Fate's Reversal: The Divines Return

"This training is going to be different from my regular style. I only want to focus solely on the fundamentals."

Tapping his interface, Kaiden unequipped his armor leaving him with his basic stats and his b.a.r.e robes. Once he had finished unequipping his gear, he removed his top robe. This was an instinctual habit for him—when it was workout time, his top usually came off.

Gazing at his sword, Kaiden stabbed Nightfall into the ground. This was the first time Kaiden was wielding Angurvadal since its upgrade. As a result, he wanted to understand this sword on a better level and show it special attention.

Unlike Nightfall, Angurvadal would be sticking with him for the long run... No. The complete run.

Waving the sword with a luxurious l.u.s.ter, Kaiden felt that Angurvandal possessed a renewed sharpness and deepened flow. His move felt connective in their own right. He was enjoying the feeling of brandishing this sword—yet to perform actual strikes.

'There is a slight difference in the feeling of Angurvadal—however, I like it. I can't find any discrepancies with this sword. Overall, it's a sublime work of art.'

Unknown to Kaiden, he was becoming further immersed in the role of his character. Maybe it was deliberate or maybe it was instigated by his prolonged use of the sword. Either way, he began to become fascinated with the sword.

It was a concept he could devote and relate himself to.

Holding Angurvadal in front of him, Kaiden closed his eyes as he sensed the sword in his hand with his mind. Doing so, an indescribable connection occurred between him and the sword albeit very faint.

He could feel it—he knew a connection was there.

'Is this the weapon spirit described in the aforementioned description? It must be so.'

That opinion, however, wasn't bad but it was wrong. It was a fundamental connection birthed by his mind and the curiosity towards the path of the sword.

Chopping downwards with Angurvadal, it gently bissected the air as Kaiden felt no resistance against the blade.

'Sharp…'

Dragging his finger across the blade of the sword, a low cry emanated from the magnificent texture.

'This material is ungodly... Just what was this forged from?'

Approaching a special training dummy, Kaiden's countenance changed into a calm yet fierce with each succeeding step. His presence like a sheathed sword, ready to be released for the kill.

At that time, Practice remained in the background as he looked at Kaiden inspecting his sword.

"Guild Leader is so diligent to be training at this time, perhaps…"

Coming forth, Practice approached Kaiden. "May I train with you, Guild Leader?"

"Of course, bring out your sword. With you here, following our training...there will be a live sparring battle. Nothing provides more experience than live battle."

"Yes, Guild Leader!"

Practice drew his sword. It was a simple longsword with a golden blade and hexagonal cross-section. This was an Lv.40 Violet Gold Sword named the 'Morning Sun Sword' picked up inside the Elite Mode dungeon.

Moments later, sounds of exertive grunts and clings of swords could be heard. Focusing on the movements taking place in the training area—Kaiden chopped his sword multiple times in a simple fluid motion.

Practice was enraptured by the stern countenance and solid movements of Kaiden—he looked like he was an expert swordsman with years of training under his belt. However, with each swing, Kaiden would realign and minutely tweak the activation of his scapula and shoulders.

1 chop...10 chops...100 chops…

Soon enough, in this simple motion, Kaiden continuously chopped his sword as the seconds flowed into minutes. Even the system notification of a skill creation went unnoticed. This was the immersive, diligent side of Kaiden—once started, he became enthralled with something until he was satisfied. When was satisfaction? When he could longer find a point of advance.

Mimicking Kaiden's posture and action, picking a nearby special training dummy—Practice began performing similar chops. Soon enough, he struggled to completely emulate the strikes Kaiden was executing.

Standing next to Practice, Kaiden looked down at him and scrutinized posture with precise instructions.

"If you're going to handle a one-handed sword with two hands, treat both hands as the same hand."

Placing his hand on Practice's shoulder, Kaiden tapped Practice's wrist.

"Shift it back about 1 or 2 inches, find the ratio where the tip of the sword feels sturdy yet weightless—an extension of your arm. Don't use the sword—feel the sword." instructed Kaiden.

Tapping Practice thoracic spine between his scapula, Kaiden once again corrected.

