Reivyn stood with his sword at the ready, staring into his father's eyes. Neither one made a move, assessing the situation and posture of the other person. Dried sweat beaded Reivyn's brow. He had had time to recover from the exercises earlier. It was the first day his father was back to training with him like the old days, and the plan wasn't to get too heavy right off the bat.
His father wanted to evaluate every aspect of his growth. To that end, he had simply Observed how he trained in his usual manner. He came up with unique ideas to add to the calisthenics simply to keep things fresh. It could get boring, and he was also worried that the other staff members he was going to take under his wing, for the time being, would be put out if it was too tailored for combat.
His guess had been right, and with the mindset his antics had created, everyone had fun practicing in the morning despite it being something they typically never did.
All of that was over now, and it was time for a serious sparring session. Reivyn knew that his dad's Skill was transcendent, and he was looking forward to seeing what his father was like when he let himself really put in the effort. For years his dad had to hold himself back, but now Reivyn had crossed the Master threshold of his Weapons Master Skill.
Both of the combatants were versed in a huge array of weaponry. Reivyn had his Weapons Master Skill which let him treat everything as a weapon, but his dad had his Weapons Prodigy Skill which let him use every weapon. They were more similar than they were different, though Reivyn's Skill would apply to literally anything he wanted to use for combat.
Because of their Skills, even though they were standing off against each other with training swords, they had the other weapons laid out on the ground for easy picking.
A cold wind blew across the courtyard. Time seemed to slow as Reivyn focused with his entire concentration on the man in front of him. Without any indication, he moved.
A loud clack sounded out in the courtyard as Refix easily blocked the exploratory strike. Reivyn fluidly moved into the next strike, and Refix easily kept up with him. He didn't counterattack just yet, allowing his son to maneuver his weapon around in various ways, seeking an opening. There was none.
Refix had a pleased smile on his lips as he fended off his son's attacks. Some of the strikes were as straightforward as could be, but he also slipped in some unusual movements as well. Nothing he did could escape the cool gaze of Refix, though.
Eventually, Refix concluded his evaluation of his son's offensive, and he lashed back with a quick jab of his sword. Reivyn hadn't let himself get caught up in his own offensive, though, and he smoothly transitioned into the defensive as Refix pressed him. He knew that his dad was checking everything out, so he also chose not to counterattack at this moment.
Refix was controlling his Stats the same way Kayzor had done so during their sparring session, but his dad was far more proficient at it. Not only was he more precise and seemed to match Reivyn's Stats exactly, but he also had perfect control over his body, and he never accidentally let his grasp on his Stats slip.
Refix continued to launch strike after strike against Reivyn, and he easily fended them off. Finally, Refix revealed his transcendent ability, though, and it took Reivyn by surprise.
Refix's sword came slashing in at an angle, and Reivyn moved to parry it like all the previous attacks. Warning bells went off in his head, though, and he glimpsed something with his Divine Sense. It wasn't anything visible. It was like an intangible force directed at him.
Even though Refix's sword was coming in with a slash, the momentum behind it seemed to gather at a certain point in front of Reivyn, and with a chill running down his back, he trusted his instincts and adjusted his parry from fending against a slash to fending against a thrust.
Reivyn's sword met resistance where there didn't seem to be anything, and he knew that he had guessed right. Somehow his father had turned his slashing attack into a piercing one without adjusting the trajectory of the strike at all.
Refix brought his weapon around in a smooth transition into an overhead swing. Warning bells once more alerted Reivyn to the difference, and instead of meeting the strike head-on, he stepped back and to the side. There seemed to be a weight to Refix's strike, and it was like he had swung a giant hammer at him instead of a sword.
The match looked odd to those viewing from the side, as Reivyn's actions seemed to make no sense. He would swing his sword about to block the wind, yet it would work. The observers could hear the connections made with the weapons, and they could feel the vibrations in the air.
A strange dance occurred in front of everyone, and it took some little time for Reivyn to adjust to the rhythm. His Divine Sense was his saving grace as it was able to pick up the intangible forces his father created when he changed the nature of his attacks.
