"No, place your foot at a forty-five-degree angle, not fifty. Again!" Leveness' stern words echoed throughout an enclosed chamber.
Xaryus and Zadius' Training began on the first day of the year. To their surprise, Captain Leveness had taken it upon herself to deliver their training.
During morning periods, they underwent combat practice, refining the skills already embedded in them.
After lunch, they studied theories surrounding spite and law. Many of which they briefly came across in their studies with Amber.
"Your combat prowess is formidable; you should be able to hold your own against awakeners an entire rank higher than you." Leveness praised Xaryus and Zadius with open arms.
"But we aren't guaranteed to win." Xaryus complained, groaning as he picked himself up from the ground.
A simple sword was tightly grasped in his hands and his eyes glowed with a bright yellow light; his body fueled by [Solaris].
Zadius stood beside him, daggers in hand and his body soaked in animus.
They stood alongside Leveness in her private training room beneath the Hold. It was a large room lined with a special material - void stone - to resist Leveness' powerful surges of animus.
At its center was a simple raised platform, surrounded by several racks of weapons.
"That is true, but if you only fight battles, you are sure of winning, you will never accomplish anything. To achieve greatness without risk is a fallacy of the weak hearted." Leveness responded, "Now, let us continue. Attack together." She ended.
Simultaneously, the brothers dashed towards Leveness and released a well-coordinated flurry of slashes, but it was not enough.
As if dancing, Leveness avoided all their attacks effortlessly, her amber, green eyes observing all their movements.
"She isn't even enhancing herself with animus!" Zadius frowned as he swung his daggers towards Leveness' chin.
Without difficulty, she dodged Zadius' attack, "They're already getting better." She thought to herself.
"Decent attempt. Now, go on the defensive."
Not giving Xaryus or Zadius ample time to think, her relaxed posture vanished and her center of gravity lowered. Although a minor change in demeanour, she looked as if she was cloaked in killing intent.
If she had exuded any of her animus and used Reiki, she could have incapacitated Xaryus and Zadius in a single moment.
As she stepped forward, Xaryus instinctively took a step back.
"Stand strong, Xaryus. Don't falter." Zadius instructed, barely keeping his composure amongst the thick killing intent.
Clutching his sword, Xaryus gritted his teeth and stepped behind his brother.
"Good. Fear clouds the mind and in turn your vision. And what happens when you cannot see what is before you?" Leveness questioned as she brought her fist down onto Xaryus.
Barely holding her fist back with his sword, Xaryus dropped to his knees and answered desperately, "They… die."
"Correct." Leveness briefly praised Xaryus before thrusting her knee into his stomach, lifting his body off the ground and launching him across the platform.
Shifting her attention from Xaryus to her second opponent, Leveness turned her head around to see Zadius mid-air, his daggers held tightly across his chest as he descended.
With a swift turn, she brought her heel to Zadius' chest, stopping his momentum. The blow echoed through his body as he sloppily fell to the ground.
***
As the months flew by, Leveness began to focus more closely on the use of animus and spite.
"Although your physical capabilities are nothing short of excellent, your understanding of animus is subpar in comparison. Each time you enhance yourselves with animus, you do so inefficiently. Don't simply send animus from your core to the desired body part and return it when done. To be as efficient as possible, circulate the animus around your body using blood vessels as a medium."
"Doing so would make the effects of enhancement much more noticeable. But it would also require more concentration, no?" Xaryus asked.
"Yes, it would bolster the effects of your enhancement, all while preventing the unnecessary loss of animus. Now, your next task is to comfortably circulate animus through your body under stressful scenarios." Leveness ended with a sly smirk.
***
The sly smirk she had worn on her face had long faded a few days after. She expected the training process to be short, but she expected them to grasp the technique in a week's time.
Personally, it had taken her two weeks to perfect it.
"Two days, it only took them two days!?"
"Their ability to grasp and apply concepts is amazing."
***
And just like that, two years quickly passed by.
Xaryus and Zadius slaved away, training day in and day out. Each one feeling like a hazed copy of the other, but they persevered.
The intense training consumed their minds, with each new month being harsher than the last. But as they continued forward, they found new strength.
That was when they achieved their first enlightenment, Xaryus had collapsed during training and Zadius followed suit a week later.
Whilst Xaryus was recovering and basking in his newfound abilities, Zadius was still under the effects of his enlightenment.
He was in the medical ward, laid soundly on a white sheeted bed.
"Keep growing, for my sake." Leveness uttered under her breath, her hand placed atop Zadius' chest.