Olivia, Stella and Luke arrived at the Berkley villa in the capital city of Toril. The sky was dyed orange and the sun was about to set so the Ayried Family will have dinner in about an hour or so without her. It's not really a rare thing as Stella is always begins training immediately after getting home and only finishes hours after the family already ate.
Stella came to visit to meet Luke's master. It's something she stressed couldn't wait until tomorrow as she needed to be evaluated today otherwise, she wouldn't get sleep.
"I'll go freshen up so I hope you can show her around on your own, Sir Luke." Said Olivia before departing further into the mansion.
"Okay, what do you say we start with a warmup while we wait for my master?" he turned to Stella and said after giving his bags and blazer to a servant, "She usually comes back at six."
"Sure. I always wanted to know how good the Hero's swordsmanship is like."
The two walked down the hall between the two stairs leading up to the second floor. there was a rack of wooden swords right next to the first hallway to the right. Luke quickly grabbed two swords, handing one to Stella.
She was a bit unhappy with the light sword as she prefers bigger swords like two-handed longswords or great swords.
"Then let's go to the back. There's a whole space that I use for my training back there. Oh right, prepare refreshments for us." He told the servants who were following close behind.
"Yes, young master."
They then headed to the backyard, feeling the cold air of winter again after being warmed by the manor's built-in AC system. It was unpleasant to train in the cold but Stella always gets hot midway through training so that won't be a big issue.
"What does your master do anyway?" as Luke was putting on his training guards, she asked him.
"Which one?"
"You have two?" she put her training guards on as well. It was a strange thing to do since she always trains without these things. By the time her training ends, she's either in bruises or cuts.
"Yup. Sebastian teaches me how to fight with my hands and train my body while Ms. Flora teaches me swordsmanship."
Sebastian, the Berkley's Head Butler… Stella knew him. He was Arnold's old master and a famous figure in the gladiator arena. After retiring, every noble house wanted him as head of security but he chose the humble life of a butler instead.
"You don't seem the type to be capable of handling Sebastian's training regime. He's more of a brawler while you have the body of an agile, athletic type."
In other words, he's more suited to fast-paced combat while Sebastian is more of a brute who delivers powerful slow strikes. That's not to say Sebastian is slow in combat as she's witnessed Arnold's reflexes and agility a lot in sparring matches in school.
"Haha, I know. But I want to get big and strong like my brother!" he flexed an arm, showing a rather pathetic little bicep flex. "Following the same training regime as him will definitely get me there someday."
"Hah, you really admire that guy."
She recalled that little show they put on in the auditorium. His eyes were almost sparkling while looking at Arnold.
Blushing a bit, he scratched his head, "Y-Yeah… I'm glad to have him as a brother. It really sucks that he's not fighting to stay part of this family... With his reputation recovering due to his selfless deeds, I'd say no one would have an issue with his joining the household again. The problem is if Father would allow it…"
"…"
"Uhm, you're not going to say that's wrong of me?"
"Hm?"
"You know… looking up to him… Everyone calls me crazy… Even Anna laughs every time I mention him in a good light. She tells me that she loves him but admits that he's trouble most of the time. He even… killed a man. T-There was justification, of course! But everyone thinks that he's capable of worse things… They even say he corrupted James Caervil's daughter to be his slave…just like with Lauran."
"…I won't judge you as I have my own twisted view of the bastard."
"??"
"Haa… Let's stop talking about him. I think about him enough…"
Whenever she closes her eyes. Whenever she picks up her sword. Whenever she sees him…
He's all she thinks about. It's been like this for ten years.
During parties, he used to spar with the kids, some even older than himself. No one could beat him at that point since his aura awakened early so he was stronger than the average child his age or even years older.
Her interest in this "genius" grew throughout the years following all those parties, especially since it was rumored the two of them awakened their aura around the same time. Stella used to think she was as blessed as he was.
But how wrong she was…
At first, it was just a reminder of what she's fighting for. She even carried hate in her heart. He had no valiancy of a knight or honour or a warrior so it wasn't fair that he was stronger than her.
But now he's more than just twisted motivation.
"Arnold is… I can't really hate him since he's the reason why I am who I am today. In a way, I'm thankful to him, even if the bastard has never acknowledged me despite how many duels we've had over the years."
Luke was grinning for some reason with narrowed eyes and raised eyebrows.
"Little bastard, what's with that face?"
"Hehehe." He laughed knowingly, but didn't answer, "Oh, Ms. Flora is a mercenary now. She already gets paid a lot of money but likes hunting monsters on the side. I think that's her way of letting loose." Luke got into a stance, "I'm glad about that, though, as I don't want her spending her free time getting drunk in pubs with random people. With how beautiful she is… they'll take advantage of her."
"What level is she?"
