"Well, you've made your decision. Echoing Rhythm is now yours." Vera handed me the rugged manual with a smile.
The brown cover of the book scratched against my skin.
'So this is the Sword Art I'm going to be using, huh.'
"Are you going to test your new gift," she said, clearly enjoying this moment. "Frederick won't be here for a while due to a mission so you have a lot of time to try out your new Sword Art."
'Frederick won't be here? Well it makes sense, he is the Knight Commander. I'm surprised he even had that much time on his hands. Though the timing is very convenient. The day after the Duke comes back, he's out on an errand?'
I couldn't help but be suspicious. It feels like something big is happening I'm not aware of. It makes me uncomfortable.
On that note…
There is still no trace of the ruins which trapped me and Henry a month ago. According to Vera, the forest has been scoured through thoroughly but nothing was found.
Sigh
'Well I'm not getting an answer any time soon.'
"Yes, I will spend this time practicing Echoing Rhythm." I responded to Vera before turning to leave the office.
"Wait a moment." I turned to face Vera with a confused face.
"Yes, my lady?"
"You won't have to attend to me during the evenings for a while?" She said.
"What?" My confused voice came out. I've been coming to her office everyday since I became her knight. Why is it suddenly stopping?
She chuckled a little at my reaction. "It's not a big deal. Since my father is back, he'll take over the paperwork and documents again. This leaves me with more time to myself. A lady needs her alone time, you know?" She answered with a teasing smile.
'I suppose that makes sense. But doesn't that mean I have even more free time?'
"Aren't I a good master? You get to have two breaks in a row. That's quite a privilege." She said with clearly fake voice
'You're only doing this for yourself.'
"Wow. I'm so thankful for your benevolence, my lady," I said with sarcasm.
"You're very welcome, my knight." Not noticing, or just ignoring my sarcastic tone, she smiled.
'Now that I think about it, what are her hobbies exactly? All I've ever seen her do is sign documents and stamp approvals.'
'Wait, I'm training and trying to improve in time for the academy but I haven't seen her touch a weapon since the day she saved me. And she's always in her office. Does she even train? Is she that confident in her own ability?'
"What are you thinking so hard about? I understand you have never met such a wonderful person like me but staring at a woman like that is quite rude."
My knuckles whitened.
'Come one, Kaelith. Inhale, exhale.'
Seeing as there was nothing else, I turned to leave again. I opened the door and stepped through.
"Vera."
"Hmm?" Her surprised voice echoed throughout the quiet office.
I tilted my head to her slightly. "Thank you."
"..."
Her mouth hung open in shock. After a while her eyes twisted upward as a grin appeared on her face.
"Oh my, I didn't know my knight—", before she could finish I slammed the door shut.
"Never again," I muttered. "Not even if the sun were to fall to the ground."
***
After leaving Vera's actual office, I made my way towards the training grounds. Like usual, there were a few knights practicing their swordsmanship. Some whose movements I could follow. Some which I couldn't.
The Dawn Knights seemed to be very disciplined because after I first arrived here, they didn't spare me another glance as they continued training.
I walked toward the corner of the outside training ground to start learning my new Sword Art.
A rough sensation rippled through my fingers as I opened the first page. The pages seemed to be very old and fragile, as if a simple tug would make the entire manual tear.
The first few pages had drawings of a human figure holding a sword. Each motion had a set of words next to them explaining what I had to do.
"Hmm, okay." After reading the first part of the manual I finally felt confident to start practicing.
I got up and held my silver longsword in my hand.
'The first motion should be like this.'
I moved my sword from up to down trying to recall the book.
From up to down, left to right, front to back.
I matched all the movements from the book, just like it was written.
After doing these movements for 30 minutes, I stopped.
'Something isn't right.'
A sword art is usually divided into a general fighting style and special techniques.
I am currently trying to get a feel for the general fighting style but…
'I don't understand it.'
I am performing the motions correctly according to the book but it just doesn't make sense. They just feel like a bunch of disconnected swings.
I tried connecting the swings together but it just feels awkward and janky.
'Are my basics just not good enough? Or did that woman just give me a fake manual to mess with me?'
Frustration started seeping into me.
'I just have to take this slowly.'
I cooled myself down. Losing your calm never helps.
'What could I be missing?'
I observed the other knights training and read through the manual
Suddenly I realized something about the illustrations in the manual.
In a lot of the illustrations, the figure was fighting another person.
This makes sense because Battle Arts are meant for battle.
'But what if…'
"Kael!" I heard someone call my name.
When I turned I saw a brown haired swordsman running towards me while smiling.
'Henry…'
"Hey Kaelith! How have you be-" before he could finish his sentence I interrupted him.
"Henry, I need your help for a moment." I picked up my sword and pointed it at him.
