"Power" IN

Lance entered the dojo and bowed deeply to the waiting Castellan. The latter had not said anything about such formalities, but Lance felt it was the right thing to do. He deeply respected this man who had taken him in as a disciple and was personally training him in order to protect his life.

After accepting the bow with a smile, the Castellan spread out his arms and said, "Welcome to the first day of training! To begin, I ask you this: what is power?". He was dressed the same but emitted a commanding air as he asked Lance the question.

"The amount of force you can output from your punches or kicks.", Lance blurted out. This was a phrase often used by the instructors in his initial training.

"Wrong. Such a rudimentary meaning may suffice for one who is new to training, but for one such as you with such potential, it is hardly enough. Think and answer again.", he said, folding his arms.

Lance racked his brains for an answer. The objective of the question was clearly to start him on the path of mastering the "Power" IN. He thought back to the feeling he had had when the wishroot had enabled him to output incredible amounts of force.

He realized that both times, it was his intent that had mattered. His wish to destroy had been transmitted to each cell of his and they had responded.

"Intent. The root of power is the intent to destroy.", he answered with a confident look.

"You are only half correct, but for our purposes, this is enough. Power is intent. But it is not necessarily an intent to destroy. A master with a healing related IN can heal almost any wound when he intends to do so. Thus, he/she is considered to be a very 'powerful' healer. The only thing that matters is the intent."

This was a new perspective that opened Lance's eyes.

"As we discussed, your cover IN will be to output incredible power. Your unique point will be that you can use absorbed energy sources to multiply the amount of power you have. The most common 'Power' IN is simply one which amplifies energy. The factor by which the amplification takes place is the key. We shall soon find out what your factor is." After the last sentence, the Castellan suddenly clapped his hands.

There had been a distance of 3 feet between Lance and the Castellan when the two had been talking. Now, the wooden floorboards had folded inwards to reveal what seemed to be a 3 feet by 20 feet swimming pool.

Before Lance's bewilderment could recede, the water which had been still until now started to flow towards one direction. In minutes, it was flowing rapidly like a river about to end in a waterfall.

"Jump in. Your task is to maintain a constant power amplification in certain parts of your body to fight the current and reach the other side. Like I said before, the "Power" IN is one of the easiest to learn. Even seasoned legends who have mastered their INs start with this IN on the path to the next level."

Hearing this, Lance didn't hesitate to jump in. Although the current looked strong, Lance believed in his power after the breakthrough.

For a second or so after jumping in, the inertia enabled Lance to at least try and fight the raging waters. His struggle seemed almost comical against the sheer strength he was against.

He found himself immediately swept away by the raging current. The 10 foot distance to the wall behind him was covered in what seemed to be an instant.

At this moment, he really wished he hadn't directly jumped without at least asking what precautions there were to stop him from going "splat" on the wall of the pool he was going to hit.