10 months have pa.s.sed since Zeke started training. On the second week of the first month, Zeke asked his Father to show him his spearmanship."You"re interested in learning the spear?"
"I just want to see it, Dad. I haven"t seen any other weapon styles yet."
"Alright then." Charles didn"t bother using his innate ability as he picked up a spare spear from the pile of weapons.
"The spear technique that I learned from my teacher is called Imperial Spear Technique. It"s a cla.s.s A weapon technique pa.s.sed down from our Flamehaven Family."
"Cla.s.s A?"
"Yes, son. Weapon styles are categorized by tiers depending on their overall power and use in battle. They are ranked from E to S. The Imperial Spear Technique that our ancestor made is a bona fide cla.s.s A."
"Our ancestor made it? He must be a very powerful person then."
"Yes. The ancestor back then was a powerhouse who mastered the art of the spear. He created multiple spear styles but as time pa.s.sed by, other styles either got lost or the descendants who practiced it got killed. Right now, the only one left was called the Imperial Spear Technique. This technique was focused on poking with emphasis on penetration. Watch."
Charles went in front of a dummy and performed a series of attacks. Due to the sheer power, The training dummy was left with multiple holes after a minute of Charles" demonstration.
*Weapon Style detected. a.n.a.lyzing it, Zeke.*
"Sweet!"
"How is it, son?"
"It"s amazing, Dad! It looks powerful!"
"*sigh* Indeed, son. However, the style is only for stabbing, and although the family deemed it as still a complete style, it lacked the other styles which are focused on other types of attacks, making the technique a bit inflexible."
"It"s still pretty good, Dad!"
"Yeah, I know. So, are you interested in learning the spear now? Although with your current strength and form, I a.s.sume you wielding a spear is a bit awkward." Charles smiled and laughed inwardly at the sight of his small son wielding a spear taller than himself.
"Yes, Dad. Do you know anyone who practices the sword or dagger?"
"I don"t know anyone who uses daggers. As for the sword, I know someone from our family who practices the sword. He"s your uncle, and I"m sure he"ll be glad to know that you want to see his style."
"Is his weapon style from our family too?"
"Yes and No, Zeke. Although it is indeed pa.s.sed down from generation to generation, it was a fact that it wasn"t made by our ancestors. The book containing the sword style was found in some dungeon by one of our family members. By chance, your uncle didn"t want the spear, but he took an interest when he read how the sword works and the sword style. He"s the only sword fanatic in our family, and I"m sure he"d be glad to know that someone wants to learn his style too. I"ll try to see if he can come here and teach you for a bit."
"That"s great, Dad!"
Meanwhile, the System finished a.n.a.lyzing the spear technique.
*Zeke, the spear technique your ancestor developed is quite similar to one of the Spear techniques from Mr. Pandora"s collection of books. The name of the style is Annihilation Spear. According to the book, the maker of this technique named it as such because its literal purpose is to annihilate the enemy in front. The Imperial Spear Technique your ancestor made was 10 to 15% similar to the Annihilation Spear. Maybe your ancestor trained on that back then and made lesser spear styles from that.*
"Really? only 10 to 15%?"
*Yes, Zeke. This doesn"t mean it"s a different spear style. It just means that your ancestor might"ve only grasped 10 to 15% of the style or he only utilized that percentage to create your current family"s technique.*
"It"s that hard to comprehend?"
*Yes, Zeke. According to the measure your father mentioned, If your family"s technique is already considered a cla.s.s A, then this Annihilation Spear should be at S+ minimum. Simply put, it"s that strong and mysterious. I will give you the complete Annihilation Spear when you finished practicing the Imperial Spear Technique.*
In the second month, Zeke finally met his uncle.
He was a thin middle-aged man with an average face and cool eyes. When Zeke went near him, he could feel the ferocious aura around the man. Zeke also noticed a magnificent-looking thin sword sheathed in his back, and he couldn"t help but be amazed by the appearance of the sword. Although sheathed, Zeke could see a dragon head-shaped guard as well as a circular pommel with intricate designs carved into it.
"So, is this your kid, Big Brother?" Contrary to his aura, his uncle"s voice seemed serene and peaceful.
"Yes, Lawrence. Can you tone your aura down? It"s making him uncomfortable, you see." Although the words were quite admonishing, Charles still kept his smile.
"Oh, hehe I forgot." Lawrence"s ferocious aura dispersed. However, he was inwardly surprised because the kid in front of him seemed to also have an aura nearly as powerful as his, only that it radiates serenity contrary to his ferocious aura which he painstakingly got from fighting enemies with his sword. How did the kid in front of him have such a powerful aura at his age?
