Using one's opponent and battlefield to one's advantage was a move that only those who had dedicated their entire lives to fighting should be able to do!
Forget about Ivan being a newbie, he would need to have started training from childhood to be able to achieve such results! But why would a member of the Castellan family invest so much into weapon training, could it be that he was planning to awaken as a Paladin right from the start?
There was definitely something that these people weren't telling him. The middle-aged man suddenly felt that this job wasn't safe, he had to end today's training and never come back!
Thinking of this, his hands moved quickly. He knocked Ivan's sword away at a speed that didn't allow Ivan to react while his other hand pushed Ivan's stomach with a gentle palm strike, pushing him back slightly.
He would have preferred to use a punch but with the rest of Ivan's family watching from a distance, he didn't dare.
After pushing Ivan back, the middle-aged man made his shield disappear and he stood straight.
"You're being too aggressive, overextending yourself like that will get you and your teammates killed.
A Paladin isn't a real fighter so attacking so much isn't necessary, you should focus more on defence. Defending yourself and your teammates should be your main focus." The man said seriously.
In the distance, Ivan's family nodded in agreement with the man's words. They also felt that Ivan was being too aggressive and was forgetting that he was a Paladin and not a swordsman.
The idea of Paladins was to be able to protect themselves and their teammates, so defence should be their main priority.
"Even while attacking, you should make sure that you have no opening for your opponent to explore." The middle-aged man continued while looking at Ivan.
Ivan stood up straight after landing, he stared at the other party before bowling slightly.
"I understand," was what he said but he had an entirely different thought.
He recalled when the skrivaloks had invaded Earth, humans had neglected a lot of classes because of how they looked at the earliest stages. This had caused many people to give up on trying to improve or research more on those classes that would ultimately be useful after reaching a certain level.
This had caused the entire human population to become very weak and they weren't able to face the Skrivaloks.
Since their major enemies right now were beasts from dungeons, humans think that their ways of merging different classes were at their peak. But sadly, this wasn't the case when faced with intelligent enemies like the Skrivaloks.
Anyways, he wasn't going to say this out now and would slowly make everyone see the difference.
"Good, that will be all for today." The middle-aged man said and started walking out of the training ground.
"Eh?" Ivan was stunned when the other party suddenly called an end to the training, it had barely been five minutes since they started!
The middle-aged man turned to look at Ivan and said with an apologetic smile.
"I know we just started but I suddenly remembered that I have something important to attend to, we can spend more time during our next training." After saying this to Ivan, he turned towards the three in the distance.
"Please forgive me but I have to leave right away, there's something that needs my urgent attention." He said with a deep bow.
Ethan's eyes narrowed, he felt that this guy didn't have anything important to do and was simply making an excuse.
"It's okay, you may leave." Christopher voiced out, he wouldn't force the other party to stay if they wanted to leave.
"Thank you," the middle-aged man said and rushed out of the place.
Everyone "..."
After the man left, Ivan's parents and brother approached him in the training ground.
"How did you suddenly know how to fight like that? I've seen a lot of weapon users but not all of them can move like that." Ethan said with a smile as he got close to Ivan. He threw his right arm around Ivan's shoulders and ruffled his hair.
"Don't joke like that, I was just doing what I felt would work," Ivan said with an embarrassed smile, causing Ethan to chuckle.
"My baby is a weapon genius, already able to move like that on your first training!" Elena exclaimed with sparkling eyes.
Ivan only returned a smile and silently returned the shield and sword to his mana core. Both items appeared inside his mana core and stayed in the air above the flowing mana underneath, not hindering its flow.
On the side, Christopher stared silently for a moment before saying.
"I don't think we'll be able to find you a new instructor before you have to go to the academy," he paused and then looked at Ethan.
"Ethan, you'll be in charge of his training in the mana chamber for the remaining days. Make sure he doesn't skip any day and he doesn't stay too long inside so he doesn't get affected, there's a limit to how long he can stay inside due to his weak mana core." Christopher said. Ethan immediately stopped playing around and nodded seriously.
Christopher's gaze shifted back to Ivan, he walked over and patted his shoulder.
"Although you aren't a mage, the mana chamber will still be useful to you and can help grow your mana. I've prepared some mana cores for your training, don't feel pressured and just do your best."
"I understand, thank you, Dad," Ivan said with a look of gratitude on his face.
Christopher smiled and then walked away without saying anything else.
"Now then," Ethan said from the side, causing Ivan to look at him.
Ivan "...."
He was slightly stunned to see that Ethan was suddenly holding two wooden swords.
'You are a mage, what are you doing with wooden swords?'
"Hehehe, don't give me that look. Since I'll be in charge of your training in the mana chamber, I've also decided to assist with your combat training; no need to thank me." Ethan laughed before throwing one of the wooden swords to Ivan.
Ivan caught the sword and swung it a few times.
Seeing this, Ethan nodded in satisfaction.
"I might not be experienced with weapons but I've definitely seen others using them, so be careful not to lose to a mage as a weapon user."
Ivan grinned after hearing this, he pointed his wooden sword at Ethan and said.
"A mage fighting a weapon user without magic, prepare for defeat!"
Without another word, he charged at Ethan.
"Hehehe, we'll see who will wear the crown of defeat. Come at me!" Ethan chuckled.
...
Some time later.
Ivan could be seen sitting in a cross-legged position in the middle of an empty room. He was currently shirtless with his eyes closed and his body was covered in glistening sweat.
A small mana core rested on his palms from which mana rose and entered his body. It wasn't just the mana from the mana core, the entire room was filled with mana that rushed into Ivan's body.
The four walls of the room had large formations that absorbed mana from outside the room and pulled it into the room for whoever was inside it to use. This was the mana chamber, a place where the mana concentration was severely higher than anywhere else in the world.
Of course, such a place wasn't natural and was instead the work of formation masters.
Currently, Ivan had started his training inside the mana chamber and the mana around him was pouring into his mana core like a surging tide.