Chapter 9: Art of the Blade

G5, Petri - 8th Day

"You’re stepping too far forward! You need to attack in short bursts; otherwise, you’ll just end up tiring yourself out." His voice echoed throughout the field. He stopped for a moment and let out a sigh. "Let’s stop here for today; you’ve done enough." He put his sword down.

"No, wait!" I shouted, "I can still keep going!"

"How do you expect to get better with your body in shambles like that?" He sighed.

"I-I," I mumbled. He was right; I was exhausted, my body was aching, and all I wanted to do was lie down and take a break, but I had to keep going.

"Sometimes the best way to improve is to slow down, no matter how counter-intuitive it seems," he lectured me.

"I understand," I replied as I collapsed on the floor, panting.

The man who trained me was named Cretoll, he was my father. There wasn’t much I really knew about him except for the fact that he was a retired knight.

He was strict, always shouting and expecting no less than your absolute best effort, but he was also kind and compassionate. He became worried when I got hurt and took care of me as best he could with his limited amount of time.

I will never forget the lessons he taught me or the compassion he showed.

G5, Petri - 10th Day

I was finally back to training. Since father hadn’t shown up the day before, I chose to train by myself in secret, but as soon as he arrived, he instantly noticed and wasn’t very amused. There was no getting around him; he was perceptive as always.

"Blade!" He shouted. "What have I told you about overworking yourself?" he asked me with a serious look on his face.

"I-I was feeling a bit better,'" I replied to him.

"Breaks are necessary in order to avoid burnout, especially given the way I’m training you," he continued to lecture me.

"I... apologize; I won’t do it again," I responded.

"Moving on from that, I have brought you a present," he said to me, as he took out a thin wooden box from his bag.

"What is this?" I asked him.

"I have been training you for several years now, and I believe it’s about time for you to have your own weapon."

"But why do this?" I said to him.

"My master gave me my first weapon when I was about your age; I thought it would only be natural to do the same," he said to me.

"Your master?" I wondered.

He handed me the sword. It was a fairly short weapon, but it was extremely balanced. My father then turned to look toward the sky, as he pondered.

"He’s a very powerful man," he said to me, "one that I nor anyone could ever hope to surpass."

"S-someone like that really exists?" I asked?

"Now let's test it out, shall we?" He ignored my question as he took out a wooden sword.

"Wait… Shouldn’t you be using a real weapon as well?" I asked him.

"I think you’ll soon realize that this will be more than enough," he said to me with a slight laugh. "An important lesson to note is that a weapon doesn’t define how powerful you are. What matters is how you use it," he said to me as we commenced the sparring session.

G7, Fulmini - 6th Day (two years later)

Today I went out into the forest in order to complete a small job I’d been given. Large parts of the farmland had been destroyed, and we’d been getting a lot of reports of movement around the area. The townsfolk had mentioned something about it being a group of Blaurs who would eat many of the crops. One of the guards in the town had asked me if I’d be willing to help out with some minor reconnaissance, since while not dangerous, the Blaurs were a sort of pest for the town and needed to be exterminated.

Since I lived in a small town just outside of Hearth, we didn’t have much protection from outside threats, so of course, I agreed to help.

As I began to survey the area, I took a closer look at some of the various trees. The branches had been torn down, and the trunks were badly damaged; the scratchings had definitely been created by some kind of sword. However, the townsfolk’s reports that the plants around had been carved up were definitely an understatement.

"Blaurs can’t make scratchings this deep, I should head back and report this," I said to myself.

As I started walking back to town, I started to hear some footsteps around me. I quickly unsheathed my sword and raised my guard. There wasn’t much light around, so I had to rely almost exclusively on sound.

The leaves around me rustled, and I could hear loud and aggressive breathing.

It happened so fast; the next thing I knew, I was knocked to the ground, and my face was bleeding.

I was left staring at the creature, paralyzed in fear and unable to get a hold of my weapon.

