Chapter 3: Frustrating Lies
The pain of my cuts healed over the few days that passed. It seemed as making the card took more than just my mana but also my blood. From what I was told was that my blood was dripping to the ground and then flying into the card.
My father had left the very next day of those events and still hadn't returned. The only people who came to visit me was the staff. It seemed as though my mother had never cared about me as I had already known. But I had hoped this would bring us closer a little. As for my sister she walked by my room once looking at me not with pity or kindness but the look of anger. My brother I had not seen yet or even heard about still.
I had healed well enough and could walk again and as such was allowed to roam the halls. But something unexpected happened. Murmurs of me having making a contract with a demon went through the castle. The reason this was a big deal was because making a contract with a demon to make a card meant one of two things. The first was that you yourself was evil enough to draw a demon towards you. The second was you were so weak they gave you a deal you couldn't refuse in return that you join them. Joining a demon meant becoming one and to be a demon was to be a dead man walking in this realm.
I turned past a hall walking towards the gardens inside the walls that had overgrown do to not receive it proper care. When I walked outside into the garden the light blinded me for a second before a white cloud over took it.
"Can't believe your so weak you made a contract to a demon." A person that was my brother said looking at me from a bench under a tree.
"At this rate your doomed to fail if you need help from them."" He said continuing his small speech.
"So your the one who spread the lies." I said looking at him not with anger but with pity. Pity for being born first but just to be set aside. To be second in everything from a simple gift to the lord of a castle.
"How dare you say such things." He said standing up and clutching his chest like he was in pain before walking towards me.
"You know even if you can make that card you probably will never be able to summon it." He said into my ear while walking past me inside.
The truth was that I hadn't even tried to summon it yet being afraid of what might happen inside the walls. So I had locked the card away inside a cupboard inside my room.
Three years went by with the lies growing no matter what I tried to do about them. I had spent much of my time reading and studying weapons and magic. I had learned everything from the basics to the advanced moves of the sword and spear. As for magic I had learned of the fundamentals and how to converge them. Magic was split into five elements being water, fire, earth, shadow, and light. Light was the most prestigious among the elements as it was seen for its goodness. But the shadow represented mystery and the unknown provoking people to say it was evil. But to use either was hard as it was further down than the basic three.
I had created many cards but none nearly as good as my owl. I had made spells that froze the ground below people to trap them. I had created lighting spells that could do serious damage to anyone. I made monsters like vampires even. But still all paled in comparison to my owl.
My brother had gone to school to study as he was of age while I still had to wait until I was thirteen.
I sat under a tree in the garden that I had practically claimed as mine. The area around it was cleaned up and nothing but healthy green grass was around here. The path leading around the garden did not come this way, so I used it as I place to study in quiet on nice enough days. I could hear the sound of foot steps approaching in front of me as my butler I had meant so long ago walked over to me.
"Today I have prepared to teach you one weapon of your choosing." He said and stopped before holding a wooden spear and sword in his hands.
"Wait, I thought you were kidding and that I would never be trained until I went to school." I said in slight shock at the reveal.
"I still have my honor even if I do serve this house. Besides this family has become sick. They radiate weakness and over confidence. But not you and that's why I will train you." He said taking a more happy side of him I hadn't seen before.
"So what will it be the classic sword or the spear." He asked me pushing both out with his arms.
"The spear of course." I said grabbing it with a firm grip.
My body had been pale and skinny with no muscle to speak of before. But now I had color to me and my training toward my body had paid off as abs started form strongly.
"Well it seems you know what you like. But do you know your stuff." He asked taking hold of another spear behind him him made of wood as well.
"Let's see. There is the the shorter more like a staff kind where it focuses on defense and quick movement while longer version focused on keeping enemies at bay. Both have weaknesses of course. The long spear becomes useless once they get past the tip and close to you. As for the shorter one it's harder to make a full thrust with the tip as you have to take a different stance with it in the middle of a fight." I said questioning my answer the entire way.
"That is exactly right. So shall we being." He said taking a posture with his spear.
The spears where short like a staff but and the tips sharpened and then dulled for practicing.
"Okay come at." He said and I did.
I moved forward with speed and jumped up falling down slowly like a feather but the force built up in the jump crashed on top of him. He blocked the attack with his spear being held over his head with both his arms and forced me back midair.
I took to a small stumble but recovered before he took to quick jabs at me. The first was towards my my gut that I twisted and took a foot backwards dodging just barley. But he brought it back for the second time and I did the same thing but to my left instead. Taking advantage of him pulling it back already I did a hard strike towards his palm but he flicked his wrist this way and that quickly smacking my spear off course.
I took a step back and started spinning the spear in a circle in front of me until it became a sort of blur to eyes. I slowly approached him as he took a few steps back trying to hold his defense.
"So you learned the the spinning shield huh. Well you should also know the weakness to it." He said. And I did know it's weakness, but I had used random sticks and practiced this technique enough to get the timing down.
He started walking around me as I turned to follow. He took a lunge towards me and then stopped halfway taking a half step forward transferring the motion to his other hand that cought it turning it into a upwards swing. But I knew this might happen after the little hint he gave me before.
I felt my wrist turning and snapped it out and over in a fraction of a second and brought it down as a upwards swing using the force from the spins still as it struck his from above. His spear flew from his hands and as I took to spinning to my right and left sides.
"You win." He said a little stunned but still held that glint of approval in his eyes.
I stopped spinning my spear and struck it into the ground.
"Next time I won't hold back." He said and I believed him as I could tell he had.
"Do you believe the lies about me." I said looking at him directly in the eyes.
"Only a fool would believe gossip without hard proof." He said and took to training me again.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone