In the compound outside, Sam was practicing swordsmanship stances with his father. This was how they always started their training sessions.

At the start Sam was taught the basic vertical slash, horizontal slash and pierce. He would perform the same basic movements over and over until his father was satisfied. Then they would spar. The next day the same thing.

After a month, Sam was taught to parry and defend. His father would perform a vertical slash over and over again and he would block or parry it over and over again. The routine continued for the horizontal slash, and pierce. Each drill, he would repeat countless times then defend countless times until his father was satisfied. And it was in that fashion that Sam practiced fundamental sword movements for two years.

Today however, Sam seemed to have graduated from the class of fundamentals. Today his father was teaching him a sword art!

Thus, he watched with eagle-eyed attention as his father danced elegantly with his sword cutting through wind. The technique was enthralling. Every slash seemed to resonate with the world as Aziel's presence shimmered in an out of existence. He was like a spirit that was one with the world.

In Sam’s eyes there was only the sword.

“Beautiful...” that was the only word Sam could use to describe what he saw before him.

At this point Aziel released a final magnificent slash before sheathing his blade. Sam’s hair billowed as he saw the air get severed.

His expression was dazed, lost in that final slash.

Aziel turned to face Sam but didn’t say anything. When the boy finally came out of his daze, Aziel begun to speak.

“I am a Swordsman,” he said. “For a Swordsman, they live and die with the sword in their hand. If a mountain stands in front of them, they cut it in half with their sword. If an ocean stands before them, they split it with their sword. They are the sword and the sword is them. That is why they are called swordsmen and not sword wielders.”

Sam’s eyes glittered at the mention of splitting mountains and seas with a sword. However, Aziel’s next words were a bucket of cold water over his head.

“You are not a Swordsman. You barely even qualify to be called an amateur sword wielder.” Aziel said.

Sam pouted and grumbled under his breath.

Aziel paid his childish tantrum no heed. With his usual monotone voice and deadpan expression, he continued. “Today, I will teach you a sword art. Even if you fail to become a Swordsman, the experience and insights you will gain from this sword art will point you in the direction where your path lies. That is why I have named it… Odyssey.”

Sam nodded with a solemn expression. He didn’t know what the word ‘Odyssey’ meant but it sounded impressive.

“This sword art has 6 stances in total. At your current level, you can only learn the first three. Even if I showed you the final three, you would not be able to perceive them, let alone learn them. Watch carefully, I will demonstrate the first stance.”

With that Aziel turned away from the boy. He stood in the compound with a serious expression on his face. His back was straight, shoulders were back and chest was out. His posture was impeccable, straight and sharp as a sword.

Aziel placed one hand on the scabbard at his waist.

In that moment, Sam seemed to see a seed. It was small and insignificant but with the potential to grow into a towering tree.

Then Aziel flicked the sword’s cross guard with his thumb. The sheening silver of a blade was revealed. But only a little. Yet in that moment Sam seemed to see the seed sprout what would be its first two leaves.

At that moment, small indistinct cuts formed on his skin but he didn’t notice them. He was too engrossed in the scene of that seed sprouting. It filled him with an irrational sense of accomplishment and joy.

Aziel continued to unsheathe the blade.

The seed continued to grow and soon it was a young sapling. Then the young sapling became a young tree. It wasn’t very tall but it was very sturdy. It rocked back and forth in the winds that buffeted its trunk groaning and creaking as the pressure of elements bore down on it. Yet it never fell!

Sam couldn’t extricate himself from the illusion in front of him. In his eyes, he saw Aziel’s image superimpose with that of the tree. First, he was a babe. Then he was a child. Then he was a teenager, a young youth. His figure was valiant as he fought off enemy after enemy that sought to cut him down, yet he never once fell!

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Like the tree that desperately warred with the elements, Aziel warred with the heavens. Two images superimposed upon each other to form one entity staking their claim to secure their right to live in this world!

Finally, the tree stood tall and the winds begun to subside. It had survived. It wasn’t the tallest tree around nor the largest. But it had survived. It had carved out its own heavenly mandate. Its own right to live.

The apparition of the tree dissipated to reveal Aziel with both his hands clasped around his fully unsheathed blade. He stood tall and indomitable radiating an aura of sharp conviction. A conviction to sever anything obstructing his path to survival.

Sam was spellbound. His clothes were in tatters and lacerations from the remnant sword intent that Aziel failed to contain marred his body. To this he was oblivious. His eyes glazed with the image of Aziel and the tree fighting for their survival.

