To Show the Flames of Bruneheart

The day has been quite heavy so far.

With me and Josy simply standing by and resting, as we snacked on the food that was brought to us, I was gifted 50 gold. It was more than what I originally intended, but I'm glad either way since this might help me with the fact that I'm buying for materials like some ores for smithing and other things like seeds for me to use on my farm.

As we waited, I got look around their so called "training grounds" as calling something like a training ground to be a part of the house, it got me interested. Knowing that the Percival house was known for being a home that produces a number of great soldiers, I was right to guess that their home was exactly a place that was made siply to train soldiers. It was like an army camp in front of me.

That explains on why their land was so big when looking at the front walls and gates. All of its space went to the fact that it was turned into a place for making soldiers.

From afar, I could see about hundreds of soldiers swinging a sword for practice and running around a track field, some were sparring with one another and others trained on using a bow and arrow.

"Hmm, does the Percival Family handle on training the entire empire's soldiers?" I asked Josy.

"No, there's another camp out about west of the Dragon Empire's land. There, about thousands of men train and are pushed to become soldiers all for the sake of security in the Kingdom. Here in the Percival House, only a select few of men and women are picked to be trained in the standards of the Percival name. And with that said, the produced soldiers here are known to be twice as strong as compared to the camp in the west."

"Oh, it seems like people here are treated more harshly then."

"Its harsh but it gives them a good backbone." he said.

As we looked at the many men who trained, someone calls out to my name from afar. It was from someone very familiar.

"Hello Mr. Shay."

"...Lady Serena." I stood up from my chair as I was meet with Lady Serena approaching me by herself.

"Did Shirley not tell you that I was going to meet you here?" she asked.

"Ah! She did, sorry I forgot." I said as I completely remembered Shirley's words.

Shocked by her arrival, Josy also stood up from his chair and greeted the lady.

"it is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Serena." he said as he bows his head.

"Ah, hello to you too." she said as she smiled with comfort in greeting Josy.

"Mind if I ask why you wanted to meet here?" I said as I looked to her with question.

"Ah, its because of what I've heard about this so called magic sword. I wanted to see it with my own eyes." she said.

"Oh, I see. Well, maybe we can get a demonstration out of it when the Patriarch comes. But for now, we should simply stay put and wait." said Josy.

"Hmm, okay then. By the way, Are you any good with the sword Mr. Shay?" asked Serena as he looked rather intrigued when looking over the line of men training under the hot sun.

"...Well" looking back on my past life, carrying swords around really wasn't a good thing to use when your profession was a thief. Instead, I mostly ever use a knife in hand to hand combat or a gun to threaten someone. If there was any weapon that would compare to a sword back then, I probably had the chance to use a machete, but I never really remembered how it went down. It was so long ago.

"...I can use a knife pretty well." I say as I look to her with confidence.

"Really?" asked Josy as he too was curious about my choice of weapon.

"Yeah, swords weren't really a big deal back to where I came from." I said.

"Hmm, so you use a knife eh?" this voice came from another person, but I was unfamiliar with it. And it turns out, that voice came from a woman who was the same age as me and Serena. It was the first daughter of George Percival, Sheila Percival.

"...Sheila, your back. How's your grandmother?" asked Serena as she looked worried over her friends state.

"Grandmother is doing fine. She's taking a rest right now in her room and is being looked over by my mother. And Father will be making his way here any moment, he said that we meet him at the training ground's Sparring House."

"Sparring house?" I asked.

"follow me, I'll lead the way." said Sheila, walking forward in her dignified step.

As we walked, she wanted to talk something about the magic sword.

"So tell me, how strong is this sword?" she asked.

"Strong in what sense?" asked Josy.

"You know, like what is its main ability? Since you said that it was a magic sword, I'm assuming that its capable of producing some type of magical attack right?" she asked.

"Mainly, the magic put into the sword revolves around the fact that it encompasses the flame attribute." said Josy.

"Flames? Hmm, I guess the fire is one of the most feared element, its perfect for fighting head on against monsters." said Serena.

"And we never actually got to test it's firepower so today's the day we'll find out if its good enough to be used on battle." I said.

"Wait...You were there when it was made?" asked Sheila.

"Huh, uh no…it was more of like , I was just there when the old man was putting up the finishing touches. He never really got to test the weapon since the deadline for the end of the year was coming up. And I had to bring him here before then." I said as I tried to cover up the truth.

"Hmm, if that is so, wouldn't it be dangerous if the sword itself breaks or even explodes before you could even test it?" asked Sheila.

"You don't have to worry about that, I have faith in my craft." said Josy.

"...huh, I mean you're the man." said Sheila.

****

Somewhere in the middle of the training grounds of the Percival home, a house stands with its most structured support. This house was named the sparring house for the purpose of having the men who train on the grounds to test themselves either for the fact of dual or a test of hierarchy when it comes to strength.

With the center being the place of combat and the outside ring, being the palace of view, this place reminded me of the Roman Colosseum, where men fight for their freedom and honor.

But now, for the moment, it has become a testing ground for the sword.

As we stepped in, I came to find that other people were already here. Some were faces who I did not recognized, and some who I did. Faces like Shirley who went to stand beside Serena as her role to be guard, and Tyson and Orion who stood with a gallant pose as they looked over with excited expressions. There were also nobles of different houses in this room, and especially Marquess Toral who was chatting with a couple of nobles.

It seems as though they were here to watch a scene…a type of play, but really, this is just us testing our sword if it was applicable in battle.

