Vol. 4 Ch. 6

“Did you take my advice from last time?”

“Yes, dad.”

“Since he told me how to use my peripheral vision, it’s almost like I widened my vision as a whole,” he thought.

“Ready to put yourself to the test?” Vhint questioned.

“Of course!”

“Alright then, first let’s position ourselves,” Vhint declared.

Slowly but surely, they back away from each other.

“Alright then, in 3… 2…1…”

Phize approaches Vhint and attacks him with a slash, only to be blocked by his own wooden sword.

“Remember, your sword is your offense and defense,” Vhint teaches.

Vhint swings his sword to counter his blow and it pushes Phize with enough force to blow him back. However, he still remains standing.

Once again, Phize makes another attempt and charges right at him while Vhint uses a downward slash.

Phize swiftly dodges to the right and goes for a pierce.

Vhint changes his direction and parries the attack causing the sword to hit the ground.

“WHA? A FEINT?” Phize too shocked to react was caught off-guard.

Vhint uses his left foot to sweep Phize under his feet, as a result, he falls to the ground and drops his sword.

“O-Ow…”

“Take note as well that the sword is not your only source of movement.”

He reaches his hand to his son.

Phize grabs this offer, stands upright, and picks up his sword.

“You got all that?”

“Y-Yes… Wait, didn’t you say you weren’t a good teacher?”

He laughs at his answer.

“I really am not. I’m just following my master’s moves.”

“Your master?” Phize asked with his interest piqued.

“She was a great teacher” he paused speaking for a while but then decides to shrug the topic off, “Now then… are you ready to continue?”

“Yes, sir!”

“That’s the spirit! First, distance ourselves.”

They slowly step away from each other and then make their form from their respective positions.

“In 3…2…1…GO!”

Vhint rushes Phize but he holds his ground.

Vhint lowers himself and grabs some dirt from the floor and throws it to Phize’s face.

“WHA-WHAT?!” he was shocked but only said it in his mind to avoid showing weakness.

He tries to dodge but some of the dirt got to his eye.

“M-MY EYES!” he shouted in pain.

“Try to use your other senses. In the absence of one sense, the other senses increase.”

He reached over to his own subconscious, “Use my senses…”

He tries to wipe the dirt from his eyes but Vhint was in front and kicks him in the abdomen.

“Focus on your other sense or I’ll put more dirt.”

“FINE! FINE!”

“Use my other senses…”

He stands still and tries to listen to his surroundings. However, Vhint was merciless, he approached from one side.

“I can hear him… he’s far from me… south-west of me.”

He changed his course.

“He changed direction… he’s getting closer… he’s now to my west.”

Phize upholds his form but Vhint is slowly closing the gap.

“HE’S NEAR ME!”

Phize attacks toward Vhint’s direction.

“If I attack him this way instead of going for a pierce, even though I can’t see him, I should be able to hit him,” he hypothesized.

Vhint goes under the attack range and punches Phize in his stomach.

“GYAH!”

Phize is pushed back.

“That was nice, Phize! As expected of my son!”

“O-Ow… Did you have to hit me so hard?”

“It’s training! Also, you can wipe off the dirt in your eyes.”

He wipes the dirt off his eyes and releases a sigh.

He complements himself, “I’m improving at least.”

“You gotta be patient, you can’t expect to be good that fast.”

“Yeah…”

Vhint offers his hand, “Come here.”

Though defeated, he still accepted his hand.

“You know, for your age, you’re already quite impressive. I think I learned swordsmanship when I was 10 or 11? I don’t exactly remember.”

“Hm? Why?”

“My dad left me at an early age and my mom died when I was only 6. So naturally, I had a hard time. No one taught me anything, but my teacher found me…” he cuts off the topic, “Well, that’s a story for another time.”

“I… didn’t know my dad had it rough,” he cogitated.

He wraps his son around his arm.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself alright? I bet you’ll even win that competition!” he bravely declared.

“Of course, of course.”

…

..

.

“You know what? I have an idea.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“I’ll give you a reward if you win the competition. It’ll be amazing. So, you better do your best out there.”

“I’ll make you and mom proud,” he reassured himself.

“Don’t worry, we already are.”

A day passes by, after school time…

He recalled some of the events, “Mom, let me memorize many spells instead of training me that day.”

At home, near the table…

“Now tell me every spell you know so far,” Lexia requested.

“Fire, Ice, Rock Wall, Water, Water Gun, Create Sand, Wind, Blizzard, Ice Shards, um…”

Lexia hits Phize’s head lightly.

“You forgot the ones I just taught you, didn’t you?”

He laughs nervously, “Ah, Ahahhahahaa…”

“You have to learn about Storage Magic at least, it’s useful for storing your items.”

“I forgot…”

“I still have a few more such as Blossoming Hazards, Heal, Disintegration Beam…”

“I’m gonna have a heck of a time,” he complained, “u-uh…”

“Oh, how about Creation Magic? Do you know more spells?”

“I really haven’t been able to cast much yet.”

“Creation Magic is a bit complex, but try doing create wood.”

He chants, “CREATE WOOD!”

A magic circle forms, however, nothing came out, and the magic circle fades.

“Eh?”

“Try again.”

He turns for another attempt, “CREATE WOOD!”

The same event happens once more.

“In the end, it turns out that Creation Magic isn’t my specialty.”

The next day, at class…

“The tournament begins in 3 weeks! I’m excited!”

“You sure are taking this quite seriously… I’m honestly afraid,” Hazel responded.

“You should be because I have a dream to accomplish… so you better do your best too,” he provokes her.

She was shocked by this sudden shift in attitude but smiles anyway.

“Why, of course. I can’t back down after a challenge, can I?”

And 3 weeks pass by…

“After practicing continuously for the past 3 weeks, I’m sure I’ve prepared myself enough for this event.”

“Now then, shall we begin… the High Hill Veril Event Tournament?”

END OF EPISODE 24