"Straighten, strengthen, and channel. Whenever you perform an action keep your h.i.p.s aligned with your thoracic spine. Let the force flow through unimpeded. Contract your scapula in a more natural fashion."

"O-okay, Guild Leader!"

Following the instructions, Practice succeeding chops became a bit more steady, however not to Kaiden's standard.

"Being my protege, you'll often be learning under me so you might pick up a lot of my style and that's ok. I'll also correct your inconsistencies. I will mold you into a captain or better grade member."

"Yes, Guild Leader!"

Once again, Kaiden's unspoken, latent charisma was showing as his words enticed Practice to exert more effort—to be worthy of his Guild Leader's praise.

Each swing, Kaiden tapped Practice's scapula instructing him to contract it more concisely—understand his body on a deeper level. Of course this kind of anatomy exploration cause stimulation to Practice's brain.

"How old are you Practice?"

"17!"

"Hmm? You seem 15 at best."

"Um, due to some situations...my body isn't...fully developed."

"Do you have an Advanced VICH?"

Embarrassed, Practice lowered his head. "N-no... I have a Normal version... Even that...took a lot of begging..."

"Are you close to New Metro City or Minence City?"

"I live in New Metro City, in the Lenshua District, Guild Leader."

"Give me your address. You won't have to needlessly suffer anymore."

"Guild Leader? What does that mean?"

"You shall see when you're out of the game."

Pulling up the GRVIP initial interface, Kaiden used it to search the web ordering a few things for Practice. He had been watching Practice closely during the last group training. When he advised the others to ingest VitaShakes, a minute sulking appearance overcame Practice. As a result, Kaiden inferred his situation wasn't too well.

Closing the interface, Kaiden continued to correct Practice's chop until it advanced to a suitable degree.

"Guild Leader, I got a notification that I created a Normal Skill, Chop."

"Ah, now that you mention it."

Kaiden read the name of the skills he created. He was surprised, usually, he named his skill but this one was already named and it was 2 skills, not one.

[Chop] (Normal Active) - Lv.1/10. Downward sword strike that deals 115% of Attack Power.

Cooldown: 4 seconds. Skill Proficiency: (0/200.)

[Force Chop] (Rare Active) - Lv.1/10. An upgraded form of Chop. Powerful, unrestricted downward strike that deals 200% of Attack Power.

Cooldown: 15 seconds. Skill Proficiency: (0/500.)

'Ah, I can create skills out of combat, I just can't increase skill proficiency. I see.'

"Show me your Thrust but only use the movement, don't activate the skill."

Nodding, Practice executed a quick, timely lunge as his sword pierced out in a slightly awkward fashion.

"Unstable wrist. Ill positioned h.i.p.s. Shaky shoulders. These are the immediate inconsistencies in your strikes. However, this is caused by this."

Tapping his finger against Practice's head, Practice became confused.

"Correct, because your real body may have weaknesses in certain areas of your structure—inside here, your brain emulates those weaknesses, projecting them on this body."

This was another theory Kaiden concocted as he noticed some things that he did in real life were being done to this body. For example, he would always lean towards a certain side due to a fracture when he was younger, but after his Cellular Phenomenon, it became faint.

"The first step of honing would have to be to liberate our minds or rather, induce a Cellular Phenomenon. But, I have a feeling your body isn't in a state that is capable of withstanding that."

Shaking his head, Practice agreed as he looked downcast with a sullen expression.

"Chin up, my protege will need to always confront the world with an unshakeable presence. We sword users shall become true swords. Breaking before thinking of bending. Even if we are destroyed in the process...walking through the sweltering heat—we will be reforged!"

With Kaiden's words, a glimmer of radiant hope appeared in Practice's eyes.

Continuing their training, over the hours, Kaiden and Practice repeatedly honed their foundational strikes—their hacks, slices, thrusts, and chops became more refined, aiming to produce damage in the shortest time possible.

As a result, their movements began to disregard useless excess actions as their swordplay was straightforward and destructive—like a tempest and a raging storm.

