It All Started With Lightning

Duel

Like the sunrise and sunset, time continued to flow.

When William turned five, he had the opportunity to see his sister for the first time. Theo had given a great feast when he received happy news from his only daughter.

When Valynn turned sixteen, when the mages went to the academy(royal academy) to find new talents, they discovered that she was gifted and accepted her into their tower. She would then be trained as a mage.

His mother was overjoyed to hear this news, even more than Theo. Since she was a mage herself and William wanted to train as a warrior for the time being, she was pleased and proud to be the daughter of the one who would carry on her legacy of knowledge.

Valynn's affinity was for water and flame, but the affinity she received from her father was so small that she only needed to use it to start a fire. Since it was Valynn's last visit to her home before she began her long apprenticeship, Sophia told her all she knew about water magic.

William could tell when he saw her that she was his older sister, even though no one told him. She was like a carbon copy of Sophia. Big eyes, raven black hair, and white skin gave him the feeling that she was a copy of her mother.

But for Valynn, it was just the opposite. When she first saw William, she thought he was one of the newly hired youths alongside his father. She thought her brother must have been five years old. She couldn't help but be surprised when they introduced William. The boy in front of her looked very much like his father and mother, but he looked at least twelve or thirteen years old. She wondered what her father had been feeding William in that short five-year period without her. She would surely be surprised to learn that William can now drink up to a cup a day of the nourishing blood of the jade tiger.

Though she had never trained as a warrior herself, she still retained a gentle and charming appearance. She was as delicate as a lily in the middle of the forest.

When William saw her, "Sister!" he greeted her with open arms. Valynn was taken aback by his appearance. She froze for a moment, not knowing what to do. Then, when she saw her mother nod to her, she hugged him, though a little awkwardly.

William asked her hundreds of questions in one day about the capital and the Mage Tower she had been accepted into. Valynn answered the first ten questions calmly, like an older sister, but when the questions kept coming, she used the excuse of being tired to escape her inquisitive brother and ran away.

William wanted to learn more about this world. When he saw her running away, he realized that he might have gone too far, and he didn't push. It was really hard for him to still act like a child in this body. Trainer Pierce said that when tiger blood was no longer enough for him, it was time for him to accept the challenge.

Valynn did not stay long. Since she had been traveling for almost a week, the time for the tower to open was shortened. She had reserved a week for the return trip. According to the person who let her into the tower, she had to register in a month.

That's why she left after one week, just in case. William was very upset about this, which was out of character for his age. He didn't have a peer to understand and befriend him. Here he understood very well what a blessing social media and the internet were in his former world.

As sad as Theo and Sophia were, they had to admit that their daughter was growing up. So they put all their efforts into William and the effort of having a new child.

William continued his training. He had almost caught up with the other soldiers. He was now able to lift the big logs carried by the soldiers he had seen in training on the first day.

Two years later, he turned seven with the sunrise. Today was sword training day. For the past four years, he and the other soldiers had been learning Bear Claw, his family's most basic martial art, which was all about strength and endurance.

Today, although he was still a seven-year-old brat, he had a body that could eat with other soldiers and drink tiger blood insatiably. He looked like a teenager of fourteen or fifteen. His skin was already starting to glow with a light bronze tint. His body was even taller than his peers. He had broad shoulders and a well-built body. When he stood next to Theo, it was like a small statue of him.

So far, he had always lost to Pierce in duels. Not once had he won. Today, he wanted to break this barrier that he had not been able to overcome for a long time. He hadn't made Pierce his priority. On the first day of training, he had seen the bastard throwing dirt in his face.

He grinned and waited for the sun to hit the training ground. He was never late and never left early. Whether it was because he felt useless in the other world, he had never relaxed until now, he had done his best with every decision.

When everyone was back in line as usual, this time before Pierce could start training, William stepped forward and shouted. "Coach Pierce! I want to challenge!"

Pierce frowned. Even though the brat admired his endurance and admitted that he was getting stronger, he thought that he was not ready yet. "Are you sure?" he asked. His face looked scary.

William doubted himself for a moment, but only a moment. Then he shouted, "I'm sure!" with a straight face.

