Once again, here I am back in the confines of this castle of phantasms. I've found spies among the workers' to finding flowers in the dungeons what more can I possibly do for these people. But then again a paycheck is a paycheck and what a foolish thing it would be to give up some simple money like that. Also, these folks pay well, so no complaints from me. Though for the truth of it all, I should tread carefully around here, they might try to get me to stay around here and if I get too deep then it might be too hard to just leave. Which is definitely a no-go for me.

"Where is Lord Sirius? I am the mage, he called for. "

"Overlooking the guards in the training grounds. "

"Thanks"

This place no matter how many times, I've been here, this castle never fails to disappoint with its beauty. Oriental and regal. Though they do have an unnecessary obsession with the color purple. Lots of darker colors too, almost makes you forget that there is still light outside. Which speaking of outside, that was where I needed to be.

The clinging of metal and the grunts of exertion ring out. *sniff* There is definitely blood in the air and that means that they are definitely training. Why in the world would the world would he have me meet him out here with this savagery and unfruitful fighting. Though, considering it was for the guards of the city, and from what I have previously seen, they need to be training anyway.

But I'm not here to watch these guards practice, I'm here for one of the men in charge. And there he is now.

In the previous meeting, he wasn't wearing his full armor. So to see him in it today was rather interesting, yet here as he stares down at his men, it was easy to tell he was the more militant of the Lord Phantasm's children and seemed to ease into the role of war leader nicely.

The suit was an oily black color like that of hot tar and it was adorned with various animal heads formed from the metal like they had wandered too close to it and had become absorbed into it. It was easy to see why the men that accompanied him to either side were rather intimidated by their charge. The uneasiness in their eyes and their stance was easy to tell that they were more worried about messing up and looking like an idiot or failure rather than truly doing their duty to protect the future Lord. Ironic indeed.

"Don't step forward. "

His hand is shaking and his voice is breaking, there seems to be no conviction in what he was trying to do.

"If I wanted to kill the man, I would have. You called me Lord Sirius. "

That gulp was betraying him, and the spear is starting to shake even more, shameful. Why doesn't Sirius say anything, does he want this man to broken?

"I..I..I?"

"Need to move. "

His partner was moving slow if I had to want to these two would've been watching me kill their lord before they own eyes closed.

The armored hand raised up slowly and the guards back down, the tension in the space dissipating slowly. Thankfully, he stopped this before things got worse. I don't want to have to hurt his guards. They more than likely had families of their own and there was no need to send a battered father back home to his children. But why would he readily test the convictions of this man? What was the purpose of all of that?

"Lord Sirius, you asked for some help? What can be done?"

He didn't even turn to look, his eyes were filled with disdain and distaste. It was almost as if he was growing increasingly annoyed at the two practice combatants as they fumbled with their swords.

"Look down at my guards and tell me what you see. "

There was that trademark gravely voice of his father, yet his father managed to interject some sense of brightness into his speech, while the younger Phantasm didn't believe in such pleasantries of the voice.

And I guess, I wouldn't be much of a pleasant sounding person either if I had to stare at what was unfolding beyond my eyes. The men in the pit swung their blades wildly and extremely tight in the grip. Large arcing swings that carried the full momentum of their weight. There is no stability in their stance or purpose in their swing, they were just slashing the training blade. There was absolutely no strategy or skill, just bloodlust and uncautious attacking.

It was almost like watching two children playing knights and they just so happened to get mad at one another and now they were out to hurt the other. Which is disappointing, to say the least, even though I was never one to swing the sword or use any weapon for that matter, it was apparent that their skill with it was clearly lacking if not non-existent in some.

"I see two grown men swinging their swords like playthings and hoping that magically one of those crazy swings will hit payday and bring them victory. Why do you ask? "

His face was solemn and it betrayed no hint of his emotions or feelings toward the scene before us. He just walked away, heading toward the stairway that would lead down into the training way.

"Well, that is why I called you my mage friend, you are going to help with the training of my guards."

Wah...He wants me to train them, why in the world would he want me to do that. I have no expertise in the ways of being a guard. Nor, do I use a weapon like them. Maybe in hand to hand combat but what use could I'd possibly be.

"Your lordship I mean no disrespect, but I don't use a sword or shield and I use more of my fist and magic instead of other items. "

There are those eyes again, and that stern cold expression.

"That's exactly why I want you to be the one to train them. Our enemies will use mages like yourself to attack us. And while we may have the guild of Phantom Lord to protect us, I would rather not have to be at the mercy of the protection of someone else. I would rather be able to handle the problems of my people without having to call someone else. Therefore, these men need to know what they will be up against as well as to weed out the weak ones among them. "

Hmm, that was some sound logic, definitely can't argue against that. As a man and as a warrior you shouldn't want to have to rely on someone else's power to get you through a crisis. Especially when your family serves as the figureheads of the city and basically are in charge of making sure it is okay. Though I can't lie and say that it was expected to hear these kinds of words come from the mouth of royalty. Usually, princes were just a bunch of squabbling babes who wanted to be respected for the power of their mothers and fathers without doing anything of true merit or worth on their own. This man was definitely a different breed of an elite. Which serves as a welcomed breath of fresh air from those that I've dealt with in the past.

"Okay, I'll go with it, what is the limits of this training? "

The chuckled that escaped from his lips was hollow and almost morbid. Almost as if it was tinged with disbelief at the speech of such a question.

"Limits? I will need my men past today, sir. But if a few get sent to the infirmary. I'm sure we can call a mage to come and patch them up in time. Just make my men better. I do not care how. "

That's all I needed to know.

