Book 3. The Long Journey. Chapter 122. The Sword’s Heart.
“Is he trying to mimic me a bit too much?” Laien wondered as he and Mikaela started exchanging blows with their spears. He had also come to take a lot from Master Shire’s spearmanship, especially early on, but he had never attempted to copy him to the degree Mikaela was doing with him right now. “It would still be fine if my style was suitable to him, but his reactions are noticeably slower and less sharp than when he was using his sword. A part of it is certainly because he isn’t used to the spear, but that’s not all that significant,” he mused, attempting to guide Mikaela’s attacks and defense in much the same way he had done when he was using a sword.
However, even as far as that went, he could tell that Mikaela wasn’t moving and reacting as well as well as when he was using a sword. “We only exchanged a few blows, but I think I agree with whoever taught him swordsmanship. He isn’t all that suited to the spear,” he concluded without overthinking this matter too much. Of course, there naturally were exceptions and people who picked up a weapon purely through the endless amount of hard work, but he didn’t think that Mikaela was a person of this type. If anything, Mikaela was an emotional and instinctual type; if he couldn’t find a way to enjoy something, then it was unlikely he would become good at it.
… Well, to be exact, with Mikaela’s talent, he could be exceptional at almost anything by normal standards, but to truly reach the level of mastery on the level of the top-level geniuses wouldn’t be so simple. Or at the very least, this was Laien’s assumption after he came to know Mikaela’s character and potential decently well.
“Something’s not right,” Mikaela grumbled in his heart. He was sparring with Laien and using a spear just like he wanted, but something was lacking. If he were to put it into words, then there was no pleasant and ecstatic feeling he had had when practicing magic under Laien’s guidance. Sure, he was happy that he was making improvements in his Profound Mysteries, but as he wielded the spear or even the sword a moment ago, he could feel that it just wasn’t right. The old him didn’t have any experience of truly enjoying himself with his whole heart and soul as he trained, so he never noticed. Now that he had this experience though, this one lacking aspect became almost painfully apparent to him.
“Stopping already?” Laien asked, slightly surprised to see Mikaela back off so soon, just after twenty seconds of exchanging blows or so. He had been planning to spend at least two minutes before making Mikaela stop, but it looked like that wasn’t necessary. “This sulky look on his face, did he figure the same thing out on his own?” he wondered, watching how Mikaela’s emotions clearly and honestly painted themselves on his cute face.
“It’s just not it,” Mikaela said with a little sigh. “Be it sword or spear, I just can’t seem to enjoy them. Am I doing something wrong, just like with my magic? Is it this ‘heart’ thing that you mentioned? What is it about?” he asked a few questions all at once, as per his usual habit. However, as much as he was used to his questions remaining unanswered by the adults, he was full of expectation towards the solution Laien would surely come up with.
“It’s hard to say,” Laien replied and scratched the back of his head, feeling some pressure due to the expectant look in Mikaela’s eyes. He could explain magic easily, but he had only recently come to understand more about his own spear arts. Thus, he tried to approach the matter in a more simplistic way. “It would be easier for me to come up with a good advice for you if you told me some things first. For example, what do you think about when you fight with your sword, or with the spear? What were you feeling as we exchanged blows just now?” he asked, following a similar routine to when he had been helping Mikaela understand the Principle of Energy.
“Hmm.” Mikaela tilted his head slightly and looked down at the ground for a moment, trying to recall his thoughts and emotions from those two brief exchanges with Laien. “I don’t think I was thinking about anything related to the weapons I’m using… With sword, I was just trying to fight as well as I could, while with the spear I was trying to move like you. What I was feeling though… I don’t really know? There wasn’t anything in particular when I was using the sword and I was feeling a bit frustrated when using the spear, but I don’t think that’s what you were asking about,” he answered as well as he could, much unlike the times when his teachers asked him about something.
