Following Shun into the training area once more he looked at all the wires spread throughout the room. Shun had already taken a meditative position and motioned for him to sit on the floor. Dorian joined him in his meditation and looked deep within himself. The atoms seemed to be cleared now, maybe it had something to do with his knowledge. Now that he knew more about the atoms and his powers he could see the atoms clearer?

Dorian thought about this, if knowledge also strengthened the power of his abilities then he should learn as much about atoms as he could. But how would he learn more about them it's not as if there was anything told about them in books as only those with internal magic knew about it and since it was a magic focused on one's body all the users focused more on the physical aspect of their training and weren't writers or novelists.

Self study remained the answer then, learning about the building blocks in your body to improve how well you are able to use them. He looked at the glowing specks in his body and tried his utmost to 'zoom' into one of the specks in his body. Try as he might however the speck never grew beyond the size of a grain of sand. To small to really study it and its content. He started thinking even deeper about it, if these atoms were the building blocks of the body then what were the atoms made of?

If the atom was made of its own kind of building blocks what were those made of, and if those building blocks had their own building blocks? Would this continue? How miniscule would one of those blocks be? Just thinking about it gave him a headache, he now already knew that there was more to the build of ones body or anything else for that matter than he had thought. Back to the specks however, he tried moving one individual speck and it took alot of effort to move one, so much in fact that he almost started panting.

Did moving one atom cost that much energy?! He thought to himself astonished, he tried moving more atoms than 1 at once and to his surprise it was alot easier if he grabbed a whole bunch of them in stead of only using one. Although he called it 'grabbing' one of them it was more like willing it to move with your mind. A sort of telepathy if you will. He tried moving the atoms on the skin of his arm closer together. He made them gather as densely as he could and then pressed his finger on his skin.

The skin didn't budge in the slightest, it felt hard as stone and just as unmovable. He understood how hard it would have been for a normal soldier to kill Hirmanuculius as long as he still had enough stamina. Next on Dorian's list of things to try was shifting like Shun had done. He tried grabbing hold of all the atoms in his body and moving them. He tried to just imagine all of them moving.

His body shifted and he moved a few centimeters to the left. The result however was an immense dizziness. His stomach was completely upset and Dorian couldn't hold it back. He threw up over the stone floor.

“Aaaah, well yes that will take some getting used to. Eventually it will be as easy as breathing and it won't leave as much strain on your body. I don't feel the slightest discomfort anymore. Or else this would be an extremely annoying power to use. No choice but to keep doing it and get used to it kid.” Shun told him.

You could have warned me about it before hand! Dorian thought, but he kept it to himself. For now he took a minute or so to breath and calmed himself. It took a while for his upset stomach to relax and for his head to stop spinning. He sat back in the same meditative posture and looked inside himself again.

The specks greeted him once more, there were still so infinitely many of them. To control these, he wondered wat he could do with it all. For now however he just had to keep practicing shifting. He breathed in deeply and prepared himself to do it once more. He moved the atoms just the barest of a cm this time. His head spun and his stomach growled its protest, he was able to refrain from throwing up however.

A deep breath, and another try. The same distance now resulted in less protest from his body. After about a dozen attempts he could move half a cm without feeling nautious anymore. Time to increase the distance then. He shifted himself a cm and his head spun once more and his stomach growled in protest. Only 1 cm and it was as if he had to start all over again. Dorian calmed his mind and concentrated. His father had gotten him used to some harsh training so he would be able to this aswell. He had to.

After another dozen attempts at moving 1 cm he could do it without feeling nautious. He was panting however and the sweat was rolling down his back. For some reason however the clothes did not stick to his back and the sweat did not cling to his body as it usually should. Dorian focused on his sweat more and noticed that the clothes were actually absorbing his sweat. He looked at his legs and saw that the ground at his feet was getting slightly damp. The dampness pushed away from the cloth however.

