Knock knock~~
The door rang out. Eleanor increased her cognition and managed to make out the person on the other side of the door. It was William, dressed as the traveler.
He seemed to have left the wheelchair somewhere else, probably because it was too inconvenient.
Eleanor briefly stopped looking at the cure, and opened the door. The traveler came into the room and looked at a combination of beakers, vials, liquid dropper, the poison and the branch being soaked while the essence of mistletoe being carefully removed and kept in a separate container.
"Wooo~~ the guardian dragon's knowledge truly knows no bound.", William said as he took off the his head cover.
"Well…I hope he awakens soon too, instead of just giving me knowledge…"
"I'm sure it will happen soon, he has already given you so much knowledge…but, hm?"
"Is something wrong?"
"Well, this contraption, well I think this can be made more efficiently…"
"Are you an alchemist?"
"Not just an alchemist, the best in fact."
"I see…", Eleanor said not convinced.
"You don't seem convinced my lady, but wait I'll show you"
"H-hey you- wait", Eleanor tried to stop him, but he was too quick and already in front of the procuring cure.
With a flick of his twist, he brought out a new suitcase which he put beside the procuring cure. He took out a vial which contained some kind of silver powder, and another vial which had some kind of liquid. He also got some kind of round rock and something which resembled sponge.
"This method is really good, I mean…well the guardian dragon's knowledge truly must be terrifying, who would ever try to dehydrate a mistletoe branch which has a soothing essence and fill it with a neutral poison which is supplemented with a stabilizing essence for the perfect cure with minimal side effects. But, this method, while great is quite slow, so we can increase the rate by using catalysts; the iron powder, acts to increase the rate of production of essence, but to increase absorption we can use this dehydrating sponge then stick it to the branch right here-", William continued his explanation as he added the other things he had brought out of the suitcase.
He seemed very engrossed in the work, so Eleanor just let him be. She got a pen and paper and began writing a report on how the cure was to be made, and the reason for the disease being deadly. She needed to send this to Francis, after adding all the things that William was doing to the concoction.
Time passed by, and Eleanor finished her part of the report, and it seemed the same was the case for William.
"The cure should be procured in about 4 days now, the method honestly is perfect, there is nothing I can add to improve the efficiency of the result, but even I can only increase the rate of production, truly marvelous, marvelous", he said as he looked at the contraption in front of him.
"Well…"
"Yea, yea, I know it's from the guardian dragon, yes, still-", looked at the table full of contraption, mesmerized.
"Well, in any case, could you write up this report, I need to send this to Francis so that he can apply for a patent apparently"
"Oh? Alright my lady, I won't ask for some part of the royalty but…well-"
"I'll think about it", Eleanor said with a joking tone.
"HAH HAAA", he laughed, as he looked at Eleanor, "My lady, you're quite mature for your age, to the point that I'm suspecting if the guardian dragon even has something to do with your wit"
"Well, I suppose I was always different"
"Haha, right, you should tell that to Sheryl, she was worried sick the last time she saw you"
"Last time?"
"Last time, yes? Oh right you didn't know. After the demon incident, Sheryl was the one who brought you to Francis"
"Oh? She was the one who brought me?"
"Yes, she even threw quite a fit and destroyed a few furniture too. And don't get me started when she found out you were made to fight Mr. Mukor"
"Oh…I didn't know, sorry for being such an inconvenience"
"Hahah, you better be", William said with a sarcastic tone as a joke, but it seemed his joke didn't even fly, much less land.
Eleanor looked a bit dejected; she seemed to be thinking things over.
William saw this and started to feel a bit guilty. He ruffled his hair, as he frowned a bit before speaking-
"My lady…look, it was not your fault, like it isn't your fault for being unconscious, or not having a stable soul, or well…not being able to protect your people yet; you're just so young right now you know…"
"Yes…right.", Eleanor said still dejected.
Obviously William or even anyone; nobody knew the full truth, so all they could do to console her was tell her it wasn't her fault since she was too young, but well…she was once a grand master, someone who made to the peak of her path, a demi-god. For Eleanor, the current situation was much more embarrassing, and even more pitiable.
"My lady, please don't get too dejected, I'd rather not hear Sheryl's nagging again, she was already flaming with her eyes last time"
"..."
"Hm? You guys seem close"
"Well, I'd expect siblings to be close, right?"
"You guys are siblings?"
Sheryl and William looked so much different. The only thing that was same between them was the color of the eyes, but from their face shape to the skin color, they looked very different.
"It's complicated, my lady…I'd rather not get into it…"
"Ah…", Eleanor did not continue any further.
The atmosphere quickly got awkward between them.
"Um…well, my lady what did you to Mr. Mukor, he locked himself in his forge, he has."
"Oh right, my family's heirloom was a piece of the legendary sword, Sigmund, apparently"
"Sigmund? Oh wow! He must be enjoying himself then", William seemed excited, he stopped for a moment, before continuing-
"You know, when I was young I loved this book called 'A hero's tale', read it all the time"
"A hero's tale? Alex loves that book you know…but I don't remember Sigmund's tale being there"
"Well, such a famous book must have multiple editions, the Sigmund and the Selene one were my favorites, but I've always loved Selene's more, I also like the Ella edition books…I had a whole collection of them…the Alexander one was always a favorite among the other children", he seemed to chuckle remembering his past.
"Hm? Well enlighten me, I don't know Sigmund's tale…"
"Well, Sigmund-"
---
Sigmund was the sword held by Beowulf, a sword forged from the souls of his family.
Beowulf was an orphan who found about his family from Eleisa, the goddess of protection, who guided him towards the Sigmund, a sword born from the rage held by those who destroyed Beowulf's family.
Through many quests, trials and tribulations, he is given 9 tasks. He finishes 9 trials to finds the witch of calamity, who killed his family. And after a big battle, he killed the witch and became a sword master of the sky. But well, in the tale, he never truly finds happiness, after he kills the witch of calamity, he never finds peace, and he becomes very depressed since his goal had finished.
He then moved to a village by the end of the setting sun, and meets his lover. He lives a good life, until they pass away from a deadly disease which Beowulf is immune to because of his divine body. Losing everything he wanders the world.
Hearing of his accomplishments, many heroes come to him for a challenge including Ella, the hawk-man hero, and their battle was said to have lit up the entire world even at night. They say they are still fighting, up in the sky and that light has now become the star, the giant turtle's tail.
---
"It's quite depressing to be a children's story isn't it?"
"Well, the one I spoke of is the story which is accepted by most historians, the children stories ends with him living a beautiful life with his wife and children, and die surrounded by family"
"Oh…so, you like the historically accurate one?"
"Well, it doesn't matter much…but yes, it's somehow comforting"
"Comforting? I suppose I can see that…"
"Hah hah~~", William laughed a bit, "Young miss, I'd be very concerned if you were to actually find this comforting, it's a good story, but well it is quite sad, huh"
"I- ugh…nothing"
The two of them looked at the cure contraption, as the branch slowly soaked in the liquids, infused with poison and released their essence. It was going faster than last time, but still faster than before.
"Young miss, why don't you go and see how Sheryl and Alex are training? I will complete this report to give to that guy."
"That guy? Do you guys not have much respect for Francis, your employer? I'm not angry at the disrespect, in fact he deserves it…but-"
"Employer? Haha, young miss you jest right? That guy is more of a convenience I suppose than some employer", the atmosphere seemed to lighten right back up it seemed.
"A convenience? How's so?"
"Well…", he ruffled his hair, trying to form words to explain the situation.
"Well, as much as an asshole the guy is, I can't argue that he is really good at what he does best, business. He once totally ripped off some mayor of some town he went to, literally traded shit for gold I tell you, HAH HAH~~~", he said seemingly laughing while remembering the situation.
"Oh? I suppose he's good at it", Eleanor said somewhat unconvinced, as she had already ripped of 60 gold from him.
"Well, you seemed unconvinced, that's mostly cuz he's got a massive soft spot for you, so he'll prolly let you off the hook.", he looked at the report reading through it.
"Alright then, I'll take a look at my brother's training.", Eleanor said as she walked out of the room.
