6 Sword Training

Here I was. Six years of age, facing the reality of the situation. I could already imagine what would be engraved on my tomb. A stream of water burbled as if it was chuckling at the sight of me. How rude of it! My trainer, Yuri, was smirking while placing her hand on her hip, clearly mocking unsightly me. Throwing away the sword, I twirled my knife on my finger before catching it and dashing towards Yuri. She yelped at my sudden attack and dodged the incoming strike by ducking to her left. I recovered my balance and brought my knife to her neck. As the blade was inches from grazing her cheek, she brought her head under the knife and dug her left heel into the dirt behind my left leg.

The backside of her leg entangled with the under of my knee. I almost buckled as she caught me with her arm and wrapped it around my body up to my neck. All this was done before I could even yell in surprise. She raised me up before throwing me onto the ground. I lost my balance and the weight of my body brought me crashing down into the river, my hands felt the mushy presence of mud jumbled around my fingers. I cursed as my head submerged under the rushing water. Gagging, as I raised my body out of the water and Yuri coughed in a fit of laughter.

"I really got you there, didn't I! Guhahaha!" Yuri brought herself together and quickly helped me to my feet. I clicked my tongue as I flicked away her wrist. "Making fun of me before helping me up? What mockery." Yuri scoffed at me, "Says the one covered in mud."

I was dusting myself off and Yuri was washing my clothes in the river. "How did you know that?" Yuri asked. "Learned what?" My head tilted in confusion. "That knife spin, that knife attack, that wasn't built of pure rage or desperation but it was definitely built of technique." Oh no. I learned all of that while protecting myself on the Surface back on Earth. I clearly didn't receive any special training like Yuri but I was good enough to take on the average thug.

"I dunno, it feels normal to me... I don't know where I learned it." Yuri seemed to buy it as she pats my shoulder. "Well keep doing it! I may not work against me at the moment but if you develop it enough you'll soon be able to counter me." I scratched my head, turning away so she wouldn't see my reddened face. I slid the knife into my belt as I tossed my lightly damp clothes back on. I picked up the wooden sword and took a stance.

"Let's work on the magic aspect. You've clearly got a good technique in offense, and maybe even defense, and we can develop that later. Now, try to mix your magic knowledge with it." She gave me a thumbs up. Huh, so that means the same thing here. "I don't have any magic knowledge!" I yelled back. Her proud expression morphed into one of annoyance. "HAH? Learning magic early is key to mastery! Wait, well many people die if they try using magic before they receive their augment..." Yuri was pacing back and forth.

An 『Augment』 was the name of the magic you had if you were a 『Maverick』. Augments usually appear after a person's magic has fully developed. Only about one out of ten people become a Maverick and the other nine just stay normal and can only wield normal magic. There are just five identified augments; Waßer, Geos, Feiuer, Vind, and Entzunden. These were discovered by Gaelyn and Derven scientists. They have reason to believe there are three more augments to be discovered but they haven't been able to classify them yet.

As Yuri mentioned, if you use magic before your magic has fully developed at eight or ten, you might die. Of course, since your augment has yet to appear, you can only use normal magic like enhancement or illusion magic. I really don't think it's worth itー but I've heard Yuri started magic training at five. Perhaps I might have a chance?

"I have an idea! If you die, I run away!" Yuri fist-pumped the sky.

...

Yeah, no. She's crazy.

She held out her hand and a red circle with markings covering the entirety of the object appeared. "My magic." She yelled as flames began covering her arm. Her arm was unharmed as it turned into a burning object. I jumped back at the sight. It sounded like the boom of a bass as she punched a tree. The flames began to dissipate as it looked like nothing happened. Wait, whaー

The tree exploded and fire swooshed in a cloud of flames. It was like a large explosion rocked the forest and the tree she punched fell. The two trees behind caught fire. Yuri let another magic circle materialize, this time the raging fires evaporated. You could see a flock of birds fluttering away in the distance.

So this was magic.

I couldn't hide my awe as my mouth was wide open. Yuri giggled at me and held her hand out. "Try it." I raised my hand up. The palm faced towards the trees. Yuri held my wrist and guided my arm. "As you have no Augment yet- you'll just be shooting a blast of mana. Though not very powerful, it can rip through the bark of a tree." She whispered into my ear, her hair brushing against. I took a deep breath as I focused the entirety of my concentration into the center of my palm. "Good, seems like you are already talented at mana concentration, that is important for casting a spell. Now, command it. Command a blast of mana to rip off the bark of that trunk. YOUR MAGIC IS YOUR SLAVE! COMMAND IT!" Yuri yelled as a light enveloped my fingers. A magic circle was formulating.

