Deep inside of an icy mountain ridge sat a man alone. He sat below a waterfall and let the water cascade onto his bare body, a rapier lay on his laps. His eyes were closed and his silver hair was plastered to his head from the waterfall.
Sleph had come to this waterfall several times before and had previously provided him enlightenment so he had returned. In seek of a breakthrough of some kind. He had come to the waterfall late last night and had been sitting their till now when the sun was already directly overhead.
Sleph was unfazed by the pain of the water crushing down onto his body, his astonishing muscles as well as a layer of aura protected him from any serious harm. As well as the fact that when he was young he had constantly suffered even greater pain, hence he could remain nonchalant under the relentless assault of nature. If peak tier knight or swordsman attempted this, they would most likely be torn to shreds after a short while.
Although Sleph was born with talent for the sword, he never neglected his training like other talented youths. While they were flaunting their skills, lounging around or chasing women, Sleph was chasing the apex of the sword. His skills had grown through constant fighting but once he had reached the level of Great Swordsman he realised that simply fighting strong opponents couldn't help him to improve anymore. He required 'enlightenment' hence he often meditated and simulated fights in his mind.
Not only was Sleph's body ideal of swordsmanship, his mind was as well. His mind was sharp and wouldn't tire easily. Otherwise he wouldn't have been able to simulate so many duels and battles with strong swordsmen he's fought before.
As a child Sleph was afraid of pain, afraid of the cold, afraid of hunger. But he grew. He slowly grew stronger over the years, and lost those fears.
In the freezing north, with few arable plots of land, food has always been scarce. Especially so when he was a child and living in poverty. He had to fight to survive, always on edge. Even if he had to steal from elderly he did so with no hesitation. Yet he had always felt regret over such matters, hence he made sure in his duchy there would be no poverty. Even if it meant spending his own personal wealth, not like he cared about it in the first place. He had long since lost all attraction for material wealth and worldly desires.
Out of all the swordsmen Sleph has fought, none have lived to tell the tale except one. That exception was a former duke of the Avernus Kingdom and he was once one of the strongest swordsmen in the north. He was a Grand Swordsmen and Sleph had fought him while he was only a peak Great Swordsmen.
At that time he thought no one in the icy plains could match him. He had decided to challenge Duke Galahad Silverburn. This was when he was young and was travelling with Crown Prince Fenrir Avernus -whom was assumed to be dead-.
Fenrir had discovered that Galahad was apart of a conspiracy in the kingdom and told Sleph about this. The two were planning to slay Galahad and waited for his strongest subordinates to leave his side. Sleph had decided that this was perfect opportunity to test his skills with the sword and kill a traitor of the kingdom. So the pair had travelled the Silverburn duchy and managed to infiltrate his estate. Fenrir was only a Peak Swordsman so Sleph made him watch the fight in the distance in fear of him getting hurt.
Sleph and Fenrir had made a name for themselves, as they travelled all around the north and feared countless renowned swordsmen and knights. They were dubbed the 'Sword Brothers' and as they always wore identical armour and cloaks no one had could distinguish the two. This would be deadly for opponents as the two brothers had different strengths, Sleph being vastly superior.
Sleph managed to sneak into Galahad's estate and avoid the detection of the knights and soldiers who were guarding the duke's residence. Although the duke was of high importance to the kingdom so should be heavily defended, he was confident in his abilities especially since he was the strongest in the kingdom. He just thought 'Who would dare attack me? They would simply be seeking death.'
As Sleph was searching for the duke he had overheard from some of the estate's staff that the duke was in his office finishing paperwork. So Sleph began to make his way over to where the duke's office was located.
Outside of the duke's office there were no more guards. In fact, there were little to no guards inside of the estate.
After a brief pause to calm his mind, Sleph dashed through the door of the office and slashed forwards with his aura infused rapier. The duke was calm and simply leaned to the side. Causing Sleph's blade to miss, then the duke grabbed Sleph by the collar and threw him against the nearby bookshelf.
"Insolent!" roared the duke.
Sleph was surprised, but soon got up and prepared for the next attack.
The duke looked the at the man who had just tried to kill him. He drew his sword yet he continued to gaze at the cloaked figure.
"Hah, your one of the 'Sword Brothers' aren't you. Your only a Great Swordsman yet you came here. After I'm finished with you I'll get your brother who's sneaking around outside" said the duke.
