Birth of a Hero

The ebb and flow of Energy. He would think back to what he had learned in the academy about what laws he was expected to uphold as a person. He would also look back to what he had learned about Energy. There were eight laws that all warriors vowed to uphold, Justice, Courage, Mercy, Politeness, Honor, Loyalty and Self-Control. He had to keep these vows present in his mind as he continued to grow and progress in his career as a public servant of the spiritual. He then thought back to what he had learned about Energy. There were two parts to Energy one must train in order to maintain true control. This is what was taught through the practices of spiritualism. Physical energies and Spiritual energies came together to form Energy as we know it. Physical energy can be increased through physical exercise, training, or in some cases external stimulants such as one’s special abilities. Though the final method is generally reserved for the more powerful spiritualists. Spiritual energy is connected to the mind's consciousness and can be increased through studying, meditation, and experience. These two energies becoming more powerful will in turn make the created Energy more powerful. This was Oliver's goal overall. But he remembered one of the most important lessons from his days in the academy.

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Because Energy takes time and a great deal of training to gradually build up, the key to its use is not actually having large amounts of Energy but instead being able to sufficiently control and conserve it. A good way to build up Energy in the body is to spin it into a tight spiral; Whether to spin the Energy left or right is dependent on the way the user's hair grows. Due to Oliver having a rather unique way that his hair grew, he found that he was able to spin his Energy through his body in either direction, left or right. This was apparently quite rare throughout the Fullbringers he had met. He decided that this would be a good way to practice moving his Energy through his body, so he started with that. He spun it to the right and then the left, focusing it to different areas as it spun. First his forehead, then his arms and legs, then his hands and feet, then his stomach and chest, then his fingers and even into his toes. At one point, he wanted to try to spin it both ways at once, left in his right hand and right in his left hand. This task however, proved to be far more difficult than initially thought.

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He continued to focus on that one singular task. Spinning his Energy slowly in opposite directions in each hand. He started simply, he would spin it in one hand slowly, getting a feel for it and trying to make it automatic. Then he would work on adding in the other hand to follow. It was a simple sounding task, but one that proved far more complex and difficult to accomplish than initially presumed. But that didn't stop him from trying. He was making slow progress, but it was progress none the less. He continued to work at it, slowly gaining ground. This was good. As long as he continued to make progress, he would be happy. He was content with not being the best of the best and merely wanted to keep an even pace with himself. If he never stopped moving, he would always be improving. That, in his own eyes, was far more important than surpassing those around him. Yes, surpassing oneself is what training was all about. He just kept working on getting his Energy to spin against itself until, after three hours of trying and working with it, he succeeded. He was now spinning his Energy in opposite hands in opposite directions.

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Oliver had been meandering through the forest for a while now, doing various kinds of training. It wasn't an odd thing to see the young man training, as that is what he spent a majority of his time doing. But One might be surprised to see him training just his Reiatsu control. Most Spiritualists his age were all about learning fancy techniques, but Ollie was much more pragmatic and found that the most practical thing for him to devote his time to would be Reiatsu control and how to optimize its usage within any technique he uses. He would meditate silently on a cliff face, molding Reiatsu throughout his body. This is the best way to practice Reiatsu control. He would strain his reserves to their limit with his training so that he could come out ready to make it in any fights he might come across. It wouldn't take more than a few minutes for him to start feeling the pressure of doing this intense of training, but he knew it would be worth it in the end.

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He would continue to push his Reiatsu throughout his body, making sure to keep his supply even throughout his body lest he fail. He decided to take a moment and charge up as much Reiatsu in his body as he could. It would go fine for around five minutes before it seemed like his body gave out and all his Reiatsu ended causing him to let out a small grunt as he slipped off the cliffside. He would think fast though using his hands with Reiatsu supplied to them to catch the wall and then would find himself standing on it again, albeit sideways as opposed to upside down. It was now that he decided that he needed to focus on his speed when using this technique, so he would begin dashing around the side of the cliff as fast as he could. It was difficult at first, but after a while it became almost second nature to him and he decided to try something else. He would walk down the side of the cliff and would make his way to a small lake he had seen on his way here, to practice more air walking over the pond.

