Weapon of Choice

Rinngggggg

-06:00am

"It has been exactly 1 month, and 4 days since this loop started."

Lucas couldn't help but feel weird after opening his eyes inside his physical body for the first time in a while.

He had spent a full month inside his Thought Space.

One month couldn't be considered a very long time by any means, and yet, Lucas felt as if an eternity had passed.

The reason for this, was that inside the Thought Space, there was absolutely no way to tell time, with the only exception being the Hourglass, even then, he can only tell when the day is finished, not how many hours had passed.

Spending time training in such a place, Lucas found his mental state deteriorating at a fast place.

And so, he had only spent one month inside the Thought Space before exiting to take a breath of fresh air.

As a consequence of his actions, he had only managed to coat the lower half of his body with Aura.

On the bright side though, he managed to enchant his Aura with an attribute, additionally, his [Flash Steps] has already reached perfection.

Lucas had also experimented with the [Time Stop] ability he had gotten from the Hourglass.

He found out that it was possible to use Aura while time is stopped, it was also possible to disable [Time Stop] and use it again in the same day, so long as he used it for less then one minute in total.

Another reason as to why he left the Thought Space was that he had no way of confirming if he could attack people while [Time Stop] is active.

Now that he was in his physical body, he could try out this theory on someone else.

Additionally, he wanted to visit the Armory in order to pick up a sword he could practice his family's Sword Arts with.

Although he couldn't bring his new weapon inside the Thought Space, he could always practice inside his room, and when he finished training, he could go to his Thought Space to refine Aura using his family's circulation method.

He also had no reason to worry about anyone coming to kill him at his dorm.

As soon as he went to his Thought Space, Lucas would loose all connection with his physical body, meaning that, even if someone were to torture him, he would feel absolutely nothing at all.

This allowed Lucas to focus on his training without worry.

But...there was one problem.

'Just what weapon should l choose!?'

As Lucas stood inside the Armory that the Academy provided for the Cadets, he couldn't help but wonder what weapon he should use.

Although he had already decided he would be using a sword, he never decided what type of sword that would be.

Before he started using Aura, the primary weapon Lucas used was the rapier.

He didn't have any choice in the matter, with his strength back then, the rapier was the only thing he could properly hold in his hand.

However, for generations, the main weapon of the Flinth family was the Greatsword.

Although he was forced back then, Lucas grew to enjoy using the Rapier, despite the ridicule he received for not using the Greatsword like his ancestors did.

Now, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Should he continue the tradition of his family, and pick the Greatsword?

Or.

Should he go with the weapon he enjoyed using, and pick the rapier?

"Do you need any help kiddo?"

Just as Lucas was hesitating about which weapon to choose, an old voice was heard from behind.

Lucas got a fright and he quickly turned around, only to see an old dwarf standing behind him with an intrigued expression.

Its not that Lucas forgot about the dwarfs existence, rather, the dwarf in question is usually asleep behind the register, only leaving a sign at the front saying 'make sure to write your name down after you take your weapon of choice.'

Such lackadaisical behavior would usually be punished severely by the Academy, however, the dwarf in front of him, Argon, definitely deserved such treatment, as he was one of the few grandmaster blacksmiths inside The Coalition, as well as a member of the Council.

Just the amount of legendary weapons he forged was enough for him to roll in riches for the rest of his life, and yet, he decided to keep forging weapons for the Coalition inside the academy grounds.

Rumor has it that, the reason he chose the academy as his forge was because he wanted to take in a disciple.

Though, apparently, he still hasn't found a 'talented' enough cadet for the role.

"I remember that you came here three years ago, have you decided to change your weapon after all this time?"

"S-sir, you still remember me?"

Lucas was flabbergasted at the thought that this legendary dwarf still remembered him after all this time.

"After all, Its not often that you see a person who can't use Aura walking into the armory, it happened three years ago, and yet l can still remember the look of disappointment on your face when you realized that you can't hold the Greatsword, despite putting in your full strength.

Hearing the dwarf mentioning the event three years ago, Lucas wished he could dig a hole and bury himself underground, it was simply too embarrassing to remember his past self, now that he could finally use Aura.

As such, he decided to quickly change the subject, to avoid any further embarrassment.

"Although l couldn't use the Greatsword in the past, now, l am finally capable of using Aura, and so, l was thinking of picking up the weapon that my family has used for generations...but, l was hesitant to drop the rapier that l used for three years."

"Hmmm...The Greatsword or the Rapier, huh."

The dwarf, Argon, ran his hand through his beard while muttering something in the dwarven language.

With nothing to do, Lucas chose to silently stay beside Argon, obediently waiting for him to start talking again.

it wasn't that he had nothing to do, but rather, any advice he might get from a legendary blacksmith such as him would be much more valuable then any task he might have at the moment.

Finally, after ten or so minutes, Argon looked at Lucas and asked him a question:

"What attribute does your Aura have?"

"Speed. The attribute my Aura has is speed."

The dwarf blacksmith looked at Lucas in surprise, not because he had a rare attribute, but rather at how easily he answered his question.

Although Argon had asked his question very casually, it was actually considered a taboo to ask someone what their attribute is.

After all, if someone knew what your attribute is ahead of time, they could prepare for it and possibly counter it in some way.