As we stood under the view of many curious eyes, George Percival came and approached Josy with a simple question in mind.

"So Josy, how will you demonstrate the weapon that you made?" he asked.

"Hmm, I am not a swordsman, so I don't have the obligation to wield the weapon. Instead, I want my friend Shay to be the one to demonstrate how the sword works."

"W-what!? "What do you mean old man!?" I asked as I was shocked.

"Eh…its not like I know how to swing a sword, I'm not a swordsman." he said, smiling like he was innocent to the court. But in truth, I can see that behind his eyes, the look to not even bother to do this part was pulling him in. He really can't bother with meeting the pressure and weight of what was to come of this presentation.

He was really throwing me under the bus here.

"I'm not a swordsman as well, so I don't think I have the obligation to do it!" I say, trying to push away the fear of presenting the work.

"...but you know, its not its going to hurt you y'know…hehehehe" he said, smiling again.

"...If none of you can choose who will demonstrate the usage of the magic sword, then I'll come upon myself to pick a soldier of my choosing." he said.

Looking from afar, he turned to a random guard that was standing by the gate, carrying a spear.

"Hey you."

"Y-yes?"

"Come here for a second."

Without any confrontation, the guard willingly approached George.

"I want you to bring this sword to the center of the room and unsheathe it. After doing so, I want you to swing it down to the target practice over there." he said as he pointed to a wooden doll that was standing on the corner of the ring.

"Eh?"

"Do it and I'll give you a raise."

"...Yes! With pleasure!"

Without hesitation, he went and grabbed the sword, but before he could step out to show himself to the people, he was curious as to why the lord would give him such a task, so in caution of his will, he slowly opened the sword for a little bit to see its blade and there, fire busted out and grilled the man like a fish.

"...Hmm, as I expected." said Josy.

"What do you mean!?" I screamed in confusion and worry.

"...Bruneheart is but a child. I feel like he doesn't want just a simple stranger to hold him as he is. He needs a familiar person to weld him, otherwise he might go overboard." explained Josy.

"What? How do you know that?" I asked.

"...a father's intuition."

"Eh…you gotta be kidding me. If that is so, why not you do it?" I asked.

"Again, we went over this. I can't be bothered."

"...really!? and what about you Sir George? You're a swordsman." I said, looking to George Percival with a pleading expression.

"Why can't you hold the sword? Did you know that it was going to be dangerous?" I asked.

"...call it a Father's intuition." he said, as he claimed to stand with a sharp and cool expression.

"...fuck."

"How about you Sheila?" I asked, turning to where Sheila and Serena were supposed to be standing, but as I turned, they were already gone.

"..." and looking to one of the audiences seats, I found them chatting with one another. They left me to fend on my own.

"Ah, I can't believe this. I mean, how do we even know of the sword won't go berserk towards me?" I asked.

"...Believe in yourself and believe in me who believes in you!" said Josy, looking into me with the sparkles in his eyes.

It was clear that he was expecting some sort of devastating catastrophe…but either way, he knew that deep down, I would survive, seeing as how he probably thought that if I was strong enough to open the Great Eden's Wall, I can probably survive the demonstration of the sword.

But to tell you the truth old man…I might kill you if something goes wrong with this.

"...Okay, fine. I'll do it." I say as I went and grabbed the sword.

"..." hesitant for a bit, I turned to look back at Josy, and in return he looks to me with his thumbs up.

'...Fuck, ever since we left Desvey town, I have not touched the sword since. I was only lucky enough to put it back in its Sheath. If everything goes well, then I might as well take credit for the cheers…and if not, pray that I'll survive and that Josy doesn't die in his sleep.'

Walking up to the middle, I turned to bow my head to the crowd. In response, the people clapped in knowing my presence. They know that it was about to start and some probably recognized me back to when I showed them the barrier.

There, when I stood with the sword by my hands…I tried to prepare myself for when I will unsheath the sword.

'...Please Bruneheart, don't burn me.'

*Ka-chak*

As I opened the sword, flames erupted from its blade…yet in contrast, it did not burn my hands despite ithe flames clearly being in reach of my arms.

"..." I was shocked, to see this happen, but when I came to the sight of Bruneheart's blade, I came to feel something inside of me. As if the flames were rising higher and higher to a point that it clearly enveloped my entire body, yet I was unharmed.

"..." I did not know what it meant, but I felt warm…and welcomed by its embrace.

"...thank you Bruneheart." I whispered its name to its blade, and by there, I raised the sword up to the sky's direction, and there, the flames burned even brighter, as if the sword was playing along with my will to use its fire.

With both of my hands holding the sword's handle, I readied myself to swing in one big downward motion.

And I called.

"...Burn." and with a whsiper of demand, I swung down.

And the flames of the sword erupted down to the direction of the wooden doll.

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*Boom!*

The flames reached, and the target was burned to an ash…

When I turned to look at the sword, I felt the burning sensation of power within its blades and me…the same type of power that I experienced when I tried opening the gate of the great Eden wall.

"...Whoa." I smiled knowing just how amazing this feeling was.

And when I turned to the audience, I saw wonder and amazement in some of their faces, others felt fearful of the power behind the strike. But most simply cheered at the demonstration.

It seems as though today's demonstration was a success.

And when I turned to look at Josy, he was simply there, looking at me with a nervous smile on his face.

"...It seems as though I was right, that sword was powerful…and alive." said George to himself, as he watched from a corner.