Chapter 385: Way of the Sword

Not minding the shocked and surprised gazes of them, the old man, Sir Arthur kept his bowing posture, whilst explaining his previous exclamation in a bit more detail.

"I know. Rest assured, I know that my request is outrageous. Why would a man of my standing be so desperate to find a worthy successor? It is, after all, a perfectly reasonable question to ask."

He slowly lifted his head, looking up from the ground and matching the befuddled, confused look of the golden-eyed duo. 

"If you would allow me, I will explain." Sir Arthur said, keeping his subservient posture, which as the seconds went by, were more and more embarrassing. After all, this man was a living legend, the literal hero of many children's stories… and now, he was bowing in front of two brats?!

If people were to know about this, public outrage was sure to follow.

Scarlet, unable to take this any more, crossed over the table and helped up the respectable elder.

"Please, Sir Arthur, stand up. There is no need for this, right guys?" She looked behind with a fierce gaze, waking up Aiden from his stupor. 

"Y-yes, please, Sir Arthur… no, Lord Sonovan, there is no need for all of this." He hurriedly answered, reaching out with both of his hands, gesturing to the old man to stand back up. Galina didn't react too much, or at the very least, her reactions remained silent and hidden behind the black, faceless mask of hers.

"Please, Lord Sonovan…" Seeing as the man, slowly acquiesced to their request, the pressure and awkwardness in the room eased slightly. Drake could heave a sigh of relief, whilst Aiden smiled at the man weakly. "Please, explain to us what you meant by your previous words."

"Yes, please Sir Arthur, I am fairly certain you have many descendants and promising youths in your family. An outsider such as Aiden wouldn't be able to inherit anything, no matter if he himself would agree. After all, he would just be an adopted son of yours, not someone that could inherit your title and wealth legally." Drake added, completely perplexed by the baffling request of the old man."

At the silver-haired boy's words, Sir Arthur simply smiled. For a brief moment, a touch of sadness flashed through his eyes before he forced the usual kind, gentle fatherly expression back.

"I am aware of that, young prince. What I am asking is for the both of them to accept me as their teacher, their master in relation to their clearly lacking combat skills."

"I am aware of that young prince. I know that and normally I wouldn't make this offer, nor would I even accept such brazen disrespect if they, or for that matter, anybody else would come for me. I am, after all, the patriarch of the Sonovan Family, one of the big four! I would have many options to pick an heir, a successor from within the main or the branch families… Why would I bother with outsiders then?" 

He spoke, adding a theatrical push at the end of his speech. Giving only a moment of pause for a quick breath, he explained himself in the next moment.

"You see, as you have already seen, my family is filled with wastrels. Like Michael, all the others in his age are similar both in terms of the misplaced pride, arrogance, and temperament of theirs."

He sighed, shaking his head as his thoughts wandered back to this failure of a grandson of his.

"You see, my grandson, Michael, was the only son of his father and mother, and due to that, he was pampered from birth. He was taught by the finest artists, the best masters of each craft he could learn, quickly becoming the haughty… young man he is today. Using the money their parents threw at him, he quickly bought his way above the ranks, eventually landing himself in the position he is today."

He gave a light cough himself, guiding the course of his own speech back to the topic.

"Anyway, this doesn't matter actually. The fact is, like what you have seen with him, all the other grandsons and descendants I have, are the same. Tainted by this… 'darkness'. They are greedy, arrogant… The true virtues of the legacy I have built up for over close to a century now…" He steeled his heart, a stern, serious look appeared over his face as he shook his head. "They are not worthy."

He then looked back at the duo in front of him, as his expression instantly eased back into a warm smile.

"I am still the patriarch of the Sonovan family. I am the one that is responsible for leading it to a better future, not those brats and their arrogant, greedy father of theirs!" He smashed his fist on the table, with just enough power to not break it. "Even if I am unable to legally do so, I would at least want you both to gain my true legacy, and accept my teachings!"

He bowed again, this time his fists tightly clenched and shaking with the emotion he was withholding.

However, Aiden shook his head as he declined his offer.

"Sir Arthur, no, Lord Sonovan… I am truly honored by your request, and that you find us worthy of your teachings, however, I already have a Master. Her teachings are what shaped me into the person I am today. I-"

"That is not a problem! What I would like to teach you are the Way of the Sword and a style that was created by me!"

He then looked at the masked lady.

"As for you Miss Galina, I know what I am saying is outrageous, especially to someone with your unique ability. Rune Magic is something I have been researching all my life. Being not 'talented enough' to be accepted to learn the Mystic Arts, I have researched for ways, methods that I could still use. That's how I stumbled upon this ancient art. Some of the ehrm… 'older' races of our world, the dwarves especially, are the ones that know about this peculiar knowledge."

He gave a moment for the group to breathe, before continuing further.

"I have since then, used all of my resources, and experience, to gather more knowledge and learn as much as I could about the topic. And while I am by far, not the best and most knowledgeable in this field…" 

Suddenly, both of his hands lit up, emitting a faint golden light. Using only the tip of his right index finger he began to hurriedly draw a rune in the air that Aiden could recognize as a crude, simplified version of what he learned from Granny.

Subconsciously his lips parted, and he muttered the spell together with Sir Arthur.

"Lux…"

"Lux!"

At their words, suddenly the small runic symbol lit up, engulfed with a bright white light before turning in a small bright orb and flew above Sir Arthur's head, following his movement as it kept hovering in the air above him.

The old man's eyes turned wide with surprise as he just realized the boy could recognize the rune as well. Just like the boy and the others he too now looked with a matching astonishment.

"You can also read and use runes? Can you perhaps draw them as well?" The old man asked Aiden with clear anticipation written all over his face.

Unfortunately, Aiden could only shake his head.

"No. I can't use spells, at least not yet. I can, however, read out many of them." He admitted with a thin smile, deciding to keep quiet about the fact that the version Sir Arthur drew was faulty, and rudimentary at best. After all, even this was a great achievement for a man without any teacher or master to rely upon.

"I see." The old man sighed with a sad expression, shifting his attention back to the masked girl. "So, Miss Galina… I know my demonstration might be primitive, but as you can see, I might be able to offer you something that could be worthwhile to you. I will give you access to all the tomes, the scrolls, and books I have acquired over the decades of my pursuit of knowledge…" He then looked at Aiden, giving him a reassuring smile. "Even to you, Aiden. Even if you can't draw them, you can still benefit from learning more, right?"

"As for your Master… I am sure she wouldn't mind if you were to learn more. Without the proper method, your big sword will never reach its full potential. What do you both say?"

Aiden wasn't sure what to say at this point. What the old man offered was something he really lacked. So far he almost exclusively fought using his hands, or to be more precise, his claws. Unfortunately, if he wanted to stay in this world, and wanted to keep his secrets hidden, he couldn't rely on them. At least not in the open.

He needed to be better at handling weapons, which he admittedly, neglected so far.

However, he already had a master on the matter. How could he accept another one then?