[IC] A Hero Tale {Complete}

[tex]

Mikey dabbed his forehead and stepped away from Jenso. "Alright, alright, turn it off!" He shouted over the roaring flames.

[Jensoman]

Jenso turned his overheat form off again and blinked at Mikey. "Hey, I did what ya asked man!" He retorted, as his eyes turned back to normal.

[SuperFlash]

Jeff already knew where this was going and grunted out of annoyance as he called some nanos out of his sleeve and had them quickly whisk around the room in various directions making sure to have them steer clear of Jenso and his omega form. He then readied for them swerve out of the way of any attack that Mikey would plan to launch of them by using a boost of arcane energy and would then proceed to have them merge together and form an arcane shield to bonk him on the head with.

[tex]

"So first of all," Mikey started, "That whole explosive result, that's your Ki responding to you prodding it. Your arcane system is being thrown into overload, and can't properly mould your energy. I think you need to focus on moulding your Arki into something more focused, condensed, and controllable. Fire is already a difficult element to control, and your Ki is overwhelming, but you can control it if you focus." Mikey rose his hand and conjured his geyser gauntlet. "See how my gauntlet moulds to my skin, unlike before? It's much stronger now, and requires less energy to maintain. Step one is moulding the proper type of Arki. Step two is learning how to control that Arki. Step three? Well, applying it in ways that can't easily be countered," Mikey explained. He nodded and turned to Jeff again, only to have his head conked by his nano-bots. "Jeff," Mikey grunted, reaching up to grab a handful of the nano-mites, "I'm trying to make a point here."

[Jensoman]

Jenso nodded at Mikey respectfully. "I see...I'll do my best to control it, man!" Jenso said to his friend. He understood now. He had a lot of practice to do.

[SuperFlash]

"Finnee.." Jeff said as he left the nano floating in front of him in a basic shield form though it still seemed to radiate arcane energy steadily.

[tex]

Mikey rubbed his head and conjured Arki around his right index finger, reaching forwards slightly. He stopped and backed away. "Actually, Jenso, come here," He asked, "Could you fire a small Ki-Shot into Jeff's shield? Pure Ki, please."

[Jensoman]

Jenso frowned as Mikey asked for his aid. Jeff didn't seem very happy with the situation. He began to channel Ki within the palm of his right hand, and took aim. "Alright.." Jenso muttered in an uneasy tone. He launched a bolt of Ki at the shield and destroyed a small portion of it.

[SuperFlash]

The second the shield was hit the nanos scattered about, but other ones appeared and swapped places with the ones which were knocked away reforming the shield and giving the damaged ones a second to repair, which seeing the extent of the attack was not even that much time. "Yeah I know the whole Ki thing and to be fair I've accounted for that much. Given yeah enough ki could pose a problem. I get it."

[tex]

As the nano-bots were eliminated, Mikey sighed. "It's a matter of energy. Your tools are merely tools, and Ki is Ki. You need to play to your strengths, Jeff. Use your speed, and develop your abilities to play to that strength. I can't say exactly how much punishment you'll be able to take, but if you rely on your nano-bots, and enough of them are destroyed in battle, you'll have lost then and there," Mikey explained.

"Bruce, I have a task for you!" He turned and pointed at Bruce, "I want you to form your sword in such a way that I cannot break it by the end of the week!" He looked at Ross and smiled. "Ross will help you with that, I trust he'll have an easier time explaining Ki control than I'd first imagined." Ross scoffed at Mikey's comment and flexed his upper body.

"Of course!" Ross bragged.

"Jenso, I would like you to work on forming you Arki, first and foremost. Forget about the rest of the steps for now. I want you to find the balance of Ki and arcane energy so that you can properly apply it in the future. The way your overheat forms might damage you now, but if you use Arki in a different way... Perhaps you'll be able to continue using it in the battles to come." He turned back to Jeff.

