The Walker Of Voids

Lloyd had awoken a few hours later, yet even though he felt like sh*t, Hime did not spare him a second glance before taking him back to the field and beginning his training again, this time without beating the absolute crap out off him.

She continued to tell him the advantages that mammalfolk have over humans, such as muscle and bone density, as well as better vision depending on the species, and better instincts.

The goal of her training was to teach Lloyd how to fight like a monster without truly becoming one. The power to balance his animalistic instincts with his humane mind, allows him to strategize and use certain techniques without having to truly think about it.

It reminded Lloyd of a form character in a still ongoing anime from the 1990s where a man would shout a lot and change the color of his hair a lot. All in all, what Hime described was a more animalistic version of ultra instinct, but if he told her that, he felt it would have ended well for him.

After Hime's long and tiring session, Lloyd was given a few minutes to rest while slowly being nursed by Hime the same way she had nursed him after he took the beating from Felix.

After Hime left, Rex seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, literally flickering into existence right in front of Lloyd, yet even though most would have been surprised by his sudden appearance, Lloyd had a feeling that he was going to do something like that.

"Yo..." Lloyd waved before taking a few steps back since they were way too close to one another.

"Oh... Yo..." Rex replied, feeling a little awkward at the fact that his intimidation tactic didn't work.

"..."

"..."

"Anyway, I'm going to train your body, teach you how to unleash and control your spiritual aura, while also teaching you a few human martial arts." Rex announced before putting both his fists had his side in a martial arts pose that Lloyd had seen in both anime and real life.

"Spiritual aura? Surprisingly, I've literally never heard of it."

"Well, let me explain. Auras are split into two categories. Mana auras and spiritual aura."

"Okay..."

"While mana aura is the visual manifestation of your mana pool and affinity, spiritual auras are the visual representation of your soul and your will."

"What about killing intent then?" Lloyd asked.

"Killing intent and bloodlust are both parts of someone's spiritual aura. It is the reason why killing intent strengthens as someone ages, improves mentally and spiritually, and even when someone goes through either mental or physical trauma.

That is why those who go through more battles are more likely to have a power aura and presence. It is also why some 4th commandments can drop an entire legion to their knees with their killing intent alone, while other 4th commandments can barely intimidate someone of a lower commandment without using their mana aura."

"Okay, but I still don't understand why you are trying to teach me about spiritual aura. Most people don't know about it, but they are fine. Its more of a natural thing, right?" Lloyd asked with narrowed eyes.

"I'm not teaching you about spiritual aura for the sake of it; I am teaching you about it so you can control it." Rex smiled while Lloyd simply shrugged.

Despite Lloyd's initial suspicion, his 6 hours of training with Rex felt like 2 as, for once, since having come to this hell hole, he actually began enjoying what he was doing.

Lloyd had always been fascinated by martial arts since both of his parents had been martial arts masters yet, for reasons he could not understand, had always refused to teach him anything other than his father's sword style.

This meant that he would have had to read about martial arts from the internet, and since he's never truly had a master to train him, this was one of the first times in his life where he actually enjoyed being taught by someone rather than learning everything all by himself.

Rex, seeing that Lloyd had an affinity for some of the martial arts he knew, chose to start by teaching them to him rather than going straight into the deep stuff.

Martial arts include Tactical Taekwando, Celestial Kung Fu, Baguazhang, and Boxing.

While the first half of those were simply martial arts that had been adapted to the use of mana and the exceeding capabilities of the human body after their awakening, the second half was martial arts that had very little change over the years.

Of course, the changes to the human body made it nearly impossible for martial arts to remain the same, but despite such a large change in the anatomy of those who use martial arts, the basics remained completely the same.

While on the one hand, boxing was and has always been one of the key core martial arts when competing in mixed martial arts battles, Baguazhang was one of the martial arts that actually improved in strength after mana awakened onto the human race.

Due to the use of palms rather than fists and knuckles, it quickly became one of the key martial arts for defense, while also exceeding in the attack section, especially when the user of the martial artist knows how to control their mana and has a talent with their elemental affinity since the combination of the two can create powerful techniques.

"Alright. You know the basics for now. You don't really have time to practice it, but I am certain that you'll get the hang of it by tomorrow." Rex smiled and gave Lloyd a big thumbs-up.

"I still don't understand why Hime didn't just split up the training regiment into days rather than hours." Lloyd sighed before collapsing onto the ground. Rex had chosen to finish 30 minutes early to allow Lloyd to breathe without worrying about being punched in the gut.

