Apollo pondered for a moment and various thoughts quickly entered his mind; he clearly wanted to ask about many things, but he still wasn’t sure if his mentor had any answers to any of them. He suddenly thought about something and so he looked up and took a gamble,

“Has…there been any troubles around Eretrios lately?” he said hesitatingly. He really wanted to figure out the current hidden secret that his mother concealed from him.

He looked at his mentor’s facial expression in anticipation, but all he could find was a confused look.

“What do you mean by trouble young lad?” Timothy fell in deep thought and pondered the current affairs about the country of Eretrios but no matter how hard he could think, nothing special came to mind that could spark the interest of the netizens.

He was visibly confused to say the least, ‘such a vague question’ he thought.

“Well….I’m not too sure mentor, I just heard rumours here and there and I wanted to ask if something big was going to happen, maybe there’s no trouble after all, perhaps it’s just my imagination” convinced Apollo.

Looking at his mentor’s expression, he was now sure that Timothy wasn’t aware of anything, and he felt somewhat dejected.

“No….tell me Apollo, what makes you think that there’s something happening in Eretrios? please do tell me about these rumours you’ve been hearing” he smiled, his interests clearly piqued. ‘Was there something that I should know of?....No the better question is; was there confidential news being concealed by the nobles?’ he inwardly pondered looking at the clueless boy in front of him.

“I don’t know” Apollo said as if in deep thought, “I just heard the servants, saying that something big was about to happen, but I’ve probably just misheard them,” he laughed.

“Is that so….” Timothy trailed, “There must be something indeed” he muttered, still locking onto the boy.

Now even Timothy felt something amiss, these proclaimed rumours seemed too suspicious in his opinion, and he clearly felt that the young boy was being evasive even though he claimed to not know anything. The fact that Apollo was curious about something became evident that there were definitely secrets to be revealed.

Apollo felt his odd gaze and couldn’t help but break out in cold sweat, he did not think Timothy would be so curious about it after all he wasn’t even telling the truth, he fabricated hearing about the rumours. ‘Shit, what do I do now?’ he thought, instantly regretting asking about it.

“Actually, I think it was something about the upcoming Bloody festival” the boy said convincingly with a poker face.

‘Huh?’ Timothy raised his brows, he thought of something before laughing aloud “I had forgotten about that”.

“That’s in three months from now if I remember correctly. It’s been ages since I’ve participated in the festival” he said before looking at Apollo, “Actually, its not too long before you can participate yourself boy” he encouraged.

Apollo quickly came up with an excuse in order to change the subject, it was rather convenient that he thought of the upcoming Bloody festival that took place every ten years in Eretrios. He remembered reading about it in various accounts in the library. It was basically a festival that revolved around the slaughter of monsters in an effort to minimise their threat to the common good. He recalled that it was a competition as to who can get the most kills and the winners would obtain a prize and the title of “Bloodhound”.

Apollo thought about it and said, “Unfortunately, I am too young to participate in the grand event mentor, besides I’m too weak as of now” he remarked whilst waving his stick-like arms.

The minimum age to participate in the festival was twelve years old thus Apollo knew he wouldn’t be able to join the many warriors going through the baptism of blood.

“That’s true, but you will definitely be able to enter the next one,” said his reminiscent teacher.

“Although it would be a dangerous endeavour, I believe its in your best interest to participate in the near future due to the many benefits, besides I don’t believe House Heimarch is a house known for cowardly warriors” he remarked.

“Nonsense mentor, of course I will join in the future after all, every male descendant of House Heimarch has achieved great results in the festival including brother Hermes”.

“I wouldn’t dare disrespect my ancestors by not participating,” he quickly added.

Apollo thought about entering the festival by lying about his age, but he quickly banished the idea away since he heard that personal stamps were used to infer one’s age and it was difficult to tamper with them, he really did not want to become a slave should he be caught red-handed.

Besides, Apollo felt that he was indeed too weak, in fact, he wasn’t even sure if he had the courage to face a monster in a life-or-death situation, plus he hadn’t even encountered one yet! ‘Id be a fool to participate as of now, ill probably be eaten until not a single bone in my body is left’.

