Edward was born to the Plangent family. His father was Rikard Plangent. His mother was Evelyn Plangent. A capable swordsman herself. The Plangent family was known for their use of the great sword. A sword that was long and wide, and one slash could cause considerable damage from cutting down an entire building in half.

Evelyn preferred to use a long sword. A slender sword, but still extremely long. The use of long swords had declined throughout the years, but Evelyn preferred to use one. She came herself from a small family of swordsmen but was nowhere near as prestigious as the Plangent family.

Using a long sword needed the user to use strong iron gauntlets or gloves. Evelyn had the same gauntlet the Edward also used and what he prized more than his actual sword. One day when Edward was young he was looking at his mother practicing her sword skills outside in the garden of their castle. Edward was amazed by his mother's movements.

"Oh. Are you interested?" asked Evelyn when she saw her child looking at her.

~~

Edward was just six years old, but the strict training of his father had already started. He was made to do physical tasks like climbing mountains and digging holes to get used to holding a sword and to build muscle.

His father was extremely strict, but his mother was more easy-going. His father only spent time with his children when they were being trained and was not much more interested in them. At the age of eight, the training to use a sword had begun.

It was proven the divine powers to strengthen the body had passed on to Edward. It was a tradition to start using a great sword. Rikard was insisting that Edward needed to learn the way of the greatsword as soon as possible.

"You will start tomorrow learning how to use a sword. I will take you outside and give you your first sword," explained Rikard during one dinner.

Edward didn't want to speak back at his father. His mother, Evelyn though saw through this.

"How about if Edward learned the long sword instead. He has been watching me practice out in the gardens many times. Wouldn't his sword skills improve faster if he first learned the sword style he is most interested in?" Evelyn asked.

Edward looked happy thinking he could learn the long sword style.

"He is a Plangent. The next head of the family. He must learn the great sword. This matter is over," said Rikard indicating he didn't want to talk about the matter anymore.

Edward looked heartbroken.

"How about if he learned both styles. I think he should get used to learning many styles. As you say always. A swordsmen's journey is about continuously honing one's skills with his swords. Doesn't that include taking a look at other styles?" Evelyn discussed.

Rikard pondered for a moment

"I guess that is true. Very well. I will allow Edward to learn the way of the long sword two times a week. The rest of the days are for the use of the great sword," Rikard said and then excused himself from the dining table.

Edward was extremely happy. He now got to chance to learn his mother's style of swordsmanship. Little did he know that his mother would take him through hell with her training methods.

~~

Two days forward an eight-year-old Edward enthusiastically rushed to the garden. He was holding a long sword he had taken from the armory.

"Mother. Let us start practice," yelled a happy Edward.

"Good. Let us start with some sparring," said Evelyn with a bright smile.

They started to practice. Edward was the first to attack with a sloppy swing. Evelyn easily blocked it. She then punched Edward straight in his face with her full force. Edward's nose started to bleed.

"What. No. Why did you do that Mom?!" yelled Edward who was almost about to cry.

"What. We are sparring. This is how people with long swords fight. We fight like it's the real thing. No holds barred fight," explained Evelyn with still her bright smile.

Edward couldn't believe that his own mother had just punched him.

"Prepare yourself. We have not yet ended our practice," said Evelyn and prepared to attack.

The hard training of Evelyn continued until the late night. From then on, the harsh coaching of Evelyn occurred two times a week. Whenever Edward thought he had grasped the core of the long sword fighting style Evelyn did something dirty. Edward was poked in his eyes, tripped to the ground, and even kicked straight to his private area all in the name of training. Truly a terrifying mother.

~~

Edward showed no progression with the great sword. His father felt disappointed in his own son who had no aptitude for the great sword. His father did not scold him or yell at him. Slowly he started to lose interest in training him and started to put more effort into training Edward's sister Joan.

She was a natural with the great sword and even came up with her own style of fighting. Edward instead received more harsh training from his mother. Edward felt that his life was miserable.

~~

"The hell with this!" screamed Edward and threw his long sword to the ground during one of his training sessions with his mom at the age of ten.

"Are you giving up now already? Thought you were interested in the long sword?" asked Evelyn.

"Aaaah. Yeah, I was, but for two years you just have been bullying me. Day in day out nothing. I have no aptitude for the great sword. I keep just getting hurt learning the long sword. These last two years seemed to have been for nothing," screamed a frustrated Edward.

"You seem to be misunderstood. In swordsmanship, there is no talent. There is just pure determination. Pure determination will always outweigh any skill there is."

"Still that doesn't explain why you have just been beating me up for the last two years."

"Haven't I?" asked Evelyn and then attacked with her sword.

Edward was able to block it. Evelyn kept attacking and Edward was able to dodge it or block all the attacks. Evelyn didn't use any dirty tricks anymore. Edward was still having a hard time defending, but he was able to block all her fast attacks with the sword. Evelyn then stopped her attacks and let an out of breath Edward regain his breath.

"Was that the swordsmanship you wanted to learn?" asked Evelyn.

Edward was shocked. He didn't realize he had gotten so good with the sword.

"That is the way people learn. They fight expecting a fair duel. In a real fight, there are no rules. People will even throw their swords at you maybe even catch you a little bit off guard on the battlefield. If that is the swordsmanship you wish to learn I will teach it to you, but I will then not let you enter the battlefield. I will not let my own son enter a battle with ideas of glory and honor being found on the battleground," said Evelyn with determined eyes.

Edward looked at his sword and the gauntlets he was wearing. He knew what he had to do.

"I want to learn your way of fighting. Please teach me," asked Edward.

Evelyn looked happy and then continued with her teaching methods.