Dellen eventually made it back to the path without much issue. He only saw one low prime Mystic the whole way back, and it seemed to be leaving the area right as he saw it. He still was careful the whole way, but it only took him about half an hour to get back.
He continued his way down the path. It was about two kilometers from the manor to the village. Due to his treatment at his home, he preferred the village where people were somewhat nicer, even if there were a few bad apples.
He ended up about halfway down the path when he came from the woods. He held the sword warily, expecting it to drain more of his strength at some point, but to his surprise he hadn't gotten that feeling since the first time.
'I wonder what that was anyways. I've never heard of a regular weapon having abilities.' While Mystic Weapons had the abilities of the corresponding Mystic, they all had appearances that match that same Mystic. This sword seemed to be ordinary, if extremely well crafted.
He continued towards the manor and eventually came to the gates with a manticore on the gates. Before getting too close, he took an extra undershirt he had in his pack and wrapped the sword in it. Then tucked it into his belt and planned to pretend it was a cool stick if anyone asked. The guards opened the gates and welcomed Dellen home with a smile. Dellen responded the same wishing them a safe watch. Attacks were rare, but there have been both thief and Mystic attacks before.
Dellen continued through the main path past the garden and the fountain and into the manor. He was Warmane family. His father was the Baron of the Salia region, which consisted of the village, named Salia village, and the rest was either farmland or forest. It was about 100,000 square kilometers and Dellen hadn't ever left the region.
After entering the manor, some of the maids nodded their heads towards him, but they didn't stop what they were doing to talk to him. Of course, this wasn't abnormal, nor was it being rude. They simply couldn't waste time speaking to someone below the children of the Baron.
Dellen continued around the stairs and entered the hallway behind them. After walking for almost ten minutes to get to the opposite side of the manor, he walked down some stairs and opened the door to his room.
He was the illegitimate son of the Baron, so he wasn't considered a full member of the family, and while he did live with his father, he wasn't given the same treatment as his siblings.
Oscar, the eldest son, was first in line for taken up the title of Baron and was only about four months older then Dellen. Reyna was his sister, and she was about a year younger then Dellen. Julian and Lillia were twins, and they were both a year younger then Reyna.
Of course, even with him being older then the twins and only a few months younger then Reyna, he was still treated differently. This was especially true around Kyla Warmane, the Baron's wife. While she showed great affection for her children, she practically ignored Dellen, and any time one of her kids and Dellen interests clash, she quickly suggested the other kids get priority over Dellen.
Dellen didn't pay this any mind anymore after ten years of living with this. It was normal, and he would be suspicious if anything ever changed. While he did wish it would, even at ten years old he knew this wasn't possible.
He cleared his desk off and set most of the books set there on his trunk by his bed. He set the weapon down on the desk and unwrapped it. It was a good blade, even a boy who had only trained with the sword for two years like him could tell.
He continued examining it and noticed that the blade seemed to have thin hollow lines running through it. While if most swords had this, it would probably be more brittle, but for some reason Dellen could tell this sword didn't follow normal logic. He also thought that it was longer when he first picked it up, though that could've simply been him being excited.
He grabbed the hilt and picked it back up. The hilt fit smoothly in his hands, the rough leathery strip wrapped around the hilt gave it a good grip. After giving it a few swings, he really liked the way it felt. He was still too inexperienced to know exactly what felt right, he only knew that it did.
Gideon, the Captain of the Salia Guardsmen, and brother of the Baron, taught Dellen a few things about swordplay. Gideon, like Dellen, was a illegitimate son of Thomas Warmane, the previous Baron of Salia, who died a year before Dellen was born.
Gideon explained that Dellen could still help his father by joining the the Salia Guardsmen and help patrol the village and manor. Maybe he could be promoted to Captain like Gideon and help his brother after Oscar was made Baron.
Dellen actually planned to try this, but sadly his brothers' practice took priority over his. Still, Gideon planned his practice everyday like his brothers', only his was done at sunset. Dellen didn't mind this, and this was actually the only time where he was almost given the same treatment as his siblings.
