(AN: I COMBINED THE PREVIOUS CHAPTERS TO IMPROVE LENGTH AND PACING (or I'm about to), SO SKIP A COUPLE PARAGRAPHS HERE TO THE BOLD SECTION - IT'S THE NEW CONTENT.)
The next morning, Mordred came again to the knight's training square at the assigned hour. This time Davi was not alone but was also a white-haired man around 60 years old with him.
The older man had an average height and his wizened face had many wrinkles on it, but his body looked robust and he wore steel armor with golden decorations of a golden embroidered dragon, giving off the feeling of a veteran royal knight.
To Mordred he sort-of resembled Ser Barristan from Game of Thrones.
Mordred noticed that upon seeing this man Julius looked surprised as if this veteran knight of extraordinary fame.
"Your Highness." Davi made a courteous bow when Mordred appeared at the square.
The old man made the same gesture, but didn't say anything. He then sized up Mordred with interest and said instead, "Are you the boy that beat Davi?"
"... Yes."
"My name is Hector Grant. At one point, I trained under the previous generation Water God and attained the level of a Water Emperor. Although with my current body, I could probably at best compete with a Sword King," the man spoke with no arrogance or pride as if just stating facts.
'Oh, a Water Emperor?' Mordred raised his eyebrows. He would be satisfied with an experienced King-ranked teacher and even with a Saint-ranked one, but a former Emperor was unexpected; this was a level even above Ghislaine!
There were very few Emperor-ranked swordsmen in the entire Kingdragon Kingdom; there were no God ranks. Even if the old man's strength dropped, the experience would still be there.
Hector continued with a solemn face, "It seems that you were born with a special physique, like the Prince from the Shirone Kingdom. I want to test your level. If you satisfy me, I'll teach you the way of the sword. First, you and Davi will run laps around this training square. I want to see how you compare."
"... I understand." Mordred felt excited. He would be learning from a Sword Emperor!
However, Hector thought that Mordred had a special physique, that his strength was always there, which was false. If he showcased his complete strength in this situation, he would probably be made to always train at this level, but to train his actual physical body and attempt to attain true Battle Aura, he might have to train without Mana Reinforcement as well.
With this in mind, Mordred decided that he should tell the truth. Given that he was known as a Miko with amazing talent for Magic it was perfectly reasonable to say that he could strengthen his body using Magic.
Mordred said, "Actually, my body is not special. I'm using Magic to strengthen myself."
"Hm?" Hearing this, Hector looked surprised.
"My high speed and strength is something that I can turn on and off."
"You're using Magic Power to strengthen your body? So without it your body's strength is just ordinary?" The old knight asked.
"Yes."
"I see…" Hector showed a contemplative look as he touched his chin.
After pondering for a long while, he said, "I remember the old Water God once saying that the Demon God Laplace had a powerful body and could also use Magic Power to strengthen himself. He compared Battle Aura to being a type of Magic Power. If you're a Miko with exceptional talent for handling Magic Power, then you might indeed be able to use Magic to strengthen yourself. However, despite all of his Magical Power, Laplace could still not defeat Battle Aura users like the First Sword God or the Fighting God in a straight fight, so there must be limits to this ability."
Hector gave his analysis.
Mordred heard it but only half-listened. His abilities and physique might not entirely compare to Laplace, so he had to find his own way.
Hector continued, "This means that although you are strong now thanks to your Magic Power, you might not have a talent for Battle Aura... Even so, training with the sword to protect yourself is still useful. If as a swordsman you could reach the level of a King or Emperor, I would still be satisfied teaching such a student. So nothing's changed. I want to test your limits!"
[New] Mordred and Davi positioned themselves at the edge of the training square, ready to run around laps around the place as they were requested by Hector.
Davi felt very awkward competing with a little kid as a 40-year-old man, but he didn't dare to refuse the order of Hector who was one of the four strongest people in the kingdom.
"Begin!"
With Hector's command, Mordred and Davi sprung out from their spots and broke into a sprint.
A while later Mordred had already shot out to be a few meters ahead of Davi as his short legs alternated at a speed that turned them into a blur to a normal person's eyes.
Mordred used Mana Reinforcement, but he didn't use Mana Burst. If he did, his explosive speed would be even greater!
For some time Mordred continued pushing himself as he sprinted along the assigned path of the training square. Cutting the corners was quite challenging and dropped his speed, but it was true for both of them.
Soon enough, Mordred had run two full laps in the time that Davi seemed to have only run a little more than one.
However, by then Mordred's speed naturally dropped noticeably; he couldn't continue sprinting at full speed non-stop, no matter how good his endurance was.
Seeing this result, Hector shouted out: "Enough!"
He had already seen what he wanted. If he continued and tried Mordred out first thing in their training session, just how could he learn swordsmanship properly afterwards? And how could he continue testing him?
Panting to catch his breath, Mordred returned to Hector.
Hector said, "You're almost twice as fast as Davi, which would indicate high level Advanced rank level Battle Aura. But given the shortness of your legs and the length of your stride, your true speed is actually higher than that, probably at Saint rank!"
He stared at Mordred intently. It was no wonder that the 16th Prince won against Davi. Just thanks to his raw speed, he could already defeat most Advanced rank swordsmen!
To achieve this level of speed and combat strength at 5 years old, it was mind boggling.
Mordred was expressionless. His strength came from his continuously rising Magic Power, so at least that much was a given. With his Magic alone he could already lay waste to a major city; beating an average veteran knight was nothing.
Hector continued, "Next I want to test your strength, but if you have Saint rank speed, your strength would be similar. This means ordinary weights are useless to you because there are possibly no weights that are heavy enough. We will use wrestling to test your strength."
'Wrestling? Like arm wrestling?' Mordred thought. Arm wrestling seemed like one of the more fair ways to compare strength, but looking at how much shorter his arm was compared to a muscular male adult when they placed their elbows on a table… was it still a fair test?
But Hector clarified it next: "You will try to push me and I will try to stand my ground. I'll then judge the level of Battle Aura I had to use to resist you. Recover your breath first."
'Ah, this kind of wrestling.'
Just as Hector described it, Mordred would then push against Hector with his full strength and the latter would stand in place and resist it.
At first, Mordred felt as if he was pushing against an iron pillar, but over time Hector seemed to be lowering his strength and after a few attempts Mordred managed to push him a little.
"Alright, enough," said Hector. After a moment, he shared his thoughts. "Your strength is lower than your speed, being only around average Advanced rank."
Hector's estimate was in fact not far from the truth.
Mana Reinforcement amplifies the existence of something, whether it was a person's body or an object. This means that it doesn't just give Mordred an amount of additional strength, but that his base level of fitness has a tremendous impact on the end result because Reinforcement in large part scales off of it.
Mordred's legs were short, so despite receiving a powerful boost from Mana Reinforcement, he could only display a fraction of his true speed via running when compared to a grown adult with twice the stride length. On the other hand, his reaction speed and the speed at which he could swing his sword would be at least 2 times better than that!
However, even though his legs were short, he could still alternate them very quickly, which is the most important aspect of a fast runner.
But when it came to strength, his body was still small and his muscles were thin. There was no way around it. Given his speed, he was weak.
As a result, as a child, Mordred's physical strength was his weakest point, while speed was his strong point, and his reflexes and the speed of his sword were definitely his strongest points by far, alongside his body's durability.
Hector looked down at Mordred sternly as he said, "Good. I got a basic understanding of your physical capabilities. Now I only want us to have a short spar."
Physical tests were good, but nothing beat seeing just how well someone would do in a real fight!
Although Mordred had no formal training, Hector still wanted to experience what it's like to fight against him. In truth, sparring like this might be even more accurate to judge his raw talent for combat.
Mordred once again picked up the wooden short sword, but this time he used it properly to fight.
In the spar against Hector, he utilized the guards and stances that he learned yesterday, but soon enough he ended up wildly swinging his sword around just to be able to react to Hector's extremely fast blows, fighting him more like a Berserker than a Saber, relying purely on Instinct.
After a few dozen blows and a few light smacks that Mordred received with the flat of the blade, Hector solemnly gave his appraisal, "So you're actually the Sensory Type, even though you don't seem like it."
At the end of this sentence, the old knight formed a rare appreciative smile.
'Sensory Type?...' Mordred remembered Ghislaine talking about something similar in the anime.
When fighting Hector, fighting someone seriously for the first time, Mordred had to purely rely on his instincts because he had little to no technique. This is what Hector seemed to comment on – the natural instinct for combat, which someone like Eris and Paul had, but Rudeus lacked.
Wearing a stern face, Hector pointed his wooden sword down vertically, tip touching the ground, and said, "Good. From now on I'll teach you the way of the sword! I'll only warn you in advance that my training will be strict. Are you fine with that?"
Mordred already had an idea that Hector was a disciplined military man, a type of general that would strictly stick to the military code, train his troops harshly and not give them any slack.
"It's fine. Strict training is fine. As long as it's effective," Mordred spoke matter-of-factly.
"Then we shall begin."
And so, Mordred began training under an Emperor-ranked sword master.
It was once again an introduction to and a practice of guards, stances and the most basic movements, as well as lots and lots of repeated practice of attacks and parries against Hector as an opponent.
At the very beginning, Mordred would just learn the basics of handling the sword, which seemed to blend among the three main sword styles.
Even so, the first thing that he was doing was practicing his technique of the two-handed straight thrust – surprisingly, an attack.
Hector taught, "A thrust is often an underestimated form of attack. It's because Sword God Style users do not thrust, they almost only slash. The reasoning is that a person can keep on fighting even after they're stabbed, but if their head gets decapitated, the fight is always over. A wound from a thrust is also easy to heal using Healing Magic, but not so much when something gets severed. Massive blood loss is also a major threat because even Advanced rank Healing Magic cannot restore lost vitality."
"But do not look down on the simple straight thrust! Although it doesn't cause much visible damage, thrust is a very quick and deadly movement that's especially difficult to counter and avoid. A skilled Water God Style user would not primarily use thrusts, but after certain parries it's an excellent way to counter and maul your opponents, weakening them in the following fight. It's even better if you manage to stab them in the face or throat…"
"Unless Longsword of Light gets unleashed, it's difficult for a fight to end in just a single exchange when the two sides are matched. But one should never allow their opponent to launch Longsword of Light in the first place, so wounding your enemy with thrusts and tricky moves is a viable and worthwhile tactic."
Hector spoke with composure and experience.
Being given a demonstration by Hector, Mordred indeed realized just how quick a thrust can be. It was extremely fast and difficult to avoid!
Hector was a Water Emperor, so the Water God Style is certainly the main sword style that Mordred would learn under him, and Hector himself said that it would make perfect use of Mordred's natural instincts and superior reaction speed.
Water God Style is one of the three main schools of swordsmanship in this world. It focused on defense and counters, so it was popular among knights and bodyguards. A young noble when beginning to practice swordsmanship would most often learn the Water God Style.
A Water God Style user would often wear plate armor and focus on defense, waiting for the opponent to attack and expose themselves, then counter the attack and ideally take them down in that single counter. They were also masters of detecting danger and deflecting and cutting down Magic.
But although Hector was primarily a Water God Style user, when Mordred asked him about other sword styles, the elderly knight said that he was still a Sword Saint and could teach him the [Longsword of Silence] and the [Longsword of Light] if he insisted.
This made Mordred overjoyed - although the Water God Style was good and he'd want to learn it too, he felt that Sword God Style's philosophy of attacking first with overwhelming speed was superior to reacting because speed is always king.
The veteran knight said that he also had a level of training in the North God Style. Mordred couldn't ask for a better swordsmanship instructor to teach him the fundamentals!
…
After the harsh training session with Hector, Mordred used Healing Magic on his ached body once again. He then passed by the royal garden.
In the early parts of the garden, Benedicte could be seen sitting at the first bench while swinging her short legs absentmindedly. Behind her stood a 30-year-old maid with a constipated expression as if she hated her job or as if something smelled.
"Mordred!" Seeing Mordred appear, the blue-haired girl excitedly jumped off the bench and quickly ran up to him.
"Hi, Benedicte." Mordred greeted with a plain smile.
Benedicte smiled. She quickly said, "I have the cloth you gave me! It's washed."
Mordred received his handkerchief back. "Okay, thanks."
Following that Mordred took Benedicte to the same glade where they were before.
Benedicte practiced her Water Ball again. After she ran out of Magic Power again, Mordred told her about his swordsmanship training with Hector and his recent experiences.
Little Benedicte listened to everything he had to say with fascination, even though she seemed to not understand some of the words.
Afterwards Mordred told her that he would rarely come to the garden due to being busy with his swordsmanship and studying, making the young girl quite depressed.
But that wasn't before he instructed her to make sure she practiced her Magic every day until she couldn't anymore.
Benedicte was still reluctant to part, but Mordred soon bid his farewell and left early because he had other more important things to do than spending his time entertaining a little girl.
***
***
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Name: Hector Grant
Title: Elite Knight, King's Guard, one of the Four Great Generals, Steady Sword Hector, Hector the Loyal
Age: 60+
Strength: B-
Endurance: B- (B+)
Agility: B-
Mana: F+
<...>
Water God Style: Emperor
Sword God Style: Saint
North God Style: Advanced