The world slowed to a crawl all around Aurelius.

  He could feel his blood squirm through his veins all through his arms as he raised the spear towards Mr. Tona.

  He could see with clarity the arc that the tip of his wooden spear would slice through the air, and he could feel his soul resonate through his body as the echoes of his last footstep echoed through the empty gymnasium.

  Putting the weight against his back foot, Aurelius felt the wind resist against the spear imbued with the essence of his soul.

  He understood the meaning of Mr. Tona’s words.

  To enter this state of ‘flow’ meant an awareness of the surroundings where the internal workings of the soul became visible, and manipulable in a process of the ‘arts’.

  He could almost taste the air that the spear carved, as the spear merged with his very senses, and became an appendage as natural as his arm. Aurelius could nearly imagine himself becoming the spear itself, simply following its will as he traced the trajectory of a perfect strike against Mr. Tona.

  The spear, coated in a layer of Aurelius’s soul, met Mr. Tona’s disruption and felt a tug against its flight.

  However, it was a mere nuisance against the clear truth in Aurelius’s spear. His spear and its tip compressed against the invisible barrier, and pushed against it effortlessly.

  Aurelius felt a surge of adrenaline through his body as his spear closed in on the old man’s waists. The thrill intensified, as if his very soul amplified the emotions of his mind and body.

  He felt a drop of sweat drip off of his brows, a product of the intensity that his body was working to accommodate his heightened sense of awareness in this state of ‘flow’.

  However, his dreams of ending early for the Sunday were shattered with two words from the amused old man.

  “Too predictable.” He commented.

  Aurelius felt himself stop in his place even before he saw the ivory white glint of Mr. Tona’s wand.

  It had moved faster than even his eyes could make out, held precisely at the coordinates in the air and flawlessly halting the path of his spear.

  With another casual flick of his wrist, the monstrously refined man threw Aurelius back onto the ground.

  Aurelius felt the world shatter as the spear slipped out of his grasp onto the floor, his soul recoiling from the impact. He felt his body overloaded with sensation as his ass hit the stony floor awkwardly, effectively breaking him out of his ‘flow’ state.

  “Ow! Tsk-” Aurelius groaned, rubbing his backside in an effort to soothe out the pain. He felt the backlash of suddenly breaking out of his state, as the world spun a little unpleasantly all around him.

  Aurelius squinted, trying to make out the direction which could be considered… up.

  However, much to Aurelius’s surprise, the world just continued spinning, and spinning, and spinning until his face found itself plastered against the coldness of the gymnasium floor.

  “Not fair at all. I did what you asked, and you still blocked my shot? We both know I have no shot in scoring a hit against you!” Aurelius grumbled, his voice muffled slightly by the way half his cheeks were resisting the gravity acting on his entire face.

  As Aurelius fixed his very uncomfortable position on the ground, Mr. Tona simply smiled, and snapped his fingers.

  “That was a decent effort. You see, Aurelius, real progress and skill comes from repeated failures and the lessons one takes away from these failures. Each time you fall down, I would like you to appreciate the experience as you get back up.” He lectured wisely, summoning a glass of water in front of Aurelius’s worryingly smushed face.

  “Let’s see where exactly you went wrong in your attack this time.”

  “Firstly, you intuitively pour most of your concentration into the speartip, which is a decent instinct, however, it's still crude and unrefined.”

  “You must also pay attention to the way your body extends into the spear. The control over the soul should enhance the movements of your body, as the state of ‘flow’ creates a thinner boundary between the four aspects of your vessel.”

  “Secondly, your strikes and blows are obvious.”

  “Anyone could hit a ball travelling in a straight line with a bat, even if the ball were to travel at speeds exceeding that of wyverns.”

  “The difference in value of striking hard and slowly at a gap versus a quick jab is clear. In the case of a hard strike, you would be gambling on your opponent’s blindness and risking a counterattack with failure to land the hit.”

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  “It is always preferable, especially with a weapon like the spear meant for domination of the battlespace, to aim for sharp, small attacks that further expose your opponent to danger.”

  “The spear is a battle built for control, and exposing your hand with your heavy strikes is certainly not necessary.”

  “The same principle applies distinctively to spellcasting and magic. Efficiency and authority over your opponent is the first step to creating a winning condition. And your instincts must align to allow you to flourish in your magical capacity.”

  “Lastly, you should not stay in your flow state too long. As you felt, it takes a heavy toll to be in a state of semi-dive while engaging in physical activity.”

  “You must enter this state with efficiency. Knights and adventurers will master the state to a degree where they are able to activate the ‘flow’ state with each attack or defence.”

  “Although my skills in the pure arts are nowhere near that of dedicated Royal Knights and adventurers, even I can manage that much with the training I’ve put myself through. I’m sure that you will be able to accomplish these feats with a little more effort.”

  “Learn from your mistakes, Aurelius. I will personally give you the gift of attempting to make up for your failures many many times over the course of the day.” Mr. Tona declared, smiling widely and nodding his head in satisfaction at his own wisdom.

  Aurelius, his eyes judgemental, lay sprawled on the floor, his hand wobbling as he reached out carefully to the glass of water in front of his eyes.

  His eyes were practically spinning like a wheel still, causing another squirt of chowder to make its way up out of his gullet.

