#21 Father - son spar
"Young master~? Have you called for me?" Aiko came into my room after knocking 3 times and asked me with a cheerful tone.
Why is she the only one who calls me "Young master"?
"Yes, Aiko...Can you explain what was this doing on my pillow?" I asked while sitting on my bed and showing her the hair I found on my pillow.
"?! I-..." She opened her eyes wide with a horrified expression and started to shake.
"Calm down Aiko. Just tell me what happened and I promise you that I will forget about it." I said with a gentler tone, I didn't want to make 8 years old girl cry, not to mention that she is so diligently working for our family.
"I-I am sorry, young master!" Aiko said aloud while deeply bowing to Akashi.
---Aiko's Flashback---
"Nanana~" Aiko was humming a certain melody while changing Akashi's blankets and pillows.
'...I wonder how comfortable the young master's bed is...He always has such a peaceful expression on his face whenever he is lying on it...' Aiko thought with an absent-minded expression while looking at Akashi's bed.
'Well, no one should come in here for some time and I am pretty tired...! Aiko thought while looking at the door for a few seconds before she jumped on Akashi's bed.
'...It really is comfortable...the young master smells really good too, hehe. However, I can't fall asle- *yawn* asleep...' Aiko thought with a peaceful smile and reminded herself not to fall asleep but she still closed her eyes.
---Aiko's Flashback END---
"...That's all?" I asked with a weird expression.
...By her expression, she is most likely telling the truth. I almost feel bad for thinking about her that way.
"Yes, I truly am sorry for my actions!" She said while still bowing to me.
"Stand straight...I don't mind you taking a nap in my bed but make sure that no one will see you if you plan to do it next time. You can go back to your room, it seems that you are too tired today, have some rest." I said with a gentle smile.
"Y-yes, thank you, young master." She replied with an absent-minded expression and left the room.
---
'Next time? Did I just get permission to sleep in the young master's bed? I mean...He was always so relaxed and he even talks to me like he is talking to his friend instead of a maid...I must work even harder for the young master!' Aiko thought with a shocked expression once she left Akashi's room but her expression quickly changed to a determined one while she also clenched her fist.
---
"That was..." Ichika muttered once Aiko left.
"weird?" I completed her sentence with a helpless smile.
"Ichika? Let's say if I wanted to buy a lot of different types of poisons, where should I go?" I asked Ichika for her opinion.
"...Oarburgh Clan is probably the best option for the best quality poison. They are a group of assassins that are extremely expensive to hire. They are also extremely prideful and whenever their target manages to escape, they will hunt him down no matter what to protect their reputation." Ichika explained with a hard expression.
"...Young lord, please don't tell me you want to get in touch with that bunch. They are extremely dangerous, they are practicing many other things, they can manipulate their muscles to the point where they can take on the danger beasts barehanded. They also have an extremely old heritage and it's said that their leader can even control Danger beasts." Ichika explained to make me reconsider but little did she know...
?! Can control Danger beasts? I must visit them once I am stronger. 4 years should be more than enough.
I thought and resolved myself to visit them once I have heard Ichika's words.
I will make a deal with them and if they will refuse all of my offers...I will simply take it by the force!
I thought and a dangerous glint appeared in my eyes before it disappeared.
"Thank you. I want to have a little spar, will you help me, Ichika?" I asked with a smile and Ichika immediately appeared nervous when she saw my smile.
----2 years later----
I am currently practicing my swordsmanship in our garden with the wooden sword. My father already got used to this but my mother was still reluctant to let me practice swordsmanship when I was only 8 years old but even my father had to explain to her that it's perfectly normal for 8 years kid to practice. But after seeing my progress she decided to cheer on me instead of trying to stop me. Not to mention I also had a wide smile across my smile during my practices so she definitely decided also based on that.