Sleph didn't reply and just continued to stand there. He was once again surprised, 'How can this man tell how strong I am with just a glance and how did he know Fenrir was outside.'
"I will show you the true difference between a Grand Swordsman and a pitiful Great Swordsman!" bellowed the duke before slashing forwards.
Galahad's longsword came flying down towards Sleph, having no time to dodge he could only block. With his smaller stature and weaker sword Sleph was flung back into the wall, coughing out blood in the process.
Galahad dashed forwards and stabbed towards Sleph's head, Sleph barely managed to respond in time and pushed the longsword causing it to miss it's mark. Sleph than slashed at Galahad's two legs giving him moderate cuts on both. He then leaped back to create some distance.
Galahad's sword was lodged in the wall and as he had his back turned while he was pulling it out Sleph decided to land a fatal blow.
But right as he arrived behind Galahad, the sword flew out and slashed down towards his chest. The impact crumpled his plate armour and tore his cloak, and launched Sleph out of the office window and onto the balcony. Blood flowed from the side of his mouth, nose and the gashing wound on his chest.
Galahad leapt towards the balcony while Sleph just managed to jump up onto the roof.
Fenrir who was nearby witnessing the fight was horrified. His brother was being pushed back in a fight and not only that, the duke's guards were quickly rushing up towards the office on the third story. Fenrir began to run closer to the estate as he wanted to help his brother before it was too late...
Galahad was now on the roof and began to chase after Sleph. Sleph kicked at the loose tiles on the roof causing them to fly at Galahad. Galahad released a burst of his aura from his body and vaporised the tiles but this slight distraction gave Sleph a chance.
Sleph lunged forwards and stabbed with all his aura imbued on the tip of his rapier.
Galahad saw this and he knew he would not leave this fight unscathed. He retracted his aura and concentrated it all where Sleph sword was aimed for.
But at the last moment Sleph's sword changed course and swung upwards. The aura was no longer on the tip of the rapier but on its edge.
Due to the change in direction Sleph managed to cut off the duke's left arm at the shoulder. Blood gushed out of the wound but Sleph had little aura left and his concentration had been pushed beyond it's limit when he changed the direction of his sword and position of his aura at the last moment.
'How can this boy's control over is body and aura be beyond mine. I must kill him now before he gets even stronger' thought Galahad as he gripped the sword in his right arm tighter.
'I'm done for, sorry brother but you'll have to go on by yourself' thought Sleph as his grip on his sword loosened.
But right as the Galahad and Sleph thought the fight was over, Fenrir leaped onto the roof and smashed a pitch black crystal orb against the roof. Galahad looked at Fenrir in amusement while Sleph wanted to strangle him, only Sleph would've died but now Fenrir was also here, both of them would die.
"You idiot, why didn't you run!" shouted Sleph in a hoarse voice.
"Well that's because we're going to run together!" Fenrir shouted back.
Right as Fenrir said that, large amounts of mana started to gather where the orb was shattered and cracks in space started to form. Fenrir had a big grin on his face as he threw an orb towards Galahad.
Galahad saw the orb flying towards him, he started to feel fear. The first orb contained a teleportation spell that only Great Mages could use so he assumed the orb thrown at him was an attack spell from a Great Mage. In his current state if he were to be hit by that he would be severely injured. So he imbued the last of his aura into his legs and left arm. He leapt backwards over thirty metres away and started to close the wound on his left shoulder.
When Fenrir saw that Galahad had retreated he quickly grabbed Sleph and slung him onto his back. The brothers then jumped through the rift and teleported away.
Galahad who was thirty metres away saw that they two had escaped. He also saw that the other 'magic' orb had also landed and cracked yet there was no magic. The duke was a smart man, he could instantly figure out what had happened.
"THOSE B#STARDS, THEY DARE CUT OFF MY ARM THEN TRICK ME AND ESCAPE!" hollered Galahad.
His knights and mages soon reached the roof and tried to calm down the raging duke. The mages casted healing magic on him while the knights stayed vigilant.
Sleph finally awoke from his trance like state and exited the waterfall. He grabbed his towel and dried himself while changing into the fresh clothes that he had brought with him.
After Sleph finished changing he decided to head back to his castle and continue sparring with his students.
Right as he was about to descend the mountain; he spotted several cloaked figures running on the adjacent mountain...