"What do you mean?" Rex asked with a tilt of his head.

"Wouldn't it make more sense to make it day-to-day rather than into 6 hours segments? There are 7 of you guys. It could have easily been split into the days of the week without forcing all of you to train me every single day. Also, I would have longer breaks.

Therefore I would also have longer to think about your teachings and practice in the days between without having to run into our moving time..."

"Now that you say it like that... It does seem kind of stupid." Rex scratched his head while chuckling awkwardly.

"Oh well." Lloyd shrugged before closing his eyes and entering a state of meditation in what felt like an instant.

Fire elemental particles began slowly entering his body before moving through it as if a set channel was in place that gradually led towards the orange rune. Every single particle gave it strength and power, making it a little stronger every time Lloyd cultivated it.

"What is he doing?" A feminine voice entered Rex's ears. Turning around, Rex looked into pair of brown eyes hiding behind large round spectacles before a soft smile appeared on his face.

"Hey, Tina. What's up?" Rex smiled.

"Oh... U-Uhm. I felt a weird type of cultivation, but I guess its only him." She stuttered.

"Oh, really?" Rex stared at Lloyd for a bit before looking back at Tina.

They continued to chat idly, and despite Tina's natural awkwardness, it did not take more than a few minutes for her to calm herself down and speak in a way that resembled a normal human being.

30 minutes passed in the blink of an eye; before Lloyd knew it, he was softly kicked awake by Hime before being swiftly taken away to the other side of the camp, where he found himself standing before Lachlan.

Lachlan was wearing a black trenchcoat just like the rest of them, but just like Hime and Roderic, he was also wearing his military uniform under it, which proudly showed his badges.

After looking him up and down, Lloyd had an inkling that Lachlan didn't like him. Everything from the crossed arms that indicated that he was closed off from Lloyd to the frown on his face that explained how he was feeling, everything about Lachlan told Lloyd that he didn't like him, even more so than Felix.

'Makes sense, I guess. I literally demoted him; now that he is training me on his own, he is probably gonna use me like a punching bag.' Lloyd sighed before accepting the situation at hand.

"Make sure to have fun you too." Hime smiled and flickered away just as fast as she had come.

"Let's get this over with shall we." Lloyd spoke with a deadpan expression while getting into a fighting position, yet Lachlan raised his hand to stop him.

"I know you think I hate you, and even though I don't like you, I won't beat you up over it. Me stepping down was a unanimous decision, and I am more than willing to accept that." Lachlan explained before crossing his arms again.

"Oh... Thanks." Lloyd tilted his head a little, but despite hearing Lachlan out, he wasn't one to trust someone with a frown on his face so easily.

"Hime wants me to teach you about your shadow affinity, but I'm going to do a little more than that." Lachlan began to stride towards Lloyd. His strides were short and silent, something that gave them an extra danger to them that made Lloyd feel on edge.

"First, what are shadows." Lachlan asked.

"The absence of light?" Lloyd replied, a little confused by the simple question, yet Lachlan shook his head.

"Wrong. Darkness is the absence of light."

"Aren't they the same thing?" Lloyd raised a brow.

"Then why is your ability not called darkness control. Better yet, why can't you control darkness? But for some reason, you can enter and control your own shadow."

"Actually, my powers are stronger in the dark. I am stronger in the dark, and my shadow abilities are given a speed boost." Lloyd replied with a sneer in his voice.

"Correct, but now where in that entire explanation did you mention that you could control darkness in any shape or form. You can control your shadow, and your shadow just gets a little bigger when you are in darkness." Lachlan explained while raising a finger.

'He actually makes a pretty good point... I don't really remember reading about this though.' Lloyd inwardly thought but stayed quiet so Lachlan could complete his explanation.

"The shadow element is a branch of the darkness element. Well, it's one of the many branches of the darkness element. You have things such as soul manipulation, sorcery, and many more branches, shadows being one of them.

Most branches break down into even more departments, like soul manipulation, which breaks down into possession, necromancy, and even soul devouring." Lachlan explained before stopping 3 meters away from Lloyd, who had completely relaxed at this point, or at least that's how it seemed on the surface.

While Lloyd knew that he did not have the ability to run away from a second commandment if he truly wanted to attack him, Lloyd still took a few precautions that would help him in his escape, or at least to the point where he might be capable of calling out for help.

"Shadows aren't just the absence of light.

They are living beings. They are the part of you that you shun away."