10 The Strict Father’s 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 but my son, Simon, had never complained.

He was always a child who was a slow starter but unimaginably fast after he's started something. For example: It took some time to teach him how to read numbers, but after he was able to recognise them his improvements in calculations were shocking! He was born with an uncommonly low rank Magical Talent at birth and I had no intention of making him pick up the sword at first since I had already decided on protect him forever.

To the point that I would protect him even if the world was 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 Manifestation by himself.

A normal child would figure out how to use Mana at the youngest age of 10, 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 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 talents!

A new hope burned in my heart as I desperately tried to force him into training martial arts. 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 a Flame 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 conduct 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. Now he'd always mysteriously play the game of 'Hide and Seek' only 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 Dukes 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. 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. He IS a child after all...

As a child, 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 by himself.

Though I actually felt moved by the 'mission' he made in his heart... It warms my heart to know his protective feelings are as strong as his 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 skills by leaps and bounds. He learnt all five element Aura Transformations before creating his own style of fighting using both knife and sword. These achievements were far beyond even my wildest expectations, but the most ingenious skill he learnt was strategy and tactics.

He seemed to have absorbed both mine and Mark's teachings, finding various ways to use his limited Mana. His body and Attributed Auras in combat had already harmonised to the point he could use one-hundred percent of his strength without wasting any of his remaining power. 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 Elemental Swordsman in future just like myself.

This was because the. emission of Mana had the most significant roll in battles between 'Specialists'. 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 and 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 pain 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 were to be in vain if he doesn't breakthrough the barrier that separates Specialists 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 one day 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 Duchess raised in the future... That girl who is already able to beat boys who are at least 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.

"Father, what are you being distracted about?" My son asked as he stopped training. I couldn't help but praise Samantha for her effort in making his suit as I focus on my son's dazzling appearance once more. His suit was both black and sea blue but also had highlights of green 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.

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

At first, Simon could only access the level Augmentation Level of Aura Mastery, a level most Rank F Magical Talents were able to bring out.

But over the course of five years, his fighting style and methods of utilising his Aura has changed due to his rapid improvement in martial arts.

Most people are unable to bring out the full potential of their Mana due to laziness but the pressure I placed on Simon seems to have given him the chance to grow beyond what I had originally estimated. He was able to switch between all five Element Transformations of various Attribute Imitations while simultaneously creating his own unique fighting style!

Of course this personal style of swordsmanship wasn't as great as Elemental Swordsmanship 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 Element Transformation, but the Swordwick Household is just monstrous due to there being a lot of servants who can transform the nature of their Aura to imitate other elemental attributes.

A good example of a user of Aura Transformations is Mark. Even I myself can't help but admire his strengths in being able to use the Wind Attribute Aura Transformation to its highest combative potential. Allowing him to gain the ability of a Monstrous Beast that specialised in speed.

As I attacked Simon, he switched between his five elemental Aura Transformations in order to propel the level of his reinforcement up a notch.

This was a level that most Master Swordsman can used in battle! If it was just him being able to use multiple Aura Transformations, he wouldn't be able to defend against my skilful sword attacks. However, the real reason I'm unable to break through his tight defence is due to his control over his own physical body added into his new and personal style of swordsmanship.

I knew my son was a genius in combat!

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 Aura Transformations 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 force of my sword strikes. It's just too bad his explanation was too complicated for me to understand.

'The first thing I do is focus on the muscles most impacted by an opponents attack before focus my Aura towards them. Then I'd parry while simultaneously moving my body to redirect the force that muscles into the ground beneath me. The result having the ability able to keep up with any expert Swordsman with 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's said that normal people are unable to understand a genius' mindset... I don't need to worry since my son is a true warrior who will make me proud!

Outside the Drakeyol Kingdom, the war between the Vampire Race who have invaded Sphera and us original residents of this world still 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 Five Elemental Mystic Races that had silently blended into the natural ecosystem of Sphera long ago.

I couldn't help but feel worried now that the Vampires 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 Five Elemental Mystic Races have chosen their Heroes and representatives for our final battle against those Vampires, the Holy War which would be begun by the Blood Nation will finally start to commence!