Chương 20: Chapter 21: Progress

"When are you going to teach us the third form?" I asked, wiping a line of sweat from my face. My wooden training sword rested on my other arm, its brown colour darkening over the past month, marking the time I had spent with it.

"When it is time," Father said vaguely.

"Blight and ashes, you're becoming as bad as Mum," I swore.

"You have not yet mastered the first two forms," He said.

"There is no need to rush."

"If I haven't mastered them," I said, furrowing my brows, "then why did you teach Tidal Surge before I even mastered the first form?"

"Whispering Gale alone is too simple," he shrugged.

"You needed another form to truly have good practice going." I let out a small mewl before turning to Eran, who sat cross-legged—not meditating, just doing some breathing exercises. Along with my father and my wooden cane, Eran had been my constant companion in practice. I could only recall one morning he hadn't shown up, ignoring all the others when the ashen storm had plagued our days. What Father taught us was none of his concern. Eran absorbed all his teachings without complaint.

"Is it because you think we'll quit?" I asked hesitantly.

"Is that why you refuse to teach the third form?" His expression froze as his eyes focused on me.

"Where did that come from?"

"Mum doesn't like me practising swordsmanship," I told him. I figured Eran's parents felt the same. Father shook his head. The war had ended centuries ago. Adventurers and soldiers were enough to maintain peace in the realm. Not all Awakened needed to pick up swords or staves to defend against the forces of evil.

"Your mum wants many things," Father said, kneeling beside me.

"What she doesn't want is for you to get hurt. If she didn't approve of me teaching you, I wouldn't have been training you all these weeks."

"I hardly get hit," I countered. Even though we practised with wooden swords, they were still rough on our tender skin. We were building a resistance to pain, but the days of getting bruised up were only beginning. There was a duality in Mum in how she wanted to raise me. One part of her wanted to snuggle me in her arms, shielding me from whatever the world might throw my way. The other wanted to forge me into the best version of myself. She was far more forceful about the former than the latter.

She didn't want me spending my unallocated points, but instead of forbidding it outright, she laid out every reason why it was a bad idea and left the decision to me. Even then, I could argue she was still being too cautious.

"However, I did try to dissuade you," Father said, his eyes shifting to Eran.

"Both of you." I looked up at him.

"What? Why?"

"Nobody asked me to do it," he said, dismissing any accusations that might have risen in my throat.

"I needed to see that you two wouldn't give up halfway. Every child wants to swing a blade and become a knight, unaware of the hard work it takes to get there. I needed to make sure you two possessed the perseverance to withstand some gruelling training in your early days." As I listened, my expression couldn't have been uglier.

"Anyway, get back to your training." Eran didn't seem the least bit offended by my father's admission. Instead, he simply prepared for another round, taking his position before me. He was just glad to be here. Glad to be practising. I could only sigh and follow through. While we sparred on one side of the yard, Father watched, until a group of people arrived at our house, accompanied by a few boys our age. Four to be exact, and I recognised some familiar faces among them—Kash and Markus, our playmates.

"Continue practising," Father commanded before we could even break focus. We fell back into rhythm, fending off each other's attacks. Using Split Focus, I divided part of my attention between their conversation and my sparring match with Eran. Mum had come out from the kitchen, greeting the visitors and joining the discussion. News had already spread about Father teaching me and Eran swordsmanship, and now, it seemed they had come to see for themselves.

From what I could tell, we would be getting more sparring partners in the coming days. None of the children that tagged along were Awakened, though they bore the same mark on their palms, waiting for their dates in the communal Awakening ceremony. But before that, their parents thought it would be good practice to put them through basic swordsmanship drills.

"The Way of Swordsmanship is a bit tricky to grasp," said the leading man I didn't recognise.

"Some lucky ones get it within a few days of swinging a blade, while others miss it for weeks, no matter what they try."

"What we want is for you to show our children the way," said the only woman in the group. She had distinctive facial features similar to Kash, and her age suggested she could only be his mother. Father turned towards the four boys—one was picking his nose, two stood idly, while Kash had joined Eran and me, watching our sparring.

"I'm not against teaching others," Father said hesitantly.

"But there are a few things we need to agree upon beforehand."