  Feeling rather pathetic, Aurelius decided to complain at Mr. Tona for putting him through the ringer.

  “Why are you and Ms. Yeltz so insistent on these kinds of training?” Aurelius asked, his voice still muffled.

  “I’m basically a bundle of potential conflict in the eyes of the Commission. What value does your workplace gain from training me in combat and magic?”

  “Ms. Yeltz and her time is being invested into me despite her importance to the Commission in the Tlacualtzin region.”

  “And it’s being put to what, protect me from the Fae?”

  Mr. Tona’s eyes twitched slightly at this comment. He looked a little deflated, as he shifted on his feet a little nervously.

  His lips made a weird wiggly motion as he contemplated his words, and after a few seconds of deliberation, he started to explain his position to Aurelius.

  “Look. You’re Yeltz’s apprentice for a simple reason. And you are being watched by the Commission for that same reason.” He started.

  “You are an asset to the Commission, just as I am, and just as Yeltz is. And you require guidance and nurturing for the Commission to employ you to the fullest extent of your capabilities.”

  “Essentially, you are being put on a leash by the Commission.”

  This comment made Aurelius scowl at Mr. Tona. A leash? That was a little degrading, wasn’t it?

  “It doesn’t mean that you won’t be treated well, nor does it mean that you are a slave to the Commission. At least, as far as the Ethics Committee will allow.” Mr. Tona explained, his face betraying a hint of exhaustion.

  “Do you truly think that the divine are unaware of your existence? The Fae Queen would already have heard of you now, and by extension, the gods that border our realm are now paying attention to you.”

  “Even without your soul blueprint being known, they know of your offense against the Fae already. And they likely know of your connection to the honourable Quetzalcoatl.”

  “To the organisations that serve these deities, the organisations that serve the Fae, and the organisations that pursue power, you hold a certain value. Your knowledge pertaining to the Lost God, your soul blueprint that reflects divinity, and the relationship to the Lost God.”

  “To the highest tiers of the gods, you are a person who could allow them to subvert some of the Angelic Agreements.”

  “And to the organisations that seek power, you are someone who has the ability to tip the scales of power across the continents. Someone who could become the next Rodric.”

  “In all of this, The Lost God remains an enigma. We do not know of His endgame, and we do not even know His nature. He has been lost to time, the founder of magic itself, and the being who overthrew the tyranny of the True Dragons.”

  “The Commission isn’t even sure if He is bound to the Angelic Agreements in the first place. And given what we know, it seems… unlikely.”

  “But it is obvious that whatever game he may be playing, beneficial to humanity or not, you are His chosen chess piece. And the Commission must, for the sake of balance, take up our position in the gameboard with you to accommodate or face off against The Lost God.”

  “And I didn’t choose this for you. Neither did Yeltz. And perhaps not even the Secretary General. It was the Commission, as a concept, who did.”

  “Organisations are driven by a mission. Whether it be to pursue profits, to pursue the gospel, or to pursue governance. Or in the Commission’s case, the mission of Hero Rodric.”

  “A mission to protect the world from war, and to grant every man and woman the chance to pursue their lives in peace.”

  “This is a ridiculous, naive mission, one we commit to against the influence of deities, and against the influence of capital.”

  “Even so, perhaps even despite its naivety, the Commission has grown to become the most powerful organisation in the world.”

  “Our bureaucracies protect the world from magic and conflict, and maintain the balance of the world.”

  “What do you think will happen, however, if the Commission were to become complacent in our place?”

  “The answer is simple. We break down, simply from the weight of our contradictions. And many of the powerful organisations who stand at the top along with us would love for the Commission to weaken, and leave the planet of Teotlcan in their grasps.”

  “You are an example of what the Commission cannot afford to overlook. We cannot allow you to become the feather that tips the scales of this fragile balance in the struggle for ideologies.”

  “It took a single man. The Hero Rodric, to create the modern era as we know it. It would be foolish to let you off with the knowledge we have of you.”

  “And if we could, we would kill you just to maintain the balance in the pursuit of our mission. It would be simple mathematics.” He stated rather coldly, staring at Aurelius with pity in his eyes.

  “In saying that, The Lost God has left that blueprint in your soul, and that necessarily means that you are off-limits, unless we are eager to make an enemy of Him.”

  “As a neutral organisation, we cannot do so, and that means that you are unfortunately by extension, destined for battle. As a deterrent, or as a participant.”

  “You stand with the Commission now, because we deemed it a fact for you.”

  “The Commission will protect you, but in doing so, you have foregone a degree of freedom that you could have had. That is the price for our choice for you. Or the sacrifice that you have made. And something I believe to be worthwhile for you, at least for the moment.”

  “If you choose to go against them, the Commission will simply eliminate you, whether through your contract, or through other means.”

  “You can, of course, regain much of this freedom. Whether through the pursuit of higher positions in the Commission as a sage or even Archsage, or through the pioneering of your own path.”

  “But the truth remains that you will be watched, leashed and nurtured for the rest of your life. And a cosy career for the Houses, or other similarly boring, normal pathways are no longer an option for you, for you are a game piece to the Commission now.”

  “You cannot play chess as a pawn. And I am here to give you value to grow into something… better.” He concluded, his eyes observing Aurelius’s stupefied expression.