Pierce was impressed by his confidence and smiled weakly. "Okay, then choose an opponent." He said, pointing at the soldiers with the thin stick in his hand.

William stepped forward. He stepped in front of Pierce and looked at the soldiers. They were all grinning as if they were looking down on him.

He pointed at the tanned bald man.

"Godo! I choose you."

During those four years, he had gotten to know all the soldiers. A certain friendship had developed between them. He wasn't overly hostile to Godo, but he had chosen to put his mind at ease.

The man he called Godo was the one who had kicked dirt in his face four years ago.

The grin on Godo's face grew wider. "Heheh, are you sure?" he asked laughing.

"Yes!"

He said to himself, 'Bald donkey! I'm going to shit in your face!'

After Godo stepped in front of him, everyone split up and spread out. They formed a circle around them.

The difference in height and body size was obvious when they faced each other, but all the soldiers, including Pierce, knew that there wasn't much difference in strength. They began their training at a late age. Although their bodies were large, they were out of proportion to their strength. Otherwise, the strongest would have to be two and a half meters tall George.

Both of them took the same size, door-width swords made of white ironwood. Pierce "On my mark." He yelled.

"Now!"

They both moved forward at the same time. Their swords collided with slashing movements. They stayed in this position for a while. They were tied in the test of strength.

Since all the soldiers received the same training, all the moves they used were familiar to each other. Thus, the duel quickly turned into a stalemate. While Godo was able to counter all of William's moves, the same was true for William.

After fighting in a stalemate for about ten minutes, the two stopped within three meters of each other. They were breathing fast. They were covered in sweat.

Godo thought, 'I can't lose a child! I must keep him in the fight as long as possible. I'm sure I can last longer.'

William could see what he was thinking, too, and he knew he was right. This 'young' body couldn't take much more. If they got into an endurance fight, he would be the loser.

'I have to use this move now! Otherwise, it will be too late for everything, I will pass out from exhaustion.' He thought and spoke to Godo opposite him.

"Godo, you bald donkey, look at the move that will defeat you!" he shouted.

Godo became angry when he heard this. He grabbed the sword as if to swing it from his right side and thrust at William.

William, on the other hand, was glad that he had fallen for his provocation. His sword pierced the ground slightly, its broad face facing Godo.

'Donkey always donkey,' he said inwardly and kicked the broad side of the sword with all his might. The dust and soil from the edge of the sword was thrown into Godo's face with a ripple.

Godo was surprised by William's action. He wanted to defend himself, but quickly realized that he couldn't. He held the sword in his right with both hands. Even if he brought it in front of him now, he could only make one cut. He couldn't use the large surface to protect himself because he was sure that he wouldn't make it in time due to the air pressure. So he stopped his upper body as best he could and tried to back away. He let go of his left hand and shielded his eyes.

But now it was too late. William was on the move. William was already on his left when he raised his hand to protect his eye. With all the force of his sword, he struck at his defenseless bald head.

"BOOM!!" Something like the sound of a mallet hitting a drum was heard. After that, it was clear.

"AHHHHH!" Godo fell to the ground, clutching his head. He couldn't protect his face because he was holding his head, and just like four years ago, Godo's face was covered in dust this time. In addition, his bald head now had a bulge the size of an egg.

Smiling, William stood beside him and looked at his bald head like a craftsman who seemed satisfied with his work.

The other soldiers were very surprised to see this. They had never thought that a seven-year-old brat could defeat them. Today, the hard truths began to show themselves to them.

Pierce wasn't surprised, he already knew that if he didn't make such a move, he would never win. Since the technique and training were exactly the same, there was not much skill required in these techniques. One year later, this training would be over for the twenty-one soldiers here. One year earlier or later, nothing changes. He thought.

Pierce stepped forward and announced that William was the winner of this duel. Then he said that their training was over. He told them to gather here again tomorrow, their only day off. He hinted that real warrior training would now begin.

Although William had the satisfaction of getting his revenge, he was still not satisfied.

He also wanted to challenge Trainer Pierce, whom he hadn't beaten in four years. That's why he shouted as they tried to leave. "Trainer! I want to challenge someone else!" he said.

