Chapter 7: Training

Van casually pushed over one of the Annas that was sleeping on top of him. It's been over two years since he had made the blood binding and soul link with them and while it was a bit uncomfortable at first, he has gotten used to it.

Looking around he saw the Annas in different states of disarray. He has gotten good at telling them apart... somewhat. Each Anna had their own slight personality difference compared to the other Annas, while still maintaining a sense of being very similar to another.

Getting up he gently kicked off one of the Annas who was grinding against his leg, as that particular anna tended to hump his leg when asleep and went to wake up another Anna so she could go wake up her other sisters. Sometimes it was still difficult to tell who’s who or which Anna had a certain personality type or perhaps they just switched personalities around or acted out like they did on a whim. Maybe they even just pretend to be slightly different from each other.

Getting out of bed he went to go change, the Annas following suit. He still sometimes had a hard time dealing with the fact they went to bed naked, or the fact they didn’t always wear any underwear when they wore their clothes but his father told him that it was natural for most women not to bother with it and that only some did when wearing things like pants. Which made Van realize that most women in the castle probably didn’t wear any either. When asking why his father just shrugged and said that it was always that way.

Of course, that surprise was shadowed when he asked his father why if most women didn’t wear underwear how do they prevent blood from leaking down or prevent people from peeping. And what his father said next threw Van for a loop and made him think his memories from past lives were a lie. Alvaroz told him that as far as he was aware, there wasn’t a single woman he ever heard of that bleed monthly or cared about being seen and that Van shouldn’t always believe whatever little memories or flashbacks he got from past lives since they may not carry over into this world. When Van got the courage to ask his mother, she laughed and essentially said the same thing his father said.

Finished changing, Van contemplated getting a new set of clothes. Despite only being a little over ten years old he and Anna were already looking as if they were eleven or twelve. Their bodies were ageing a lot faster than he thought they would. Which he was told was a consequence of going through all those awakenings. Still not matching up to their mental age, but getting closer.

He waited for Anna to finish putting on their maid uniforms. Once done, two of them took their place on each side and a little behind him. The other Annas left once changed, each in pairs and going to their own work or training station. Some will go to the kitchen to learn how to cook, others clean, and also go to the library to learn. The Annas switch out who goes with him daily and also depending on what he was going to do that day. For example today he was going to train with his father in swordsmanship, so the Anna that was with him today was the one that usually trained with him, or sometimes as he liked to call her, fight Anna.

As Van left to meet the new day, he couldn’t help but remember the first few months when he was finally given free rein over the castle and the castle grounds, with the only exception being that he was not allowed to leave the castle walls or a few of the other buildings that he was barred from entering such as the goblin and harpy quarters and a few other notable places.

He chuckled a bit as he walked down the stone halls when he remembered how much trouble he was when finally let loose and how his father always scolded him and Anna. but who can blame them when they were finally given freedom?

Being barred from places didn’t stop them from trying to see into them, and just because they couldn't leave the castle walls doesn't mean they couldn't climb it to see over them. His first sights of the castle town and the forests that lay outside it always filled him up with wonder.

After getting a quick bite from the kitchen they went into the training yard in the back of the castle where his father was waiting for them. He had a big smile on his face like he usually did when it was his turn to teach. Though Van didn’t like the physical exertion, his father enjoyed the quality time the two of them had, so Van put up with it for his father’s sake. Not to mention he was promised that when deemed ready, he could be taken out of the castle if he were to prove that he can take care of himself.

“Well, someones finally awake. Did you two get a good night's sleep?” Alvaroz asked.

“Yes. no nightmares last night, or for a while for that matter.” van replied with a smile.

“Good to hear!” Alvaroz said, returning the smile, “Now take the training sword and show me your stance.”

Van did so, doing his best to take the stance that his father had shown him for the past few months, followed by Anna doing the same.

Alvaroz nodded but then began to move Van just a tad this way and that to make sure that the stance was perfect then did the same for both Annas. “Your stance is still a little sloppy, but it's an improvement. Since both of you have gone through most of your awakening you can push your body beyond what the average ten-year-old can. Not to mention you can start to learn Aura. but that might still take a while. I hope the two of you have still been doing that meditation exercise I taught you for using your Aura?”

Van and Anna nodded “and we have been practicing what Lore has taught us as well for magic.” Van said.

“Good, the both of you can’t start yet on learning how to cultivate your Aura and Mana but you both can learn to use the natural Aura and Mana pool you have till then. What matters is that both of you get proficient in feeling and controlling the energies inside of you before we get to the step where we teach you how to use it and cultivate it in any serious manner.” Alvaroz said.

