Elijah stood beside his grandfather inside the forge that was beside their house.
"Silver Stream requires a blade, sword or spear. I mastered it with the blade, that's why I forged one for you. I'm the only one from the clan that would teach you our Secret Art now because the clan doesn't acknowledge your existence, you aren't part of the clan. You will have to sign a Life Contract later to never disclose anything about it. But don't worry it is good this way."
"It's because my eyes right?" Asked Elijah.
"...Yes, Eye Bloodlines are the rarest ones. There only exist a handful of them, but every single one of them have frightening and abstract powers." Roland stroked his beard, 'Especially yours that couldn't even be detected by a High Bloodline Crystal.'
"I understand. Grandpa can I use two blades?" Asked Elijah carefully.
'Hmm?' Roland looked surprised at Elijah, "Why two?"
"I want to master the blade with both hands." Answered Elijah with a poker face.
'It's a good thing I have the headband covering my eyes...I can't just say that I want to use two blades cuz I think it looks cool....'
Roland kept stroking his silver beard, "It should be alright, but it would take more time training that way, are you sure about it?"
"Yes grandpa."
"Good, take two wood blades and follow me." Ordered Roland who left the forge carrying a long wood blade on his shoulder.
Elijah followed his grandfather farther away from the house to a place that could be used as training ground. There was grass all over the place with only a single huge tree standing there.
"Watch me." Said Roland
He swung the wood blade down, using both hands, stopping it in middle.
'What should I watch he just...' Thought Elijah confused who stood beside Roland.
His thoughts got interrupted when a strong force hit him. He put his hands up out of reflex.
'What the hell!?' Thought Elijah shocked.
Roland smirked at Elijah's reaction. He started to move around.
It looked like he moved randomly, slashing the air right, left, up and down. He rotated a lot around, the wood blade followed him everywhere. Sometimes he would slash unexpected at his blind spot behind him while rotating, making it hard to predict where he would attack the next moment. Despite Roland often rotating and swirling around a lot, he somehow kept his balance. It looked like his feets were rooted to the ground.
Elijah watched him with his mouth wide agape. Every slash gave him goosebumps. It looked like a deadly dance which used the power generated by the rotating moves.
A sharp invisible force exploded out wherever Roland moved the wood blade, Elijah gulped hard.
'Nuts! Ridiculous...and what's up with those sharp sounds?'
Every time Roland swung the wood blade, a sharp sound would be created that echoed through the area.
Not only that, the strong force made Elijah's legs shake.
Right at the end of Roland's demonstration...the wood blade blurred, only silver streaks could be seen. A stream of silver streaks appeared everywhere Roland's blade passed.
Roland finally stopped, looking at Elijah with a smug expression, "And?"
Elijah walked to the silver stream likes slashes that were still in the air where Roland's blade passed, he reached his hand out to touch them.
"You can touch them if you want to loose your hand hahaha." Commented Roland laughing.
Elijah retracted his hand immediately, a shiver ran through his spine.
"Awesome this is so overpowered, I didn't know you were that strong grandpa!" Said Elijah Excited.
"Hahahahah one day you will be as strong as me, if you don't slack off."
"Can you teach me?" Asked Elijah eagerly.
"I will but first....you need to train the basics and slowly build up a sturdy foundation."
"Yes. Sir!"
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A lone teen could be seen training with one steel blade in each hand. He was surrounded by snow, steam would come out of his mouth every time he breathed out, showing just how cold it was outside.
A sharp sound could be heard when he slashed out. The snow under him would fly up every time he rotated.
'Damn! It's so difficult!'
Elijah stopped moving, breathing hard. His whole body was sweating.
Five years had passed and he was 12 years old now.
His grandfather had teached him everything he had to know in the first year, then he left him alone....
Yes he left Elijah alone, apparently every Silver Stream practitioner would develop their own version from the basics. Elijah had thought that he would be able to master the Secret Art in no time. Man was he wrong, how could the Secret Art from one of the 3 Great Clans be so easy to master? He was still stuck in the Initial Stage. Every Martial Art or Skill had 4 stages.
Initial Stage, Aura Stage, Force Stage and Intent Stage. His grandfather had reached the Intent Stage in the Silver Stream Secret Art. The high difficulty to reach those Stages was the reason why most Warriors only learned two or three arts. There are of course people who have it easier than everyone else, the so called Genius.
Elijah wasn't one of them, at least he believed that. Roland alway kept an eye on him and was very pleased with Elijah's progress.
'Five years....five goddamn years and I'm still stuck at the Initial Stage....Krav Maga from Earth is a joke in comparison to Silver Stream...' Cursed Elijah inwardly.
He kept questioning himself what he did wrong. He did everything exactly how he learnt.
'I miss something...or I'm an idiot....'
"Elijah."
He turned around when he heard his grandfather's voice calling him.
"Are you wondering what you are lacking?" Asked Roland while stroking his beard like an all knowing sage.
'This old fart!' Cursed Elijah again, "Yes I am, please guide me grandpa..."
Roland laughed heartily before speaking, "Let me ask you some questions, why did you learn Silver Stream? For what do you use it?"
Elijah frowned, "To kill of course."
"Kill what?" Asked Roland again.
"My enemies...."
"Oh? It doesn't look like you have enemies from the way you use your blades."
"I don't have enem....." Something made click inside Elijah's mind.
'He is right...I only trained with the goal of building a solid foundation without harming my young body....I always held back! I never thought about actually killing people!'
Roland nodded happily when he saw Elijah pondering about his questions.
"There are two reasons why you weren't able to reach the Aura Stage. One your body wasn't ready yet. Second it doesn't matter how much you train you need to actual battle to evolve your own form of Silver Stream." Explained Roland.
Elijah nodded when he heard his grandfather's words.
"Good, our Silver Clan sends all the young warrior to a survival year inside our clans training forest filled with Tier 1 Demonic Beast. You can't go there because of your case." Said Roland, hearing that made Elijah sigh, 'I only share the last name and was banished from the clan after my Second Uncle reported my results to the Patriarch...'
"But...we have a way, you can train on Cliff Island. You have read about it right?"
"Yes, it is one of the six islands which is inhabited by Demonic Beast." Answered Elijah.
"What do you think? Do you want to train there for the remaining two years?" Asked Roland smugly.
Elijah pushed his headband up, staring at his grandfather with his silver draconic eyes.
"Good hahahaha!" Roared Roland proudly.