The next day,
Alaric and the knight guards were on the field. Silas was carrying a practice sword with him. Healers were ready to heal anyone who got injured in the process. Silas was focused on his action while the Archduke and the Archduchess watched them with great interest from the stadium above.
It was Alaric's duty to teach Silas the Valerius sword form. In their family their sword forms have a total of nine levels. But even the Archduke Cassian only reached the seventh form while Alaric reached the fourth stage. Levels in swordsmanship are completely different from their levels. Who knows just which level Alaric and Cassian are at.
Silas looked at Alaric with great interest. He asked in his mind, "System, how do I need to analyse the technique I want to learn?"
A mechanical sound came from his mind.
[Ding!
Host! You can learn any technique or spell just by watching them once. You just need to concentrate on the technique or spell and say analyse in your head.]
Silas became focused.
Alaric said, "Brother, today I'll tell you about our family's inherited technique, the Valerius swordsmanship."
"Our swordsmanship has a total of nine forms, but till now for countless generations not a single person born in our family could learn the eighth and ninth form of our techniques."
"Even our father only achieved the seventh form until now; the more you learn about our swordsmanship the tougher it is to reach that level."
"Our grandfather was a genius in his young days; now he reached the eighth level. So in our generation we have hope to reach the eighth level of Valerius swordsmanship."
"I only reached the fourth form until now. Today I'm gonna teach you the first form…"
Before he said anything more Silas said, "Brother, before you teach me the swordsmanship, can you show me the four forms that you learned one by one. Then teach me the first form."
Alaric thought Silas just wanted to see his magnificent swordsmanship, so he immediately agreed by nodding his head.
Alaric gets ready. He stepped to the center of the packed-earth yard, rolled his shoulders once, and let the chatter die down. The knight guards widened the circle. He set his feet, drew a slow breath, and laid his hand on the grip of his practice sword. His jaw set. For a heartbeat he was still the way a hawk is still before it drops then he drew.
Silas got focused and said, "Analyse!" A silver hue appeared in his eyes that no one noticed.
Alaric performed all four forms, one by one.
First Form ,Aegis Fang. He sank his weight, kept the blade on the center line, and slid forward in short, scraping steps. A pulse ran down his forearm into the forte; the wooden edge met an invisible line and bound it, dragging the imagined opponent off balance. He finished with a single descending cut that stopped a hair above the pell. Dust lifted, then settled.
Second Form ,Falling Star. He reset, coiled, and lunged. The tip snapped forward like a hammer; his whole body followed in one sharp line. He recovered instantly, boots whispering back to guard. Even against air you could hear the weight of the strike meant to split shields and wards.
Third Form, Tempest Chain. His footwork changed to circles. Three linked cuts, then five, each one snapping back to guard like the blade was on a string. Faint after-images trailed the edge, enough to fool the eye. He never stopped moving; the rhythm said he could keep this up while the enemy tired.
Fourth Form , Mirror of Still Water. He went still. Only his weight shifted. A commander tossed a wooden baton at him without warning. Alaric's blade flicked at the last instant, caught the line of force, and sent it back along the same path. The baton spun away, and he ended with one reply cut that would have finished a real exchange.
But Silas saw completely different things from the others. He saw a completely different person. A person so ancient that he couldn't see through him at all, performing all four forms one by one in his head. And these forms were more perfect than Alaric's. He could see just how faulty Alaric's sword forms were.
After a few seconds the person stopped performing inside Silas's head and then looked at Silas and smiled towards him. The handsome man then disappeared.
But the four sword forms were engraved inside the head of Silas as if they were made for him.
At this time Alaric also completed his sword form.
He sheathed his sword then bowed towards his father.
Cassian had a smile on his face; he became proud that his own child reached this level of perfection in the four forms of his own Valerius family.
He looked at Silas, wondering what Silas thought of this family treasure.
Alaric looked at Silas then said, "How was it?" with a smile on his face.
Silas looked at Alaric with great respect but said, "Brother, can I show you what I learned during your showcase of Valerius swordsmanship?"
