"So first things first. Have you ever heard about the multiplication table?"
"What even is that? An ancient spell? I have no clue." Eve looks very confused
Elyon sighs, "No, I will teach you."
He pulls a coin. "See this coin? How many am I holding?"
"Uhh, one?"
"Correct, now"
He pulls another coin and puts it on top of the first one.
"How many now?"
"Two"
"Good, that's addition. Now I will show you multiplication."
"Why do I even need to know this stuff? Will it help me kill someone better?"
"No, but if I don't teach you. You won't understand why I can do this." Elyon's irises turn to "50" and the two coins transform into a hundredth coin.
"Oh my god, okay, okay, teach me." Eve looks genuinely interested now. Her sword discarded on the ground. Eve's greed is boundless.
Elyon picks up the two coins. "You know, I think I have a better approach. What's five multiplied by two?"
"How should I know?"
"Add two plus two for five two's in total."
Eve looks at her hands and begins to count "Two, four, six, eight...ten. It's ten?"
"Good job, this is multiplication. Now four multiplied by seven."
Eve thinks for a long while, her fingers working overtime. "Twenty-eight."
"four multiplied by twenty-one"
"eighty-one"
Elyon freezes for a moment "....It's eighty-four, but let's say you got the hang of it. Well, in short, that is my power. Multiplication. I can take an object, emotion or, in a more dire situation, a concept and multiply it by however much I want it. And when I do it, my pupils change to display that number."
Eve's eyes widen in shock and respect. "You...are busted."
"Pretty much, but I don't really use my power that much. I only multiply my food or money. Oh yes, I forgot." The coins that are on the ground disappear without a trace, leaving only a patch of grass in their wake. "I can cancel my ability."
Eve looks at the ground, where the bundle of coins were a moment ago. She almost sheds a tear.
"Why would you do that? I could've gotten so much food with that." her voice quivering.
"No matter, we can get as much food as you want. Now, should we start your real training?"
"Yeah, but I want to know something. Back when we first met, how did you block my attack?"
"Oh, that, I just multiplied the air density and mass by twenty-five. That can make an almost solid wall. That wall is basically my only defence ability. I haven't thought of something else yet."
"You are a weird guy, you know that. Who in the hell manages to control the mass of air? Ugh, let's start the training already. And what will you even do to help me train?"
"It's very simple, really. I can't really fight. So I will just use my ability"
Elyon's irises turn to "2" and suddenly there are two Eves. The original Eve turns to her clone, and her clone does the same. Then both of them turn back to Elyon. A flawless copy that mirrors the original perfectly.
"What the hell is this?" They say in perfect unison.
"Your training partner."
"But it's me? How am I supposed to fight myself?" both of them say angrily.
"With your swords, duh."
Both Eves stare in Elyon's soul without saying a word.
"W-what? Think about it, this world is full of people with weird powers. You can't train yourself to defeat every type. The best way to do it is by knowing yourself first. Know your habits and how you can exploit them yourself. Your strengths, memorise them by heart. Your weaknesses learn them even more thoroughly. And then later, you can think about fighting other people, then gods."
Both Eves sigh, "Fine, you make a good point. But I am bound to hurt myself, probably badly. And can you be sure I don't kill myself? What will you do then?"
Elyon pulls out a pencil, "I was going to get there" He walks over to the original and the clone. "Which one is the real you so I can mark you?"
"I am!" Both of them say simultaneously.
"Oh damn, well. Uhh...." The clone disappears and only the original Eve is left. He then walks over to her and grabs her wrist.
"What are you doing?"
Elyon marks her wrist with an X. "Just making sure you are the real one" Then the clone reappears. Elyon lets go of the original Eve's wrist and heads to the clone and erases the X.
"Good, now I know which one is the real you."
"Very clever!" Both of them say sarcastically.
"And as for healing you if you get hurt, I will just multiply your body's natural healing capabilities to act much faster and better. Now then, you can start fighting yourself. Just try not to kill yourself, alright?"
"Very funny!" Eve and her counterpart take a couple of steps back. Both prepare their swords, ready to cause damage to themselves.
"Wait! Before we start, I forgot to do something."
Both Eves stop "What now? I really want to beat myself up. Why are you dragging it?" Both of them answer, annoyed.
Elyon's irises turn to "8", "What I saw when you were trying to hit me back at the Scholar's Keep. Was that after a few swings of your heavy sword. You were out of breath." Eve's body grows weaker, as if she ran a marathon.
"Bastard, what did you do to me!" both clones shout angrily
"I multiplied your fatigue build-up by eight. Your body should be as heavy as steel. This will help you build more stamina."
"But I want to get a fair fight first, can't you do that for me? Please-" Eve's words are cut by Elyon's shout.
"START!"