Edmun found himself being truly surprised by Grey’s skill with a blade. He even wanted to take back his earlier assessments of the young man.
In terms of actual skill with a sword, Grey was actually quite lacking and didn’t even have an Ability directly related to it. If the old knight had to describe Grey’s combat style, he fought like a bare-knuckled mixed martial arts fighter that just so happened to have a blade in his hand.
And yet, rather than it feeling clunky and a mess, he effectively used the blade as an extension of his body. It wasn’t like he forgot the range he had, nor that he was holding a sharp weapon.
It was such an odd mix of things that Edmun didn’t even exactly know how to correct Grey at first, so he settled for just beating the boy up again, and again, and then again.
To Grey’s credit, he continued to stand up, a bloody grin on his face.
"Creepy as hell." the old knight muttered, but Grey was already charging again.
Slowly, the old knight was starting to understand Grey more and more, though. The young man’s battle sense was off the charts. Part of that was because of an Ability, but it went deeper than that.
Edmun could tell that Grey’s sense for space, for footwork, for timing and countering was all at a shockingly elite level for a Proving Class warrior. The boy definitely had some combat experience. And maybe even quite a lot of it.
If Grey was using his arms and legs, he would probably be even sharper. It was when it came to the blade that he was more heavily relying on his Ability to fill in the gaps for him.
That was why it seemed on the surface like Grey was fluid and skilled. But anyone with sight even a tenth as good as Edmun’s could already see all the faults and problems in his style.
The thing with Abilities was that they were only as good as their user could maximize them to effect change.
There was a range of how effective an Ability could be that was entirely dependent on the person in question. An Ability at the lowest ranges could be more like a remote control. There would be a time delay and dilation between when you wanted the effects and when you got them, as well as a variable difference in the outcome.
Those signals could be blocked, they could be warped or twisted.
On the higher end, though, it was more like physically pressing the button on a television with your own hands. The response was near immediate, it was tactile, it was repeatable and unblockable.
However, there was a higher level than even that, a level where the software within the television itself was primed and ready, its circuits plucked and the voltages changed on a whim for a variety of the same, but slightly different effects dependent on the situation.
Right now, Grey used Goblin Warlord Spirit a lot more like a remote control. He received an input from it, registered it, and then acted upon it.
It was still quite fast, and as it leveled up, it would only become less obvious.
However, this would only work against opponents whose usage of their Abilities was equally as bad or were tiers beneath him.
Interestingly enough, Grey’s use of his Vampire Lord Abilities was far greater and was at the very least at the level of using them akin to physical buttons on the television itself.
He did this innately by sensing the ebbs and flows of the Vampire Lord Frame, and acting accordingly with it. This tuned him to their frequency with much greater sharpness.
Unfortunately, Goblin Warlord Spirit didn’t have a Frame to attach it to, so Grey was only using it passively.
This was also why it had been stuck at Level 5 for so long before it reached Level 6. The less control one had over their abilities, the more beholden said Abilities were to the limitations of their stats. Stats themselves could be considered to be yet another limitation on the signal between man and Ability.
These three levels of Ability Control were known as Passive Link, Active Link, and Core Syncing.
Core Syncing was further separated into percentages much like one would have a Sync Rate for their mechs and Frames. But in order to even reach such a level you had to progress through Passive Link, forward to Active Link, and only then could you gain such a chance.
Grey knew exactly none of this, but that was why Edmun was here.
...
BANG.
Grey was sent flying once more, his back crashing into the wall. He wanted to get up, but he simply couldn’t. His body weighed him down far too much.
He checked his stamina, but before he could even make it that far, he passed out.
Grey had no idea how long he spent unconscious, but when he finally did wake up, he found that there was an IV in his arm and energy brimming through his body.
’I’m in the hospital? Fuck me, did that old man have to go that hard?’
Checking his body, Grey realized that he didn’t actually have any aches or bruises. There were no signs of broken bones or soft tissue injuries. In fact, he felt great, better than he had in a long time.
It was hard to feel great when you didn’t get much sleep or food either. When was the last time he slept? When was the last time he ate, for that matter?
Right now he felt like he had gotten a lot of both. This IV drip probably wasn’t just for hydration, there were probably a ton of nutrients being pumped into him as well.
"You’re alive." Edmun said with a chuckle.
Grey looked over at the old knight. "Why do you sound so surprised? Were you trying to kill me? What kind of master are you?"
Edmun chuckled. "I don’t have a real understanding of you. I needed to push you to your limits and break past them to get that understanding. Now that I have it, we can begin."
Grey’s lip twitched. They hadn’t started yet?