Kael had them sheathing their weapons and putting them aside. After that, he had them stand up facing him.
"What I want to teach you now is essence manipulation, and it's called essence cloak. It's one of the easiest ways of using essence. You just cover yourself with your essence energy," Kael said.
To demonstrate, Kael spread his hand and red energy snapped around him. His cloak whipped around him as the air kicked up around him.
The red essence was like a shroud surrounding him. Azaroth watched the essence energy compress and fit around Kael like a second skin. You could barely see the red outline on his skin.
"This is full essence cloak, as it covers my whole body. Every inch of my body is covered, including my hair and clothes. It won't take too much essence to power it, but this full cloak is useless against powerful attacks." Kael lifted his hand, and all the essence moved to his right fist.
Only his fist was covered, and it glowed like burning metal. "Another way to use it is called partial cloak, where you choose a part of your body to focus your essence on. This one takes much essence to use. Watch."
Kael chose a wooden target that was in the far corner and punched the air from his place. The air shimmered, and a forced shockwave blasted the wooden dummy to splinters.
"It is worth it though, don't you agree?" Kael grinned.
Azaroth could see the destructive power of that technique, and it hadn't even been a physical attack. Another thing he noticed was the amount of power Kael had used. It wasn't on the same level he could use now.
"Wow! Can I do that too?" Alex asked, calling energy into his fist. It was like wrapping a fog around his fist.
Kael grunted. "You can, but your core isn't powerful enough. This is not a skill. Any Awakener worth his salt should be able to use this. Now. Be. Silent."
Stallus rolled her eyes as Alex made a sad face and dissolved his essence energy.
"You can use it on your leg." The essence energy disappeared, and Kael lifted his boot to show how his foot to his ankle glowed. "You can choose where to put it and what to do with it depending on your fighting style."
Then Kael... disappeared.
"How did Kael disappear..." Alex stumbled back in shock as Kael appeared in front of him. "What!"
Kael disappeared again. The wooden floor in front of Alex had a footmark burned into it, turning it black.
Azaroth saw it. Kael didn't just disappear; he was simply so fast. He was so fast it looked like he disappeared.
Stallus sucked in a sharp breath as she figured it out. "So fast," she mumbled.
Kael appeared back in his place. "Are you getting it now? The more ranks you advance, the more powerful you get. The faster and stronger you can become. I will go slower this time."
With that, Kael launched himself upward with force. He slammed into the ceiling with his leg and jumped to the side wall, then to the right wall—all this in seconds.
He was a blur, and what surprised Azaroth was that he made no sound. A true Hound, he thought. The assassin that can kill you before you even know what hit you.
"Everything depends on how you use it. You will be trained in everything, of course, but you will have your specialty," Kael said.
"Another thing essence energy can do without the application of skill is shields and pressure. Shield will have to wait till your Initiate level, but let me show you essence pressure," Kael's voice was dark.
Red energy flared around Kael Hound so suddenly that the air cracked, and everyone stumbled back as they were pushed by the force of it.
A pressure like a giant invisible hand slammed into them, and they all bent with the force.
"What is this!" Alex said, straining against the invisible force bending him down.
"Essence pressure!" Stallus shouted, clenching her jaws as the pressure increased.
Catena grunted, visibly struggling to stay upright.
Azaroth clenched his teeth as the pressure kept increasing. It was like a too-heavy load lay sprawled over him.
"Oh... you guys are good. What if I increased the pressure?" Kael's aura flared brighter.
Alex slammed into the floor first, cursing as his chin hit the wooden ground with a crack. He lay sprawled, breathing heavily.
Catena followed next, and he just folded into himself.
Sweat beaded on Stallus's face and neck, but down she went too.
Only Azaroth remained half-standing, his fists clenched and his jaws tight. The pressure increased, and his backbone began to ache with the strain. His veins stood visibly against his skin now as he resisted with every inch of him.
"So you are the last one standing, that's great. You have great potential, but you haven't taken half of my essence pressure," Kael said.
The pressure increased sharply, and pain bloomed in Azaroth's head as he found himself on the floor. He groaned as the pressure vanished completely.
"Oh! You all did well. More than I expected. You can tell the power and rank of an Awakener by their essence pressure. It is also the easiest way to defeat those at lower ranks. Of course, the closer the rank is to you, the less effective."
Kael's voice carried a smile. "It is a good flexing method though. You can flex just how powerful you are with it."
Azaroth sat up, wiping sweat from his face with his uniform tunic. That had been a really interesting experience, and it just showed how powerful his enemies were.
He clenched his fist. He had to surpass that.
"Damn! It was like being kicked by a horse," Alex groaned and rolled on the floor.
Stallus sighed. "Don't be too dramatic."
Catena just lay folded where he was. Maybe the tall boy had even slept off.
"That's not dramatic! It was like three horses were kicking me from above!" Alex whined.
Kael clapped. "Time to start training your essence cloak."
Azaroth sighed, and even Stallus groaned.