Stab, Pause, Toss.
Oscar struggled to repeat these motions. He felt his muscles tearing apart as he trembled more each time he dug. Eventually, he dropped his shovel with his limp arms, unable to move a single inch, slumping down to rest on the ground.
"This is going to take forever. When do I stop?" Oscar barely got his words out from how tired he was. The hole that Oscar created by going past his limits was comically small. It was barely half a foot deep.
"I'll let you know when it's over." Draven popped open another vial of the Hytr Elixir and forced it down Oscar's throat. "Keep digging."
Oscar coughed from Draven's sudden forceful feeding as the elixir started to work on Oscar's body. He felt his tired and torn muscles suddenly snapping back together and becoming tougher and more flexible. He tightened and flexed his arms, seeing the visible change; his muscles were more toned and slightly larger than before.
"I said to keep digging." Draven's words contained a hint of displeasure.
Oscar held up the shovel dejectedly. Even though the elixir recovered his muscles, it did not help his exhaustion. The elixir did not involve boosting his energy or vitality, only offering a small temporary high.
Nevertheless, Oscar carried on.
Stab, Pause, Toss.
It was a small change, but the shovel went deeper into the dirt. Oscar was delighted and heaved the shovel up, throwing up a pile of dirt.
"HAHAHA." Oscar laughed as he kept digging.
The image of the boy covered in dirt, laughing as he dug a pit, confounded Draven, who was watching the entire time. He thought Oscar was slightly off in the head, which was laughable, considering he was far worse.
Oscar repeated his motions until he could no longer stand. The pit was now two feet deep and wide enough for him to fall in.
"Master! More elixir." This time, Oscar held out his hand. He retained enough strength to at least drink from a vial.
Draven tossed him the vial. Oscar drank fervently, feeling satisfied with the increasing strength of his muscles.
"Oscar, stretch out your body. Your muscles need to be more pliable and balanced; otherwise, you'd be a misshapen hulk."
Following his master's instructions and steps, Oscar stretched every part of his body. His muscles began to soften. It was a cool, refreshing feeling, like being hit by light rain.
Oscar flexed his muscles but found they were not as solid as before.
"Build up your muscles and stretch to spread their strength. That way, every fiber of your body will contain power." Draven explained.
"Master. May I ask you something?"
"Is it about why you need to train like this when you are an Exalt?"
Draven's guess was right on the mark. Although Draven was insane, there was no denying his talent and position.
Exalts were naturally strong, and their physical power increased with each subsequent advancement. The use of Ein was like a supplement that amplified their speed and power and allowed them to use spells.
"Exalts use Ein around them to do miraculous feats. However, everything has a foundation. The technique I will impart to you requires a mastery of the body. The first step is to get your body to its peak potential. There is more to an Exalt than Ein. Other than the body, this training has one other meaning. I'll tell you later." Draven went back to silence.
Oscar nodded and picked up his shovel. There was no use asking for what the other meaning was. He had to trust in this training and finish it.
The student continued to dig into the pit while the master watched. At certain intervals, the master would pass another elixir to the student.
"Master. I can't do anymore." Oscar felt his eyes could not keep open. He had gone far past his limits. The high from the muscle recovery had faded, leaving only the feeling of exhaustion.
"This is a good stopping point. The pit is six feet deep and wide."
Oscar grinned and fell right to sleep inside his freshly made hole.
…….
"Ow!" Oscar woke up from a rock that landed on his head. It was the Warden, Draven, who threw the rock at him. Oscar did not feel as if he had slept enough. He only felt slightly better; his stamina barely recovered. "How long have I slept?"
"Thirty minutes."
"Huh? Isn't that too short, Master?"
Draven threw down another set of rations and water. "You have five minutes to eat that, and it's back to digging."
"But!"
"We will not waste a single moment."
Oscar shut up and nodded in compliance. He could assume his slow progress was why Draven kept him on a tight schedule, so the grind resumed. The hole was making great progress under Oscar's persistent digging; however, Oscar's momentum halted on a major issue.
While digging, Oscar tossed away the dirt to the side. But the hole was now nine feet deep. It was too high for Oscar to toss the dirt up, with these weights holding him back.
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He tried several times to throw the dirt, but every time, it would fail and fall back down, sometimes landing straight on him. Oscar cursed at the piles of dirt piling up around him.
"Use your whole body." Draven said while peering down at Oscar in the pit.
"I am!"
"Right now, you're using your legs to prop the shovel out of the ground. That is not nearly enough to fling the soil up here. Figure it out." Draven left Oscar alone. He had already given a hint.
Oscar put the shovel into the dirt in contemplation. He thought about Draven's words about his legs. 'Maybe my arms as well.'
Drawing in a deep breath, Oscar flexed his arms and legs. He strained his legs to pull the shovel out and put all his strength into his arms. The pile of dirt shot from the shovel but failed to make it out, falling helplessly down the wall. "Dammit. What was wrong there?"
This endeavor was straining as his arms and legs were overused.
"I used all my strength, yet it wasn't enough. What am I lacking?" Oscar fell to the floor and closed his eyes. He went through the motions in his mind. But he could not tell anything was wrong.
"If only I had Ein, I could easily dig this pit without issues. Though if I am this dependent on my Exalt powers to do everything, I am severely lacking." Oscar realized that he was too arrogant. Even though he had been diligent in training and sparring, it was only to the capacity of honing his Ein.
"Take the Ein away, and I'm nothing." He had a sudden realization. "If I combine both ways, wouldn't it be extremely powerful?"
"But again, how can I do this without Ein?" Oscar kept mumbling his thoughts, grasping for an answer.
