(Maia's Pov)
The Sentinel's Headquarters have many training areas for all kinds of Recruits. For example, there are both indoor and outdoor ones, whether it's shooting ranges for archers, casting yards for mages or of course like in this case, practicing gyms for not just swordsmen, but any other kind of close ranged fighters. There are also just general gyms where they can strengthen their bodies, alongside cafeterias spread around every single training ground, since these guys have, well, appropriate appetites respective to their programs.
Granted, there are many lazy fellas, but the bigger part of the picture does still train relentlessly. For that matter, it's not like the swordsmen don't train, they just don't really hone their technique if anything, which is exactly the issue.
When I arrived earlier this morning, I had selected the ones that were in severe need of today's course, and brought them all to a single indoor gym. It was now around 10 minutes till 12, so I had also just come around once again after going back to my office to do some paperwork.
When I got in, some of them were training among each other, or rather, borderline trying to playfully kill each other with wooden swords, while others preferred mannequins, or were patient enough to just wait for their lesson to begin.
Of course, I'm sure you can guess but the reactions I got when I told them that my little brother would train them were fairly mixed to say the least… but the amount of genuinely pissed individuals was highly overwhelmed by the ones that kinda just didn't care? Or at least didn't expect much, nor seem to intend on misbehaving, so I guess that's fine in itself.
"Yo! Lazy department. It's almost 12 so you can start settling down, alright?"
I waved at them pretty casually, since personally I don't really like taking on the tyrant leading role that much. I may be their boss, but being all formal all the time is a bit of a pain.
"Don't call us that…"
"It's a fact though, ain't it? You wouldn't be here otherwise."
There were around 1000 or so individuals here. Compared to the total number of Swordsmen Recruits this was pretty much just a fraction of them, but it was still an overly large number to say the least.
"Tsk… you don't have to put it that way."
The guy that wasn't trying to hide his displeasure in this event was named Shorn. Individually he's on the mid side when it comes to mana density, but he isn't a bad person to have as a Recruit. He has gone on a few expeditions before, but only managed to slay 2 monsters in his career so far. He's been here for roughly 3 years or so. His temperament aside, it's not like he was a bad guy or anything, but he was unfortunately among the most pitifully unskilled people in the entire room when it came to the sword.
"Now, now. Give it up, Shorn. I'll help you put the mannequins away, so let's just get ready."
The girl that walked up to him, then scratched his head, frankly taming him, was none other than his wife. Her name is Talo, and is slightly more skilled than him as far as the sword goes… though she's still just as bad as anyone here for that matter. It's not unusual for couples to both end up here, considering that it's also just safer overall for them, rather than being separated so often.
Well, it's also just a matter of luck at the end of the day, isn't it? Whether your partner is also strong enough to reach your position or not, but you'd be surprised how much hard work and determination can play when it comes to it. Talo was honestly a life saver in most cases, since she's pretty much the only one that can make Shorn pipe down without any real issues. They're a pretty cute couple to make it short.
As the 2 of them went off to start cleaning with some other Recruits, a few others approached me instead.
"Say, Maia, is he really gonna come?"
"The famous little brother… the one that we hear everyone talk about!"
"And not to mention, it's even other captains that talk about him… just how amazing is he?"
"Well, it's not just the Captains either…"
I raised my arms in a vague attempt at calming them down, or at least having them talk one at a time, but it didn't really do much, as you can tell.
"One at a time guys, one at a time…"
"Come on, you can't blame us!"
"That's right! After all of the rumors around him, there's no way we wouldn't be curious!"
"He should be arriving in a few minutes, so don't worry, you'll meet him soon, alright? 'Luna' is bringing him."
They were a little visibly shook when I mentioned Luna, but that much was expected. Though I'm not saying everyone is aware of it, since frankly speaking not everyone really cares enough, it's really not a secret that Luna is just Mio, so it's natural for some of them to be a little nervous.