Of course, Lucas had no such worries, as no matter what he says or does, it would all be forgotten once the clock hits 6am.

"Not bad, not bad, l like your quick answer, now listen to me very carefully."

Finally recovering from his stupor, the dwarf started talking quickly to cover his embarrassment.

"Although keeping your family tradition is very important, and is worthy of praise wherever you go, it should by no means be done under the sacrifice of your future."

"My future?"

"Yes, your future. I will be frank with you kid, you have zero talent as a Greatsword wielder.

"Is it just because l have the attribute of speed? If that is that's the case, then what about all the powerful people throughout history that have used a Greatsword as their main weapon of choice, despite having the attribute of speed.

"Good question kiddo, what you say is true, just because you have the attribute of speed doesn't make you incapable of using the Greatsword.

"Then, there is nothing wrong with me using it as wel-"

"But."

Having his sentence cut off caused Lucas to look grudgingly at the dwarf, but his next words removed any unhappiness that he might have held.

"There have been numerous people with the speed attribute throughout history that have become powerful using Greatswords, but none of them were Human.

"What l am trying to say is, without a strength related attribute, it is impossible for humans to compete with other races when it comes to strength.

Hearing Argon's words, Lucas could only stay silent, because everything he said is true.

Humans were naturally weaker then other races when it comes to strength.

Without a strength related attribute, it was utterly impossible for a Human to compete against someone from the Demon race for example.

"Of course, there is no need for you to be depressed, your speed attribute makes you perfectly compatible with the Rapier that you have been practicing with for the past three years, the choice is up to you."

Saying his piece, Argon walked back to his sofa behind the counter, and proceeded to fall asleep, as if he had no interest in what choice Lucas would make.

As for Lucas, he was left alone in front of the two weapons.

Eventually though, he sighed, and picked up the Rapier.

Even if it meant giving up on the Flinth family Sword Arts that focused mainly on the Greatsword, even if it meant stopping the tradition that his family kept for a long time, Lucas believed that this was the right choice for him.

His Rapier, paired along with the movement technique [Flash Steps], and his speed attribute Aura, would make for a weapon fast enough to take a 3rd Class Aura user off guard, and this was with him still being a 1st Class.

If he could bring out the full power of all his abilities, coupled with his [Time Stop], and a Sealing Formation, Lucas might be capable of finally taking down Alfred.

Now, all he had to do was find a way to prevent Aubrey, the Head of Security, from intervening in his fight with Alfred.

But first, he needed to visit the Library.

Because he decided to use the Rapier instead of the greatsword, Lucas needed to find a suitable Sword Art to go with his Rapier, as his Flinth Family's Sword Art was mainly for greatswords.

At its core, Sword Arts, and other Weapon Arts for that matter, were similar to Movement techniques, spells, and other things that required one to circulate their energy in a specific way to activate.

What differentiated them from the rest though, was that one needed to not only circulate Aura through their bodies in a specific way, but also their weapon in order to activate the Weapon Art.

This was the reason cadets trained with their weapon of choice the moment they were capable of wielding them, as the more accustomed they became to their weapon, the easier it would be for them to master the use of Weapon Arts in the future.

Of course, even inside the academy, there were different levels of Weapon Arts.

If he simply wanted to use a normal Rapier Art, he could look through his memories and find a couple of them that he read on the first floor of the library.

But, the truly strong Weapon Arts are located on the higher floors on the library, which Lucas wasn't allowed to enter.

The level of access you get is based on what class you are, along with your contributions.

If you are a 3rd Class aura user, and you make enough contributions, you get access to the third floor of the library.

The same rule applied to the higher floors.

But, Lucas had a way to get past the people guarding the stairs.

And this came in the form of his [Time Stop] ability.

As long as he could get past the guards on the stairs, there will be nobody to stop him from reading the books on that floor.

He just had to make sure to avoid any cadets, as his face was quite popular for all the wrong reason inside Hope Academy.

Thinking like that, Lucas walked past the first floor of the library, activating his [Time Stop] the moment he was about to turn a corner which led to the stairs of the second floor.

The moment time was stopped, Lucas used his [Flash Steps] to quickly get past the guards, letting him arrive on the second floor.

But, he wasn't planning on stopping at the second floor.

Third Floor...

Forth Floor...

Fifth Floor...

Sixth Floor...

Not slowing down in the slightest, Lucas continued to run up the stairs, all the way until the Seventh Floor of the library.

After arriving at the Seventh Floor, Lucas stopped circulating his [Flash Steps], finally coming to a stop.

Its not that he didn't want to go further, but he only had Twenty-eight seconds to spare on his [Time Stop], which might not even be enough to get him all the way down.

In fact, Lucas wanted to deactivate his Time Stop in between certain parts where he couldn't be seen, but the fear of activating any hidden formations made him use his Time Stop all the way until the Seventh Floor.

Luckily, he managed to get up here in time, now he should be able to read all the books on this floor, letting him memorize all of them with his Innate Skill [Memory Film].

After all, since he was already here, he might as well read all the books, instead of just the ones related to Rapiers.

"Oh my, and who might you be?"

Just as he thought that, a sweet, melodic voice echoed behind him.