Returning Home [Secondary Magic Training]

Vincent awoke that day feeling in a cold sweat. He had a nightmare in which Necropolis told him that he had a year to return the book to Zenshin or else he and Elvira would both join him in the realm for eternity. A year... how generous of him. The Crystal Swan wizard would find Zenshin, in time, but first he needed to do a bit of traveling. While in the academy, one of his teachers mentioned that he had once cured a terrible illness by overcoming a so-called "Trial of the Basin" located at the heart of the Sevenwood. Feeling like it was a good a lead to go on as any, Vincent decided that he would visit the location on the way to the Pergrande Kingdom and see what came of it.

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The wizard stood about a mile from the border and sighed. I hate that I have to do this, but what choice do I have? He spoke a few words and, without any flashy lights or ceremony, he was completely magic-less. Vincent had sealed his magic away and would unseal it once he exited Pergrande. Until now, he hadn't had the will nor the skill to perform such a spell. Despite not being flashy and having very little practical use in combat, the spell itself was quite difficult to cast and this was only the second time he had successfully done so. Any magic at all was too risky to have when entering this country and they would show him no mercy if they found out he was a mage - even if he was the son of two Paladins.

He approached the outpost between a small Iceberg village and a small Pergrandian town and handed his passport to the young man sitting behind the counter. "You're coming all the way from Fiore? Long journey, may I ask for what?" he said, not at all suspicious of whether Vincent had any magic about him. Excellent, I've gotten all of it seemingly. "Yes, I'm here to visit my family. I've been away a while, so would you mind giving me a map to the Gauss residence?" "Gauss! As in the Gauss? The renowned Paladins?! I didn't know they had a son too!" Too? Do I have a sister? "Here you go Sir Vincent. I'll have some of these guards here escort you. It's been a great honor." With a sigh, Vincent proceeded past the guards standing on the border between Pergrande and Iceberg.

Sir Vincent... I had forgotten about such formalities extended to the family members of Paladins. As promised, the guards led Vincent all the way into the heart of the country and to a relatively large house that he vaguely remembered from his childhood. "Thank you two, that'll be all." he said, getting use to using commanding language. They bowed to him and expressed gratitude for being able to escort the son of Paladins. He knocked on the door and it was soon opened by a white haired woman who was a bit shorter in height and seemed to be a bit younger. "Who're you?" Vincent presumed that this must be his sister given the resemblance and her place of residence. With a step back, he gave a deep bow before raising his head and saying: "I'm Vincent, you're brother." she widened her eyes and slammed the door shut.

That was... unexpected. A moment later an older woman that was unmistakably his mother opened the door quickly and had her weapon drawn. As quickly as she opened the door, though, she dropped her weapon and embraced the young wizard. "I knew that you couldn't come home without putting yourself in danger, but I always wished that we'd be able to meet again." Vincent held resentment for the beliefs of Pergrande, not his mother, and was happy to see her again after so long. Their hug lasted for something of an eon before she invited him in and had him sit down for a meal with his sister. "Your father is stationed at the wall, but he would have given anything to see you again, Vincent. You've already met Maria, she's your sister. I was about two months pregnant with her when I sent you off with Luca." "Mom's been training me so to become the greatest swordsman in Pergrande!" she piped up enthusiastically.

"That's actually why I'm here, coincidentally. Aside from wanting to see you at least once in my life, mother, I needed your help. I would like to continue the lessons we began when I was young. I can hardly remember our swordplay training, but the muscle memory is still there. I need to learn how to handle a weapon and you're the best I know." he said, letting them both in on his motivation. "Humph, I'm not surprised that your curse isn't enough for you and you've come seeking proper guidance to become a warrior." she responded almost instinctively, it seemed. "Curse?" "Yes, Maria. Mom calls my gift a curse - it was the reason we couldn't grow up together properly. I'm...-" he got in close so that he could whisper to her, "-a wizard."

"WHAT!?" she exclaimed right into his ear, giving him a temporary case of tinnitus. "So loud. Yes, that's what I am. Specifically I fall under the categorization denoted as Requip. To get past the border checkpoint, though, I sealed all of my magic away. Not a hint of it can be felt. Not too shabby, huh?" he said, quietly still, looking towards his mother. She nodded. "I wondered how you pulled off that little trick. I didn't know you could do that, actually. But Requip - even your powers reflect your true nature. Those are the only kinds of wizards that don't rely on cheap tricks and flashy powers. I've met a few in battle that rivaled some of the squires of Pergrande, quite an impressive feat for a magician. Let's continue this outside." she said. Vincent nodded and finished the last bites of his meal before following his sister and mother out to a large garden area with a flat brick clearing in the center in the shape of a circle. There were weapon and armor racks neatly placed at the edges of the garden with three dummies stationed on the far east side standing against tall brick walls.

"You'll be dueling your sister to gauge your skills. Pick any weapon that you like." she said, pointing to the weapon rack on the western brick wall. "Dueling Vincent? I don't want to hurt him, mom, I just met him!" his sister protested as he walked to the weapon rack and inspected his options. He turned his head to the side so that she would hear him, "Don't take me lightly just because you've had a few lessons with a sword, Maria. I have far more combat experience than you do. I know that the minimum age before you start doing patrols along the border is still a bit of a ways ahead for you. For even me. It's a dangerous job." he said and his mother nodded in agreement. He turned his head back and selected a pristine rapier with an Italian hand guard and two sharpened edges for cutting.