Granted, Mio usually walks around in her true body of course, and she's not particularly in on the tyrant play either, but it's not like she's best of buddies with everyone or anything. For that matter, I'm pretty sure that 90% of the people in this room have probably wanted to say something to her before seeing her walk around but were too scared to approach her.
I can't really blame them since she is the Commander at the end of the day, but I'm actually looking forward to their reactions. What reactions you may ask? Hehe, I'm glad you asked! Of course, I'm talking about not just them seeing Luna who's a lot more approachable than Mio, but also their reactions to Luna in lovebird mode!
It's actually not that usual for them to see Luna as a whole, which is exactly why it's not something every single one of them knows. It may happen sometimes if Mio just can't be bothered to switch back after seeing Cael, but generally she's in her own self. The few times when she is seen as Luna though, it seems like people have a much easier time approaching her even if they are aware of her true identity. But yeah, that alone isn't really gonna negate all of the nervousness from the Commander herself coming to see you train, huh?
"…'Luna' is coming too?"
It got pretty awkward honestly. All 4 of them shared a mutual look of understanding, probably something along the lines of "how are we supposed to act now?" If I had to guess.
"She's definitely more approachable than the Commander…"
"But even then, it's not like we've seen her often enough to actually get any ideas of this version's personality…"
Hm? Did I hear that right?
Now that I think about it… I hadn't even considered it. But could it be that…
"Wait, do you guys think that Mio changes her personality as well when she becomes Luna? Like getting friendlier or something like that?"
They looked at me as if I had just said that fish can't swim, which was enough as a confirmation already, but they solidified it.
"I mean, I've spoken to Luna once, and she seemed pretty neutrally friendly, you know?"
"Yeah, I once did too. She wasn't even that polite, rather she was almost casual? Nonetheless, it didn't feel like they were the same person until I remembered…"
"I personally haven't had the chance to speak to Luna, but I have seen her from afar before… how do I put it? The Commander has a pretty strong authorial aura around her… Luna doesn't really have that."
I see what the deal is now. I've said before, didn't I? that the way you perceive Mio is subjective to your own conscience. Well, there's actually a bit more to it than just "you're scared of her if you're guilty" and "you're safe around her if you're innocent."
Putting it simply, your own perception of said person can affect the way you see anyone, not just Mio. Everyone and every single living being in this world naturally leaks some of their mana, unless they manually conceal it. The aura leaking naturally from you is completely invisible to the human eye of course, since it's microscopically thin. However, there are instances where it can become visible, even if just for a single moment, for a single person, and for a simple reason.
Your aura does usually become visible to pretty much everyone in some cases, but that doesn't really happen often. After all, its main occurrence is when strong emotions are built up within the individual- and of course, I'm not talking about positive ones. However, as I said there are cases where you can see someone's aura even if the person itself isn't even "showing it".
The most common case is… When you're fully aware of someone. Whether it being a simple reminder of their presence, acknowledging it, or being intimidated by that person's position, the effect is pretty much the same.
In these guys' cases? It's not that they're scared around Mio because they're guilty criminals or anything like that. I'm sure they all probably feel the safety of her presence. However, that's a completely different thing from being aware of her position as the Commander. After all, she's the strongest person on the entire continent, and has absolute authority, over anything and anyone, be it kings or civilians.
It's not really something that any of us are really concerned with, and by us I mean our family and the Sentinels of course, since we know her personally, but it makes sense. I guess that to them, they don't just see the unapproachable impossible beauty, but they see that, surrounded by her ominous black and purple aura possibly at all times… not to mention that often our eyes glow as well when our aura is being either noticed or shown, so it must look even scarier to them poor fellas.
The only times I've seen Mio's aura myself recently was in the valley I guess? But her glowing eyes have been more frequent. I guess it really is completely subjective, huh? I'm pretty sure that you can notice them on a person even without negative awareness, but regardless, that's besides the point not.
"Listen guys, I'm not really sure how to tell you this other than just laying it out flat, so that's what I'll do."
They looked curiously at me, but waited silently for my continuation.
"Whenever she's in Luna mode, Mio… doesn't change her personality whatsoever. Not one bit. She's always the same, regardless."