He was looking out of his window thinking of how thankful he was of his uncle's training when he realized that the sun was actually touching the horizon.
Dellen quickly wrapped the sword up and slid it under his bed and grabbed his wooden training sword from beside his door before quickly slamming the door shut and bolting up the stairs.
He rushed through the corridors, apologizing to the people he almost ran into, trying to make it to the manors training grounds. After five minutes of running, he finally made it and saw Gideon tapping his foot with a wooden sword identical to Dellen's.
"Well, there you are. Quickly, stretch and prepare to start in a few minutes."
"Yes sir!"
Dellen had great respect for his uncle, and if things went according to plan, he would be working under Gideon in four years. Usually, you had to be seventeen to enter the Salia Guardsmen, but noble children were an exception; they got to become a Guardsman at fourteen as long as they had proper training.
Gideon watched as Dellen went through some of the basic moves with his practice sword. Gideon was surprised when his nephew came and asked him to spar two years ago. Gideon knew that the boy would grow up to be a looker, with his dirty blond hair and light brown eyes that seemed yellow when the light hit them. Due to this, Gideon really thought he may grow up to be a bit of a brat.
Well, that was until Gideon saw how Dellen was treated. While the staff seemed to adore him due to him assisting them and speaking to them as equals, his family was different. His father rarely spoke to him and only told him not to do anything that could hurt the Warmane name while he was out of the manor. Though, Gideon had been asked by his brother several times about Dellen, so he knew that Issac still cared for his son, he simply had a strange way of treating them. This didn't surprise Gideon since he always thought Issac acted exactly as their dad.
Dellen's mother died while giving birth, so Gideon assumed Kyla would look after him, it was just the type of person she was. This is why he was surprised when instead she basically ignored him. Of course, seeing the child of another and your husband wouldn't necessarily anger you, they would still be a reminder of your husband's unfaithfulness. Therefore, maybe ignoring him was better then trying to communicate with him.
Dellen's sibling were strange. While Oscar wasn't rude and seemed to honestly care for Dellen, he was too busy with training to be the next Baron that Gideon sometimes forgot that he was only ten. Kyla seemed to be like her mother and ignored him, but she will occasionally ask for his help looking for something.
Julian was simply a brat who thought he was better then all besides his siblings. He didn't include Dellen as a sibling, and instead saw him as someone he could bully without much repercussions. Gideon of course punished him for his behavior towards not just Dellen, but everyone, but it didn't seem to change him in any way. Even though punishment seemed to do nothing to his bad attitude, Julia somehow manages to stop him from doing something simply by scolding him. Gideon had tried this, but it seemed to only work if it was Julia who scolded him.
Julia adored her big brother. She didn't like how her family treated him and she took it upon herself to give him enough love for the whole family. Even now, Gideon saw her watching from the outside garden under a small pavilion. She waved when she noticed her uncle watching and he waved back.
After another minute or two, Gideon decided to start Dellen's training for the day. He made him go through the basic swings until he got bored of watching. He did the same for thrusts and parries as well.
He then made Dellen switch from stance to stance within a few seconds. If the stance wasn't held properly, such as his right foot being at the wrong angle like it was at that moment, Gideon would slap that part. If Dellen didn't fix it within a few seconds, he struck again, harder.
Dellen got agitated after being hit three times in the same spot.
"Why do we do this after swings, thrusts, and parries. It's harder to hold this stances after my arms have been swinging the sword."
He grunted as Gideon hit his shoulder that was tensed too tight.
"For exactly that reason," Gideon responded, "You need to be able to get into and stay in a stance, even if your arms are tired, even if you've been beaten to deaths door and see it creaking open, you need to be able to hold your stance."
They continued in this manor for a few minutes before Gideon though Dellen had enough. Dellen himself could already feeling the bruises starting to form. Then, he heard the dreaded words that, while he knew would come, he still hated.
"Time to spar!"