C4: First Lesson

The dark sky had a hint of orange when Fran headed for the training grounds. The whole garrison was centred around the training grounds so it wasn't difficult for Fran to find her way.

The Lord was already waiting for her. Beads of sweat adorned his face while he stood with his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

Maybe it really wasn't sweat and he just splashed himself with water like her.

"I'll check for your basics."

He motioned to the rack of weapons standing by the wall. Weapons of all kinds hanged on display. Fran has no experience in handling these. She was used to the grip of a handgun, not the hilt of a sword.

After much deliberation. She picked up a shortsword and attached a dagger to her leg.

The Lord mused at her weapon choice. The shortsword was understandable given her stature. But a dagger? Trainees usually get swords or spears, trying to look flashy but never such an obscure weapon.

What's more she got two weapons. For once, someone actually thought it through. He was a little impressed.

Hopefully she doesn't disappoint now.

"Ready!"

The Lord dashed at her with unbelievable speed that startled Fran. A huge slash would've appeared on her torso if she hadn't blocked it. Fran's hand shook against the Lord's immense pressure when she saw his sword.

It was only wood!

She diverted his force to the side and escaped from his clasp.

Normally Fran would've avoided but she was trying to get a feel of his strength.

He was strong. Stronger than her.

A daunting smirk appeared on his face, like he was belittling her. Fran felt insulted.

He dove in for another strike. Fran knew it's no use fighting him head on. She won't win that way.

She let out a breath and focused.

At the last second, she ducked and went for a kick on his stomach. Fran intended for him to tumble in front of her but his instinct was stronger and simply jumped backwards.

Experience never fails. Although Fran was a top agent, she mostly sneaked around. It was a bit rare that she was in danger and trained everyday of it did happen.

Compared to someone who pulled out his sword to kill, Fran was an amateur.

It looked like both sides were even but Fran knew better. He controlled the fight and she was simply responding to him.

This time, Fran made the first move. She pulled the dagger from its hilt and held both weapons in her hand. She battled with the Lord's sword, each stroke going for the kill. Her dagger supported the other, making up for her strength.

She slipped to his back with the dagger on his neck and shortsword at his nape. He was cornered.

Fran was only a few centimetres shorter than the Lord and was breathing right on his neck.

"I win."

They stayed like that for awhile, their breaths were the only thing heard in the twilight.

Fran was heaving. She only moved a little but she was already breathing heavily. Did going to another world put her out of shape?

But it had nothing to do with her constitution. It had nothing to do with her at all. Little did she know, the Lord was releasing mana little by little, making it harder for Fran to breathe.

"You sure about that?"

Fran had no time to wonder about his words. The moment he finished, an immense pressure sent Fran flying. The sudden gust left a cut on the Lord's neck. It wasn't fatal but it bled all the same.

"You're good but too emotional. My office, in an hour." He put his sword back on its hilt and walked away.

In the end, she lost not because of her combat skills but of an unknown art.

Fran went straight to the cafeteria. She had nothing to eat since the crack of dawn. That's been 5 hours! Fran is not a picky eater. She can eat anything but turns ballistic when her stomach's been empty for more than four hours.

Everyone knew the Lord was training her so Yulia was very curious how it went. Fran tried to answer her in between bites but her mouth was too full for Yulia to understand.

"You poor thing." Yulia tapped her back encouragingly. "It must have been so hard. Go on and eat."

After her meal, she knocked on the Lord's office.

The Lord set aside the papers he was reading as she entered the room.

"Sit." He motioned to the couch at the side.

The Lord then pulled out a big book from the shelf and put it in front of her. "This book contains the basic information the empire has on the Attributes."

The book was only a centimetres thick.

"Turn to page 20." he said.

She did and saw the fancy handwriting and beautiful colors on the book. Focusing on the words, she saw Null was only a single paragraph. The knowledge of a whole country on the attribute is but a single paragraph.

She read and was even more dumbfounded that it contained nothing she hadn't heard.

"Well, fuck me."

"What?" the Lord asked.

"What?" She acted like she didn't curse out loud. Hopefully 'fuck' doesn't exist in their vocabulary yet.

"As you can see, few is known to the Attribute." She relaxed when he continued like nothing happened. "One is because almost no one appeared in the past decades."

"The other four can only control the elements. They could never conjure them out of thin air. Null are different. We create and control it."

"Null Attribute is light and dark." With a wave of his hand, the room was basked in glaring light Fran shut her eyes. The next, all light seeped into the Lord's hand and it was darker than night. The same flick of his hands put the room to how it was. "Control is key to any Attribute. Concentrate and be calm."

"Imagine your hand as a candle. Let the mana inside you flow and light the candle." Fran closed her eyes and projected the image in her mind. She then felt her palm get warm and to her surprise, a white orb appeared on her hand.

She did it!

It was only short-lived though. The orb disappeared after a second.

"Concentrate and control. Practice on holding it for at least half an hour. When you get used to it, it'll come naturally like breathing." And the Lord went back to his seat and started reading.

Fran recognized that as her cue and left the room to practice on her own.