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Once he finally reached the lake, he would immediately take a few slow steps onto the surface. He would wobble some due to his lack of true balance, this was his first real use of the technique since he learned it. His missions with various spirits had taught him a lot about not only versatility, but strategy within a battle rather than relying on spontaneity and instinct. He knew he would need to be much stronger if he wanted to fight those monsters and take control of his Reiatsu as his own. He had realized not long ago that this would actually allow him to achieve higher levels. So, it was a desirable outcome. But he also knew his body was too proud to simply roll over and give it to him, even if they were actually on good terms for once. It would be in the midst of this train of thought, that Oliver realized he was standing perfectly still just above the surface of the lake. Progress at its finest.

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He could feel that his Reiatsu was slowly returning, if he could, he would need to work on his control a bit more to aid in his regeneration some. He had also heard rumors of Spiritualists who were able to restore their Reiatsu in a matter of seconds through the use of some hidden technique, but he had no such technique, so he had to simply do it the old-fashioned way; train, rest, repeat. He didn't mind though, he enjoyed becoming stronger as that meant that he would be a better Spiritualist! He would be able to carry out his missions much faster and easier, and even be able to battle stronger and stronger opponents, all in an effort to serve the community better. He could feel that he was no longer quite on the verge of collapse, but he was still exhausted from the lack of Reiatsu in his system, it was like he needed to nap for a full day to get back into shape, but he knew it would only take an hour or more to get his energy reserves back into shape.

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He felt his energy slowly come back, filling his tank ever so slowly. It would take quite a while to naturally fill it back to the tip top, but it was time he had. Since he had come out here with the sole reasoning of training to get stronger, he had the patience and time to do so, so he would do it the proper way. It just took time and effort to grow, he would put in both. Making a final push, he could feel his Reiatsu surge again, multiplying the amount he had, growing steadily. He would need a break after this one though, as it took more out of him than he anticipated. He put more into the training than he had been the entire time and then took a moment to rest and catch his breath before he rose and began to collect wood and things to supply himself fire and shelter for the night, as the forest night was a cold, lonely place. He also hunted for a few hares to eat, because even those who were mostly immortal needed to eat every now and again!

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As he sat by a small fire and ate slowly while drinking a bit of sake. Today had been another huge success in the means of his training and he could feel that he was steadily increasing his reserves. It would only take a few more days and he would have nearly doubled his reserves, but sadly, he didn’t have that sort of time. He had maybe a week at best before he would go to his father to ask permission for actual fullbring training. He had met all the requirements and it would only take another week or so before he was strong enough to take on whatever challenge his father would throw at him. He knew it wouldn't be easy by any means, but he knew that he would need to really work hard to earn his place as a fullbringer, as well as to earn his father's approval. He was by no means a powerful person, but he had every desire to become powerful, in the means of one day proving to his father, and even himself that he was able to handle anything that was thrown at him.

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It was his third day in the forest, he had taken the second day to work on his Techniques and such, a much-needed break for his Reiatsu coils as he planned to work them off again today as well. He started by emptying a majority of his Reiatsu into the surrounding area to get him to the point of exhaustion. It was amazing to him how the moment his Reiatsu was gone, he felt that he would almost pass out from exhaustion. But he kept on working on his Reiatsu, moving to increase it little by little, increment by increment. Each time he grew his Reiatsu, he was able to feel that it was giving him more uses out of his techniques as well. He could practically feel himself growing stronger with each passing moment as he slowly regained the Reiatsu that he lost, doing his best to push it to come back faster, knowing it didn't quite work that way, but he tried it anyways. He was eager to grow his reserves out even further than he had initially, but in the end, it didn't matter to him whether he passed out from exhaustion or not, he would be growing his reserves one way or another.

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