Chapter 20: Floating step
He intercepted the rock with more difficulty, however the initial power of the throw had been stronger by a lot.
-'Again.' Elehago said.
This time he did not increase the might of his attack. Moss also switched hands to spread the strain of this new practice. He barely managed it. The rock escaped his grasp and ended its run against his waist with a lessened, but still powerful punch. Those projectiles were properly aimed. One mistake and he would not be able to stand for the next thirty minutes. Or worse.
Now the senior brother ran all around the field to collect stones and throw them at him like a machine. He also spared some to prevent Lauren from approaching. Unlike Moss, she had no way to block those attacks and could only try to dodge. Each time she failed, she got up a bit slower. Approximatively ten interceptions later, the commoner's endurance started to run thin. He only had a few more catch left, after that he would likely break a bone in his attempt. Time was not for defence. Instead of waiting for the next shot, he went forward. Doing that, he did not only rely on his muscle but also remembered what the senior had said earlier. His application needed creativity. The bright moon reflective skill allowed him to redirect energy. To catch this senior, he needed to increase his speed. How could he do that? As he ran, the solution came intuitively by sensing the shocks of his feet on the ground. It was the same as when his hands clashed with those rocks. He knew that a lot of his leg power was waisted when his next feet hit the ground. What he could do was try to convey that opposing force to his rear and be pushed by it instead. This was more complex than what he had done until now, but the power he had to redirect was also less significant.
With absolute focus, Moss projected himself forward. When his foot hit the ground, he conveyed the energy like planned. For a moment he felt a strong accelertion, quiclky followed by a loss of balance, and ended up crashing down violently. Luckily, the ground was soft grass. Another positive point was that the next rock harmlessly flew above him.
His body was seriously beginning to suffer from this treatment, and particularly this arms. His wrists were sore, his hands bled and his muscle burned while barely responding.
'No problem.' He thought. 'I only need my legs now. Focus. I need balance.'
This thought sent him back to earlier when he had demonstrated how the dark state technique helped him to maintain balance. Right. He needed both in this situation. Conveying the shock also prevented him to use it to stabilise himself. Only a boosted sense of balance could let him handle this problem on short notice. The commoner summoned the bright and dark powers at the same time and started to run again. As soon as his foot hit the ground, he projected himself like last time. But as the push precipitated him towards the ground, he suddenly felt that his reaction power had fastened and improved in granularity. Now he could handle that predicament. His next foot found its way forward and he followed up with another step. This time his energy redirection was more on point. He slightly adapted the pushing angle to help him stay above ground level but no much was needed.
From an external point of view, Elehago instantly noticed a change. The peasant's presence suddenly fainted and his speed doubled. This running speed was plainly not within normal humans boundaries anymore.
'Genius!' The supervisor inwardly thought as Moss closed in on him. That vision also shocked Lauren. Earlier, she had already felt that Moss was the focus of this activity, not her. But now, seeing him defy the laws of physics to such an extent, she could not help but acknowledge that she had fallen behind. Sad to say, but she could not keep up with that old man.
His new step style made him look like he floated upon the ground. And not only had he become faster, he could now also change his direction instantly, without loosing in speed. When he did, he seemed moved by an external force. Unfortunately, even that effort did not prove enough to secure the touch. The senior increased his speed in equal measure and dodged Moss's attempt casually.
-'Amazing, brother!' Elehago said. 'I want to see how long you can keep that up!'
The answer was less than a minute. At some point, Moss lost his speed and crumbled awkwardly, completely exhausted. Seeing that, the senior stopped fleeing.
-'Brother, are you alright?' Lauren shouted.
-'Yeah...' He feebly responded.
Plainly, he would not be able to get up immediately. That was it for today.
-'Young lady' The supervisor suddenly intervened. 'Your foes seem to have chosen this moment to attack you.'
Foes? The girl did not take too long to put that together.
-'I can not move.' Moss said.
She cursed and ran to fetch her companion. On the rampart, six shadows were indeed making their way to them at high speed.
-'Hurry, hurry.' Elehago said.
-'Come in!' She answered as she helped Moss to get back in the building.
-'No need, I am safe where I am. But thanks.'
The girl did not pay him more attention and hastily barred the doors as the wolfs rushed passed the senior without even looking at him. They were too late, however, and could only howl their frustration.
The disciples panted with their back to the doors.
That had been intense. Now they realized that they had much and more to learn about cultivation. This kind of extreme and fast energy depletion was not encountered when normally using the body, and plainly dangerous in a hostile environment. Without Lauren, the old man would have died this time.
-'Ruthless.' Moss eventually managed to say.
-'You did great.' The girl responded. 'You are good at this.'
-'And you are good at keeping me alive.'
They spent a moment in silence.
-'What about some rest? I think we deserved that.'
-'Yes.'
He said that, but he did not get up. She had to pull him up, carry him, and throw him on his bed. Lauren was exhausted, but she could not resolve herself to rest. Now that she had witnessed widening the gap between her ability on Moss's, she could only think about training.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone