Shulim replied, “No problem, I trust your arrangements, Semilis.”
“Haha~, then it's decided! You'd better prepare yourself mentally, because you'll be facing all kinds of battles next~!”
Whoosh—!
The two silhouettes streaked across the sky at extreme speed without attracting the attention of any creature on the ground. Only the creatures flying in the sky occasionally felt something fly past them, but looking left and right, they found nothing.
...
...
Early morning, in the courtyard of the Hayeral estate.
Shulim gripped a wooden practice sword with both hands, eyes closed, standing completely still.
Not far away, Rezerian stood with his arms crossed, watching Shulim with a serious expression.
Time in the courtyard seemed to have ground to a halt at this moment.
At one point, Shulim suddenly snapped her eyes open, and at the exact moment she opened them, her hands moved as well. In the slowly passing flow of time, the wooden practice sword could be seen drawing continuous arcs in a bizarre trajectory around her, gradually seeming to fill the surrounding space.
Standing to the side, Rezerian's heart hung in suspense as he watched his daughter's movements.
Thud!
Just as the surrounding space was about to be filled with sword shadows, her trajectory deviated slightly, causing the subsequent sequence to rapidly collapse. In the end, Shulim fell flat on the ground.
His suspended heart dropped, and a flash of pity flickered in Rezerian's eyes.
She was so close.
“Ugh, failed again...”
Shulim couldn't help but daze off a bit as she stared at the wooden sword in her hands.
“Don't be discouraged, Shulim.”
Rezerian walked over with a smile to comfort her.
“You're already extremely close to succeeding. Sometimes, not rushing for results is also a path to success. Besides, your current attainments are already considered highly exceptional compared to past generations of our family.”
Hearing this, Shulim couldn't help but reflect.
Was she really rushing for results?
It seemed she was, just a little...
At the end of the day, her talent in swordsmanship had not received any Blessing, so it couldn't possibly compare to her magic. Because her magic training went so smoothly, she had unconsciously set the same expectations for her swordsmanship.
Even though they were completely different things.
“I understand, Father.”
Shulim stood up, adopting a humble posture as if she had taken the lesson to heart.
Rezerian nodded in satisfaction and said, “Let's stop here for today. You should get ready for school. Isn't today the mid-year final exams? Do your best on your final evaluations.”
The academic year at the preparatory school was divided into two semesters. There was a school break between the terms, but compared to the academic year break, which lasted nearly two months, the mid-year break was only about ten days long.
“I will, Father.”
Shulim bowed, put down the wooden sword, and returned to the house.
After washing up to rinse off the sweat from her early morning practice, Shulim changed into her outdoor clothes and went to the dining room.
“Good morning, Mother.”
Lilia had long since woken up, but because she wanted to wait for Shulim to eat together, she had waited until now.
“Come quickly, my Shulim. The food is at the perfect warm temperature; eating it like this is the healthiest.”
Lilia greeted her with a smile.
Shulim walked over to the dining table and sat across from Lilia, picking up her fork and reaching for the food on her plate.
“Sigh, this house is getting quite lonely nowadays...”
As Shulim was eating, Lilia began to complain.
“A few years ago, there would be a whole table of people sitting here eating at this hour. Now it's just the two of us. If you ask me, Yamen shouldn't have copied his older brothers and sisters by leaving home so early, when they were all still so young...”
“Especially Yamen, who kept yelling about wanting to become a world-renowned swordsman. He hasn't sent a letter back since he ran off. At least the others are living in safe places, but how can anyone not worry about him when he's like that!”
“At the very least, he should have learned Second-Tier Reinforce before heading out. That way, he'd at least have some self-defense capability...”
“...”
Just as her older brother Yamen used to complain, his magic attainments were indeed terrible. Even after studying for several years, he only knew First-Tier Non-Elemental magic.
However, he possessed quite a natural talent for swordsmanship, which was why he aspired to make a name for himself with the blade.
Still, as her mother said, he should have at least learned Reinforce before heading out...
No matter how superb one's swordsmanship was, they still needed the physical conditioning to utilize it. One might be able to crush same-tier enemies Thru swordsmanship alone, but against higher-tier enemies, they wouldn't even be able to break through their defenses.
Furthermore, Hayeral Swordsmanship was not just some ordinary sword style; it had prerequisites. For instance, its final stance, Thunderstrike, required a physical enhancement on the level of Third-Tier Non-Elemental magic to even be possible to learn.
As for Yamen's future... well, how should she put it? May the gods bless him.
“...Sigh, this house is so empty now, it almost makes me want to have another baby.”
Lilia threw out that remark as she continued to complain.
“...”
Shulim kept her head down and ate her food, offering no reply.
Although she understood her mother's feelings, the reality was that most people in this world would set off around the age of twelve to forge their own paths after graduating from the four-year preparatory school. They would either become apprentices, pursue further education at higher academies, or enlist as preparatory soldiers.
As for adventurers...
Twelve-year-old adventurers were simply too young, after all. At that age, they could only do odd jobs. However, the Adventurers' Guild had special support systems for them, so there wasn't much need to worry about them being bullied.
Of course, cases like her brother Yamen were an extreme minority.
In short, the phase from graduating preparatory school to entering adulthood was the most critical period for anyone in deciding their future.
In addition, although it felt a bit inappropriate for her, the seventh sibling, to say so, she really believed her mother should consider their household income before thinking about adding more members to the family.
Frankly, before her oldest brother Sieg left home, the family was extremely hard-pressed for money. It was only when he joined the knights that things began to improve, as even preparatory members received subsidies and salaries.
As for her other older brothers and sisters who had left home, they still relied on the family to fund their tuition, food, and living expenses, since they had not yet reached the point of true independence.
With the exception of Yamen.
“Mother, I'm finished eating.”
Shulim put down her utensils, wiped her mouth, and spoke politely.
“Oh, you're already done, Shulim? I guess I need to speed up too.”
Lilia quickened her slow eating pace slightly.
Shulim stood up and left the table.
“Mother, I'm off to school.”
“Mhm, alright. Be careful on the road!”
Bidding farewell to her mother, Shulim straightened her clothes and set off for school.
...
“Shu—lim—!”
Just as she arrived at the school gates, a figure flew toward Shulim at rapid speed and tightly hugged her arm.
“Good morning!”
“...Good morning, Fran.”
Looking at Fran, who was clinging to her arm, Shulim got a slight headache. Ever since she rescued her from the kidnappers, Fran's attitude toward her had become like this, sticking to her like glue wherever she went.
Rate on N.U.
