Sword and Magic [Solo Job]

"We are here mister."

Redhead shifted slightly when he was awakened from his pleasant sleep and reluctantly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was young girl standing over him and slightly shaking his shoulder. There was a resigned grimace on her face, which probably meant she was trying to wake him up for a long while. Well... it wasn't his fault he was lazy, heavy sleeper. Deciding to save her from the next minutes of standing over him, the boy stretched, yawned widely and motivated himself to get up.

"Oh. You finally woke up." Young girl said with relief and looked up to see Zesh face. Young mage nodded and rubbed his eyes, trying to wake them up as well. After a few seconds, he had a clear view and looked more closely at the girl - who now looked at him curiously. She wore a medium length, white skirt, a blue denim blouse, and a straw hat. She also had a bright, beautiful complexion, gray eyes and dark brown hair in a ponytail. Overall, quite an innocent look if someone added her not-enraged-because-of-his-laziness expression. That was rare. Though, Zesh questioned in mind how did she achieve such complexion in summer.

"... Soooo, where exactly are we?" Redhead asked and girl literally slipped because of his question. Unfortunately, they were standing on the cart and young woman tried to step on air. It didn't work. Seeing that she was about to fall off and meet up with the ground, Zesh jumped forward and caught her. Unfortunately, he also lost footing and tumbled to the ground with a girl. Positive thing was, she was on top so he cushioned her fall. Redhead stared at the girl who hid her head in his chest in fear and rolled his eyes when she didn't move. Finally, he let out a fake, pained groan which made her jump. Girl instantly straightened up and looked at him from her position above.

"Gosh, I'm so sorry! My grandpa always says that I'm very clumsy, but I didn't though I drag another person into this. Pleaseforgiveme." She said quickly and bowed her head. Honestly, young mage wasn't really hurt by that fall, so he didn't mind. Zesh also noticed that she was literally straddling him and grinned at the chance to tease someone. "That's fine. Seeing you up there is more than good apology for me." Answered redhead, hoping to tease teen. Hearing his words, she looked around and noticed her position. To his disappointment, her face become blank.

"Pervert." Girl muttered, stood up and backed away from him. Zesh sweatdropped seeing this reaction.
"Hey! I'm just a healthy male which isn't ashamed of his sexuality!" After his words, she looked at him like he was even lower being than before."Anyway, so what's this place again?"

"It's Beanstalk Village. You wanted to get here to find retired rune knight. Did you already forgot?" Hearing her answer, Zeshin began to remember what he was doing here and how he got here.

Few hours ago

Redhead was sitting at the road, looking in the direction of Beanstalk Village. He heard that this place was full of retired rune knights, which was something important for Zesh. Even as a mage, he preferred close combat and focused on it. Elite rune knights were supposed to be masters of it, or close to them. Redhead accepted then he may not find someone to teach him more about blood magic, but he wanted to become master at close combat with various weapons. That was one of his goals in becoming more powerful. With a sigh, Zesh got up and started running again towards the village. His break was over.

After a few minutes, he could see something in the distance. It wasn't the village but horse cart heading in the same direction as young mage. Redhead didn't see one in a very long time, but luck must have been on his side. However, for some reason, it wasn't moving. That's why he speeded up a little bit. When he came closer, he saw that some small group of bandits was closing on a cart driver, effectively blocking the road. In Zesh's mind, they couldn't have good intentions. Blood mage forced magic power to his legs and used a few "Power Dash's" to get closer. With a last one, he jumped over the cart and welcomed one of the thugs with a dropkick in the face. That one went flying down the road and didn’t get up. Apparently, he was weak enough that acceleration from Power Dash was too much for him. Landing in slight crouch, he looked around spotting 5 more bandits looking at him with their jaws opened. Zesh grinned slightly seeing their reactions and got into his personal stance for fighting.
"Now, what are you waiting for? Come at me! I dare you!" When two bandits took a step forward, redhead manifested his magic power around his, easily frightening his opponents and making them stop. They kinda looked like deer with their wide eyes. Not wanting to waste too much time, blood mage used his Power Dash a few times to appear before every bandit and punched them. His punch was strong enough to knock them out. They were without a doubt weak. Casual bandits. Taking a calming breath, the young mage closed his eyes and spun around with a smile. Maybe this guy could give him a ride?
"Hey mate! Think you can take me towards Beanstalk Village?" That was his quick question, which went unanswered for a few seconds.
"S-Sure. I'm going there anyway." Hearing definitely female voice, Zesh opened his eyes to find quite a beauty. With a big smile at his luck, he jumped on the cart and sat near the girl.
"My name is Zeshin! Nice to meet chu!" He introduced himself and quickly began talking about everything and nothing. It was still long road ahead of them.


