Blade Over Magic

Making a Point

Sure enough, it didn’t take too long for a set of carriages to arrive carrying the families of Falael, Aubrey, and Curtis.

Xander watched from a distance as three of them happily met those they considered family while leaning against a wall.

Aubrey hugged her parents and two twin boys who appeared to be her younger brothers. Falael was getting fussed over by a beautiful Elven woman. And Curtis held the hands of an elderly woman, his expression warm as he listened to whatever he was saying.

Xander observed this scene and sighed slightly. His mind drifted back to earth and his own family there.

In truth, he was never really that close to his parents. They weren’t... horrible people. But there was certainly quite a bit of toxicity, and after he decided to pursue swordsmanship, they practically cut him off. Hence, they didn’t have much of a relationship.

He wondered what they were doing, or if they knew that he’d died.

He shook his head.

’That boat has sailed. No need to dwell on it.’ He watched the group for a little bit. Mary was also there with a few other servants to help the families get settled in.

Eventually, though, he pushed off the wall and walked away. The others would be busy for a bit, so Xander intended to get something done as well.

Walking through the Lowell Residence, he soon arrived back at the training field. Keir was nowhere to be seen, but if he was right, the dragon was currently attempting to hide from Xavier and Mia.

Whether or not he was succeeding, he had no idea.

Calmly, Xander walked over towards the group of knights who were taking a break after what looked like an intense training session.

When he neared, the knights—who were either talking or drinking water—all glanced to the side, their expressions becoming strange when they saw him.

It went without saying that most people in Solvaren had seen the footage from Feidos, and these soldiers clearly remembered how just a few months ago, this scrawny boy had come to collect a practice sword from them. Only for them to see him fighting against a literal monstrosity and actually winning.

It was a surreal feeling.

When Xander finally got close, he regarded all of them and said.

"Good afternoon. I take it that my father spoke to you about our... arrangement?" Hearing this, many of the knights nodded.

After Xander agreed to teach them swordplay, Xavier had personally gone over to explain the situation to the knights and told them to spread it among their colleagues who were resting in the barracks.

"Good. Now, if possible, I’d like for all of the knights to be here." Xander made a request. It may sound like an absurd request, but one needs to remember that the Lowell knights were a retinue, not a full army. There were barely a hundred of them, and at current, a little under half were gathered there.

There was a brief silence, then one of the knights spoke.

"Look, Xander, yes? I don’t doubt his Excellency, but, well..." The gestured around.

"We’ve been fighting the way we have for years. We have our own systems and methodologies. Sure, swordsmanship is deemed a dead path, but we’ve made it work. Besides, unlike you, we don’t have the luxury of receiving an item that can grow our small mana pools, so it’s hard to say it will even be effective you method." His tone sounded diplomatic, but there was an underlying sense of mockery in them, especially the last part. While no one saw Xander receive the Spring of Life water, the fact he was suddenly able to use magic properly—even through his blade—told them that he had received some form of help.

Xander listed quietly, then his eyes narrowed slightly.

He looked around at all the soldiers, then he said flatly.

"Your systems and methodologies are complete and utter disgraces." The words were sharp and delivered with such firmness that for a beat, the knights didn’t know how to react.

And yet, he kept going.

"First of all, the fact that you lot are content to leave your swordplay as it is, completely accepting the fact that it is universally acknowledged as a dead path, and not bothering to even experiment or improve it is borderline pathetic. Or what? You believe that since an Archmage said that was the case, it’s true?" He scoffed.

"Secondly. I genuinely don’t care if you’re comfortable with what you have now. I normally don’t care what path anyone takes. But I absolutely do care if someone chooses the same path as me and walks it backward while blindfolded. Its appalling. None of your are swordsmen, you just swing sharp pieces of metal covered in your affinities and call it swordsmanship." The more he spoke, the more irritated the knights were becoming, some gripping their weapons tightly.

No one said anything because they knew that while Xander was an illegitimate child, it was clear that Xavier placed importance on him. To them, they just needed to wait for him to spout whatever and get it over with. In their eyes, he was just being a brat, nothing more.

Xander saw this, and he paused.

Then he smiled.

"Heh, alright. Let’s do it this way, then." Using Sword Projection, he summoned a practice sword he’d used in the past. It was a blunt broadsword used for training.

Before any of the knights could question its appearance, Xander made use of Vibration Traversal to appear in their midst, and before any of them could react properly, his sword landed on the collarbone of the knight who had spoken earlier.

The impact didn’t break anything, yet the force behind it was still terrific as the knight fell, the affected spot turning purple almost immediately.

"Dammit kid!"

"Are you insane?!"

"Just what do you think you’re doing?!" Many of them exclaimed, but they suddenly felt a chill as Xander regarded all of them coldly.

"Raise your swords. If you do not, I was personally beat the living shit out of each and every one of you. You want to coast by using that disgrace you call swordsmanship? Not on my watch." Another knight opened his mouth, only for the flat of Xander’s sword to smash into their jaw hard.

If the others saw this, they would be shocked. After all when Aubrey trained Aubrey in the way of the bow and dagger, while he was certainly strict, he definitely wasn’t so harsh. Same as when he was helping Falael strengthen their body so it could withstand their mana output better.

But this? This wasn’t just strict, it was almost cruel.

"Raise. Your. Swords." Xander repeated darkly.

Finally, one knight couldn’t handle it anymore.

"Fine! Since you clearly have a deathwish!" He stood and charged at Xander. Flames erupted on the blade of his sword and he raised it to swing down at Xander with his entire body.

But Xander did not panic.

He simply flicked his arm, and his blade sliced through the air, hitting the wrist of the knight. Even with all the muscles, Xander still accurately struck a bundle of nerves, making that hand lose strength and, consequently, causing the weapon to fall out of his hand.

"That is not how you perform an overhead swing. It is wildly ineffective and inefficient. It also leaves you wide open and susceptible to counterattacks." As he said this, he took a step back and evaded a thrust from the side by another knight.

His sword moved again, and it hit the back of the knight’s neck, causing them to collapse immediately.

"Commiting to a full body thrust means you are wide open until you can regain your stance. And you didn’t even thrust properly, deflecting your attack would have been just as easy as dodging." Another attack came, a swing aimed at his collarbone, yet he simply caught it on his crossguard, the power behind the swing amounting to nothing.

"The power of your swing does not matter if your opponent has a structured parry. You’d need an obscene amount of raw strength to break through a properly structured parry, something you clearly do not have." Another swing came from the side, aimed at his head, yet Xander simply batter the attack to the side.

Just like this, the knights continued to attack Xander.

Initially, they were hesitant as they were scared of hurting him. Yet as more time passed, they realized that such a worry was pointless.

Because they could not hurt him.

No matter how they swung their swords, even when they coordinated together to pincer him, Xander moved with an absurd amount of precision, his movements foreign yet undeniably effective as he continued to systemically dismantle them using nothing but pure swordplay. And all the while, he continued to point out their flaws calmly, much to their frustration.

Granted, none of them had truly tried to go in for a killing blow, but as things stood, they began to doubt if that would even make a difference.

In just, the available knights had bruises in different parts of their bodies, some trying and failing to pick of their weapons and Xander had hit them in especially nasty areas.

He regarded all of them with a gaze that practically announced that he was not impressed in the slightest.

"I will say it again. Go and bring the rest of your teammates. No one will be exempt from this." This time, when they heard his words, they no longer hesitated or questioned him.

Just like that, Xander began to make a name for himself within the Lowell Residence. But whether it was for the better... that remained to be seen.