"Which bastard was it?" Cassian muttered, his vision blurring after taking two blows to the head—first from the shadowy sword, and then from hitting the ground.
"Are you alright, my friend?" a voice asked, sounding concerned. It was clearly a man's voice, but it carried the politeness usually found in noblewomen. Cassian couldn't make out who it was, but the person helped him to his feet. As his vision cleared, he finally saw the one responsible for his current state and as well as his rescuer.
The man was tall, with a clean-shaven, handsome face, blue hair, and deep blue eyes that sparkled with mischief. His polite smile lingered as he regarded Cassian. "I must say, you really are dedicated to whatever it was you were doing—so much that you're willing to hurt yourself for it." His tone was impressed, leaving Cassian confused as the man continued, "But what were you practicing for?
If that's what you were doing?"
Cassian was still confused by the man's question but quickly realized he was referring to Cassian sparring with the shadow, which was invisible to everyone except him. Understanding dawned, and a faint blush crept onto his face as he thought of how to respond. "I was... sword training," he admitted. There was no reason to lie—he could only save so much face by doing so.
"Really? What a surprise!" the man said, his expression shifting to excitement. He placed a hand on the dark blue hilt of the sword strapped to his waist and continued, "I'm also a swordsman. It's not every day you meet a fellow practitioner."
Cassian didn't quite believe him. You could find someone carrying a sword on just about every street corner. But as he looked closer at the man's weapon, he was surprised. The hilt and scabbard were the same dark blue, with intricate red metal carvings as decoration. Even though Cassian didn't know much about craftsmanship, he could tell the sword was expensive—whoever owned it had to be wealthy.
As for the guy's skill, Cassian couldn't say, but his confident demeanor and athletic build made it seem like he knew what he was doing.
Noticing Cassian staring, the man smiled teasingly. "I know I'm handsome and it's hard to look away from face," he said with a grin. "But you can keep talking while you stare. The name's Julius Raseac. Nice to meet you." He extended a hand toward Cassian.
Cassian, surprised by the man's words, hesitated for a moment before shaking his hand. "I'm Cassian..." He paused, unsure if he should fully introduce himself, not wanting any misunderstandings, but he went ahead anyway. "Ven Dyke..."
As expected, the reaction was instant. The man looked both surprised and excited. "Holy hell... I've met a swordsman from a family of warriors! What a luck!" Before Cassian could correct him, the man kept going. "So, you were really practicing sword fighting?
I thought you were either doing some sort of performance or... maybe just a bit off in the head. But who would've guessed you were actually training?"
The man was so excited to hear that Cassian was from the Ven Dyke family that Cassian couldn't help but feel a little guilty. He cleared his throat to correct the misunderstanding. "Apologies, Mr. Raseac, but I think you've misunderstood me a bit."
Before he could explain, Julius cut him off with a confused look. "Just Julius is fine. And what misunderstanding? You're not from the Ven Dyke family? But your red hair and red eyes say otherwise."
"I'm not saying I'm not a Ven Dyke," Cassian quickly clarified, worried Julius might interrupt him again. "I am, but I'm a bastard, a servant to the main family. And as for the training, it's called shadow training." He finished in one breath, hoping to avoid another interruption.
But Julius didn't interrupt again, just stared at him for a moment before asking, "Alright, I get it. But this shadow training—was it developed by the Ven Dyke warriors or something?"
Cassian, feeling a bit irritated at having his session interrupted, moved back to a clear space. "No, it's not. It's just something I came up with when I started training with a sword," he said, hoping to end the conversation.
Julius, clearly surprised, followed him, still not getting the hint. "Really? When did you start training, then?"
"A few months ago," Cassian replied, swinging his sword, hoping that if he kept practicing, maybe the guy would take the hint and leave him alone.
But Julius didn't stop and kept firing off more questions as he watched Cassian swing his sword. "You don't seem like someone who just started a few months ago. Your swings are pretty smooth for that," he observed, eyes following Cassian's movements.
Cassian, growing more irritated, had stopped responding, but Julius kept going, adjusting his position to watch Cassian from different angles. "Good... good... can you explain how this shadow training technique works?"
Cassian finally stopped, letting out a sigh. "If I explain it to you, will you leave me alone?"
Julius blinked in surprise, then said, "Oh, I didn't realize I was bothering you. My apologies for that."
Cassian just waved off Julius's apology, not really believing it, and explained the shadow training technique, mixing in a few lies. "I came up with it when I needed a sparring partner to test my moves and improve. It was tough practicing alone, and the partners I had didn't help me much, so I developed this shadow training method," he said.
Seeing Julius still looking confused, he added, "Basically, in shadow training, you imagine a shadow standing in front of you—either a person you know or even yourself—attacking you. You defend yourself against it. The trick is, you can command this shadow to attack with a specific set of moves you're training to defend against. And... that's shadow training."
Cassian finished with a smile, curious to see how Julius would react.
Julius looked at him with pity, then sighed. "And here I thought you were a genius... turns out, you're just a bit off in the head." He patted Cassian's shoulder and, in the same sympathetic tone, added, "Don't worry, you'll be fine. It's just a shame, though—your sword swings are really precise and smooth for someone your age."
Cassian felt a surge of anger at Julius's words and the way he misunderstood him, assuming there was something wrong with his mind. But as he watched the blue-haired man walk away, he held back his frustration. Without turning around, Julius waved a hand and said, "Well, if you ever find yourself in Magisteria and need help, come find me. I'll do what I can for a fellow swordsman."
With that, Julius headed toward the cabins. As he disappeared from sight, Cassian muttered under his breath, "Fucking narcissist," before getting back to his training.