I almost feel stupid for not noticing it sooner, honestly. So instead of being guilty about it or anything like that, I'll try to resolve this "issue" ever so slightly. If even just these 4 can become less aware of Mio as an authorial figure and just as Mio, then the word would probably spread around pretty quickly.
It's only natural for us to talk and hang out since she's not just my little sister but also my best friend. but whenever I'm not around and neither are any Sentinels, I'm now wondering whether or not she's lonely while we're at work. So hopefully, even if it's a small step now, maybe it'll develop into building an ever so slightly warmer work place for her as well.
"Well, you'll see once they arrive."
So while the same group stood near me as we walked around and talked, a few minutes passed by fairly quickly. Everyone had already finished cleaning up what was necessary by now, which wasn't surprising since there were again, around 1000 people in here, but regardless, some of them were getting a little sick of waiting it seems.
"Say, Maia… didn't you say that our training would begin at 12? Where is your super star brother again?"
"Hmm, let's see…"
I took a glance at the large clock that was on one of the gym's walls, and it read 11:59, and only around 30 seconds or so until 12.
"They should arrive any moment now."
"Huh…? Are we really supposed to believe that? Being late on his one and only time to shine? Isn't he a little too unprofessional-"
"Shorn, cut it out you idiot."
His wife was the one that smacked him a little to prevent him from talking any further, for the record.
"Talo- come on, you can't say I'm the one who's wrong here! I mean, if he's not here yet then there's no way he'll be here by 12…"
3…2…1…and
But before Talo could reply, to everyone's surprise the door which was behind us all had opened loudly. I kept track of the time of course, and as you guessed it, the instant the door opened marked 12:00, down to the second.
"Maia, you there? Sorry we're late!"
The voice of a young boy could be heard. As everyone turned around to look at who just came in though, I could barely hold back the urge to grin from ear to ear. Why? That's of course, because every single person in this room had an almost flabbergasted expression on their faces.
The reason was pretty simple too. While eating something which looked like a pastry in his right hand, and while Luna held a bag in her left, they were walking towards us with their remaining free hands intertwined.
"Late, huh? Doesn't seem that way to me at least. I've only told you to be here by 12 after all, and as you can see."
I glanced over at the clock, which he then followed, and left a sigh of relief afterwards.
"Then I guess I'll take that back."
As they kept walking towards us, I looked at the group which had been with me earlier, as one of them had poked me in my arm to grab my attention from my side.
"Maia… who's that with him?"
"Hmm? I wonder what you may be talking about~~"
"There's no way… right?"
"That little girl holding hands with him, smiling so carefreely while walking…"
"Is supposed to be… 'Luna'?!"
I didn't answer, because honestly I think it's best for uhm, for them to accept the reality that's in front of them on their own! Yeah. That's definitely it! It's not because I'm just enjoying seeing their reactions, absolutely not! Anyway. By now they had finally reached us, so I took a few steps forward to meet them.
"Here, we also got some for you on our way here."
Luna handed me the bag she was holding, and when I looked inside I saw a bunch of pastries which were as you'd expect, strawberry flavored.
"Oooh? Then I'll gladly indulge."
I took one out, gave the bag back to her, then got next to Cael, placing my free hand on his head.
"Well, let's get into it then. Everyone, this is my cute and dear little brother Cael Ashford. He'll be the one to shape you lazy lots back into shape, when it comes to the way of the sword today."
"Quit hyping me up like that."
He pushed my hand aside, glaring a little at me as if I had just put him at the centerline in a room with 1000 people or something. Seriously, what have I done to deserve this? Has my cute little brother fallen into the dark side?! Is this the beginning of his 'I hate my sister' phase?! Probably not. But regardless, after adjusting his hair which to be fair I did ruffle up a little, he spoke on his own.
"Uhm, well, as you heard already, my name is Cael Ashford, and I'm Maia's younger brother… Although I'm not completely sure if I'm gonna be of too much help to you guys today, I'm looking forward to practicing with experienced fellow swordsmen."