"I'm not sure. She doesn't really talk about herself much but I heard from Sebastian that she's stronger than him."
"What the… You have someone on that level rotting away here as an instructor?"
Luke pouted, "It's not like we're forcing her to stay! Brother bought her at some slave auction a year ago and brought her here. I don't know why but she chose to stay even after being freed from that slavery."
'Arnold just happened to find a master swordsman and brought her to him?'
"Her sword also helps me use my… special aura. It's like we were destined to be together… Uhm, not in a weird way but more like master and disciple!"
"—Stop talking and fight already!" a woman's frustrated voice resounded.
'I-I couldn't even sense her!' Stella looked behind her, spotting a green-haired woman with golden eyes sitting nearby.
"Ah, Master! Welcome back!"
"Hey, hey that sounded like a confession just now." She smirked with a raised eyebrow, "I'm not into pipsqueaks so dream on. A guy like Arnold is more my type."
"T-That's not what I was implying!" he shouted with a blush, "Wait, didn't you say his face disgusts you?"
"…Just tell me why she's here. Is she your girlfriend? Little Norn will be sad."
"N-No!" he waved his hands in refusal, "I brought her here because she wanted to meet you and request to be your disciple."
"Oh?" Flora glanced at Stella, evaluating her from head to toe, then shrugged, "I'm not opposed to it as long as I'm getting paid. Who would say no to two salaries from rich families?"
"But let me see how skilled you are first. Luke, I forbid you from using aura."
"I can't use it without the sword anyway…" he pouted.
"You think I'm stupid? I know you can use it on your limbs. Even if you can't use it to enhance your entire body, use it for martial arts or use aura blasts, that's still using it."
"How do you know!? I wanted to show it when I can cover my entire body!"
"Just get to fighting. Despite being the one who brought her here, you're still yapping on and wasting time." she waved a hand to shoo him, "I haven't eaten lunch yet since I was so busy so I'll have it while watching you two so make sure you give me some good entertainment."
"Right, sorry Ms. Stella! Let's begin!"
**
'This kid's presence is even greater than Luke's when he unleashes his aura using my sword.' While eating and watching the two spar, Flora had that thought.
By "presence", she meant Stella's overall signature. Her energy signature was far greater than Luke's when he's at full power but this probably doesn't have anything to do with power but rather influence. Luke's power was calm despite the kind of strength he possesses whereas hers, despite being weaker was more violent. It's like a force was lingering around Stella and trying to force itself out.
You typically see this kind of dissonance between pupils when an outside force is involved. For example, two normal humans have the same kind of presence but what if there's a murderous vengeful devil that took over one of them? That person would stick out like a sore thumb to someone using warrior sense.
There were many reports of devils taking over people, making them stronger but corrupting them at the same time.
It's almost like Stella has been living in the same house with a devil, where it could influence her lifeforce and presence since birth.
Arnold had this exact same impression on her the first time they met but it turned out he was a demon factor. He still has that inhuman presence but it's far less malicious than the previous one. If Flora didn't know he was somehow related to dragons, she would've made her own strange assumptions.
So, what's inside Stella?
"Ugh, don't hit so hard!" screamed Luke, "The swords might've been reinforced with magic but they're still wood!"
"Just grab another one! How come you're so weak despite being trained by one of the best fighters in the empire!?" she yelled, landing a downward slash which made Luke's knees buckle when he blocked it.
'I can't have them fight with real swords to check the gap between the two but it's obvious from this simple spar that she's stronger than him.'
Luke tried to block another slash but that turned out to be a feint and her real attack was a kick. As if expecting that, he lifted his own leg to block it but his other leg got kicked and he ended up on the ground.
"Agh!"
"Hah! You need real combat experience, kid! I trained with our household knights who never went easy on me!"
Not just physically stronger but even more skilled. Maybe she was tired of her family being mostly comprised of heavy hitters so she decided to work on her speed too?
"Luke, you disappoint your poor master," said Flora, "I taught you to study your opponent's fighting style and read their moves before getting close to them. Do you think it's disgraceful to dodge her attacks to get used to them?"
"Sorry, Master…" he quickly got up and dusted himself off.
"Forget it. You can stop now."
"That quickly? I thought there'd be more rounds," complained Stella.
"You're quite bloodthirsty, but a swordsman must know when to give up. We can't have you get a big head in front of opponents stronger than you."
"What? I thought it's honourable to die fighting, even when it's against stronger foes."
"I'm not a knight so I don't believe in that. What's the point of working hard to grow stronger if you just die as an arrogant bastard? I train to become one with the sword, not to become some knight protector of the continent. That dream just makes you sound expandable. If this were a novel, someone like you would die young because you choose your honor over your goals."
"…" flustered, Stella lowered her head, "…I never thought of it like that."
