038 – NINE YEARS

A week later while it was still dark and everyone slept, Lirian felt a faint touch on his feet, and soon it broke out into a full-on tickle, he thrashed wildly and jumped back with his blankets draped around him.

He turned to look at the intruder, "Mom!" he cried out in surprise, even the dark couldn't hide her beauty, and her bronze skin held a glow that needed no light to be seen.

Taliyah giggled at his surprise, "Come with me dear, I have a gift for you."

Lirian got up, he noticed that it was an hour earlier than when he usually got up, he rubbed his eyes and followed behind her quietly.

They soon arrived in her courtyard, it was large open space with well-groomed grass and a lovely view of the sky. Sometimes they would lie down on the grass and just watch the stars, and his mother would occasionally point out the different constellations, and tell him stories about the ones she had visited.

"Are we going to stargaze, isn't it a little too late for that, the sun's going to come up soon."

"No dear, go and sit in the centre of the yard and close your eyes I'll bring your gift in a second."

As Lirian obeyed Taliyah brought out a simple wooden box and stood in front of him, "You can open your eyes,"

Lirian saw the wooden box and could guess what was inside it, with a small smile on his face he took it opened it to see its contents.

A short wooden sword, the blade was only a foot long and with the handle, it was about one and a half feet long, the perfect length for the current him, it was made of a jet-black wood and it was very heavy, on the crossguard his name was engraved in an extremely elegant hand, it was so beautiful that he wanted to put it in a glass case and leave it in a display.

"Did you make it yourself mom?"

Taliyah smiled gently only nodding in confirmation, "Do you like it?"

"Mom, this is the kind of thing you should hang up around the house, it's a million times fancier than all those antiques I got rid of," Taliyah didn't know if she should feel proud of his compliment or angry at his mention of the destroyed antiques.

"Yes, mom I love it," he said hugging it tightly, this was the first practical gift he had gotten until now it was mainly toys that he never touched.

Taliyah smiled, seeing his genuine joy, he looked happier than he did receiving any other gifts, 'Boys will be boys,' she thought. "It's made out of black oak, it's one of the naturally hardest woods, it can even crush a steel sword with ease so be careful when you use it.

"Does this mean I'll be getting a sword instructor," he asked without any enthusiasm, in truth the thought bothered him, his skill with a sword was in a realm that most gods couldn't hope to reach, he certainly needed to temper his body to use his techniques but to receive guidance from someone he'd consider a talentless novice didn't thrill him.

Taliyah could see his lack of interest and shook her head, "No, I won't be hiring any instructor to teach you this."

Lirian narrowed his head in surprise, "As the empress and your mother it's my responsibility to ensure that you are capable of fighting your own battles, and as I am a sword saint, I would like to think myself competent enough to teach my own son, don't you agree?"

His eye's sparkled and the silver glow intensified, Taliyah recognised it as a sign that he was excited, she smiled as she thought about his reluctant expression from a minute earlier, Anya was right she thought.

"Do you mean it, when do we start, and how often will train?" Lirian let out a flurry of questions.

Taliyah smiled and explained, "Yes I mean it, we'll start today and we'll be training every day, but there are a few things you must-do if you want to learn from me."

"First, you must get up on your own and arrive here every morning at the same time, if you are late by even a second there will be no lesson."

"Second, I will teach you 25 different sword forms but you will decide how to use them, in combat I will give you no guidance it will be up to you to learn while fighting."

"Thirdly, if you ever drop your sword while we spar," she paused and gave him a meaningful look, she was uncertain of what his reaction would be to this last rule but it was necessary, ", you will pick it up and use it to break one of your fingers."

"Lastly, if you cry out in pain during our lessons, we will cease to have them permanently," she was surprised by his lack of a reaction to her words. "Did you hear me little one?" she asked hesitantly.

Lirian nodded, her rules were child play compared to the punishment he used to push himself through.

