At the start of my second month at the Academy, I finally decided that I'd start attending my classes.
Joining a new batch of sleepers, I walked towards a large dojo.
Honestly, I hadn't planned on attending any combat related classes thinking that it would be useless for me.
After studying for an entire month in the library, my thoughts had changed slightly.
I still hadn't been able to grasp what essence was.
I had absolutely no experience with it at all.
I hoped that by observing the other students during the combat classes, i'd be able to understand how awakened utilized essence when they fought, and at the same time hopefully find a workaround for my flaw.
Until now, I had been more focused on suppressing the effects of my flaw, and honestly, it wasn't working out too well. No matter how level headed I was, the flaw induced an almost involuntary social anxiety. My brain and body acted independently of one another, my brain reacting and processing like normal, but my body reacting to the gazes of others with trembling, sweats, and a terrible nervousness.
If things remained as they were, I wouldn't be able to fight well in crowded areas, much less defend myself properly against another person.
While this introductory combat class wouldn't be teaching me anything about fighting, I could use it as a testing ground for ways to combat my flaw and understand the properties of soul essence.
Suppressing my presence, I silently walked into the dojo alongside the other sleepers while looking around.
Along the walls were racks of wooden practice weapons.
At the end of the hall, there was a large machine with a wide plate attached to it.
The wooden floors were worn, white lines indicating areas for sparring.
The air smelled like a locker room, deodorant, sweat, and feet creating a stuffy atmosphere.
'It definitely smells like a dojo.' I couldn't help but think.
Once we had all gathered inside the room, the awakened instructor had us form a line in front of the machine i had seen earlier.
We were told to hit the plate attached to the machine as hard as we could, the machine calculating the force and providing a numerical value that'd be used to assign us into groups.
One by one, sleepers punched the plate, most of them scoring around 8-12.
With the exception of a few, most of the sleepers present had little to no training, the lack of technique evident in their form.
Some with combat aspects were able to enhance their punches, scoring far higher than those with utility or sorcery based aspects.
As I stepped up to hit the machine, nausea and anxiety took over my mind, the stares of the sleepers and the instructor weighing down on my shoulders.
'This was gonna be a problem.'
I kept up my poker face, but internally I was panicking.
My attribute held firm, but I could feel my control over my aura slipping, a bit of it unconsciously leaking out as I walked towards the machine.
Without much preparation, I threw a straight, controlled jab at the metallic plate, the sound of my fist contacting the plate resounding in the dojo.
My face contorted in dissatisfaction.
I had lost control of my aura.
Even if it was only for a brief moment, the feeling of my aura leaking out wasn't pleasant in the slightest.
I had been overwhelmed by the effects of my flaw, confirming my weakened combat ability in crowded areas.
The machine trembled for a bit before taking a little while to calculate, the machinery whiring to life.
A large number 18 flashed across the display, placing me at the top of the class.
Taking a step back, the stares of the other sleepers intensified, whispers and murmurs filling the room.
At this point, it took all my conscious effort to suppress the crippling anxiety from tearing through my composure.
I closed my eyes, cold sweat starting to gather at my brow.
This was a learning experience, I had to get used to the effects of my flaw or else my combat ability would be compromised.
I had blocked out most outside stimuli, waiting patiently for the tests to be over and the next segment of the class to begin.
After the last sleeper struck the metal plate, the instructor, an Awakener named Rock, gathered us together once more.
"Alright, now that we've finished that, let's move onto sparring so I can evaluate the extent of all of your training."
As the one who scored the highest in the striking test, I was brought to the front of the room alongside the second highest scoring sleeper.
We each picked a weapon of our choice before we faced off against one another.
My face was a mask of utter detachment, my eyes gleaming with a cold lilac light.
Internally though, I was still fighting the anxiousness that was thumping inside my chest.
My opponent was around the same height as me. They had dull black hair and soft brown eyes, their pupils darting around my figure, assessing me.
They readied their weapon, a long polearm type weapon, tension rippling underneath their clothing.
The wooden sword in my hands remained lowered, the wooden blade too thin to be a longsword yet too thick to be an estoc.
"The rules are simple, throw your opponent out of the ring, knock them down, or force them to surrender. You can use your aspect and whatever other abilities you find necessary."
My opponent remained solemn, their face sharp with focus.
I, however, was quite distracted, the intensity of everyone's gazes amplifying the effects of my flaw.
Biting back my nausea, I turned my attention back to my opponent, my eyes glittering with a faint amythest light.
Sharpening my senses, I tried to detect even a trace of soul essence in his frame.
Unfortunately, my search had come up empty, my senses perceiving nothing out of the ordinary with the person before me.
Everyone's eyes were on us as the instructor initiated the spar.
