SSS Talent: From Trash to Tyrant Chapter 796: Beyond Learning

The water closed over Trafalgar's head.

For a few seconds he let himself sink, eyes shut, body loose beneath the surface while the pool went to work. The pain in his ribs came first, sharp enough that breathing had been unpleasant even before Caelvyrn threw him in, but it was already beginning to dull as warmth spread through the cracked bone.

The cuts across his chest and shoulder followed. Skin pulled itself together beneath the water, blood thinning into faint red threads before disappearing entirely, and the ache buried deeper in his muscles began to loosen with it.

Trafalgar stayed there until his lungs finally complained.

He surfaced with a long breath and pushed wet hair away from his face. Caelvyrn had returned to the furniture and was sitting with his elbows over his knees, while Rhosyn remained near the edge of the pool. Dravok stood farther back, watching him with the same expression he'd worn through most of the training.

Trafalgar leaned against the side and flexed one hand beneath the water.

'Godstep.'

He could feel the difference now.

Before, every attempt had felt like forcing his body into a shape it didn't understand. He had known what the technique wanted from him, could picture every part of it perfectly, but knowledge had done little when his muscles refused to move together.

That barrier was gone.

He could call on the skill now and trust that his body understood the order. Five metres in an instant, without the awkward build of speed that came before any ordinary movement.

And Caelvyrn had still beaten the hell out of him.

Trafalgar let his head rest against the edge of the pool.

"So learning it doesn't mean much yet."

Dravok answered from behind him. "It means plenty. It simply doesn't mean what you seem to want it to mean."

Trafalgar looked over his shoulder.

Dravok walked closer and stopped near the water. "Learning a skill means your body understands what you're asking from it. You can reproduce the movement. You can call on it deliberately, and under ordinary conditions it'll answer."

He pointed toward Caelvyrn.

"Then somebody puts pressure on you."

Caelvyrn gave a small shrug. "Quite a lot of pressure, in fairness."

Dravok ignored him and continued. "Your footing changes. Your breathing changes. You take a hit halfway through the movement. The distance isn't what you expected. Your opponent reacts differently from the picture you had in your head."

Trafalgar knew exactly where this was going.

"And then I screw it up."

"Then you find out whether you've mastered it."

Dravok lowered his hand. "You used Godstep well several times. You also used it badly enough to give Caelvyrn openings you would never have offered him using your old movement. That's normal. A new technique makes you worse before it makes you better if you insist on forcing it into every situation."

Trafalgar looked down at the water.

That part irritated him because it was true.

He had spent years building instincts that worked without asking permission. Distance, timing, angles, when to cut and when to leave. Godstep had entered that system only minutes ago, and he'd already tried to treat it as though it belonged there.

"I'll need to make it automatic."

"Eventually," Dravok said. "But don't chase automatic movement by turning your head off. Understand why you're using it first. Speed is useless when it puts you somewhere worse."

Rhosyn shifted where she sat beside the pool. "You were already improving toward the end. The difference between your first attempts and the last few was obvious."

"Still ended up in here."

"Caelvyrn would've put you in there regardless."

The dragon nodded once. "She isn't wrong."

Trafalgar breathed out through his nose and sank a little lower into the water.

There wasn't much point arguing with that either.

The pool finished the work over the next several minutes. The pressure in his ribs disappeared entirely, the last soreness leaving his shoulder soon after, until the only evidence of the spar remained in his ruined clothes sitting heavy against his skin.

He climbed out and squeezed water from one sleeve.

Dravok looked him over once. "We're done for today."

Trafalgar paused. "Already?"

"You've been training for days, hundreds of them actually."

"I feel fine."

"Your body feels fine."

There was enough in the way Dravok said it to make Trafalgar stop.

The old Primordial turned slightly, looking out over the endless black surrounding them. "This place gives us time. More than anyone outside could dream of having. That doesn't mean every hour needs to be spent fighting."

Trafalgar followed his gaze.

Dravok continued. "The pool can repair muscle, bone, organs. It can put your body back together a hundred times if that's what we ask of it. Your mind isn't built on the same rules."

Trafalgar frowned slightly. "I'm nowhere near breaking."

"I know. That's why we're stopping before it actually happens."

There was no drama in the answer. Dravok spoke as if explaining why a blade should be returned to its sheath before the edge dulled.

"You've spent days staring at the same darkness, repeating one movement thousands of times and letting yourself be injured badly enough that the pool had to rebuild you. That's useful in controlled amounts. Keep doing it without interruption and eventually the training stops improving you."

Caelvyrn stood from the couch. "He's right. This place is useful, but living in it is miserable. Give it long enough and you'll start talking to the furniture."

"You already talk to yourself," Rhosyn said.

"That's because I have interesting things to say."

Trafalgar glanced at him, then shook his head.

At least that sounded more like Caelvyrn.

Dravok was already heading toward the distant Gate. "We'll come back when you've rested properly. Godstep isn't going anywhere."

Trafalgar followed after a moment.

They crossed the black expanse together, and the shimmering outline of the exit slowly grew ahead of them. Trafalgar looked back once before stepping through, at the pool, the little patch of furniture, and the endless dark where he'd spent what felt like far longer than the outside world would ever know.

Then the dimension folded away.

Cold mana-light greeted him on the other side.

Caelvyrn's castle felt almost overwhelming after so much emptiness. Stone arches climbed overhead, gardens spread beneath pale light, and distant halls branched away in directions Trafalgar still hadn't explored.

Actual walls.

Actual colour.

He hadn't realised how much he'd missed either.

Rhosyn drew in a slow breath beside him, and even Dravok seemed to loosen slightly once the Gate settled behind them.

Caelvyrn walked several steps ahead before stopping.

"Trafalgar."

He turned. "What?"

The dragon looked toward one of the deeper corridors of the castle, and whatever lightness had been in him a moment earlier faded.

"Since you're staying under my roof for a while, there's something you should see."

Trafalgar followed his gaze into the dark hall beyond.

Caelvyrn started walking.

"Come with me."