“Do you mind telling me stories of your past festival experiences mentor?” he asked curiously, he found it odd that a scholarly man such as Timothy would go out and kill monsters despite his frail looking physique.

The old man saw doubt in the young boy’s eyes and immediately became defensive, “Of course! Although I may look decrepit, I used to be a strong man back in the day I was also one of the many nominees that could’ve been the mighty Bloodhound” he said in a proud tone.

‘Right…that’s what they all say,’ Apollo rolled his eyes inwardly. He didn’t believe a single word coming out of the delusional man, he was sure that Timothy was simply overestimating his achievements. ‘If what you say is true, then why are you a scholar nowadays?’ he wanted to say.

Timothy continued to convince Apollo of past ‘stories’ for roughly an hour before the boy felt tired of listening to the old man’s nonsensical bragging thus, he found an appropriate excuse to leave it there for the day.

“Phew…that was a close one” said Apollo as he sat down on a comfortable chair making sure that his mentor had finally left the Heimarch estate. ‘Thank god he did not continue to investigate the ‘rumours’, I wouldn’t have been able to evade his discerning attitude any longer’.

‘Just what the hell is this secret about that even an elderly scholar experienced in literature doesn’t have any clue about?’ he pondered whilst tapping the soft leather armchair with his fingers. ‘Forget it. I don’t want to expose mother, id rather avoid any unfortunate outcome that would sprout from that,’ he stood up and called out for Alfred.

“Time for training!” he said in delight.

In the familiar courtyard,

Apollo stood before Alfred with a wooden sword and a shield of different materials at hand, he looked up at the towering man ahead of him who wielded a simple wooden shortsword and waited for his instructions in pain.

He felt his left arm ache as he held the simple looking shield, a single thought crossing his mind ‘Heavy!’. In fact, it was ridiculously heavy he thought looking carefully at it. His legs were visibly shaking under the weight.

“Reinforced wooden shield: Defence (11-18), A small rectangular wooden shield made from a Eucalyptus tree that had been reinforced by metal studs further enhancing its defence by an extra 10%.”

‘This son of a bitch feels as heavy as a 10kg dumbbell’ he mentally shouted, ‘Aren’t shields supposed to be light enough to carry around?’, what kind of child is lifting 10kg shields around? he felt wronged!

Apollo couldn’t help but lean the shield back on the ground resting his puny limbs. “Alfred is it really necessary to use such a heavy shield?” complained the young boy.

The towering butler cocked his head to the right in disappointment, ‘that’s as light as they go’ he wanted to say but he didn’t want to discourage the boy. “Bear with it young master, holding the shield for long periods of time will significantly help your foundation”.

“Now pick it back up” the man demanded.

“….Alright” Apollo sighed as he painstakingly picked up the shield once again pulling it close to his chest pointing outwards, his legs and arms were shaking yet again. The shield covering more than half of his frontal upper body.

He felt off-balance currently since the shield on his left arm was much heavier than the sword on his right, it was at least three times the weight of the sword. Apollo practically had to lean towards his right side in an effort to bear the weight. However, he felt that it was futile as it felt heavier with each second, his back was already drenched in sweat, and he hadn’t done anything but stay in a static position.

He had a wide stance with his left foot diagonally across the right foot about 40cm in front of it. The sword on his right was held upwards, ready to slash outwards.

“Keep your form, grip the sword tight and the shield even tighter” called Alfred as he circled the boy observing his various shifts in movements. “Pull the shield closer to your chest,” he added.

“Remember, the shield should be considered as an extension of your body, recognise it as such for it will become the most important body part, without it, you are no different from a turtle without its shell”. He explained whilst slowly slashing out at Apollo with his shortsword.

Bang!

“Ack!..” groaned Apollo lifting the shield up once again, he had dropped it slightly just now.

“Good! Don’t forget to always reorient yourself with my body, never expose your back, your shield must always be facing my upper body or else…” he quickly suggested whilst shuffling towards the boys back.

Whoosh!

Whack!

“Aghh!...fucking hell!” the boy cried out, gripping the back of his neck with his right hand caressing the stinging pain that had been inflicted by a wooden sword.

