Of Angels and Demons: A New Generation

Learning to Walk

Zen drops to the ground and waves for me to follow him. I give Moxi a quick glance before running to Zen. "We'll start with energy control. Since you don't understand it as well as you need too." He says. I squint and point towards Moxi. "He also commented on my energy control." I say as Zen laughs. "He's definitely brilliant, but you can surpass him. I'm your teacher after all." He says proudly as I sigh. "So the first step in learning energy, is knowing what it feels like." He says as I stare at him. "I know what energy feels like. I've felt it before." I say as he laughs. "Oh really? Then by all means. Channel it through your body to your feet. And walk on air." He says as he crosses his arms. I exhale deeply and close my eyes. I feel a slight warmth through my body. I attempt to push the energy down to my feet. The ground feels softer suddenly. "I think I'm doing it." I mumble as I hear Zen laugh. "You sure you got it right?" He asks with a smile as I start to step forward. I feel my foot give way and slip as I stumble forward. Zen catches me and laughs. As I look back, I see the ground is crushed and fragmented. "All you did was completely crush the ground with your energy. You didn't put solid energy beneath you feet, you just expelled energy from your feet." Zen says as I sigh. "So, maybe I do need some help." I say reluctantly as he laughs. "This time try to imagine your standing on something solid. Then let your energy take the form." He says as I nod. I take a step forward and imagine a small piece of wood beneath my feet. I push my energy into the mold I've forged with my mind. After a few seconds I feel myself raise off the ground. As I open my eyes, I see I'm floating a few feet off the ground, but it feels like I'm standing on something solid. As I start to close my eyes again, I fall down to the ground. "You lost concentration." Zen mumbles as I stare at him. "Let me see you run on air." I say as he laughs. "As you wish, but using your energy to let you fly is much harder." He says as he does a backflip upwards ten feet and land on nothing. He comes to a perfect halt, as though an invisible platform is under him. "Visualize it under me at all times." I mumble as I jump up repeatedly while imagining the piece of wood beneath me. After a few seconds I hear Zen laugh from beneath me. I open my eyes to see myself almost thirty feet off the ground. I continue to channel my energy beneath me as I have been. Zen floats up and sits on the air in front of me. "Quick learner. Just like me." He says proudly as his smile quickly fades. "Although your raw talent probably comes more from your mother." He says as he stares off into the distance. "Who is my mother?" I ask as he continues to stare into the distance. "That's a difficult question to answer, but I'm sure she'll show herself when she feels the time is right." He says as he clenches his fist and stands up. "AZIRIA." He yells as she appears beside him. "What's up? Did something happen?" She asks, obviously concerned as Zen glares into the distance. "I've got to take care of something. Please teach him anything he wants to know while I'm gone. Anything within your ability is fair game for him, understood?" Zen growls as Aziria nods nervously. An ominous energy floods the world as a portal opens beside Zen. My entire body feels like it's being crushed as he walks through the portal. I struggle to breathe as the portal closes. "So, uh, what do you want to learn?" She asks, obviously shaken from what Zen said. "What happened to him? Why'd he get so serious all of a sudden?" I ask as Aziria looks at me. "Well, that's tough to explain." She says as she avoids eye contact and looks around. "I don't know much about the situation, but on another note, Zen's energy control is still incredible." Aziria says, voice shaking slightly. "What do you mean?" I ask as she sighs. "He was holding back everything, I could feel his energy boiling. He was holding back a lot." Aziria says as I stare at her. "The different between him and I is quite large. The gap between him currently and me is about as large as the gap between you and I." She says as I stare at her in confusion. "So how strong is he?" I ask quietly. "Well, if he and I were to go all out, most of the universe you live in would be destroyed. My 4th release is on par with his current 2nd release. He continuously gets stronger. Every second he grows in power due to his current training." She says as I scratch my head. "If his training works so well, how come no one else does it?" I ask as she laughs. "His regeneration is a million times faster than mine." She says as I shake my head. "What does healing factor have to do with his training?" I ask as she crosses her arms. "Demons and angels grow stronger by taking damage and rehealing stronger than they were before. His current training is using his energy to crush his entire body. But even under an unfathomable amount of weight. He still can create a sense enough energy barrier to prevent himself from damaging the environment around him. You can't see it. But every second, every time he moves, every time he breathes, his entire body shatters and reheals." She says as I feel my body go numb from imagining the pain.