Time flowed slowly and Benedict eventually woke up. His first sight was an unfamiliar ceiling in an unfamiliar room. However, as his senses returned, he could hear the nearby hustling and bustling of a roaring city. He wondered if this was Corasen. His memories were jumbled up and after struggling for a few minutes, he recalled: The Lannisail Household and Elizabeth! The second he remembered, Benedict bolted upright from his bed. He immediately regretted it. Blood poured from his wounds, tainting his white bandages crimson red. Benedict groaned in agony and cried tears of pain. He was nowhere near well enough to move yet.
As if clockwork, two men entered the room with stern gazes. Benedict felt their coldness and frowned. He had never seen any of them before. Why would they hate him so much? They promptly introduced themselves. The older gentleman was Hidek while the younger was Lanar. Of course, younger was relative. Hidek was in his fifties, old enough to be Benedict's father. Lanar was in his thirties, more than twice the age of Benedict! Their ages were irrelevant though as their identities were more important. They were the disciples of the legendary Sword King himself!
A swordsman himself, Benedict could not stop his admiration from overflowing. The Sword King was the pinnacle master of swordsmanship, the number one undisputed king of swords! Any swordsman worth their salt would want to exchange pointers with him just once. Everyone wanted to see for themselves the gap between them and the Sword King. Even his father, Sir Roland, would not hold back. It was natural to revere the strongest! Although the Sword King might have disappeared decades ago, his reputation remained untouched. No one could topple this man! Now that the Sword King finally returned, how could Benedict restrain his shock and amazement?
However, that emotion faded as quickly as it came. This was not the time! What about Elizabeth? What happened? Seeing his admiration disappear, the two disciples felt insulted. Their master was the Sword King himself! It should have been enough for this kid to grovel at their feet, begging them to impart any crumb of priceless knowledge. The stronger their master was, the more arrogant they became. It was natural that they would see themselves superior to everyone else. To think that Benedict's respect only lasted for half a second, their eyes turned hostile. A surge of killing intent emerged! To insult their master was to insult them! Benedict paled facing their indescribably strong aura. He realized they were Perception Realms!
Before anything could happen though, another person walked in. Hidek and Lanar dispersed their killing intent instantly to turn and bow. Benedict narrowed his eyes and inspected this man. It was the Sword King, Sin Quelldown! Benedict expected the famous swordsman to look more impressive like a true king of swords, but he was left confused. The Sword King looked every bit as ordinary as anyone else. Unlike these two disciplines who were brimming with a deadly aura, the man had not the slightest blip of abnormality. In fact… he even looked a bit weak. Benedict immediately rejected that this person could be that legendary Sword King that dominated several generations!
But the reality was genuinely harsh. This was no imposter! Although a week had passed since the Lannisail explosion, his complexion remained pale. His body and aura were too weak to be used. His condition was nowhere near his peak! He might be able to command Martial Energy to a masterful level, such that it could substituted Magic Energy, but his internal injuries were too severe. The Lannisail explosion could not be underestimated and he was nearly point-blank, facing it head-on! If he recovered that fast, then Lord Wenmord would not be considered a peak Rank 3 warrior! Of course, nothing was truly too dire. All Sword King Sin needed was time and he would return to his true strength!
"What's your name?"
"Benedict Hawken," he answered reflexively. "Pardon me for asking, but are you the Sword King?"
Hidek and Lanar hissed and reached for their swords, but the Sword King merely laughed and replied, "What do you think? Who do you think I am?"
"I…" Benedict was lost for words. "I have some doubts…"
"You! How dare you slander our master?" Lanar lashed out.
His fury was already bottling up for a while now, and it was ready to explode. Hidek was one step behind, condemning Benedict with his silence. Why were they so angry? Honestly, it was for one simple reason. What did the title of Sword King imply? Much like how two tigers could not occupy the same mountain, only one person could inherit the title! That was what it meant to be the king of swords! To that end, Hidek and Lanar had to fight between one another to gain their master's favor. Now that Benedict was introduced into the picture, that meant that the competition just grew more intense. In terms of seniority, they were ahead. However, to gain their master's attention required a certain level of skill. Benedict could not be useless!
Besides, he was a descendent of that famous family, the Hawken Household! Most would look at their Grand Nobility status and ignore they were an ancient martial family. An ancient martial family was one that consistently produced warriors. A regular family would not garner attention, so the Hawken Household was obviously the exception. The Hawken Household could actually nurture Perception Realm combatants! On paper, that might not be significant especially if one knew about the First Hand or Third Hand's abrupt demise. They were both brought down by a single person! However, that was not the norm. In the absence of Rank 3s, Rank 2s reigned supreme! No matter what, Perception Realms would always stand as the backbone. Therefore, the Hawken Household was naturally impressive to nurture so many.
The Sword King's lips curled in slight satisfaction. He was not a fool. How could he not understand what they were thinking? Rather than stopping it, he encouraged it. The fiercer the competition, the better! His previous two disciples were getting too complacent. It was time to stir the pot a little and Benedict was just the person to do it!
The man continued, "I am the Sword King Sin Quelldown. I'm going to be honest. I've decided on making you my third disciple!"
Benedict was stunned. "Me?" he wondered if he had heard wrong. "Are you sure? Why me?"
In his mind, he was the same feeble swordsman that nearly got killed several times trying to save Elizabeth. His pathetic skills allowed him to barely scrape the surface of the Hawken Style's first three stances, much less the style's total of five stances. Additionally, the boy was far from touching on the gates of Perception Realm. Weak in swordsmanship and weak in body, it was no wonder he was considered a failure by his father. Benedict viewed himself the same. Compared to his powerful brother, Sir Lorenzo, Benedict did not seem to have any merits! It was more logical to assume he was mistaken for his brother instead… Hearing that deflation in confidence, the Sword King frowned. The body was one thing, but if the mind was weak then everything could be pointless. To become the Sword King, one could not be weak of heart!