Aegon’s face lit up in excitement.

[Isn’t that the First Elder’s voice?] He thought of that middle aged man with deep blue eyes and long flowing brown hair, it was a majestic image, he conveniently forgot about the less otherworldly aspects of said man.

Not knowing any better he briskly walked towards the small pavilion, he waltzed through the door and passed the rows of students who watched him weirdly, making his way to the stairs.

He mistook their looks as envy and became even cockier, if such a thing was even possible.

[Yes…YES… take in my glorious visage! Worry not, I promise not to forget my roots!] His smile bloomed and he graciously nodded at everyone, receiving only some dejected head shakes in return.

He made his way up the circling stairs and soon found himself in front of the clearly annoyed First Elder and what remained of the broken table on the floor in front of him.

With such hints even he could understand things weren’t looking good..

[Maybe he wasn’t calling me to make me his disciple….]

The First Elder stared at the student, barely noticing a wolf leisurely sitting down next to him..

An average looking youth, with average height and average looks. Nothing about him stood out apart from his striking blue eyes, and it was those eyes along with the fact that there weren't a lot of students following the path of twin swords that made him remember this youth in particular.

“Tsk.” He clicked his tongue, his anger having mostly turned to annoyance by that point.

[I can't let him keep embarrassing me like this… but is it worth it wasting time to teach this useless thing?]

The First Elder stood silently, appraising the youth in front of him and pondering whether he should waste his time as he sipped his tea.

Aegon did not dare to move a muscle under that all-discerning gaze, even he could tell that a lot was at stake in that moment and he felt suffocated by the pressure that thought entailed.

“Sigh” The First Elder lowered his gaze to the ground, seemingly having made a difficult decision.

Pondering his next words he again looked at the youth in front of him.

“Kid, I'm going to give it to you straight. You suck, you are complete and utter trash with those swords, were you a bit faster getting here I might have just beaten you up to vent some of my anger because of the embarrassment you brought upon all us twin swords users.”

Aegon listened silently, cold sweat sticking to his back, when the First Elder finished his shirt was completely drenched.

[Shit! Shit! Shit!] Such was the extent of his thoughts then.

“Yet, that wouldn't really fix the walking embarrassment that I find myself looking at, so it seems I need to give you some help.”

Stroking his hairless chin the First Elder added.

“Well, now that I think back on it there’s no class for twin swords, it’s never easy to learn such a profound art alone…”

Sensing an opportunity Aegon eagerly added.

“Yes sir, it’s been really hard, to be honest I even thought about abando..nin..g”

The First Elder's face got scarier the more he heard and it was enough to frighten Aegon to silence.

“You thought about changing sides? Jumping ship? BECOMING A TRAITOR?”

His scream made a flock of birds that were resting in a nearby tree take flight in freight.

“YOU THINK IT BEING HARD IS A DECENT EXCUSE?”

Crack

The teacup he was holding since the beginning shattered under the pressure when he unknowingly clenched his fists.

Looking down at the tea on the floor and the various pieces of that once beautiful teacup, his anger somewhat faded and he managed to barely calm himself before turning back to face the almost traitor disciple.

“There were others who chose the twin swords and didn't get any training, yet they were all better than you, a lot better in fact, a complete far cry from that pathetic excuse of technique I saw.”

Aegon's head burrowed deeper into his chest, the shame he felt was unlike anything he had ever experienced, he could vividly picture the mocking faces of the students he passed by downstairs after hearing him get scolded.

His depressive state born from such shame had even made him resume the defeatist train of thought from back in the tower, but one particular sentence ignited his resolve to endure such treatment.

[“...so I guess I need to give you some help.”] Aegon thought about it over and over and couldn't find any hidden meanings or ways he might have misunderstood.

[Will I be personally guided by an Elder?]

The First Elder swiped his hand across his ring and a pair of twin swords similar to Aegon’s own popped into existence.

Stealing another glance at the youth in front of him the First Elder sighed one last time before extending both his hands, then, unhurriedly, he threw both weapons up and calmly caught them with only one finger. easily balancing both weapons on their centre of mass, atop his fingertips.

Aegon’s face, seeing this scene, expressed his… complete disappointment.

[Is that it?] He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

[Does he think balancing objects on their centre of mass is some ethereal and novel concept?]

The First Elder noticed Aegon’s disappointment and his anger flared up once again.

“You think this is easy? You think this is not important? Try it then if you’re so good.” He then proceeded to cross his arms the same way a teenager would.

With a pleased smile Aegon unsheathed his blades.

As both his hands extended in front of his body he couldn't help but think.

[I'll show you… oh to be able to be able to place an Elder in his place at such a young age, no doubt this achievement deserves to be recorded in the annals of history.]

Although he was thinking big he knew he wasn’t as proficient as the Elder so he first used both hands to easily and skillfully balance the first sword on his right hand finger.

Looking from the side, the First Elder sported a knowing smirk. [Checkmate.]

The problem arose when Aegon tried to place his other sword atop his left hand finger, he simply couldn't do it, worse, even in those brief moments where he managed to somehow balance the sword with his whole hand it would still wobble dangerously, the sword almost fell more than a few times, forcing him to grab it with his hand, cutting his flesh along with his pride.

[Damn it, why can’t I do this? I used to be able to do it with both hands separately, how much harder can it be to do it with both at the same time?]

Fifteen minutes passed and he still found himself falling short, defeated, he sheathed both of his swords and waited for the Elder to speak.

The man in question was looking at him like one would gaze upon an idiot and Aegon mentally prepared himself to receive yet another scolding.

SMACK

Yet he was smacked clean across the face, as his visage became redder and the pain made a small tear slide down his face the First Elder added.

“That’s so you learn not to look down on your Elders.”