Pierce was a little surprised, but he didn't show it. "Oh? Is that so? To who?" he said very calmly.

"You!" William said and pointed with his sword.

This time Pierce was really surprised. His eyes were wide open and he stared at William like he was looking at a fool. After looking at him for a while, he started to laugh. "Hahahahahaha!"

He was laughing so hard that everyone who saw it thought he was having a seizure. After a while he stopped laughing and looked back at William. He couldn't stand to see his serious face and asked, "Are you serious?"

"Yes, sir!" replied William. He took a defensive stance.

"Oh? Okay then. Let me move my old bones a little today." He said.

The other soldiers were also fascinated. They wanted to see with their own eyes how strong the trainer was, whom they had obeyed without question since the first day.

Pierce stepped forward, took off his spotless white shirt, and threw it at one of the soldiers. Though he looked old, there was a real gem under his clothes. His tight, segmented muscles looked defiantly strong and powerful to most of the soldiers here.

"Soldiers! Take a good look!" he said.

Then he looked at each of them individually, his eyes finally resting on William.

"Today, as a final lesson, I will show you what it means to be a warrior!"

Then he added, "One day you can be just like me."

He pointed to one of the soldiers. That soldier immediately stepped forward and said, "On my mark, now!

And the duel began. William stayed on the defensive and did not move, wanting to test Pierce's strength and speed. But what happened next almost made him lose his mind. Pierce didn't have a thick sword in his hand like he did. It was a stick of white ironwood, only an inch thick and a meter long.

William saw Pierce suddenly disappear in front of his eyes. Then he saw Pierce's one-inch-wide stick make a hole in the broad face of his door-like sword, with the tip pointing at his forehead. Although the tip of the stick was blunt, blood dripped from a tiny hole in his forehead. It looked like he had been stabbed with a needle.

At that moment, he realized that he was still one of the weakest in the world. He was sure that he would be greeted like Superman in his previous world. But in this world, he was no different from a newborn baby.

He was even more surprised when he took his eyes off the end of the stick and looked at Pierce's body. His skin glowed with an iron-like gray light and he looked like someone made of iron.

Pierce smiled. Knowing that William had accepted it now, he slowly pulled his stick back out of the hole.

With this move, Pierce ignited another spark in William. William wanted to be stronger now because he thought he could do the same thing as Pierce. He knew immediately that this was due to an affinity for metal. As he considered all the possibilities in his mind, he realized that metal might be the best affinity for defense, cutting, and piercing.

Other soldiers felt the same way. Now they understood why only those with an affinity for fire and metal were accepted when they were selected here. It was probably because the Aureus family had martial arts related to fire and metal. They were very happy when they thought about the reason for tomorrow's gathering.

'I wonder,' they thought to themselves.

There was no need to fight anymore, William agreed. Pierce took his shirt from the soldier and put it back on. Before he left, William approached him and bowed to him like a noble.

Pierce tried to stop him, but William insisted. "Young Master, you don't have to do this, after all I am at your service." He said gently.

William spoke as he leaned forward. "This is not noble to noble, but weak to strong, out of respect!" he said.

"As you see appropriate," Pierce said, but there was a smile on his face.

He called out to everyone once more before finally leaving. "Be here tomorrow morning at the same time. This time the Baron will teach you himself!"

Hearing this, the soldiers began to shout with joy. William joined them. After a while, they all left, eagerly waiting for the next day.

While the duel was going on, Theo watched from the balcony on the third floor of the castle, drinking tea with Sophia.

He too gave a quiet cheer when he saw William's clever move. He had always feared that his son would be a muscular head. He was happy to see that his fears were unfounded. Now he wanted to teach him more. He, too, was excited.

Then, seeing his slightly more mature face on his way back, he was completely disheartened.

Pursing his lips, looking sadly at Sophia beside him, he said, “Darling, no movement yet?” he asked.

Sophia replied with a small laugh. “Not yet, but I feel like it will!”

Theo was happy once again today. For one more child, he would have given half the barony.

The two of them giggled happily and continued to drink their tea.