"Ok young miss, don't forget you are resting today! But, don't forget to have fun too~~", he shouted a bit loudly, before she passed the door.
"Hey, Alex might hear you"
"Well, if he heard me, then I suppose he could prolly be able to defeat my sister too", William began laughing, "But, I suppose I should be careful, the guy is progressing so much faster hah hah~", he dragged out his laugh.
Eleanor chuckled a bit, before turning around and looking at William.
"Tell me about Selene next time alright?"
"Sure young miss, next time"
***
[In the training hall]
The training hall in the Russel estate wasn't much of a hall.
There was a podium in the middle where spars could be held, off to the side were scarecrows to be used a training dummies, and a place where the audience could sit and enjoy the spars. The 'hall' in question was in fact just a ceiling with a few pillars for support, which was there to shade the soldiers during rest.
There were stables in the farthest corner of the training hall, which currently held no arian, all of them had been taken by the debt collectors.
Around the podium lay tracks for the soldiers and knights to train their cardio, and off to the side was a clearance where the soldiers could do some basic warmups.
In that clearance, Elin and Alex were doing some basic training.
"Come on. One. Two. Three.", Elin said as he swung the sword beautifully in a straight line.
"One. Two. Three.", Alex performed the exact movements, however his sword was not refined.
The sword was still too big for his body, but he would grow into them soon, he had a divine body after all, it was obvious he would grow faster physically than most.
Eleanor looked at Alex's stance, he seemed to force his right muscles to act more, thus causing a sense of instability, and his footwork seemed sloppy as he would occasionally lose balance because of the instability. However he seemed to learning new things each time. The same movements continued, Elin did the same thing, this time Alex's sword was more refined, he seemed to loosen his right shoulder a bit before swinging, and the result was a cleaner straight cut.
"He's getting better so much faster, I'm so proud", Eleanor made a remark.", as she made her way closer towards the two of them.
"Ah, my lady.", "Sister!"
Alex was a touch slower than Elin, but he was still quite fast.
"Is training progressing smoothly?"
""Yes""
"Alright then, what are you going to do next?"
"Well, we were going to do footwork training next my lady, but since you are here…I am willing to spar with young master now"
"S-Spar?"
"A spar? I suppose so…how will you handicap yourself Mr. Elin?"
"I will only use my left hand, only block, and well…", Elin stopped for a bit, then walked to the middle of the podium.
SWISH~~~
A circle was drawn around him.
"I will not leave this circle, if I do then young master wins"
"That's fair…brother are you ready?"
"I-I-", he stuttered for a bit.
"Alex-", Eleanor put her hand on his shoulder, "Do you remember what I said last time? About sword masters?"
"Um…sword masters are those who hold their blade without any doubt in their minds…?"
"Yes, you're scared brother, but this isn't a real battle. Mr. Elin will only teach you he will never hurt you back, and well…even in real battle remember, never doubt yourself, or your blade. Be confident.", Eleanor patted his shoulder.
Alex looked at his sister; she had a very proud look on her face. He couldn't let her down, no matter what. He gripped his sword, steeled his nerves, and calmed his beating heart to the best of his abilities. His opponent was a demon-slayer, a being that was probably closer to his sister.
He walked up to the podium, ready.
***
He held his sword against Mr. Elin, who like promised held the sword in his left hand. Elin's sword was pointed at the ground, waiting for its opponent. Alex looked at Elin, he looked at his stance, not even a single opening, if he wanted to win, he would need to create one.
Elin, who stood there, looked into Alex's eyes, "How has my lady Eleanor trained her younger brother, I feel like I'm looking at a beast, a beast whose prey is me, truly incredible…"
Alex clearly did not yet know how to control his 'will', but Elin felt it, he was exerting some pressure just from instincts.
"Incredible. Truly."
Alex's sword which was pointed towards Elin, slowly lowered itself to his side pointed towards the ground.
Swish~
The sword glided through the air, diagonally towards Elin's upper body, Elin brought up his sword, and brought his upper body back. The two swords clashed as Alex's sword was guided by Elin's.
Alex did not stop, as soon as his sword was stopped; he immediately got his balance and tried to swing the sword straight down towards Elin's head. Elin's sword once again a beat faster, blocked the attack and with a slight tilt guided his opponent's sword towards the ground.
Alex spun around and lunged forward, lowering his posture and stabbed his opponent.
Elin, as if ready, immediately brought his sword near his chest, the struck the tip of the sword upwards, Alex almost lost his sword up in the air, but through sheer strength held onto the sword and prepared to strike diagonally downwards.
Elin was a bit surprised when the sword did not go flying off, but it didn't stop her from responding to the attack either. His sword, once more, immediately came near his chest and took his opponent head on; he twisted his wrist slightly as the sword struck each other.
Alex's sword could do nothing other than be guided towards the ground, however this time since he hadn't gotten his balance before attacking, he fell forward carried by the inertia of his own strike.
He fell on the podium.
"Halt! Winner Elin.", Eleanor immediately sounded out, as soon as Elin fell over.
The entire spar lasted a few seconds at most, around a minute mark to be precise. Alex felt quite embarrassed however, Eleanor and Elin were very surprised, and they had not expected Alex to show so much talent.
"Wow~", Elin sounded out.
"Just incredible really, incredible", Eleanor added.
"I-what do you mean? I lost…and I lost so…helplessly…", Alex added frustrated.
"Brother-"
"Young master, please do not be hard on yourself, as a child, the spar you've shown today, your talent, the doubtless nature of your sword, the beauty of your strikes; these aspects put some adults to shame, while you lost, you've shown a dignity which can never be replicated by most; that is why you're incredible young master; the loss you feel today is temporary today, however the lessons you have learnt during is something that will be etched in your heart…"
"I-", he went silent for a bit, "I don't feel like I've learnt anything though, I just feel like I have lost"
"Y-young"
"Brother, the results of any battle is never decided until it is ended. No matter who your opponent is, a normal citizen, or even a sword master; you should face them like you faced Mr. Elin today, fearlessly. Never assume victory or defeat before the end, and truly never back down; that is what you should learn from today. Like Mr. Elin said, even though you lost, the beauty of your sword is something most could never replicate in their life"
"…sister…", Alex looked at his sister, still not convinced nor consoled.
"Hah huh, young master you're like this right now, however if you never lose your path in the future, you will surely see me bragging in the future…"
"Bragging? Never lose my path?"
"Yes, bragging. I will brag till my heart is content, that I trained with Alexander Von Russel, not the old hero but someone much greater than him, hah huh~"
"R-really?"
"I have no reason to lie young master, In my- um yes, I would never lie", Elin almost blew his cover while he was excited, but he quickly regained his thoughts and continued.
Suddenly a thought crossed Elin's mind, he really wanted to see his sister actually spar. In each one of their spar, Eleanor had always held back as much as she could, and even left opening for him to just exploit, but he had never seen his sister ever fight truly. He wanted to see, he wanted to see what a real battle looked like.
"T-then…no… I'm still not convinced, I want to see you and sister spar, I want to see how a real sword battle is held"
"No, y-young master, I can't-"
"Hoh? Ok then", Eleanor was genuinely surprised as to how crafty Alex, to fuel his curiosity he managed to say something knowing it would lead to a terrible outcome, Alexander's tantrums, if she didn't agree.
"M-My lady", Elin sounded in astonishment; she never thought Eleanor would agree to it.
Eleanor grabbed the new claymore she had been given by the dragon.
"Well Mr. Elin, shall we begin?"
"M-My lady, what about your rest?"
"Don't worry, I want to loosen my muscles, beside you don't want to sound like a hypocrite do you? 'Never back down', right?"
"B-but I never-"
"WOOOOOOOOOOO~~~", the traveler shouted in the background in his signature coarse voice sitting in the audience area, as he rolled into a suitable area where he wouldn't roll off.
"WOWWOWOWOWOWO! GO SISTER!", Alex who had just been at the podium quickly sat next to the traveler, shouting alongside him.
"HAAAAAAAAH~, you people…", Elin cursed.
"Well?"
"Let's begin."