to release essence
It initially went to his hand but it stood there.
Markus tried to move it upward to encompass the stick- but to no avail. Essence seemed to want to flow around Markus, recognising the origin host but would not flow onto the sword.
"You need to impose your will. Essence of the wielder will always want to stick close but you need to push it away and on the sword." Bailey instructed.
Markus tried to do that and moved the essence right to his fingertips gripping the sword. But that's where it stopped.
"I can't do it…" he said.
"It's okay… keep forcing it… oh-" she said as the realised one thing
"Oh?" He asked, confused
"You're not a flame user… to force and control your fire." She said, mostly to herself
"Right…" he added.
"Okay- in that case, you'll have to wait for a wind instructor. Every element's essence has its own will. Fire is ferocious and therefore dangerous. We can use that power but it must be done with control. I can't speak for the other elements." She said.
"So what do I do?" Markus asked
"Feel free to try my method but I don't think it will work. At best, you'll be good at controlling the wind but I doubt it will work as intended. For now just meditate in your essence and develop your inner flow and shell. Then we will do sword training." She instructed.
An hour passed of Markus further developing these new senses and from time to time he tried to extend his essence to the sword but to no avail.
Bailey returned, with a stick of her own this time which will be considered a sword.
"Get up. Time to do something else." She said, instructing him to raise his sword.
Bailey then drilled into him the basics.
Stance.
Swing.
Body movement and structure.
Slash.
Pierce.
And finally for her own amusement, how to deflect, block and even parry.
By the afternoon, several bruises were forming on Markus' skin. Trophies for his failures to deflect, block and parry.
The next two weeks were more or less the same. He overslept at one point for 20 minutes so he had to spend a few hours swimming in the river but Bailey allowed him to use essence. This enhanced him greatly and made it a substantially easier ordeal.
During their final week, they did not train- at least not intensively.
Bailey recognised he needed rest. He also needed to catch up on a lot of his studies. Thus came the final night before Markus would return to the academy- completely different from when he left it.