"This will do." he said, going to one of the sides of the brick circle. His sister was confused with his choice of weapon. "Fine choice. It's not exactly a Pergrande specialty, but I've met some of the better Minstrel swordsmen and most of them preferred that kind of weapon." His sister held a longsword in both of her hands - the preferred weapon type for Pergrandian knights. He held the rapier in his right hand, put his left behind his back, and spaced his feet apart before bending his knees a bit. "So you remember something, by the looks of it." she said, walking to the center of the arena and declaring the beginning of the duel. Vincent stepped forward to bait his sister into attacking. She did so with an overhead swing that he was ready to parry. The wizard warded the move away and in one fluid movement he had the edge of his sword on his sister's side.

"I can tell you held back. I told you not to underestimate me." His wide eyed sister nodded before Vincent backed up to his original position and the two prepared to clash once again. Their mother started the second round and this time his sister stepped in with an overhead strike once again. It's a feint, she's going to attack me from the side. he thought, noticing the slightly off position of her stance. Sure enough, she came with a hard blow to his right side that almost knocked him off balance, but was still parried followed by a sharp kick to her upper stomach. While he was on the ground he held his rapier to her throat before sheathing his weapon when the duel was officially concluded. He helped Maria to her feet and they both bowed deeply in each others direction.

"I didn't think that you would be so strong, Vincent, even some of mom's squires get knocked off their feet by that strike. And it was like you saw it coming ahead of time, how did you do that?" she asked, surprised at how well he performed. "Because you're brother is as sharp as your sword. Even the slightest compromise in your stance will be analyzed by him and he will immediately think up the best counter move. No matter how strong you are physically, you stand no chance if you don't fight as smarter than your opponent. The beasts of Sin will always outmatch you physically, but you have the edge mentally." his mother interjected and Vincent nodded. "I must admit, too, that I have also recently been trained by a guild member of mine. She's a graceful swordsman and one of the best outside our kingdom I've seen. She's got real talent." "I was wondering how you manged to handle the sword so well. Muscle memory alone wouldn't have been enough to so effortlessly handle your sister. Now, allow me to personally engage your skill." His eyes widened.

"You want me to face the Bloody Hyena of Pergrande in combat?" he said, his eyes widening. "Oh I can't believe you remember that. Please, that's just what the commoners call me." By commoners she meant the actual commoners, peasants, and the knights of Pergrande - anyone who was below her in status. Most Paladins had titles associated with them and their weapon. His mother was no exception. She was known as Maria "Bloody Hyena" Gauss. "Okay, but please try not to maim me." "It'll be a flesh wound at the worst." The two took their positions on opposite sides of the circle and she unsheathed her renowned two-handed scarlet claymore. "Scarlet Laughter. Is it true that it turned red after killing a thousand monsters of Sin?" "Come on Vincent, you know that's not true. It's just made of a special durable metal that it capable of slicing through any and all magical defenses." He nodded.

The wizard smiled thinking back on when he first asked her that question as a child. It was a fond memory. Maria started the duel and Vincent made the first thrusting move that was swiftly deflected before a swift kick made its way to his chest. Vincent whipped his left hand out from behind his back just as swiftly as the kick and grabbed his mother's boot and the two locked eyes. They both shared a fire-y determination. She pushed him back and swung her sword overhead. If I try to parry she's just going to power through my block he though, stepping quickly to her side before taking a shoulder to the chest which pushed him to the edge of the arena. She has more range with her two handed sword so I need to get in close to stump that advantage he thought while stepping in before she could raise her sword back up. Once she did, she tried swinging at his mid section in such a way that forced him to block. He did, to the best of his ability, but he only barely kept his guard from breaking. The awkward direction of the strike made it difficult not only to dodge, but also behind which to put any meaningful degree of power.

He thrust his rapier towards her chest, but she stepped backwards and swung her sword so fast that Vincent had no option but to only partially block the attack. Vincent blocked the strike but it still managed to leave a gash in his arm. His mother, feeling bad about having hurt her son after only just getting him back lowered her guard - allowing Vincent to pay her back in blood by leaving a small gash along her upper chest after which his sister stopped the duel. They both smiled at each other and bowed to conclude the duel formally. "You should know better than dropping your guard in a duel before it's over." he said. "You're right, you're right. I just felt a bit bad about drawing blood from my son I haven't seen in over fifteen years. Motherly instincts are quite powerful. You've grown to be a fiercely intelligent warrior, but your strength and skill is lacking. We can do something about those, thankfully."

For the next six months, Vincent would train with his sister under his mother's tutelage until he had quite a bit to go before being as skilled and as strong as his mentor as opposed to being light years away. He learned quickly, but of course her thirty years of fighting the monsters of Sin trumped his fifteen years of study and limited Fioren combat experience. "You would have made a great Paladin, Vincent. It's sad that you have to go." she said as he stood outside the door. Over the six months, he had trained in using different weapon types and had a good enough grasp to continue practicing on his own. "I want you to have this, I probably won't be needing it anymore and you probably need it more than I do." "You're giving it to him! What about me!" his sister protested, but his mother made a dismissive hand motion towards her. "Don't be greedy, Maria, you know that you're inheriting your father's Onyx Saber." His sister huffed. "Promise me that you'll pay as much attention to your swordplay as you do your... other studies." Vincent nodded and graciously accepted her gift: the Scarlet Laughter.

As a Requip mage, Vincent planned on storing all of the weapons he had accumulated in a separate but shared space in his Archmage's Sanctum. He left Pergrande as his came: the Iceberg route, and headed now towards Seven to investigate the supposed basin of Sevenwood. Armed with his new skill and assortment of weapons, he felt as though he achieved another milestone in increasing his strength. No monster would be able to take advantage of the slow nature of magical spells, and given the ever increasing in dangerous jobs he would be undertaking, he needed all the help he could get.

WC: 2,550