“So, now that I’ve taught you some basics about mana, let’s talk about our true weapon as a Knight Mage.”
Saying this Gulious suddenly swung the steel sword towards Welnir. In doing so Welnir instinctively tried to dodge. Though as he tried to do so Gulious once again appeared in front of him before trying to swing the sword once again.
“A true Knight Mage never lets go of his target. In the battle one must learn to anticipate and break down their opponent to their last straw.”
Explaining this to Welnir, Gulious sped up as his moves became blurry and sudden large rocks behind Welnir flew upwards, before shattering as Gulious shattered them with the sword. Anticipating everything Welnir already knew the sword, no matter what it came to, Welnir never lacked in training his sword play. Welnir knew every move a sword could make, for decades he too perfected the sword and not just his martial arts.
“Hmph, you’re good at dodging this sword quite well, maybe you’re talented in sword play too?!”
Seeing Welnir’s movement, Gulious was surprised as every turn and every dodge fit all his movements perfectly as he saw Welnir focus on the sword perfectly. Impressed, Gulious suddenly sped up even further as he vanished completely this time.
“Hah, if you can keep up at this speed then let’s try adding some extra muscle!”
Saying this loudly Gulious’s arm suddenly became tense as his own veins popped out freakishly. After so suddenly the sword was headed towards Welnir head on as it was only inches away from hitting him. Though as it approached suddenly Welnir’s arm blurred in less than a second before a loud clang of metal resounded.
“W-what in the world are you…”
Seeing this surprised Gulious as he observed that the sword he had wielded not only disappeared from his tight grip, but the sword on the ground was completely shattered. Looking towards Welnir, Gulious saw that Welnir was completely fine as there was no blood or gash on his arm.
“You not only parried the sword, but you completely destroyed it!”
To Welnir this was normal, all his life he dedicated his body and weapon. Not only could he almost parry perfectly with a sword and against a sword he could completely follow through an opponent easily. Though this meant nothing to Welnir, Gulious suddenly laughed, before pulling out his own pyramid.
“Hahaha, such talent for the sword, but are you talented enough to withstand the might of all?
Tauntingly saying this Gulious pulled out a small dagger. Though this looked innocent and weak to Welnir, he felt something was off as the tall Gulious took a stance in which he had lowered his entire body and looked loose. Seeing this, Welnir braced for impact as Gulious vanished instantly before appearing in front of him.
“Young man, being composed is key, but what if you can’t anymore? What will you do then?”
Hearing this, Welnir immediately tried to dodge once again, but as he tried to do so suddenly the dagger cut his face across his nose. Though he was surprised, before Welnir could react suddenly a barrage of cuts was felt as his body suddenly became filled with cuts barely enough to damage him.
‘W-what the hell did this old man just do!? That was too quick, how did he even cut me that many times without me sensing the slashes?!’
Having been surprised, Welnir jumped away from his position as he backed away from Gulious. As Welnir anticipated an attack, Gulious stopped as he laughed once again.
“Ahaha, Welnir, it’s a surprise is it not? No matter how fast you tried to dodge, you didn’t feel a single contact of my slashes, right?”
Saying this Gulious looked toward a rock as he slashed once towards it closely. As he did so, suddenly the rock was ridden with tons of deep slashes.
“Before I tell you the “trick” tell me Welnir, do you think every Knight Mage can master and wield every and any weapon in the world? If not, tell me how many of them could do so. If they all can, do explain to me.”
Hearing this, Welnir was intrigued as he thought about his question. Is this supposed to be a trick question? If there was enough time, wouldn't it be possible to do so? Thinking about this Welnir said the most obvious answer.
“Well, if someone had enough time I’m sure they could master all of them could they not?”
Having heard Welnir’s answer, Gulious suddenly laughed before responding.
“Your point is not so bad, but you are completely wrong! A Knight Mage is always categorized like a regular knight. One weapon and one style will always bring them to perfection and harmony. But as your master, I will disclose to you that I am not so simple and neither will you in the future.”
Explaining this to Welnir, Gulious opened his pyramid storage once again as he pulled out a hammer and a scythe.
“One is blunt, one is sharp, curved, and long. Such opposing traits, how does one expect to know and fully utilize both at the same time with such varying fighting styles?”