---
[Name: Akashi Phoenix (Age: 8)
Title: King of Sloth
Class: Assassin (Lv. 7; +10 Agi, +6 Int, +3 Str) 23/640 XP
Special Class: Fire Monarch (Lv. 5; +10 Cha, +7 Int, +6 Const) 18/160 BXP
Health: 230/230
Energy: 505/505
<Stats>
Strength: 15 (18)
Agility: 20 (30)
Intelligence: 18 (31)
Constitution: 14 (20)
Charisma: 12 (22)
Free Stat points: 20
Classes: Young Noble (Lv. 4; +5 Cha) 12/80 XP, Warrior (Lv. 3, +4 Str, 2 Const) 0/40 XP
Special Classes:
ACTIVE SKILLS:
[Absolute Dominance - When facing the formidable foe, show no fear, instead show your arrogance. + 35% to every stat, fire intensity, and explosiveness]
[Phantom Strike - Blink towards your enemy, the maximum distance is decided by your Agility (10 energy)]
PASSIVE SKILLS:
[Child of Fire - Flames love you as its own child. You are protected by the fire itself, whenever someone uses long-ranged attacks, flames will protect your body from projectiles even without your consciousness but you can still stop them if you want. This isn't ultimate defense!]
GOLD: 1589
SILVER: 324
---
Finally, I got a new active skill and even one passive skill. I was slightly surprised that I can get skills even from normal class but I guess it's logical to get at least something from it. I already started training my body against weaker poisons but I got to know that it's much easier with this body than my previous one which definitely surprised me...After all, I already had inhuman immunity against poison in my previous word but that might only mean that there are many deadliest poisons in this world therefore even the body's resistance is much higher.
Anyway, training my stats are getting harder and harder. Good thing that I was hoarding those Free Stat points but I still think that even if I assigned them, my training speed would still be the same...
Even the Danger Beasts started to give me less experience once my Class leveled up. Also, it seems that this system can be somewhat of storage, at least on my gold coins because I was starting to have a problem hiding them in my room. I also tried to store some other items but nothing was accepted, however, there was a small hint that food might get accepted but I guess I need to get stronger for it to works. I don't even know how it works so I might even be doing it in the wrong way.
Right now I am practicing my own move set I have created in those 2 years. Although it is still incomplete, I don't want to leave everything to this system. I will create my own "skills" too. But it's much harder than I thought and I even have a feeling that I am quite talented in swordplay...Well, I can't be surprised when I am trying to create a totally new move set, most of the people simply train in the already created move set and their progress isn't as fast as mine anyway.
"Son, your swordplay is progressing at an incredible pace...it's a bit shame that you don't practice in Phoenix swordplay." My father approached me with a wooden sword in his hand and praised me with a smile. He was no longer playing that "cold" father to motivate me since he already saw that
"Thank you, father, but I already said it...Phoenix swordplay is not suitable for me. That swordplay is about grace. It's extremely powerful but that's not my style, I can feel it." I said with a helpless smile.
"I know, I know...I am just saying that it's regrettable. How about a little spar with your father?" He replied with a forced smile and then asked me for a spar with a confident and relaxed smile.
"Alright!" I said and got into my own stance I have created for myself. Although I called it stance, it's just me standing still in relaxed way with my right hand on the hilt of my sword hanging on my belt.
---
'It's still unbelievable that my own son created his own swordplay...Although he said that it's not completed yet, it definitely isn't that far from perfection. That stance...even though it looks like he is relaxed and most of the people wouldn't even call it stance, his eyes are sharp even though they looked extremely bored. Let's test my own son, heh' Jun thought and he rushed towards Akashi at an incredible speed.
---
Oho? My father is quite fast but it's still useless.
I thought when I saw him enter my own zone, trying to slash at my shoulder with his wooden sword.
*clunk*
I parried his sword, throwing him out of balance.
---
'?! I didn't even saw him draw his sword...how does his swordplay work?' Jun thought with a surprised expression.
---
I quickly counter-attacked by thrusting my sword towards his shoulder and he dodged by a small margin and then kicked out with his leg towards my stomach and I jumped back to evade the kick.
"Son, is your swordplay supposed to be this calm?" My father asked me when he noticed the mood behind my strikes.
"As of now, it only has 2 phases and this one you have just seen was the calm one. " I said with a smile, leaving my father looking at me with a dropped jaw.
"Looks like I will have to take you a bit more seriously, haha" My father said and kicked off the ground with a laugh, appearing instantly in front of me with already his sword over my head.
?! I raised my eyebrows in surprise but I quickly responded by slashing into his sword from the side, making it miss me entirely but he was already expecting that and he already performed a roundhouse kick.
I had no time to dodge so I quickly moved my hand to at least protect my ribs.
When the kick connected, I felt my arm go numb and I was forced to retreat but nothing else.
