Derek saw that the three guests appeared troubled but he didn’t want to pry. He turned to them and said, “I am heading up to the castle now. If you need me look for me there.”

He waved and ran off to the castle to help with the younger kids’ training. Towards noon they all filed into the chapel as they do everyday. They were joined by many of the adults of the clan and the Prince and his knights were there as well. The Prince was standing next to the Patriarch near the front of the chapel. The Patriarch was explaining to the three guests the mechanics of the ritual that would be enacted in this gathering.

After everyone had entered a bell rang one time. The people gathered in the chapel bowed and spread their hands outward. Then they repeated the chant of an order element spell. The chant took hold and the formula was completed and mana came from every person in the chapel, including the guests, and flowed into the seal. The innermost ring flared to life, spinning around the sword that hovered in the middle of the chapel.

Next the bell rang two times. The people bowed once more spreading their hands outward and repeated a light element chant. The chant took hold and the formula was completed and mana once more flowed from the people and into the seal. The second ring flared to life and spun just outside the orbit of the previous ring.

The bell then rang three times and this process repeated itself once again, completing an order element spell that caused the third ring to orbit as well.

The bell rang four times and then five times and the spells were completed causing five total rings to rotate around the sword. When the fifth ring began to rotate a strobing light was emitted from the sword. In that moment the reactions of the people all varied. The majority of the Thorne clan members had a stony look on their face as they gazed into the middle distance. Some others of the clan, children or adults with kind hearts, wept. Duncan glanced around in astonishment and Kenneth was dazed for a moment before coming to his senses. He immediately looked to his son who was staring into the middle distance with a look of fear on his face.

The members of the Thorne clan started to come out of their trances. Derek turned and saw that Prince Kylin was still in his and saw that the Patriarch was whispering some things to the knights which seemed to slightly reduce their agitation. After a few more moments Prince Kylin came out of his reverie and a shocked expression stayed on his face for quite a while.

The clan sang an ancestral hymn as the rings landed back in their places within the seal. The participants left quietly after that and Derek waited for the Prince to come out with his two knights before approaching, “You saw something didn’t you?”

Prince Kylin looked at him with a very perplexed look. “Was that real?”

Derek smiled sadly at the Prince, “We believe so, yes. We believe that the visions during the sword ceremony are memories. Some are the memories of the Sword. Some are the memories of our ancestors. All are the memories of encounters with demons.

“Some people have the nerve to ask how we can hold to the tradition of fighting demons for five thousand years. How, when there hasn’t been a demonic invasion since the Demon Lord was sealed, can we hold on to our hatred and train every day to fight the demons? How is it that when the rest of the world has moved on we are willing to become more and more irrelevant while we prowl this insignificant mountain range for demons to slay?

“It’s because of those memories. Some of those memories show entire cities being devoured by demons or human armies being exterminated by them. Some show pitched battles where neither side could be declared the victors and the dead of both sides covered the ground for miles. Some show the glorious battles that led up to the sealing of the Demon Lord and the last stand of his armies. All of them show the sacrifices our ancestors paid to give us those victories.”

Derek looked at the three of them and said quietly, “Every time I participate in that ritual I pray that I will see my father. That I will be able to see how he died.”

Prince Kylin remembered that night. He had been a page for one of his father’s generals. They had just fought their way into the town and were steadily pushing the cultists back when the Greater demons appeared. The battle had become a nightmare. Dozens of soldiers died in moments. Even Sir Garent, a tier seven Knight Master, had been torn limb from limb in an instant.

Then, from the right side of the battlefield, Sir Jared cast a spell which emitted a blinding white light throughout the town. From within that light six beams of light arched out and bisected each of the demons. They disintegrated in moments with nothing but the trail of damage they had done to prove that they had been there at all. Even the cultists were affected. Many died outright and those that didn’t were left in a dazed state as if their minds had collapsed.

After casting that spell, Sir Jared fell from his horse. The men around him brought him to the field hospital where he died shortly thereafter. Everyone that was there knew that Sir Jared’s action had saved a great many lives. This was one of the reasons the King had ordered tribute to be paid to Sir Jared’s family.

He couldn’t understand back then, when he saw Sir Jared so readily cast that spell, he couldn’t understand what would cause a man to readily sacrifice his life to kill his enemy. Surely without that spell they would have won anyways. Surely Sir Jared could have used other means to kill the demons that wouldn’t have cost his life. Maybe some more soldiers would have died during the fighting but they would have won eventually anyways. Back then the young Prince didn’t understand it. It had given him nightmares.

But now after having witnessed the Sword ceremony he knew. After witnessing the predations of the demons an untold number of times through the ceremony the members of the Thorne clan had a fanatical drive to destroy the demons wherever they encountered them. There was no room to back down, no room for mercy, only to kill or die in combat with the ancient foe.

Prince Kylin looked at Derek, a feverish look passing across his face before coming under control. He whispered, “I was there. I saw it happen.”

Prince Kylin sat on a bench near the chapel entrance and told the story. He started from where they first pushed into the town. When he described the six demons attacking the two older men had complex expressions as they remembered the terror in that moment. Then Kylin described that magnificent spell and its effect on the battlefield, ending with, “and then he died in the field hospital.”

Derek sat there for a while and thought it over. He had heard the tale once from Ovid who had never repeated the story again. The two tales only varied in the details. After a while Derek stood up and smiled. “Thank you for that. You should check your Status. With the strength of your reaction to the ritual I am sure something should have changed.”

