"Looks like there's still no hope for me to get stronger." I sighed to myself in disappointment as I looked at the multiple affinities drawn on the page.
I wouldn't have been dissatisfied if I had an average Magical Talent, but considering my exceedingly low Magic Capacity: These affinities still won't change how difficult it would be for me to become stronger in the future. Couldn't Enigma just give me a higher Magical Talent instead of all these useless affinities?
I can feel my resolve being shaken due to the fact that I know the upper limit to what ordinary techniques can stand against those of higher power.
The amount of destruction one of higher Magical Talent could cause is exponentially different from lower ones who don't understand the intricacy and complexity of Mana.
Even in this world, a physically weak martial artist couldn't compare to a inexperienced yet strong fighter. Even though a martial artist's technique is usually higher than most: The effect those complex techniques could bring out drop dramatically when faced against the overwhelming physical strength created by Magical Talent.
My resolve was shaken but after remembering the promise I made my heart not long before, the despair I felt was thrown into the wind.
This will not stop me! A weak man is a man who gives up! I shouldn't be ashamed of being weak- No, I should be ashamed of STAYING WEAK!
Giving up now would shame both my little sister and parents. How could I give up on Magic without a good fight? Enigma, watch me. I'll show you that I can protect my family without your damn help!
"There's hope. As long as I don't give up, there'll always be hope. Just look at those five affinities~ Even if you were born with less Mana, it shouldn't be that bad." My father, who seems to have been eavesdropping the entire time, barged in and consoled.
There was a look of excitement in his eyes since having so many Ether Affinities was an extremely rare occurrence. Even a member of the Royal Family that ruled over all of humanity wouldn't necessarily have more magical affinities than I do.
Wait... Why was father listing in?
My suspicious eyes were caught by Father as he let out an awkward cough in return and decided to quiet down. Maybe I should respond?
"There is always hope. There is more than one way to get stronger. I already know that. Thank you for reminding me, father." I responded with a monotonous voice. My 'dear' father looked at my blank expression for a second before feeling even more awkward and embarrassed as a result.
"Ahem... I've have some important business to attend to tomorrow so Mark will be training you the basics of spells, magic arts, and swordsmanship for a few days until I get some free time from my schedule. Your mother will be busy working alongside me as well." He avoided my unamused eyes in panic.
"Please get along with Mark until we've accomplished our goals." He continued before quickly making a strategically swift retreat. I paid no attention to my father's awkward way of eavesdropping and turned to look at mother who was giggling uncontrollably after seeing his act.
"Mark will train me?" I asked with a doubtful expression. It wasn't as if I hated Mark, but... Isn't he the guy who gets scared of father all the time? How will that guy be able to train me?
"Stop worrying and get to the training grounds tomorrow. Although Mark looks... A little timid... He's actually very hardworking when it comes down to it." My mother replied after a few seconds of hesitation.
Yeah Mother, hesitate. Your hesitation only fuels my suspicion towards him!
That coward...
I remember the time when he pulled out a sword to deal with a 'lethal' fly...!
"Then I'll try my best." I reluctantly said after thinking about it briefly. It's only until I finish learning the basics so there's probably no need to worry...
The very next day, I walk to the training fields to find a blonde-haired prince- No, that's not right. He's just a butler... Seriously, these butlers and maids of the Swordwick Household are really colourful! If my father looked like a stern and responsible warrior-type butler, then Mark would be the naive and cowardly prince-type butler.
He looked way too inexperienced to be even holding a sword on his waist!
"How are you today? Shall we get started on our basics?" Mark said with a confident smile that multiplied his natural handsomeness by tenfold.
The energetic maids of the Swordwick Household who we're back to their regular training routines secretly glanced at him with adoring eyes, but this was a reverse when talking about the jealous butlers fiercely glared at Mark with clear signs of envy.
"Just get on with it already, or do you want me throw an insect on you?" I said blandly. These kinds of handsome studs were extremely irritating to look at. It's not because I'm jealous... I'm definitely not jealous...! Not one bit!
"Please don't say stuff like that. You know about my fear of insects." He ran up to me and whispered in my ear. I don't understand why the Duke would even hire such a cowardly clean freak as a servant. Such a narcissist coward who could be defeated by a single look of a spider should've been fired a long time ago!
"Fine. Just start teaching already." I didn't even try to use the manners I had been diligently taught my mother and informally pushed him to train me. His attitude is a little too spineless for my liking... My drill sergeant instincts won't let this matter drop...
"Your wish is my command~" He said with a handsome smile. Rays of light fell onto Mark's silhouette as he elegantly took out a wooden sword.
"First things first. Let me teach you about the five major styles of Elemental Swordsmanship that are practiced by Warriors even outside of our great Kingdom." Marks said while brandishing his wooden sword in the air. He took up a stance similar to the one used by my father yesterday and firmly swung his wooden sword.
Hmmm... Why does it feel that the atmosphere around him changed?
It's almost like he became an entirely different person upon starting to practice his equisite form of magic swordsmanship. However, my strong prejudice towards him still hasn't gone away... It's not because I'm envious by the grace he exudes while swinging his sword... not at all...
...I think.
"This is known as Earth Elemental Swordsmanship. A form of that is able to make a sword have the strength of a hammer by using your Aura to mimic Earth. It's stable, firm and decisive when cutting foes. A form of swordsmanship that was a major help to many of the current Grandmaster Swordsmen in their youth. It's even said that the legendary Sword God who created Elemental Swordsmanship started off learning this specific style." Mark's entire atmosphere changed once more as his sword strikes whistled through the air like mallets. An opal glow surrounded his wooden sword as his heavy movement's carried on stably.
