"Get up."
Aden's face remained planted on the ground for a while, and if not for the steady rise and fall of his chest, one would've thought he had actually died.
His fingers twitched imperceptibly, his clothes a mess of mashed grass and tiny tears.
Slowly, Aden stood up with slouched shoulders, his face a far cry from the beauty it was before.
It had been three hours since he had decided to trace the casual twitches and patterning of his mentor's muscles in an effort to predict his next moves accurately.
As expected, it was all a failure.
Initially, he noticed his master's shoulder traps would twitch whenever he prepared to dodge to the left, and his biceps whenever he decided to dodge to the right.
His expression was of pure joy when he noticed his attacks grew closer to his body whenever he applied the newly learned knowledge.
But suddenly, the patterns changed, and
he'd be left confused at the irregular movements.
Of course, such mistakes didn't go unpunished.
With each hesitation or look of confusion that flashed across Aden's face, an attack would find its way to his body.
At first, it was the gentle but annoying taps on his back, then the obviously mild kicks and punches, but then it grew into full-on suplexes or resonance attacks that nearly got him killed.
"Once more. Come at me."
Aden's body shuddered violently at this instruction.
"C–can't we do this tomorrow?" he pleaded.
"Once more. Come at me," his master repeated mechanically.
Aden's eyes glistened with tears as he took his stance.
With a wave of his master's hand, Aden reluctantly dashed forward.
"Your determination is nowhere near enough to activate your resonance state, talk less mastering it."
Aden's leg formed a clean arc at his master's face, his expression fiercer than usual.
A casual recline cancelled his effort, but Aden didn't give up. His other foot flew in another arc with renewed intensity.
Again, his action proved futile, but that was nothing new. Aden's foot formed relentless arcs at his master's face, the speed growing with every miss.
His master's hand reached out to grab his foot in an effort to swing him away, but rather than get flung aside for the umpteenth time, Aden's arm wrapped against his master's, his face a mix of desperation and hinted craziness.
A look of surprise flashed by his face so fast one would wonder if it was ever there, but Aden saw it, and it gave him the most supreme joy.
'Adapt. Be formless. Be water.'
A fist flashed in the corner of his eyes, but his body moved a bit faster and flew off his master's arm.
His eyes watched his master's frame closely as he skidded backwards.
'His shoulder traps are twitching again, but he isn't planning to dodge. What's your endgame here?'
As his mind went into overdrive, his body didn't remain idle either, as it sprinted on top of the cabin, his eyes trained on the stationary figure.
'This man is solid as a rock, but even rocks shatter with enough force.'
With a low grunt, Aden leapt off, the wind ripping past him as his eyes locked onto his master's back.
'Will your pride allow you to leap, or will you stick to your cool persona?'
His eyes sharp, Aden swung his fist with as much force as he could muster, aimed at his master's neck.
Without turning, his master bent his neck sideways, cleanly dodging the assault, the loud whistle of the wind whispering what could've been.
"Got you!"
Using the momentum from his failed punch, Aden rolled mid-air, his feet diving down his master's upper trapezius.
'Finally…!' Aden surged forward, sensing his master's heat and picturing the thrill of landing a hit.
But dreams were all that they were.
Because in the next second of his descent, an invisible force slammed him backward, tossing him like a rag doll.
"Khuaakk!"
Aden bounced on and off the ground, leaving deep dents in them. His eyes caught the cabin speedily retreating away from his vision, and to his dismay, his master in the exact position he stood prior.
Saliva mixed with blood sprayed out of his mouth as he collided with a large tree, the birds flew out with panicked chirps, and the surrounding vegetation bent slightly backwards.
"Haa... ...haaa... ...haaaa... ..AGHH!!"
Despite the violent impact, Aden recovered instantly, breaking into a half-crouched run with his eyes locked on his master's back.
His speed grew unprecedentedly high with every step, and within a few seconds, his foot was already on its way to his master's temple.
Once again, he was blown back by the intangible force and crashed into a different part of the forest.
The scattering of the congregation of birds in that area signified his collision, but within a few seconds, Aden reappeared.
His expression was that of pure rage, his fist blurred and collided with his master's body in hopes of bypassing the strange force field, but he was inevitably forced back.
His feet dug into the soil, sliding as his veins bulged. His teeth clenched, nearly cracking from the pressure.
With a guttural roar, Aden's figure blurred and reappeared in front of his statue-like master.
His mentor's eyes were neutral, almost unfeeling as he watched his student continually repel away from him with increasing intensity, but if one looked extremely closely, a drop of sweat rolled down his neck.
"I'll destroy whatever's pushing me back, even if it's the last thing I do!"
His feet tore the soil apart with his dash. His speed beyond human, he relentlessly attacked the imperceptible film that blocked his victory.
His screams grew louder—parts frustration and anger as every part of his body turned into a weapon.
The veins grew clearer, his hands and feet caused large gusts of wind with every strike, the surrounding area shook with every repulsion—
Yet, his master remained stationary.
"What am I doing wrong?!" he screamed.
His body never stopped moving though; if anything, they barely became visible as his speed transcended whatever his master had predicted.
'His growth is... monstrous.' his master appraised.
Watching the human blur that continually assaulted him, he couldn't help but let a smile form on his face.
'This is more than I expected. A very welcomed surprise indeed...'
Trickles of sweat ran down the man's back as he maintained the field that surrounded him. Aden's voice could no longer be heard, only the occasional flashes of silver denoted his presence.
Well, that and the increasing rumbles that stretched far into the jungle.
"I think that's enough. Why—"
*Crack*
'What?!'
His eyebrows furrowed as the sound of glass shattering reached his ears.
'He broke through my shield...'
'The only way to break my resonance shield is to attack it with resonant energy of similar or stronger frequency. Is he using brute strength to overpower the laws of nature? Or is his resonant energy that white energy that surrounds him?'
When Aden began his wild attacks, the man noticed something that would have been otherwise ignored if he hadn't looked closely:
A thin, almost transparent white energy shimmered around him, blending with the background yet crackling with force.
At first, he thought it was merely the air particles messing with the surrounding force he exuded, but as his speeds grew and his attacks became strong enough to demolish buildings, the transparent energy became more... vivid.
'Just as I expected. His resonance adapts just like his physical abilities!'
'This is amazing—'
*Crack*
Despite his elated thoughts, the external environment was anything but exciting.
Looking around, he belatedly realized that he unintentionally increased the density of his resonant shield while he fell into thought.
'He'll burn out if he keeps this up and no amount of meat will solve what happens next.'
With hidden pride, he abruptly lowered the density of his shield to the bare minimum.
What followed next was a loud shatter of glass, a dull thud, and a massive crash.
Yes, Aden had successfully punched his master.
But the aftermath wasn't pretty.
The force was so colossal that he was thrown across the field and through the cabin into the far distance.
Aden obviously couldn't handle the abrupt change in momentum and followed suit.
Their bodies smashed through the centre and top of the roof respectively. The already unstable foundation of the cabin couldn't take any more and completely collapsed.
*Boom* *Boom*
A minute later, their bodies crashed into a thick tree, ending their wild tumble in a violent jolt.
White energy poured from Aden's eyes as he struggled to breathe, flashing in and out as he slid down the tree. With it came a fleeting surge of pride, mingled with shame.
This was what he had been missing in Daren's body, what he'd never felt before.
A short distance away, his master slid down the tree trunk, pleasant surprise written across his face as his fingers traced the scar along his cheek.
"You can rest now," he muttered.