"DO NOT LET YOUR SLAVE REBEL! DO NOT LET IT FREE! FOR IT IS YOURS TO BEAR!" She yelled over the rushing mana. My throat itched- "YELL IT OUT! YELL OUT YOUR COMMAND!" Yuri's hair fluttered in the wind. "FEUEEEEER!" I yelled as mana blasted from my hand. The trees grew afraid as the ball of mana drew closer. An explosion ripped multiple trees from their roots. Branches withered and were strewn across the terrain. It was a powerful explosion, much more than I anticipated. I only commanded it to destroy the bark but it was almost as powerful as Yuri's magic.

"Woah..." Yuri was laughing in excitement. "You are... immensely powerful. You are skilled in mana concentration, manipulation, and can do much with only a simple mana ball. You aren't quite great at controlling your mana yet because..." Yuri turned to the mess that was made. "Unless that was what you were aiming for, that seems to be way beyond stripping some bark off a tree." I chuckled as I stood, admiring my creation.

I saw my mother come rushing down to see what the commotion was. Her mouth dropped at the sight. "W-what is this?" Her mouth was agape as she dropped some folded cloth. "Who did this?" She looked between Yuri and me. Yuri shrugged and simply stated, "Your daughter is pretty good at magic." "She- what?" My mom's eyes widened as she stomped over to Yuri. "You're allowing her to use magic at this age?" "Madam- shouldn't you be more focused on how incredibly skilled your daughter is-" Yuri gestured towards the devastated patch of trees- well, what was once trees.

"She could have died!" Mother scolded Yuri. Yuri flinched as spit flew out of mother in a rage. "I'm sorry, Jenna-" Huh? Jenna? Oh- I just referred to mother as 'mom' for some time now- I never knew her name. I wonder what Dad's name is? "But as you can clearly see, she is not dead, and quite talented at magic. You should hire me for magic training too-" "Exactly, we hired you for sword training, not gardening." Mom scowled as she pointed to the so-called 'gardening' we've done. "But fine, since she clearly isn't dead yet you may teach her. But! If you make her overexert her mana I will chase you all the way to the Ice Continent." "Y-yes, madam!" Yuri saluted to her. "Properly." Yuri looked confused until she realized her mistake. Placing her open palm to the right of her head she shouted, "RUßEICH!"

Yuri came from the Unification, so she wasn't accustomed to our traditions here. 'RUßEICH' means 'to glory' and is usually used in the Gaelyn Reich to the Ryuusian Imperium. I don't want to get into the details but I do know that 'RU' means 'to' and 'ßEICH' means glory. "I can smell something," Yuri sniffed, "It smells awesome." "I was cooking my special stew today, especially since your dad needs cheering up." My eyes twinkled. YES! I love that one especially! It's this mix of soy sauce, potatoes, carrots, chicken, and spices. Even Yuri was looking curious. Obviously, it wasn't her drool that gave it away.

The sun was high noon as we sat at a table under the shade. The smell of the stew brought us to the brink of death- we couldn't wait for a second longer. My dad finally took his seat, my siblings began to reach for the pot. The lid was thrown off and the sizzling meal glistened.

"Now be patient-" Mother scolded us as she scooped the meat and potatoes onto our plates. She poured the stew over our rice. The rice was imported from the Nordian Unification and is a popular side dish throughout the Gaelyn world. I'm quite glad it exists here, couldn't live without it. Soon our plates were completely full, smoke emanated from the platters. "To God's glory and to our great nation. May you bless our food." Mother said her prayers before we dug into our meals. I mashed my potatoes and spread them across the rice. I mixed the potatoes into the mixture of stew and rice until it looked light a golden brown.

I took a bite of the chicken and scooped the rice into my mouth. It was awesome. Savory as per usual. I slowly chewed and swallowed my bite. I loved it. I kept eating until my plate was as clean as a mirror, I looked about to see the same with my siblings. We offered our plates to a maid who came to clean up the mess.

I was full. Full enough that I could vomit. But I wouldn't dare throw up this divine meal. My dad rubbed his stomach and boomed, "Great as usual, Jenna!" He patted mother's back. We sat back and all sighed. "Father," Sofia sat up from the table, "Mother said that you wanted to say something." Father winced before giving some half-assed response, "Well, it seems work has come to be busy, so I won't be able to see you guys often anymore. I'll make sure to return every once in a while." "Bullcrap." I scoffed.

"I saw your armory, are you going to war?" I dug in deeper. I remember that in the morning before practice; when I went to get my weapons, I looked through the armory. Father's prized armor and sword were missing. I didn't think much of it until now. "You packed your armor and weapons onto a horse didn't you." I looked at him with disgust, willing to risk his life and not even tell his children. "Y-yes." Father was ashamed to even look at me.

I stormed away from the table and hid in my bedroom. Tears flowed down my cheeks, when was the last time I cried... when I was a baby? A scruffy blanket wrapped around me, soaking up my tears like a rag. How is Zane now...? I held the blanket and wiped my tears. I couldn't do anything back then... but now...

I whipped out a piece of parchment from a wooden drawer.

Now, I won't lose anyone I love... ever again. On the parchment were the remains of a discarded draft. On the parchment was:

Prototype Name: Musket

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