Once we got to a glade in the forest that had numerous boulders surrounding it, Father gradually made us descend.

It felt great to be on solid ground again.

The sun was beginning to rise as light illuminated a bit of the surrounding.

"What'd you think?"

"That magic is really convenient. I don't doubt it makes travel far faster and easier than taking a carriage."

"I'm glad you agree. Although neither one of your moms likes to travel this way. It's nice for a minute but then they get uncomfortable with not being able to step on something. Maybe if I had better control of wind magic it wouldn't feel as jarring."

"Mmm."

I would agree with both my mother and stepmother. Even if it does make travel time insignificant, it's by no means comfortable.

"This is where I come to train in the morning. Starting now, I'm sharing it with you, Fred."

Looking around the glade, I found nothing particularly special about the area. The boulders were the only prominent landmark, the twisted branches of the forest made them more menacing.

"Is there something special about it?"

"Not particularly, there's many places like this around the forest. I just prefer this place because I made it myself."

"Through Gravity magic?"

Inspecting the ground more closely it did seem oddly level. There weren't many grooves around as I walked about.

"You figured it out. Very clever. It's how I started training my skills in that subset."

"Has anyone else trained here with you, Father?"

"No, I had Kraimer learn Gravity in more small scale form. Your grandfather's method was much harsher and too complex."

"How so?"

"Hmm, it involved learning to beat objects into the ground, rather than making them float. It was harder to tell if I was able to do anything. Then when I did have to learn how to lift objects, if I couldn't get it to budge with magic I was forced to try with my own hands."

Father wasn't happy to tell me about his own experience in learning magic.

"So, what did you want to show me Today?"

"Right, this gauntlet. It's a special extraction tool made by a familiar talented smith."

"It was made by mister Dag?"

"Yep, this was an early work of his. Back in my adventuring days when I didn't have any training in Earth magic."

Father donned the gauntlet again and this time caused another set of inscriptions to glow.

Fine dust swirled around the glove. The dust settled and solidified into a drill shape that rested between his index and middle finger. A cord attached to the base of the drill flowed down through the palm and wrapped around the wrist of the gauntlet.

"Stay behind me and observe Fred."

Father cautioned me as he lifted the drill and launched it like a fishing lure. It slid right through the ground as if it were liquid. He continued to twist and turn his hand to guide the drill through the ground.

The cord began to retract the drill as Father closed his fist. Yet another set of symbols were highlighted as my father opened his hand and the drill turned back into dust. The dust morphed into a mechanical claw.

Father thrust his wrist and the claw grabbed hold of one of the perfectly cut cubes in the ground and tore it out. Gridlines were etched onto the entire section my father had parsed the drill through. A missing block of dirt revealed this pattern.

"It's a neat little gadget wouldn't you agree?"

Father shook the cube in his hand with the claw still gripping it powerfully.

"Yes."

It was definitely above what I'd consider a power tool.

"It can also reshape the material in its grasp."

Dirt was quickly and precisely chiseled off the cube by the claw until it turned into a smooth sphere.

"Is that all it can do?"

"I used to use it to scale walls and ceilings before I mastered Gravity magic. It can hold a pretty good amount of weight so long as the surface it's latched onto stays firm."

"How long does it take to make something like that?"

I wondered how many years of craftsmanship and training it takes to make tools like that. I was reminded of the manufacturing industry from my world. Designing was the only process that hadn't been automated yet.

"Dag was still getting a hang of it but he was able to make this one fairly quick in a month or so. He is quite talented like that. Most other runecarvers take maybe half a year for a prototype and then another half to have a finished product."

"So mister Dag must be pretty famous then?"

"He is pretty renowned on this side of the continent, but he's still got competition."

"Really?"

"It's shocking how much dragons can get done when they decide to take an interest in crafting instead of just relying on their magic."

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

I pictured a bearded lizard the size of a human with a pair of custom fitted lenses toiling away at a trinket.

Father removed the gauntlet and holstered it onto his belt.

"You know, your mom told me you were interested in learning some swordsmanship. Obviously, you asked for a sword on your birthday after all. I figured today I could show you a little bit. Gairaga."

Father leaned down and reverted the ground to the level state it was in before he tore it up with the drill. Then he began to unlatch the sword from its scabbard.

"Your swordsmanship isn't a style right?"

Father looked at me curiously for a moment.

"No, I don't have any experience with sword styles. Daphne, your mother did practice one a long time ago. Your uncle Carlisle is also a swordsman. The type of swordsmanship I use is just an extension of my spellcasting abilities."

Father unsheathed the rest of the blade and inspected its sheen. The sword didn't look like steel, it looked glossier and almost marble like.

"Does the material of the sword matter?"

Maybe the material of the blade is important for infusing it with a given spell. I thought.

"You really do catch on quick, Freddy. Yes, the swords needed for magic sword techniques require a specific material. However, that's not to say you couldn't use magic in combination with any old iron sword. This material happens to conduct mana way better than any of that."

"What is it?"

What kind of mythical ores and minerals does this world have? I wondered.

"The Father God called it Mithril. He stated it was a sacred metal that could even split the sky if wielded properly. It's quite difficult to forge, it requires an incredible amount of heat that even Dag's smithy has trouble maintaining it. That's why it'll take him some time before he finishes yours too."

"Did you always use a sword before?"

"Nah, I just used a wand occasionally but mostly I used my own hands for magic. It's only recently I've trained myself up into using this sword with the Elemental Set of magic. Let me show you."

