10 The Strict Father’s a Perspective

I, the Swordwick Household's Head Butler, have never been disappointed in my son since his birth. I and my dear wife have always lived in the servant quarter's of the Swordwick Household since our employment.

It was a place that is always busy and noisy no matter day or week, but my son, Simon, had never once complained. Taking leisure in doing chores and taking care of Merilin.

He was always a child who was a slow starter but unimaginably fast learner after reaching a certain level of understanding of something.

For example: It took some time to teach him how to read numbers, but once he was able to recognise them I found that his improvements in calculations were shocking! He was born with an uncommonly low rank Magical Talent at birth, which was why I initaially had no intention of making him learn swordsmanship.

I had already decided on protect him forever if I had to... To the point that I would act as his guardian even if the world was to go against him!

It is my duty as a father to protect my son from any dangers. However, his talent for martial arts were one day unearthed as I secretly witnessed him learn Aura Clad by himself. (Not that he knows of this, of course.) 

A normal child would figure out how to use Mana at the youngest age of ten, yet my son was able to exceed that figure by five years. This showed that he had a monstrous talent for Mana Control that even exceeded those of higher talents!

Perhaps one could say that his Mana Control was a result of his lack of magical energy. It could be said that my son's skills were ordinary in the eyes of my colleagues, but I don't believe this to be the case.

His ability to control his Mana has already reached the stage where he can intrinsically distribute his Aura efficiently to the point of even surpassing those with higher Magical Talents!

A new hope burned in my heart as I desperately tried to force him into training his Aura. I knew there would be a chance that he would able to change his destiny on his own as long as he had the chance to let this unique and special talent of his bloom.

He is my son after all! The son of Magic Swordsman Fredrick Rainglow and the grandson of the Lightning Archmage, Hilda Rainglow. I'm certain he'll be able to rise from his hardships if he has hope!

However, what I didn't expect was that he still wouldn't cry or complain about my unreasonable demands that day at the training grounds. He had always been mature at a young age... not by looks alone but by actions.

He always knew the best course of action when he wanted to avoid the troubles brought by the love of the servants. Especially Anna, who would always try to find a way to pinch his cheeks. He'd always mysteriously play the game of 'Hide and Seek' nowadays  but only when in her presence...

I didn't think my son would be so entertaining in that aspect~ His hiding ability even seemed to be catching up with Anna's, who was supposed to have been a Ninja before her employment at the Duke's Noble Household. This made me more excited at his future prospects!

It wasn't surprising that she wasn't able to track him using a Search Spell since Rank F Magical Talents didn't have much Mana to track down in the first place. For someone like her who has hunted down Dark Specialists as a living, it's shocking that a mere child can escape her grasp... 

Seeing his growth with my own eyes made me feel wonderful! A warm feeling grew in my heart as I watch him grow stronger, as well as a strong anticipation for his vast future achievements.

I, like any other good parent, want him to become someone the dangerous world of Sphera will respect. That's why I'll be extra strict with him without giving him a chance to display any signs of laziness...!

Yet even after steeling my heart, I found that he had never once cried after I started training him... He's so unlike other children his age, thinking with too much forethought in his every action. How distasteful! I wish he'd be more selfish once in a while.

He IS a child after all...

As a small child of a young age, he shouldn't be worrying about the future so often. What he should be worrying about is the here and now.

That and playing around with friends rather than training here by himself...

I feel worried about him now...

I felt moved by the 'mission' he made in his heart... and it warmed my heart to know his protective feelings for us are as strong as his own parents.

Time passed... Five years past by in a flash. The anticipation I felt years before increased even further. My son didn't even waste a second in these five years and improved his combat efficiency by leaps and bounds. He learnt four Elemental Auras before creating his own style of fighting using both a knife and a sword.

These achievements were far beyond even my wildest expectations, but the most ingenious skill he learnt was how to form strategies on the fly.

He seemed to have absorbed both mine and Mark's teachings, finding various ways to use his limited Magic Capacity. His body and Elemental Auras had already harmonised to the point he could use one-hundred percent of his strength without wasting any of his remaining power in combat. An accomplishment that even I'm unable to reproduce...!

Although I didn't expect him to become a Mage like my mother, I still wanted him to become a strong Magic Swordsman in future just like myself.

This was because the emission of Mana had the most significant roll in battles between those of combat professions. I hope my son will be able to overcome any hardships caused by him having a low status as a Rank F Magical Talent. 

My heart especially fostered this thought after seeing the calluses forming on his fists over the years of training he diligently went through.

I don't want his efforts to have gone in vain...! There was no going back after taking this first step... I hope there'll never be a time I'll regret my choice.

I've seen his determination to get up and fight even after he'd experienced an endless amount of torment from our usual spars. He got stronger and learned new ways to adapt to his terrible position in stimulated live-combat I put him through everyday...

Seeing him get stronger like this makes me proud but also a little fearful considering how much expectations we have for his future.

There's a chance that his efforts would be in vain if he doesn't breakthrough the barrier that separates Warriors who focus on utilising their large Mana reserves creatively and those who focus on an unreal amount of Mana Control...