Saying this, Gulious swung them both as something interesting happened. Having swung them, Welnir noticed that the target that Gulious had picked was a boulder. In those results the boulder was completely dismantled, the bottom was sliced cleanly and the top half was completely shattered.
Seeing this Welnir was surprised as he had never seen any knight of any weapon mastery be able to control such weapons of differing traits so easily without it being rough.
“My master was of unknown origin, a man without titles, without recognition. A man filled with crazy ideas. Though he was crazy he taught me a lesson beyond anything. To “feel” the method is to feel the world itself. To grasp every aspect is to feel and not really see. A blind man will always see more than if one was with sight. Tell me, Welnir, why is that so?”
Having been questioned again Welnir gave up as he knew he couldn’t even explain this let alone how he did his previous attacks.
“I’ll be honest, I don’t know. I’ve never heard of a blind man seeing more than one with sight themselves.”
Hearing this Gulious laughed as he became serious afterward.
“Well, I’ll tell you why. A blind man is able to see more since they patiently visualize every detail. One with sight will always take for granted what is in front of them. How could they master and grasp anything if they don’t bother to see it all the way through?”
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Saying this Gulious closed his eyes as he casually swung the weapons towards Welnir blindly. Though having seen his move before, Welnir didn’t just dodge this time as he went behind Gulious as he swung his fists as hard as he could towards his back. Though as he tried to do so suddenly, Gulious not only instantly turned around with his eyes closed, he had accurately stopped Welnir with a blade on his neck.
“Like I said, no matter how hard someone tries to master with time, true mastery will never be achieved without the gift and passing of this “feeling” and you will inherit this as my disciple.”
Having done an example, Gulious had once again pulled out a new weapon as he had pulled out a small needle the size of a hair. Seeing this, Welnir was confused as he didn’t know why Gulious would pull out a needle.
“No matter what it is, as long as it is wielded in my hands it will not escape my observation regardless of how it is presented. Anything has a feeling that can be felt and mastered.”
Once again doing an example Gulious this time slowly walked towards another boulder as he flicked his wrist towards it. As he did this suddenly this boulder collapsed as it appeared it had been cleanly sliced from a diagonal direction.
“A needle, a stick, a rock, and even the air itself is a feeling that can be used beyond just simple comprehension.”
Further explaining the gift, Gulious used his bare fists as he punched blindly without contacting anything. As he did so suddenly a rock from afar shattered loudly as it completely collapsed on itself without a physical touch.
Having seen this, Welnir was astounded as he had never heard of a technique that didn’t even use any mana at all. For the man in front of him to easily master the air itself, to bend towards his own control, and a needle so little could be controlled and mastered in such a way.
“Are you telling me this doesn’t require any mana at all? This is all done by just the body? H-how?”
Knowing Welnir was curious, Gulious laughed as he shortly after became serious.
“If I’m not wrong, when I had accepted you as my disciple you received the special trait [Disciple of The Feeling] right? That is the gift, the ability to go beyond time and comprehension. As long as you train enough you will find the feeling. My master had told me the feeling is different for everyone. Once you feel it you will know in time, for now I suggest training to prepare for that moment.”
Hearing this, Welnir looked back at what he really wanted.
‘Power that’s what I want and destruction towards those who oppose me and disrespected me before…’
Saying this in his head Welnir stepped towards Gulious as he knelt before him.
“Master, I swear I won’t disappoint you, I’ll show I’m worthy of being your disciple!”
Hearing this Gulious saw himself in Welnir. He himself was hardworking, ambitious and yearned for battle and power. He never slacked even though he was beaten and berated by others. As he saw this, Gulious smiled as he was reminded of this scene before, like the time he himself met his master. A boy yearning to learn to achieve the strength needed to not feel weak, disregarded, and exploited.
“Well, then I too won’t disappoint you as a master. We’ll start training right now hahaha!”
As Gulious said this he pulled out his pyramid storage as he took out a blind fold from it and a wooden stick the length of an arm.
“To start you’ll need to be blindfolded, and I’ll be poking you with this wooden stick, hehe…”
Hearing Gulious snicker, Welnir was hesitant as he knew that Gulious was having fun tormenting him with his unpredictability. Though wanting to seriously learn how to inherit this gift fully he still went with it as he nodded in agreement.
“Alright, make sure to try to sense my presence or you will be undoubtedly hit hard.”
