Corllion's father the king, named a few of the guests that where there to observe his skills, but no mention was made of the late nit visitor from a very secretive guild. And in all honesty, his opinion was the only one the king was interested in. And if his son possessed the skills to join that guild , it would at least put the kings mind at easy, that Corllion's life would not be Senselessly wasted. And if not he would allow his son to explore and experience the wider world for a few hundred years, before having him devote the remainder of his life to the kingdom.
After most of the morning spent, in quiet contemplation, Corllion prepared himself for ( at this moment in his young life) the most important test of skill he had ever faced. He had to prove to his assembled tutors, that he had learn his lessons well enough to be considered a young adult , and no longer a boy.
~~~
As each teacher took their turns asking Corllion a random battery of questions and tests , the final two teachers that had yet to step forward wher the masters of the arcane and martial disciplines. It was not Coincidence, that thing turned of this way it was precisely as the king How to arranged it to be. When the master of the sword went to approach the king raised his hand, to stop the wisened old warrior.
My son the king said aloud, proceed as you see fit with your last two disciplines!
Corllion drew his sword and made a salute bringing the sword to the middle of his body, he Stared at the blade as if inspecting it for the very first time with new eyes. His gaze followed up the razor sharp edge of the blade to the needle like tip of the long sword, like a gentle breeze he blowing through a stand of tall grass his body and blade started to move in a Rhythm as best song was playing that only Corllion could hear, with his free hand , he slipped two fingers into his belt pouch and grabbed a prince of some greyish powder with a unheard mumbled word and a flick of those fingers the blade appeared to glow from deep within.
As this was happening the old guild master Avostad took note that the prince was casting a spell to make himself, gain momentum from the slightest movement, thus increasing his speed in which he could use his blade, this was beyond the level of a third ranked bladesinger initiate.
Corllion kept falling deeper into concentration and focus to complete the spell and at the same time not interrupt the flow of his blade.
As he allowed himself to be drawn into the moment, the fluted holes in the blade started to make a haunting sound.
Avostad's eyebrows raised in amazement. He had never seen a untrained person knowing or unknowingly fall this far into the dance of the blade, and to top it off the lad was still focused enough to maintain the spell at the same time.
After the blade started to sing its song Corllion exploded with motion delivering thrusts here and there into imaginary opponents, and he was doing so, quickly enough to return the blade to its original flow without interrupting the song the blade made. This went on for a few minutes more until Corllion slowed down the blade and returned it to its scabbard ending by facing his father the king and went into a deep bow.
In essence, he had only performed two skills one from each discipline. Each one highlighted his skills very clearly, the spell was extremely difficult to master, yet he further demonstrated his ability to modify it for one hand use. And the martial skill performed to a degree where the air passing the blades edge and the flutter hole made a form of song and he was still able to complete slashes and thrusts without missing a beat in the complicated, song the sword made.
The old guild master , Avostad, thought to himself, this one has set the bar at a very lofty hight. Avostad made his way through the other onlookers be able to approach the young prince as he exited the field, as Corllion passed, Avostad spoke my lord where did you get such an amazing blade? Prince Corllion looked to the man who had asked the question, and stated simply, I had it made. But why the holes and that unique shaped blade? This stopped the prince in his tracks and made him pay closer attention to the old man, in a glance Corllion sook stock of everything he saw before him the man's garb, his gear , his posture, and mannerisms, and the appearance of only a small aged dirk on his belt. Unknowingly Corllion was drawn to this man's question. Everything he saw told him this was a gentle old man and no one of importance, but the hairs on the back of his neck where on end. This man was an extremely powerful and dangerous person.
Yet he could also fell he held no malice for him or anyone in the assembly. , so Corllion Approached him. It fits my style of fighting , the prince could have left it at that but he felt compelled to further speak with the older man.
He continued to explain further, but that's not exactly a proper description. The blade is what I'm building my fighting style around. Is a better explanation.
And did anyone in particular have any input that inspired or influenced your design? Avostad asked.
Would you believe me or think me foolish if I said It was in a dream? Stated Corllion.
Truly? Asked the old man. Yes, in my dream I was a member of band of adventurers enlisted to clear out a coven of vampires, and after a extremely arduous battle, I found myself separated from my companions, and disarmed, I pushed on through a few darkened Corridors, all while being pushed in a descending direction, but I came upon a ancient corpse, the armor was almost a pile of rust by this point I was searching for anything to use as a weapon, when I pulled back a rotted scrap of leather to see this hilt, I grasped it desperately, hoping beyond hope the blade wasn't in the same condition as the armor, and to my surprise it gleamed with an inner light. And I instantly knew this blade had been forged to combat the evil that is Vampires.
I can't really remember much past that point but I burned every detail of that sword into my memory. And as soon as I received my first training sword and lesson, I had the first version of it built. I've had three blades such as this each bringing it closer to the complete size and dimensions of the one in my dream.
Avostad, knew the blade was a ancient bladesinger design, it was one of the most difficult designs as well with all the flutes cut in a single line, it much harder to get individual notes out of a stacked layout such as this, it is why it's not commonly used, yet if one is to master it it is the most powerful and deadly design ever invented by a bladesinger.
With his opinion firmly made now the old guild master took a step back flashed a smile and faded into the the crowd. Corllion shook his head as if coming out of a trance and looked for the older gentleman he had been speaking with, not knowing why he so earnestly and freely answered the man's questions, with out reservation.
Corllion quickly dismissed the mildly troubling thoughts and went to seek out his father.