Alaric and Cassian both became confused. Even the knight guards watching and the healers all became confused. Their second young master never practiced sword in his life. This was the first time. And he wanted to show what he learned. Was it some kind of joke?
Before Alaric said anything Cassian's voice came from the stadium. "Show us what you want to show. But remember you need to learn the first form before you leave the house for that assessment in the Argent Spire Academy."
Silas nodded then came to the field with the practice sword in his hand.
Then he became focused, concentrated in his mind, and started performing the swordsmanship he saw in his mind just a moment ago, played by that handsome man.
He demonstrated one sword form after another. His swordsmanship was so perfect that Alaric, Cassian, even the older knights and commanders of the mansion who were sitting beside Archduke Cassian, all stood up from their chairs.
Even Lysandra and even the knight guards looked at Silas performing their Valerius swordsmanship clearly.
At the end of the practice Silas slashed towards a huge boulder standing beside the field and the boulder was cut in half by the sword move in just a second.
He sheathed his sword.
Cassian, Lysandra, Alaric, the old knight commanders, even the servants and knight guards and healers all looked at Silas with horrified eyes.
A knight commander who had served Archduke Cassian for a long, long time said, "Genius! A genius appeared in the Valerius family again."
Another knight commander said, "Calling him a genius is rude and belittling young lord Silas. Do you think you can perform that swordsmanship that he showed just now?"
Cassian became dumbfounded just now; only he knew what Silas did just now. Silas just performed the perfect version of Valerius swordsmanship. Even his own form is faulty in front of that swordsmanship.
And what is this level of swordsmanship? Silas never practiced sword in his life due to his illness, but now after just one time seeing the swords of Alaric he reached the Sword Master realm as Alaric? How is this possible? Thousands of thoughts appeared in his head.
Lysandra covered her mouth and tears of joy fell from her eyes.
Alaric looked at Silas in horror. He never imagined in his wildest dreams that his brother is this talented.
The yard held its breath. The dust from the split boulder drifted in the cold morning light, and for a long moment no one knew whether to cheer, kneel, or simply keep staring at the boy who had walked onto the field with a practice sword and walked off it having rewritten what they thought they knew about their house's blade.
Silas bowed towards his father and mother, and at that moment Cassian came to his senses. He immediately landed in the field; other older knights also followed him.
Cassian came to Silas with a huge smile on his face. Then he put his hand on the shoulder of Silas, tapped it in appreciation, and said, "Hahhaha! My child, today you proved that the blood inside you is also the blood of Valerius."
"You reached the level of Sword Master just like that. Although your realm is too low, I think after joining the academy you will reach higher levels soon."
He nodded his head in appreciation again then said, "I think you are a born warrior."
Before he could continue someone snapped behind him, "Heh! A born warrior? What do you mean by that? He also has his mother's blood too, and don't forget I'm a mage by profession."
Cassian felt embarrassed; the person who snapped just now was Lysandra, his wife.
Silas also smiled and said, "Mother, can I learn magic too?"
Everyone looked at him in confusion again. It is normal to react like that because it is inevitable that someone who is a warrior can't learn magic in their whole life, because mages use mana in a different way than warriors and have different mana sources.
Cassian wanted to describe it to him, but Aleric said, "Brother, we can't use magic as a warrior? Their mana reserves are different."
Silas said to his brother, "But can I try for once? If I can't use it then I'll focus solely on swordsmanship from now on."
Cassian nodded in response, but Lysandra became happy to learn that one of her children wanted to learn magic even though he had no chance. She is one of the greatest mages on the whole planet. And her elements are the rarest of all: lightning and space. She can use both lightning magic and space magic.
She said hurriedly, "Then let your mother show you the elemental circles of lightning and space."
She just said that and lifted both of her hands. Two different kinds of magic circle appeared in her hands. Silas focused and used analyse.
An old mage appeared in his head wearing a mage robe, a staff made of wood in his hand. He smiled at Silas then tapped his staff on the ground and two beautiful magic circles appeared in the void in his head. Then the figure disappeared.