“Yeah, that’s not really it,” Laien said with a little sigh. Indeed, what Mikaela told him wasn’t all that useful, but maybe it was his fault for expecting it to go too smoothly. “I guess you’ve already heard someone telling you to ‘treat your weapon as a part of your body?” he asked, to what Mikaela nodded and said a simple ‘yeah’ in confirmation. “What should I tell him in this case?” he asked himself, trying to find some way to make fighting with weapons more pleasant for Mikaela.
“Just telling him to try and like it won’t work, that’s for sure,” he recognized to begin with. “Saying that you like what you’re good at… well, it’s true, but I don’t think it will be good enough of a solution considering Mikaela’s character,” he assumed and laughed inwardly. Before he obtained his Absolute Martial Realm, he himself didn’t enjoy martial training all that much; he had only done it diligently for the sake of growing stronger. If he couldn’t make himself like something, then how could he expect someone else to do it? However, if he thought along those lines, then what should he do to help Mikaela? There needed to be some way to go about it, something that would make using weapons more fun for Mikaela.
“More fun, more fun,” Laien mused quietly. What would be a good way to make fighting with weapons more amusing for Mikaela? “Maybe…” he smiled at the ridiculous thought, but when he recalled the existence of the Red Dragon Swords, one of which was in his elder brother’s possession while the other one had chosen Siana to be her wielder, he assumed it might not be all that stupid to try.
“I’ve got an idea,” he said with a smile and have Mikaela a look that was somewhere between a serious and a playful one. “How about you imagine that your sword isn’t just a sword, but your friend? One with thoughts and personality, with a heart,” he proposed, curious to see what Mikaela would think about it.
“An imaginary friend?” Mikaela asked with a laugh. This idea sounded really childish even to him. Had it been someone else than Laien or Raphael who suggested it, he would have dismissed it instantly, but in this case, he was willing to give it a try. “Should I make up someone who enjoys fighting and nags me when I don’t do well enough?” he wondered aloud, not too sure what kind of an imaginary friend would be best to help him get better with the sword.
“Nah,” Laien said with a chuckle. “That would just be too close to just making a new teacher for yourself. That’s not going to do you well and it won’t be fun. How about it, start with the template of ‘he doesn’t like it when he is being used in such a crude way’. I think he will come along just fine if you try to imagine someone akin to your own twin brother,” he proposed playfully, guessing that two Mikaelas would keep bickering and arguing with each other in a more or less friendly way.
“That seems silly,” Mikaela said with a smirk and laughed in amusement. “Okay, let’s give it a try. Give me a moment,” he said while grinning and swapped his spear for his sword. He glanced at the silvery blade and the silvery-black hilt, quickly deciding that his twin would have purely silver eyes and silvery-black hair. As for the personality… well, that would come along easily enough. As twins, they were bound to be similar, though if his brother was a sword, then he would absolutely hate it when he was being wielded in a half-hearted way. And why? Because if he himself had somehow turned into a sword, then he would absolutely hate it if his owner was an incompetent buffoon.
As Mikaela was familiarizing himself with his new twin brother, the dozen people who were listening from about thirty meters away were almost all confused and baffled. Some less, some more, but with the exception of Yin, they were all wondering what in the world was the purpose of Laien’s idea. Would having Mikaela imagine a friend for himself help him get better with the sword? Really? If such a simple thing could make a difference, then everyone would be a potential master swordsman!
“Do you think it will work out?” Daniel asked, minding not to make his voice loud enough for Laien and Mikaela to hear him.
“No idea,” Luca said with a sigh. Before being beaten up by Laien, he would have answered ‘no’ without hesitation. Now, however, he couldn’t help but show a less conceited attitude, especially since it was Laien who brought that whole idea up.
“It will only distract the kid,” Lea said confidently. She had seen young kids train and try to distract themselves with some motivating, pleasant thoughts, but she never saw such a thing turn out to be productive. As such, she was unconvinced of this ‘training method’ or whatever it was that Laien devised.
“You guys sure are pessimistic,” Raphael mentioned lightheartedly despite doubting the effectiveness of Laien’s plan himself. If he ever tried to fight while chatting with a friend he had made up, he would never be able to concentrate properly. It might serve as a motivation of a kind for Mikaela, but in actual combat, it would be far too inconvenient.
