Ch 27: Starting Sword (I)

It had been days since Lucius learned to use magic to copy Rex's swordsmanship. He worked day and night trying sharpen his aura of mana around him in order to create a more fatal weapon. His previous aura had resembled a faint green glow around him but now it turned to a teal mist around him.

Even after days of hard and endless swinging, the treant had merely been scratched and scraped. All of Lucius strikes amounted to nearly nothing against the hollow piece if wood.

He swung his blade to the left while stepping his right feet forward. A teal wave of magical energy collided with the treant's body. Lucius quickly spun to to his left in a full 360° and sent another wave of energy towards the treant. Before his second attack connected, he lunged for forward for a thrust. Just as he felt his blade of mana connect, Lucius ferociously swung his sword towards the right. He lifted the blade up and swung the blade downwards and released a mass amount of mana resulting to it crashing down at the treant. When the mana touched the ground, it split itself like a curtain of energy.

Yet all of his attacks resulted to only a few cuts that two centimeters deep. Lucius breathed heavily and cursed the treant in his mind. He had poured all his mana and strength into all of his attacks but his results were not something he was proud of.

The blade of mana disappeared out of his grasps. Lucius had ran out of mana, he bent down and placed his hands on his knees. He had ran out of wind and energy inside him. 'Dafaq is that thing made out of?!' Lucius was enraged from fighting the treant endlessly. His mother had told him that he had to completely destroy the treant. After hundreds of attempts, he felt that it was impossible.

Lucia and her mother was watching from afar as Lucius struggled. They wondered how long will Lucius last until he found out that the treant was extremely resistant to magic. entities or constructs made of magic was highly resistant to the very thing that had made them. Mages had powerful barriers against physical attacks such as swords, arrows, spears, javelin, and even a boulder from a catapult. But their barriers work more effectively against other mages, magic cancelled out magic.

Lucius had read most books about magic, but simple things such as magic countering magic was a well known fact for mages that they didn't need to write it in a book.

"Its dry." Grand Duke Jonathan spoke from behind Lucius. He had just finished his mission and was taking a stroll when he found Lucius practicing.

Lucius turned around to see who was behind him. He had no idea what the Grand Duke meant by dry and his face showed confusion.

"This magic of yours is heavily inspired by swordsmanship yet you haven't mastered much of it." Jonathan unsheathed his sword and brandished his sword before showing Lucius his swordsmanship. It was quick and fluid that Lucius couldn't see properly. Strong gusts of air was generated with every swing of his blade.

This reminded Lucius of the 'Sword Saint'. He thought more of what the Grand Duke said to him and found that it was indeed lacking. He had been swinging his sword towards the treant hoping to damage it with the explosive and destructive force of mana. It didn't hold much swordsmanship in it that he forgot the 'Ruler of Bones' was able to fight the 'Sword Saint' to a near draw.

'Now that i think about it, the mana sword is way too light, or should i say weightless. I need something that has actual weight and mass.' Mana was just another type of energy, even if it was manifested to something close to solid, it had little to no weight. Swordsmanship relied on the sword's weight and sharpness while Lucius mana sword couldn't really do what an actual sword could.

He had his custom made sword on his hip at all times. Back before he had strength, he had little use of the sword other than swinging it and practice swordsmanship on his own. But now after having magic, he placed it on his person at all times. Lucius pulled his sword out and applied his mana to it. The picture of Gladius holding a sword while wrapped in an aura of mana similar to Rex was envisioned by his mind.

Lucius lowered his posture and aimed his sword towards the treant. It had reminded him of the time that he had fought Grim in the temple of fallen reapers. His teal mana had covered his sword similar to an aura of blue fire. 'Fallen Sword: Cavern' He leaped towards the treant and plunged his sword straight at the targets chest, this completely destroyed what was inside and behind the treant. Lucius pulled his sword up and severed the area from the treant's left shoulder and chest. But he didn't stop there, using this momentum with the sword, he made a quick spin and sliced the treant in half.

For the first time, the treant moved and raised his hand up. Lucius returned back to his original pose and blocked the treant's hand which was swung down. The attack's speed when it came down was way to fast for Lucius. The treant pulled back its arm and spread both arms apart. It was preparing squish Lucius like a fly.

Lucius wasn't going to stand there and defend himself from.the attack, he quickly stepped back away from the treant's reach. The sound of it's hand colliding made a loud bang in front of Lucius, he was slightly startled by it. But he didn't plan to miss the chance to attack his opponent. 'Fallen Sword: Plains' While both of it's hands were still clapped together, Lucius slashed his sword horizontally towards his right.

*Thud*

The strike had reached the treant's arms but it only sliced off its right arm and not its left. It had lost its original power after connecting with the right arm that it couldn't finish cutting the left arm. But this didn't worry Lucius at all, he had played the Soulsborne franchise, he learned how to be patient.

The treant had pulled back its left arm and swung it horizontally towards Lucius. However, instead of dodging it, Lucius had intercepted it with his sword by swinging downwards diagonally to his right. When both attacks met, the treant's wrist was sliced off. But the treant's arm, which no longer had its hand, still did a complete sweep.

This was a perfect chance for Lucius. He had been analysing the treant's attack pattern and he found that it would always pull back its arm before attacking. Lucius tried to launch an all out attack but his mana and stamina had completely ran out resulting to a weak swing that didn't manage to connect.

Lucius fell down on his knees and grasped for air. He felt a gust of wind from above him, when he looked up, the treant had been decapitated. The Grand Duke had finish the treant off.

"Well done. Now rest, young Lucius, a healthy body is a must for those who wield the blade." Jonathan had patted Lucius' shoulder before leaving. He had seen enough to complete his full judgement, he was satisfied.

From afar, Sylvia was pleased with Lucius results. Though the Grand Duke had interfered, Lucius was clearly able to win the fight. She wasn't sure if he could if she allowed the treant to move before Lucius could deal a significant attack like severing the treant's lower half. Nevertheless, it was a complete success.

Laurence had ran towards Lucius side and help him stand up. This had completely emptied Lucius' strength and he wasn't sure if he could leave the heat waved field. Thankfully he had his butler Laurence with him

****

'Ugh... i feel like sheeeeeiiiittt!' Lucius inwardly thought. He hated the feeling of exhaustion, it was a wish of him to never get tired.

Lucius just had a lovely bath to clean himself off of sweat and dirt. He was ready to hit his bed and sleep from just touching the blanket.

'Okay, note to self, use an actual sword.' Thanks to today's lovely lesson, Lucius was now aware that using an object with mass and being a f*cking solid object was better than aiming a near nonexistent glow stick towards an entity that is very resistant to a near nonexistent glow stick.

Of course, Sylvia wasn't satisfied with what Lucius had currently displayed. She had thought that Lucius would pick the path of his father as a marksman similar to his brother, but he had picked himself to be a swordsman. Swordsman numbered thousands amongst thousand inside the kingdom, empire, and alliance. Unlike marksmen, which are quite rare, swordsman were easier to be guided with magic. She can't teach Lucius but she can guide him in using magic, unlike his brother which had his father teaching him.

His mother had said to him 'Prepare for tomorrow, for you shall test your skills against moving enemies.'. Lucius was fully aware that he could only beat the treant with the Grand Duke's advise and the fact that the treant couldn't move. He could only imagine how hard fighting a moving enemy will be.