“Now I want you to give me ten laps, then we’ll do some stretches, followed by practice swings and finish with a bout between the two of you. Ready? Go!” Alvaroz finished with a loud shout. The suddenness surprised both Van and Anna for a few seconds before they realized what they were ordered to do and got to doing it.

After an exhausting ten laps, they went to do some stretches that consisted mostly of working out the leg muscles because Alvaroz said that it was important for a firm base. After that was the practice swings which weren’t only comprised of swinging the sword up and down, but down to up, left to right, and back again. As well as swings that required a step or two forward or one’s that took a step or two back. They were all over the place with different types of swings, and kata’s and Alvaroz made sure that they put their whole body into it until they were a quivering mess of tired bodies and sweat.

“No, no, not like that. Even if you're tired you have to give it you're all. Don’t forget you also have to put your back into it. Here let me help.” Alvaroz then put his hand on Van’s back. “Now swing your sword.” Van did so, and as he did, he felt his father's hand move a tad and put pressure on his back forcing Van to straighten. “Now do it a few more times.” Van did so, and as he swung, his father would put pressure on different parts of his back forcing Van to feel the different muscle groups that he used as he swung his sword. “There. Do you feel the difference?” Van nodded. “Good, now keep going like that for two more sets and take a rest.”

And like that Alvaroz continued to give advice to the both of them, pointing out flaws in their stance or even how they swung. Constantly reminding them that they had to put their strength in it or do it a certain way. He would also make them more aware of the muscle groups in their body so that they would get an idea as to what muscles they should be using or what feeling they should have when swinging to help them get an idea if they were doing it right or not.

They practiced defending and attacking against invisible opponents, and every so often Alvaroz himself will show them how it was done with movements so graceful that it almost felt like a trick of the eye. Every swing of his sword carried with it a heaviness and swiftness that thiers lacked and every movement was practically perfect.

Once done Van and Anna sat down on the ground exhausted. “Alright, both of you take a five-minute break, after that, we’ll do some sparing, first against each other, then against me,” Alavroz said.

Van and Anna were only too grateful to take him up on the break but groaned a little at having only five minutes and having to spare. Both of them were bone tired and already Van was thinking about taking a nice quick shower to get rid of all the sweat on him. As he lay on the ground a strange idea popped into his head as he looked at Anna from the corner of his eye.

“Umm, Anna?” he asked.

“Ya?” she replied slightly out of breath.

“Each Anna is different from the others even if only slightly so. But you all have one dominating soul right? So does that mean that what one Anna learns, all the other Annas do too?” Van asked.

Anna was silent for a while, as she pondered how to respond to the question. “Not exactly,” she said. “For example, I don’t mind learning how to fight, but let's say another me is learning how to cook. The muscle memory would be different for the both of us, I trained my body and she didn’t, my body is used to doing one thing, and her's another, and what I know of swordsmanship she wouldn’t, just as I wouldn’t know any of the recipes she would. But. That doesn’t mean there isn’t any bleed over. Just because I’m not used to cooking, or know any recipes, doesn't mean I won’t get a feeling for how to properly do it, and if I did start learning how to cook, I would learn it faster up until I reach the skill level of whichever me, was at the highest of that skill. Does that make sense?”

Van's eyes widened “that's so cheating! Not only do they know where each of them are or even the fact they can send messages to each other if they're close like I can, but they can also learn whatever the others learned, faster if one of them already learned it!” Van wondered what Anna’s soul realm would be like once they finally awakened. If she was already getting this kind of passive benefits already, imagine what she would get once she has her complete soul realm!

“That's amazing.” he said, “I’m kinda jealous that you have such an ability.”

Anna blushed a little at the compliment. “It’s no big deal. Honestly, I don’t see it as anything special.” she shrugged “it’s just always been that way.”

“Okay… but why do some of the Annas do different things then? If you all work on one thing, that means you learn it faster, right?” Van asked.

“Not really,” Anna replied. “Even if we are all one and the same, each body has its own brain. That means we can each prefer something a little different from the others. Even if we are all bound by one will, one soul, it doesn't define us. Though In the end, we do share the same interests and desires. As for learning faster, just because there are more heads doesn’t mean the perspective has changed much, if we get stuck on something, like a puzzle or a complex math equation, it won't matter how much brainpower we add if we don’t have the proper knowledge or perspective. Though... I suppose it would help a little and speed up the process.”

Van pondered that for a while. “Can you switch places, mentally speaking, with other Annas? Or what would happen if one of you died? Is that part of you gone forever?” Van got up to take a better look at Anna, a little worry in his voice.

