[Fire Weapon Art]

"The term "Natural" in the [Natural Weapon Art] refers to the way it imitates the various aspects of nature. It is nature that became the inspiration for the humans of the ancestral era to come up with this skill."

"The "Weapon" doesn't just mean that it could be used with any weapons, but that anything could be weapon to be used along with the skill. This is due to the fact that the humans of the ancestral era were slaves and didn't have access to any kinds of weapon, so they made a skill that would be able to make anything into a weapon. Whether it was a piece of stone, a stick or even a handful of dirt."

"And finally is the "Art" which represents the art of imitating nature in order to mimic its power."

"Each natural weapon art consists of several ways of circulating the energy of the art to produce an attack, enhance your body and many more. The ways of circulating energy are called "Styles" which represent the style of the energy circulation needed in order to achieve the desired effect."

After explaining, Arthur raised the burning sword in his hand and said, "Each element of natural weapon art specializes in certain aspects. In the case of our [Fire Weapon Art], destroying and killing is what we're good at."

Hearing this, Zen felt determined. He wanted to protect his family, and in order to do so, he could not avoid the fact that he needed to kill.

'Even mom and dad had killed someone before… I need to at least be used to these kinds of things in order to not burden them.' Thinking this, Zen couldn't help but worry about his little sister. 'I wonder how she will fare when the time comes.'

Before Zen could keep thinking, he heard Arthur's voice which made him snap out of his daze and focus on the matter at hand.

"Our [Fire Weapon Art] consists of 9 Styles. I can only teach you the first 3 Styles and after that, you would need to level up the proficiency of the skill before unlocking the succeeding styles."

Zen had read about the stages of proficiency during his five days of reading the books in Arthur's collection. The first level of proficiency was Beginner then followed by Adept, Master, Perfect and finally, Transcendent.

Under Zen's sight, Arthur moved his sword and performed a few random slashes in the air as he explained,

"The first style of the [Fire Sword Art] looks like this. It doesn't have any fixed position or any sort of stances. It's used to deal with any situation and can be used to attack or defend. In fact, the usage of any of the 9 styles is only limited by your imagination."

Then, he paused and looked at Zen, "Now, I'll perform the slashes I performed earlier but with the energy circulation method of the [Fire Weapon Art]'s First Style."

Zen didn't blink, afraid of missing even a single detail.

A slight orange glow appeared around Arthur as he perform a few random slashes in the air while chanting,

[Fire Weapon Art, First Style: Ember]

Zzzzz~

The sizzling of fire sounded as (-shaped waves of flames shot out of the sword's blade with each slash performed by Arthur. Fortunately, he aimed it towards the sky, preventing the training grounds from being damaged.

In the next second—

Boom!!!

The waves of flames simultaneously exploded in the sky, looking like a barrage of fireworks due to the sheer number of them.

Zen's eyes shone as he watched the fireworks in the sky. He also thought, 'So this skill turns my melee attacks into range attacks, I like it.'

He was excited to learn this skill and see how compatible it was with the weapon he chose.

"Of course, in the beginning proficiency of the skill, you will only be able to perform a single slash." Arthur said as he watched the fireworks with Zen.

"Then, how high is your proficiency to be able to do this, teacher?" Zen looked at Arthur with amazement and curiosity.

Arthur laughed and replied, "Not to brag but I am already at perfect proficiency."

Zen felt quite amused to see Arthur being so smug about something since he always looked so strict. 'I guess anything related to the Church of Fire holds a special place in his heart…'

"Anyways, I still have 2 other styles to show so stop looking at the fireworks and look at me."

Zen followed and obediently observed Arthur's every action.

"In the first 3 proficiency levels namely Beginner, Adept and Master, you would be able to master all the 9 basic Styles of the skill. When you reach Perfect Proficiency like me, all the styles you've learned will be drastically enhanced. And finally, the Transcendent Proficiency lets you reach the realm of Transcendence and makes it possible for you to create your own Styles."

Arthur explained patiently while readying for the next skill.

"Unlike the first Style which is ranged, the second Style is more passive. It's main purpose is to defend from multidirectional attacks."

Said Arthur as he placed his right foot a step back from his left foot and adjusted his center of gravity.

"Watch carefully, this is the second Style."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as an orange glow surrounded his body once again.

In the next second, he opened his eyes and chanted,

[Fire Weapon Art, Second Style: Burning Ring]

The orange glow around Arthur's body turned into flames as he performed a 360 degree slash with his sword, leaving a trail of flames that formed a burning ring of fire around him.

Crackle! Crackle!

Arthur's figure which was surrounded by flames where reflected in Zen's eyes, showing his eagerness to learn the skill from him.

'So it's like a barrier…' Zen thought in his mind as he observed the way the flames surrounded Arthur.

After a while, the flames faded as Arthur stood straight in front of Zen.

"The next Style is the last. This is also the most complicated out of the three so you better observe carefully."

Zen nodded with resolute eyes.

Arthur looked at Zen's willingness to learn and nodded in satisfaction.

Then, under Zen's eye, Arthur began to move.

He bent his knees and positioned his body forward. He also placed the sword in a sword-drawing position.

Arthur's body radiated with an orange glow again as he chanted,

[Fire Weapon Art, Third Style: Flash Fire]

Boom—

'What the…' Zen's eyes couldn't keep up as Arthur suddenly disappeared from his position with a burst of flames.

Zen followed the trail of flames that Arthur left behind and saw him about a hundred meters away from his original position.