"Will do, Lord Sirius. Will you be watching? "

"Yes, I do not have other matters to intend to. My head guard will also be in attendance. You and he will serve as well placed perspectives. Have fun. "

"Aye."

These men look at me with anger. I'm sure that they knew about the reports on their ability. I would be mad too if I had been using a sword for so long only to swing it so badly. Here comes the head guardsman, at least he looked battle prepared. These others...

"Alright men, Lord Sirius has asked for us to have special training, today you will be going against this mage. Your goal is to defend yourselves and hopefully press the offense at the right point. Mage they are all yours. "

The mutters of the men were soft and they just stood dumbfounded. They looked around for direction and seemed confused. Like that of some dazed sheep. Time to wake them up.

"Strength of the primal." I usually hated picking fights but this one was for the right cause of course. Ahhh, it felt good to feel the energy coursing through my veins. It has been a long time since I last used my body to fight.

I'll go for the one right in the middle of the group of 7.

The sound of the man's gasp rang through the clearing, the men mortified in shock. The poor bastard fell to the ground as he clutched his stomach. His weapon and shield clattering to the ground with him in a misshapen heap of pain. He wasn't dead, nor was his bones broken but he'd definitely wasn't going to be a part of the fight.

"Rule one, don't take your eyes off a mage when they speak. We cast spells with our bodies and our mouths. Don't get caught slacking or else you'll end up like him. "

The others raised their shields quickly, the biggest of them stood tall, he seemed to show a sense of indignation. Almost as if he doubted that I was capable of handling him. And that clearly isn't the case.

"Well, I just attacked your ally. What are you all going to do?"

The men looked around waiting for one to step up and attack no one took a step until the large one from before did.

His brute strength was evident as he swung his sword. The rush of the wind from the blade followed in his wake made that all the more apparent. The others followed suit.

They didn't move as a unit, the big one attacked again only to strike his fellow soldier that came in from the left. The one from the right lost the grip on his sword and with a single strike to the hand, it was gone. And him along with it. He flew backward as the kick found him in the chest. The big one angry went to swing again, deceptively fast he was though still, he was easy to read. Ducking under the swipe, his stomach was open for a well-placed uppercut.

He roared in pained but it was easy to tell that he wouldn't go down as easy as the other two. Which meant this was going to not be so easy. The other guards swarmed in, attacking from when they could. Some bumped into others and the big one kept a majority at bay.

But they were definitely strong. Lacked precision and strategic tact but they were a hardy bunch. Let's see if they will have fun with this.

"Grrrrrah!Genesis Force: Gaia Breaker! "

The ground shook as it absorbed the flow of energy from my arm. The area exploded into a circle of bright red and white energy as the men were knocked off their feet from the force of the blow. The ground shifting underneath causing many to lose their footing.

Especially the biggest one, though he managed to hold himself up from falling unlike the others though he left a huge exploitable target. He had a leg left on the ground as he tried to teeter back and forth for balance and sadly that was all the space I needed.

The view condensed and the wind picked up, the dazed men below me didn't hinder my movement. And as palm touched the meat of his thigh, the man collapsed to the ground.

"Genesis Force: Roaring Wave Cannon. "

The bigger man fell hurting from the pain. The others stumbled back to standing position and retook a battle stance. Hardy bunch indeed. They moved closer together, smart. Considering they should infer that I wouldn't be able to pull that attack off again. At least not for a little bit.

"That's good. Rule two, pay attention to what element or apparatus the mage uses. If they use water stay away from sources of water. If they use fire, try to have water on hand. If they are an Earth user watch your feet, And if they use air, watch your head. Now. Unfortunately, some of us don't use an element so you're just gonna have to be careful. "

The men nodded in understanding, Lord Sirius looked the same that face of his hiding his intentions and feelings. But no matter back to the task at hand...

The day was beginning to approach its end. Lord Sirius had stopped us earlier and we spoke on the matters of their training, he didn't necessarily enjoy hearing that they had ways to go, but he had good men. Shame I had to send a few to the infirmary like we had discussed but now it was time to wrap this up.

"Alright. You've trained hard, and some of you have shown promise, but you all have worked hard. Shown more aptitude than I originally thought, Lord Sirius has called it day and it is time for one last session."

The men got back into a tight formation, their shields up and their heads forward, they almost looked like a genuine team. Almost anyway. They approached slowly, and there was no glaring weakness in their line. They easily were one machine, that was nice to see that even the big one took the point to create a strong base.

So I guess, imma just need a boost.

The wall of man and steel approached quickly. The two forces seeking to collided together. They roared their challenge and it was returned. The first shield was sturdy and the man behind it firm, a perfect launch pad.

The air absorbed me into this presence, the men below smaller from this height.

"Genesis Force: Twin Raising Kaisers. " The two balls of energy screamed toward the ground, their strength a pale comparison to their full power. But the goal was to give a nudge not kill them. The men looked wide-eyed as they hit the ground men thrown back once again from the force of the explosion.

Gah... I didn't think I'd get soo much of a workout for today. The men helped up one another and even a few took my hand in helping.

Lord Sirius seemed to approve though again it was hard to tell and the bell for the end of training rang out.

The walk back up the stairs was a little hard than the descent had been though whether that had been from my own exertion or their fighting I can't say.

"Lord Sirius, I trust you're pleased. "

"For now, here's your reward. We might call on you again. "

The jewels jingled in the bag, excellent.

"Good, this was fun. "

"I bet. "

The walkout was soo much sweeter with the money in hand, but I can't lie and say I didn't get something more from this training as well.

~exit~

2750/2000

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