"She's already here. Lia! Come here!"
This time, Robert spotted Lia, who was secretly watching from the side, much earlier. Lia, with no choice, scurried over with her wooden sword.
"Why is the old man here again?"
She immediately expressed her displeasure towards me.
This girl's address for me hasn't changed in three years. Though it doesn't really matter.
"Lia, long time no see. You've become even more beautiful."
"Hmph."
I truly don't know what I did to incur her dislike. I consider myself quite popular with children; the kids in my hometown used to pester me to teach them swordsmanship.
"Lia, be polite. He is my swordsmanship master."
"I know, I know, but every time Brother Robert prioritizes training with this old man instead of me, I hate him."
Ah, so that's it, that must be the reason. The mystery that has troubled me for three years is solved.
"Master Belius rarely gets to visit here. We see each other every day, don't we? The etiquette of hospitality is a mandatory course for nobles; you couldn't possibly not have learned it."
"I don't care."
"Ah, it's fine, it's fine. I don't mind at all."
"Since Master says so…"
Still such heartwarming sibling affection, unchanged over these three years… No, has it perhaps even gotten worse?
"Let's get back to business, Lia. It's a rare opportunity, how about we spar?"
"No!"
She flat-out refused!
"Why should I spar in swordsmanship with the old man? I want to train with Brother Robert."
Ah, the tears in my heart have already started flowing.
I had no choice but to cast a pleading look at Jeno.
"Lia, why don't you spar with Master Belius? If you do, I'll pat your head."
"Huh? Really?"
Lia was instantly motivated.
Robert also looked quite helpless. Being a brother loved by his sister isn't easy.
"Fine, I'll just play with this old man."
Shouldn't that be my line?
Anyway, I can finally test Lia's strength. Based on how Lia and Robert train, she should be an offensive-style swordsman. So…
"Try to break through my defense and hit me once, and you win. Don't worry, I won't counterattack."
"You said it."
Huh? Why does Lia give off a feeling of "I've been wanting revenge for a long time"? It must be my imagination, yes.
"Alright, here I come."
Lia took her stance and quickly approached me.
Her speed wasn't fast, completely incomparable to Robert. So why did he say she was a genius?
I easily blocked her first move.
Her strength wasn't outstanding either, far inferior to Robert's current strength.
Perhaps, she was just conserving her strength, planning to suddenly unleash it to catch me off guard?
If I were fooled by such a trick, I would have lived these fifty-plus years in vain.
"Heh."
As expected, Lia suddenly quickened her pace. Not only that, the moment her attack was blocked, she changed her grip on the sword and applied force in another direction. The entire process was fluid, perfectly controlling her weapon as if it were her own limbs.
I dodged Lia's surprise attack using the reaction speed of a first order knight.
The next moment, Lia chopped at me again.
Good, her follow-up movements were fast, not even giving me a chance to dodge. I could only block.
What Lia did next stunned me: she actually let go of her grip on the sword, using my wooden sword as a pivot point to spin her weapon around.
I hastily leaned back, narrowly avoiding the fate of having my chin split open by the wooden sword.
Although it couldn't harm his well trained body, it would be too humiliating to be hit by a little girl.
But what kind of chaotic swordsmanship is this?!
I took a few steps back to adjust my stance. The wooden sword, which she had released, was now firmly back in her hand.
If I hadn't reacted quickly, an ordinary person would undoubtedly be defeated by such a move on the first try. This way of attacking was completely unexpected; how could someone have such a whimsical idea? What's even scarier is that this young girl in front of me actually has the ability to execute it.
It wasn't about speed or strength, but entirely about technique.
"You can dodge that too? Annoying old man."
"Truly…"
Lia looked a bit unconvinced, but she didn't even give me time to praise her before attacking me again.
As long as I was mentally prepared to guard against her unusual moves, the reaction speed of a first order was more than enough to handle her. Or so I believed. After all, not everyone in the world was called Robert and had Robert's cheating physical body that could fight a second order at the first order. Not to mention, Lia didn't recieve official Knight training.
However, I quickly realized that Lia's objective in attacking had fundamentally changed.
