****In the Combat Hall****
Cole continued his attempt at some physical training, performing all sorts of activities like Weight lifting, body stretches etc.
Eleanor still lay there with her eyes closed, occasionally, she would open her eyes to check up on Cole without him noticing at all.
"Time for some stance training again," Eleanor said while standing up.
Cole was quite shocked by those words as he never expected like that again.
"She seems to be helping me," Cole thought.
Eleanor left no room for reconsideration or backing out, directly forcing these training on Cole.
Cole also didn't plan on backing out , he was quite happy with the way things were actually going for him.
He was able to absorb quite a bit of life energy and now he is receiving personal combat training for the second time.
All of these blessings seemed to be a moment of sunshine before a large and heavy storm. Cole didn't realize all of that.
Like they did the previous day, Eleanor trained Cole on his stances while also moving further to teach him about flow and switching between stances.
The stances have a cycle of flow that allows for swift, deadly and efficient switches resulting in more complex forms of combat.
The training kept on for hours without end, the earlier invigorated Cole now completely drained.
He could even say, he was more drained than he was yesterday. So tired he almost couldn't rise up to his feet again.
Eleanor watched Cole flopped on the ground with an unbothered gaze.
"Just absorb some life energy, you will feel better," Eleanor chipped.
Cole though, was still quite fearful of using his mantra again, he felt the heavy risk.
"I will only attempt it when I feel safe enough," Cole decided.
He didn't attempt to refute Eleanor though, he just lay in the hall staring at the roof.
Seeing Cole's unwillingness, Eleanor didn't bother to press the matter further, she turned around and headed back to her previous position.
"Come again for the next five days," Eleanor said before she completely closed her eyes.
Cole's already happy mood was lifted even higher.
"Not only was I trained for two days but now a full week, are the heavens smiling at me now?".
He rested for a while before gaining enough strength to return to his hostel.
He rose to his foot, sent a bow towards Eleanor's direction before turning to leave the combat hall.
Hearing his receding footsteps, Eleanor opened her eyes again to watch his departing figure.
Her mind slowly drifted to the events of the previous night.
****The previous night****
"Hehehe," Sounds of laughter slowly receding in the room, replaced by a figure.
"Why are you here Isaac?" Eleanor asked while staring at the figure.
"I mean no harm Eleanor, just came to ask you for a favor" The man called Isaac responded in a familiar voice.
"A favor? Is it about the kid?"
"Ohh Eleanor, as smart as always" Isaac responded.
"Do you think you can train him for about a week, to prepare him for what's coming?" Isaac continued.
"You know we don't participate in such affairs" Eleanor responded with a cold gaze.
"I know, I know, and I don't want you to, I want you to just train the kid for about a kid" Isaac pressured.
"Don't forget you owe me,"
"You think you can just return after being absent for so long and start using controlling things" Eleanor retorted.
After a bit of cajoling and efforts by Isaac, Eleanor finally agreed to train Cole for a week.
****Present Time****
"You are really involved in some big things, I hope you can handle it" Eleanor thought.
"Hidden talent alone won't be enough, you need to grow as fast as you can"
"But you are doing quite well actually, progressing so much in basic combat in just two days, even genius takes months to fully master it, you will probably take just a week"
"That is just crazy combat talent,"
"Too bad though, too bad" Eleanor said while shaking her head.
Her long moments of self- conversation had become a weird quirk that she has slowly developed for a while and it stuck with her.
Cole on the other hand was unaware of all what was actually going on, he just wanted to grow stronger and have his revenge.
He had failed to realize the large web of trouble he seemed to have gotten himself tangled up into.
With light steps, he wasted no time and arrived back in his room and just like yesterday Bryan was currently cultivating.
The moment he entered, Bryan's eyes snapped open sharply as if he had already been waiting.
"Welcome Cole, we need to talk" Bryan dropped with a very serious gaze.
Cole was directly frozen in place by those words, his mind sprinting awake as he wondered what could be wrong.
Seeing Cole's reaction to his words, realization suddenly hit Bryan.
"I didn't mean to scare you?" He responded swiftly.
Cole still wasn't convinced by those words but he calmed down a little. He slowly went towards his bed to have a seat.
Ready to listen to what was actually wrong.
Bryan noticed how fast Cole had calmed down a little and he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
"He is able to handle pressure, that's good,"
"As you may have noticed, I am from a monk monastery," Bryan began.
"And that piece of information is very important in the course of this conversation, so hold it tight"
Cole wasn't too shocked by the revelation as he has made his own deductions previously.
"My Monastery has some level of connection to this academy and that has allowed me to gain access to some information that fresh students aren't supposed to know," Bryan continued.
Although he was quiet Cole's mind was still racing as he kept trying to figure out what they could be.
"The first information is something extremely big and will do us big harm if words of it leak out so I will be holding onto it for now."
"But the second piece is something that concerns us greatly,".
He looked straight at Cole, with a gaze that could pierce his soul. Cole noticed his expression with a sense of apprehension.
"Something very important in our academic life will begin next week," Bryan suddenly dropped.