Phantom Combat.
Whenever Silver remembered this ability of his which he had gotten by chance, several emotions he could not fully describe with words always emerged in his heart.
The prevalent emotions were Pride, Joy, and… Frustration.
Pride because he was able to learn and comprehend Phantom Combat on his own.
Joy because his combat skills was definitely higher than most nobles his age due to Phantom Combat.
And Frustration because he knows that Phantom Combat could not change his situation in the slightest.
Phantom Combat was not an ability Silver was born with nor was it an ability that could shake the heavens and the earth. It was an ability that anybody with a high cultivation level or high mental capabilities could recreate with ease.
When Silver was looking for ways to get stronger, he chose to relate and talk to most of the Spartan guards and even royal guards for advice and also combat instructions. But, all of them denied his request for them to teach him more about combat.
And there was a reason for that.
Due to the uniqueness of the physique, bloodlines, and cultivation art of Spartans, most Spartan youths were not taught advanced combat techniques of Sparta until they passed their rite of passage and graduated into the Spartan Warrior Academy.
The reason was due to the fact that the advanced combat techniques of Sparta placed immense strain on the body, and if one did not have a sufficiently powerful physique or had not opened their bloodline gates, the chances of death was rather high.
So when Spartan youths graduated from the Spartan Academy, they were only taught basic combat techniques, and this was also the same for Silver who was royalty.
It was generally known that youths should not be taught any random combat technique since it could affect the foundations of the youth and it could also make it more difficult for the youth to learn new and better combat techniques.
But Silver gave zero shit about all of these.
He knew he needed to improve his strength, and to do that he needed to ignore the rules and improve his combat abilities so as to increase in his chances during his rite of passage and make a name for himself.
Because of this, Silver met with several guards and royal guards and asked them to teach him. But they all refused, and Silver understood.
If it was known that his foundation to learn advanced spartan combat techniques had been ruined because he learnt some combat techniques from a mere guard or even royal guard, their heads and the heads of their family members would be seen on a spike the following day.
Hell, even if Silver promised them all the gold and riches he was meant to possess in the future, they would never choose to teach him.
When Silver realized this, he instead chose to face each guard that agreed to face him in a spar.
At first he was beaten black and blue due to his inexperience in combat, after facing several guards every single day without fail, Silver's combat skills increased to a point where he could make low ranking guards face him without relaxing their guard.
But was that enough to change his fate?
Definitely not!
So, Silver decided to spar with the head of the royal guards.
When the head heard of his request, he was surprised and baffled to say the least. But since it was just a spar and not a training a session where he would teach the young prince, the head of the royal guards agreed to his request.
The spar was a complete one sided beat-down much to the suprise of no one. Although Silver knew he could not learn much if he lost so easily when fighting against the head of the royal guards, Silver still chose to spar with the head of the royal guards whenever he was free.
Eventually, during one of his sparring session with the head of the royal guards, he was given a scroll.
The head of the royal guards told him that he happened to chance upon the scroll, and since he had heard of Silver's sparring sessions with almost every Spartan guard and royal guard, he felt that the scroll was going to be of use to him.
This was how he got the ability, Phantom Combat.
Silver remembered asking whether the head of the royal guards had learnt the skill, and the response he received was:
'Yes. But it's not useful to me at all. In fact, the skill is only useful to those like you who want to gain 'proper' combat experience in a safe manner. For me, I can recreate such a skill even with my eyes closed.'
When the head of the royal guards said this, Silver knew what he meant by 'proper combat experience'.
Since Phantom Combat was related to his imagination and majorly what he knew about the combat abilities of his enemies, Silver knew this was a severe limitation of the ability, Phantom Combat.
'At least my combat ability is higher than most kids my age.'
Just as Silver had this thought, he approached one of the gates of the Great Wall, and when he got closer to the gate, he saw the guards in front of the gate point their spears at him. He could even feel a tinge of killing intent from the top of the Great Wall.
"Halt! Identify yourself!"
A deep voice resounded in the surroundings, and Silver stopped and raised his arms.
"It's me, Silver Morningstar, the young prince!"
Silver took a few steps forward to show his face, but the guards did not lower their spears, and Silver was not surprised by this.
He simply waited with a calm expression, and just as he expected, a few seconds later, the guard at the head of the other guards touched his ear and raised his arm.
"Lower your weapons, he's the young prince."
All the guards lowered their weapons and the head guard released a breath of relief.
"Young prince, you don't know how relieved we are to see your safe return."
Silver could do nothing but smile nervously.
"It's about my mother isn't it?"
The head guard nodded.
"If you delayed for another hour we would have sent someone to look for you."
Silver scratched the side of his head and chuckled with a nervous smile.
"Did she say anything else?"
The head guard nodded, although he had a confused expression.
"She said I should tell you the word, 'Test Subject'."
Silver's clothes became soaking wet, and he took several gulps. He chuckled, and then he turned back.
"Hehehe. Can you please my mother that I forget something and I'll be back before nightfall?"
The head guard instantly became baffled when he heard Silver's words and saw his reaction.
"Well, she said if you decide to return to the forest, I should tell you, 'One Week'."
Silver paused, and with his head hung low, he turned back and walked to the gate.
"Thank you for the information. I'll be on my way then."
The head guard nodded, and then he looked at his colleagues with a baffled expression.
They all shrugged in response.
"Whatever, he'll be fine regardless."