Alan's POV:
We were currently strolling through this huge mansion. If I had to compare it's size to our house, I'd say that it would be about a thousand times bigger.
'What do you even need all this room for? Isn't it annoying to have to walk a marathon just to get to the kitchen?'
The halls were also huge. Though I have to say, I didn't like how it looked.
'Why so much white. Everyone knows that black is better.'
Alice on the other hand, would probably have loved this.
Before we left, we put Alice and Rachel in the bed because we didn't want them to have to sleep in such a position.
It actually took us about ten minutes until we arrived at the training room.
It was huge. There seemed to be all kinds of technology that I didn't understand. In the middle, there seemed to be a fighting ring. Somewhere on the right, there was something I had seen before once when I met with Heartfelt and she showed me a couple of things I could get acces to if I worked for her.
It was a room in which simulations of monsters were ran to test awakened and see how strong they are.
And on the left there were these weird bed-looking things. I didn't know what they do. There were also some rooms that I think are for breakthroughs but I'm not sure.
Also, there was this huge armory on the wall. There were over a hundred different kinds of weapons on it.
'Damn. Rich people really have it good it seems. I wonder how my life would've turned out if I were born into such a place.'
But it didn't take long for me to know the answer. 'It doesn't matter. If I had to choose, then I'd live this life over a thousand times instead of abandoning them.'
We walked towards the simulation room. It looks like she wants to see how strong I am.
"Before we start the simulation, do you want to fight barehanded or do you want to try it with a sword?"
What did she mean with a sword? I have never used one in my life and I doubt it would go well if I were to use one now.
"Why would I use a sword? I prefer using my hands and feet."
"Sigh"
She just stared at me for a while before she face-palmed herself and let out a deep sigh.
"Your mainclass is swordsman so you should practice the sword from now on. That is because your mainclass will develop at a much faster rate than your subclasses."
"And also, your martial arts class is already developed to a very high level. You won't be able to improve it any time soon so it's also more beneficial to practice your sword."
I had to say, she made a pretty good point. I had also noticed that my martial arts stopped developing a while ago.
But it just felt odd. Though weapons were allowed in the pits, I never got to make use of one because I couldn't afford one.
I had one time used a dagger, though it was not in the pits. There was this one time that I took a dirty mission to assasinate this rich guy.
I was very desperate for some money back then and it was not like this guy was a saint. He was a piece of shit who liked to violate little girls. I don't have a single regret about offing him.
But it just felt weird for me to use a weapon after all these years. But if what she said is true than in order to become stronger, I'll have to practice the sword.
I went towards the wall were the swords were hanging. There were too many of them so I had no idea which one I should've picked.
'It would be probably be smart if if I pick a one handed sword so I could use my left hand for other things.'
I went and picked up a sword. It only had one sharp edge and it was a pretty thick sword. It also wasn't too big. The blade was about 80 centimeters and the handle was pretty comfortable.
'This should do. It can slice but I can also knock people out without killing them by using the dull edge. It also gives me the chance to use my left hand for martial arts or magic if I need it.'
I went back to the simulation arena. Sylvia was looking with a weird gaze at the sword I picked for some reason.
"Are you going with that? Not that there is anything wrong with it perse, but I have never seen anyone use a sword like that."
Is it a weird pick? Not that it matters to me. I've always been a strange guy so I guess we fit well with each other.
"I'll be using this for now. People not using it very often does not make it a bad pick you know."
"I guess that's true. Alright, enter the arena. We will start at level 1 which consists of three G-rank monsters. Shouldn't be too hard for you."
I went into the small arena. To say I felt nervous was quite the understatement. I wasn't scared of fighting these monsters. It was more about the fact I that I was about to use a sword. It just felt weird.
'Calm down. She said it was just a couple of G-rank beasts. I should use the first level to get used to this sword.'
"Alright, I'm ready. You can start the simulation."
A couple of seconds after I said that, three strange creatures appeared. They looked like wolves, except for the fact that they had two heads.
Two of them immediately jumped at me. Under normal circumstances, i would've dodged one of them and would stab the other with my hand.
But this time I dodged both of them and made some distance. I should have stabbed one of them with the sword or cut their heads off but I didn't for some reason.
'It's like I went back six years ago. I think too much which also takes too much time.'
I had experienced this before. When I entered the pits,it also took me quite a while before I got used to combat. And after six years, I didn't even have to think much during combat, it was all just in my muscle.
But right now I have to not just get used to combat with a sword and turn it into muscle memory, I also have to re-learn everything I had thaught myself.
I didn't have any more time to think as this time, all three came at me. This time, I decided to use the sword.
I came to realize that I don't need to just use the sword. So I did as followed. I jumped over the first one, kicked the second one away and went for the strike on the last one, cutting both heads off.
The beast dropped down before turning into particles and disappearing.
But this clash was good. It made me realize something. 'You don't need much strength for a sword.'
Swords seemed to be more reliant on speed and fluidity than on strength in contrast to hand to hand combat which relies on all three.
'Let's change my style a bit.'
I threw the sword from my right hand to my left hand which kept my right hand free.
I decided to do this for a couple of reasons. The first would be range. Since I have my left leg in front of my right leg at most times, it also meant that my left arm had more range.