As the creature lunged towards me, I managed to roll out of the way just before it was able to tear my head off; the tree behind me had been struck and completely torn to shreds. This creature was definitely the one responsible for all the recent reports. Not a group of Blaurs like the report had mentioned, but a Grewk.

I picked up my weapon and stood up, my hands trembling as I clenched the hilt of the sword. The creature once again lunged forward and threw a huge overhead strike, but as I raised my sword to block the attack, the Grewk’s spiked arm went right through, shattering the sword and striking my chest.

I was left with a severe wound and no way to defend myself from this creature; I had to get out of there somehow. There were very few knights in the village, and even they weren’t of any high rank to be able to really handle a Grewk.

The creature’s arm was pointed straight at my throat; even a single twitch from me would ensure my death.

The end seemed near, I was practically at death's door; Both my mind and body went numb. However, to my surprise, the creature suddenly jumped back in what looked like fear.

I looked at my hand, where a bright blue light began to shine, and from the light emerged a brand new sword, identical to my old one. I quickly wiped a tear from my eye and pointed the sword towards the creature.

"You’ve done enough here," I heard a voice call out to me. He placed his hand on my head and said, "Everything will be alright now; rest up." It was my father.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"You were gone for half the day, I came to check up on you," he said to me, "I’ll handle this, you just sit back." I collapsed on the ground and passed out from exhaustion.

G7, Fulmini - 9th Day

After a few days of rest, I was finally ready to continue my training. I got out of bed and saw my father helping out the townsfolk. He seemed different than usual—a lot more serious.

"Sir! I am ready to continue our training!" I saluted.

After a whole seven days of rest, I was finally back to full strength; the wound I had taken was healed, and most of my energy had been regained.

He stared at me. "Blade." He took a deep breath. "Our lesson here today will be our last one."

"What do you mean?"

"I have taught you all I can; from this point on, you shall be enrolled in Torn’s academy," he explained to me.

"All the way over there?" I asked him, "Is that really necessary?"

"It was a direct request from the king of Torn," he said to me.

"W-what does he want with me?"

"Lord Zant wishes to gauge your power; he believes that you may be a likely candidate for royal knight in the future."

"Royal Knight? I could hardly even defend myself from a grewk, what makes him think I’m skilled enough for that?" I asked him.

"One does not question orders from the king," he said to me with a serious look on his face. He took a deep breath to calm himself. "No matter his intentions, we must trust that they are the best course of action for us all."

"I-I understand. My apologies."

"Here is the last lesson I can give you. The first step is to place your hand out in front of you," he said to me.

"Okay…" I followed his instructions.

"I want you to focus all of your energy into the palm of your hand, but do not create a flame."

"Is that even possible?" I asked him.

In order for us to create fire, we must manipulate a flow of energy inside ourselves onto various parts of the body. So what he was telling me went against everything I’d been taught.

"Well, why don’t you give it a shot?"

"Alright then, here goes," I started to transfer energy while trying to hold the flame back. "It doesn’t seem to be working," I struggled.

"Keep trying," he said to me.

As I strained my body to keep up with the amount of energy I was transferring, I noticed that the same bright blue light had begun to shine. Out of the light emerged another sword, and I collapsed to the ground again.

"What just happened?" I asked him.

"This is what is known as an abnormality," he said to me. "And it seems you have a very powerful one indeed. It is possible for you to create a weapon from nothing, but this will come at a great cost of energy," he explained to me. "With enough practice, you will be able to summon a weapon instantly at will."

"But how do you…?" I was cut off.

"You will set off for Torn in two days. There you will have an audience with Lord Zant. I suggest you take it easy in these next few days to recoup your strength," he said to me.

G7, Fulmini - 11th Day

I had just gotten off my flight. I took a step outside and took in the incredible view. There were buildings, people, and shops everywhere. It was a sight to behold, especially compared to the town of Lithos, where I grew up. However, all I could keep my eyes on was the huge castle next to the city. This was the kingdom of Torn.