Present time

“Ahh… now I remember. Sorry about that, Mia” He chuckled at his forgetfulness. After his introduction, half of the journey blood mage spend sleeping. Second half was spend on talking with girl, which name was Mia now that he remembered it.

"Yeah. You should be grateful I didn’t leave you on a road. Now come, pervert. I'm going to introduce you to my grandfather. You have to make a good impression. He is very strict when choosing students." Mia told him and began walking away from Zesh. He grumbled a little about being called “pervert” but didn’t deny it. Quickly scrambling after girl, Zeshin started following her like a good little doggy. Maybe this girl will convince her grandpa to help him? That would be great. After a few minutes, Mia stopped in front of the big house and told him to wait there for her. He nodded with a smile and looked at the building in front of him. It was a casual, old wooden house with a homey feeling surrounding it. He could see that behind the house was a garden full of beautiful flowers, meaning people living in this house weren’t dark and unfriendly. At least he hoped so.

Young man’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of opening the door from behind which walked out an older man. He wore a white, dirty shirt and black pants, tucked into black military shoes. He had a small frown on his face while looking at Zesh, and with a sigh, started moving in his direction.

"I guess you are the one my Mai-chan was talking about?" Ponk asked with irritation in his voice, not taking his eyes off redhead. The young mage nodded unsure if this was the right answer. Apparently, it wasn't. One blink later, Crystal Swan mage had to dodge a sword cut that Ponk had in his hand.

"You know, that's quite a warm welcome right there." Zesh said with a raised eyebrow, only to see Ponk smirk. Redhead felt a reason for his smile when blood ran down his cheek. Apparently, that old rune knight had few tricks up his sleeve. Mage though that he dodged attack, but apparently that wasn't the case.

"Show me what you got. Maybe then I will decide to teach pervert like you." Ponk said and Zesh paled a little at his words. Now, the redhead was sure that hearing someone was "perverting" on his granddaughter wasn't a good thing. Mia screwed him, and Zeshin was sure she was smirking seeing his predicament.

Seeing rune knight appear before him, redhead sidestepped straight cut and side kicked Ponk in the chest. At least, he tried to. Young mage's attack was blocked by the flat side of sword and didn't deal much damage this way. Though rune knight skidded back one meter. "At least you have some strength in those limbs." Ponk taunted, and redhead not wanting to disappoint him, charged forward with fist raised. He didn't hold back. Zesh collected MP to use Superpunch, and old man widened slightly his eyes, seeing a quite strong attack. Rune knight quickly avoided it, though shockwave from it destroyed part of the lawn. Hearing someone behind him, he quickly rotated and deflected frontal swing with chop of hand. Before he had to counter, old man vanished again. This time he took a quick blow to the head and  like a puppet with strings cut off, he fell unconscious.

Some time later...

Zesh groaned in pain and rubbed his head, feeling like it would split open any moment now. Payback was a bitch. Mia standing over him with a smug smile could certainly agree with that. Redhead growled a little in irritation when she looked at him like that.
"Such a tease. I should be happy that pervert like me is still alive, shouldn't I?" Young mage asked girl with a grimace on his face. Mia apparently found it hilarious and started laughing. She even dared to tousle his hair. Zeshin grumbled a little at being treated like some kind of dog but didn't stop her from having fun. He will have his revenge on her, no doubt about it.

Now, my grandpa is waiting in the backyard for you so better get dressed and go get your's ass kicked. I will be sure to nurse it when you come back~ Mia singsonged and exited the room. Zeshin had to blink a few times after hearing her words. Huh. And people call him pervert. He shook his head about unfairness of it all, before smiling and looking around the room. It was probably a guest room, considering how empty it was. Just big drawer, bed he was currently in, bedside table his shirt was folded on and windown with a view of the backyard. From, Mia's words redhead had to guess that rune knight decided to teach him? After all, he could very well leave him on the street or something like this. Putting on his shirt, Zeshin jumped through the only window in the guest room and landed softly on the ground. It was certainly quicker than walking around strangers house. He didn't know why Mia left him alone in their house. Understanding the opposite sex is sometimes impossible apparently.