“You are the optimistic one, kid,” Jugal said with a laugh. “I must say though, after what that kid showed us yesterday when he fought against you, I’m almost ready to believe that his idea will end up working out,” he added carefreely. He didn’t particularly care what this bunch of kids was doing, he would be satisfied as long as it was interesting, and their current endeavor was amusing enough.
“Disrespectful as always,” Richt muttered unhappily. Yet, he actually made sure not to make his voice loud enough for anyone to hear it. In the end, he was still conflicted about Laien’s dismissive treatment of his and Jugal’s arguments. Was he the childish one here to be arguing with Jugal over every little thing the whole time when even Elder Samuel closed an eye and pretended not to see or hear his rude remarks? He really didn’t know, but perhaps it was just like that.
“Maybe I should try the same,” Arslan said uncertainly. Would making up a friend in form of a weapon help him improve quicker?
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“You shouldn’t,” Yin said with a quiet laugh, surprising both Arslan and everyone else who heard him. “Thinking of your weapon as a friend is sure and nice, but if you actually try to ‘talk with it’ in a fight, you will end up killing yourself,” he warned in a very much casual tone, all the while looking at Laien and Mikaela with a smile on his face.
“So you think your friend’s idea isn’t going to work out?” Although everybody was surprised by Yin’s statement, it was Jugal was asked the question they all had In their minds as the first one.
“When did I say so?” Yin asked teasingly and laughed, seeing everyone’s bewildered expressions. “Laien and Mikaela are extremely similar both in character and in their abilities, so even though it’s just a hunch that Laien is acting on, it shouldn’t be a wrong one,” he explained, though it was only as much of an explanation as his words could be considered to be.
And of course, those who were offered this explanation couldn’t help but feel doubtful. There were those like Arslan and Jugal who were ready to take Yin on his word, there were Raphael and Luca who had their doubts but weren’t speaking up due to their previous extraordinary experiences with Laien, and there was the rest that was waiting to see the inevitable failure of Laien’s ministrations. However, regardless of all of their thoughts, Laien and Mikaela proceeded without a care.
“I think I’m good,” Mikaela opened his eyes and said happily. He didn’t expect this mental exercise to be so fun, but now that he tried it, he wished he had done so much earlier.
“So, what’s his name?” Laien asked with a grin and to his satisfaction, saw an ‘ah!’ kind of an expression emerge on Mikaela’s face.
“Name, huh,” Mikaela smiled and glanced at the sword in his hand, looking almost as if he really was exchanging words with it. “Nicolai,” Mikaela declared with a chuckle, then did something that caused Raphael’s eyes to open wider; he slashed out with his sword playfully and twirled it in his hand.
To others, this action might have seemed normal enough, but Raphael had watched Mikaela train and trained with him hundreds of times, especially when both of them were younger. In all that time, he had sometimes seen Mikaela play around with his water-element magic, but he had never seen him actually play around with a sword with a clear smile on his face.
“Ridiculous,” Raphael shook his head slightly. “Did his whole attitude change so drastically and so easily? If he can actually keep it up while he fights and maintain a high level of motivation….” he thought quietly, almost too scared to think what degree of talent Mikaela was going to display if he fully committed himself to training not because he was forced to, but because he genuinely wanted to do so. Be it magic or martial arts, if Mikaela came to enjoy both fields, it would undoubtedly lead to a frightening display of skill and potential in just a few years of growth.
“A good name,” Laien said contentedly, unaware of the thoughts going through Raphael’s mind at the moment. “C’mon, let us see how you are going to do together,” he encouraged and for the third time, assumed a battle-ready stance. Would Mikaela do better than before now that he had Nicolai by his side or would nothing much change? He couldn’t wait to see, but he had a feeling it would be the former of those two options.
