256 Teaching Humility

"Son, you've yet to see the world, so you don't understand, but take it from me, there is always someone smarter, someone stronger, someone with a better background, or more wealth, so never be arrogant."

"Arrogance will blind you, letting those who you once looked down upon you surpass you, or worse, strike you dead."

"Instead, be confident, know where your limits are and challenge them, but don't be arrogant about it, be smart, plan things out and be strategic, and if you can't and death is really looming, only then can you be arrogant."

"Let arrogance be the fire that burns in your final moments, the fuel that may save you from the abyss, but not the muscles and bones that support you in your day-to-day life, do you understand?"

"I get it dad, I promise to never be arrogant unless I'm already one-step from death!" Little Minos said solemnly, taking his father's words to heart.

"Good, then how about you teach me what realm comes next." Minos smiled, causing little Minos to laugh at the sudden change in his father's attitude.

"Okay, after that comes the Feather Realm, where via proper control, one can manipulate something heavy as if it is light, just follow my lead..."

Just like before, after only a single attempt, Minos mastered this new realm with ease, once again silencing little Minos for a moment.

"... Okay then, let's move onto the final realm, the Stone Realm. This realm is the exact opposite of the Feather Realm, where instead of making something heavy light, we make something light heavy."

As he finished speaking, little Minos raised his sword before lightly striking the earth ahead of him, causing a deep pit to explode out, as if he had just dropped a heavy stone onto the area.

Taking the sword, Minos swung it around a few times before smacking the earth, causing an even deeper pit than the one little Minos left.

"You know teaching you is really frustrating, right?" Little Minos complained, looking at his father's results that were even better than his.

"Then I guess I should learn even faster so I can get back to teaching you." Minos laughed, causing his son's face to go slightly sour.

"Hmph, these realms are ultimately just mortal realms, only when one has honed their own Sword Intent are they truly a sword master!"

"Sword Intent? Have you mastered it?" Minos asked curiously, having heard of this realm in the past.

"Just recently, here, have a look." Little Minos said joyfully, finally finding an opportunity to beat his dad.

Once again standing still, little Minos raised he sword for a moment before a strange red-aura slowly began gathering around the blade.

After the aura turned into a deep red, little Minos slashed forward, not striking anywhere near the tree.

Yet as he released, the aura quickly turned into a crescent moon, slashing through a nearby tree and igniting the cut on fire.

With a loud bang, the entire tree collapsed in a blaze, the fire having spread across it in what seemed like a blink of the eye.

Fortunately, with a single thought from little Minos, the fire went out, revealing the black-charred corpse of the tree.

"What do you think?" Little Minos said with a big grin, certain that as talented as his father was, he wouldn't be able to create his own Sword Intent anytime soon.

"Amazing! But what was that fire?" Minos asked curiously.

"Well Sword Intent comes in many different forms, and the type I happened to master is called Fire-Sword Intent, which I don't think needs any explanation." Little Minos said before tapping his spatial ring and tossing a book towards Minos.

"Here, my master gave me this book which contains the personal experience of all the sword master's that the Aleph Empire has ever had."

"This book took hundreds of years to compile and contains the wisdom of a little more than a dozen sword masters, each one having mastered a Sword Intent of their own."

Catching the book, Minos couldn't help but feel like it weighed a thousand pounds despite its slim body, its true value completely contradictory to its appearance.

While little Minos tossed it to him like it was worth nothing, Minos was well aware of the tremendous value that this book contained, something even the strongest sword cultivators would risk their lives to acquire.

The proof of this lay in the fact that despite hundreds of years passing, only 16 sword master's who had attained a Sword Intent of their own had appeared, which showed just how rare Sword Intent was.

With his Omniscient Eyes, Minos quickly scanned the books contents into his mind, savoring the knowledge as he stood in silence.

Little Minos was well aware of just how enlightening this book was, so he didn't bother his dad, just leaving him alone to his thoughts.

