The snow began to fall silently. Keris stood over the bench, looking at Omna. Omna sat down, looking back at Keris's aging face. Keris took a sigh.
"I cannot allow them to leave. They all have many things, even now, to learn."
Omna nodded peacefully and got up slowly, accepting the answer gracefully.
"Then train them well, Keris."
Omna walked off, soon disappearing behind the heavy snowfall.
Corrin looked up. At this moment, more thoughts began to flood into his mind. There were still so many things that confused him. Why did they want Corrin dead? What was the real reason they wanted the shards? Power? Surely they had had enough, Corrin thought. But he quickly waved the thoughts away; they were not important at that moment.
Training became slightly different; Corrin was now meditating for numerous hours at a time, in the cold. Previously, fur coats had been given to them to keep them warm while they trained. However, Corrin was now forced to wear traditional Anees clothing.
The cloth was thin and baggy. The tops were open, only to be crossed over each other and tucked into the pants, which were large and baggy. The clothes were similar to what Corrin remembered Keris's students had been wearing when he first arrived.
Corrin held his eyes shut, the cold seeping into every crevice, piercing every inch of his skin.
"If you can learn to control it, your power will far exceed what it is now."
Keris circled Corrin endlessly, for hours, it seemed. His footsteps carved a path of snow around Corrin.
"Harnessing the power that thrives in the shard will increase what you're capable of tenfold, and if it is possible, you may even gain a Resonance."
Corrin, according to Keris, had been doing what people years younger than him would do: meditating. In his class, which Keris still taught inside for a few hours every day, people of different skill groups would do different things. This had, apparently, been done for centuries.
They would first be taught how to fight using basic combat, then integrate Anees Energy into their attacks, followed by learning basic techniques and integrating Anees Energy into those. Throughout the next years, from age six to age seventeen, they would hone their techniques, learn new ones, and acquire a Resonance if they were lucky.
Keris's Academy was the best in Avitou, Lukas and Tutsoi would often say.
Corrin wondered if his case was different. He was using a shard, not the energy in the air.
Corrin's mind flowed again into things he shouldn't have been worrying about in those moments. How he longed to know what his true purpose was. Why had his parents even split his soul? If Axel had the answer, he likely would have already shared it. Unless he was never supposed to share it.
Why did Nevarii want Corrin and Lukas dead? Surely there was a very good reason why three highly trained brothers would be tasked with killing two teenagers.
The night rolled in with a chill, reminding Corrin where he was. He needed to stop thinking about the things that troubled him and start actually meditating. Corrin knew that there was a large plan that involved Nevarii's king. The king of the Mostiis Empire is what Axel mentioned it likely meant.
Corrin opened his eyes. Keris leaned down and grabbed Corrin's head.
"If you open your eyes, then things might distract you."
The meditation afterwards was another fail. Corrin simply couldn't learn how to make a stable connection to the shard.
Later that night, Corrin stood in the cold holding a wooden training katana. He stood in a defensive stance, only a few feet from Keris.
"Block my attacks, not using brute force, Corrin, but instead utilizing the energy that flows through that shard. I'll refrain from using my Resonance against you for now."
Corrin nodded his head. Keris lunged forward, his sword glowing yellow. This was not the first time this sight had been seen by Corrin; in fact, it was beginning to get repetitive. Corrin had blocked this attack dozens of times normally. What he had been trying to do was block it whilst using the energy in the shard.
But this time was different.
Corrin's training katana glowed a yellowed color, puncturing the white snow. His arms moved without command, as though his own blade predicted his movements. Wood chips flew through the air as the training swords clashed. Corrin used the momentum to spin Keris away from himself. The snow was pushed around his feet as Keris slid back, impressed.
"Good job, Corrin. Let's call it a night."
Corrin was relieved, but his scar also seared like hell anytime he used the shard.
Inside, they all ate their food around the table like before. The chairs were more like stools, and the table was lower than in the palace, but Corrin was fine with it; the food was incredible.
As they ate, Keris spoke up.
"Corrin, how are you feeling? I know using the shard like that may have made you feel a bit dizzy, if it's anything like the Anees in the air."
Corrin looked up from biting into his food.
"I'm fine. Wait, it makes you dizzy? Why?"
Keris seemed a bit taken aback.
"Well, yes, it does. Do you not know what Anees Energy really is?"
Corrin had never given it a thought before; he shook his head.
"Then allow me to give you a brief explanation. I'm sure you know that when the Holy Goddess sacrificed herself to create the Cornimax and the guardians, all of the leftover energy became what was known as Ani, which means 'Anees Energy' in the ancient language. You must understand this, Corrin. Ani is not something to be messed around with. It is essentially the leftover essence of the goddess. Its raw power is unmatched, even by Resonances."
Keris looked down as he spoke.
"When we call upon the Ani, we call upon an indescribably small fraction of just what's in our general vicinity. An entire Resonance is created when only that small fraction you call on stays inside you forever, and molds around your character. The raw power from the air is much more… direct. Calling upon a small amount is normal, and when you obtain a Resonance, you don't need to call upon anything anymore, because it lives inside you."
Keris clenched his fist, angered.
"But, there is such a thing as calling too much energy at once. Doing that is incredibly dangerous for you and all the people around you. Doing it causes the energy, instead of being yellow, to be red, as though the Ani were bleeding. The raw power is unmatched, sure, but it is also… unsanitary. As the essence of the life of our Goddess, we can't abuse her power. We must respect it as our driving factor in life."
This new information was very interesting to Corrin. The queen of the Shem had been using red energy when she fought Corrin. That must mean she was desperate to defeat him.
"I've… seen somebody do that before. Abuse the… Ani. It was the queen of the Shem. While I was fighting her, she suddenly became much faster and stronger, and the energy became red."
Keris nods his head.
"That is what happens when somebody who already has a Resonance calls on too much Ani."
Corrin added Ani and abusing it to his list of things to think about at inconvenient times, and soon, then wrapped up their meal and went to sleep. The nights were as cold as always, and Corrin hardly had enough blankets to stay warm.
It reminded him of the winter months training with the Hidden Vanguard; sleeping in that tent in the winter was hell. Or, perhaps, the opposite of hell.
Training had not been easy, and Corrin had grown softer in those weeks resting in bed after fighting the queen, yet he still found rhythm in the madness. Keris's attacks were becoming easier to block, as though he was becoming slower.
He decided that, even if he was to learn how to use the shard, he should also learn how to fight without the shard, should he be disconnected from it. So, on the side, he also drew from the Ani in the air rather than just the Ani in the shard. Though his connection was always a bit more indirect when using the Ani rather than the Shard.
The weeks began to blur together, and Corrin could now hold his own against Tutsoi and Lukas. Sparing came easier. Tutsoi had been learning too, however, and often flanked Corrin by creating portals around him.
After training one day, Corrin went up to Keris.
"Keris, could I have a word with you?"
Keris turned from walking up the stairs and looked at Corrin.
"What is it, Corrin?"
Corrin had many things he wanted to say to Keris, but one thing had been bugging him for some time now.
"A few months ago, when I fought the queen, I found that there were some attacks I used that I had never used before. There was one that I said called 'Explosive Defense'. And another, I called 'Judgement'. I've never used those techniques in my life, though they seemed to come naturally for me."
Keris scratched his chin.
"Come inside with me, we can discuss it there."
Keris walked inside, Corrin trailing a few feet behind. Keris took Corrin to a room he had never been inside in the Academy. The air was full of dust, and the room was darker than the others, only lit by a dim window ahead of them. The feeling of being in an old place hit Corrin in waves. Around him, old books lined the walls top to bottom; their contents were eerily out of reach.
"This room is a small library, as you can obviously tell. It had nearly one thousand books regarding techniques, fighting styles, history of combat, and other things."
Keris grabbed one such book that was titled Level 5 Light Katana Techniques. Keris flipped through a few pages until he reached one page that, at the top, was titled, Known Technique: Judgement.
"Is this what you did?"
He gave the book to Corrin, who looked through it. The book had many words describing the attack, and a picture of a person flipped around in a circle, with yellow energy exerted all around where they had slashed. This was exactly what Corrin had done.
"Yes, it is."
Keris grabbed the book again.
"Nobody taught you this? You're sure you never saw it in a book where you came from?"
Corrin shook his head.
"No, I haven't."
Keris closed the book and set it back on the shelf.
"Corrin, there are many techniques, thousands of techniques, even for just one weapon style. Judgement is a fifth-level technique, which means it requires a lot of Ani for it to be used."
Keris turned to Corrin.
"Corrin, sixth-level techniques dive into the realm of abusing the Ani. That meant you exerted more power than I think I've ever heard a sixteen-year-old wielding. Most students your age could hardly conjure a third-level technique, even with enough practice."
Corrin nods his head.
"Somebody… once told me something. That experience increases how powerful you are much faster than practicing. Perhaps that's how I did it?"
Keris nods his head and leads Corrin out of the room.
"It's possible. We'll have to monitor that. And, now that you've seen it, Corrin, you can come in here during any free time you have. Feel free to practice any techniques you read in the books. But I would still use first, second, and third-level techniques if I were you. The others may be a bit too complicated for you."
Corrin wanted to tell him about the strange yellow silhouette that was the single reason he survived against the queen, but he couldn't bring himself to.
Instead, he just nodded and followed him away from the room, the conversation and opportunity left behind.