“Again! Pick up your sword and maintain the guard position” Alfred shouted jolting the young boy awake.

Apollo cursed mentally forcing the pain to go away before standing in the same position once again following Alfred’s movement.

“The Heimarch Sword art is a complex and masterful technique its purpose is to completely dominate and control the direction of the battle and I want you to remember another important lesson,” he deliberated pointing at the boy’s sword. “The sword can either act as a means to attack and also as a means to defend”.

“Don’t ignore this fact as it can save your life in urgent situations, after all total invulnerability is key to staying alive!” he reminded slashing at him twice from both sides.

Apollo locked in on Alfreds rapid movements and tried his best to defend against the two slashes. He reacted by raising his shield to block the first slash at his left side whilst simultaneously preparing to parry the slash towards his right with his sword.

Bang! Bang!

Two crisp sounds of impacts reverberated outwards as the boy was forced backwards by the force of impact causing him to drop his guard; he simply couldn’t bear the weight of all the stress being applied upon him.

Before he could even react, he already had a sword pointing at his neck, “Be prepared to face the strategies of your enemies, remember that they would prioritise in breaking your guard thus you must always have an exit plan should your guard be broken,” Alfred said in a relaxed comfortable manner.

Apollo gasped for air, his chest visibly heaving, “Ho..how…do..I..avoid..it?” he asked in forced breaths.

“Its simple,” smiled Alfred,

“Just take a step back,” he deliberated showing Apollo as he took a quick backstep. “You could also do this…” he added whilst stepping to the sides. “Who said you have to block every single hit your opponent throws at you?” illustrated the man as if to say it was common sense.

“You could always dodge the hits by estimating your enemies next move”.

“Now, do you have any questions about the things I’ve told you so far?”

Apollo took deep breaths and calmed down before dropping to the floor in thought. He began analysing the various suggestions and reminders of Alfred and couldn’t help but think that it was easy to comprehend. However, he felt that something was missing, ‘it almost feels like it’s too easy’.

Alfred saw the lost expression on the young boy, and he couldn’t help but ask, “What’s troubling you young master? It was in my understanding that everything that I’ve said was clear and concise”. He didn’t think that what he taught the young lad wasn’t anything remotely complicated.

“It’s nothing Alfred, you did well in explaining the basics,” he reassured, “I’m just concerned that it feels a little bit lacking in terms of actual destructiveness” he couldn’t help but say. “I mean I’m fully aware that its not meant for pure destruction compared to heavy weapons, but is that all there is to it?” he inquired truthfully.

He was actually looking for flashy moves, ‘where was the sword lights, the sword domains, the aura or the explosions’ he questioned mentally; he was looking for spectacular power moves like the technique the teenager at the warrior guild showed, physically slicing a dummy from 3m away! Apollo was clearly under the impression that the Heimarch sword art was a grand technique with cool moves.

He was lowkey imagining himself slashing his sword outwards whilst audibly shouting ‘Getsuga Tensho!’ resulting in a powerful sword wave, a certain scene comes to mind.

Alfred couldn’t help but chuckle at the boy’s remark, “Is that so?” he shook his head feeling that the boy was too green and child-like, ‘Oh wait he is a child’ he thought laughing internally.

“Let me show you something else, then, give me your shield”.

Apollo did as he was told and observed the smiling man, “Observe closely” he reminded the boy. Alfred took the shield and walked up towards a tree further away from the courtyard. He stood quite a distance before it roughly 5 meters away and imitated the wide stance of Apollo, but that wasn’t the right word for it, Apollo could tell that the man’s stance was much more refined compared to his puny version. The next scene blew the boy’s small mind.

Alfred simply pushed the shield forward taking with it a meek step forwards and afterwards he just started walking back towards Apollo as if to say, ‘All done!’ as if nothing happened at all but something did happen!

BOOM!

A loud explosion encapsulated the nearby area, causing a deafening blow that caused a flashbang-like effect.

The tall tree of about 50 meters high literally disintegrated into a bright golden light, leaving nothing behind, all that was left behind was a circular indentation in the soil about a meter in diameter and at least 10cm deep.

“What the FUCK!” shouted Apollo in bewilderment, both his eyes popping out in a comical fashion.