Samofthepen
patreon
Of Arms and Arcane: Chapter 2
🕑 Added 2023-09-20 15:24:15 +0000 UTCHey y'all, it's your boi Luke, or at least I think that is what my name is from everyone calling me that, it is my second day of life in this new world, and I just learned that there is motherfucking magic.
I kept pestering my mum and the maids to perform magic until my mother said something then carried me and exited the room with the 2 maids in tow, as we passed the hallway, we sometimes came across maids and butlers who bowed and greeted my mum.
Okay, my parents are clearly loaded, but I think it is more than that, I will just have to wait and observe.
Soon we arrive at a courtyard, and in said courtyard, there are a dozen or so men either lifting some weights or sparing with each other using wooden weapons, and I have to say, those are some impressive men.
Hey, I ain't gay, I can appreciate the hard work put into perfecting the male form that is loaded with pecks and wielding some impressive guns, which almost made me miss my current father, it seems like the baggy noble clothes he was wearing when I first saw him were hiding a lot.
When my father caught sight of me and my mum spectating them, he said something to his sparing partner and they started sparing more vigorously.
As I observed them, I could not help but be slightly disappointed. Their timing, balance, footwork, and understanding of the distance and range of their weapons were fine. But their skills and technique, I could only describe as… primitive.
They were literally just attacking or blocking while not taking full advantage of their footwork, or should I say their skills and technique did not seem to incorporate footwork.
The only good thing I can say about this display is that their basic strikes are solid, and from the sound the wooden swords make when they clash, hit the ground, or hit each other, I would say they have monstrous strength.
The other thing I need to take note of is their endurance and stamina, if the rather deep grooves in the ground from missed strikes are any indicator, Dad and the guy he is sparring with can take some monstrous beatings and still be ok, and also the fact that they seem to be going at full speed for more than 5 minutes already.
Since this is a magic world, is there some magic at play here?
Just as I asked myself that question, both sparing partners broke off and separated a few steps from where they clashed, and then I saw and felt 2 pulses.
Both my dad and his sparing partner seemed to release an invisible pulse they threw back dust and sand within a 1 meter radius of themselves, after that pulse, I could see a glowing outline of their body and swords. What the fuck is goi-
Literally in the blink of an eye, they clashed in the middle and started exchanging blows faster than I could keep track.
Their mighty blows and clashes were literally creating a wind that was buffeting my face until I saw Mum flick her finger and the air in front of me became fuzzy for only a second, and now I did not feel any wind.
Was that a barrier? God dammit, why could I not have been isekai'd in an older body, now I will have to wait until I grow up to do all this cool shit, what I need is to pick up this world’s language as soon as possible!
The rapid sword flashes soon ended as the 2 fighters broke off and clashed with 3 more powerful strikes, on the 3rd and last strike, Dad shattered his sparing partner’s wooden sword and sent him flying and tumbling a few meters away.
Once again… Holy Fucking Shit! That was some anime-level fighting, too bad their technique is so disappointing, but then again if you are fighting at that level of speed and power, is advanced technique even necessary?
Yet again more shit I will have to wait until I grow up before I can find out for myself.
***
As the days turn to weeks, and then to months, my only duties were to eat, sleep, and poop, and while I am not doing any of that, I am pestering my parents and whichever maid that is taking a shift with me to raid the bookshelf.
I am now grateful that my parents in my old life brought me along to different countries. With each country I went to, even if not perfectly or even competently, I was still able to pick up enough of the spoken and written language to get around and interact with the locals.
But compared to my previous life, I seem to be having a far easier time picking up the language of this world with all the reading being done for me. Is it true what they say about young children’s brains picking up languages easily?
By the sixth month, aside from some complex words, I am able to pick up on basic conversations that go on in the mansion, and I finally learned that my family’s name is Ironcrest, which sounds pretty metal. (AN: I do not apologize for the pun.)
So that makes me Luke Ironcrest. Apparently, we are not only loaded, but we are a noble family, I have not figured out the whole noble thing yet, will need to read up more on this.
The only time I regret learning the language so early that people still think I am obvious to their conversations, was when my parents were with me in private and they started talking dirty to each other, I did not recognize some words, but I watched enough TV to know they were about to do the nasty.
Then they would pass me to a maid waiting outside and get to business. At this rate, I would not be surprised if I soon got a sibling, as I was an only child in my previous life I always wanted a sibling. When I asked my parents in my previous life about getting a sibling, they gave me a pained face and said no, I was young but old enough to know not to touch that subject, so I let it go.
Today was my personal maid Alice’s turn to take care of me, we entered the study and went to the usual shelf I have been reading from for the past 6 months and we cleared all the books at eye level, which was not saying much as Alice was 14years old and short.
Now was the time to get that step ladder and go for higher shelves. When both of us were up and able to see the titles on the book spine, one book caught my eye “The Basics of Magic: Volume 1”.
My eyes went wide and my hands went grasping at the book with gold-embossed filigree dancing along the spine.
“Ah, Young Master wants to learn about magic, maybe you want to be a mage like Madam and those from her family.”
“Aah! Aah!” I motioned toward the book while making wanting baby noises.
“Young Master is so impatient. Ok, ok, calm down, big sis Alice will read it for you.”