"Jeff, I want you to work on controlling your Ki. Your task is the most difficult of all due to your Ki type, but I'd like to see your attacks reach at least... Mach 1!" Mikey announced, "Faster than a bullet! Take these goals as you will, and step forward slowly. Bruce, the only time we'll meet is to review your progress, from now on. I trust Ross will be able to handle your training on his own. In the meantime, I will be training with both Jenso and Jeff every morning from here on out. It's been decided!" He turned back to Jenso and Jeff and gave them a thumbs up. "I believe in you all."

[Jensoman]

"Yeah!!! YOU GOT IT MAN!!" Jenso cried out excitedly, eager to train with Mikey. "We can do it! All of us!" He shouted confidently, with a wide smirk on his face. Somehow, the way Mikey spoke gave Jenso courage again. They could truly do it! They could win!

[Brucenorris007]

Bruce nodded. He glanced at Ross, undecided on how he felt about the Gaian's showiness. But he had his assignment, and he fully intended to follow through. Jenso's enthusiasm was contagious, and the corners of his lips turned upward.
"Yes," he said. "There's no doubt in my mind."

[SuperFlash]

"Right" Jeff nodded at Mikey as they called the nanos back into his sleaves and backpack. "I know I can not just rely on my tech, but it doesn't mean I can't rely on it either, but no worries I fully intend on mastering the density of my wind techniques. It's good to have options afterall and I've slacked of on my arki too long... time to change that."

[tex]

Mikey looked over his friend and nodded. It would take a lot of work, but they weren't about to be slacking with him around! The road to success was paved with pain and mistakes. Mikey was grateful to have had such a great teacher in the past, to have been gifted with such insight on the functions of Ki.

"Alright! Let's work on some drills!" Mikey shouted, prepped to reveal some of his 'super secret' training techniques to everyone around him.

'I can do something now, Kaitlin. I can do something for everyone'

---

~ End Of Chapter 137 ~

[tex]

~ Chapter 138 ~

_{The Art Of Strategy! Luke Has Something To Say}

Jeff, Jenso, and Oswald were prepped and ready in one of the guild's other combat facilities. The room they were in was not built like an football field, rather, it sported a circular platform that hung a few inches off the ground using gravity. Standing on it didn't seem to upset the balance, though. This must have been the same tech that kept Tech-mo castle in the sky.

Luke was waiting inside, standing atop the platform with his hands on his hips. He smiled and waved at the three heroes. "Welcome to the class, buckos!" Luke stated confidently, looking to be in a much better mood than before."

[SuperFlash]

"Hey there Luke!" Jeff responded back as he stepped in holding an orb of wind whi h he kept focusing on constantly changing the density and size of it, trying to find the perfect density for each size. He planned to stop once everyone else arrived but in the meanwhile felt determined to get this comepletly right.

[Jensoman]

Jenso entered the facility, and waved over at his father. "Hey dad!" Jenso shouted cheerfully. A burst of flames erupted from his feet, launching him upwards. He landed on the platform in front of Luke with a wide grin.

[Necrophage]

Oz strolled in and yawned contagiously. He stretched his arms and back before finally announcing himself. "I'm here, let's do this."

[tex]

Luke smiled and nodded. "Right. I'm not gonna be easy on y'all, so keep that in mind. Also," Luke pointed to himself with his thumb, "Mikey may have taught me a thing or two about my Ki, but I 'aint nearly as strong as any of you, so go easy on me if we get rough, got it?" Luke chuckled and strolled across the platform with his gun slung over his left shoulder. "Today we're gonna be covering some basics. I'm gonna ask a series of questions, and I want you to give me your best answer! Whoever's answer's the best, well, I'll uh... I'll give you a thumbs up, I guess?" Luke rose his index finger and glared at the three trumps sternly.

"Question one, what the number one priority when fighting an enemy? Throw your answers out, you don't have to raise your hand or anything.."

[Jensoman]

Jenso nodded and answered calmly. "Defeating the enemy as quickly and efficiently as possible to avoid them from causing harm to myself, those I care about, or innocent people." Jenso responded.