The Tower King

With a mixture of curiosity and impatience, Sora wasn't quite sure what he was getting at with this second part of training. "What exactly will this second part consist of? Since the beginning, you've been going on and on about it, without really explaining what it's all about."

"Oh, I can see you're eager to learn more." Jarek replied, keeping his air of satisfaction. "I hope you're happy because you're going to be able to use your skill this time."

Surprised, Sora put his hand on his sacred sword while dropping his training weapon. "My weapon skill?"

"Of course, your weapon skill." Resumed Jarek, who seemed surprised by Sora's ridiculous question. "What other skill would you like me to talk about given that you have no Ushi?"

For a brief moment, Sora almost forgot that he was the only one who knew about his Collection and his Piercing Teeth skill. "Okay, but you said yourself it could be dangerous."

"Indeed," he replied while twirling his sword between his fingers in remarkable fashion. "But if used in a controlled manner, nothing harmful should happen to you."

Not really convinced by her statement, Sora stood up and took his sacred sword in his hands. "So, where should I use it?"

Sighing slightly, Jarek stepped closer to Sora and put his hand on the hilt of the sacred sword Sora was holding. "Relax, kid, I'm already going to explain what you need to do before you attack anywhere." He removed his hand, stepped back a few meters and faced Sora, his wooden sword pointed straight ahead. "First, you're going to attack me with all your might with your skill."

"Is that all?" Sora asked, not really understanding whether he was joking or not.

"Yes, yes, just use his skill. Don't worry about me, I should be able to stop him with this simple sword." Replied Jarek, who was already poised to stop the attack that was about to come straight at him.

Almost automatically, Sora stretched out his arm in front of him, concentrated and felt the heat irrigating his right arm. The heat wasn't as pleasant as it had been the first few times, probably because his arm hadn't yet fully healed. However, the heat was largely bearable, as if warm tingles were running through his flesh.

When he felt his arm starting to hurt too much, he released all his heat into his sword and a great white veil shot towards Jarek with impressive speed.

Apparently not really worried by the rapidly approaching attack, Jarek swept it away with a simple sweep of his sword before lowering his arm. "Hmm... It's not bad, but I expected a bit better."

Seeing Jarek stop his strongest attack, as if he'd just moved his arm, Sora felt his esteem drop. He understood all the more the difference between him and a Gold rank. He'd thought he'd improved, but to think that his most powerful skill hadn't even touched Jarek hurt him inside. "And then what? You only wanted to see how weak my skill was?"

Surprised by this reaction, Jarek didn't really understand why Sora had just asked him this question. "That wasn't my aim, kid. I stopped your attack, because it could have caused damage around us, so instead of complaining, you'd better stay focused."

"Okay, okay... I'll concentrate." He took a deep breath, trying to calm the anger rising inside him. His ego had been stung, but that wouldn't stop him from making progress. On the contrary, he was going to use this frustration to move forward.

Jarek, seeming to understand what was going on in Sora's head, gave him a gentle wave to come closer. "I think I've figured out how your skill works. Given the time you take before throwing it, you must be building up energy in your arm apparently, then releasing it fully into your sword. Am I right?"

Astonished by Jarek's ability to understand, Sora let his jaw drop slightly in surprise. "Yes, you guessed right. Basically, I store heat throughout my arm and, when it reaches a point where it burns me, I release it into my sword and that's when I cast my skill."

Not seeming surprised by Sora's explanation, Jarek thought for a few moments before finally leaning against the fence behind him. "Well, honestly, I think your skill has potential, but that you're using it too instinctively."

"What do you mean by instinctive?" He asked as he sat down on the floor.

Blowing out his nose, Jarek resumed. "Already, if you'd let me finish, maybe you'd understand. Firstly, do you know where that 'heat' you feel when you use your skill comes from? Have you ever thought about it at least once?"

Noting that he'd never really asked himself the question, Sora took the time to think about it seriously. The first time, his skill had gone off without him wanting it to, so he'd naively concluded that the heat appeared because he had the weapon in his hand, but come to think of it, sacred weapons only activate their skills when they've chosen their bearers. So that heat had to come from somewhere.

"I'd never really thought about it, but I think this 'heat' I'm feeling comes from my sword authorizing me to use its skill." Sora replied, while continuing to ponder the real source of this heat.

Satisfied with this answer, Jarek found himself smiling honestly at Sora's reply. "It's not totally inaccurate. The 'heat' you feel, as you call it, is in fact the Ushi. The Ushi from your sacred weapon enters your body, which then allows you to eject it to create your attack."

Jarek got to his feet and then began to draw vulgar diagrams on the earthen ground so that Sora could understand more easily. "Under normal circumstances, the Ushi of the sacred weapon enters into resonance with the Ushi of its user. Then, the user becomes a kind of catalyst for the weapon's Ushi and the two Ushi mix together, allowing the weapon to exploit its full potential. Normally, there's nothing dangerous about this. Except in two cases. Firstly, if the user uses the weapon's skill too often, residual Ushi from the weapon will remain trapped in the user's body, creating necrosis if this external Ushi is not ejected after a certain time. And in the second case, if the weapon's Ushi is too powerful compared to the user's Ushi, the catalyst that the user has become will give way, and in the worst case, death will intervene."

Numerous drawings appeared on the floor as Jarek continued his explanations. Sora, absorbed in these explanations, was finally beginning to understand how to use Ushi and seemed to be really enjoying this impromptu course Jarek was giving him.

"However," Jarek continued, scribbling again. "It would now seem that a third scenario is emerging, thanks to you. Since you have no Ushi, the weapon's Ushi enters your body, by whatever means, and your own body itself becomes the catalyst for your weapon. In fact, the 'heat' you feel is simply the accumulation of the weapon's Ushi in your arm. Well, when you put it like that, it's inaccurate. Rather, the 'heat' is the harmful reaction of the Ushi in your body. Basically, your body necroses every time you use your skill, which is why your arm became like burnt when you used it too much."

The flood of information entering Sora's mind stunned him for a few moments. He quickly summed it all up in a few sentences that he repeated inwardly. "Basically, I have a power that activates in an unknown way and every time I use it, I destroy my body little by little."

Noticing that Sora didn't really seem comfortable with this news, Jarek tried to reassure him. "But lucky for you, kid, I think I've found several ways to stop the necrosis, or at least slow it down."

Reassured, Sora stood up immediately, ready to listen to what Jarek had to say.

Seeing that he was eager to hear the answer, Jarek smiled slightly before resuming. "Already, the vials Ideor sold you can cure your necrosis, although there's no guarantee they'll work forever. What's more, there are other remedies that can help you heal. Spreading honey on your arm can help soothe the pain and reduce the burning. However, it won't remove the Ushi that's stuck in your arm."

"So at the moment, we have no way of curing me in the long term." Sora concluded, summing up what Jarek had just told him.

"If we stay on floor -5, effectively you won't be able to be treated for very long. But if we go to the upper floors, we'll be able to make your body immune to necrosis." Jarek replied confidently.

On hearing this, Sora asked himself several questions that he didn't dare ask Jarek, but he found it suspicious that he could say with certainty that he could be cured by going to the upper floors.

Suddenly, Jarek looked serious again and stopped drawing on the floor. "And to slow down the spread of your necrosis due to the Ushi of your sacred weapon, several options are also open to you. The first is to stop using your skill until you're healed, but I'm sure you won't accept that. So let's move straight on to the second. Use your skill before it burns your arm."