"Good, good, now let's adopt this into battle. It's time to engrave our styles into our beings."

Taking a stance, Kaiden stood before Practice. Remarkably, as soon as this happened Practice's demeanor altered. From his previous timid self, he became a hungry wolf—this was his world, where the weak were preyed upon.

'Sharp eyes, however...it would be better if you could permanently adopt his mindset.' inwardly thought Kaiden as he tapped his left foot—dashing forward.

'And how do you get a wolf to evolve? Starve and weaken it. But in this case, no remorse.'

"Pardon my rudeness, however, this is for your better future." said Kaiden as he executed Second Drive.

Accelerating faster than Practice's reaction speed, Kaiden twisted the hilt of Angurvadal and hit the chin of Practice, catapulting him into a dazed state.

As this was done in 'Sparring Mode' neither side would die. Additionally, the health amount could be set to different degrees. Even infinite health was an option—this is the option Kaiden chose. With that being said, the body still perceived damage even if the health was infinite.

Brandishing his sword, Angurvadal turned into a flurry of incandescent lights as Kaiden delivered slash after slash—until Practice dropped his sword.

Stopping, Kaiden held his sword at his side, "Again."

Stumbling to his feet, Practice panted as he raised his sword, staring at Kaiden. "Yes!"

Within 30 seconds, once again Practice found himself planted on the ground as Kaiden held his sword by his side. "Again!"

Returning to his feet, this cycle repeated itself over and over again as Practice's will was further battered.

On the 216th fall, Practice's eyes finally turned lifeless as he laid on the training area's cold group gazing at the night sky.

Walking before him, Kaiden held out his sword, asking in a calm tone. "What are you?"

"...Worthless."

"What are you!?" Kaiden's voice raised in volume as his gaze chilled.

"! … I'm...I'm...lost."

"WHAT ARE YOU?!" Kaiden's roar resounded through the atmosphere, so much so that Gentle Whisper was startled awake, drowsily walking toward the Master window.

Biting his lip... tears formed in Practice's eyes as his body trembled "*HIC!*, Abandoned..."

"WHAT IS OUR NAME?!"

"E-Ethereal Conviction…" stuttered Practice as his body trembled, past trauma wasn't easy to overcome.

"Louder…Show the pride you feel to be a part of this family."

*HIC!*, stifling his cry, Practice strained his throat and the veins in his neck protruded. "ETHEREAL CONVICTION!!"

A second roar that sounded as if it came from a wolf who had awoken from despair sounded and shook the residence's atmosphere once again.

"What do we persevere with?!" roared Kaiden.

"TENACITY!" cried Practice sharply as his tears fell continuously. His back to the ground reminded him of past events.

Holding out his hand, Kaiden unequipped Angurvadal. Slowly, life returned to Practice's eyes as he unsteadily reached for Kaiden's hand. For a moment, he paused, but right after, he took hold of Kaiden's hand.

Raising Practice from the despair of his past circ.u.mstances, Kaiden embraced him the way a sibling would another grieving sibling. Placing his hand on Practice head, he patted and c.a.r.e.s.sed his hair.

"From this day forth, you're my hidden blade. Never again shall you feel worthless. Never again shall you feel abandoned. Always remember, you have worth beyond your knowledge. You will be my little brother. When you are unable to go another step, I will support you. When you are unable to withstand your weights—I will protect you."

*HIC!* *HIC!*

The tears streamed as Practice rested his forehead against Kaiden's c.h.e.s.t, nodding.

"I ask again, Who are you?" uttered Kaiden in a slow, calm voice.

"..." wiping his tears, Practice stood firm and straight as he looked in Kaiden's eyes.

"I AM PRACTICE! THE HIDDEN BLADE OF ETHEREAL CONVICTION!!" roared Practice.

The terrible weather that complemented the storm was revealed. With this experience, from this day forth—a terror for the others but a blessing to his peers was birthed. The true unveiling of the 2nd Saintly General - The Relentless Maelstrom took place.

In addition, unknown to Kaiden, the evolution into the Celestial Commander - Irrevocable Demon Sovereign has already begun commencing.