"Sir Blade." A man in armor called out to me.

"This place is huge," I said to myself as I approached the man.

"My name is Strek, a vice captain for the royal army. His Majesty has been expecting you. Please, right this way," he led the way.

We passed through several streets, each filled to the brim with many different people.

"We are about to cross into noble territory; I’d recommend keeping your head down," he warned.

"Yes, sir, I understand."

I managed to keep my distance and avoid attracting any negativity. As we arrived at the castle gate, we were greeted by many guards, all of whom saluted the captain.

"Just follow Lydia here; she’ll escort you to the throne room," the captain said to me.

"Right this way," one of the castle maids escorted me inside.

Once in the throne room, I placed my weapon in front of me and bowed before the king.

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"Please, raise your head," Lord Zant said to me.

I tilted my head slightly upward.

"I’ve heard you possess a very unique abnormality," he said to me.

"Yes, sir," I replied.

"Would you be so kind as to demonstrate?"

"Yes, of course," I said to him.

I stood up and placed my hand out in front of myself. As the light once again began to shine, Lord Zant became more and more intrigued. I gave one last push of energy and summoned a sword, but it was still short and dull.

"This is as much as I can muster for now, my apologies," I said to him.

"To be able to wield Zycro with such proficiency at your age is incredible," he applauded me.

"Pardon?"

"The abnormality you possess is called Zycro; it’s an extremely rare ability, one that lets the user summon a weapon best suited for them. Though it may be strong, it takes a considerable amount of energy to pull off," he explained to me.

"Yes, my fath… Sir Cretoll explained to me how it works. I just wasn’t aware this ability had a name."

"It wasn’t bad for your third attempt. Definitely better than I did my first few times," he said, placing his hand out.

"What? How?" I whispered.

King Zant hand had also emitted the same blue light as I did and summoned a very thin and refined golden sword.

"With enough practice, you will be able to master this technique and make it your own."

"How did you…?"

"The only other person I know of to have possessed this ability was The Great Silver Swordsman," he explained to me.

"The Silver Swordsman? Like from the Ten?" I asked myself. "I thought he was just a legend."

"Oh, anything but," he said to me, "he’s a great man. One whom I could truly consider a friend. He was even kind enough to teach me this ability."

"I-I wasn’t aware that one could learn an abnormality." I was confused.

I was always taught that one had to have been born with their abnormality and that luck and genetics played a major role in whether or not an individual would be granted one.

"Oh, silly me." He laughed, "Forgive me; that must have startled you. Worry not; you have been taught correctly. I just so happen to possess an abnormality that's very… unique, to say the least." He tried reassuring me.

"Moving on from this topic, from this day forth, you shall be enrolled here, in Torn’s academy. However, unlike the rest of the students here, I was able to put in a good word for you, allowing you to begin at rank C."

"Rank C?" I replied.

"Most students start off at rank D and work their way up the ranks from there; however, due to your previous training and superior abilities, I’m choosing to make you an exception."

"Do I truly deserve such a treatment?" I asked him.

"Oh come now, no need to be modest. I have even prepared a place for you to stay here at the castle. Miss Ferha will become your personal caretaker during your time here; you may follow her where she shall escort you to your lodging."

A woman had come up from behind the king and bowed toward me. Ferah was a woman of medium stature; she had long braided cream-colored hair and piercing crimson eyes.

"A pleasure to meet you; my name is Ferha. From this day forth I shall be at your service," she was so proper.

"Y-yes, I appreciate it." I bowed back respectfully.

Once we arrived at the lodging, I stepped inside and was greeted with a very warm and cozy room, one that was several times larger than my previous room back at the village.

"Here you are; please don’t hesitate to call on me if you require anything at all," Ferha said to me before taking her leave.

"O-of course, thank you," I replied nervously.

