Chapter 35 Those Who Teach (4).
Chapter 35 Those Who Teach (4).
Chapter 35 - Those Who Teach (4)
“Yes. Moreover, he was also an one-eyed person.”
Azell’s second teacher didn’t have a left eye or a left arm. He was an one-eyed and one-armed swordsman.
His name was Balf, but he didn’t tell Arrieta his name. At the time, he was one of the most well known name amongst the mercenaries in the eastern part of the continent.
Logic would dictate a person with physical disabilities wouldn’t be able to function on a battle field. If he was any other mercenary, he would have been forced into retirement.
However, no one could disregard Balf.
“He was a Sextuple Master.”
“He was a Sextuple Master? A mere mercenary was able to rise to such heights?”
Sextuple master was a height only a select few had reached inside the entire Rulain Kingdom. However, the person with such skills was a mere mercenary?
Azell spoke.
“He wasn’t even a Master before he lost his eye and arm. When he was confined to his bed, he had fiercely cultivated his mind. He was undaunted by his disabilities, and he was able to reach such height with much efforts.”
Balf became interested in Azell when they had fallen into a devastating trap.
The monsters controlled by the Dragon Demon race used the night as cover to ambush the humans. They were fundamentally nocturnal creatures, so their night eyes were much better than the humans.
Of course, the humans knew about this, so they were very vigilant during the night. However, at that moment, the company affiliated with Azell and Balf had fallen into a trap set by the Dragon Demon race. Their command structure had been shattered, and they were in the process of fleeing.
When the fleeing soldiers finally felt they had barely escaped, the enemies had tracked them down, and the night attack started.
Confusion and fear started spreading like wildfire. The soldiers weren’t even able to resist as they fell one by one.
Few amongst them fought back, but they couldn’t turn the tide of battle.
Azell wasn’t fighting to turn the tide of the battle. He just wanted find a way to survive. During the confusion, Azell defeated the enemies one at a time, and before he knew it his back was against Balf.
Balf eyed Azell, and he realized Azell wasn’t a Spirit Order practitioner. However, he was surprised Azell was able to use his developed senses to stay alive as he accurately assessed the situation.
‘Hey, kid. You want to be my disciple?’
After they were able to escape the enemy’s encirclement, Balf made the suggestion. From Azell’s perspective, he had no reasons to refuse his proposal. If he looked back on it, he was able to earn this opportunity, because of his first teacher Rogan.
Azell guessed Rogan was a noble in hiding. He suspected this since the sword art he taught was structured. Moreover, Azell didn’t know this at the time, but he had taught him the foundation he needed to learn Spirit Order. This was why his senses were superior to others.
“My second teacher focused on developing my senses to the extreme.”
As a Spirit Order practitioner, it was natural for one to train the mind and senses. However, Balf had obsessively focused on teaching these aspects.
“A typical example was dodging attacks in the dark. In the latter stages, he would hang swinging knives on the ceiling then we would spar in a room in absolute darkness.”
“It was a brutal training method, but I would venture you had an easy time overcoming it.”
“Truthfully, that is so. It wasn’t that hard up to that point.”
Azell truthfully acknowledged it. If he looked back on it, he was a very talented student. Each obstacle thrown at him by his teacher was solved in order by him.
However, Balf wasn’t satisfied with this. He covered Azell’s eyes, and Balf forbid him from piercing through the darkness with Spirit Order techniques. Later on he even plugged his ears to seal his hearing.
“I even learned about reacting to threats with parts of my body tied.”
Sometimes, he had to fight with one of his arms tied.
Another time, he had to block torrent of attacks sitting down with his legs tied together.
He also had to train with both arms tied behind his back, then he was taught to fight while he was hung backwards on his feet.
“The point of the training was to never lose one’s senses in any type of situation.”
Balf’s training was so harsh that Azell had almost died numerous times. Even a powerful Spirit Order practitioner like Balf couldn’t completely control the dangerous training scenarios.
“That is… Isn’t it abuse instead of training?”
“I won’t deny it. At times, I thought he was really crazy. I thought my teacher had gone crazy, and he was trying to kill me.”
“What happened to him?”
“He died. He had an illness.”
This was the reason why Balf took in Azell as his disciple. He wanted to pass on his skill he had earned through overcoming his disabilities.
However, once he took in Azell as his disciple, his potential was so high that Balf got greedy. He wasn’t satisfied with just passing down his techniques. He wanted Azell to reach a level he was never able to.
His impending death stirred up a madness within him. He lost all his sense of reason, and he drove Azell to the brink a couple times as Azell had to overcome numerous near-death experiences. Most of the enormous wealth Balf had accumulated during his mercenary days were used to treat Azell.
“I learned under him for 2 years.”
When Balf passed away, Azell was already a Quadruple Mast at age 17. Moreover, his senses had surpassed Balf’s, and it had approached a level only Balf could dream about.
‘His grave might still be there.’
After the Dragon Demon war ended, Azell had moved Balf’s grave to the territory of Marquis Karzark. Did any remnant of the grave survive until the present day?
After thinking up to this point, Azell asked Arrieta a question.
“How was it for princess?”
“Mmmm? You aren’t going to tell me about your 3rd teacher? You are asking for my story?”
“My story had gone on long enough. When I have the chance, I promise I’ll tell you the story. I want to hear about the teaching you received from the Dragon Demon Duke. ”
“You are trying to dig up a girl’s past? It is rude, and it isn’t an action befitting of a knight.”
After Arrieta made the joke, she started talking about herself.
6
“Well. That person… If I borrow a description given to him by others, he was a mad man.”
“…what?”