“Yeah,” Mikaela agreed enthusiastically. “Let’s go, Nicolai,” he thought with a smile, finding himself strangely aware of the sensation of his hand gripping the hilt of his sword. Maybe it was just his imagination, but he also felt like his surroundings became… more visible to him? He couldn’t really find a word to describe it. It was a strange, but very pleasant and exciting feeling. Thus, he attacked Laien, abandoning all unnecessary thoughts and engrossing himself in this new sensation.
He deflected the white spear that came thrusting at him with his sword in a much similar manner to what he had done before, then kept forcing his way in, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to do anything if he didn’t force the fight into his own effective range. “A swing is coming,” the thought crossed his mind unusually early, even before Laien fully withdrew his spear from the first thrust.
Startled, he hesitated for a split-second, then really saw Laien move in the motion suggesting that a swing would be coming. Unable to quite cope with being thrown off-rhythm by his own thoughts, Mikaela tucked somewhat late and received much more of the swing’s impact onto his sword than he intended, what resulted in his assault being halted before he could get in properly.
“Pathetic,” Nicolai’s contemptuous comment ranged out within Mikaela’s mind. “You want to be as good as this guy and you can’t even trust yourself? Quite an owner do I have,” Nicolai added with a smirk on his face, nudging Mikaela to stop embarrassing both of them.
“Hmph, just you watch,” Mikaela thought angrily. “I’m just not used to it since it’s new,” he added, though as talented as he was, he couldn’t help but lose some concentration during this internal exchange. As a result, he failed to dodge Laien’s follow-up back-swing in a timely manner and was once again forced to block with his sword. However, he failed to meet the momentum properly and ended up being hit in the face by the back-end of Laien’s spear.
“Damn,” Mikaela felt like cursing at himself as the metallic taste started spreading in his mouth. “If Laien wasn’t holding back for me, this one blow would have done me in,” the frustrated thought passed through his mind. Yet, the very next split-second, he was startled awake by Nicolai’s voice.
“Dodge.”
The simple word washed all of Mikaela’s thoughts away. All of the sudden, the weird sensation from a moment ago returned to him and this time, he trusted his senses entirely. He hurriedly threw himself to the side, just barely avoiding a thrust of Laien’s spear which pierced the air just millimeters away from his gut. The sense of danger caused a shiver to run down his spine, but at the same time, it further enhanced his senses.
“Attack!” he thought to himself, recognizing that an opening was presented to him by Laien. He kicked at the ground and rapidly changed directions. He guarded against yet another thrust of Laien’s spear in a forceful manner, which caused his hands to grow somewhat numb. However, he didn’t back off and slid his sword against the length of the white spear and made his way forward, then slashed out with his sword in the same motion, aiming at the exposed side of Laien’s torso.
He had a good feeling about this attack, but despite slashing with perfect timing, his sword slashed only air as Laien skillfully moved his body out of the way and once again increased the distance between the two of them.
“You aren’t even trying,” Nicolai’s voice rang out within Mikaela’s mind, admittedly causing him to grow somewhat angry.
“What do you mean I’m not trying? I’m fighting as well as I can! There’s no way I’m going to do better against Laien, he’s on an entirely different level!” Mikaela responded to Nicolai In an equally provocative manner, what inevitably caused him to once again screw up while defending. Having taken a wide swing of Laien’s spear head-on, he was lifted off the ground and thrown nearly a dozen meters backwards before he managed to land and come to a halt.
“That looks pretty bad,” Richt said with a sigh. In their first exchange, Mikaela had been doing pretty good with his sword, but now he was obviously making far too many mistakes. He didn’t want to dismiss Laien’s idea straight-out and so he had refrained from commenting previously, but he needed to agree with Lea. Thinking about unrelated things in the middle of exchanging blows couldn’t have been a good idea and Mikaela’s poor performance was only proving that.
“Shouldn’t we stop them?” one of the two men whose names weren’t important enough for anyone to care asked with a slight frown on his face.