G9, Igni - 8th Day (two years later)

"The placement exam is coming up soon; are you sure you’re ready for this?" Ferha asked me.

"I’ll be fine; I’ve been training for quite a while," I replied as I continued my morning stretches.

"That’s exactly what I’m worried about," she said to me. "Don’t you think you’re taking things too fast? You’ve managed to move up two whole ranks these past two years; not many people pass both tests back-to-back. No one is blaming you if you skip out this year."

"I can’t afford to do that," I said to her. "I made a promise to my father, and I intend to keep it."

"You’re just as stubborn as ever, I see. Well, if you insist," she sighed "Anyways, if you don’t mind, I have a favor to ask of you."

"What is it?" I asked.

"It’s about my daughter; she’s taking the placement exam this year as well," she explained to me.

"Joule, right?" I asked.

"Yes, she was in the same course as you last year before you moved up to A rank," she said to me. "From what she’s told me, she really looks up to you."

"Oh, Is that why she always sneaks up on me when I’m training? I try not to approach her too often since she always seems to get startled whenever I look in her direction."

"Joule isn’t a very social person, as I’m sure you’re aware," she said to me with a nervous laugh in her voice. "I was wondering if you could give her some words of encouragement before the exam begins."

"O-of course, anything for you, Lady Ferah," I responded. "I’ll do what I can; I’ll be back momentarily."

"Wait, you're doing it right now!?" she asked in a panic as she hurriedly attempted to block my exit.

"Am I meant to wait? She rooms right next to me, does she not?"

"Well, yeah… but, I just don’t think right now’s the best time; she’s currently in her room right now studying, and..."

"Nonsense. It’s better to do so now. I’ll end up forgetting once I begin training." I said to her as I squeezed my way past her and headed out towards her room.

"I really don’t think that’s good..." I quickly walked out of the room before she could finish her thought.

Once at the door, I knocked before slowly opening the door.

"Pardon, Joule?" I said to her, "Are you busy right now?" She instantly turned over to me, her face practically glowing red.

"U-umm, B-Blade?" she stuttered, "W-what are you doing here?" she asked me, whilst hiding a piece of paper under her pillow.

"May I come in?" I asked her as I peeked into the room.

"S-s-sure, go right ahead…" she said to me in shock. "H-how may I help you?" she whispered.

"I just came to talk to you about the placement exams tomorrow; do you have a moment?"

She had begun to calm down, but her face was still bright red.

"U-uhh… Yes, of course," she pulled up a wooden stool for me. "P-please take a seat."

"Oh, thank you," I said, taking a seat as she sat on her bed.

"W-what did you want to talk about?"

"I heard you failed last year's exam," I said to her.

She froze up for a second. "Oh...y-yeah, I did."

"It must’ve been hard for you." I replied.

"N-no, I think deep down I knew it would happen." She replied to me as she stared at her hand, “I just… always seem to freeze up in those situations.”

"You shouldn’t beat yourself up over it," I comforted her. "It happens to all of us at some point," I stood up and sat next to her.

She flinched and backed away from me for a moment.

"You know, there was this one time where I accidentally dropped my sword in a ditch. My father forced me to climb down and retrieve it, I think I still have some scars from that day." I said to her.

She began to giggle. "It’s hard to imagine you messing up that badly."

"It’s funny. Contrary to popular belief, I’m not a natural at everything I can do." I said to her.

She continued to giggle softly. "That’s also very hard to believe; I mean, look at you. You’re so…" She stopped short.

"What I’m trying to tell you is that you shouldn’t underestimate your skill," I told her. "Fight to the best of your abilities, and you should be able to pass."

She remained silent. "But what if it’s not enough?" A single tear rolled down her cheek.

I inched a bit closer to her. "Then you just keep practicing; there’s no shame in failing," I said to her.

"B-Blade!" she shouted at me.

"Yeah? What is it?" I was startled.

