Capítulo 64: Deric's Analysis

Lumian walked out with a cup of tea. "Everyone gathered here on time. Good, let's start our official training. Each of you," he pointed to the kids lined up in front of him, "will have a training catered to according your own strength and weaknesses. You guys ready," he waiting for their affirmation.

"Yes!" All three of them shouted.

Lumian finally showed his them a smile. "Good, good, first Deric, I have heard that you are very good at sword art. Would you demonstrate it," he said and tossed an iron sword to him.

Deric caught it and nodded. "I need a sparring partner,"

"Well yes, I shall be your partner," Lumian said with a cup of tea still in his hands.

Deric blinked. He waited for his master to draw his sword, but he was calmly drinking tea. "Master, your sword?"

"I don't need a sword to spar with you. You can attack all you want."

"But I can hurt you," Deric whispered with a frown. The sword he was given was not a wooden training sword, rather a real Katana. With both edges sharpened.

"We'll see if you can," Lumian said with a wide smirk on his face.

Deric hesitated, but he gazed at the varied scars of his master and thought, 'if he is fighting me with his bare hands he should be confident enough to evade my moves,' he threw a small glance at Eru and started his spar.

With his sword held to his shoulder height, he first stabbed at him to test his movements. Surprisingly so Lumian's movements were unpredictable, yet so fluid. It was as if he was a slippery fish that glides away from a butcher's knife.

'Why is it so hard to land a blow?' Deric panted. They had already been sparing for almost an hour and he was still not able to land even one move. With trembling hands, he wiped the sweat dripping down his brow. 'I should do something, my stamina is waning.' The weight of the sword was resting completely on his wrist, making it ache and throb.

He knew that his time was running out, he needed to do something. With one hand he held his sword and with the other hand he swiftly took out a small mirror in his sleeve. The sun was raising, so he reflected the light directly into Lumian's eyes.

For a moment Lumian was stunned.

'my opening,' Deric jumped in and sliced vertically.

The cup in Lumian's hands sliced into two, splashing hot tea everywhere.

"That's a good move. You knew that you were getting weak, and that I was getting distracted. Good good," Lumian chuckled, wiping the tea stains from his clothes. But green tea stains are not that easy to get rid of from silk. He sighed and stopped rubbing.

Deric stood in his attack position with a mirror still in hand. "Should I attack again?"

"No need, I have analysed your performance. Stand down," Lumian whispered and tossed the tea cup further away from them. He plucked the sword out of Deric's hand and directly held it close to his neck. "Why were you distracted?"

"But you told the fight was over?"

"And you believed it," Lumian whispered with a small smile.

Only then did Deric realize his mistake. "Never believe your fight is over," he whispered softly with his eyes wide open.

Lumian took the sword away and sheathed it. "Nicely put. {Never believe that your fight is over}. Even a man who is mortally wounded will have the final strength to put a sword though you, so it is wise to remain vigilant at all times. And.....you opponent can lie, so don't drop your sword at any chance."

Deric listened with rapt attention and nodded occasionally.

"Deric stand down," Lumian whispered.

But Deric still held his attack position.

"Good improvement. I like it," Lumian chuckle and told him to stand down for real and gave him a complete analysis. "Deric, you swordsman ship is wonderful, but do you know your weakness. You take too much pride in your skill. You could have used that mirror way back, yet you chose not to, because you were too confident in your sword. In a fight, you need both your brains and your muscles involved. I don't want a perfect warrior but I want a sly and crafty warrior out of you, got it."

Deric nodded and bowed. When he was back in Lafta, he was never officially trained. He watched his stepbrothers use their sword and learned it. One day his father came to know about his sword skills and helped him get a trainer, but Lijin stopped that as well. So he never officially had a trainer in his life. Having Huit and Lumian as his teachers brought him immense joy and happiness.

It was like he was finally fitting in somewhere.

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