Eden was sitting cross-legged in his room.
He was in a state of meditation and at this moment didn't need any distractions.
He had been in his room for the last two days and had only left when he needed to eat.
The trial for Honors Academy was tomorrow, and he knew he had to find a way to increase his energy level, or he would not pass.
After sitting in a meditative position for a while, he finally opened his eyes.
"Helen, run a scan on my body."
Name: Eden Brazer
Rank: F-rank
Energy Level: 5
Skill Set: F
Skills Learned: None
Eden was caught between feeling down or happy.
Happy that his energy had increased, or sad that it had only increased by five.
"Whatever, that should be enough. I will go to the training grounds and work on my skills."
Eden didn't have to spend the rigorous process of searching through books for a skill that suited him and that he could learn.
He already had skills in his arsenal; all he had to do was learn how to use them.
The book didn't say anything about a white core, just a dormant core, so Eden had to follow his own path on this one.
*********
Eden arrived at the training ground and was about to enter the training area when he was pulled by someone.
"Where have you been?" Mia asked when they arrived at the backyard.
"I have been working on some stuff. I didn't have time to come out and train," Eden said.
"So that is your excuse, huh?"
After Mia said that, with no warning or hesitation, she lunged at Eden with the longsword that had been on her waist.
"Fuck, what the hell is she doing?" Eden mumbled and dodged, but just barely.
The tip of the blade cut his shoulder.
"No weapons, no suit — just your raw power. I want to see what you spent those two days doing," Mia said and lunged at him again.
Eden knew he wasn't getting out of this and decided to give it his all.
"I just need to focus. I can do thi—" He didn't finish his monologue when he felt a sudden pain in his belly.
Mia had used the handle of the blade to hit him forcefully in the abdomen.
"Gahh…" Eden coughed and spit out some blood.
"Never get distracted during combat. Now get up," Mia said, going into a fighting stance.
"I don't stand a chance against her if I don't learn those two earth skills," Eden thought.
He put all his focus into understanding the concept of earth — how earth feels, how it moves, its structure.
While doing that, he also kept trying to dodge and fight Mia at the same time.
Of course, fighting Mia was already hard enough, but fighting her while trying to understand the concept of earth was a totally different matter.
He was getting beaten up left and right. Mia would flash from one place to another and would always leave a cut or a slash wherever she went.
"Damn, I have to forget about trying to attack her and focus all my energy on defending."
It seemed that as Eden thought that, he had a eureka moment.
Rocks and stones are mostly known for having a strong defensive structure and shape.
As that thought began to form in his mind, he began to get a better and clearer understanding of earth.
In his mind, countless rock and stone fragments started to come together to form a body. That body was impenetrable to slashes.
"I see now. Everything is so clear," Eden thought.
This might have seemed like it wasted a lot of time, but it only took a few seconds.
At that very moment, Mia had prepared a final attack.
"If this doesn't get you to show your power, then I don't know what will," she mumbled.
"Light Element, Skill 2: Light Speed Slash!"
BOOM.
Mia vanished from the spot; only dust was left where she once stood.
Mia was so fast, and for a person like Eden who hadn't unlocked much of his power, all he could see was nothing.
Someone of higher strength may have been able to see her afterimages, and a D-rank might be able to track her movements.
But this was Eden, and he only had about five energy output, so he was practically a normal man, even though he had activated his core.
Eden could not see the threat, but his senses were going off. Without any hesitation, he spoke the skill as fast as he could.
"Earth Element, Skill 3: Rock Body!"
Rumble, rumble.
Different rock fragments rushed at Eden at an astonishing pace, but they couldn't finish forming before Mia reached him.
Slash.
Mia just managed to cut through the armor that Eden had put on his neck at the very last minute, and even then she still managed to cut through it and injure his neck.
"Are you trying to kill me?" Eden asked.
Mia just ignored his question and spoke,
"I will not be here for training tomorrow. I have a place I have to be."
Then she left.
Eden, though frustrated by her attitude, was rather happy because with her help he had been able to control a skill on command.
Though he wasn't able to control the first two skills, it was still progress.
After Eden treated the wound, he carried his bag and left.
*********
Mia was on her way home, but her mind seemed to be focused on something else.
"What do I have to do to get him to show his real power?" Mia thought.
"I even tried to land that killing blow to see if he would activate that domineering power, but nothing."
"Huh," Mia sighed. "Eden, I will get to fight you in that mode. Just you wait."
Then Mia continued on her journey back home.