"I-I’ve been meaning to tell you something for a really long time now, and I-I, uh…" she was starting to sound even more nervous. "I was wondering if we could maybe..."

"Hmm?" I murmured.

"I’ve wanted to tell you that I…" Her voice once again faded out.

"Is something the matter?" I asked her, "Do you feel ill?

She shook her head and covered her face, which had turned red once again. "N-no, I’m okay," she said to me, stuttering.

"If you want to tell me something, I’ll listen," I comforted her.

"Would you…"

We heard a knock at the door.

"Excuse me, Sir Blade?" Ferha had entered the room. "Oh, sorry, am I interrupting something?" she asked.

"No, everything is fine!" Joule suddenly hopped off her bed.

"Is something the matter?" I asked.

"The King wishes to speak with you; it’s regarding the exams tomorrow," she replied.

"I’ll be there right away," I said, walking out of the room.

Joule clearly wanted to ask me something very important, but she didn’t yet seem ready. I chose to give her some time to sort things out.

G9, Igni - 15th Day (day of the placement exam)

Once every year, on the last day of the month of Fire, Lord Zant holds an exam to determine rankings at Torn’s academy. This was the year I planned to finally move up to S rank.

This year, there were around 50 entrants participating. Only two of them, however, were A-ranked: me and another boy named Marz, we seemed to be the only ones who managed to qualify for an S-rank assessment since those were usually significantly more strict in terms of requirements.

We hadn’t yet been told what the exam for this year would be, but there was a clear and very ominous tension in the air. The exam had always changed, and every year was tougher than the last.

Once I had arrived at the barracks, we were told the rules for this year’s exam.

Captain Strek was giving a speech to the 50 or so entrants. "This year is going to be the toughest one yet; more than half of you will fail in an instant if you don’t put your absolute maximum effort into this," he announced. "This year's exam will consist of a one-on-one fight; you all will individually fight a very powerful knight. Your task is to land a single hit; the attack must land cleanly on your opponent. What this means is that blocked attacks or grazes will not count. The fight ends when you either land a hit, when you surrender, or when time runs out. Prepare yourselves; the exam is about to begin."

I turned over to the corner of the room and found Joule practicing her breathing.

"Are you ready for the exam?" I approached her.

"Oh, uhh… B-Blade," she seemed shocked. "H-how are you today?" she had ignored the question.

I probably shouldn't have disturbed her. I think I might have broken her concentration.

"I’m doing well; I’m just wondering who this knight we’re supposed to fight is." I responded.

"About yesterday, I uh..."

"Don’t worry about that right now; I’ll be here when you feel ready to say what’s on your mind. I know it’s hard to say exactly what you want sometimes," I said to her. "Anyway, we should probably start heading out; it looks like the first couple matches have already started," I said to her.

She nodded.

Once outside, we were put to wait in line, and I was suddenly punched in the shoulder.

"I hope you’re ready?" I heard a voice call out to me.

"Prince Mistery? You seem pretty excited." I said to him.

"Of course, I’m going to blow everyone away this year," he said to me eagerly.

"Whatever you say."

Prince Mistery was the grandson of King Zant. We weren’t too close or anything, but we were both at least familiar with one another, and since we both lived in the castle, we would occasionally bump into each other and converse.

"It seems you’re up next," he said to me.

"That was quick. Just how tough is this knight?" I said to myself.

As soon as I stepped into the arena, my whole body instantly felt weak. The amount of pressure being exerted was so intense that I nearly dropped to the ground right then and there.

"Whenever you’re ready," the knight said to me with a stoic face.

She was a young woman, quite tall, with bright orange hair, and she was wearing some pretty heavy armor. Her weapon of choice was a mace, so I had to be careful not to get into many clashes with her.

I unsheathed my sword to begin the fight, and as the crowd erupted into cheers, the knight instantly charged towards me, quickly putting me on the defensive. I was forced to either block or evade every attack she threw at me, and I was unable to retaliate.

