"Show me your best swing and thrust. Nothing fancy, just a swing and thrust."
Gripping his sword, Aries got into a swinging stance. Before he swung, however, he turned to his father with a puzzled expression.
"Why do you need to see me do that, though?"
Keel didn't answer for a moment, studying Aries's stance.
'Even though he's questioning it, he still went into stance.'
A smile appeared on his face.
'What an obedient child. His stance is a little sloppy, but it's clear he has some talent for the blade. He hasn't been training for that long, yet he has managed to get the stance seventy percent of the way there. He'll have a bright future.'
"I want to see your swings and thrusts to see how far you've gotten by yourself and assess your ability."
"Oh."
Having gotten his answer, Aries turned his attention back to the sword before him. He let out a warm breath before raising the sword above him and…
Swish!
He swung down.
The wind from the swing caused the grass to sway. He paused for a second, then drew back the sword and thrust it in the empty air before him.
He drew back the sword again, this time keeping it by his side, then he looked at his father.
"How was that?"
His father stroked his beard in thought. Then—
"You did quite well, actually. Better than most just starting."
Aries' face lit up hearing his father's praise, but before he got too excited, he regained his composure and waited for his father to continue.
"But! You put too much power in your swing; you must learn to adjust your power according to your opponent. Even without an opponent, you must control your power. Your arc was also off; it was too wobbly! Your arc must be straight so you can strike accurately!
"Also, you took too long to switch between your swing and thrust!"
Aries's gloomy expression turned to one of confusion.
"But!"
"I know, I know, this is just you showing me your thrust and swing, but from what I've seen, you'll have a delay between the two even in battle. Your thrust was also off point. Where you were looking to strike and where you did strike were two completely different points."
"..."
"Since you haven't learned any type of combat, we'll focus on hand-to-hand for the first few days."
"But—"
"You want to learn the sword, yes. But not only will learning hand-to-hand combat help with sword training, but what would you do if your sword is taken from you? Or if it breaks? This can prevent you from being helpless in those cases."
"Oh…"
"We'll start with body training."
Taking a step forward, Keel shouted.
"Now drop and give me twenty!"
***
—A Week Later.
Swish!
Clack! Clack!
Twack!
After blocking another of his father's attacks, Aries was pushed back. This did not stop him, though, as he circled around him before dashing forward and retaliating with a series of attacks.
Swing, Swing, Thrust, Block, Swing, Thrust, Swing, Parry, Counter, Block.
His attacks were textbook, no different from what you'd see in a book in the library, yet still kept up with his father. Even so, he still failed to make him move from his position.
Getting pushed back again, he prepared himself once more and dashed forward to attack. This time, he released his disguise slightly, revealing his fangs and letting him use more of his mythical creature strength.
He charged a swing, filling it with all the power he could muster.
BANG!
A loud bang sounded from the clash, and a plume of dust rose from the impact.
Aries jumped away and wiped away his sweat with heavy breaths.
"Haah… Did… Haa I…. Haaa do… it?"
The next second, his father's laugh boomed from within the cloud of dust. The dust settled, revealing the laughing figure of his father and skid marks where his feet were.
"You finally did it, kid!"
As he said this, a wide grin was apparent on his face.
Redoing his disguise, Aries' face brightened, and a bright smile found its way onto his face.
"I did it!"
"That you did!"
Aries dropped his sword and ran to hug his father. Keel caught Aries and spun around with him.
He held Aries in his arms and walked into the house.
"Honey! Aries did it!"
Amanda—Aries's mother— peaked her head from the corner with surprise.
"Really? That's amazing! But honey…"
"Hmm?"
A dark expression appeared on her face with a not-so-innocent smile.
"I'm glad you're training Aries and all, but can you please help me pack? We are leaving soon."
'Nope!'
Aries jumped out of his father's hands and ran to the bathroom.
"I'll go shower!"
With tears streaming from his eyes, Keel reached for Aries.
"NOOO! Don't leave meee!"
Amanda grabbed his ear and dragged him to their room.
"Leave the child alone."
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
***
After Aries took a shower, and the two parents finished packing for their trip, they traveled to the Lorels' house to drop off Aries.
"Thank you for keeping him again."
Both Amanda and Keel bowed to Marisa and Arthur, thanking them.
Keel turned to Aries and ruffled his hair.
"Behave well, kiddo."
Amanda knelt, then hugged and kissed Aries's forehead.
"Stay well till we come back."
"Um."
Aries nodded.
Keel pulled out two books—a navy blue book with a silver sword on it, and a handcrafted leather book with silk binding— and handed them to Aries.
Taking them, Aries looked up at his father in confusion.
"What's this?"
"You'll know soon."
Keel smirked
"Okay."
Aries pulled the books closer to himself. His parents gave him one last hug before entering the carriage.
"Alright, we're off!"
His father waved.
"We'll be back soon!"
His mother blew a kiss.
Aries waved back, watching as their carriage rode away. He turned back to the Lorels— who kept him every time his parents left, acting as second parents to him— and bowed.
"Thank you for having me."
The two looked at each other, then turned back to Aries and smiled.