"Hm? I am surprised at your reaction time and to think that you can easily stand after that kick...I am still underestimating you. But if you want to leave the Capital for the adventure, you have to be stronger!" He said and once again appeared in front of me and slashed towards my ribs so I moved my sword to block his strike.
?! It was a feint!
I realized when I noticed how he changed the sword's trajectory towards my head.
I quickly ducked and he once again kicked out and since I was in a bad position, I could only block by crossing my arms.
"What's the matter?" My father asked me with a teasing smile.
Tch, feeling proud of having an upper hand in a fight with a kid.
But I must admit that the calm phase of my swordplay is an extremely poor match against Phoenix swordplay. I don't want to use any skills that would reveal any unnecessary information. It's not like I don't trust my own father but we are currently in the garden where all maids and guards can see us. I don't want to risk of showing too much.
Although I said that I have 2 phases...that one is still a little incomplete.
"Now it's my turn!" My bored half-open eyes finally opened wide and I kicked off the ground, appearing almost instantly in front of my father who seemed surprised by my speed.
I performed basic looking horizontal slash and my father tried to block it with a calm smile, however, when our swords met each other...My father's expression immediately changed to a serious one and he used his other hand to support his own sword.
Seeing the chance to attack, I sent a punch towards his stomach but he decided to abandon our contest of strength and instead of taking a punch, he jumped backward.
---
'?! What kind of strength is that?! It looked completely like a normal, basic slash from any soldier but once I have met the sword head-on, it felt like a ferocious and extremely violent Danger beast was trying to break through my defense. Is that the 2nd phase he told me about? I can't let him attack me with that or I will fall in the disadvantage. I will really need to take it seriously and be on offensive side.' Jun thought and resolved himself to fight with almost everything he has got.
---
"Son, prepare yourself!" He shouted and out of nowhere I saw a sword nearing my face, I quickly moved my head to the side.
If that sword would be real, my cheek would have a cut right now.
My father continued throwing a barrage of attacks at me without leaving me any space for a breath or for a counter-attack.
...
After a while of defending against my father's attacks, I acquired more than a few bruises and scratches all over my body.
"haah" I was catching my breath while my father was watching me with a serious expression, it was visible that he was also sweating.
"I won't let you go outside of the Capital until you defeat me." He said resolutely and pointed his sword at me with narrowed eyes.
"Heh, I have a way to defeat you, father, but I don't want to use "it" against you..." I said with a smirk, making my father frown.
"Don't worry about injuring me, these are only wooden swords." He reassured me.
"That's not the thing...I don't want to talk to you in a degrading way." I said with my chin down, therefore my hair bangs were blocking my expression except for my forced smile.
---
'What is he talking about? ...Doesn't matter, I need to convince him to use anything he can to defeat me.' Jun thought with a thoughtful expression.
---
"Don't worry about it...treat me as your enemy and not your father. If you are worried about a few words during a spar then there is no need! No matter what you will say to me during the spar, I won't care about it." He said with a serious expression.
...It's not like I am afraid of his reaction to it...it would just feel a bit weird to talk to my own father in that way. But whatever...since he already said that he doesn't care then who am I to care too?
With a +35% bonus to my stats, I should be able to perfect the 2nd phase of my swordplay and combine the 1st phase together with the 2nd phase.
"Alright, please attack me." I said and "sheathed" my sword, getting into my first stance like before with only difference that my chin was down, completely blocking sight of my expression.
I closed my eyes when I heard my father kick off the ground.
When I sensed that his sword entered my "zone" around me, I raised my head, revealing 2 glowing red eyes, completely surprising my father but he didn't stop his attack.
"You being my father doesn't grant you permission to defy me! Remember, I am absolute!" I said in domineering voice and my hand on the hilt of my sword twitched a bit.
*CLUNK*
My father's sword got sent into the air split in 2 parts and while they had yet to fall down my father watched me with a shocked expression and wide-open eyes full of confusion and his hand froze in the same position where I stopped him.
"clunk* *clunk* 2 parts of the broken sword have finally fallen down on the ground and my father looked at his red palm and then at my hand which was still on the hilt of my "sheathed" sword.
"Akashi...you..." My eyes stopped glowing and my father had a very complex expression. There was confusion, shame, proudness, and happiness combined together.