Chapter Thirty

Reinhard stood with his back straight as he listened to the Martial Arts instructor speak to the group of Martial Arts recruits. The instructor was a middle aged man with slight wrinkles on his stern face. He rarely smiled with anyone, only mixing in with the other officers of this Imperial Army training camp.

"You are all weak! Nothing but weak maggots! A few Earth class mages would be able to do away with each and every one of you in under twenty minutes right now. That's why you are all here now. In order to get strong!" The instructor's name was Malim, a mixed breed between a titan and a human.

His mixed genes gave him a unique look among others. His skin was a dull gray color, and he was the size of an average human, standing at six feet, and a head of the usual red hair that most titans had. Sadly, he failed to become a mage as his parents had hoped would come as a result of their pairing, and was thus abandoned. This was what led to his cold and spiteful attitude towards all mages.

Malim's eyes rolled over the small crowd before him with contempt. Although he was a Martial Artist himself, he had never looked fondly upon the profession. His experiences had left him too damaged to look fondly at anyone looking for a greater power. In his eyes, it was all just a waste of time.

Reinhard gulped as he listened to Malim's words. He understood all that Malim said. After all, he had seen the power of a Mage by himself when their caravan had been attacked. He could remember the overwhelming aura that washed over him when the Mage of the attackers had gotten into a fight with the Mages of the caravan. It was all he felt before loosing his consciousness. Whenever he though back on it, he always hungered for such power. The power that would make him stand out among his peers.

When this thought crossed his mind, he couldn't help but think of Kai.

Unlike him, Kai had the gift of magical affinity. He was a fully fledged Mage. Ever since he had found out that they walked different path back during their six month stay in the training camp, he had felt themselves growing further and further apart.

'Don't worry, Kai. I'll catch up to you.' He clenched his fists tightly as he looked up at Malim.

Coincidentally, their eyes caught each other at that very moment. A tiny spark lit in Malim's heart as he felt something familiar within Reinhard. A familiar longing for power.

Malim scoffed before carrying on with his words. "There isn't much you can do but train at this point. None of you have unlocked an elemental affinity or formed a link with the laws of the universe. At this point in time, you're still groping in the dark. You are blinded, unable to see you way forward." He looked over the crowd once again, his eyes settling on Reinhard in a mocking way. "Unlike Mages, until you reach the Sky class, you are still an insignificant bug."

...

After being grilled by Malim for over an hour, the trainees were finally instructed to go out to the training field. Hundreds of men and women of varying ages swung their swords, spears, and whatever strange weapon they felt comfortable with. Some were working on their speed, others were working on their strength, while some others were working on their reaction time.

Reinhard himself had chosen to walk the path of the sword. Unlike most people who chose lightweight and smaller swords, Reinhard had chosen a massive greatsword.

Utilizing his body mass and superior strength, he swung it continuously at the fixed target. Thanks to some obscure path of Magic, the dummy had been fortified and wasn't easily damaged by attacks that weren't enforced by the laws of the universe.

He tried to imitate the flow and movements that he had managed to catch a glimpse of in the fight between High General Rudolf and the unknown Martial Artist that had entangled the general. From the moment he saw it, he felt a strange pull to master the greatsword. It was thanks to this pull that Reinhard was able to avoid being lost when he had found out he possessed no affinity for magic.

He was so entranced in his rough and unrefined movements that he completely failed to notice that someone had stopped behind him and was studying his movement patterns.

"Those moves aren't for you, maggot." Malim called out from his perch on a wooden pole.

Reinhard jumped and dropped his sword, surprised by Malim's unexpected visit.

"S-sir!" Reinhard stuttered as his rapid heartbeat calmed down.

Malim didn't reply immediately. He only watched calmly as he evaluated Reinhard. He watched Reinhard for a couple of minutes before deciding to speak up.

"Your movement patterns are all wrong. It looks like you ripped a page out of a Grandmaster's guide and thought you could understand the whole book from it." Malim shook his head. He might not look like it with his slender frame and all, but he was a Grandmaster swordsman himself. Through his unique insight, he had been able to master different ways of the sword. Dual swords, one-handed swords, greatswords, he was quite well versed in all the different ways of the blade.

From what he could see, Reinhard was trying to apply someone else's unique path into his own path. For someone who intended to wield the blade, this application was all wrong.

"A true swordsman carves his own path." Malim spoke to Reinhard. "Don't try to force yourself onto someone else's path. It won't end well."

With those words, Malim leapt down from the pole he was perched on before turning and walking away.

Reinhard just stared at the man's back before picking up his sword again.

"My own path.."

.....

Malim walked around the training field, occasionally stopping to watch the trainees or give them some pointers. His mind was a bit distant as he did all this. He kept thinking back to the sword style of the trainee from earlier, Reinhard.

Whenever he tried to understand the essence of that blade, all he saw was destruction. Decisive strikes, explosive attacks. A blade that could shatter a mountain in a single swing.

The Sundering Blade Technique, one of the deadliest and most powerful sword techniques of the known universe. This technique was usually seen among the most powerful swordsmen of the Titan race. He had personally witnessed it some years ago when an old friend of his had used it in battle.

He still remembered the aura he felt. An aura that could cut anything and everything. He had tried learning it, but he wasn't able to cope with the harsh requirements.

After all, the one and only requirement to completely adapt the Sundering Blade Technique was to give yourself to the blade in you entirety. That meant that if you failed to pass the trials of the blade, your soul would be shredded and you would seize to exist.

"Interesting young lad. Let's see how far you can get."