Finally, Reivyn stopped being so passive, and he counterattacked. He wasn't able to do the trick that his father pulled off, though he was hopeful for the future. It seemed like the thing his father learned while training him was to mix up his attacks freely, and since he had already figured it out, it was something that Reivyn would be able to learn when the time was right.
The sparring session continued with each of the men attacking, parrying, and dodging in turn. Refix didn't always alter the force of his attacks, but Reivyn was able to defend against it whenever he did. Refix had been a little surprised that he hadn't thrown his son off his stride nearly as much as he did, though he had a happy expression because of it. He would only be proud that his son exceeded his expectations.
The match eventually ended when Refix's superior Skill finally caught up, and he knocked his son's sword to the side, his own resting against his throat.
"Excellent!" Refix praised.
"That was fun," Reivyn agreed.
"Alright, now with the other weapons," Refix declared.
Reivyn nodded and put his sword on the ground, following his father's example. They both picked up spears.
A new match quickly ensued. They didn't spend as much time testing each other out this time, and the fight started in earnest. Instead of focusing entirely on one weapon, the two individuals freely swapped to different weapons as the opportunities presented themselves.
They would strike and defend against each other with spears, then the next moment, one would dash in and switch to a more short-range weapon. Daggers met hatchets. Axes met hammers. Whips met spears. All sorts of weapon combinations played out on the grounds.
The maids in attendance were completely flabbergasted and watched with open mouths. Kefira had a happy smile on her face to finally witness her man let loose against a truly Skilled opponent, and Serilla clenched her fists in anticipation of one day mimicking the feat.
The bout lasted several minutes, and even Refix was sweating and a bit winded by the time he clinched a victory once more. There had never been any suspense that he would be the winner, but Reivyn made him work for it.
"I'm proud of you, son," Refix said, clapping Reivyn on the shoulder. "You've grown far more than I could have hoped for."
"Life and death situations will do that," Reivyn said with a smile.
"That it will. It pains me to know that you've had to endure those kinds of situations. It always will as your father, but I have faith in your abilities to get you home safely at the end of the day. I know you were holding back."
"Oh yeah? What makes you say that?" Reivyn asked.
"You didn't use any magic," Refix said.
"You didn't use any of your abilities, either," Reivyn pointed out. "I've seen your arsenal of incorporeal weapons before."
"Do you want to try your luck against it?" Refix asked with some anticipation. "I would be lying if I said I wasn't interested in experiencing your full combat power."
"Sure."
The pair once more faced off against each other. A bevy of translucent weapons sprang forth from Refix's body. They circled him in a little tornado. Reivyn wasn't to be outdone, though, and his body exploded with Mana.
He created a shield around himself, and he started the match off with a beam directed at his father. One of the shadow weapons intercepted the beam, and then there was a storm filling the courtyard. The bystanders watching had thought they had seen everything there was to see, but they were shocked at the display of martial prowess now on the field.
Reivyn used his own Mana Weapon Skill to switch between melee weapons, now, as well as launching Spells at his father at irregular intervals. The arsenal of weapons controlled by Refix surrounded and assaulted Reivyn from all sides at all times, and he had to concentrate with his Divine Sense like never before to be able to defend against them.
Refix didn't just let his floating weapons do all the work, though, and while the spectral weapons and Spells were thrown about by either party, they simultaneously engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat.
The fight lasted a bit longer than the first two matches, but the outcome was eventually the same. Refix managed to overwhelm Reivyn's abilities, and the fight ended with a training sword once more against his throat.
"If my Skill Level with Arsenal was a bit lower, I might not have pulled the victory on that one," Refix said, panting.
"If a bullfrog had wings, it wouldn't bump its butt every time it jumped," Reivyn replied with a smile. "Is there a limit to how many weapons you can control?"
"Oh, definitely," Refix said, lowering his practice weapon. "The higher my Class Skill, the more I can control. I have better control of them with a better grasp of my Domain, too, so it's not a completely isolated ability."