"Is this the extent of your skill?! You’re a higher level applicant are you not? Is this really all an S-rank can do!?" She shouted, "I was purposely told to hold back, and this is still all you can muster?" I gripped my weapon and dove under one of her attacks; however, as I approached her, she remained still and clenched her mace, which prompted me to jump backward.

"What’s the matter? You had a clear shot," she said to me.

"I’m not falling for that one a second time," I said to her.

"Oh?" Her curiosity had begun to show.

"The man who trained me taught me to be wary of feints and counterattacks." I said to her, "and judging by your stance, you were fully prepared to reverse my attack."

"It seems you were well taught," she gave a slight smirk. “I apologize for my earlier comments, perhaps I should’ve put a bit more effort into this.”

As we continued our fight, a veil of flames slowly covered her mace, and with every swing of the weapon, a streak of fire would be projected towards me.

Flame has always been my weakness when it comes to fighting, both in terms of controlling and combating, so I began to stumble.

I couldn’t seem to keep up with her; everything she did was nearly flawless, leaving no room for me to attack, and her defense was extremely solid. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think she might have been stronger than even my father.

She continued to blast fire like it was nothing; there was no end to the barrage. It was like she had an infinite amount of energy.

Whenever I tried to use my flames, a cloud of smoke would appear instead. It was as if my energy wasn't hot enough to combust, and it was for this reason that I hadn't used fire for nearly 5 years, so it was only natural that I would be a bit rusty as I attempted my next attack.

I carefully conjured a small ball of fire, but I couldn’t seem to make it grow any larger than the palm of my hand.

I launched the orb, and as expected, a cloud of smoke appeared in its place; however, a smoke screen had been created in the process, blocking our line of sight.

I then blindly charged through the smoke, not realizing that the knight had already escaped. She took a huge step forward with so much strength that the ground below her shook and the smoke was completely blown away.

She took a swing at my torso, which forced me to block the incoming blow, but the strength behind the attack was too much for me to handle. My sword was shattered into tiny pieces.

I quickly jumped back and focused my energy once again. I was at the point where I could summon one more sword before completely running out of energy and being rendered immobile, so this was my last shot.

"I’m certain you’re aware of the difference in both power and skill," she said to me. "However, in case you’re not yet aware, allow me to demonstrate."

Depending on how potent one’s energy is, a certain amount of pressure is exerted by a person’s body. This pressure discourages those of a lower power to approach and engage in combat; with that being said, a person of an extremely low power would be completely unable to even approach one of an extremely high level unless their willpower is strong enough to resist the pressure being exerted.

The knight took a deep breath and closed her eyes. A huge burst of fire erupted from her body, engulfing her in flames. The pressure was immense, so much so that the ground began to shake and crack under the sheer weight of it all, my arms felt weak, and my vision became blurry.

"What is this?" I said to myself.

"This is our difference in power; if you truly wish to rise to the ranks of a royal knight, you must overcome any and every obstacle in your path," she said to me.

"You’re...a royal knight?"

"Indeed I am, and at your current level, you’re nowhere near qualified," she said to me. "Even if your skill with a sword may be superb, it means nothing if you don’t fully assess the situation in front of you." I dropped my weapon and fell on one knee. My entire body was shaking, and I couldn’t stand up.

"This pressure…" I said to myself, "It’s too much."

"You’ve disobeyed, Sir Cretoll," the knight had said to me. "If you want to rise up the ranks so badly, then fine. But don't start complaining when you aren’t prepared to face the consequences.

"What are you talking about? What does he have to do with any of this?"

"The one thing he continued to tell you was to slow down on training and learn to rest once in a while," she said to me. "It’s clear you didn’t heed his advice. This fight is over." She closed her eyes and turned away from me.

She continued to shake everything around us; there was flame everywhere, and even the crowd of people watching were beginning to get scared.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!!" As King Zant shouted out, the fight had ended, and I collapsed on the ground.