The Essence Flow-Chapter 24: Dull to Sharp
BAM.
Elliot’s fist slammed into the punching bag again. Nothing.
He stepped back, shaking his hand. “Okay. Either this thing’s cursed or I’m hitting the world's most passive-aggressive training dummy.”
Leon sat on a rock nearby, sipping tea like he was watching a pleasant sunrise. “You’re still holding back.”
“I
focused
that time!”
“You
flinched
at the last second. You’re thinking too much about
not
doing it wrong. Instead, just do it right.”
Elliot turned slowly. “That’s the most unhelpful advice I’ve ever heard.”
Leon smiled. “Then you’re close to understanding it.”
Elliot let out a groan and squared up again. Behind him, Towan’s scream pierced the trees.
SPLASH.
Towan resurfaced, sputtering and gasping as the current pushed him downstream.
“Damn it!” he barked, dragging himself back toward the rock with all the fury of a wet cat. “It’s like kicking on a bar of soap during an earthquake!”
Leon’s voice carried from the shore. “Keep your core tight. You’re letting the water decide your flow instead of matching it.”
“Because
that
sounds easy,” Towan muttered. He climbed back onto the rock, took his stance, focused his Essentia… and the waterfall immediately shifted to the side, throwing off his balance.
SPLASH.
From the bushes, Elliot’s muffled laughter echoed between punches. “Hey, at least
my
target doesn’t throw me into a river.”
Towan surfaced again, hair plastered over his face like a soggy helmet. “Oh yeah? My target literally punches
back
. With gravity.”
By midday, their bodies ached, soaked and bruised.
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Elliot sat cross-legged, arms sore and red. The bag still hadn’t moved more than a polite
wiggle
. “What if… hear me out… the bag respects me too much to flinch?”
“Nope,” Leon said, arms still calmly crossed. “The bag just doesn’t believe in you yet.”
Towan sat shirtless on a nearby rock, drying off under the sun, glaring at the waterfall like it had personally insulted his ancestors. “This thing has no chill. It’s like it knows when I’m trying too hard.”
Leon raised an eyebrow. “Because it does. Both of you are still trying to
control
the flow like it’s something outside of you. But Essentia isn’t an object. It’s an extension of you. It obeys purpose, not fear. Direction, not force.”
Towan huffed. “Philosophy lessons are cool and all, but I’d like to finish one kick without getting baptized.”
Leon stood, stepping into the center of the clearing. “Then stop treating this like a fight against the elements. Start flowing with them.”
He reached toward the waterfall, extending his arm—then gently swept his leg in a precise arc. Water curved with his motion, and for just a moment, the downpour paused midair, parting perfectly like silk around his foot.
Both boys stared, speechless.
Leon dropped his leg and turned back toward them. “You’ll get there. When you stop fighting your instincts… and start understanding them.”
Towan blinked. “That was… actually pretty cool.”
Elliot leaned toward him. “Bro. I think he’s a ninja.”
Leon smirked. “I’m just someone who’s fallen off more rocks than you’ve stood on.”
Shortly after, they stopped for lunch
Leon leaned back against a rock, arms crossed, eyes on the flames. “You ever wonder why elemental users don’t look buffed at all?”
Towan snorted. “Knew a guy who couldn’t even lift a bucket, but could throw boulders with Earth Essentia.”
“Exactly.” Leon nodded. “Most elemental users don’t
need
to train their bodies. Their Essentia flows
outward
, shaping fire, wind, stone... The element carries the force, not the body.”
He looked at them now, his tone firmer.
“But Natural Essentia is different. Your flow stays
inside
. Your bones, your tendons, your breath—they’re part of the technique. You don’t throw a punch with air or flame. You throw
yourself
. If your body’s weak, your flow stutters. If your form’s off, the Essentia doesn’t align. It slips. It fizzles.”
Elliot stirred his stew slowly, thinking. “So… elemental users don’t train their body at all because their power doesn't depend on it. But if we did that, we'd be useless.”
Leon gave a small, approving nod. “Exactly. That’s why you train like this. No shortcuts. No fireballs. If your body can’t endure your own power, it’ll break from the inside out.”
Towan raised an eyebrow. “So all this waterfall slipping and bag punching is... body tuning?”
“Think of it like forging a blade,” Leon said. “Elemental users add edge and flash. But you—you’re
becoming
the blade.”
He stood up, stretching his arms overhead.
“And right now,” he added, turning toward the cabin, “you’re both dull as hell.”
Towan slumped forward. “Why is every metaphor you give somehow offensive?”
Leon smirked. “Because you remember those.”
After the quick lunch, both brothers decided to keep training
Chapter 24: Dull to Sharp
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