Alvios looked to the side at Vale for a moment, then stoop up, focusing on Bruce. He had words for Jenso, but he wanted to wait before acknowledging him. What Jenso had to say could dictate the actions of the future, so he may as well deal with what was in the present first.
"It's nothing so simple that I could teach in the sparse time we have. It's more than just a change in posture, or breathing, or muscle control. It's a full change in perspective, in technique, and in spirit." Alvios held up a hand, and formed one of his Ki blades, refined so much that it looked like real metal. In the next instant, just a glance of his eye, it changed shape, elongating into a spear. A flick of his wrist, and the entire thing shattered into small particles of light, dancing around his arm for a moment before flowing back into his body.
"Ki is a physical energy as well as a spiritual one, a combination of body and soul. The inner potential of a being, brought into manifest. Unlike Arcane magic, its form is defined by the wielder's personality and heart, rather than knowledge, hence why Jenso's typically takes the form of flames, and mine of blades. Its limit varies, as it is much like an imaginary muscle; you can train it, make it durable and powerful and flexible, but a muscle can never grow larger than the body it carries. These are all basics, probably things you know inherently, but they're key to understanding how to control it at a precision level."
Alvios tapped the edge of Vale's sword with a finger, the ever-sharp blade splitting his skin without effort. He held up the would, and it only existed for a moment before regenerating. "My healing involves focusing my Ki on the would. Flexing that inner muscle just enough to stimulate the cells for near-instant regeneration. But it's like holding fragile glass. If I pushed too hard, I would simply discharge excess power, and heal faster than the body can manage, so it compensates with recovery over full rejuvenation, like cauterizing it instead of fixing it. I wouldn't heal nearly as quickly, and the injury would still be a weak point. On something larger, like a lost chunk of an arm or a rib bone, that would be detrimental. I could end up with half a rib, or an arm too weak to lift a stone, until they regrew naturally. On the other hand, if I don't push hard enough, well, nothing useful happens. People with mastery over Ki tend to recover from wounds quickly anyway; what I do is just taking that principle and amplifying it to its maximum potential."
Alvios shifted his weight, leaning on his sword slightly. "Healing other people... I don't know why, but it seems to be unique to me. I take the Ki used to improve recovery, and move it into another person. My Ki stimulates and assists theirs in that hyper-accelerated regeneration. Typically, when one person's Ki meets another's, they clash. It's like having two people exist in the same place at once. Regardless, that same principle, moving my Ki elsewhere to act, it's the foundation of my light blades. Like how Jenso fires blasts he can manipulate outside of his body. It's still a part of you, still a muscle to flex, like changing the direction of a punch."
Alvios formed another Ki blade, shrunk it down to the size of a pocket knife, and had it fly around his wrist a few times, demonstrating. "My Ki reserves aren't very high. So, rather than try to do something I cannot, and break the maximum amount of growth my body can handle, I fold it. Have you ever forged your own sword? As the molten metal is beaten into the core and edge, you fold the metal as it becomes thin. The metal moves back into itself, while impurities are flushed away. Again and again this is done, and the quality of a blade is often directly related to how many times the metal was successfully folded. That is how I sharpen it. Then, the principle of healing. I move the Ki outside of my body, and control it. Those controlled blasts, I've made them thinner, sharper, and more controlled by me, as the impurities--excess force, force beyond my control, wasted energy--have been flushed out. That is how I can control it outside of my body with more precision. Moving them intricately, reforming them, melding them back with myself. Ki is more than a muscle, it is spirit. It's understanding that Ki is a force from your body, without the limitations of skin or bone. Controlling every blade is like moving the tiniest bit of tissue in a finger joint. Something that your body cannot do naturally, because it has a human shape, follows physical limitations."
Alvios turned to Jenso, keeping an eye trained on Bruce as he finished his winded speech. "All of those concepts have taken me years to perfect. For this final battle, if I would take one thing from all of that; fold your Ki. Flush out impurities. I do it subconsciously, every day. It's a reflex now, like a heartbeat. But even if you must exert a little bit of willpower to do so, removing the impurities of unnecessary force moving anywhere that isn't your attack could both lower your Ki consumption, and improve the potency of the attack. Now then..."
"We don't have the luxury of considerations Jenso. If you want to take on the Order, I will fight alongside you, to save all worlds. If you want to join them to just save ours, I will not object. After everything we've seen, both from ourselves and from our enemy... do you think we can win?"
