The battle raged on, that much was clear from the projection.
After the command room had slowly grown quieter, the frantic pace that filled it earlier had now calmed into something more controlled. Officers still moved between their station and holographic projection still displayed the ever changing battlefield. But the urgency from earlier had faded with the two sides at an equal stalemate at least in regard to their navy.
The image of Ulix's map was slowly changing, with the area now confirmed to be fully taken by Voss increasing by the hours. Voss had secured the air power over that area and its ground forces were slowly extended to take more land.
Still, many Ulix forces held their ground, trying to keep them at bay. Voss, with firm backing and a solid position to hold from, found it easy to keep its own troops supported.
Ulix, by contrast, was less stable. When pushed back, it took time for them to stabilize a new position to hold from.
This allowed Voss to take in more land.
Voss maintained its hold over several regions on and above Ulix, thus allowing transports to continue descending toward the surface with trooper reinforcements and their own transports to even the playing field.
Ulix eventually realised it was in their interest to strengthen their front lines. So, they began establishing bases that would serve to hinder Voss's advances like a mountain.
Wein stood near the projection to see the battlefield more clearly. His arms folded loosely as he observed in silence. Rathern's attack on the outskirts was damaging but he was held back firmly by the fleet there. Still even Voss did not have the advantage there, they could only take attacks and give them back.
On above Ulix-Ultra it was the same, the fleet could not advance further and was held back by Ulix. Ulix fortunately could not repel them using cannons any longer, the only movable front was the ground force.
It was beginning to look like the war would not end in a matter of days, such was the case with ground wars compared to space battles.
Seeing the whole battle, Wein had no choice but to silently commend Velis for her leadership. She had done a great job, by splitting Ulix's fleet and holding both the land and sky she'd gained, he had made the right call in giving her authority.
Wein remained standing for a moment longer, watching the shifting battlefield, around him, officers received report updates. He realised and accepted that for what it was the war was going the right direction.
Velis had the situation well in hand, her fleet had stabilised the front and the rear, securing the foothold necessary for the campaign to continue. From this point onward the war would be carried out on ground by their Troopers already in position.
His presence in the command room was never going to change that, like everyone else he was only hoping that Voss's forces would succeed and that Velis's leadership would come on top.
Wein exhaled softly and stepped back.
He was not needed there. Velis was more than capable of this and if they needed him, what could he offer currently to the war. Nothing, the only thing he could do was grow stronger himself.
He turned away and exited, behind him his guards were positioned and immediately followed.
As the doors slid closed behind them, the noise faded and silence followed. The passageway was calmer, the lights on the walls softly glowed across the walls of the room. Servants and crew members moved through the corridors moving crates and furniture around.
They were quiet and disciplined in their tasks.
Wein paid them no mind and began walking without hurry, Vaelstine was still in his hand and for a time, his thoughts drifted back to the manual and the sword forms. It had been some time, he would need to return to his training soon.
His walk eventually led him to a training area in the mansion. It was clean and spotless but had been unused for years. It was spacious and on the walls were different kinds of weapons ranging from long staff, short staff, swords, and bows.
They did catch Wein's attention because even though they were training weapons, their design and look were enough for him to deduce that they were made by a great blacksmith.
He stepped further into the training hall, the unique metal smell immediately filled his nose and followed by the quiet of the room. Behind him, he could hear, the guards breathing as they stood watch, he had forbidden them from entering and watching.
He took a minor tour through the room, walking over to the shelves with the weapons. Most of the weapons were metal but a few were wooden, some form different kinds of wood.
He carefully placed Vaelstine on the side and began disrobing until he was in his loosened shirt and pants. Then he grabbed a wooden sword by the handle, feeling the cold wood on his hand.
Then he walked to the centre of the room, standing in front of a great large glass that showed the outside into the room. The light hit the polished floor below him and the moon light basked over him like a waterfall.
Wein remained stationary there, in that light. At the corner of his eye, he could see the horizon slightly golden. It was dawn, he had spent the entire night awake but strangely he did not feel tired nor sleepy.
He swung the sword around, just to ready his body and then he took a deep breath followed by a slow exhale.
As the air slowly left his lungs, he simply stood there for a moment. Feeling the air on his skin, the weight of the wooden blade in his hand, his heartbeat and alignment with the weapon.
He lowered his shoulders and relaxed his stance.
The manual surfaced in his thoughts. The words and forms almost echoing in his mind. He stepped forward.
Form One, First stance: Open Guard
He did so, once more his posture felt unnatural. His body wanted to lean forward slightly, a habit born from battlefield where instinct was used more but the stance demanded something else.
Wein adjusted his footing again and tried again until he moved with a slow horizontal cut, a blade that swept through the air. Wein could see that it was slightly lacking somewhere, but as with everything with practice, it would get better.
The manual had described this as one of the foundations for both Falling Leaves and Rain Drop, only after mastering them could he move to more complex forms. That would take quite a while, he moved to the other form.
Form One, Second Stance: Guard Transition.
Here Pivot, Blade sweep and reverse stance.
This time too, he was not perfect but his body moved all the same, the two stances were part of the same form and needed to be used concurrent. He tried to do it, moving to the next after finishing the first.
With the blade sweep, Wein could see the wooden sword swoosh through the air like a flowing river. He could see the intricate connection between the two stances and could only imagine the other three stances.
Form One, Third Stance: Guard Repel
Form One, Fourth Stance: Guard Push
Form One, Fifth Stance: Guard Dodge
The three stances as their names suggested were unique, the third focused on deflecting attacks. This meant diagonal slashes from all directions with concurrent sword movement.
The fourth, push relied on power, forcing the enemy back with a straight strike, blowing them off centre or their weapons away. Here, a strike was for forcing enemy to be defensive while pressing on.
And finally the fifth was rooted in being agile, this lay in using the body to avoid attacks, be it bending to miss a horizontal attack, dodging sideways to dodge a vertical attack.
These five stances formed the basis of the first form which was guard and next would be the second form. This one for attack.
Wein tried once more to perform these stances concurrently, one after the other and it was harder than expected. The cause was because there was no one to train with him and he was just dodging air but that was the point of the stance.
So he tried once again from First stance. Left foot forward, right foot angled and spine straight with the wooden blade raised above his head. He inhaled slowly and then moved.
Horizontal cut, pivot, sweep, and reverse stance. After regaining firm balance, repulsion attacks and then push followed by dodging all the way back to earlier stance.
The sequence was still rough but he could see the entire picture. Each movement flowed better his head and his body was beginning to remember. His muscles began trembling, not from weakness, but the speed he forced on himself. Over and over, even as exhausted crept in, his movements grew cleaner.
With each slash and dodge, facing an enemy that was not there he could feel his blood boiling and his Divine Core pulse once more. A small surge flowed through his veins and his eyes narrowed.
He felt like striking with all his might, a single clean diagonal slash outside of the forms and he did so. He threw his entire weight into the swing, as if a power would be released from him.
The slash was clean, the best he had ever done, even as a trooper. A smile filled his face.
His chest compressed and expanded erratically. Sweat dripping down his face but he stood there just as the sun shone through the giant window.