"Anyways, you said you want to learn the sword, boyo?" Lawrence now had a good impression of his brother"s son. He himself didn"t have one as he focused on the way of the sword, thus he treated every one of his brothers and cousins" children as one of his own. In particular, this kid in front of him pa.s.sed his little challenge and it seemed like this kid is also quite strong for such a young age to even handle a sword already.
"Yes, Uncle! Can you show me your style?"
"Hoh? Don"t you want to know what it is first?"
"I"m sorry, Uncle. I just couldn"t wait, hehe."
"It"s alright it"s alright, it"s a good att.i.tude for someone who wants to learn, boyo! Alright, this sword style that I learned from our family"s repository doesn"t have a name, but I named mine. My Cloud Soaring Sword is made from this unnamed sword style and it"s only a part of that. The whole sword style is very complicated that even I only mastered 33% of it, and all these 33% is poured into my Cloud Soaring Sword Style."
"The name sounds cool, Uncle!"
"hehe, finally someone understands me. This sword style of mine combined all the techniques of the unnamed sword style that focuses on speed and surprise. Here, I"ll show you so you understand."
Lawrence, Charles, and Zeke went inside the training room where Lawrence stood in front of the training dummy. Just a few seconds pa.s.sed by and the training dummy already had sword scars all over it. Zeke didn"t even see it with his naked eye as when he blinked, the dummy was already full of scars.
"It"s fast, Uncle!"
"Hehe, yes, child. Cloud Soaring Sword is the fruit of my whole life, and it won"t absolutely lose on other complete sword styles. Even though it"s only 33%, I can still proudly say that this sword style alone is already a cla.s.s !"
"Haha, Good one, Lawrence. Do you want us to have a spar right here to see who"s better at our techniques?"
"If you say so, Big Brother. Do know that I"ve improved since our last battle!"
Charles and Lawrence picked up their own weapons from the pile of weapons. To ensure fairness, they only used the training weapons ho are dulled out to prevent injuries.
Charles was the first to initiate. He charged at Lawrence with his Spear in his side pointing towards him. Lawrence, on the other hand, stood still and deflected Charles" charge with a swipe of his sword while also counter-attacking with a chopping motion on Charles" legs. Charles immediately blocked it and tried to gain some distance but unfortunately, Lawrence seemed to have expected that. His sword suddenly went up across Charles" chest, barely touching it and ripping off a small portion of his shirt.
"I won, Big brother!" Lawrence excitedly said.
"d.a.m.n it, I"m getting rusty by the minute!" Charles grumbled for a bit.
"Boyo, did you see that? although mine"s just an , I can still land the first hit on your father! That"s how amazing this is!"
"Yes, Uncle! You"re very strong!"
"Oh? Thanks for the flattery but I only want you to practice the sword in return. It"s getting lonely in our family with me being the only one who uses a sword, you see?" Lawrence smiled.
"Yes, Uncle! I"ll try to practice the sword too!"
"Very good! Since you"re willing and I like your guts, I"ll try to visit here once or twice a month and guide you. Make sure that everytime I go back, your swordsmanship should"ve improved, alright?"
"Yes, Uncle!"
Moments later...
*I"ve finished a.n.a.lyzing the sword style, Zeke. I must say, your family"s resources sure are very rich and ancient.*
"What do you mean?"
*This sword style dates back to almost the same era as the Annihilation Spear. This one"s called Slaughter Sword. This is also an S+ at minimum, and this sword style basically encompa.s.ses most of what the sword is very good at. Just like the Spear Technique, try to practice on your uncle"s sword style first before I give you the full book. Don"t worry, I have recorded the moves and compared it to the book"s contents. Here"s the information regarding your uncle"s sword style. Ponder that and try to apply it. Right now, a spear technique won"t do you any good as your body"s even smaller than common spears. I suggest buying one more sword style in the shop that complements your uncle"s style.*
"Yep, System. Open the shop and let me see what the shop offers on Sword Styles."
When Zeke looked at the sword styles, he became very excited as there were many that had names that sounded very strong.
Clearheart Sword Technique (B) - utilizes straightforward attacks and blocking techniques. Good for double-edged swords.
Dance of Death (B+)- utilizes speed and efficiency in killing.
Soundless Demise (B+)- utilizes stealth and explosiveness. Good for light swords.
Firebreath Sword (B)- utilizes Fire Element and Destructiveness.
...
There were a lot of sword styles but Zeke narrowed his choices to the four. He felt like the others were also good, but he figured he"d need something that synergizes very well with his current situation.