I'm sure that once my son breaks through that barrier, he will soar above his peers and surpass them in all respects with his unusual talent!

Maybe, just maybe, he'll be able to beat that monstrous daughter the Duke raised once he reaches the peak of his potential in the future... (Not that I have much hope...) That girl who is already able to beat boys who are several years older than her...

Although my son can do the same due to his own monstrous talent. I have a feeling that him beating a girl with Rank B Magical Talent won't be as easy as beating those of Rank C like us.

She is a genius, unlike us two...

"Father, what are you being distracted about?" My son asked as he stopped training. I couldn't help but praise Martha for her effort in making his suit as I focused on my dear son's dazzling appearance once more. His suit was both midnight black and sea blue but also had highlights of wood brown which went well with his natural chestnut brown hair. 

This made his similarly sea blue eyes stand out in contrast to his suit.

"Oh, Simon... I was just thinking about your future." I answered while blocking his attacks using the sword style I was most skilled at, which was Earth Style Swordsmanship. I suppressing him using my hammer-like sword and made sure to give him no chance to counter. The only way for him to get stronger was by going through this kind of torment... Not that I don't find our spars to be fun~

If I was to also release my Aura Clad at full power, he wouldn't even be able to catch my shadow due to the difference in his and my own mastery over Aura Manifestation along with the sheer power of my Magical Talent.

At first, Simon could only use his Aura to augment his physique internally without emmitting too much Aura, a level of mastery most Rank F Magical Talents were able to bring out.

However, over the course of five years, his fighting style and methods of utilising his Aura had changed due to his rapid improvements in battle.

Most people are unable to bring out the full potential of their Mana due to their laziness, but the pressure I placed on my son seemed to have given him the chance to grow beyond what I had originally estimated.

He was able to switch between all four Elemental Auras he could utilise while simultaneously creating his own unique fighting style!

Of course this personal style of swordsmanship wasn't as great as Elemental Swordsmanship at its current power but it was a style he could use to its full potential.

Usually, it would be rare to find a person who can use even one Elemental Aura, but the Swordwick Household is just monstrous due to there being a lot of servants who can can be considered 'Specialists' in their field of magic just like Anna.

A good example of a Wind Specialist of Aura is Mark. Even I myself can't help but admire his strengths in being able to usilise Wind Aura to its highest combative efficiency without much preperations. Allowing him to be equivalent to a Beast that utilised great speed rather than a Human.

As I attacked Simon, he switched between his four Elemental Auras in order to propel the level of his techniques up a notch.

This was a level that most Expert Swordsman could used in battle...!

If it was just him being able to use multiple Elemental Auras, he wouldn't be able to defend against my skilful sword attacks. However, the real reason I'm unable to break through his tight defences is due to his control over his own physical body added into his unpredictable personal style of swordsmanship.

I knew my son was a genius fighter!

He is unable to cover his whole body in Aura like ordinary Rank E Magical Talents but even his usage of Aura Manifestation is shockingly unique!

He can coordinate the influences of his Elemental Auras with every one of his muscle movements. This unique style of his was so precious that even I couldn't help but ask him how he was able to use such a ingenious method to divert the overwhelmingly heavy force of my sword strikes. It's just too bad his explanation was too complicated for me to understand...

'The first thing I did was focus on the muscles most impacted by an your attack before focusing my Aura towards them. Then I parried while simultaneously moving my body to redirect the force weighing on those muscles into the ground beneath me through my feet. The result having the ability able to keep up with any Expert Swordsman who has a higher Rank of Magical Talent.' Although I was able to understand some of the explanation he gave... what I was unable to understand is how he was putting this into practice. Hah... since my child is a genius, there's no need to worry... It doesn't seem like his complicated techniques are slowing down his progress in any way.

It's said that normal people are unable to understand a genius' mindset... I don't need to worry since my son is a true genius swordsman who will make me proud!

Outside the Drakeyol Kingdom, the war between the Blood Nation which has invaded Sphera and us original residents of this world secretly raged on without peace. The Barbarians who have been seamlessly coordinating with one another have gained the attention of even the neutral forces like the Elemental Races that had silently blended into the natural ecosystem long ago.

I couldn't help but feel worried now that those standing behind the large armies of Barbarians have corrupted a country's worth of land and had become more 'docile' over time. 

Others may think that this is a sign of peace and that the Barbarians had stopped their invasion the Human Lands. I, however, couldn't help but feel that the Barbarians' docility was just a ruse to cover up their preparations for their next all out war against humanity's civilisations.

The Mercenary Guild my wife and I once worked for were always aware of the movements of the Barbarians and have always had their best Wind Specialists tracking the Barbarians.

If it weren't for the fact that Barbarians had the ability to replenish their armies by infecting civilians with their Mana Attribute, I wouldn't have been so keen on training my son so harshly. 

This isn't an Era for those who couldn't protect themselves, nor was it an Era that would be forgotten in the history to come. Once the other Kingdoms have chosen their representatives for our final battle against those savage invaders, would the Holy War begun by the Blood Nation finally start to commence!