So there were cleanliness spells sewn into the cloth. Incredibly high level ones too, the cloth rejected dirt and damp alike. That meant these clothes would stay clean no matter what that made him feel a good bit better. He waited a minute orso for his breath to calm once more than went back to practicing. 1 cm turned to 2, 2 turned to 4, 4 to, and so on. By the time Shun stopped meditating Dorian was able to shift a good meter and a half.

Shun looked at him and nodded. “You seem to be getting the hang of it, a couple more days like this and you will be able to shift around. However moving yourself with the utmost precision is an entirely different matter. After a while we will start practicing to shift onto the wires and to be able to stay there. Combat training won't do you much good because whoever taught you taught you extremely well. I doubt there is anything i could really teach you. Experience will be the only way for you to improve in that area.”

“Of course once you have mastered new abilities your fighting style will change. Although you may be quite skilled at wielding that knife of yours you will need to practice with those needles aswell. Practice unsheathing the blades on the belt aswell as those attached to your arms. The faster you can do it the more dangerous you will become.”

“For now however lets have some lunch, im starving. Also i told that child of yours she could drop by for lunch and dinner. She was giving her instructor a bunch of trouble that she wasn't able to see you anymore so we made an exception. The rest of your friends need to concentrate however and you will only see them once a week orso.” Shun told him while he stretched his body.

As they moved back to their rooms Dorian took this opportunity to shift aswell. He extended his reach once more by the time they had reached their room. Shiela was already there waiting for him at the door. She saw him coming and ran to him with that beaming smile on her face. She gave him a tackling hugg that Arin had dubbed The Glomp. It had become something Shiela liked doing to the people she felt comfrotable with.

Dorian caught Shiela mid air and put her on his shoulder were she stayed perched happily. She pointed forward and bounced on his shoulder. Acting as if he was a horse, Dorian laughed and increased his pace. Running with a happy Shiela shrieking in glee.

After running around with her a bit they entered the room were Shun was already taking out the ingredients. Dorian put Shiela on the ground and looked at her. “Shiela want to help us make lunch? Shun over there is really good at cooking.”

Shiela beamed and nodded enthusiastically. “Mhh!” Dorian had noticed over the last day or so that even if Shiela couldn't talk she could produce sounds of sorts. She could laugh aswell, Dorian wondered why words escaped her though. It probably had something to do with the events that had occurred to her.

Dorian shook his head to get rid of the thoughts and started to help Shun with cutting the vegetables. Shun asked Shiela to knead the dough he needed, he made sure to carefully instruct her how to make the dough more delicious. The 2 seemed to get along famously right from the start. Shiela enjoyed Shun's company aswell and whenever she thought she was done she would tug on his leg and point to the dough asking if it was done.

Shun looked over at the dough and then grinned at her. “Ooah! You're talented at this aren't you lil one, this dough is great. We can make some yummy food with it!” Shiela was nearly shining with pleasure at the compliment and she nodded with another 'Mhm!'

Dorian noticed that you didn't need to see Shun's face to know wat his facial expressions were, you could somehow just tell when he was smiling or grinning. Come to think of it he wondered how Shiela had instantly known that Dorian was Dorian. He had been clad in his outfit after all, hood up and mask covering everything below the eyes. Probably just instinct he thought with a smile.

He looked over at the door and noticed a sword there. An eastern Longquan sword, A longquan was a straight rather short sword with a hilt but no gaurd. The end of the beautifully inscribed hilt was a hole that was tied to some red rope knotted in a a complicated pattern. He looked at the sword in confusion. He knew it wasnt;t one of his or Shun's weapons. Shiela then? He still felt really akward about letting her train with weapons. He was pretty sure the girl wasnt any older than 7.

But he supposed having a longquan was leagues better than having a scythe. He looked over at the happily cooking Shiela.

“Shiela did you switch from the scythe to that sword?” Dorian asked her.

Shiela looked up to him and then to the sword at the door. She nodded then grinned and ran over to get the sword. She wasn't strong enough to lift the sword so she put her effort into dragging it to Dorian.

She must have been really excited to show him the sword he thought. She would have had to drag the thing all the way over here just to show him. Well he already knew she was a determined little girl, mature beyond her age. Yet the joyful playfulness she displayed at all times was a balm for the heart.