The crowd reaction was pretty mixed. Some were a little annoyed still, some were focused on Luna, while others were probably thinking something along the lines of "is he Angel…?" While looking at him. Honestly, I can't really blame them since he is really cute, but don't let him fool you people! His politeness sprouts from him just not being stupid like most of you… he's probably thinking that you're just muscle heads that can't swing a sword right about now.
But to be fair, at least it's a great thing that more often than not Cael will actually be polite when needed, and filter his words. Not to make him look like one of those blatantly and obnoxiously fake kind of people though. He just has the decency to usually not tell it directly to your face on the fairly rare occasions when he's probably genuinely cursing you in his head.
But back to the main point, the Recruits seemed to get used to the situation by now, or at least the majority of them. That was great, since it spared me any hypocritical need of repeating myself at least.
"My, my, what a polite and heartwarming introduction you put out there, my dear little brother."
"Hahaha, it's just having basic manners, my dear older sister. Unlike a certain someone."
"I wonder who that may be, huh? Lots of unpleasantly unmannered people out there after all. But anyway, let's give you guys a breakdown on how this is gonna go down, alright?"
"I'll go sit down then, you two can go ahead."
Luna walked towards a nearby bench, which did seem to sadden Cael for like a few moments before he recomposed himself. I guess it must hurt for your little girlfriend to stop holding hands with you, huh? Unfortunately though, that's life, my sweet little brother. That's life. Well, she was still watching him with a big smile on her face so I guess none of that really made a huge difference in the end though.
"I'm sure you guys guessed, but it's not really time effective for Cael to individually spare with every single one of you. We'd be here not just all day, but for probably more than a few days if anything after all."
"So instead, what we're gonna do is, Cael will be sparing with a few of you to start off. Then, everyone else who will just be watching for now, can start practicing among yourselves, with Cael's supervision at least. Of course, more than 1 group at a time will do so later, to maximize time efficiency."
"Wait, wait… do you really expect me to look after all of the rest while they're sparring at the same time??"
"Is that not why you're here?"
"Even then… I don't have 100 eyes, you know?"
"Hmm, I guess that's true. But I don't think you have to worry too much, Cael."
I glanced at all of them before continuing this time.
"Though this may be the lazy squad, I'm sure that after seeing your first few sparrings, they'll learn the basics themselves, so you won't need to watch over all of them too much."
Some of their eyes lit up as I said that. Just how little faith did ya'll think I have in you…? Granted, you guys are still bums. But regardless, I did mean what I said.
"I see… that's pretty reassuring."
"I know right? So with that in mind, someone go bring a few wooden swords real quick, while I decide who will go first."
And though a few people did storm out to get them, I did actually already know who would be the first one. For that matter, I think he's also been aware of it ever since I said that, because Shorn just kept looking at me nervously, then back to his wife, who had also probably picked up on it, and was patting his back, I guess to console him or something? Not sure.
In the meanwhile, the rest of the Recruits cleared up the center of the gym where they were all at currently, sitting on the benches on the sidelines or just on the floor if they felt like it, some even standing, while I of course stopped Shorn from doing the same. Waving my hand in a calling motion, he resigned himself and tagged along obediently.
"So it really is me…"
"Who else would it be, mister worst swordsman in the room?"
"You don't have to put it like that…"
Cael then looked at him with a sympathetic look, or actually, it looked closer to a fraternizing one? Maybe something along the lines of "I get you, my brother." For some reason which is surely unknown to me. Either way, by now 2 other guys had brought 2 wooden swords for the time being, so I stepped back a little after they were handed out to the 2 of them.
"Needless to say, Shorn, you're going to have to hold back your strength to match his. But I'm assuming you already knew that much."
"I'm not really into hitting kids at full power, so don't worry."
"Hmmm, so you think you can hit him?"
"Wha-"
"Well, regardless. Cael, make sure you actually correct him out loud on his mistakes, alright? And of course, what goes for him goes for you too. No powers allowed for either one of you, just 2 swords and 2 guys."