Seeing a small dirt road, he went along it hoping to find his new sensei. It took him a few minutes to reach a clearing, where Ponk was sitting on a fallen tree. Not quite backyard, but close enough. He was now dressed in a black, priest-like coat and had few swords at his side. Two wooden, three normal steeled and 2 unique weapons. "So you finally woke up. I started to think that I killed you by a mistake." Old man said calmly and got up, stretching himself in the meantime.
"If blow like that could kill me, I would die many years ago, old man." Besides, it wasn't like rune knights were used to delivering killing force. They were more capture-type of fighters. At least, Zesh assumed so. Still, mage was kind of ashamed of the way he lost. He was stronger than that.
"Tsk. Smartass. We will see how smart are you when we will start the second stage of training." Ponk said this and threw one steel sword to Zesh. After that, he took the wooden sword and twirled it around in his hands. "First stage: Theory and Practice. We will correct your horrible stance with one sword and make you comfortable with it. After that, we will do the same with dual wielding. Remember that I'm teaching you my own style, so it may be different from what you know. You clearly have most of the battle theory in your head, but there are few bits specific for sword-wielder. Now, let's start, shall we? You won't become master swordsman in one week, so there is no time to waste."

With these words, the first stage of Zeshin's training began. Ponk showed him the correct form of using a sword. How to stand properly, swing, cut, stab, block, deflect, counter, dodge and many many more. It was hard. Most of the time redhead had to stay in one position to properly remember it or repeat it 1000 times. After that, he had to quickly change his form. From standing to swinging, from dodging to countering etc. In battle every second counted, that's why speed and minimal movement was important. It took a week of devilishly hard work, for him to somewhat know how to handle the sword. At least, an old man told him that the only thing left for him was practice with it and experience. In the second week, the touched the first stage of dual wielding. For Zesh, it was vastly different from fighting with one sword. When he asked rune knight why he didn't start with dual wielding, he got a pretty clear answer.

"Don't be stupid. What if you lose one of your swords in the fight? It happened many times to me. Sometimes you can't stop it, no matter how good are you at it. Now, stop whining and get back to work." Yeah. It made sense. Kind of, because the redhead could just create a sword with blood. He didn't share this knowledge with his teacher so far. Better to leave some things unsaid and blood magic was one of them. Working with two swords looked similar to training with one sword. Positions, quick maneuvers, and repetition. Between two 5 hour-long lessons, Zesh was given an hour-long break. Usually, he spend it talking with Mia or learning the theory behind some things. At least, for a few first days. When Mia grandfather decided that they were getting too close, he made sure Zesh's schedule was full. Well, they still had their nightly meetings so it wasn't bad. Though, most of the time redhead was too tired in the night, so he just lay on girl's lap. Especially, considering that old man allowed him to live in their guest room for some time. Apparently, training him was quite nice when comparing to living on the farm. Zesh's quickly learned that his mentor was longing for battle, and it didn't shock him. A young mage could every day feel bloodlust because of his heritage, and sometimes it was hard to control it. Finally, after two weeks he completed the first stage.

"Now. I think you are ready for the second stage. It's quite simple actually. You have to fight me only using swords at your disposal. No magic. Getting experience, that's the point of the second stage. Pretty much, aside from good form, you need to integrate sword fighting into your instincts. There will be times when you will need to abandon technique in favor of raw power and vice versa. Everything you learned so far needs to become part of your body. I hope you are ready, cause this old man isn't gonna hold back." Zesh already knew karma was bitch, so he wasn't really shocked by hearing his words. Second Stage was one hell of a bloody stage. Redhead wasn't allowed to use his magic, because that would apparently be an easy way out of every situation. Something about magic being one tool, and swords another. Mastering them in separation would give him a greater advantage. These were words of his quite wise teacher. They certainly had some truth. So, without his magic as help, Pong was leagues above Zesh, just like in their first meeting. While redhead was a close-combat specialist, it didn't change a thing in his predicament. He still got beaten into a bloody pulp. If not for old man's wife, Ms. Cathe, Zesh would die a long time ago even with his stronger regeneration. Pong went to drastic lengths when learning him about the blade and how to "own it". These fights were happening thrice every day until one week passed. Pong even gave him two days to "chill out" before moving onto the next step. He used them well by taking Mia to nearby city for a date. Hey, guy can have his fun, right?