"You're still inexperienced so I can't really judge you. Just be thankful you haven't been in a situation where your life is on the line. As someone who tried to follow the virtues of a knight—" she remembered that day her kingdom was eradicated by the Theocracy and she was the only one left standing, "—it's better to run than confront death. Had Arnold not bought me, who knows where I might've ended up…"
There was an uncomfortable silence. Even Flora didn't want to imagine what would've happened.
"The important thing is that I haven't given up on my goal and my virtues have changed."
From a knight to a swordsman.
"Some may call it cowardice but I couldn't give a fuck what they think. How will I reach my goal if I die honorably? Ridiculous. The empire is leading this generation to their deaths by being idiots who think dying a meaningless death is something to be proud of."
"…"
"…"
"Anyway, I just wanted to check the gap between you two. How can I take in another disciple without confirming what Luke needs to work on?"
As the person being mentioned, he pouted.
"Does that mean you accept me, Ms. Flora?"
"First, tell me why you're training to become a knight. If you say it's to protect the empire, I'm refusing you on the spot. I don't want unimaginative generic responses. You'll never reach your goal by having such a simple motivation."
"…I want to become a strong knight so that I can tame a spirit inside our family heirloom and become strong enough to stand equal to my rival."
"A spirit inside a sword, huh? It's been a long time since I heard of something like that. What's your name again?"
"My name is Stella, part of House Ayried."
"Ah, the household of the guy who used to call himself a red dragon." Finger on her chin, she recalled what she heard once.
"Ugh… My father's edgy past as an adventurer continues to haunt our entire household…" Stella blushed with a frown.
"That's a great motivator. Focusing on gathering strength to protect yourself is fine but doing so while setting multiple goals for yourself is far better. That means you know your limits and won't throw yourselves right into dangerous situations to test your resolve. Someone with a singular goal would think their willpower will be enough to awaken some sort of power deep inside them that will answer their wish to protect their homeland or loved ones."
Stella nodded along, listening attentively.
"And training like a psychopath won't help you reach the goal faster. You might not like it, but talent is what matters most in this world. Hard work is secondary. But there are shortcuts. In recent years, swordsmen like us would take up cultivation—following the path of a martial artist to grow stronger. It involves following the trials and discipline of martial artists to make full use of our potential. Not many help with our swordsmanship but it does help us refine our technique so that it can be applied to it."
After finishing her late lunch, she hopped up, then walked over and took Luke's wooden sword.
Pointing it at Stella, "Your first lesson is disarming me. Use every ounce of strength inside you, including aura, to achieve this goal."
"Yes, ma'am!" a shockwave escaped from Stella when a red flame surrounded her body.
The red aura even covered her own sword, and as if growing several times heavier from the aura alone, her feet dug into the ground. When she charged, a rumble shook the earth.
Instead of standing around waiting, Flora charged as well but with more speed.
"Ack!?" Stella's sword was knocked away in a split second and got her throat grabbed the next.
Standing with her hand around Stella's throat, Flora spoke, "You lose all senses when you bring out all your strength—a fatal flaw of red aura users early on in their development. You're all natural-born berserkers without the physical limits that comes with being a berserker. But just because you don't lose stamina as quickly as people with berserker classes, doesn't mean you can maintain a sound mind in battle. Given your inability to control your emotions, that just shows how inexperienced you are. What am I trying to say? Don't charge in blindly because I can use that against you."
"Ugh!" as her aura faded away, Stella was let go and dropped to her knees, "W-What just happened…"
"Just like you need multiple goals to grow as a swordsman, you need multiple ways to overwhelm your opponent before taking their weapon. That's your issue, Stella. You focused solely on taking this sword from my hand." She hit Stella in the head with the sword softly, "This will remain your first lesson until you can succeed."
"Wait a second, what about Luke? Did he succeed in this?"
"You are the better swordsman so I'm holding you up to a higher standard. He's still growing and still doesn't have a martial art he's training in. Whereas you are older than him by three years and have been training with instructors for much longer. Doesn't seem fair to give him this impossible task, does it?"
"B-But if you're even stronger than the man who dominated the gladiator arenas for over a decade, how am I supposed to win!?"
She doesn't seem to understand what disarming your opponent means. There are two ways to do this but it seems no one taught her this. Since Flora is much faster and stronger than she is, she's only left with one of the two options.
"Who knows~? I can't just help you pass your first lesson, can I? But I'll give you a tip: attack me so furiously that I won't have a choice but to block your attack."
"Even if you say that, you're way faster than me!"
"Complain all you want, Lady Ayried. You wanted this so if you want me to refine you and help you grow stronger, you'll do your best to win."
"…I'll achieve that by the end of the week."
"Hahaha, I like your confidence!"
And thus continued Stella's journey as a swordsman.