Swordsman

Two days later, there was a knock on the door. Andrew was in the living room, closest to the door, and he opened it to reveal an elderly man with a kind smile. Though it was evident after one or two glances that he was not your usual old uncle - for one, he was carrying a broadsword on his back, and it clearly had been taken care of very well: it still gleamed in the sunlight. The man was also strongly built, and the musculature of his frame could clearly be seen, which belied his elderly age. A long scar cut across half of his left hand.

"Pleasure to meet you, young lad," he said with a friendly tone.

"Nice to meet you, Mr Fredrick. I'm Andrew," Andrew replied. By now, Samantha had appeared, getting ready to welcome him into the house, but Fredrick politely declined. "It's okay, I'll be teaching him outside."

Both of them walked for a while and reached an open field a distance away from the house. Fredrick took out a wooden sword from his backpack. It was much smaller than the one he was carrying along with him, and it was obvious it was meant for Andrew's use. "Take this," he told the young boy.

Andrew held it by the hilt, and immediately the sword rotated about the hilt, with its sharp end hitting the ground. Clearly, Andrew was not able to control his weight. "This is a basic training sword for aspiring swordsmen. The wood is not the best quality, but it's decently dense. Weighs about 3 kilos in total."

Ignoring the stunned boy, the elderly man drew his sword. "This is an actual sword, made of rare ores under the ground. It weighs about 15 times as much as yours. Now follow me."

Immediately, Fredrick swung the sword across the air, making the basic sword stroke. It appeared fluent and graceful, but anyone could feel the latent deadliness of it. This would cut off a person's head.

Andrew tried to imitate the movement, but he could barely get the sword higher than his chest. Still, he tried and tried again, and after a while, he lost all his energy, and lay down on the ground, exhausted.

The physical activities were done for today, and Andrew started chatting with Fredrick. He told Fredrick what had happened with the mage.

"Well, that's a surprise. People from Pagia have constitutions that suit magic and mana storage slightly better. That's why about 70% of our warriors are mages, and only about 25% are swordsmen, and our mages are generally stronger."

"How about in other countries? Is swordsmanship more popular there?" Andrew was curious.

"Oh, that's a long story…"

Fredrick started to teach Andrew about the world's history.

"In the ancient era, there was only one path to power - the sword. The top ten strongest all wielded the sword, and the leader of humanity, the Sword God, allowed for free education, making the sword path popular across the commoners. And a few million years ago, things started to change. Mana gradually appeared in the world, along with races that were gifted in using mana - the humans for example. And the path of magic rose, and rose, and rose. Nowadays, magic and swordsmanship have become the two major paths to strength. In fact, magic has even become slightly more popular than the sword. But it doesn't matter what path you choose, what matters is the power you have."

"Are there other paths as well? I heard that there were powerful archers in the village once."

"Of course there are. Archery…poison…martial arts…all of these can make a person strong. Just that the experts of these niche and lesser-known paths are mostly in the grand empires. You can only find a few of them here. But what you can find in every empire and kingdom is swordsmen and mages - after all, these two are the most commonplace."

"Did you know what happened 10,000 years ago in the kingdom? I've only heard rumours about it, and I've found nothing even in all the books I have."

Frederick's ears perked up when he heard Andrew's questions, and there was a gleam in his eyes.

"Well, it's real. Even though Pagia is quite a small kingdom in the scheme of things, those two fighters who destroyed it with their remnant blows were legitimately strong. I'd say at the very least, they were at the peak of the Grand Knight rank."

"Oh yes, I haven't told you about the ranks of swordsmen yet," Frederick suddenly remembered. "Officially, the ranking system starts at the Beginner Swordsman rank. The examination to achieve this ranking is devilishly hard. So hard, in fact, there are few people in the distant kingdoms who achieve it. So while in the Empires, Beginner Swordsman is viewed as the lowest rank to be considered a legitimate swordsman, us in the distant kingdoms have introduced two more rankings - you start at Sword Novice, then Sword Apprentice, then Beginner Swordsman."

"Above that is Intermediate Swordsman and Advanced Swordsman. In our kingdom, the lowest of the royal guards are Intermediate Swordsmen. They are the most elite sword-fighting force of the kingdom, second only to the mages."

"The rank after that is Knight. From ancient times to this era, people have always bestowed upon this title a certain respect for absolute strength. It takes real talent and hard work to get there. Even in Empires, Knights are rare, and it is mandated that anyone of a lower ranking has to address Knights with "Sir". It's a custom that has lasted. But you don't need to worry about that yet - as far as I know, the strongest swordsmen in Pagia are stuck at the Advanced Swordsman rank, unable to progress any further."

"Above that further is Grand Knight. Anyone who gets to this level has the right to leave a lasting legacy even in the grandest of empires. Those combatants from ten millenia ago were probably at this rank, to wreak such destruction on this kingdom."

"And above that is the Sword Saint tier, collectively known across all disciplines - magic, the fist, archery, as Saint tier. At this point, it does not matter what path to power you take, as you will be respected by billions, even trillions in this huge world. Every saint alive is a myth, and counting all disciplines, there should be at most 20 of them in the world - at least, that's what I hear from my friends. The principal of the Holy Sword Academy, the top academy in the world for the path of the sword, is at this rank."

"As for ranks above that, I have no idea about."

"So what rank are you at now?" Andrew asked.

Fredrick was slightly embarrassed. "Well…I'm currently at the peak of Apprentice."

Andrew was shocked. "The examination is that hard?" He knew the latent power of Fredrick's body, but someone like him hadn't even gotten the rank of Beginner Swordsman. In empires, he would be treated no differently than common folk.

"Kid, you'll experience it in due time. Well, my talent was mediocre among swordsmen anyway. I've reached the age where nothing can change my skill anymore, so I'm satisfied. Anyways, around these areas, a Novice, let alone Apprentice, can already live a more than comfortable life."

"Alright, enough talking for today. It's nearly evening. I'll stay at the traveler's inn nearby. You should go eat your dinner now, kiddo. And take the sword with you"

After a bow to his teacher, Andrew held the wooden sword in his hand and ran back to his house for dinner.

That night, he tossed and turned in bed, thinking about what lay ahead for him. If there was one thing he was certain of, it was that he loved his swordsmanship trainer.

Ranking System

Novice

Apprentice

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Beginner Swordsman

Intermediate Swordsman

Advanced Swordsman

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Knight

Grand Knight

Sword Saint