16 Four Years And Ascalon

As the days passed by, their training also proportionally progressed and the number of children that were able to keep up with them also got reduced. There were also few candidates that were sent to other departments when they came to know about their lack of talent in sword wielding. Continuing in such a fashion it has been four year since then and Ben and Xenovia have already a level of 'Master Swordsmen' in the way of sword. During these four years the remaining children alongside Ben and Xenovia who were thought to have holy sword compatibility were tested and the results were as expected of the Church personal except Ben. He had compatibility with the holy power since he can use his Xiantian qi but, he had absolutely no compatibility with the holy swords. This was a major shocker to the Church who were having high expectations of him. Though he was not detested, he also did not have any preferential treatment later on. It was not as if he did have it before but, after that incident, he could see that he smashed all their hopes. This inevitably led him getting cold shoulder from every child of his age group and other low and mid-level Church members in particular since they were not informed of him possessing the boosted gear but twice critical which was supposed to be a cover for keeping him safe from the covetous eyes. Though he didn't care regarding their attitudes, sister Griselda never showed him any change in the way she treated him. During these years she had come to treat Ben in the same way as Xenovia which inevitably made him feel about her as if she was his older sister. Even Xenovia who always cold towards others (which was apparently just a misconception on the part of others) also warmed up to him. Though he didn't need one, she always acted as a barrier for him against bullies. This made him feel a little happy and resolved to himself that no matter what happens, he would protect those two.

During these two years whether it was is luck or not due to the increase in circulation of the combination energy while getting beaten up by Xenovia and later by Griselda, he was able to make rapid breakthroughs in the regards of cultivation. He is now at the peak level of ninth stage of qi gathering. He just needed a final push to breakthrough to the foundation realm and since he was unable to satisfy that single condition he was stuck at the level for 3 months. Though there was a lot of qi accumulating in his body, the deciding push was not reached. So he's stranded there for the moment but he also knew that the breakthrough was only possible when he was able to integrate both Xiantian qi and dragon energy at least halfway through, if not there was no chance of breaking through in the foreseeable future. For now since he knew that he was unable to satisfy the condition he stopped all focus and attention on cultivation and partially shifted that to sword mastery which led to the present circumstances where he was invincible among all the kids of his age group and was only able to gain experience from the senior members of the church.

So for now the daily routine of Ben's schedule is after the basic training he will get beaten up by Griselda for a while then he will give pointers Xenovia then he will focus on his own sword mastery and later though not as much focused, he still continues his cultivation at night for a bit.

So today while practicing sword he was called out by the senior members and was told to stand with Xenovia and other kids who work practicing sword.

"Sister Griselda why are we gathered over here? If it is not anything major I would like to go back to my practice".

"Holy maiden you have also heard this opinion so, I would like to request you to give this opportunity for someone worth it".

"We have already discussed about this thing senior priest and I would like no other interruptions or additions".

*Yes madam sorry for the interference".

"Hmm".

Later all the group of children along with Ben and Xenovia accompanied by Griselda and senior priest Samuel to the Vatican headquarters. There they were led to a secret chamber where all other priest of the Vatican were present. Under all the gazes Ben was feeling a bit nervous and pressured. Though he was stronger than any other ordinary human, the ones present inside were all veteran exorcist and hunters and when all of them were present then the imposing pressure there were giving off only superimposed. In such present situation Ben was easily overpowered, then we could easily understand the situation of other kids. Though Xenovia slightly put on resistance compared to the other kids it was still lacking compared to Ben. This was noticed by all the senior members present in the room along with Griselda and Samuel and gave a hidden nod of appreciation. Then one man came forward and spoke with a tone which felt like a superior talking to the subordinate.

"Today we gathered you kids so that we could give you the holy swords for which you are compatible with and train you with that particular holy sword and don't make a mistake, those are not original. They are replicas which holds about the 10th of the power of the originals and have similar effects. These were made using the power of alchemy. Except Benjamin Kosaka, every other child go forward and put your hands on the crystal ball which will determine which attribute you are aligned with".

One by one took turns by forming a line in a practiced manner and placing their hands on the crystal ball. After that they were determined the type of attribute, whether it was speed, destruction or control there were given the particular replicas of the sword and were sent to two different halls which Ben guessed one to be where all the kids who passed were sent and another were those didn't pass were sent.

There were few kids whose expression turned sour when they came to know about their aptitude and the attribute and there were also kids whose faces were glowing. Particularly when it came to Xenovia, the whole room was filled with bright light and she was brought to another room different from where the other kids were taken to. When all of them finished and only Ben was left over, the man who spoke at the beginning came to Griselda and spoke with her in a muffled voice which Ben unfortunately was not able hear. After finishing this discussion with Griselda, he came forward towards Ben looked at him with a peculiar gaze and told him to put his hand on the crystal ball. Ben following the orders of the man put his hand on the ball which showed his aptitude towards the slaying attribute which piqued his interest along with the others

There was a hidden smirk from Griselda concealed behind the veil she was wearing. Later a priest ran into another room where replicas for swords were kept and brought a box with a sword of length 1.5 metres, red at handle and Golden horn like protrusions from the top of the handle.

"Due to you not possessing any aptitude towards the holy swords you were actually not taken into consideration for this event. But sister Griselda insisted that you shall be brought you here. You must thank her for that since if it was not for her being obstinate and stubborn you wouldn't have gotten this chance. This is the dragon slaying sword Ascalon. Mind it it's a replica, but it was used by great warriors in ancient times to slay the evil dragons. So I hope you take good care of this replica sword and we also have expectations of great things from you Mr.Ben".

Saying that the man along with all the others left the room to the place where Xenovia was taken to. Ben turned towards sister Griselda and thanked her heartfully.

"Sister Griselda I thank you for this opportunity you gave me. After I read about the sword in the library, I felt that I was particularly compatible with this and receive the similar response from Draig. But due to me not possessing any compatibility with Holy swords, I expected that I would have together many merit points so that I'll have at least minimum opportunity to claim this sword".

"There is no need for thanks Ben. It was my duty as your guardian trainer. So now let's go to that room where everything will it be explained to you".

Saying that Griselda started walking towards the room and seeing her from behind, Ben once again refirmed his decision to protect her if any danger befalls on her and followed the footsteps of Griselda.