“No,” Richt shook his head. “It will be best if they learn it doesn’t work on their own. Else, the kid will be tempted to keep trying the same thing in the future,” he said confidently. He might not have been involved with youths for the past two centuries, but he knew well enough how those hot-headed younglings thought. As long as they didn’t experience that something doesn’t work for themselves, they wouldn’t give up on trying to do that same thing over and over again.
“Will it really not work out?” Raphael asked himself, watching Mikaela attentively. “At some points he moved better than before, only for his reactions to slow down horribly at the other times,” he mused, for some inexplicable reason thinking that if Mikaela managed to stick to the good part of his performance, then he would be able to improve a lot in a short period of time. However, as much as his heart was rooting for Laien’s idea to succeed, his brain couldn’t help but take the doubtful stance.
“Ouch,” Mikaela complained, his right forearm stinging quite badly from the slash it received as he was being blown away. He quickly used some spiritual energy to heal himself, but before he could calm down, he once again heard Nicolai’s voice within his head.
“Of course you aren’t trying. You are just doing what you already can do!” Nicolai said with a harrumph. “You can’t lie to me and you know it. If you really pushed yourself, you would fight better! What, will you make up an excuse that ‘you don’t really enjoy it’ or something? If so, then just give up on using weapons altogether! Who would like to be wielded by someone who’s not even giving his best,” he elaborated in a scolding tone. If Mikaela planned to behave like that, then he shouldn’t have brought him to life to begin with! At the very least, it would be so annoying to be used by him then!
“Hmph,” Mikaela snorted quietly. “If you know me so well, then tell me what I should do!” he retorted, truth to be told getting quite annoyed with Nicolai.
“You know what you need to do,” Nicolai said in a gentler tone, thus startling Mikaela a little. “You want to improve, right? Then don’t look for things you already can do, look for the things you might be able to do! Push your limits, fight harder and use your head!” he said, clearly excited by the perspective of what Mikaela would be able to do with him if he stopped restraining himself and thinking about all those stupid things.
“But what if I fail?” Mikaela asked back. He wanted to do his best and impress Laien, but he wasn’t nearly as confident in his sword techniques as in his magic. What if he tried something new only to screw up real bad? It would be so embarrassing that he wouldn’t know how to look Laien in the eye.
“Are you stupid?” Nicolai asked while raising his eyebrows. “That guy is giving his best to teach you! Do you not feel how he is giving you subtle openings and tries to lead your attacks towards the more efficient path? He’s got a whole bunch more experience than you do! You are being given a perfect chance to try new things without being killed in case you fail, so what in the world are you so scared of?” he asked with genuine disbelief, failing to understand the thought process of this owner of his. Did he want to get better or not? The kid really needed to make up his mind about it.
“…” Mikaela grumbled quietly but despite that, he didn’t try to argue with Nicolai. He was wise enough to admit that Nicolai was right about everything he was saying, though he couldn’t quite bring himself to thoroughly change his approach to this spar. After all, knowing something and actually doing it were two very different things, especially when it came to changing one’s behavior.
“You will fail in the beginning,” Nicolai said with a meaningful, slight smile on his face. “Of course you will fail, who doesn’t when he tried to do new things? But you are talented. If you keep giving your best, you will find the things that work and you will get better! Come on, owner, show them all what you are really capable of!” he encouraged, knowing very well what Mikaela was worrying about. In the end, he was given his heart by Mikaela; there was no way he wouldn’t know his owner well.
“Fine,” Mikaela said resolutely, his emotions stirred by Nicolai. He would give his best to try new things and get better! With his thinking undergoing a fundamental shift, the look in his eyes changed in a subtle manner, which however was quickly picked up on by Laien.
“If you’re ready, then come at me,” Laien said with a smile. He had waited patiently for a moment or two when Mikaela stood there without moving, guessing that the boy was leading an internal conversation with his sword, with ‘Nicolai’. “If I said so I would probably sound like Arslan, but that look in Mikaela’s eyes… it’s just like Yin’s when he is sparring with me,” he thought in amusement. Mikaela did fail to concentrate at first and it worried him, but now, he had a feeling that Mikaela would be just fine.