Kazius would return to the others, letting Eve and Azanor be for now. It was decided Remus would look into training the two after he was done with Damon, Eve, and Kazius. At least they knew that the two were now okay. They intended to catch up to them soon to check in at least.
With that, Remus would lead the group to a large flat dirt field. It looked like a simple training yard. The place was well maintained, likely a place that meant a lot to Remus and likely where he had trained Ratier long ago.
“Alright, I can only manage so much at once, but I will give you all my attention equally… I suppose I may as well figure out what I am working with for today… Even if I am dreading it.” Remus chuckled out, the Lich remaining in his true form. Keeping a human appearance was likely quite taxing for him, who wasn’t even a Wizard or Mage.
“Alright, Alice. Show me the mess Ratier handed down to the family, I’m ready.” Remus stated, deciding to start with her.
Alice would perk up at this, levitating her sword in attacks to show the process, alternating between that and doing some swings by hand. She was doing her best, but Remus’ jaw seemed to drop but not due to good reasons.
“Oh for the love of- No no no no! Stop! Oh, I knew it… All those sloppy, flashy, yet terribly impractical moves… This isn’t your fault, dear… No… Oh if only I could just have a word with him…” Remus would grumble to himself, clearly upset at his son for yet another reason now.
Alice would stand confused, clearly having no clue as to what The Lich spoke of. To think that he would disapprove so much… Kazius was finding himself more and more glad to have come here. Maybe with proper technique, Alice would be safer. Of course, he intended to protect her above all, but the more she knew, the better. He hoped to one day have her as his Queen if she wanted it.
“What did I do wrong?” Alice asked in confusion, looking sad.
“Please don’t be sad. Well, you did great… If you were trying to do an imitation of my son… Which you don’t want to do. Believe me. As I said, this isn’t your fault… Where to start… For starters… Why are you keeping the sword in that shape? It doesn’t suit you… I don’t believe you enjoy using a Great Sword, especially the style he liked with such a wide blade. It is unnecessarily big and bulky… And if he had been able to lift something heavier he would have made it bigger for sure… You should pick a shape you like, don’t imitate that fool.” Remus began.
“Shape?” Alice asked, looking more confused.
At this The Lich seemed to get more and more progressively exasperated, “Did he not tell you… Please don’t tell me he didn’t even bother telling you that the sword is a Magical Blade…” He stated, sounding irritated. While his face wasn’t expressive, it was clear he was furious,
“It… It is?” Alice questioned in confusion. Clearly no one in her family had known that.
“” Remus began, sounding quite frightening for a moment. When he was mad like this, he really did seem like a Lich. “Calm down Remus…” He would mutter to himself, attempting to cool off.
“Why that little… Yes, it isn’t a sword. It can change shape to the imagination of the user… I found it in some ruins during my adventurer days… Combine that with our family’s ability…” Remus trailed off, taking the sword with a motion of his finger. He was levitating it as it changed shape to a scimitar, then a dagger, an axe, a spear, and then finally a rapier.
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Damon seemed to be in awe, clapping in amusement at the sight, “Buahaha! That’s incredible!”
“To think it could do that…” Kazius admitted. Indeed, Ratier’s legacy seemed to have held back his family from developing their proper style.
“It was an incredibly lucky find that fits our family ability very well… Exploring those dungeons was also quite difficult, but the crowning achievement of my adventurer days… So, you can imagine how much the fact he didn’t bother telling his kids that it is a Magical Blade upsets me… Just ask Azanor, we nearly died… And then Rowan was angry saying the Blade suited him more… But I gave him the other- Never mind… Anyway… As for Ratier… Knowing him…. He probably thought his style was best and didn’t want anyone changing it. Sadly, he was a proud boy. As a father, I failed him by not fixing that…” Remus sighed out in frustration, rubbing his head as if he had a headache despite not even having any organs at this point.
Alice was in awe at this, seeming to grow eager at this new information. “Thank you for telling me, grandpa! I will figure out what I want…” She agreed.
“Good, I will let you think about that… Remember, you don’t have to settle for a single shape.” Remus reminded her.
Alice nodded eagerly at that, clearly excited to play around with the shape of her weapon. Kazius was glad she was having fun.
“Now… let’s look at your spear work. Now… I may be a bit rusty… But I think a spar may be in order. Since unlike with Ratier, I don’t know your style.” Remus stated as he unsheathed his sword under his cloak. It was a simple long sword. One you could find on the most average soldier.
Damon of course had his face brighten at the idea of a spar. He loved battle after all. “Buahaha! Now we’re talking! I will warn you though, my spear isn’t normal.” He stated with a wide grin, gripping his spear eagerly as Alice and Kazius moved off to the side to give them some room.
“You got spirit, I will give you that… Let’s see if your spear work is as good as your words.” Remus mused. It seems like The Lich was rather excited as well. He was a swordsman, after all, he likely hasn’t been able to use his sword in a long time. This would be interesting.
There was no countdown or anything of the like, but instead, Damon was over-eager and would rush at Remus with rapid speed, the wind in the area changing direction. Surprisingly or not though, despite the sheer amount of muscle that Damon had and strength, Remus would block the attack with his sword, the poor blade threatening to snap considering the quality of Damon’s spear… Yet it just barely held on, almost as if Remus understood the blade’s limitations and blocked at the proper angle so that it would hold.
Remus chuckled, “Don’t go holding back on me… That won’t work on me… I may be rusty, but my age doesn’t limit me anymore.” He mused, moving quite fast, spinning around on his heel in a counterattack. His moves were fast, simple, and purposeful. He was so fast that even Damon, with his gift from Vind, seemed to have a slow reaction compared to him.
It was clear that back in his day, Remus had been quite the force as just a swordman… And now he was much more than that, whether for better or for worse.
The impact from Remus’ sword would push back Damon with ease, the lich moving with very precise strikes and precision. He seemed to have a good amount of strength despite no muscles. Liches were not known to have physical strength or speed, but then again, Remus was a peculiar case.
Damon would dig his feet into the ground, attempting to spin around, almost as if imitating Remus’ own counterattack from before. While this failed and Remus would hit his spear, making him drop it, he did come close to timing it.
Remus didn’t say anything, his eyes dimming while in thought, sword pointed still at the weaponless Damon. Once done thinking, he would sheathe his sword, looking up at the Werewolf, “You may be a prodigy when it comes to fighting instinct…” He admitted, his tone giving away how impressed he was.
“You learn quickly… I will expect a lot from you.” Remus admitted, “And you said you taught yourself how to use a spear, correct? Let’s figure out how to improve your technique some…” Remus stated. It seems Damon had brought that up while Kazius had been with Azanor and Eve.
“Yes, Sir.” Damon admitted politely, a bit flustered. After all, he had expressed how much he had wanted the attention and affection from his parents. Their praise. While friends were nice, Kazius could tell he appreciated Remus’ grandfatherly nature. Kazius couldn’t blame him, after all, he didn’t have a family at all… He was slowly feeling like the future he could create with Remus and them to be a better one than anything a vision could comprehend… And long as he could have Alice by his side.