He didn’t teach her anything. Instead, he stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her, placing his hands over hers, which were holding her sword tightly right in front of her. He adjusted her stance and tightened her grip before leading the motion.
He activated Sky Splitter with her body as a proxy.
Lily didn’t feel anything at first, but as soon as the sword started to descend, a massive weight pushed down on her entire body. It felt like she was covered in thick lead.
Before she was a quarter through, she sank to her knees, unable to bear the weight. Her sword crashed into the ground, leaving a small crater like it weighed as much as a boulder.
Panting heavily, she struggled to turn around and look at Squawks in confusion. How was that even possible? How had the weight of her sword suddenly increased so much?
Squawks smiled. Lily’s expression reminded him of the first time he tried to practice Sky Splitter.
Of course, back then, he didn’t have a hint of caution nor more than a few strips of muscle. He broke both his arms and was restricted to bed rest for half a month. But just like Lily right now, he wanted to know how that was possible, and he wanted to know how to do it properly and use that weight and power freely.
"To Bring Down The Heavens. That’s the name of my techniques, Lily. But do you know what it means to bring down the heavens?" He asked, looking at the sky.
Lily followed his gaze.
"No," She answered succinctly. She wasn’t going to try and figure it out. It was a bold and powerful name, but she didn’t know what it meant.
"It means a lot of things. For the first two moves, it means you need to bear the responsibility of catching the sky when it falls." Squawks pointed at Lily’s sword in the ground.
"That’s what that was. It wasn’t that the weight of the sword increased. It was the weight of a responsibility too heavy for a human to bear. For Sky Splitter, you also need the strength to not just catch the sky but to cut through it as well."
"The most basic prerequisite for my techniques, Lily, is overwhelming strength."
Lily sighed tiredly, but she nodded.
"The good thing, once you’re strong enough to practice the techniques, though, is that you don’t need any other exercise." Squawks flashed a cheery smile as he skipped helping Lily up and grabbed his own sword to start practicing.
He unleashed Sky Splitter on the empty air. The air looked a little blurry when he cut it, but it quickly repaired itself.
Other than that, it just looked like he was mindlessly repeating vertical swings with a sword that weighed as much as a mountain. His muscles bulged, his veins popped, and sweat soaked his shirt.
He did dozens of the same swing that had brought Lily to her knees before she even finished half of one.
It fired her up more than any motivational speech ever could.
The more she learned about the techniques, the more curious she got about where they came from and what their peak was. She also wanted to know why Squawks had been so stubborn about not teaching them in the past, but it was fine now.
However, none of those questions were as important as finishing one Sky Splitter. So, she pushed them out of her mind and grabbed her sword before standing up on unsteady legs.
She remembered how to do it.
It wasn’t something that could be learned through looking at it. It wasn’t something that could be explained in words or with text, either.
It was a technique that could only be passed on through guidance.
Without experiencing the surge of power from every corner of the body and the ensuing weight of the heavens pressing down on someone audacious enough to try and bring them down, it was impossible to understand.
Lily understood why Squawks had insisted on the week of hard physical training. Exercising and lifting weights until her limbs and core turned to jelly had almost been able to prepare her for practising Sky Splitter.
Of course, it didn’t come close to the real thing, and now that Lily had a taste of the real thing, she wouldn’t be satisfied with anything else.
Despite Hugo’s refusal, they had sold a couple of the arrows and made a fortune. They had enough money to train until it was time to join the war. Lily and Squawks were going to spend as much time training as possible.
The rest of the Free Birds did the same.
It would be the first time they joined a real war together like this. They couldn’t be too prepared.
Squawks, Lily, Hugo, Dima, Damas, Mole. They all did what they could to hone their abilities and prepare for the upcoming clash. But they weren’t the only ones improving.
***
The Ursa warriors were transforming into bears and throwing heavy boulders at each other. Malak was strategizing and reading reports. Qiro was looking at the forest and the lands beyond it from the tallest mountain in Asa territory.
***
The Torak Syndicate’s members, who had avoided conscription, were transforming the wealth they had hoarded into supplies and manpower. They worked under the radar and behind the scenes as they spread those supplies around the country to the ones suffering from the flags of war.
The Voradi troops were training, marching, eating, and sleeping.
***
On the plains of Matarok, their warriors, old and young, were training and looking forward to a fight, not against each other, but outsiders. For the first time in decades, the different warlords were united under their Ruler, who would lead them in battle against Vorad.
"Hah! Look at him! He’s still practicing that outdated technique! Does he really think he can make it work?"
"At least he’s practicing. What are you doing?"
"..."
The two warriors glared at each other instead of looking at the young man swinging his sword behind the stables.