When a person is attacked, they instinctively protect vital areas, such as the head and near the heart, as these parts are susceptible to fatal injuries. If a dangerous object is heading towards one's vital points, the body will instinctively use its hands to block, because in a desperate situation, sacrificing an arm is completely acceptable compared to losing one's life.
And Lia was attempting to exploit this mental inertia. At first, it looked like she was attacking my torso and head. Once I made a defensive move, she immediately changed direction to attack my hands.
She probably realized that her attacks were already difficult to break through my defense, so she shifted her target to my hands, a part I might be more likely to neglect defending.
Her focus is admirable.
"Lia, did you come up with these yourself?"
"Isn't swordsmanship just a way to attack people, a method of killing? It's nothing special."
I see. At that moment, I was convinced.
This awareness and technique are those of a genuine "swordsmanship genius."
Unlike Robert who restrains himself and focuses on protection, Lia is more suitable to be a Swordsman because Swords are a weapon of killing. No matter how much one tried to deny it, it is a fact.
Only with the mentality to kill, can one master True Swordsmanship.
This is also one of the reason why I considered Robert to be unsuitable for Swordsmanship. He can be a Knight, a Paladin, or a Magician but never a Swordsman. Because his heart is too soft. He doesn't possess that decisive desire to kill.
But in a sense it is this mentality that makes him suitable for Defensive Swordsmanship. With his strong physique, reaction speed, intelligence, dynamic vision, etc., his mentality can't be considered a liability.
"Lia, I'm serious, would you like to be my disciple? I'm very fond of you. I will train you to become the best swordsman in the country… no, in the world."
I proposed to her while defending against her attacks.
"No way! Brother Robert is the only master I'll ever have in my life."
Oh dear, I was rejected after all. A talent I rarely encounter, and I can't personally sculpt this "uncut jade." I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep well for the next few days out of regret.
"And old man, why do you look like you've already won?"
"Hmm?"
Lia's voice became very somber. She lowered her head, dragging her wooden sword behind her, as if she was gathering some strength.
Are there still moves she hasn't used? How interesting.
"…Flowing Water Sword."
This is?!
This was the first time Lia used an upward-sweeping sword technique. It was very fast, but still easy for me to defend against.
"What?!"
I had expected Lia's attack to land steadily on my wooden sword as usual, but the sword's trajectory changed into an arc mid-way, altering its direction without losing any speed.
Logically, this should be impossible; it completely defied the laws of nature.
No one could react in that instant, not even me.
Lia's attack struck my wrist hard. It wasn't painful but it proved the end of competition.
For the first time, I started to doubt my life.
What just happened? Did she... Did she just use Magic with Swordsmanship... but isn't that a course in Second year of Royal School, which can only be learned after going through Magic Baptism.
In this world, Magic can be awakened at any age and at any time or place. One merely needs an introduction from another Mage and body's magic source will awaken automatically. However, this Awakening doesn't mean one can progress in the path of Magic.
To breakthrough from First Order to Second Order, it isn't enough because such Awakening is flawed.
Magic is a gift from God and Human Awakening can't fully unleash true potential. Therefore one needs to go through a separate Magic Baptism under the witness of the Gods to awaken their true Talents. Only after that can one continue to progress on the path of Magic and break through to higher Order.
Normally, Magic Baptism isn't accessible to someone of Lia's age because a normal family can't afford either the Magic Materials or the cost for inviting a Priest for the Baptism.
Only the St. Freya Academy, the Royal family, the Royal Academy, and the Empire's top Noble families have the ability to do it. Other than them even the top Merchants in the Empire can't do it alone.
Did Marquis Bahod bet all his chips on Lia?
The fact that Lia can learn such an advanced Skill has already foretold who the heir of this family is going to be.
I looked at Robert with complex eyes.
Exactly what has happened in this family. Though Lia's talent is high and unexpected, Robert isn't bad. In some cases, he is better than Lia because I can sense that neither her physique nor her Magic Power Reserves can match Robert. But at the same time, her Swordsmanship skills and Magic should be superior to Robert. So in terms of technical skills, she beats him.