The God of Nothing.-Chapter 12: Blood, Sweat, and Steel

Six months went by slowly and arduously; however, the advance of time was beholden to none.

Caelith's routine did not change much in this time.

He trained with the guards during the day and received pointers from Kaden at night.

He repeated this for six days a week before venturing out on the seventh day to internalize everything he learned in real combat.

He had learned the cost of arrogance, and Caelith understood that what truly makes a man intelligent is not avoiding difficulties but learning from his mistakes.

Gradually, the caliber of prey he hunted increased.

He progressed from rabbits, first targeting actual apex predators with zero stars.

These encounters were considerably more lethal than those against the Shade Wisp Jackal.

Despite the difference in ranking, Dire Bears and Storm Wolves were far more adept in combat, being designed for it from conception.

In contrast, Jackals were scavengers and seldom hunted powerful creatures.

Jackals were more skilled at ambushing, opportunistic hunting, and pack hunting.

This difference in ranking led to Caelith nearly paying a heavy price against the apex zero-star beasts.

However, Caelith was no longer the naive and inexperienced hunter he had once been. After a month, he had defeated everything below the first star.

The real challenge began there.

Caelith had not awakened his mana veins in these six months.

However, he had found an unbelievable talent hidden within himself.

His eidetic memory had allowed him to improve his techniques quickly.

Furthermore, Alaric's blood finally showed its worth, as his build had developed rapidly.

Caelith now resembled a true young warrior.

His pure skill far surpassed that of typical knights. In terms of technique, his swordsmanship rivaled Kaden's own.

This should not be confused with power; Kaden was a three-and-a-half-star warrior.

Warriors rarely practiced their basic sword techniques after awakening their mana, which usually occurred within the first few months of training.

Affinity for mana was often like that: you either had it or you didn't.

Of course, there were occasional cases of veteran warriors awakening mana in life-or-death struggles.

Once awakened, they were often far superior to other first stars in terms of technique, but they lacked mana application, making them not much stronger than intermediary first stars.

In battle, a difference in mana would always outweigh a difference in technique.

However, one should never underestimate a veteran warrior who awakened mana, as they often accomplished impossible feats.

The outcome of this reality was that Caelith's individual skills were certainly notable.

His physical strength was on par with veteran warriors, and his expertise surpassed that of many.

His skill was honed through the tutelage of a strong master, numerous life-or-death battles, half a year of dedicated focus on technique, and the extraordinary memory and talent for the sword that Caelith possessed.

As Caelith's strength increased, so did the caliber of enemies he needed to sharpen himself.

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It was only after bringing back the corpses of three Shade Wisp Jackals at once that rumors began to circulate around the Stormont estate...

The moon hung high in the sky, casting indifferent luminescence over the training ground.

Basking in the moonlight, Caelith stood with a steel sword in hand, wearing the same sleeveless garb as his master.

His form was no longer that of an abused bastard but of a mighty warrior who had braved the border of life and death many times.

He was more muscular, and Caelith had grown taller in these six months. Puberty worked its wonders.

Holding the sword in front of his midline, he focused his eyes on the figure directly opposite of him.

Just like they had done countless times before, Caelith and Kaden were going to duel.

Unlike the earlier months, Kaden couldn't take his apprentice quite so lightly while suppressing himself.

Both parties twitched, and then they shot forward, steel against steel.

Caelith's blade flowed gracefully, but sometimes, it came down with astonishing strength.

His form was incredibly solid, his balance perfect as he pushed forward and retreated.

Kaden kept up with his apprentice, laying an intricate web of feints and strikes, drawing the boy in.

Caelith's eyes did not waver. Seeing an opening, Caelith struck at Kaden's left shoulder.

However, Kaden smirked and stepped to his right, avoiding the strike and finally getting close enough to take advantage of his feints and planning.

Caelith, however, returned the smile. Using his new physicality, Caelith carried his momentum forward into a somersault on the spot.

His sword came up from beneath him and met Kaden's downward blow.

The boy, however, wasn't done.

Taking advantage of Kaden's weight stance due to the Haldorian style, Caelith used the Igarian style to step to Kaden's side while still matching his sword.

Now safely out of harm's way, Caelith twisted his grip, and his sword freed itself from Kaden's, arcing toward his master's neck.

Visibly shocked, Kaden unlocked a well of mana from his first star and narrowly dodged the attack.

After resetting himself, Kaden and Caelith began to start the true duel.

Caelith fought as a mundane sword genius while his master used the magical powers of the first star.

It lasted a total of thirty seconds.

Naturally, this was the obvious outcome of battling an older, more experienced warrior who had years of applying mana to their techniques while his mundane techniques were on par with your own.

However, this loss was not fruitless, and Caelith seemed to understand the essence of combat even more from this short spar.

"I'm starting to get scared by your progress, o' pupil of mine."

Kaden said, glancing cautiously at Caelith, who lay sprawled on the ground.

Just a few months ago, this boy couldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence as a warrior.

Now, if not for his lack of mana, he'd be a top talent someone like Kaden could only dream of claiming to be their pupil.

The extent of Caelith's talent was not evident earlier, as everybody can progress from knowing nothing to something. No, what was shocking about Caelith was that his rate of growth never slowed.

Like all other forms of power, mundane techniques followed the rule of diminishing returns.

As one got stronger, tangible differences in power were acquired over longer periods of time.

Reaching the second star could take as little as a year or as long as four, but most combatants took at least ten years to achieve the fourth star from the third.

This also showed how talented Kaden was to be on the precipice of it at only 28 years old.

Caelith's talent in mundane techniques was an excellent indicator that he would be a genius once he acquired mana.

The only troublesome thing that had become apparent over these last months was exactly that.

Both that Caelith was a genius and that mana eluded him.

Caelith being eluded by mana meant he could not begin the true path to power and, therefore, could not enter the academy or ever protect his mother.

Caelith's genius, however, still pressured his step-family.

The rumors had begun echoing in the estate after all. A boy genius among the guards...

Vaerin was sipping a glass of tea while his sister sat opposite of him.

"Ahh, passing the time before the academy is so boring, don't you agree, sister?"

"Indeed, there's not even a reason for us to practice using mana as we're guaranteed entrance anyway. Mother always said that this was more of a political opportunity. To make connections amongst the other nobles."

She replied nonchalantly.

She continued.

"Ahh you know what you just reminded me of? We should make sure our future servant is doing alright, I've heard he even made a little name for himself amongst the guards, they call him a Stubborn Bastard!"

Vaerin thought for a moment before replying.

"You know, that does sound splendid after all Mother was making such a fuss about Father allowing his attempt to enter the academy".

"Truly so very nonsensical".

"Why did he even care about the bastard? And why was Mother so upset over his progress? Anyway, I digress".

" we should go check on him."