Magic Swordsman?

  As Ryuma busied himself the next few days, a sudden knock could be heard on his door. Going to open it, he found what he did not expect.

  ?“Please take this boy back.”

  ?Blade had returned, with one of the teachers from the academy. Ryuma had a lot of questions. It had not even been a week, only five days, and one and a half of those days had been used just getting to the academy.

  ?“What is this about?”

  ?Ryuma asked, bewildered by the sight.

  ?“What is your price? However much you want for taking this boy back and not saying a word.”

  ?“Tell me what this is about first. Did Blade do something wrong?”

  ?“No, it's not his actions that have prompted this return, more so his existence itself.”

  ?“What is that supposed to mean? Blade has a high level of mana, shouldn't he be perfect for your academy?”

  ?“This boy has a high mana count, yes, but that is it. He has no mana affinity whatsoever.”

  ?“What? That's impossible, he should at least have one.”

  ?Mana affinity. Everyone has mana, but it is mana affinity which tells us what type of magic we can use beyond the basics, like strengthening and everyday use. Everyone should have a mana affinity, yet here Ryuma was being told Blade had none. An anomaly with high mana, but no way to give it an actual use.

  ?“So if you have understood what I mean, what would it take for you to keep shut about this?”

  ?“Give me a second. And why is it so important that I keep quiet about this?”

  ?Ryuma asked, needing a moment to think, but also confused at the seeming necessity to keep shut. At his words, the teacher gasped as if struck as he said.

  ?“We are the most prestigious academy among all the lands. Every single one of our students has ended up becoming a spectacle in the world after their graduation. We offer lectures from when the children are young until they are proper adults. To say we failed to teach a child—a child that on paper should be more than suitable for us—would be a failure and drag our reputation down.”

  ?“I understand. I would like… Blade, how old are you?”

  ?He asked Blade suddenly, realizing he had never known his age other than the fact he was young.

  ?“I'm 8 years old.”

  ?“I see. Then I would like eight thousand gold coins.”

  ?Ryuma said calmly with a confident smirk. At that amount, the teacher almost sputtered.

  ?“That is an outrageous amount. You cannot expect me to simply hand over eight thousand gold coins for this kid.”

  ?“Why not? If he went to the academy, he would have been given a minimum of ten years of your training. Or are you trying to say a year at the academy isn't worth a thousand gold coins?”

  ?The man sputtered a bit, taken aback by the use of logic. The quiet that followed was one of conflict. He wanted to avoid a scandal that could hurt the academy’s political power, yet 8000… He breathed for a few seconds, straightening out his suit before turning, leaving the parting words.

  ?“I will have them ready for you, in two days' time.”

  ?“Quick and efficient, just what I expected from the academy,”

  ?He said as he patted Blade’s shoulder, before the question hit. What now? What would he have Blade do? He had thought magic would be the answer to the question, yet he was now at a loss.

  ?“Blade, would you like learning how to use that sword you carry around?”

  ?Ryuma knew he should not do it. He knew Blade's talent was nothing special, that if he was the one who trained him, their different levels of talent would lead to fractures. Yet it did not have to be him who had the primary job.

  ?“Sure.”

  ?Blade responded, seeming unfazed by the rejection from the mage academy. Maybe this was the one time Ryuma was glad for Blade's continued calm.

  ?Taking his hand, he led Blade within the main halls of the school, looking for the person he believed would be best suited for teaching him. Remembering his schedule due to a lot of clashes, he knew he could find him here, and he did.

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  ?“Hey Uso, nice meeting you here.”

  ?Uso looked up from the report he was reading, with a less than pleased look he cut to the chase.

  ?“Do spare me the pleasantries and tell me what you want.”

  ?“I was wondering if you could teach my son.”

  ?“Me? Teach that kid?”

  ?He asked questioningly while looking at Blade. Then he proceeded to laugh.

  ?“This must be a joke. Why would the almighty [Sword Saint] come to me about training?”

  ?“Well, you are the most successful teacher here, are you not? Isn't that your whole thing?”

  ?“Though that may be true, there is still no reason for me to accept him as my student.”

  ?“I see no reason to refuse, either.”

  ?“My services aren't cheap, you know. There's also a hell of a queue. To skip all of them…”

  ?Ryuma knew he was simply trying to scare him with the cost of it all, but he was not worried. Money was the least of his worries now.

  ?“Just tell me your price.”

  ?“... 1,000s… no, 3,000 gold coins. If you can cough up that much, I'll make sure he gets all the best training.”

  ?“Sure.”

  ?Ryuma said with a smile, happy it was well within his limit. At his easy acceptance of the enormous price, Uso stilled for a moment, before catching himself and straightening up.