"Ahh, I see," Reivyn said. "Yeah, if I didn't have other Skills that were tangential to combat, I wouldn't have performed nearly as well. Can you do that little trick where you change the force of the strikes with your phantom weapons?"
"Not yet," Refix answered. "It's something to work on."
"It really threw me for a loop the first couple of times you did it," Reivyn admitted.
"Really? It didn't seem like it to me."
"Trust me, it did. It was one of those tangential Skills I mentioned that helped me see through it. If it were just Danger Sense, I would have known something was coming, but I wouldn't have been able to react to it properly."
"So, what was the Skill that you used?"
Reivyn looked around at the bystanders. Kefira noticed his gaze, and she dismissed the maids to go get cleaned up and resume their regular duties. It was just Reivyn, Refix, Kefira, and Serilla on the training grounds. Reivyn and Refix began to pick up the training weapons from the ground. They snagged a water skin each and took some sips from it, as well.
"Divine Sense."
Refix spit out the mouthful of water he had just taken. He wiped his mouth as he stared at his son in surprise.
"Divine Sense?!"
"I take it by that reaction that you've heard of it?" Reivyn asked with a laugh.
"Yeah, in those ancient records I learned from about Weapons Master and Prodigy," Refix said. "That's a Skill that's not normally obtainable without a Divine Class or reaching close to Ascension. Can you use Divine Mana?"
"Nope," Reivyn said with a shake of his head. "The Skill says it's normally Tier 7, but because I can't use Divine Mana, it's greatly hindered and counts as a Tier 6.5 Skill."
"That's interesting. I've never heard of anyone having the Skill before. Makes sense considering I've never known anyone anywhere close to ascending."
"You say it's something that is usually only obtainable when one is about to ascend? How does that work?" Reivyn asked.
"As far as I know, there are two ways to Ascend: The first way is to initiate it when you're strong enough, and the second way is to get so strong that the Realm kicks you out.
"When one initiates Ascension, the Divine Power comes down to transform one's body and soul, altering it on a fundamental level. That change initiates the acquisition of certain Skills, and Divine Sense is one of them. Acquiring the Skill will break the mind if one's soul isn't strong enough."
"What about the other method?" Reivyn asked. "You said one can become so powerful that the Realm kicks them out?"
"That happens when one breaks the Level cap at Tier 8," Refix answered. "The end result is the same, but the method is different. One isn't transformed ahead of time before Ascending. According to the ancient book I found, the environment of the Divine Realm will also initiate changes to the body and soul by just being there.
"It's actually harder to Ascend with that method, but the transformation is more easily accomplished."
"I thought reaching the maximum Level was the only way to Ascend," Reivyn said.
"It is now because nobody knows how to initiate Ascension anymore. Communicating with Ascended beings doesn't help, and if they did give the answer, those in contact with them haven't said what it is."
"Well, I'm sure the answer's out there somewhere."
"Planning on Ascending one day?" Refix asked, eyeing his son sideways.
"Eh, it's something to think about, though I wouldn't say it's a goal, necessarily. I just want to live my life to the maximum ability. I want to be able to do anything I want, and that means being as strong as possible. The world is so huge, and there are so many things to see. I bet the most interesting places in the world are in the higher Tier Regions."
"That's true," Refix confirmed. "The rules of the world can get... strange when there's enough Mana density.
"So, now that morning training is over, what do you have planned for the rest of the day?"
The two had continued to clean up the training grounds as they had conversed, and they quickly got all the weapons put back in place. One of the maids eventually came back out and started to sweep up the dust and dirt that had been kicked up by the morning workout. Kefira and Serilla had gone in ahead of time to do their own cleanup.
"Kefira has the next couple of days off, and then it's the weekend," Reivyn said. "I have this week off before I need to get back to training with the military units. We're going to go explore the capital for a bit over the next couple of days."
"I would ask you to bring your mother and me along. We haven't seen each other in years, after all, but I know that you guys have been planning this for a while. We won't intrude on your date. That being said, you should definitely let us know about anything interesting that you find out there. I'm sure your sisters would want to see it, too."
