Chapter 2: Way of the Knight
"Long ago, when humanity was still in its fledgling stages of technological development and exploration beyond their solar system, a cataclysmic event befell the world. The very fabric of space was rent asunder, and from the gaping cracks, portals emerged into unknown realms.
Amidst the chaos and confusion, humanity was astounded to find that the beings that stepped forth from these portals were not foes, but allies in a world they never knew existed. A myriad of races, including Elves, Dwarves, Demi-Humans, and otherworldly creatures, had all been forced to abandon their homes due to the encroaching darkness.
Desperate for a solution, humanity forged a pact with these otherworlders. In exchange for their knowledge and hospitality, they would be gifted with something they could only dream of: Magicules, or what they previously referred to as Mana. This powerful force had always been within reach, but only through the help of their newfound friends could humanity harness it to fight against their common enemy: The Voidborn
Despite centuries of preparation, however, the Voidborn inevitably found their way to Laezon and launched a devastating assault. United in their resolve, humans and their otherworldly allies stood at the forefront of the battlefield. Even though they fought with all their might, victory seemed impossible as the enemy's strength was too great.
In their darkest hour, a resounding voice echoed through the air.
[The cries of the creatures of Laezon have been heard. The Will of the World has awakened]
From that moment on, every inhabitant of Laezon was gifted with a status screen, displaying their stats, magic power, health, and skills and the ability to level up and grow stronger.
Even as they mourned the loss of countless lives, the people of Laezon emerged triumphant. They had vanquished their foes, but the aftermath of the war would have far-reaching consequences. More portals opened, some led to friendly worlds, many more unleashed a fresh wave of Voidborn.
Through it all, the people of Laezon persevered. With each battle, they grew stronger and more united, creating new technologies and forging unbreakable bonds. They stood together in the face of prejudice and discrimination, learning to embrace each other's differences and rise above them.
Though the future remained uncertain, the people of Laezon knew one thing for certain: they would fight to protect their world and their way of life, no matter the cost. The END"
"The Voidborn, huh?"
Luck seemed to strike this world. The majority of people might think that the Voidborn were the most vile beings in the universe and their greatest foe, but he'd like to think otherwise.
If humanity and the otherworldly beings didn't have a common archenemy, things would be entirely different. Wars would have been issued amongst the races, purely for the control of Laezon. And at that time, he was pretty sure humanity wouldn't have survived long.
Well, history is written by the winners, so maybe the world will never truly know what has really happened during that era of chaos.
He closed the book with a smile. It was a book that his mother gave him yesterday for his birthday. His father also gave him a wooden sword to practice with. Both of their gifts were much needed to prepare for his debut in this world.
In his past life, money had the most important value, but here in Laezon, it's strength. If he has strength, money would come as a bonus.
"Luciel, wanna practice swords with me?"
"Yes." He answered. He could finally spar with his father.
"Okay, wear lighter clothes." His father's voice sounded from downstairs.
"Kay."
He did as told and went outside in the backyard. The backyard was enormous enough to build a few villas and it was filled with all kinds of trees his mother planted. In the daytime, sun rays bathed upon the grass and trees, while at nighttime, fresh breeze of wind and moonlight accompanied the whole place. It was a place where you could take your mind off, to play, barbecue and in this case, to train.
His father was waiting for him with a wooden sword in his hands.
"How about you watch some moves first, then you can try to replicate them." He said with a kind smile.
He nodded, agreeing with his father. He wasn't clueless about swords, but the era in the world he came from wasn't exactly with wars, so in the end he only knew some basics he had picked up on kendo classes. According to his kendo teacher, he was one of the most talented students he ever had, but Luciel never really managed the time to develop this unusual talent. Well regret is often bitter and he didn't have time to sulk about previous life decisions
His father rolled his sleeves up his elbow, which revealed his forearms filled with muscles and veins protruding from it, results of his hard work and career profession. He took the sword with both of his hands and entered his stance.
Before he started, he looked at Luciel and said, "This is the way of knights."
After he said that with a proud grin, he swung the wooden sword downwards and then followed with foot movement.
Slash horizontally, vertically, parry, stab, duck and move again. It was like looking at a choreography executed with perfect intensity. Luciel stood in amazement only for the show to finish early.
"I went as slow as possible so you can see it. Now you try." Lance went on to give Luciel a wooden sword.
Luciel got ready, trying his best to mimic his stance. He had basically memorised how he should move, but execution was a totally different thing. The wooden sword was as long as him. As he performed the moves, his dad was keeping an eye on him.
