Chapter 189 - New Sword Style?

The first sunset was well underway as the Practor Family was gathered for their nightly meal. With Hurman at the table's head, he calmly ate as usual. But he was one of the few that pretended that nothing had changed.

"So… Is Milo not coming back?" 

Blinking, Hurman swallowed his mouthful of bread and looked softly at Pauller. "For the time being, I don't believe Milo or his family will be joining us."

"Do you know when they'll be back?" Pauller asked. "Is this because of Oliver and Shadur?"

"Your Uncle Mertin and I had a dispute over some things, but there's no need for you to be concerned about that. I'm not entirely sure what will come of our disagreement, but don't worry about it for the time being. For now, you have training to focus on, right?"

"Right!" Pauller instinctively shoved more food into his mouth than usual, trying to hurry up so he could get back to training. 

Sisslia laughed as Pauller almost choked from his half-chewed food. "What's gotten into you? I've never seen you so eager to train."

"I need to get stronger, a lot stronger! I want to use giant swords, so big that they're impossible to block!" Pauller shouted after pounding his chest to help his food go down.

"Oh? When did you decide that?" Jonon laughed c.o.c.kily. "We don't have any such technique or arts, so what's gotten you set on such a thing? Oliver doesn't use greatswords, so I doubt he's the cause of your new dream."

"If my sword is impossible to block, then I can focus on attack. If I focus on attack, I'll force my opponents to adjust to my tempo," argued Pauller, surprising everything with his unexpected logic.

Curious, Jonon teased, "Then what if you're too slow and the opponent gets around your big sword?"

"If I can make a strong sword out of essence, I can guard with that essence too!" reasoned Pauller.

"That's fair… But we don't have such techniques or arts. How will you pull that off?"

"I'll make it work."

Laughing harder, Jonon commented, "You, making it work? You've never shown a consistent work ethic for training yet you suddenly want to create a new sword style? Do you understand how crazy you sound right now?"

"But I can do it! If I work hard enough, then I can do it! Grandpa made his own technique and arts, so why can't I?"

"That's true… It is possible…" Hurman chimed in with a small chuckle. "But don't expect it to be easy, Pauller. Choosing such a path is more difficult than anything Johan or your brother has ever done. Don't treat such ambition lightly."

"I'm not!"

"For now you're not, but what about in a few moons? Or after an equinox? Or even a few years?" questioned Hurman. "Take Oliver as an example. Right now, though we've invited him to dinner, he's locked himself away in training. He's already stronger than Leon and Johan combined while he's at a lower realm, yet his ambition for strength is not just double theirs but possibly triples or quadruples theirs. The unreal strength he shows for his realm is matched by his determination to train and cultivate."

"I can do that too!" argued Pauller.

Sisslia sighed and rubbed Pauller's back. "Pauller, there's no need to shout."

"I… I can do that too," restated Pauller, calming down at his mother's discretion.

Hurman nodded. "I'll admit that anything is possible, but don't ever take cultivation for granted. Even if we had the perfect cultivation technique for you, it would still be a hard journey for you to create a sword style. That would need dedication not only to your cultivation but to the sword itself. You'll need twice the discipline and twice the determination of any other cultivator to make it happen. Is that something you can accomplish?"

"Yes!"

"Be honest with yourself," commented Hurman.

"Y--" Pauller cut himself off, taking a moment to breathe and steel his expression. Meeting Hurman's calm but confident gaze, Pauller mirrored his grandpa's unfazing stare. " Yes… I think I can…"

"Good. Never forget that declaration you just made."

"Pops, you--"

"If he genuinely wants to make a sword style and genuinely believes he can, then why not let him?" Hurman shrugged, startling the others at the table. "Pauller… Three moons."

"What?" confused, Pauller ignored the stares of the others around him, focusing on his grandpa's uncommonly warm grin.

"You have three moons to impress me with your determination. I'll come up with a training regimen that you'll follow. If you can follow it for three moons without question and without fail, then I'll help you create your own sword style."

"Pops, that's insane?!"

"Seriously?!"

"Why him?!" 

Jonon, Leon, and Johan were all floored, unable to fully accept such an offer being presented to the spoiled kid they knew.

"It's just a test. If you don't believe he can do it, then why are you surprised by the offer?" asked Hurman. "If he misses a single day or fails to complete a single one of the training sessions that I'll prepare, then he'll receive nothing. I think that's a fair offer to make."

"Then why not offer that to us?" argued Johan.

Again, Hurman shrugged and chuckled, "Well, have any of you ever asked me such a thing?"

When Johan failed to reply, as did Leon, Jonon sighed, "Well… I suppose it's fine."

"Dad?!"

"When I decided to alter the family style, Pops offered a helping hand but only after I proved determined to see it through. In a way, this is the same offer, only to a much more drastic extent while Pauller is much younger as well…" Jonon explained.

"Also, for those three moons, you're only allowed to seek advice from Jonon, me, or Oliver," added Hurman, surprising Johan and Leon yet again. "In this case, it will be best to seek advice from people that already have a set battle style. This will guarantee that their advice is direct and unwavering, not half-hearted as such advice would be counterproductive for your new goal.

"But you're not allowed to seek out Oliver until after the tournament. He'll be too busy preparing for his imminent victory."