Kylin frowned and checked his Status. He was surprised to find that his order and light affinities had both been improved. He looked at Derek, “How did you know?”

Derek responded with a smile, “The Sword ceremony is tied to the clan. Only clan members receive visions from the sword. If my guess is right one of your parents' lines should have had a deep connection with the clan. Either way, the first time a clan member participates in the ceremony they will have a stronger reaction and the strength of that reaction will often lead to affinity gain.”

He laughed, “Don’t expect another affinity increase from that though. It only works the first time a person participates in it.”

They talked there for quite a while before Derek turned to leave, “It was good meeting you three but I need to go home. My weapon master won’t be pleased if I am late.”

The three looked at each other and Lord Kenneth spoke up, “Oh, you don’t live in the castle with the rest of your clan? That seems a little off.”

Derek laughed, “No, my family lives a little bit up the mountain. It’s nice up there. No one disturbs our training. If you wish, you can come up with me. We can spend some more time training those warswords my master and I just made for you.”

The others thought about this for a bit before agreeing to come with Derek up the mountain path. This day Hector and Belany stayed home and practiced refining the spells they would use in the competition a few days later and Eona and Rebekah had taken Alicia further up the mountain now that Eona’s vitality had been restored so Ovid was the only one in the clearing when Derek and his guests arrived.

Derek’s mastery of the weapons Ovid had taught him was on par with Ovid’s own when he had left his master so Ovid let him determine his own method of practice now, merely watching and offering pointers.

Derek introduced Ovid to the three men who recognized him from the campaign years ago. When he saw Lord Kenneth he was taken aback, “You are?”

“Please address me as Sir Kenneth, thank you.”

“Ah, I see. Prince Kylin, you have grown. When I last saw you you were Lord Raleigh’s page and just learning to fight.”

“Haha, Sir Ovid, you have gotten older as well. We have come to train with Derek on how to use the warsword.” Kylin was pleased to be remembered by this man. Though he had only signed on as Sir Jared’s retainer, all of the knights and mages in service during that campaign had seen proof of his skill in combat. Sir Ovid’s battle skills had become legendary in the army.

Lord Duncan had a puzzled look on his face, “How is it that you live in a cottage in such a remote place? The greatest hegemons in the world would fight to have you teaching their younger generation. They would shower you with wealth and castles. You would be a treasured retainer for any one them. But you are kept in this out of the way clearing by this Thorne clan? Do they not know how to respect talent here?”

The other two nodded and had a complex look on their faces. Kenneth knew how much he was willing to offer this man and he was obviously stifled here. When he took Sir Jared’s corpse home with him fifteen years ago he was already tier four but now he was only tier five? After fifteen years this man should be at least on par with Duncan and Kenneth.

Ovid just shook his head and laughed, “I don’t serve the Thorne clan but my Lady Eona. I am her armsman and bodyguard. Furthermore, she and Sir Jared entrusted me with teaching Derek to be a knight. Even if I must be stifled for the rest of my life, I would be where my lady required me to be and I would be happy with it.”

Lord Kenneth sighed, “Your lady is lucky to have you and this young man is lucky to have you as his weapon master. I know just how much the King of Serris would offer to bring you over. This Thorne clan, between you and Disciple Ander, I wonder if they even knew how much talent was left unused under their noses.”

Ovid put his hand on Derek’s shoulder and said in a serious voice, “I don’t care much about this clan. They have mistreated my lady and Sir Jared’s family but I can assure you that I am also lucky to have Derek as my apprentice. He has learned everything I have tried to teach him and he will surely carry on my master’s craft when I am gone. I dare say that Derek has mastered every weapon I have to teach and if he showed his skill many of the local hegemons would be clamoring to hire him as a weapon master as well.”

The three were definitely amazed by this. This morning they discovered that this sixteen year old was already a disciple of the forge god capable of crafting high quality tier four equipment but now they found out that his weapon master had determined that he had mastered all of his weapons and was considered talented enough to be a weapon master himself? It must be said that geniuses in these fields might meet one of these requirements by eighteen to twenty but Derek had achieved both by the age of sixteen? What a talent!

Lightning flashed in Kenneth's eyes as he thought of this. This boy was truly worth befriending. He spoke up, “Excellent! Let’s make good use of this opportunity then. Derek, you offered before that you would show us how to use these warswords. We will take you up on it. My Prince, what say you?”

Prince Kylin looked at the older man and smiled. He smiled to Derek and said, “Indeed, teach us the use of this weapon, weapon master. Weapon masters in Serris are paid ten talents a lesson. How about I pay you that rate to teach us to use this warsword your clan is famous for?”

Derek thought about it for a minute and responded, “You are my clan’s guest here. I cannot charge you that much and I do not have time to fully train you before I head out for the fourth trial of the coming of age ceremony in a few weeks. I can spend ten days training the three of you in that time. How about I charge you one hundred gold talents for the three of you? I am pretty sure I can teach the basics of the forms my master taught me in that time.”

He looked to Ovid who nodded to him with pride. The title of weapon master wasn’t derived from the degree of skill in the weapon. Rather it reflected the fact that the individual had the ability to teach that skill to others. By taking coin to teach a weapon Derek would officially become a weapon master and all five of them knew that.

Prince Kylin nodded. These terms were acceptable and it gave them something to do in the time they were in this backwater village. He smiled, “I accept your terms, weapon master.”