"Please do."

This'll probably give me a clearer image of the difference between Style and Sorcery. I surmised.

Father tore a branch from a nearby tree and levitated it right in front of himself.

"Igraga."

Father's sword ignited with a harsh flame. He assumed a forward stance and placed both hands on the sword's hilt before taking a diagonal slash across the thick wood. The blade cut through with ease and lit up the remaining wood. The two halves of the branch quickly turned to cinders and ash.

Father didn't stop there. He inspected the blade after its fire went out. He held the middle of the blade in one hand and the hilt in the other.

His eyes weren't inspecting the blade anymore but aiming.

"Gairaga."

The blade extended far beyond its natural reach. It stuck into the trunk of another tree. He smiled and let go of the blade to look at me. It remained in place.

"What is it?"

"I still need my Gravity magic to get this technique to work out. The blade isn't getting heavier since its expanding the same material but it's way more unwieldy at this length. I just wanted to let you know."

"I see."

It was still an amazing feat to seem him use both the subsets in tandem.

The blade retracted from the trunk and back to its original size.

Winding the sword behind him my father continued with another move.

"Hydraga."

Water accumulated at the edges of his blade as he took a swing and backswing. The water propelled itself with absurd pressure onto the same trunk Father had stabbed earlier.

Carved and close to tipping over, the tree stopped just short of slamming into the ground.

Meanwhile, Father started up another attack. He resembled a baseball batter with the stance he took.

"Zephraga."

A rush of wind began to flow from all directions towards the sword in Father's hands. He took a step forward and a massive burst of air sprung forth and sliced through several treetops. Father had angled the cut so as not to just level the forest by mistake.

"For this next one, I want you to lay on the ground, Fred."

"Alright."

I laid flat on my stomach and covered my head with my hands. My father gave me a thumbs up and proceeded.

"Fluxraga."

Cracks and sparks began to sound off around Father as he waved his hand around the sword.

Suddenly, he thrust his wrist with the sword still upright. An arc of light connected between the sword tip and the floating tree that had been suspended in the air earlier.

Father brought the tree closer, but as he did so the sword in his free hand began to shake in an attempt to free itself from his grasp.

The blade shot through the air and lodge itself with a loud boom onto the tree. However, Father hadn't finished his hand signs. He rolled his hands and the blade followed his direction as it spun violently.

The mithril sword acted like a buzz saw as it rotated at high velocity and slashed right through the rest of the tree.

Father ended the technique by raising his hand in the air. The tree tumbled whilst the sword flew back into Father's hand.

Another lightning strike appeared at the tip of the blade but ended within a cloud far above.

My mind was in flurry comparing all of Father's movements with those of the Fear manual. It didn't match at all but that wasn't what stood out to me.

The fact that stances were essentially absent throughout the manual made Father's skills far more grounded. That there was more reason and intention behind every attack.

It could just be that I'm not that well off learning the style on my own. Really, it wouldn't be shocking to think the manual assumes the reader already has regular sword training. I brooded.

"What did you think?"

"I can't wait to reach you."

"Hah! I get the feeling you'll get there sooner than you think."

One long road ahead, Father, but I'll keep going. I thought.

Father instructed me to attempt Wind magic as I continued to build up my mana.

It was trickier than either Fire or Water due to air being a normally transparent substance. But I pulled through, I pictured the wind like smoke and the kind of visible visual white streak that happened in animations and certain paintings.

The product I ended up with was a miniature tornado that swirled more aggressively once it left my palm. Father praised me for figuring it out in a short time.

Right after I finished reaching my mana pool's limit I informed Father, who was still swinging around his mithril sword. He continued to practice the stances and swings without the magic infused.

"Done already? Alright, guess I'll finish up too. Don't worry about this next bit. I've done this thousands of times."

Father flicked his finger and one of the boulders instantly appeared overhead. It began to descend above him.

The large stone stopped right as Father placed his palm on the bottom.

Gradually his face began to strain as the weight of the boulder pressed onto his arm. Father's forearm began to tighten and his veins popped out, clearly visible from the effort he was exerting to lift the rock.

Slowly the boulder moved upwards along with Father's arm. Once it reached a certain height Father let it drop down again. He switched hands after every set.

He launched the slab upwards and sighed out in relief.

"Now for the finisher, this is my favorite part."

Father grinned at me with beads of sweat sliding down from his head.

My father leapt and hovered over the clearing, the trees began to rustle. The several boulders that had surrounded the glade were all simultaneously rising.

As soon as they were all about the same height, Father blinked in and out of sight. It seemed like he was running laps around in the air.

A crashing sound echoed and a boulder splintered into rubble and moved further away from the rest of the gathered pillars. The same thing happened over and over, I only caught glimpses of Father appearing in motion for a punch.

Immediately after all the stones were shattered, I faintly heard my father cast an Earth spell that reconstructed the many pebbles into the original boulders.

Dad repeated the process several times until he began to slow down. I could more visibly see the way he ran around a boulder before jumping off and rushing back into it with his fist to shatter it.

Eventually, Father wore himself out and finished recreating and replacing the practice stones back to their place.

"Come on let's get back home."

Father held out his hand to me. I had to jump to reach it, once he had a firm grip on me we ascended higher into the sky.

On the journey back the brilliant sunlight and rushing wind finished the job of waking me up fully and relaxing my weightless body.

I can't wait to continue working on my own swordsmanship, although I wonder if now I have to be more careful with stepmother around. I thought.