"I know that… I wouldn't be here otherwise."
He sighed, then briefly positioned himself in a ready stance. However, something had caught Shorn's attention, so he asked right away.
"Wait, are you gonna fight with that glove on?"
"Hm? Is there an issue with that?"
Cael was probably a little confused, since he had also let down his standing, clearly curious to see what he meant.
"I mean, obviously… It looks to me like a perfectly normal and smooth glove, isn't it? Wouldn't that give you a harder time with the grip? Not to mention, it has no finger openings, so your fingers have less mobility in it. I may be a bad swordsman, but is that not just common sense?"
He really did ask it flat out, huh?
But unfortunately…
"Ah, that? I guess it makes sense when you put it like that. But…"
I don't think it was a good choice. After all, from the way his eyes widened as Cael finished his sentence, I think it was obvious what was going through his head.
"…that extra mobility or easier grip… I won't need them, so it's alright. Thanks for asking though."
Creepy.
So freakishly creepy, that even I was forced almost to be aware of Cael's black and red aura at that moment.
It wasn't a statement of mockery. It wasn't Cael trying to make himself sound superior. It wasn't arrogance.
There wasn't a single hint of any kind of negative emotions in his words. They were as flat as they sounded on the surface.
What made it so creepy though, was that… he meant every single word. It was the fact that he spoke it as flatly as possible, just as if he was stating that the sky was blue, that made it all the more creepy.
And the worst part? Is that he was right in the end. Cael does in fact not get bothered by any of those disadvantages, and he probably doesn't even consider them as such. That is the undeniable confidence… of The Best Swordsman Of All Time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Cael's Pov)
Is Glove-Kun really that big of a disadvantage?
When you look at what this guy had said objectively, I guess he is, huh? But I've honestly never really felt any difference between before and after getting him, while using my sword, so I can't really tell. It was really nice of him to point it out though, since it probably means that he wants to have a fair fight, right?
I'll have to make sure to give him a proper lesson then, and help him as much as I can. Regardless though, Glove-Kun is not really a debatable presence for the record. He is staying.
"Well then, are you two ready?"
Maia asked, while looking at us with a weird grin on her face. I've no idea what that strawberry freak gorilla is thinking about honestly, but it's probably not even worth considering, so let's just not do that.
"Yeah, I'm good to go whenever."
"…y-yeah… I'm also good."
Also, though these wooden swords weren't katanas, I don't think I'll have any real issues, even if it's not my preferred sword type. I think this is generally just what the average recruit uses? It's a pretty standard wooden sword that you'd see just about anywhere.
Now that we were both ready, we began actually stancing ourselves. He held the handle with both hands, however kept his knees slightly bent and his sword tilted towards his hip.
His stance at least wasn't terrible. Though I'm pretty sure there's better ones with this kind of sword, for the time being I wasn't gonna nitpick on it. On the other hand, I simply straightened myself, with both hands on the handle but aiming my blade straight forward.
"Alright then… begin!"
And as Maia gave off the signal, he quickly began charging at me. The distance between us was a little over 2 meters so it didn't take long for him to actually be in range considering the length of the blade, but…
You can't be serious…
Even though he was already in range for a more than good enough tip slash, he kept advancing and closing the distance… a bit too much. Of course, this was not only easy to predict but also to avoid. By the time he raised his blade to swing down, which by the way was pretty much the same motion as simply raising and lowering his arm, with 0 slashing momentum… I had already begun my own attack. As his blade came downwards, I had already let go of one hand on my blade, and while sliding slightly towards my left, I side parried his blow. It's not like I had put any particular amount of strength into it either, but when you don't actually have any slashing momentum in your attack, it's easier to lose grip balance on your grip. The instant I had hit the side of his blade, it was thrown off track.
"You got too close. Your sword is already long enough for you to have been able to attempt a slash from further. The first attack doesn't need to be deadly. If you're going to be the one doing the first move, you have to at least be able to throw your opponent off ever so slightly."