Sam could feel his blood boil.

That was what he wanted. To war with the heavens and ascend to the peak of power. As he clenched his fists, his expression was one of resolve. He would do it. He would climb out of his weakness to become a paragon of strength!

“Please take me as your disciple!”

Suddenly a voice snapped Sam out of his reverie.

Turning his head, he noticed that Will had appeared at his side at one point.

As for Will… his mouth hung agape. He could not comprehend what he had just witnessed.

He had only come outside not out of curiosity but because he didn’t have anything else to do. Thus, when the voice transmission woman signaled him to leave, he decided to take up her suggestion and decided to come and watch the rude babbling boy train.

And indeed, there was nothing special happening at first. After all, he also trained in the sword and halberd back home. There was the usual running and hurling insults and the usual training of the fundamentals. If Will was to point out what was different, then it would have to be the intensity of workouts.

Back home, Will could never stand the monotonous training of fundamentals. He would always find ways to cut corners preferring to practice the more exciting sword techniques or sparring. In that sense, Sam was more diligent than him.

But apart from diligence, there was nothing else worth taking note of about Sam, in Will’s opinion. His father however, that was a different story entirely.

To Will, Aziel’s swordsmanship was elegant and refined yet also reserved. A sharp blade that was sheathed under normal circumstances but once it was released, it was quick and decisive. The kind of person who killed first and asked questions later.

Will wasn’t entirely sure of the swordsman’s level of strength, he wasn’t qualified to gauge the prowess of that level of expert, but from the man’s bearing and insight… He gave off an unfathomable feeling he had only ever experienced with his father.

The final nail in the coffin however, was that sword move.

In actuality, it would be a gross exaggeration to call it a sword move. After all, the man had merely unsheathed his blade. And yet that simple, seemingly useless move, carried such profundity that Will struggled to stop the tears from rolling down his cheeks.

Aziel merely unsheathed his sword but Will had experienced a lifetime.

He had experienced the beauty of life coming into the world and the hope for the future that came along with it.

He had also experienced the world trying to smother that life. Suffocate it and obliterate it from existence. An unending struggle for survival. As Aziel and the tree warred with the elements, one thing lingered in Will’s mind…

Being born does not justify your existence. You must earn your right to live.

A cruel revelation. The law of the jungle that mandated the strong’s survival and the weak’s demise. The brutality and beauty of life melding to form a harmonious contrast.

At this moment Will, dressed in tattered clothes not unlike a peasant, felt himself humbled. Tears streamed down his face that was a mix of complicated emotions. Joy, anger and… unwillingness?

He didn’t know. His mind was in turmoil.

Somehow, he was reminded of the journey from Aurum Kingdom into the Great Forest. The people that had died so that he could live. Did they not have families of their own? Loved ones? Wives? Children?

Will didn’t know. Even if he knew, what could he do? Maybe his father could help them. But he could not.

He was… weak.

He had always known he was weak. But today he understood it. He understood… that he was weak.

Without his parents, he was nothing. And yet he spoke of helping them fight their enemies? How presumptuous!

Rage welled up in Will’s heart but it quickly subsided leaving him with only a hollow helplessness.

So this is where I stand? Will thought to himself.

Exhaling a heavy breath, a glint passed through Will’s eyes as he steeled his resolve. With gritted teeth and clenched fists, he took another decisive step forward to stand no more than a meter in front of Aziel.

He performed a deep bow and with a crisp sharp voice, he beseeched once more, “Please accept me as your disciple!”

Aziel did not speak immediately. The seconds ticked by as he scrutinized the young boy not older than ten years old.

Finally, he spoke, “What is your name?”

“William Ironborn, sir!”

“What insight did you get from my sword just now?”

Will fidgeted for a moment as he tried to find the right words. He had indeed gained some introspective insights. But now that he tried to put them into words, everything suddenly became vague. He knew what he wanted to say but he did not know how to say it.

So to the question on what insights he gained. He could only say…

“I am weak. I want to help my parents face their enemies but my presence only serves to provide them a weakness their enemies can exploit. I am too weak. But I want to become strong!”

Aziel studied the boy in front him silently with a neutral expression. Then he raised his head to notice Neva and the two female guests who had exited the house not long ago.

Neva’s smile was gentle as she looked at the young boy standing in front of Aziel. While the smile looked innocent to outsiders, Azael knew Neva well enough to notice the hint of satisfaction and triumph hidden beneath its gentle façade.

When he turned his attention back to Will, a small smile graced his lips.