Having been blindfolded, Welnir was hesitant as he himself didn’t know if he could do this as he knew he relied too much on his eyes. Though as he contemplated this, the first attack was initiated as Welnir was directly hit right on his face making him stagger right to the ground.
“Like I said, try to feel the presence of my attack. From your mistake try to get used to the blindness and the structures around you. In doing so you will enter the first stage of this gift that is passed down from my master. There are 10 stages which are Blind, Sense, Structure, Counter, Restructure, Attack, Details, Patterns, Complexity, and lastly Unstructured. All of these will make the user be able to master his surroundings and master any weapon, may it even be a leaf or air it will be able to be mastered.”
Being advised, Welnir was explained that the gift consisted of 10 stages. Blind was the entering of seeing the emptiness and seeing the attacks at its closest range. Sense was the stage where one was able to see further beyond where the attack was initiated and be able to feel the areas. Structure is the basis of where one is able to truly see in blindness and structure one’s surroundings in emptiness rather than just sense. These 3 stages were the start of the beginner level as one would be considered having accepted the gift.
Furthermore, after the beginner level came the intermediate level. This consisted of the Counter stage. This stage was the visualization of structuring the attack and devising a way to block it by redirection. Next was Restructure, in which one is able to restructure the moves of the opponent and predict absolute movement. Lastly, is the Attack stage, in this stage one is able to predict and devise techniques to the point one is able to make the perfect attack. This was a stage that basically made any weapon wieldable, as one is able to use every stage to master the weapon in less than a few seconds.
Beyond the intermediate level came the advanced level which were 3 stages. This was the Detail, Pattern, and Complexity stage. The Detail stage was a stage that fully integrated every stage before it, which refined their sense to be able to see the smallest details in every direction. After that came the Pattern stage. This stage was peculiar because it made one’s predictions extremely on point since they would be able to visualize patterns which result in truly perfecting the feeling of the world and timing. Lastly, was the Complexity stage in which the user is able to process his surroundings faster and more clearly without being overwhelmed.
The last level was the master level which is called the Unstructured stage. At this stage one could visualize everything. Being able to structure their feeling of the world to the point where they are able to predict and manipulate anything as a weapon in their structure of the feeling. Having mastered this would lead the user to become an almost unstoppable monster with unlimited techniques and prediction. As a result if one was even blinded they would not need sight regardless at all anymore.
Having heard this lecture, Welnir was enlightened as he learned that the process of passing this gift would take some time to reach the mastery level.
“Thank you, master! Though can I ask how long it took you to master this gift?”
Hearing this Gulious was curious to what Welnir was getting at as anything took time to process and master as he casually said his answer.
“Well, it took me about a whole 2 decades to reach the mastery stage. Is there a reason why you want this information? A race possibly to beat my record? Aahaha!”
‘2 decades…’
Thinking to himself, Welnir was ecstatic as the explanation from Gulious was really overwhelming to the point he really wanted to master it now. Though he knew if he wanted to fully inherit this gift given to him he needed to be patient. Continuing their training the day went by as night became evident.
“Phew, kiddo you have a long road ahead of you! I feel you have almost grasped the Blind stage though! If you want you can still train at night as I know you do your own training for your body. This is good, as a Knight Mage one needs to temper and grow their body exponentially to excel in their power. Well I have to go now, I’ll see you tomorrow morning once again!”
Hearing this as Gulious went back to his smithy, Welnir still continued to train as he hadn’t done his daily routine for a while.
“1 decade, that’s enough, after that I can become the strongest amongst almost everyone in those academies! I’ll use the Divine Kingdom for my own needs and destroy them! Though I need to hide and don't gain too much attention or they’ll be suspicious. Just you wait, this world will topple with my own hands!”
As he said this to himself, Welnir was filled with hatred as he wanted to pave a path where he would become strong enough to topple those around him. Not only did Welnir want to destroy the Divine Kingdom he wanted to become strong and possibly the strongest in existence. With inheriting the Demon race’s blood, he knew he had this chance to dominate with his power.
“Being the strongest might be possible…”
Gazing into the darkened sky Welnir laughed as he knew he couldn’t go back anymore. He was given this chance and to Welnir he had to exploit everything to accomplish his goals. Unbeknownst to Welnir his ideology and goals would soon pave the path of blood as the world would experience a war unlike any other.
Clenching his fist Welnir started his training once again as he grinded the rest of the day away with body training.