'His movement is too unrefined, clumsy. However it's actually impressive how he already memorized the movement, I thought he would need help. The grip on his sword is not firm, his hands are too small to properly grab it and getting him a little sword is more harmful for his future than good.' His father analyzed the five year old in front of him and signaled,
"That's enough for now." After seeing Luciel stop panting he continued, " I don't think you should practice with the sword for now, instead you should start training your body. Whenever I train you will be training on your own. After a year or two we'll start training with the sword, okay." He ruffled Luciel's hair and looked at him with the corner of his eye.
'He's a kid and will probably be dissatisfied, but he'll understand in the future.'
Luciel thought hard and looked up at his father, "Do you think I'll be bad at swordsmanship?"
Lance laughed, "You're my son, that's impossible. You're just too young to start from now. Your hands could barely grip the entire sword. If you take after me and awaken a sword related talent, we should definitely prepare you with a few techniques beforehand."
Luciel took his father's words carefully and thought he was right. He had time until he came of age and awakened his talent. Instead he got curious about the sword related talent his father mentioned.
"What kind of talent do you have, dad?" He asked innocently.
Lance blinked surprised, "Me? I have the talent called Sorcery Swordsman, I'll show you how it works when you grow up." He started patting Luciel's head once more. "Tomorrow we will begin your body training. You have your dad's genes so I'm sure you'll become strong. Just don't forget to wear something light."
Getting treated like a kid had its advantages and disadvantages, so he could only accept his situation and wait until he came of age.
He entered the house and his nose got filled with a smooth aroma.
"Luciel, come. Dinner is ready." His mother had already set the table and was waiting for him in the kitchen.
"Should I call dad?" Luciel asked.
"No, that glutton has already eaten, let him train now before he gets fat." His mother answered with a chuckle and both sat down at the dinner table.
"So what did your dad teach you today?" She initiated a conversation. Luciel always found his mother, Lydia, mysterious. She never spoke about her past even though Luciel had tried using his 'cute face' more than once to nibble some information.
"Nothing, he said I can start training my body tomorrow."
"Is that so?" Lydia raised her eyebrows as she finished chewing. He nodded and continued eating his dinner.
The next morning, both Luciel and Lance were up early and in the backyard.
"Aren't you supposed to go to work dad?" Luxiel asked his father. His position was very important in the city, surely he wouldn't just not go to work because he didn't feel like it.
Lance scratched his nape, "Since I'm the captain. I can take some free days. This time of the month is usually quiet, so I'm going to be around to oversee your training." He put his hands on his waist and with a new breath he exclaimed, "Let's begin."
"First we start with using your own body weight. Pushups are good for your arms and chest, then we continue to pullups, squats and stretching. Since you don't know what any of these exercises are and how they are supposed to be performed, I'll demonstrate and you follow after."
Lance got on the ground and began demonstrating pushups. Luciel immediately started mimicking. He knew how to do each of these exercises, but he couldn't explain to his father how he knew so he could only keep quiet and follow his lead.
Lance perfectly demonstrated each of the exercises, with the proper form contacting the targeting muscles. It felt like he could continue forever, but only stopped when he felt like Luciel had gotten the gist of it.
"Now it's your turn."
Luxiel nodded and tried each of the exercises. He only did as little as possible so his stamina could cover all the exercises and avoid extreme soreness.
"You should always do squats first because you don't need to go until failure. With push ups and pullups, unless you train them to the maximum, you will never achieve big results. But this is only after the first week of training causally, for now you should exercise modestly until the muscles are ready to evolve along your body mass as you age"
Lance instructed Luciel with details as not to overwork a five year old still developing, but the foundation should be laid as early as possible.
"Ok." Luciel nodded, confirming that he heard everything.
"Good boy." Lance patted Luciel.
'Patting my head is becoming a habit for him, better stop that early.' Luciel removed the hand on his head and excused himself, "I stink from the sweat, I need to shower. You're smelly as well." He pinched his nose as he tried to tiese Lance.
"Hahaha, that's the result of hard work, but I have a lot of training to sweat as much as I can. You should go inside and take a hot shower for recovery. I'll be inside in a bit."
Luciel left his father to continue his training and headed for the showers to get rid of the sweat. At least from now on he had a routine he could follow with his training. Maybe he could convince his mother to buy a few books, maybe allow him access to the internet or however this world communicated and received news. But for now he needed to follow a proper schedule with his training and soon he would start training with his sword, maybe put that talent his previous teacher used to preach about.
Now that he thought about it, he felt like was deviating from his lazy nature. He was starting to wonder if he would become a muscle brain..
The image of his face associated with ripped muscle reached deep enough in his brain to send shivers "Definitely not."
He was going to make sure of it..