My opponent blurred into motion, his feet blurring as he practically flew at me.
I stood completely still, my eyes still locked onto his figure, still trying to sense the essence nestled deep within his body.
Tilting my head slightly in place, i dodged a thrust aimed at my face.
Rotating his body, my opponent readjusted, launching a swift slash at my torso.
Simply taking a step back, I completely avoided his attack the tip of the spear like weapon whooshing past me harmlessly.
Quickly gathering himself, my opponent launched a flurry of attacks, the thrusts and slashes of his polearm drawing vicious lines and arcs in the air.
My footwork was rhythmic, the sound of my steps echoing in the large dojo.
Playing around with the distance, I kept him at a range, idly dodging or sidestepping his strikes while subtly probing his body for any signs of the mysterious soul energy.
I hadn't raised my weapon since the start of the spar, the wooden sword in my hand still pointed near the ground.
My opponent, growing increasingly frustrated at his inability to land a blow on me, charged at me once more, this time, however, something was a bit different.
I could feel it, a dull neutral energy had gathered near the core of his body.
In an instant, the dull energy changed, a light breezy feeling overriding the dullness from before.
My opponent, activating his aspect ability, flew towards me far faster, boosted by a tailwind of his own creation.
For the first time since the spar began, I raised the wooden sword in my hand.
Charging towards me, the spearman before me pivoted his back foot, rotating his body into a straight thrust aimed at my sternum.
Drawing a slow, gentle arc with the tip of my sword, I intercepted the tip of the polearm, redirecting the force of the strike towards the wooden floor.
I guided his polearm, the tip of the spear striking the ground as I closed distance, the length of my blade closing in on his throat.
My opponent pushed off the ground, pulling back his arm as he desperately tried to avoid the encroaching edge of my blade.
Unfortunately for him, I was too close.
In a fraction of a second, the tip of my blade was pointed at his adams apple, ending the spar.
After we saluting one another, the spearman stepped off stage as the hulking figure of my next opponent walked towards the racks lining the sides of the dojo, picking up a large mace like weapon.
I was getting a little more used to fighting under the effects of my flaw, the nervousness throbbing in the pit of my stomach.
My new opponent stepped into the circle, a hulking mass of muscles and tan skin standing before me.
Getting ready, he gripped the wooden mace he'd picked with both hands, his mouth contorting into a sneer.
Instructor Rock initiated the spar once more, his voice booming across the dojo as the sleeper before me readied himself.
Wasting no time, the hulking mass infront of me started his advance, his heavy steps shaking the wood floor.
I felt it once more, that dull energy I had perceived earlier was once again gathering in my opponents core, the dullness giving way to something different.
In a way, it felt similar to the way you created sword aura from mana. Sword aura was ultimately the manifestation of your will, you dyed the mana in your heart with your budding imagery, creating an offshoot of mana that coated your body and blade in a sharp aura.
The energy filling my opponent's core changed properties before rushing towards his upper body.
His biceps swelled, his pecs inflating like balloons.
Before I knew it, a swole mess of upper body muscles was running at me, mace raised high above their head.
As walmart Arnold Schwarzenegger swung his mace down at my head, I side stepped, the spiked head of the mace colliding with the wooden floor.
I simply swung my blade lightly at his knee, the edge of the blade digging into his ACL as he fell on his face.
Clearly, this guy skipped leg day.
The sparring continued, sleeper after sleeper stepping up to the ring to challenge me.
By the end of the class, I had remained untouched, no strike having even grazed my clothing.
As soon as the spars were over, I promptly hung the sword I had been using back onto the racks lining the walls, and left, completely lost in thought.
From what I've seen, Soul essence operates very similarly to mana.
In order to use your abilities, you had to change the properties of the energy, filling it with some kind of intent to achieve your desired result.
They were both, for all intents and purposes, blank canvas'.
I still had to figure out where they differed, and why I couldn't use soul essence at the moment, but at the very least now I had an inkling of insight into what exactly soul essence was.
With those thoughts in mind, I made my way towards the cafeteria once more, eagerly awaiting supper.
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(A/N: This chapter took a little bit more thought imo.
I wanted to expand a little bit more on the properties and use of soul essence.
After checking the Wiki, it simply described soul essence as mystical spirit energy that was inside an awakened soul core.
That definition would normally be more than enough, but with the nature of east asian fantasy novels, especially those that deal with concepts like "intent" or "will", it would've been hard to equate mana to soul essence without soul essence sounding inferior.
Basically, I'm just adding on a little bit to the definition to make it a more even.
I'm still wrapping my head around the intricacies of both power systems, so please bare with me as I iron out some mistakes.
If you guys catch anything that's wrong in the context of shadow slave feel free to comment!
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!)