“Not at all.” Anna also got up and tried to soothe Van’s fears. “ if one of us dies, I feel… I feel like that’s not the end of us. It's hard to explain, but we are all connected, if one of our bodies dies we still live on, just in our soul realm, I think?” Anna finished a little unsure. “ we haven’t awakened yet, but that's the impression I get, does that make sense?”

Van thought about that. “Ya, I think it does, just a little, there are aspects of me that I feel like would be better off explained once I fully awakened. So I guess we just have to wait. By the way, I call you fight Anna, and some of the others, stuff like cooking Anna and scholar Anna. any truth to that? Not to be rude or anything!”

Anna chuckled “ no, while it is true we have our preferences, that doesn't mean that we each do a task because we want to or because we prefer it, though some of us do. But because we each feel like it's something we should learn for the benefit of the whole collective. At first, I didn’t like training, but I have gotten used to it and it's something I like to do now. There are a few of me who still haven’t decided on what to do, or whether we should have multiple me’s do something at the same time to synergize and learn faster. But I can assure you, whatever I do, I do it either because I like to do it, or because I feel like it's worth doing.” Anna finished with a smile.

“Okay… but if that true, that does beg the question”

“Yes?” Anna asked

“Why horny Anna? Aren’t you still a little young for that?” Van teased a little and was rewarded with both Annas blushing red.

“Th-that’s not our fault! We just mature faster since we have multiple minds sharing experiences with one another. And even our bodies are growing up faster! yours is too!” Anna tried to hide her blush by looking away, making Van chuckle.

“I’m just teasing, don’t worry, I don’t mean anything by it. I know it’s not your fault.” Van said looking at Anna who continued to blush but nodded, still refusing to look him in the eye.

Alvaroz looked on with a smile. He was happy to see that the absurdly quiet Anna and introverted Van, were getting along so well. It really filled his heart with joy to see them grow so much.

“Well... that was certainly an interesting conversation,” Alvaroz said, making both Van and Anna jump a little. “Now that you're done talking, perhaps we can begin on your sparring, I think you both are more than rested up at this point.” Alvaroz said with a huge grin, making both Van and Anna blush at having their conversation being overheard.

Alvaroz chuckled at their expression. “Alright you two get into position” they complied, both of them taking the same stance as they waited for the sign. “Go!”

Van and Anna went at it, tentative at first, then with a little more confidence. But their inexperience showed in how they fought, as both were careful not to get hurt, or to hurt the other in any serious way. Alvaroz didn’t interfere, fully expecting to show them what it really means to spar once it was his turn to fight them.

Van emphasized a more fluid approach to fighting, whenever he felt he had the advantage he would try to easily overpower his opponent to end it quickly. When he felt like he was at a disadvantage he would try to dodge and block more, taking any opportunity to counter-attack at the smallest sign of weakness or opening. Even going so far as to do unorthodox moves to throw his opponent off. Sadly, those moves tended to give his opponent openings to exploit and while he himself would wait patiently for an opening he was actually very impatient and would eventually attack if the fight dragged on too long just to force his opponent to move. He can easily find a pattern in his opponent's moves and predict what they are going to do next before they do but was still a little too inexperienced to fully take advantage of it.

Anna, on the other hand, was by the books when it came to fighting, she had more willpower to continue fighting then Van for long periods of time and used that to her advantage. She was also a quick learner, forcing Van to use new tricks to get her to open up her defenses for him to exploit. She was more than willing to continue attacking, constantly to tire out her opponent, and not giving them the chance to fight back, even if it meant tiring herself out. Her attacks were always hard and heavy, and while not as fast as Van, she was quick to change her sword's trajectory to block an attack that should have hit. She had the basics down pat.

Soon, the both of them started to fight a little more in earnest, both annoyed that they haven't gotten one over the other yet. As the fight dragged out they were both more willing to harm each other more, but stayed away from making any attacks that went near the face, unless it was a feint.

Anna was like a rock, no matter what Van tried she wouldn’t budge, only taking a step back when necessary in order to avoid a flurry of attacks. Whenever he tried to defend an attack, it would feel like a boulder coming down on his sword as Anna put everything in every strike.

For Anna, Van was an enigma, her attacks were either met with nothing or a response that forced her to play defensively for a while as Van seemed to dance around her. Van used his whole body and an opportunity to get at her weak points, slowly trying to hit her in places that would open her up for future attacks, or even going for killing moves to end it quickly, making her feel unsafe.

Once they were both too exhausted to continue Alvaroz stepped in to stop the spar. Allowing both Van and Anna to fall to the ground once more.

“Well, that was an interesting fight.” Alvaroz said “I can already tell where the both of you went wrong.” turning to Anna “ Anna you have a good foundation when it comes to the basics, but you're a little stiff, you react well but don’t follow up on counter-attacking when you can, preferring to go back to your defensive position first. Not a bad thing but you could have ended the fight quicker had you moved out of your comfort zone.”