"I need you to attack me. Don't use aura. And could you please try keeping it to Tier 1 power?" Henry was confused for a moment but seeing my serious expression he took out his training sword.
'If I'm right about this…'
"Here I come!" With an announcement, Henry came at me like a flying arrow.
"Haaah"
With an exhale I prepared to defend against his assault.
He swung at me with inhuman speed but not fast enough that I couldn't keep up with it.
I quickly blocked his strike and retaliated.
We were quickly engaged in a flurry of strikes. Henry was attacking as he usually did. But me..
'I can see it—no, sense it.'
I tried incorporating the Sword Art's motions into my swings. It still felt really awkward but I could vaguely sense it.
The rhythm of our fight.
The sounds of our clash kept ringing throughout the afternoon sky.
I asked Henry to restrict his power to my level but he was still more experienced and skilled than me. I was struggling to keep up.
"Hash!" With a bellow the brown haired swordsman's blade pushed backward.
'The rhythm, I can somewhat sense it but there's something more, something just out of reach.'
I skidded backward before raising my sword to defend but there was no one to be found.
"!!!!"
My back tingled with danger as I turned to see my adversary behind me.
Henry thrust his blade towards my chest.
I can't dodge it because it's too fast and if I try to deflect it, I'll be forced into a vulnerable position.
There is no way to escape.
Except…
Ting!
I blocked Henry's sword swiftly but my sword arm was forced away.
I couldn't block the next one.
At least….
Henry pulled back his training sword to strike and then….
Clank!
"Huh?" Henry's surprised voice came out.
His sword was gone. It fell to the ground with a resounding clutter.
The surprised swordsman turned to me—to the sword I had extended near his arm.
I disarmed him.
'I…..I did it. It was incomplete but I definitely used the essence of the Echoing Rhythm Art.' I thought while breathing laboriously.
During the last moment of the exchange, when Henry was setting up his final attack, I felt the rhythm in his attack and disrupted it when I blocked it, causing him to misjudge his advantage.
That is the essence of the Echoing Rhythm. Using the rhythm of you and your opponent to create openings.
All the illustrations from the manual started to make sense now. The reason I couldn't understand it while practicing was because there was no rhythm to sense, meaning it was just a meaningless action.
But I can feel that this isn't everything. There is still more to this Sword Art that I haven't discovered yet.
"Hey Kael! How did you do that!" I ignored Henry's as I picked up the rugged manual again.
'I can see how this is a level 4 manual. Just getting a feel for it took a long time. But this also means that the reward will be incredible at the end.'
"Hey! Don't start ignoring me again!"
'If I properly learn this, I should be able to match the other's in the academy. At first I wasn't interested in the academy but now? I can't help but feel a little excited.'
A small smile crept up to my face as I thought about my future.
'Well, I have a month left. I better get to work.'
"Yes Henry, I hear you. Pick up your sword again. I'll explain as we go."
***
Hm-hmm~
A pleasant humming sound resounded throughout the hall.
Knock Knock
"Come in." A smooth voice answered from the other side.
"Hello, Father." A soft, bell-like voice was heard as the door opened.
The one who walked in was a young girl with pale blond hair and burning red eyes. Her face was neutral but if one paid attention they could see that the girl was in a positive mood.
"Did something good happen?" This time it came from the man at the center of the office. He had auburn hair with a few grey hairs and similar red eyes. He sat behind the desk dealing with some papers.
"Nothing much. I just saw something entertaining," She answered with a melody in her voice.
"Are you talking about the young knight?" The man also known as the Duke, asked while putting down his scribbling pen.
The girl nodded her head. "Yes, it was. Am I right to assume you were also watching?"
The man merely nodded his head. "He understood the essence of a level 4 Sword Art very quickly. That's quite impressive for someone without any experience." His voice sounded neutral but there was a hint of admiration in his tone.
"I get a feeling you are interested in my knight for a different reason, correct?" The girl, Vera, asked with a smile.
Silence filled the room as her question was left unanswered. Though that didn't bother her as she walked right up to the Duke's desk.
"These are the reports of the incidents that happened when you were gone." Changing the topic, Vera put a few stacks of paper on his desk.
The man glanced at it for a moment before nodding his head. "Thank you, Vera. I'll take a look at it."
"You're welcome father." She said with a polite bow. As she was about to leave, she stopped and face her Father
"Father, was your visit to the capital truly just 'business'?" She posed the question with unnatural weight behind it.
"..."
Once again silence filled the room.
Seemingly understanding something from the silence, the girl turned to leave again.
"Goodbye, Father." She closed the door when she went out.
"Seraphina." The girl shivered at the name that came from the Duke.
But her expression was buried as the door slammed shut, silencing her reaction forever.