Your Shield Mastery has reached level 01.

When Zaos managed to parry his father's attack for the first time, he heard that voice. At that point in time, he also noticed something. Physical skills apparently were all passive ones, while spells were always active… at least when it comes to beginner's stuff.

Health: 09/20

Mana: 60/60

Stamina: 45/50

Strength: 10

Magic: 30

Endurance:25

Resistance: 30

Focus: 01

Sorcery Lv 05, Swordsmanship Lv 04, Shield Mastery Lv 01

When Zaos checked that screen in the corner of his vision, he finally realized why his left arm was hurting so much despite the fact that he succeeded. He finally found a way to increase his health, but he didn't expect that method would be so painful.

"Again," Laiex said.

While Zaos could heal his wound, he didn't want to use magic in front of his father since that might cause some problems for his mother. So, he just clenched his teeth and endured the pain before attacking.

After attacking, Laiex's wooden sword was also swung down toward Zaos, but at that moment, he wasn't so surprised by it. He moved his shield upward a little more in order to prevent the attack from gaining more momentum. Thanks to it, the pain in his arms just decreased slightly. It was the same strategy Zaos used to decrease the power of Merkin's Earth Bullets.

"Again," Laiex said.

Zaos obeyed and attacked again. This time he was more used to the movements, so his sword struck down harder and faster, but he didn't find a single scratch in his father's arm. That was some level of tough skin… Zaos couldn't even begin to imagine how someone could have such hard skin without using magic.

"Again," Laiex said.

Laiex insisted on trying to make Zaos use the pain and anger to fuel his attacks, but in the end, there was no result. After twenty strikes, Zaos was unable to deliver the same amount of damage in his attacks due to the fact that his left arm was hurting too much.

"Dear, isn't that…" Lyra said.

"We are done for today," Laiex said while looking at his unscathed left arm. "Add this stance of attack to your training routine and repeat it one hundred times in the morning and in the afternoon. Every week, add twenty more repetitions. In three days, a training spar will come, so be ready for it. Also, don't heal his arm, his bones and muscles will get stronger by themselves that way."

"But…" Lyra said.

"We are a family of soldiers, and few soldiers have healers in the battlefield," Laiex said. "While some nobles use them, that kind of action only serves to make the soldiers complain. We need to set an example."

After leaving, Laiex looked at his arm again. There was no pain, and yet, he couldn't help but show a small smile before leaving. Zaos noticed that, but he didn't understand why he looked so pleased. He only hit the exact same spot several times, after all. Zero damage was caused, so Zaos was feeling even more pissed than before.

"Are you alright, Zaos?" Lyra asked while she was slowly moving the shield away from his arms.

"Tis but a scratch," Zaos forced a smile.

"Why are you using such a weird choice of words…" Lyra frowned.

Zaos frowned as well, he felt like joking, but that sentence came out pretty naturally for some reason. Regardless, he finally had his first spar, but the result had been a humiliating defeat. He needed to train even more and make good use of the next opportunity to punish his unfaithful father.

In any case, from that day onward, it looked like Zaos would have the chance to practice with some other kids, but he couldn't imagine what he could do since he only knew a single method of attack, and from his perspective, it was a pretty clumsy one at that. Fortunately, that day, they would have the weekly family dinner… which was one of the rare occasions Zaos could talk with his father. Although he was pretty sure that such a thing wasn't supposed to be weekly, nor an event.

"Father, shouldn't I learn other techniques before sparring with others?" Zaos asked.

"One technique is good enough since the goal is to make you get used to hitting and receiving hits," Laiex said. "You don't have to worry about winning or losing, just focus on learning as much as you can."

That was very disappointing since Zaos actually was worried about losing… he didn't want to lose to kids, even though he had the body of one. While it was annoying, losing to adults wasn't humiliating.

Regardless, Zaos made a mental note to look for books that would teach him other techniques. As long as he does things carefully, he should be fine. Come to think of it, Zaos recalled that he forgot to research the screen in the corner of his vision. The next night, his father won't be at home, and Zaos would make sure that Lyra wouldn't notice him leaving.

Things proceeded as smoothly as possible the next night. To make sure that his mother wouldn't know that he had left, Zaos left some pillows hidden below the bedsheets. This time the darkness of the night and the house didn't scare Zaos as much as before, so he quickly arrived at the library.

Zaos wasn't stopped by anyone this time, so he had the chance to check the title of several books. Since he belonged to a militaristic family, he quickly found some books that showed images and had written the teaching of several fighting styles and techniques. Still, Zaos didn't find anything even closely related to that screen.

"Father will probably notice if I take a book from his place… so I need to study it here," Zaos muttered.

In the end, Zaos's heart stopped when he heard the sound of the door opening. Fearing that his mother would get truly mad this time, Zaos was already about to fall on his knees and beg for forgiveness, but she wasn't the one who found him. It was Nyana… again.