"Lirian, do you understand why the rules are important?"

He nodded slowly, "The first rule is discipline, being on time is a show-off one's dedication."

"The second, you will not guide my technique or give me combat advice because while imitating someone with great skill can make someone stronger, it will block their road to becoming a great cultivator, an imitation will always just be an imitation, one who imitates others is bound to fail as a cultivator. My way must be my own."

"The third rule is mainly for my own benefit, one who loses their weapon in a real battle will almost certainly die, compared to that my punishment will be light."

"Lastly, to learn the feeling of pain in training will be my own fortune, I will be lucky to learn such a feeling before I enter a battle, and crying out in pain will be unbecoming of me as your son and a prince candidate."

Taliyah nodded pridefully, he truly was brilliant, and his second answer left her in disbelief, it was a wisdom that most cultivators don't understand until it was too late in their journey, and yet the way he spoke told her that even at his young age he understood the value of those words.

"To be so young and to understand so much is your greatest fortune little one," she said proudly, ", now draw your sword and come at me, before I teach you, I must see how good your natural movements are, the better you are the better forms I shall teach you."

Lirian smirked and pulled the wooden sword, it was heavy, in his small body it reminded him of a heavy sword, as his hand wrapped around the hilt a cold rush filled his body, and a refreshing burst of energy filled him, it was like he suddenly jumped into freezing water, and his every cell sparked with life.

He chose a simple sword style that looked a little clumsy but was very effective at throwing an opponent of, it was unimpressively named the wobbly-sword, but he'd fought against immortals that honed it to unbelievable levels.

Taliyah watched his approach unimpressed, on some level she expected him to be a genius in the sword and his footwork left her disappointed but in the next second she was surprised, she had to block seven quick strikes, if she had been a normal adult, she doubted she would have blocked more than three of his strikes.

She was only using her hands, she wouldn't dare to use her weapon against Lirian, not even a stick from a tree, when a weapon entered her hands, she tended to forget about everything else around her, it was like she would enter another world, and besides she had long ago seen a new path as a sword saint, but without wielding a sword, she didn't understand it yet but she hoped to grasp even the slightest bit of that path.

Lirian stepped back, he suddenly took several steps and kept shifting his weight to each side, he looked like a drunk man trying to keep his balance, but this time Taliyah did not underestimate his approach, as he struck at her waist from the right, she blocked it with a finger, and he took a rapid two-step to the right spun around and flourished his sword at the back of her knee.

Taliyah watched his rapid change with awe, and his attacks spiraled in, due to the hight difference it would be foolish of him to attach her upper body so he had been attacking her knees, while every attack failed, he kept moving with perfect judgments, retreating at the perfect moment and striking relentlessly when given an opening.

She didn't even catch him with her feints, when an opening was too good, he retreated instead of advancing and on occasion, he even created openings on himself to draw her in, Taliyah began to feel like she was fighting a veteran, she realised that even his clumsy footwork was a deliberate choice to throw her off which side he would strike from.

After 45 minutes passed Lirian began to breathe heavily, even for him going up against a half-transcender was tiring, his every strike against her felt like he was attacking a mountain, and he filled every strike with his full weight, his arms were slightly numb and his breathing became labored.

He had learned a lot about his mother's cultivation path from this and sighed in pity, she was taking the wrong path, a very common mistake in saints that specialized with weapons, becoming the sword is the road to godhood, it was still far too early for her to try it.

Such was the deception of the heavens, it would often give its wielder hints to their paths but in the incorrect order, it was the cultivators' duty to figure out the correct path and pass or take the wrong path and fail.

He wished he could say something about it to her but it would probably be better for her if she learned the truth by herself, it was like he said, 'My way must be my own.', the same applied to all cultivators and making mistakes was often better than making none.

Like that his routine had changed and remained like that for several years to come but shortly before his tenth birthday a new adventure would arrive for him, the world of schooling, another first for Lirian.