CHAPTER 11 - 11 – TRAINING PRODIGY

Chapter 11 – Training Prodigy

In Lune's eyes, Jack was nothing short of a prodigy.

The man she met ten years from now—her Jack—wasn't just impressive. He was terrifying. To rise as the strongest Chronist was no ordinary feat. In fact, it was exponentially harder than achieving strength as a native-born creature of Aevum. The world was foreign to humans—its energy, rules, even the air one breathed—yet Jack had learned it all. Not just learned, but mastered it.

And now, seeing him as a boy, Lune was struck with the truth: he wasn't normal.

Jack didn't just succeed in Aevum—he surpassed it. He rose to rival the strongest beings the world had ever seen and left a trail of awe and fear in his wake. So while Lune hadn't witnessed his full journey firsthand, she was already convinced of one thing:

He was a once-in-a-lifetime genius.

But watching him now—watching this young version of Jack, replicating her movement with eerie accuracy after seeing it just twice—her understanding of him shifted again.

'He only saw it twice... and he replicated it perfectly. That's not just genius. That's photographic memory, muscle memory, and instinct wrapped into one. Did he memorize every subtle shift in my stance? Every breath, every angle... all in under thirty seconds?'

The very idea felt absurd.

Jack was human. His brain and body were supposed to have limits. And yet... this boy kept defying every single one.

"And then..." Jack's voice snapped her out of her spiraling thoughts.

He moved slowly, his hand extending forward as his feet followed—uncertain, deliberate, but determined. With one firm motion, he struck forward.

"Like this?" he asked, glancing toward Lune.

She blinked, momentarily speechless.

"Lune?" he said again, noticing the stunned expression on her face.

"Huh? Oh! Yeah, um, I was just... a bit surprised. You're a really, really fast learner, Jack," she stammered with a nervous chuckle. 'Oh my lord. He's unbelievable! What kind of freakish learning speed is this?!' she screamed internally.

"Okay, your stance was amazing—no, perfect! As for the strike itself, it's a fantastic first attempt. I want you to lean your body more into the motion next time. The key is to concentrate power into a single point. You need to strike boldly, ruthlessly. The more commitment you put behind it, the more devastating it becomes."

"Bold and ruthless, huh?" Jack muttered, letting her words settle. 'So more aggression...'

With a slow nod, he took the stance again. This time, his expression grew focused, his gaze sharpening like a blade honed on instinct. His aura shifted—serene, concentrated, utterly detached from the world around him.

It was one of Jack's rarest and most dangerous gifts: his ability to enter an intense state of focused clarity. In that state, his mind and body merged into one, fully harmonized. He tuned everything out—time, sound, even Lune herself—and honed in on a single goal.

It was this very talent that elevated him above others. His genius wasn't only intellectual—it was in the way his body obeyed his mind without resistance.

Now, in that perfect stillness, Jack imagined her again. Lune. The way she moved. The way her form shifted. Her posture. Her intent. He pictured a transparent version of her standing in his place, her hollow silhouette replaying the technique again and again.

And he followed her like a shadow.

Lune's eyes widened as she watched him sink into motion.

'No way...'

Swish!

With a sudden surge, Jack launched forward, his palm slicing through the air with a crisp, whipping sound that echoed slightly in the quiet night.

Then silence.

"How was that?" he asked after a moment.

"... It's..." Lune stammered.

"It's?"

"It's amazing... No, more than that—it's the closest thing to perfection I've ever seen from a human without using Time Essence," she said, still trying to process what she had just witnessed. "And you did that... in just a few minutes."

Her voice trembled slightly with awe.

'Even the greatest talents usually take hours to learn the basics. At least an hour or two to mimic a stance. But he...' Her thoughts tangled into disbelief. 'He did it in mere minutes.'

It was almost too much to accept.

"Hm. It wasn't particularly complicated," Jack said casually. "I just followed your movements and replicated them. It didn't require much analysis, just copying."

Lune blinked. "Y-You what?"

"That didn't require much analysis," Jack repeated, shrugging. "It was just copying."

'Copying? Just copying?! That's a technique meant for Time Essence wielders!' Lune practically screamed in her mind. 'Even if the technique is simple, it shouldn't be easy. It requires precision, control, and enhanced reaction time. You're supposed to take longer!'

Lune's head spun, overwhelmed. 'I already knew Jack was talented but this... this is absurd. With a mind like this, no wonder he became the strongest. It's inevitable at this point.'

But as she kept watching him, another thought began to creep in—one that brought with it not only excitement but fear.

'If I'm the one guiding him... if I can give him the best possible path... then the Jack I knew might just be the beginning.'

She inhaled quietly. 'He could grow even stronger. Beyond imagination. There might not even be a limit anymore.'

This wasn't just a boy with potential. This was a storm waiting to awaken.

"Lune?" Jack called again, pulling her from her thoughts.

She turned to him with a soft smile. "Yeah, I'm listening. I'm just... really amazed by you, my love. You've completely blown me away. I didn't expect this."

"Really? If all it takes is copying some movements to impress you, then maybe the talent in Aevum isn't as high as you say," he said, tilting his head.

Lune's eye twitched.

"Wait—what?! No, no, don't underestimate them," she said quickly. "The top talents in Aevum are terrifying. Yes, many die before they even get anywhere... but the ones who survive? They become monsters. You should not take them lightly."

Jack smirked slightly, then turned and got into position again.

"I was joking," he said.

"..."

"I want to repeat this attack a few hundred more times before we move on. My body still feels sluggish doing it."

'Sluggish... he says.' Lune didn't know whether to laugh or cry at that statement. 'He's already near perfect and he still doesn't feel satisfied? My husband truly is something else...'

Without another word, Jack began practicing again.

Over and over, he repeated the palm strike. Lune stood nearby, watching every attempt with laser focus, pointing out even the tiniest of flaws. Despite how precise he already was, she guided him through the finer details—how to target weak points, when to use this technique in real combat, and when it might backfire.

Jack absorbed it all like a sponge.

Every word, every correction—he committed them to memory, knowing how rare and valuable Lune's teachings were. He didn't want to waste a single second of her time. She was more than a teacher; she was his guide in a world far beyond his own.

And so, they continued.

Time passed. The hours melted away unnoticed, swallowed in a blur of focus and sweat. The world outside their training faded to nothing as Jack and Lune remained locked in this shared rhythm.

Strike. Correct. Repeat.

Strike. Perfect. Refine.

Eventually, the faint glow of morning began to stretch across the sky.

The long night had come to an end—but for them, it had only just begun.