The technique seemed as simple as imbuing a sword with the Earth Attribute before swinging it, but my previous conjectures were thrown out the window after I saw how the wooden sword seemed to become part of the ground below us as it danced in the air. Instead of saying he was imbuing his sword movements with Mana, it was more accurate to say that his swordsmanship seemed to 'attract' the Earth Ether around him.
The opal glow on Mark's wooden sword wasn't a manifestation of his own Mana but instead a force of nature that was added on with his graceful sword movements.
Even though I knew Mark was Master Swordsman like mother, I didn't think his mastery over the Earth Style would carry such finesse! It probably had to do with how Master Swordsmen made sure they had a wider array of choices in combat.
"Sword God?" The term was new to me so I couldn't help but mutter it to myself once more. Mark looked like he was waiting for that question and smiled pridefully as a result. It looks like this guy couldn't wait to show off... I shouldn't have asked...
"'Sword God' is a title that was given to the man known as the Grandmaster among Grandmaster Swordsman. It's a title that shows one has surpassed his peers and become a legend that will be written down for ages to come. The one most greatest Grandmaster Swordmen to ever exist, Royal Emperor Gerald Knightly, was a man of great virtue that spread his teaching of the sword to strengthen the Human Race that was weakened after the 'God's Abandonment' incident hundreds of years ago." Mark proudly explained as he stopped demonstrating the heavy moves of Earth Elemental Swordsmanship.
A tremor ran through my heart as Mark mentioned that incident I had unwillingly become the perpetrator of. Hey, it's not like I chose to be summoned! It's that King's fault!
"Just forget about it and continue your explanation on the major paths of Elemental Swordsmanship." I quickly reminded Mark before he continues the subject. There's no need to waste my time talking about what I already know about. I leisurely copied his sword movements but ended up failing after several attempts of clumsily swinging my wooden sword around, trying my best trying to stir up the Ether around me in any way.
Since I was supposed to use my Aura to mimic Earth, I tried to increase the density of my Aura in able to improve its power, but each attempt failed at even coming close to Mark's sword.
Hah... Why am I unable to get the basics of drawing upon Ether around me by now? It's just swinging my wooden sword heavily in a certain way, right? There shouldn't be much of a problem to comprehend the intricacies of something this basic.
I only learned later that my arrogance was a little too high at this moment of my life. After all, the man named Gerald Knightly was a figurehead in history that the Drakeyol Kingdom was most proud of.
As the founder and creator of Elemental Swordsmanship in a time where ancient Magic was declining at a fast rate, there's no way this great Magic Art that formed its own personal Magic System would simple to learn...
And by then I actually couldn't help but admire him due to how didn't simply leave such a terrifying technique, his life's work, to only his apprentices. It was to the surprise to everyone on Sphera that he shared his unique Art to the rest of humanity in order defend against the invading forces of the Blood Nation, who have now created their own countries on both the lands that used to once be owned by Humans and Beasts.
Just thinking about the effectiveness of Elemental Swordsmanship makes me sigh at the vast difference between Earth's martial arts and Sphera's. The martial arts of Earth focused more on the control of physical strength whilst the martial arts of Sphera concentrated on unconscious control over Mana. Even those mysterious martial arts of the Secret World of 'The Abyss' weren't as strong and as variational as Arts...
Could it be an advantage these 'Otherworld Humans' had was far beyond anything someone from Earth could imagine? Thats kind of a pity...
By undergoing visualisation and concentration training, Warriors of Sphera could even become 'Elemental Specialists' who could intuitively control their Mana without having to spend their time focusing on it.
If that wasn't enough then the fact that there were actually game-like 'Classes' among Specialists nearly blew me away. It looks like skills and techniques were an utmost importance when trying to gain a higher standing in the giant Mercenary Guild my parents once worked for, this along with enough professionalism to carry out tasks.
A person could specialise in the controlling Earth Ether. However, the difference between a Swordsman who specialised in the Earth Attribute and a Farmer who hasn't trained anything other than using their specialisation to plow fields was like the difference between night and day.
If two Earth Specialists fought one another, the victor would go to the fighter with more options available on hand. The same could also be said for Specialists of every other elemental fields.
If a Specialist was to fight someone who was the same attribute as himself, then victory would go to the one with a higher Magical Talent.
Well, this was true for every specialisation besides Water Specialists since none of them are usually able to find much Water Ether on dry land... Although the same could also be said for Earth Specialists who were to head to the vast ocean...
Either way, Elemental Swordsmanship was a lot more than just being able to hit a little stronger and faster than others. The five Elemental Styles created by the Sword God were perfect mediums for Arts that required sword mastery.
This became my opinion after I had learned up on techniques in the future, becoming someone who had read a lot about Elemental Swordsmanship and the theories behind different kinds of 'Arts'.
Yet as of right now, I was still just a ignorant child...
The only thing I was thinking at this moment was something along the lines of: 'Learning the basics should be a piece of cake! I, a reincarnated martial artist, can definitely get this done~!'
"You're not doing it right! You haven't even let me teach any basic forms, yet you think you're a genius at sword fighting!? Those movements are completely amaturish! You think that you'll be able to learn how to use the sword only after a few swings? Stop practicing!!!" The always foolish smile on Mark's face disappeared as he berrated my movements. My back stiffened up unconsciously as I found that he was seriously in teaching the basics of Elemental Swordsmanship.
His sudden change in attitude seemed to have not suprised anyone in the training grounds. I could tell that everyone now changed the way they looked at him now. It was as if they didn't want to anger him while he was in 'teaching mode'. This caused me to see this prince-type cowardly butler in a new light. It's no wonder Father wanted me to train with Mark!
Even father couldn't help but go easy on me when instructing me on swordsmanship... I didn't argue with Mark and allowed him to properly teach the way that he thought best.