The Art of the Sword

After meeting the odd dwarf and his human apprentice Caxon made his way back into the forest.

Caxon continued to look through the forest until he eventually found a small group of 3 kobolds.

Caxon quickly ran up to the nearest kobold and decapitated him. As the other two drew their weapons in shock Caxon moved to the second one. The kobold had just drawn its sword before Caxon drove his sword into its chest.

The last kobold charged at his back with a spear as Caxon took out his sword and cleaned its blade without turning to look at the last kobold. As the kobold was running its shadow shook slightly before the shadow underneath his feet formed a spike that extended from behind him straight through his heart killing him instantly. Caxon had already told Amon to handle one of the kobolds as he wanted to safe his strength for the training that was to come. Even for him killing these three kobolds quickly would have at least taken some mana which he didn't want to waste.

After the fight ended Caxon looked at the souls floating above the kobold bodies that would soon disappear. After thinking about how they could grow stronger after he captured their souls Caxon thought that the Kobolds slight intelligence could be boosted and they would be excellent soldiers given enough time.

'Young master I am afraid that the kobolds won't be able to grow like Silver has.'

'Wait what, why not?'

'Silver and Blob are both mana beasts so they grow more powerful by simply consuming others. Kobolds are just a low intelligence race so theoretically they would become more powerful just like you. The problem is that no matter how much you try you wouldn't be able to order them to understand mana or how to develop their mana core. If in the future you ever capture a human or intelligent race you will see that they must use the same method as before they died to gain strength. You will also notice how their improvement speed drops after they become your follower, however given time, they can still grow stronger and develop their mana cores further then when they were alive.'

'I see thank you Amon, then I will not capture the kobold souls. However, I will take this, come Amon show me what you have.'

As Caxon said this he smiled and picked up a sword from one of the dead bodies and threw it to Amon.

'I see young master; I will do my best not to hurt you but please try to keep up.'

And with that Amon appeared in front of Caxon as his sword flashed at his neck. Caxon wasn't prepared however he tried to raise his sword in time to block it, however he was too slow and Amon's sword rested on his neck.

'Always be prepared to defend against a strike as attacks can come from any angle or distance when opponents use mana. If you cannot dodge, block with your sword. If your sword is not fast enough block with your hands. If your hands are not fast enough cover the targeted area with mana and hope to survive. Also, I see that there is another sword on the ground am I able to use that as well?'

Amon started teaching Caxon the basics of fighting with a sword before he asked about the 3rd sword lying next to another kobold they had defeated.

'I do not mind use anything you think is necessary.'

After catching his breath for a second as he realized he stopped breathing when Amon's sword was at his neck Caxon gave Amon permission to do what he wanted with the last sword.

'Thank you then I will attack you again please be prepared.'

Caxon was confused as Amon hadn't touched the last sword before he backed off and was about to attack again.

This time Amon attacked much slower and Caxon was able to block him with his own sword. Amon smiled and nodded his head before he attacked again. Caxon once again tried to block with his sword, however Caxon noticed that Amon was targeting his own sword and became confused.

Before he could think about what Amon was doing, the sword that was coming towards him started to release a black mist like shadow that was seeping from the blade while a menacing black glow revealed the edge that had seemed to sharpen. This old rusted weapon that Caxon had seen before now looked like it could cut through anything and would never be damaged.

As Caxon was admiring the sword it hit its target. Caxon had not even realized that the sword had come so close as the shadow that surrounded it covered its actual location and following it with his eyes became nearly impossible. The two swords that before were almost identical now clashed and the result was obvious. Amon's sword cut through Caxon's with no resistance before the black mist faded and its glow died returning to a subpar sword used by kobolds.

'When you become more powerful you will also find much more powerful weapons. However even these weapons would be less useful if they are simply waved around than a stick wielded by a high-level mage who imbued his mana into it while attacking. In that attack I also showed how mana could give a weapon more attack power as well as durability. I also used my shadow element to demonstrate how you can give attacks unique properties when you imbue different elements into your weapons. Now if you could please pick up the other sword we will continue.'

Caxon smiled as he realized why Amon had asked to use the last sword before. Caxon quickly got serious as he spent more time defending and trying to counter attack Amon.

Time quickly started to pass as Caxon mostly focused on improving his sword technique while still trying to improve his mana core and his understanding of elements. One week had passed since Caxon had killed the kobolds and currently he was collecting mana as he sat in a small clearing. Amon was patrolling nearby as he didn't want anything to disturb Caxon while he cultivated.

The mana streaming into Caxon's body soon pulsated as a wave left his body and influenced all the surrounding mana.

From an outside perspective Caxon's mana core seemed to be a rank 5 before quickly dropping to a rank 3 and it would seem very odd as his core continually seemed to fluctuate between how strong it was.

After a few hours Caxon was able to adjust to seeming like a rank 4, it was very hard to use perfect mimicry right after improving his mana core as he wasn't used to the increased power. He guessed that he would probably never be able to improve his rank in front of others or too many questions would quickly follow. However, he could still cultivate and draw in mana to improve his core so long as it wasn't advancing a full rank, he would be fine.