4 Chapter 4

(A/N: I added 2% power to Swordsmanship in addition to the damage and efficiency multipliers)

As the days and weeks blurred by, I rapidly improved my Swordsmanship skill. The early levels were pretty easy to get through quickly. It only took me about 2 weeks to reach level 25 in the skill. My father continued to be astounded by my progress, continuing to teach me more and push me harder in terms of my sword skills. Everything went well with my training for the first few months, but once I hit level 50, my level speed completely hit a wall. Even two weeks after reaching level 50, I found myself completely unable to gain even one more skill level.

One day, after training and not gaining a skill level, I decided to take a walk around the compound. It was still twilight, and the sun's last light was just beginning to fade from the horizon, but there was still enough light to navigate by. I walked slowly around the perimeter of the inner sanctum as I thought through my problem with my skill. The chill night air picked up and caused my clothes to whip back and forth, but I paid it no mind. I did pull my jacket up a bit higher to fight off the chill as twilight gave way to night.

I had three ideas for why my skill was stuck at level 50. Firstly, maybe my father isn't a good enough teacher according to the system, and I will need to find a more powerful swordsman to teach me. Secondly, it is possible that there is some unknown condition I have to meet before continuing to level up more. I found the possibility of the first idea plausible, while I didn't believe that my second idea was the case. The idea I was most confident in is my third idea, I have to actually use the skills in real-world situations to level past 50.

Even though I only had one skill at level 50 so far, I felt fairly certain that this would be a barrier for all of my skills. Of course, I had no way to gain access to real, life-threatening combat at my age, so I could only pivot my focus to hand-to-hand combat. I figured that it would just be best to focus on leveling up my available skills as much as possible before I turn six years old and unlock my cursed energy. With that decided, I hopped back on the grind and managed to get the hand-to-hand combat skill easily enough.

[New Passive Skill - Hand-to-Hand Combat (Lv. 1): +2% Damage, +2% Power, +1% Efficiency]

I noticed it was exactly the same multipliers that Swordsmanship gave me, which I found interesting, but nothing more. When I walked over to the training ground one morning, I proposed my idea to my father.

"Father, I think we should improve my hand-to-hand combat skills from now on to better round out my abilities," I said diplomatically, but I still received a sharp glare from him.

"You want to quit practicing swordsmanship?" he said with clear displeasure evident in his voice and even a note of warning.

I knew that even if I am his son, he wouldn't hesitate to become beat me brutally for any perceived weakness, "No, we will continue swordsmanship, but what will I do if my weapon breaks or it is somehow stolen?" I asked calmly, not backing down.

That line of reasoning did seem to give him some pause. Even though he was set on me becoming a master swordsman, he wasn't stupid. It was clear that he had seen the logic in my words and was truly taking them into consideration. He also probably realized that it would be best to get the combat skills out of the way before I gained access to my cursed energy. So, after a long moment, he responded.

"There is logic in your words. Very well, since you are at an acceptable place with swordsmanship, we will proceed primarily with hand-to-hand combat from now on," He said smoothly, as if there had never been any doubt that this was the course of action we were going to take.

I nodded and began walking toward the center of the training ground. I heard the rapid approach of feet and only had time to turn slightly before a fist impacted my stomach and threw me back. I fell to the ground, rolling hard, and then began to vomit. I knew beyond a reasonable doubt that at least a few of my ribs were broken. I looked up weakly with accusation in my eyes. I hadn't expected him to cheapshot me from behind, especially after agreeing to train me in hand-to-hand combat so readily.

"First rule of combat is to always expect an attack at all times. You don't have the convenience of the six eyes as well as limitless. You have to prove yourself as a sorcerer with your own merits." My father said, beginning to rave madly near the end of his words.

I had known he had a bit of an inferiority complex due to not having the clan's technique, but I didn't think it ran this deep. I wanted to say that being jealous of a 15-year-old teenager was pathetic, but at this moment, I could see the instability and light of madness in his eyes. I knew better than to push my luck at this moment. However, at this moment, I lost any respect I had for my father. After all, the limitless technique is good, but it isn't great without the aid of the six eyes.

He walked over to stand above me and said, "Get Up!"

I would have tried to get up if I could, but my vision was already fading fast. The pain in my chest felt like hundreds of firey nails piercing my lungs with every breath I took. Every moment became a living hell once the shock wore off, and I was subjected to the full amount of pain brought on by my broken ribs. My father, deep in whatever episode he was having, began to rage and scream. He then began to kick me right in my broken ribs, causing the pain to completely overtake me and cause me to stop breathing for a few agonizing moments.

I could only hear the screams, "GET UP, GET UP, GET UP YOU USELESS PIECE OF..." as if from a great distance or from underwater.

The last thing I saw was my father standing above me, beating me before he just disappeared. I couldn't tell if I was hallucinating the situation, but it seemed like he had been hit by a blast of red energy. I blinked rapidly as I tried to take in the sight of the cursed energy, but it faded back into invisibility, and I faded into unconsciousness.

I woke to the sight of an old wooden ceiling above my head. I tried to move, but some residual pain lanced through my body, but I was surprised to find that it was much less than before. This pain felt more like a toothache compared to the previous agony I had felt. I still decided to take things slow, however. It was clear that I was healed with reverse cursed energy, but it seemed like whoever had done it was either just learning or didn't have enough energy to completely heal my wounds in one go. I immediately added the acquisition of reverse cursed technique to my to-do list, even though I knew it would be extremely challenging to do.

I looked around the small room I found myself in. I looked out a small window near my head to the top of a tree swaying in the breeze. Then, I noticed the shape lying next to me on the floor, my mother. I looked at her and her fragile appearance and the clear shivers running through her body. She had apparently fallen asleep while either caring for me or waiting to wake up. I had no particularly strong feelings toward her, seeing her as more of a friendly neighbor instead of my mother, but I did appreciate her show of support from her. To give her credit, she also tried to make my life more comfortable despite her own issues and the issues of the clan.

I quickly pulled the blanket off of myself and laid it over her instead. As soon as the blanket touched her skin, her eyes opened wide, almost impossibly so. I was startled by her sudden movement and jumped back, landing flat on my back and knocking the wind out of myself. She quickly scrambled over to me and embraced me. Tears streamed down her face as she kept inspecting my body over and over again for any signs of injury. Then, I heard a cough from the side by the door that I hadn't seen previously.

Standing there was the clan head and beside him was my father who looked much more worse for wear then I had ever seen him before