"Of course, of course, we wouldn't ask you to do charity." Father narrowed his eyes.

"I'm not asking you to pay me." A few of them looked relieved at that, though the leading man hesitated.

"There is one thing, though," Father added.

"I need to make sure they truly want to learn swordsmanship, and that they're not just doing it out of pressure."

"That's obvious, ain't it?" the balding man said, pushing Markus forward.

"You ain't gonna find a single kid who doesn't want to swing a blade while riding a red dragon." Father shook his head, as though they weren't understanding him. Seizing her chance, the woman spoke.

"We can't simply allow you to teach our sons for free. We came because none of us have the skill. We thought it would be better for them to receive a lesson or two in swordsmanship before joining the institution once they Awaken. What we can offer probably isn't nearly enough to hire a true swordsman, but we hope you will accept." Father exchanged a look with Mum, who nodded, and he finally acquiesced. And with that, the number of my sparring companions rose by four more. Or so I thought. Enjoying this book?

Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. The next morning, all four showed up with their parents. The day after was another story. Only two turned up on time. The last two arrived when we were already halfway through the drills. Father merely sighed and forgave their tardiness but otherwise paid it no mind. It didn't end there. As though inspired by the others' lateness, the first two also began failing to show up on time.

However, their attendance wasn't the only thing that irked me; their practice did as well. Most of them went through the drills upon arrival, but their arms and legs remained stiff, as if they had been dragged here against their will. They had no real interest in learning swordsmanship. At least Kash had tried in the beginning, but being surrounded by unwilling pupils didn't help. I saw the enthusiasm wither in him like an untended flower in a vase.

Once they realised how repetitive and dull the training was, their numbers dwindled within a week. Two of them left, claiming they had already learned the essentials and could continue practising at home. Is it because they don't want to pay for Father's teaching? I considered. But Father had outright told them he didn't need any compensation. Whatever the reason, the way those kids and their parents treated my father felt outright disrespectful. Father, however, didn't seem the least bit offended.

He simply trained those who showed up. Eran's father, Dallin Stonecutter, came to watch his son practise now and then. He spoke briefly with my father before leaving each time, never staying until our training ended. I noticed that Eran became distracted whenever he was near during practice. Then finally, the day I had been waiting for arrived. [Congratulations! Way of Swordsmanship I (100/100) is complete.] [+2 Alacrity, +2 Body Coordination.] [Way of Swordsmanship II (100/1000) is now accessible.]"I got it!"

I shouted mid-spar, immediately pulling up my profile. Armed Combat was still 27 points away from completion. Perhaps I could finish it within the month, along with Running III and Rune Engraving IV.

"Finally!" Eran grinned at me, clapping me on the shoulder. He had been refining his forms even during off-time and had completed the first layer of swordsmanship a couple of weeks ago.

"Now, if you'd just finish the third layer of Running, you wouldn't be so painfully slow." I snorted but couldn't deny his claim. While I had saved up all my attribute points, Eran had invested everything into Fortitude and Agility. The only reason I still managed to keep up with him in sparring was through my high mental attributes. On that note, the third layer of Way of Running wasn't far from completion either. I didn't train it as rigorously as Eran did, my more magical training taking more of my time.

But the time spent running around and playing had done half of the work for me. I could see it completed in a week or two, though I wanted it completed sooner. I hadn't been paying much attention to physical-related Ways other than swordsmanship for some time now. If I counted my actual training hours, they'd amount to only about five per day. Well, six now, after Mum agreed to another hour of Essence Unification. Meditation did not count.

It had become just a peace-inducing habit, a daily ritual like brushing my teeth or eating meals. My real training was broken into two hours of Essence Unification, two hours of Swordsmanship practice, and a few hours of studying Rune Engraving and other subjects. I didn't count my leisure reading. I did it purely for pleasure. The same went for music and painting, though I had neglected both in the past few days. To my utter disappointment, I had not turned out to be a prodigy in music or art.

I knew how to appreciate them and took care to do so, but appreciating and creating were as different as night and day. The difficulty of crafting something truly unique and great only deepened my respect for musicians and artists. I completed Running III before the fourth layer of Rune Engraving. The rewards only made me question why I hadn't done it sooner. The sheer amount of power flooded my body, causing me to drop to my knees as a sharp pain struck.