"Remember how I punched? I'm sure you also know basic martial arts. Apply that to your shoveling." He recalled his Master's attack. It was absurd to think he did that without any Ein. But there was no reason to lie to a meager Lower Apprentice Exalt. "It can't be because of the power of his muscles. There is something he did."
"The whole body…." Oscar imagined Draven's attack. He observed with great interest before, so the process was ingrained in his mind. He recalled the punch's swing, the feet's stamping, and the hips' twisting.
"The back?" Oscar felt he was onto something. "Come to think of it; a punch is done by twisting the hips to bring power into the fist."
Oscar assumed a stance and threw out a punch, as taught by Frederick during their training sessions. "The legs provide stability so that the momentum from the hips to the fist is undisturbed."
Oscar smacked his head. "I'm an idiot. I use my legs and my arms, but not my back. The legs should provide the starting point for the strength to follow through the back to my arms." With the shovel in his hands, Oscar began to dig.
First, he squatted and planted his feet, flexing them with strength and bringing the shovel up. Second, he arched his back backward, bringing the momentum from his legs up his spine to his shoulders. Finally, once momentum flowed to his shoulders, Oscar flexed his arms and heaved the shovel overhead.
The momentum was so great that Oscar fell flat on the ground, giving him a good view of the results. The power of his arms, combined with the strength that flowed from his legs, shot the pile of dirt up. It continued flying upwards until it finally passed the hole's opening, landing outside.
"HAHA!" Oscar pumped his fist out in excitement.
Draven saw as the dirt landed beside him. 'I didn't think he would grasp it that fast. It may be simple martial arts, but he's quite inexperienced. However, with this, he's ahead of schedule.'
Another pile of dirt flew out of the hole as Oscar knew the trick and was excited to keep going. He utilized the flow to make the dirt fly. However, another issue came up. It was too inefficient.
Every time he did this, he would be thrown to the floor by the momentum. It took time for him to get back up with the heavy bands holding him down. He was at a third of his normal pace. "I'm making slow progress."
Drinking another vial, Oscar wiped his mouth and stretched while pondering the obstacle. It was unclear how far down he had to dig, but his current speed was detrimental. Oscar kept digging and falling while thinking about improving his speed; his body ran ragged up by the constant collisions with the floor.
"Master didn't say anything, and I can't see anything he did earlier that could help me." Perhaps Oscar could have noticed something if Draven had thrown subsequent attacks. But his master only did one punch.
The hole was slowly progressing. Oscar finally made it to the ten feet mark. Thankfully, his muscles continually grew stronger, allowing him to keep up with the increasing distance to throw.
But it was too slow. The irritated and frustrated Oscar put too much power into his shovel, toppling him. But this time, the shovel crashed into the ground, stopping Oscar from falling completely to the floor.
"...." Oscar's eyes lingered on the shovel. "The momentum….it kept going and gave the shovel enough force to dig into the ground."
Oscar stood up and kept staring at the shovel with a thoughtful look. The gears clicked in his head as the idea began to form. "If I carry the momentum and let it go into the next dig, it should be easier and faster. When I fight, my moves flow into the next."
It was exactly like the combo attacks of martial arts. Oscar slapped his cheeks to focus. He dug up another patch of dirt, letting the momentum fling the shovel back along with him.
The instant his shovel made contact with the ground, Oscar used his meager experience in martial arts to rotate his body to maintain the flow and reposition himself at the correct spot to continue. But he lost balance and tripped. "Almost there. I need to balance myself better."
Above, Draven was interested. 'My protege is quite competent. I was going to give him a hint later on, but he managed to figure it out independently. That's right; you must flow. Constantly stopping and restarting will only waste precious time.'
Draven watched as Oscar continued to fail. He could not carry the momentum from the previous dig into a good position for the next. "Do not forget your positioning. Everything from your footing to your posture is necessary."
Oscar panted and meditated on his master's advice. Where did the momentum go once the shovel was out of the ground? What was the problem with his footing?
He tried digging again and maneuvered to reposition himself. Again, it ended in him falling to the floor. The shovel, however, was stable. "The shovel moves perfectly fine. I am the issue here."
Oscar pondered whether his body was not properly syncing with the shovel. From the legs to the back to the arms and finally to the shovel. He wondered what his next step should be. "I need to flow with it. My movements must match with the shovel."
Oscar tried once more, but he lightly jumped along with the shovel this time. In the air, his body would follow with the shovel naturally. He minimized his body and clung close to the shovel as it stabbed into the floor.
After the shovel was in the ground, Oscar's feet landed powerfully on the floor in the perfect position to lift the shovel. The collision of his feet against the ground gave way to more power that flowed through Oscar's body. He hoisted the shovel upward easily, and the dirt flew farther than before.
In excitement, Oscar brought his hands up in a hurrah at his success. He needed to go with the shovel, letting it guide him rather than trying to force himself in place. His feet only needed to be light and guided by the shovel.
Behind his helmet, Draven smiled at Oscar's progress. Understanding how power moves and flows were the most important thing in his eyes. Doing so can generate greater strength than what could normally be done. "Stop celebrating. Keep digging."
Oscar gave a thumbs up to Draven and continued digging. It was a strange scene. Oscar was like a monkey hopping up and down. Of course, this was him flowing with the shovel.
Oscar's limit was seven consecutive digs until he reached his limit. Oscar kept at it for several hours after learning how to shovel with the flow. The hole had reached an astonishing thirty feet deep.
"Ok, that is enough." Draven tossed another vial which Oscar instantly drank.
"What is next, Master?" Oscar asked with sparkling eyes full of anticipation.
Draven sat down with his legs hanging down into the hole.
"Your next task is to climb up here."
"What?"