She dragged the sword over with short tugs, then looked up at to him with a sweaty grin once she had reached him. She then pointed to the sword and then to Dorian. He looked at her with a smile.

“Is it ok for me to take a look.” He asked already knowing the answer.

She nodded happily and beamed when Dorian picked up the sword. He put his hand around the hilt and looked at the sheath. It really was quite the masterwork this sword, A smith like himself could always appreciate good workmanship. Especially in weapons. He slowly drew the sword and was impressed with the balance. Once Shiela had grown to a size were she would be able to wield the weapon she would probably start practicing insanely hard till she had mastered it. Dorian knew in his soul that was the type of kid she was.

Once she had mastered this sword she would be able to take care of herself. The commander had been right it really did put his heart at ease a bit. He then suddenly thought to himself, Wait! Aren't i basically a father now. It took him a moment to let the sensation sink in. He had practically adopted Sheila without even really noticing.

Aaaah, explaining this to mum is gonna be a task. Dorian thought he then looked over to Shiela who was still looking at him with anticipation. He smiled at her, she is more than worth it though. I have to get stronger faster. I have to make sure i am strong enough to protect her from anything or anyone that wants to harm her. He looked at the blade of the eastern sword seeing his own reflection in the carefully polished metal.

He gave the sword a few swings and then sheathed it again. He gave the sword back to Shiela. “Once you master this blade you will be one of the strongest women on the continent. But i am sure that you will be the most beautifull” He said looking down at her fondly. Although any guy that wants to date her will have to go through me. He added savagely in his head.

Shiela sent her another one of her beaming smiles and nodded and then gave her best determined face. Telling him she would work very hard to become the woman he had imagined. A strange sense of pride and confidence that she could do it welled up in his chest. He quickly returned to cooking before his emotions got the better of him.

After a few minutes they were done with making lunch and sat themselves at the table. Shiela jumped onto his lap which seemed to be her favorite place to eat dinner. Digging into her food ravenously she ate as fast as she could. Dorian laughed at the site and told her to calm down and enjoy the food. Shun then proceeded to tell them a story of how he had once eaten lunch by accident in a trolls cave.

Shiela listened intently to his story gasping in shock or giggling with glee at the highlights. For an assasin Shun really had his way with kids. Even Dorian had to say it was easy to feel connected to Shun. He felt like an uncle to Dorian now, especially with the way he was enjoying telling extravagant stories to the little girl. One story went on to the next and Shiela didn't seem bored in the least. For that matter neither did Shun. Dorian just sat there enjoying the time they were spending together.

Lunch took a good bit longer than it should. Eventually Shiela's teacher came to pick her up so she could practice. It seemed that they would start with unarmed training because she was too small to pick up the sword yet. Shiela's instructor was an eastern woman in a black dress that fit tightly to her skin. The dress had a distinguishing eastern style to it. It looked beautiful however, even in its simplicity. Maybe more to the point it was beautiful because of its simplicity.

Shiela didn't make a fuss when she had to leave as people would have expected. Instead she put on her determined face and marched back with the woman. Her back stiff and proud as if she was going to battle. The sight of the small girl looking so serious made Dorian laugh, he really was glad he met her.

“Such a good kid” Shun said watching them go.

“Yea and now she might aswell be my kid..” Dorian said. “Lets go, there is training to be done.” Dorian walked away with a a grimly determined face. Shun looked at him then at Shiela. A father by choice huh. He thought, that will make him stronger.

Ill try doing a chapter of atleast this size a day guys. Its straining on the brain tho so i might not have the creativity to write every day.

ps. Does anybody know away to get my story more noticed? I see enough other stories with less chapters but more views and i wanna kick it up a notch so, if you have any tips, please.

pps. I really enjoy the comments i get, especially when you tell me what you think of a chapter or of the story, it quite literally keeps me going knowing that i get reactions per chapter. Its how i get the drive to do a chapter.

PPPS, Thanks for reading!