"Third Stage, Combining. Literally, it means you have to combine all your tools, to become even more dangerous. It's pretty much solo job, so if you will have some questions, you know where to find me." Zeshin pretty much understood what he meant, and got right into it. Combining his blood magic with swordplay was actually quite hard. Redhead had many problems when he tried to combine these things, simply because of his lack of creativity in this case. Still, he spend few nights meditating in clearing, recreating many different situations in battles. With these in mind, he created some techniques that should work well with his swordplay and counter his weaknesses, at least he hoped so. It took him another week to complete this stage.

"Fourth and Final Stage. Fight me Zeshin. You have to beat me to complete it."

A soft breeze was the only thing that could be heard for a while. Then, without another word, fighter took swords in their hand and disappeared from the sight of other persons. Ponk may have been a rune knight and old men, but he was a veteran. He had some speed technique, which wasn't considered magic, and was one of the reasons why Zesh lost so quickly in their first encounter. This time was different, simply because of young mage knowledge. They quickly moved across the field, disappearing and reappearing in various places on the field. The old man had a clear advantage over him since the start. For every cut he dealt, Zeshin got hit by another four. Ponk called his style "Mystical Sword". It focused on speed and unseen cuts. Zesh still didn't know the theory behind invisible attacks, but apparently, this skill takes years of constant practice to manifest. He didn't have time to learn it right now. Seeing that winning without magic, redhead decided to finally show his ability. Throwing one of his swords away, redhead concentrated his power and brought "Blood Haze" on the battlefield. He could see the slight shock on Ponk's face when it appeared. Combining it with "Blood Wings", redhead began his attack from various degrees. Even someone as experienced as his teacher couldn't completely block all of his attacks. Only about 3/4 of them was parried. Still, rune knight countered many times during Crystal Swan mage assault. By the end of it, Ponk had hundreds of various, small cuts on his body and was kneeling on the ground. His breath was ragged, aspect which was also lightly visible in redhead. He too had hundreds of cuts, but they were deeper. Still, as mage specializing in blood, it wasn't enough. Licking the teacher blood off his blade, "Bloody Knowledge" gave him tons of important information about sword fighting and more knowledge about Mystical Sword Style. It was an even better way of learning then typical studying, though Zesh preferred to do this old-fashioned way.

"Fighting mages always is pain in the ass. That mist was especially good. Honestly, I didn't expect you to be a blood mage. I always found them to be more... crazy than you." Old man said with a sigh and stood up on his wobbly legs. "Anyway, it won't change my opinion of you. Congratulations, Zeshin. You completed my training for an apprentice-level swordsman. Maybe one day you will become master." Ponk patted redhead's back a few times and smiled. Zesh was standing straight and looked into the distance, not really noticing his teacher words. The old man frowned at this and started walking towards his house. "Come to my house later. There is something I need to give you." With these words, Ponk left the clearing and redhead finally breathed. Amount of damage he dealt and the smell of blood didn't work well for Slayer descendant. That's why, redhead slowly started destroying everything near him. He didn't scream like mad, and he didn't have a twisted grin on his face. It was pure, cold fury of berserek. By the time he left, his MP almost hit 0 and clearing became at least twice as big as it was.

A few minutes after calming down, Zeshin stood exhausted in front of Ponk's family house, ready to begin another journey. Currently, he was being hugged by Mia like some plushie. It seemed like she couldn't let him go, or that's what Ms. Cathe said. She was chuckling in the background seeing him and her granddaughter, by the way. Redhead awkwardly patted young girl's head and whispered some comforting things in her ear. Honestly, how attached can someone be after only month of knowing each other?
"Catch this." Redhead heard and had to grab something out of the air before it hit his girlfri... his friend. Looking at the object, young mage raised an eyebrow before looking at rune knight. "It's old sword of mine. I got it from my teacher, so it' fitting for my student. Honestly, I taught many, but some of them weren't good enough for it. You are." Ponk said with tight lips while looking at girl attached to his student. Finally he sighed and shook his head at the pair "Go get them."

"Hai, master Ponk. Redhead anwsered with a salute, before looking at problematic girl. He grabbed her chin, lifted it slightly and kissed her. "I will visit."  He said with a teasing grin and after that, quickly disappeared by using his guild mark. The last thing he heard was outraged shout of his master.