  ?“Then I expect the money within the next few days.”

  ?“I'll have it for you by the end of the week.”

  ?Still a bit taken aback by Ryuma’s calm, almost giddy expression, Uso excused himself with a quick farewell before leaving.

  ?“Okay then, now that you got a teacher, let's begin your training immediately.”

  ?“What are we going to do?”

  ?“Uso is a great trainer, but from what I have seen, he focuses more on the theoretical and practical aspects of the sword, without thinking about the body itself. So, I will help train your body while you're having theoretical classes with Uso. From there, when things become practical with Uso, we will focus only on your sword skills.”

  ?Ryuma says before beginning to run.

  ?“Okay.”

  ?Blade says as he follows after him.

  ?“Well, to start, you will need good stamina, so let's run until you can't anymore.”

  ?“I understand.”

  ?Blade responded, before they were off. There was no destination in mind, only running for the reason of running. They ran as far as Blade could, and when he got exhausted, they would rest before running back, exhausting him twice. When not running, Ryuma would instruct Blade to work on his flexibility by teaching him yoga and making him practice in his free time.

  ?Another thing Ryuma saw as important was making Blade ambidextrous. He did that by making him change from his natural left hand, to begin doing things right-handed. It began with small things like greeting people with his right, but slowly also extended to peeling fruit and vegetables and writing.

  ?As all this happened, he also attended the school as a student of Uso. At the school, he learned about the world, about the body and the mind. How one's existence could be split into three core parts. the body, the mind, and the soul. Ryuma had been right when he believed that Uso was the best teacher, as even someone as mediocre as Blade managed to keep up.

  ?Uso also kept his promise, helping Blade when he noticed he was stuck, and doing his utmost to make sure Blade understood. Despite his appearance, he was truly a great teacher.

  ?This continued on. As the theory progressed, Blade was undergoing a lot of physical training. Even when Ryuma went out on missions, Blade would continue with his training. He also made sure to study extra long, as he was not a genius in the theoretical aspect, so against the geniuses in his class, all he could do was study more than them to close the gap.

  ?Blade was never first in any exam, or even in the top ten. But with 50 in one class, being consistently in the top 20, often top 15, was quite the achievement.

  ?Despite his effort in his study and training, he put little effort into socializing with his classmates. A natural loner was what most of them called him, and he did not mind it. It gave him the peace to focus, and he did not understand the importance of it. Despite this, he was surprisingly good at working with others, being quite adaptable to how others wanted it.

  ?Even that would not stop the mocking that came his way due to his bare-bones talent. As a student of Uso, everyone was expected to be nothing but exceptional. Most of his classmates were nobles, royals, or people with money or status. Blade was the outcast, the one who had got in due to his adopted father being the [Sword Saint]. At the start, everyone had been curious about him, about how the son of the [Sword Saint] was, but that curiosity turned to spit when they saw his lack of real talent. Seeing him as someone who simply got in due to connections. They were not wrong, even though everyone there had some sort of status, they had to do everything they could and then some just to get in, and then there was someone who lacked the talent and got in due to their father’s connections.

  ?Despite this, he was surprisingly on good terms with Uso, who had taken a liking to him after the first couple of weeks. After seeing the hard work and dedication he had to his subjects, Uso had even grown a bit fond of Blade, being much more accepting towards him. Though this only served to agitate his peers even more.

  ?After the first few months, they would eventually begin training with weapons. Everyone chose a weapon they liked which fit them. Those who were unsure were guided by Uso to pick a suitable weapon. Blade, though, knew what he was after and picked the sword.

  ?Though surprisingly, swordsmanship was not what he was taught with Ryuma. He knew that he could not teach Blade swordsmanship. Their talent levels did not match to where that would be possible, and he had accepted that unlike Uso, he was not that great of a master. That is why Ryuma taught Blade other weapons he could use.

  ?When Blade had asked why, Ryuma had said it was for the same reason he was learning to be ambidextrous. To always have options he could take advantage of, and to never have to be limited by choice, even if the sword was what he preferred and was best at. So when not learning the sword or doing his own practice, Ryuma would teach him a weapon, yet never a complete style. Ryuma would make him master the basics, but never develop deeper, saying that mastering too much would limit his abilities in other things.

  ?Between his teaching with Uso, his extra practice with Ryuma, and his own self-development, Blade never had a boring moment, but not a moment of free time either. It never bothered him, though, being much more absorbed in all his training and studies.

  ?And so, six years would pass for Blade. Training, studying, and eventually becoming an adventurer to get more practice work, yet the end was still not near.