I groaned and swore, but thankfully the pain was short-lived compared to how great it felt when it was done. [Congratulations! Way of Running III (10000/10000) is complete.] [Attribute awakened: Fortitude (Advanced).] [+4 Agility, +4 Fortitude.] [Self-Mastery I (2/10)] Noting the messages, I lunged around to find the remarkable changes in my movement. Fortitude most likely increased my endurance, but those four points in Agility were no joke, either. Now I was only left with one slot open for my attributes.

I didn't lose out on getting an Advanced Attribute, even if more of them were becoming physical. Mum mentioned there were ways to get rid of an attribute if there was a need for it, just like there were ways to merge similar attributes. Regrettably, none of those ways seemed feasible without awakening. And at last, there was some progress in Self-Mastery. Mum refused to tell me what the rewards for Self-Mastery would be, teasing me by saying it simply wouldn't be more attribute points.

I suspected and hoped it would be an Advanced or Greater attribute. Unfortunately, it was cursed to be the slowest Way everyone completed. The Way of Self Mastery didn't measure hours or years of me honing myself. No, it counted the number of other Ways I mastered, and inferior Ways like Motor Skills did not cut it. With Fortitude and more Agility, the swordsmanship drills became a bit easier. Perhaps if I spend a couple dozen unallocated points in Fortitude, Mum wouldn't worry so much about me getting hurt…

Then I shook my head. Who am I kidding? She'd never stop worrying. My Rune Engraving practice was mostly smooth sailing. Well, except for one rune. Most of my study sessions were dedicated to learning four new runes. Each was vastly different from the elemental runes I had studied before. But the Restoration Rune was something else entirely. It alone took twice as long to master. As the name suggested, Restoration restored, but not the object itself. Rather, it preserved other runes from erosion.

This alone made it invaluable, especially for combat fabricators, whose runes tended to degrade first. It was considered an elementary rune but had the complexity of an advanced one. Typically, pupils weren't introduced to it until they had mastered the rest of the elementary runes, not to mention many never managed to master it. Given its importance, I had to dedicate extra hours, nearly twenty whole hours, to it.

The Transformation Rune was the easiest and arguably the most used in fabrication, alongside Amplification. Its function was to transform rare mystic materials or essences into other forms, much like how elemental runes worked. Acceleration had moderate difficulty and was mostly used in bows, arrows, or other ranged weapons. Finishing all those eight, I practised a few variations of these runes, combining them with one another, when finally it happened. [Congratulations! Way of Rune Engraving IV (100/100) is complete.] [+4 Arcane Acuity.] [Way of Rune Engraving V (100/250) is now accessible.] With that, my elementary education in runes had officially ended. Unlike swordsmanship, rune studies had not been particularly difficult or physically straining. But I was eerily aware that I had barely scratched the surface. Maybe I'll get a good handle on the advanced forms of these runes before I awaken… Without wasting any more breath, I summoned up my Profile.

[Profile] Arilyn Arcis O'Ryon Path: U/A Honours: U/A Attributes [7/8] (Unallocated Points: 37) Arcane Acuity (Advanced): +30 Split Focus (Advanced): +57 Fortitude (Advanced): +4 Cognition (Elementary): +30 Alacrity (Elementary): +10 Body Coordination (Elementary): +4 Agility (Elementary): +6 Gift: Fractal Soul Ways: In progress: Meditations IX (2946/5000) | Essence Sense VIII (1108/2500) | Essence Unification V (188/250) | Engraving V (100/250) | Duelling I (1/10) | Swordsmanship II (156/1000) | Armed Combat I (87/100) | Balance II (983/1000) | Ambi-dexterity I (47/100) | Swimming I (78/100) | Education III (7344/10000) | Sneak II (216/1000) | Evasion III (1781/10000) | Music II (149/1000) | Painting II (112/1000) | Archery III (1204/10000) | Self Mastery (2/10) | Perseverance III (38/50) | Fractal Sight I (2/10) One of these days, I'm going to awaken, I mused, looking at my profile conspiratorially.

One of these days!