’So this is it.
His True Form.’
Vivienne noted in her head.
She also noted how... different it was compared to the True Forms she had seen with her own eyes.
Then, as Vivienne continued to observe Lucian—
Lucian suddenly disappeared.
That made Vivienne raise an eyebrow. She tried to follow his movements, but he was faster and Vivienne couldn’t believe it.
He...
He was moving faster than what she could keep up with.
All she saw was a black-violet line tearing across the Training Hall and the floor cracking behind it. She felt the air scream. Then she saw Lucian standing at the far end of the hall, his hand stretched forward as if he was holding someone.
Vivienne also saw bones protruding out of his legs. Yes, once again, his legs had turned into a horrifying mess. His bones were broken, the muscles inside were torn open, some muscles were pierced through by his broken bones, there was blood all over the floor and yet—
Despite the condition he was in—
Lucian was still standing.
Still glaring at the wall in front of him with anger so intense that, for a moment, even Vivienne felt... challenged.
For now, however, she shook her head.
Even in this form, the boy was too weak.
So she only focused on training.
She deactivated the Woundglass and suddenly—
"...huh?"
Lucian, who God knew what he was seeing, suddenly returned to the real world, utterly confused.
"Welcome back."
Vivienne spoke.
Lucian looked at her as if he had no idea who she was.
"...Teacher?"
He then tilted his head as his mind started making connections.
"You didn’t lose yourself, good."
Vivienne nodded.
"...what are yo—"
Lucian tried to walk towards her, but just then, his legs gave out, he fell to the floor face-first and...
He passed out.
The energy around him disappeared, the markings all over his body faded, and everything around him became... still.
Vivienne stared at his unconscious body for a few seconds, then she looked at the path he had crossed, at the stone floor that was split in two and she...
She raised her eyebrow in interest.
That was quite the power.
She then slowly started walking towards her student.
Lucian was unconscious, his face was pale, blood flowed out of his ruined legs, his breathing was shallow and as Vivienne crouched beside his leg, looking at and analysing his state—
"Fifteen seconds."
She muttered to herself.
She then placed two fingers on his chest.
His energy reserves were completely drained.
That explained why he had passed out.
Then, after Vivienne did a few more checks, she finally stood up, activated the comms she had on her and—
"Send her."
She ordered.
[Yes, Lady Vivienne.]
A voice came from the other side of the comms.
And about five minutes later, a knock was heard at the door.
"Lady Vivienne?"
It was Evelyn.
"Come in."
Vivienne ordered.
The doors of the Training Hall opened and Evelyn walked in with a slightly confused look on her face.
"I know you said I would be needed, but I did not expect it to be this soo—"
She continued speaking, however, the instant her eyes fell on Lucian lying on the stone floor, with blood all around him, a pale face, and his legs ruined again, her words died and—
"LUCIAN!!"
She rushed towards him and dropped to her knees beside him.
"What happened here!?"
She asked as she looked up at Vivienne.
"We were training."
Vivienne answered in the same flat tone she always used.
"What sort of training is this!?"
Evelyn couldn’t believe it. She had heard Sarah say Vivienne was somewhat crazy and that her training methods were questionable.
But this!?
She looked at the state Lucian’s legs were in and her anger rose further and further.
"I am training his True Form."
"...what?"
Evelyn blinked in confusion.
"But that..."
From what Evelyn knew, that Form activated on its own.
How was she training it?
And as if Vivienne knew what she was thinking—
"His True Form activates through despair.
So I made him feel despair."
She explained. Evelyn, however, was still confused.
"What do you mean?"
Vivienne showed her the Woundglass and—
"This thing searches for the deepest wounds in one’s mind and rebuilds an illusion around them. For him, that wound is the day his parents were killed by a demon.
I used the Artifact to show him that day again and again. The idea behind it is simple, the more times he watches the illusion, the worse his mental state becomes and the thinner the line between illusion and reality becomes.
Eventually, his mind starts to believe the illusion is reality, he is brought back to the time when his parents were alive again, he speaks to them, he spends time with them like he used to, then the demon appears and takes his parents away from him.
The more times it happens, the more despair he feels until eventually—
His Form answers.
Which, as you can see, was a success."
Vivienne explained generously.
She usually wouldn’t have explained all this, but she needed Evelyn’s help to recover Lucian’s energy reserves. The girl would keep asking more and more questions, so to avoid that, she explained the entire thing and finally—
"Now I want you to recover his energy so we can continue again."
She ordered and Evelyn—
She stared at Vivienne with a pale, horrified look on her face and then, the horror was replaced by intense, uncontrollable rage.
"Have you lost your mind...?"
Vivienne looked at her with a frown.
That enraged her even further and she—
"HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO HIM!?"
She screamed loudly.
"YOU MADE HIM WATCH HIS PARENTS DIE AGAIN AND AGAIN AND YOU CALL THAT TRAINING!?"
"I am doing this for his own good."
Vivienne narrowed her eyes.
"For his own good...?"
Evelyn’s eyes burned.
"FOR HIS OWN GOOD, MY ASS!"
Evelyn screamed again.
"’YOU ARE SICK!
AND YOU NEED HELP!"
Evelyn wasn’t having any of it.
And Vivienne—
Her eyes became colder.