I explained calmly, as he quickly picked himself back up and tried to go for another attack, but the issue was the same. I could parry all of his attacks with just one hand, no matter how much strength he put into his grip. As the constant parrying went on, I began explaining what he was doing wrong, hoping that he'd manage to correct himself halfway through at least.
"You're not even slashing… you're just holding on to that thing with all of your grip strength, but your wrist has no balance whatsoever. If you keep your wrist stiff all the time when holding it, it's a lot easier for you to lose strength and aim when someone parries you. With a slashing motion you distribute the energy of your swing evenly, until it reaches the tip of the blade."
And I was also demonstrating it, of course. The reason why throwing his blade off course was so easy, is because I was parrying it on the tip of his blade. Which as you'd guess by now, had pretty much 0 momentum in it, and it was just a stiff piece of wood that would completely throw off his entire wrist's balance with every hit, because he was genuinely putting no energy into it.
"If you just lower your arm, all of your energy, or simply but-strength, stays in your hand, but doesn't pass on to your blade. When you actually move your arm in a slashing motion however, the energy travels from your arm, to your wrist, to your blade, until it not only costs it evenly, but it also focuses on the edge of the top section. Stop trying to smash your sword into me, and start trying to slash me with it."
"I-I'm trying! God damn it!"
If I were to put this into easier to visualize terms, to explain why he has this issue, it would probably be like this: he's someone that trusts his own strength above anything, since he's a Recruit. So by that logic, 'I don't need fancy techniques, as long as I have a sharp blade and enough strength to push it down on them' becomes second nature. It's kinda like when you have a really sharp knife and you want to cut off some meat, and instead of slicing, you can just push down on the blade and take advantage of its sharpness with your strength.
Sure, it works just fine to cut, no? After all, that's a pretty common way that people back on earth cut up stuff like wagyu, so you'd probably think that it's an universally great approach. But the only reason that this works, is because they're cutting into tender meat, that's almost the same consistency as butter. Of course the blade will slide in with just some strength. But what do you think will happen if you try to use that approach… and you hit a bone?
And you may be thinking "but Cael, butchers just use bigger knives to cut through bone! But they don't slash, they crush!" And you'd be right… until you remember that a sword is meant to slash, not crush. Well, of course there are great swords which are heavier and only meant to crush, but comparing a successful butchering with a real fight against something that's alive and moving just doesn't cut it.
Even a sword can cut through bone easily though, as long as you have the right technique and timing. Which is exactly what he's lacking. He has the strength to cut it, but it's of no use if he doesn't have the technique to even manage to get himself the occasion to use it.
However, at the very least it seemed like he was understanding what I was telling him. Slowly but steadily his blows became more slashing rather than crushing motion, so you could definitely feel the strength difference now. It wasn't gonna be as easy to parry them- well, at least it wouldn't for anyone that isn't me at least.
"That's good. You're finally starting to get it. Keep it up, make sure you remember the difference between a crushing and slashing motion."
But even if his swings had the right technique and adequate strength, it was still pretty easy for me to parry them. How? It's because he was still as predictable as they get, when it came to his fighting style. Not only was he full of openings, but also just following the same patterns over and over, and only changing the momentum once in a while. With the right timing, and predicting where his blade would land, it wasn't hard at all.
"I think… I get it! But… why can I still not even deliver a single successful blow?!"
I guess he's gotten the hang of it by now. It's time that we switch it up a little.
"That's because…"
I paused, then dodged his upcoming slash which was aimed towards my right hip, by sliding towards my left. Then, before he could even turn around properly, I had already taken my blade in front of his throat.
"You're so predictable, that every single attack you make has a 100% guarantee rate of being predicted and dealt with by me. Accompany that with how full of openings you are, and you may as well be like a wild sponge under water. Your defense level is pretty equal as well, not just the amount of openings you got."
This is going to be a long day…
But hey, all in all, this wasn't actually that bad after all. It was actually pretty fun to be able to use a sword with someone else, even if I was the teacher for once. So with that being said, I think I'm pretty glad that I just listened to Maia's unskippable quest, and came here today.