The second would be strength. I decided for a one handed sword because I wanted to be able to punch as well. And since I found out that swords don't rely too much on strength, it would be wiser to have my right hand free since it's stronger.
"Alright, I have experimented enough. Time to die."
This time I rushed at them. I quickly despatched of one with a vertical strike, splitting it in two. The other one attacked me from behind but I quickly reacted and threw a roundhouse kick at it.
I immediately followed up while it was distract by hitting it on one of it's heads and stabbed my sword into it.
'That was easy.'
But as if she could read my thoughts, Sylvia's voice came. "Well, since it seems to be so easy for you, how about we go up a notch?"
When she said that, five more monsters appeared. They also seemed to be a bit stronger than the ones before.
"This is gonna be a pain. But at the very least I have decided how I plan to develop my style, let's try to improve it."
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Sylvia POV:
"I already knew this guy was something else but it doesn't get any easier to accept this reality.
After about half an hour into the simulations, Alan was finally done. He was currenlty lying on the ground in the arena, covered in sweat.
"He actually managed to defeat level 8."
Level 8 consisted of eight F rank beasts. Though it usually wouldn't be such a great feat, it is when the person responsible is just G+ rank. And it was also his first time using a sword.
The highest level I ever reached was level 16. But looking at the difference in strength between us, it didn't feel like a great accomplishment.
My astonishment was broken when I heard foot steps coming from next to me.
I looked over to see my father coming towards me. He had the same features like me and Rachel. Everyone with the Silverheart blood had these same features for some reason.
I made a small bow as I greeted him. "Hello father."
He had this soft smile on his face. He always had that smile with me and Rachel. "No need to be so polite with me darling."
But his expression turned serious. It was one of the few times I had seen him like this.
"So he's the one who saved Rachel. You were right about him, he really is a monster. The highest a G+ rank has ever reached on this simulation was level 6. And he broke it by two levels."
It seemed that even father had nothing but praise for him. And that praise was coming from a man who is among the top of the human realm.
'Knowing that guy, he'd probably give some dumb answer like 'okay' or 'oh thanks'.'
"Rachel, I want to have a private talk with this boy, I need you to leave."
Huh? I couldn't understand why he wanted me gone. I wanted to be there as well.
"But father. I'm also interested in this guy. If we can sign a contract with him, he'll be a big help to our family."
He just grabbed my shoulder and shook his head. "I'm sorry, sylvia dear. But the talk I am going to have with him will be really personal for him. I ask you to respect his privacy this one time."
I wanted to retort again but I decided that it would be better to leave. I can see that something within that guy is broken so if my father said it's personal, he must have done some investigation on him and came to find out something very big.
"Understood father. I'll go check up on Rachel and that other girl."
Though I accepted the situation, I was still annoyed at the fact that I couldn't be part of the recruiting.
Of course, someone could always refuse but what were the chances that someone would refuse the offer to join the Silverheart family.
That person would have to be an idiot.
'Now that I think about it. That guy's intelligence was F rank.'
I just shrugged my shoulders. It was now my father's responsibility to recruit him.
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Reynold Silverheart POV:
Today was a one of the more hectic days of my life. And I have lived a very hectic life.
My daughter Rachel went missing. She had apparently ran away from house.
I always knew that she wanted to be more on the outside but my I was way too overprotective of my children. And it even almost caused Rachel to go through something horrible. I had already decided that I would change my ways of parenting after today.
But the other strange thing about today was this boy I was looking at. Though Sylvia had told me he almost killed her, I thought he was just lucky.
But it was far from luck. This boy was nothing short of a monster. He managed to get a subclass to level 6 before even awakening. Even my own mainclass is just at level 8.
And the other thing I noticed about him made me even more baffled about this guy. 'He didn't use his mana even once. This means that he doesn't know how to use it and did everything he did with pure skill and strength.'
In this world, there are geniuses. My daughter for example, is among the strongest around her age. But this kid in front of me couldn't be described in the same league as her. He was just a monster.
Of course, I had dug up some information about him when Sylvia told me about Rachel being fond of this weird guy. I had to keep her safe after all.
And what came from my investigation was quite the surprise. He used to be from the city before tragedy struck their family. This boy, with no other choice, entered the puts to fight.
And I was quite surprised when I saw the footage of some of his fights. 'Brutal' was the only description I had for them.
But I also found out that he was making much less money than he should have. And after some further digging, I found out why.
'Kaya Heartfelt'
Apparently, she had been interested in this boy for years. She kept trying to recruit him and going as far as to rig his matches with far stronger opponents and cutting his earnings.
And yet, this boy still managed to survive in the cruel world he was living in. He could have lived a nice life somewhere but he remained loyal to his family.
He was one of the few people I could say I respected.
I entered the simulation arena and saw the person in suspect lying on the ground. He quickly noticed me and stared into my eyes.
I remembered Sylvia's description of his eyes.
"His eyes were dead. Like he was just some empty shell walking around."
I just shook my head.
'I guess that's what his eyes would look like to most people.'
I approached him and offered him a water bottle.
"It's nice to meet you. My name is Reynold Silverheart."