Mad man. Basically, he was a crazy person.
The legendary figure in the kingdom, and the person, who had taught the Dragon Demon Princess her sword art, was called such a name? Azell was taken aback, and Arrieta could only laugh at this sight.
“Initially, my teacher was offered the position. When he came to the royal throne, he came to ask for a permission.”
“What did he ask for permission?”
“He didn’t want any outside interference when he taught me. Moreover, he wouldn’t treat me like a royal. If his conditions weren’t met, then he wouldn’t accept the position as my teacher.”
Teaching a royal family member was prestigious in and of itself. However, one had to be careful when dealing with the royals. This was the reason why the Dragon Demon Duke refused to be the royal family’s teacher. He declared he couldn’t teach, while he had to ingratiate himself to his student.
The Dragon Demon Duke’s attitude was well known, but they still invited him to teach the siblings Arrieta and Seigar…
“Ah, Seigar is my brother.”
“I’ve heard about him.”
The Dragon Demon Prince, Seigar Weil Rulain, was 2 years younger than Arrieta. He had his coming of age ceremony this year, and he had entered into the battlefield.
“Anyways, we insisted on inviting the Duke of Tarantos as our teacher, because he is a relative of our mother.”
Arrieta and Seigar was an indirect descendant of the Duke of Tarantos on their mother’s side.
Since they had that connection, they aggressively requested him to be their teacher.
‘These children has to go out into the world to fight. We need a teacher who’ll train them to be stronger than everyone.’
This was the argument given by the Dragon Demon queen.
In every generation, there could be only one Dragon Demon prince and princess. There were times when only one of them existed.
After they have their coming-of-age ceremony, they’ll be sent into battles, so their destiny was very arduous. After the crown was given to the next in line, the new Dragon Demon queen weds the sovereign. She would have to fight for the honor of the throne until she gave birth to her children.
Of course, the throne was very selective in which battles they would enter. However, live battles were unpredictable, and unexpected events happened. Moreover, there were many people relying on their powerful strength, so some had died fulfilling their duties.
This truth made the Dragon Demon queen want her children to possess enough power to face their oncoming destiny.
“The throne accepted his conditions, so I started receiving his guidance when I was eight.”
“Did you train with your brother?”
“No. From the beginning, he didn’t have confidence in teaching two people. He told Seigar to come when he reached my age. Therefore, I was solely able to receive his instructions for two years.”
Arrieta was dragged outside of the influence of the throne, then she received instruction on the battle field by the Dragon Demon Duke for 2 years.
“That person was as much of an ill-tempered person as your teacher, Sir Azell. For example, after teaching me for around half a year, he dropped me deep inside a forest with only one sword in my possession. He required me to survive and live alone for one month.”
“Around half a year… Weren’t you still 8 years old?”
“Yes.”
“How could he do such an act to a 8 year old girl….”
“It was also winter at the time. I really thought I was going to die.”
Arrieta laughed bitterly.
She was a young 8 year old girl, but she was also a Dragon Demon. With instructions from the Dragon Demon Duke, her physical ability had already exceeded a grown adult’s capability. She had also learned the basics of the Dragon Energy.
Still, she had to survive in the winter wilderness with only a sword, so it was a brutal tribulation. If she thoughtlessly made a fire then it would attract the monsters. She had also gone into dangerous areas as she chased after her quarry. She had to overcome frequent brushes with death….
If she thought about it right now, she felt a more sense of crisis during that time compared to when she first stepped into her first battle. At that time, she was weak and inexperienced in every facet.
“There were also other unforgettable experiences. He dropped me in the middle of an unknown city rampant with criminals, then he ordered me to come back to the estate without being seen….”
She had received a lot of training in areas unrelated to martial arts and Dragon energy. At the time she wondered what she was doing, but she understood the purpose of the training now.
Azell was impressed.
‘Indeed. I understand why princess’ personality is like this now.’
From Azell’s perspective, Arrieta was really weird. Even if one was part of the royal family, one develops a sense of reality when one come into frequent contact with the lives of one’s subordinate. Even if he took this into account, Arrieta was too informal compared to her station as a princess.
‘It’s because of her teacher.’
Arrieta had a teacher with an excessively unfettered and disordered mind, so she looked at the world differently from the other royal family members. Even if one was of common birth, she treated them like people. She also developed an eye for evaluating the other’s skill without any bias.
Azell spoke.
“I want to meet him at least once.”
“You want to?”
“Yes?”
“If you return to the royal palace, I could probably set up a meeting. I’m sure he would be amused to see someone like you..”
“Well, I’m fine with that.”
“Also…….”
Arrieta spoke after she hesitated for a little.
“If you have time, could you face off against me?”
“Face off against you… What do you mean?”
“I meant sparring.”
“Mmm. It won’t be a problem for me, but Ms. Enora will get angry.”
“That is why I’ve been holding myself back until now. However, my body is restless when I see you spar daily with Sir Giles.”
Even if she was a 17 year old girl, Arrieta was a martial artist, who had trained rigorously since her childhood. During this trip, she wasn’t in a position to use her sword, so she quietly acted as an authority figure. Therefore, she was a bit restless.
Azell spoke.
“Ms. Enora won’t stand for this.”
“I’ll just order her to watch us obediently.”
“That is abuse of authority.”
“Isn’t authority meant to be used in a situation like this?”
“Moreover, she can’t do anything towards her superior, so she will turn her grievance towards me….”
“Then just take the beating from Enora. I heard subordinates are suppose to be protectors for their superiors.”
“….Wow. You are too much.”
When Azell started to shake, Arrieta laughed.
This was how the night progressed.