"Don't worry about that," Reivyn said. "I won't keep all the good things for myself. We'll also definitely plan an outing for all of us next time. It's not just me that needs to spend some time with my family. You guys need to get to know Kefira more, too."
"I must say I'm impressed with her so far," Refix said. "Her weapons Skills aren't anything to write home about, but her attitude about it was. She never complained, and she stuck to it with all of her efforts. I know she's a pure Caster, and the fact that she's willing to devote time to shore up some weaknesses without complaint is a good sign."
"Yeah, we started training together with weapons way back when we were still involved with the invasion of Drallo," Reivyn said.
"What about that Serilla girl? I noticed that she had a large spread between her primary weapon and a lot of secondary ones."
"I started her off with the intent of unlocking Weapons Prodigy like you," Reivyn admitted. "Even without that goal in mind, working on other weapons is a good way to breach thresholds with her primary weapon. She's solidly at the Expert Mastery, but she's been stuck there for a while. Not only will it help with her understanding of swords, but it will also help her defend against others that use those other weapons if she has a better grasp of how to use them."
"Exactly," Refix said. "You got a good head on your shoulders, and I don't mean to intrude and take over what you're trying to accomplish. I'll be here to advise if you need it, but you handling her training will also help you in the long run, as well."
"Yeah, I remember you saying that training me helped you breach transcendence with your Skill. I'm not there yet, but there's no harm in laying the foundation ahead of time. Who knows, I might not even have a bottleneck when I get to Level 100."
"Look at this cheeky brat," Refix said. He put Reiyvn in a headlock and knuckled his head. "You want to put all of my accomplishments to shame by achieving the same things quicker and easier than me?"
"Face it, old man, the world belongs to the next generation."
"Hah! I hope you remember those words when they come to bite you in the butt in the future!"
The two laughed happily as they horsed around. Reivyn was no longer staying in the little house in Kefira's courtyard, so he followed his father back to the guest house that had been provided for them. He would wash up and get ready for the day there.
"I hope you know that you could only ever make me proud," Refix suddenly said. "I will always be your father."
"I know, dad," Reivyn replied. "I wouldn't have been able to do half the things I've accomplished if you hadn't pioneered them for me, too."
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"Come on, there's something you'll finally get to see today that I know you've been interested in," Kefira said.
She and Reivyn were walking arm in arm, Serilla trailing behind them. Reivyn hadn't wasted any time getting cleaned up and dressed for the day, and he had met back up with the two girls at the entrance to the palace after a quick breakfast.
Silfa had provided staff to take care of their needs while they stayed in the guest house, but Ameliyn wasn't going to let them take the opportunity to cook breakfast for her son away. Reivyn had devoured the meal with relish and thanked his mother for the delicious meal. It had been so long since he had eaten a home-cooked meal from his mother, and it had been everything he had anticipated.
"Oh, and what's this thing I've been interested in?" Reivyn asked. "Why don't I know it?"
"You will," Kefira said with a grin. "I'm not going to ruin the surprise, but you'll agree with me once we get there."
"Fine by me." Reivyn shrugged. "I mean, pretty much anything in your company is something that I'm interested in, anyway."
"Sweet talker," Kefira said, sticking her tongue out.
The three made their way to the central part of the inner city. Reivyn no longer glanced around in all directions to take everything in as he had been through the area several times. He still marveled at the construction of the amphitheaters where the Arena and Striker's Guild were located, though.
His expression perked up as he noticed that they were headed to one such building, and he looked over at Kefira with a pleasantly surprised look on his face.
"That's right," Kefira said with a nod of her head. "We're going to go watch a bout at the Striker's Guild. We're going to the main theater, too. You'll finally be able to witness what it's like to have an entire team directing a fight."
"That is something I've been interested in," Reivyn acknowledged. "I've wondered how it works."
"Well, now you're going to get to see."
They walked up to the ticket booth and stood in line. It moved quickly, and before he knew it, they were in possession of three tickets to watch the official match. It wasn't just the one fight, though. There would be a lot of fights leading up to the main event. Reivyn would have plenty of opportunities to see just how a team could influence a fighter.
Scratch that. A Striker.