Astral pulled his sword back immediately, he took a few steps back and bowed his head. "I'm sorry, Master Riker," he said, apologizing.
"Raise your head, Astral. What you did is something you should be proud of. You parried my blade and went for a counter. Your sword carried purpose, the will to win.
I'm still in shock as to how you did it. You might be very talented, Astral," Riker said with a smile.
'Talented might be an understatement, he might be a prodigy. Did the Miller family produce a prodigy?' Riker thought to himself. He had barely sensed Astral's intent as he moved. The whole movement was fluid.
"Yet, even with talent, one can't reach the top. Only by proper discipline can you grow. So I want to ask you, what is it you want to become with the sword?" Riker said, then he turned and pointed around the training compound.
"All these men you see, all of them know how to wield a blade. They can slash and take a life easily, but many of them will never know what it means to be a swordsman.
A swordsman is not simply a man that carries a sword, but like I said before, a man that is connected to the sword.
I can train you to become a swordsman, or a man capable of using the sword. It is all up to you. So, what do you want to be with the sword?" Riker asked again.
"A sword master," Astral said without even wasting a second. Riker's eyes widened in shock, and then he broke into a smile.
"An ambition worthy of you, young master. A sword master," Riker said. "If you want to be a sword master, then tell me the path that leads to becoming a sword master. Someone with ambition should at least know what they are heading toward," Riker said.
"The path to becoming a sword master? It starts from the beginning, the sword novice, the beginning of the journey. After that comes the sword Adept, then the sword Expert, before the sword Saint, and finally the sword Master," Astral said.
"I see you have done your assignment," Riker said. "In the kingdom of Vermillion, there exist no more than fifty known sword masters. That is how difficult it is to become a sword master.
If you want to challenge that path, then you need more than talent and skill with the sword, you need far more. But I will help you chase that dream.
Your training from today will be as follows: a thousand vertical slashes, a thousand horizontal slashes, a thousand diagonal slashes from both angles, and a thousand thrusts.
You just do this daily until I believe that you are ready. You will not be using a wooden sword, but a real sword, under the rain and under the sun. Astral Von Miller, you will stand strong, your feet planted right here every day," Riker said.
Riker expected that what he said would scare Astral. He wanted to test the resolve of Astral, but to his surprise, Astral bowed and spoke, "Thank you, I'll do my best to make you proud, Master."
Riker was shocked to see this, but he had to keep the visage of a master that truly knew what he was doing.
"Good, then head over to the racks and pick a sword. Your training begins now," he said. Astral headed over to the rack and picked a plain sword.
[Mission: 1000 Vertical slashes, 1000 horizontal slashes, 2000 diagonal slashes, 1000 thrusts]
[Daily reward: 100 Exp, 2 free stat points]
[Complete reward: Unknown]
Astral read the sudden mission. He might not fully understand the system yet, but he could tell that the system was going to reward him for what Riker asked him to do.
He was willing to train before, but now he had more motivation to do it. He took the sword and returned to where he stood.
Riker stood at the side and watched. Astral took the perfect stance.
SWOOSH
The first slash came down, the beginning of many more. He lifted his blade after the first and slashed down again, counting the slashes in his mind.
Riker watched Astral. He wanted to see if Astral would break under the pressure, but time slowly went by, and Astral finally completed the thousand vertical slashes. His body was already soaked in sweat, his arms were shaking, and so were his feet.
Riker saw this. He tried to approach Astral to stop him. He didn't want him to collapse, but before he got close, Astral started the horizontal slashes.
Riker looked at the conviction on Astral's face. It was not the face of someone who was weak or tired, it was a resolute warrior pushing through.
'I always searched for shortcuts in the past. I remember the first day I did this training under Riker. I collapsed before one thousand.
After that, I never did it again. Riker saw me as just another one, just another noble that wants to learn the sword because I had access to it, not because I wanted to.
I lost honor in his eyes. He never looked at me with respect till the day I finished my training with him. Not this time, not again. I'll slash, I'll cut, and I'll thrust, until I regain my honor.'
Astral continued. Soon night came, the sun went down, and he was still out. His mother, Mabel, and his brothers came at different times to look for him, but Riker stopped them all.
He had not seen conviction like that before, and he would be damaged if anyone stopped Astral.
Astral, on the other hand, was oblivious to everything happening around him. His eyes were open, but he wasn't seeing anything, only the path his sword was to follow. He continued until he made it to the first third of a thousand thrusts.
Riker watched. He was no longer observing the training; he was watching in amazement. The resolve from Astral amazed him. At several times, he had to fight the urge to stop Astral, because Astral's body was on the verge of collapse.