Turning to Van “ you, on the other hand, need to pay more attention to the basics, and build yourself a better foundation like Anna has. Though I admit you are far more fluid in fighting, use your body to its fullest, and are more willing to take risks in order to win as any good swordsman would do. You simply do not have the experience or the foundation for it. Train more and then try out new things, otherwise those with more experience than you will easily defeat you.”

“Both of you take a ten-minute break, and then we will see to fighting me, I’ll make sure to properly beat into you the experience you both need!” Alvaroz said, giving a feral smile, making both Van and Anna shiver.

An idea came to Van in the hopes of wasting time. “ hey, can you tell us about Aura again? I just want to make sure I have everything.” knowing full well that it would take a while for his father to talk about Aura and its applications. Then flopping onto his back to rest.

Alvaroz quirked an eye at that but decided to humor his son anyway. “Aura is the natural life force, vitality, willpower, and extension of the soul of a person. It's far more universal than those who can use mana. Anyone can learn it given enough time, unlike mana” he frowned.

“Aura is used to amplify the body of the user, it increases one’s speed and strength while at the same time protecting their body from attacks.” Alvaroz activated his own Aura. an almost transparent force surrounded him and followed his every move, almost like a skin-tight suit of armor. He then jumped and it was almost like he flew! Making Van sit up and Anna pay more attention.

Alvaroz landed surprisingly gently, with barely a sound. “It can be used to jump high up, run very far, or even make it so that you can move without a sound, block a sword with your bare hands, or cut through boulders. Every top-class warrior or anyone wishing to be a warrior has to learn aura, otherwise, they will never rise through the ranks to be the best.”

The aura surrounding Alvaroz changed color turning from transparent to a reddish transparent force. “Aura also has different colors, that do different things, and is sometimes based on a person’s personality, though that doesn't mean a person can’t learn all the colors of Aura.”

As the Alvaroz Aura grew redder, Van and Anna began to become more fearful, as if Alvaroz was mad at them, as if his eyes were raging. “Red Aura makes it so that one’s strength increases, it also increases one’s instinct for fighting, and is easier to use killing intent compared to the other aura’s to scare weaker willed people,” he said with a hint of bloodlust. “It's mostly for those who are battle junkies and are for those who it's easier to make angry.”

Alvaroz aura then changed to blue, making Van and Anna relax for a bit before feeling uncomfortable as Alvaroz eyes become more chilly and judgemental. As if he was seeing through them and putting them on scales and found them lacking. “Blue aura is for those who think more than act. Blue aura increases one’s speed, not just bodily but also mentally, allowing the user to see his opponents in slow motion, it also allows for more control over one’s own body and awareness of their surroundings. Its for people who plan more than fight on instinct or gut.”

Alvaroz turned off his aura making his students sigh in relief. “Those who practice red aura to its mastery can incase themselves in red fire, those who practice blue can do the same but with lighting. Allowing even those without magic to use the elements, in a fashion.” he beamed.

“Of course there are more colors than just red or blue, and you can even combine them such as turning red and blue into purple. Or just learn it as is. Colored aura is also a bit more draining than just using your natural transparent aura. But it's worth it, and given enough time, it will feel very natural. Of course, there is far more about aura, but it's probably best to save it for later when you start cultivating aura. Any questions?”

Van and Anna shared a worried look, unsure of what to say. They were both getting a little distracted near the end as something slowly took their attention away, even as they did their best to listen to everything Alvaroz was saying.

“Umm. dad? I thought we weren't expecting a fog storm for another week?” Van said pointing behind his father, and past the castle walls towards the forest where a rolling mass of black fog moved towards them like a giant wave. As if to punctuate what Van said a peal of thunder was heard from the direction of the fog. The Vampire lands were usually in a state of cloudy weather, but that didn’t mean that no one would notice a fog storm pulling upon them. Which only goes to show how unexpected it was.

Birds flocked into the castle walls. He could hear animals barking all over the castle and castle town, and banging was heard on the castle gates from many frenzied creatures. Alarms soon were raised, indicating that monsters were swarming the walls.

Alvaroz frowned and just as he was about to say something the sky turned grey. Not greyer, but grey in that sky lost its color. It was soon followed by a cracking sound turning Alvaroz face pale. The fog storm crashed into the magic shields of the walls, the walls prevented the fog from getting in, but that was not what worried him anymore. Crazy and unexpected weather, animals seeking shelter, followed by the sky turning grey and a cracking sound. There can only be one reason behind it all.

A Breaking.