In the end, he used 100 of his xp to get the Firebreath Sword. Since the Cloud Soaring Sword emphasizes on speed, he needed something that emphasizes strength and power. Out of the four, Firebreath Sword seems to be the most suitable for him, considering he also uses fire element.
Another two months pa.s.sed by then and it was the fourth month of Zeke"s training. He was training both Firebreath Sword and Cloud Soaring Sword when the System suddenly asked him.
*Zeke, you reached level 5 on both sword styles. You can start integrating them into one another using Formless style.*
"Really? Alright, let me see then."
Zeke rummaged through his memories. He then tried to "connect" the two sword styles based on what the info from the Formless style. After an hour or so of pondering, Zeke finally managed to clip both sword styles together.
"This is good! This Formless Style"s very f.u.c.king OP!"
He realized that Formless Style was indeed very strong. Once he connected two sword styles, he realized how insane it would be when he mastered it. Combining the swiftness of Cloud Soaring Sword to the Firebreath Sword"s innate destructiveness due to the nature of fire makes it so his attacks would be fast while also dealing strong damage.
In that same month, Lawrence noticed the change in Zeke"s sword style.
"Zeke, why are you using your fire element? I know you formed yours at a very young age, but don"t you think it"ll deplete your mana very quickly? You still need mana to protect your body, you know?"
Lawrence noticed that when Zeke executed his style, the sword seemed to have an aura of fire around it. It made the sword stronger in terms of cutting power as it could slash the training dummy like tofu. Unfortunately, Zeke still wasn"t used to it so he could only do one slash every time before preparing again.
"I"m experimenting something, Uncle. Do you mind?"
"No. I"m certainly interested in what you"re doing, but I think it will only hamper the speed of your strike. Did you notice that your speed got slower when you did that?"
"I"m only getting used to it, Uncle! After I practice this for a bit, I"m sure I"ll be faster!"
Lawrence wanted to stop Zeke but he couldn"t, as he too was also interested in the result. He tried applying fire to his sword before, but he dismissed it since he felt he got slower when he applied it so he thought it was not suitable. Since Zeke still had a lot of time, maybe he could achieve what Lawrence himself couldn"t?
Zeke was also practicing magic spells. He bought another batch of beginner spells and he was trying to come up with strategies on how to use it in battle. Unbeknownst to Charles and Catherine, their son was also rapidly becoming a magician. He was rapidly developing both in melee physical styles and magic applications. He also upgraded his mana circulation to level 10 now, with his Elemental Mana Circulation at level 5. His casting speed was almost double that of his speed four months ago.
It was now the tenth month of Zeke"s training. He now integrated both sword styles on his Formless Style, leveling it up to level 3. Lawrence was very impressed by Zeke"s feat of maintaining speed but with strength and power added. He was amazed by how Zeke applied his fire element with his swordplay, making it fast while also lethal. Zeke also sometimes sparred with Lawrence, and from that, his Formless Style improved every time. The only difference though is that Zeke uses a dagger right now since it matches his short stature.
He also finished his quest related to the Basic Leg Technique. When he learned the Skill Tome (CQC), his Hand Martial Arts and Basic Leg Technique merged into it. CQC makes it so he could fully utilize his whole body when fighting against enemies in a melee fight. There was no dull and still movement as he could utilize his whole body to attack or defend against attacks heading his way.
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Ezekiel Flamehaven
Male; 3 years old
Pure Blooded Half-Dragon
t.i.tles: Otherworlder; Unrestrained; Pandora"s Champion; Perfect Mana Core User; Undying;
Murderer;
Level: 4 (200/400)
Str: 510
Agi: 490
End: 700
Int: 780
CP: 500
Skills: Lvl 10 Mana Circulation
Lvl 5 Elemental Mana Circulation
Lvl 5 CQC
Lvl 3 Formless Style (2 techniques)
Lvl 9 Aura
Lvl 7 Mana Skin
Lvl Max Fire Ball
Lvl Max Wind Step
Lvl Max Water Barrier
Lvl Max Tremor
Lvl Max Light Shield
Lvl Max Dark Slash
Lvl Max Grease
Lvl Max Wind Blade
Lvl Max Flame Wall
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"So far so good, huh."
It was the afternoon and as usual, he would go out and mingle with the three daughters. However, what puzzled him was that there was an old man who looked like Holmes in his disguise near Gaia"s house. Gaia shortly went out and invited over the other 2 girls and lastly, Zeke.
"Hey, Zeke! Let"s go explore the town! I heard from Sir Holmes that there"s a festival ongoing right now." Gaia pointed at "Holmes" who was smiling while nodding at him. However, this smile hit Zeke the wrong way.
"There"s no d.a.m.n way this is Holmes. No f.u.c.king way."