With absolute quiet, Minos slowly uncovered the truth behind Sword Intent, his barebone's know-how of the past quickly transforming into an advanced understanding.

Just like normal techniques, Sword Intent was split into four levels, Initiation, Minor Mastery, Major Mastery, and Perfection.

Most sword masters would only ever reach the Initiation Realm, and according to this, the highest level ever achieved was Perfection, acquired by the one and only Nine Sword Divinity.

What came after Sword Intent was still a mystery, but the realm of Sword Intent was already vast enough, enough for most people to spend a lifetime exploring.

Only geniuses like the Nine Sword Divinity would find themselves unsatisfied with such a realm, but unfortunately for them, it seemed whatever came after Sword Intent was far from easy to obtain.

Shaking his head slightly, Minos stopped thinking about something so far beyond him, focusing his attention back on the information about Sword Intent.

Like little Minos had explained, Sword Intent came in many different forms, the most common of which being the elemental forms, such as fire, earth, wood, etc.

Even more common than the elemental forms were what the sword master's collectively called the basic forms.

These forms included things like sharpness and speed, Sword Intents that were more focused on enhancing basic qualities of the sword, rather than adding on to it.

Of course, just because it was called basic didn't mean it was less-valued, in fact the Nine Sword Divinity himself mastered the Sword Intent of Sharpness, which proved that these basic forms were far from looked down upon.

Ultimately, it was best to pursue a Sword Intent that matched your true nature, which would not only make it much more powerful, but also easier to train, half the work with twice the results.

Realizing this, Minos couldn't help but think of his own nature, wondering exactly which type of Sword Intent would suit him best.

Such a question may have been hard to answer in his younger years, but after all his experiences, he already had a good understanding of himself.

In his heart, Minos knew he had a simple nature, having no strong obsessions, whether it be for power, wealth, or influence, rather cultivating simply because he never wanted to forget the memories of his loved ones, the memories he valued so much.

If there was anything he had in abundance, it would likely be love, though he wasn't exactly sure how one would turn that into Sword Intent.

"I don't think any of these Sword Intents match me." Minos said after some thought, tossing the book back to little Minos.

"Then come up with your own, my master told me that those who come up with their own Sword Intent are way stronger than those who just copy others."

"Then how come you didn't come up with your own Sword Intent." Minos asked his son curiously, knowing he certainly had the talent for it.

"I'm still young, besides, who said you can only master one Sword Intent?"

Hearing his son's words, Minos couldn't help but freeze for a moment, realizing his thoughts had gone awry from the start.

He was initially looking at things as if he could only have one Sword Intent, but with his son's remainder, he suddenly realized that he was being too harsh on himself.

While none of these Sword Intents really matched him, they would be a good place-holder until he figured out his own path.

With that understanding, the only question left was what Sword Intent to start with, and after a little thought, Minos decided to go with speed.

Compared to the elemental forms, the basic forms matched him better, and when it came to the sword, Minos's thoughts always came down to speed and sharpness.

Of course sharpness could come in the future, but for now, Minos decided to focus on speed, which the book fortunately had a master in.

The sword master in the book had one piece of advice for acquiring Speed Sword Intent, which was to swing as fast as you could, constantly trying to improve one's speed little by little.

The sword master then proceeded to go into detail about hundreds of different exercises he himself used before he attained his Sword Intent, going into more detail about the one's he personally felt were more beneficial.

Beyond that, he explained what Speed Sword Intent felt like, and the mentality one should hold if they themselves want to acquire the same Sword Intent.

Soaking up all of this wisdom, Minos picked up his sword and walked towards a tree, deciding to use the exercises this sword master liked the most.

With a bang, Minos kicked the tree heavily, watching as the leaves slowly fell from it's foliage, the wind giving them a chaotic path as they traveled towards the earth below.

Readying his sword, Minos shot it out like a bolt of lightning, causing a flash of light, before re-sheathing the sword into its scabbard, the entire movement taking less than a second.