Simon looked at the sword that landed a few inches in front of his foot with an ugly expression behind his mask.
’Life is truly full of surprises. Who would have expected that I’d asked to use a sword when I’m here to learn how to use my fists?’
He released a tired sigh and slowly shook his head.
Instructor Ormon saw this and tilted his head slightly with a light frown.
"What’s the problem?"
Simon looked at the instructor with a calm expression.
"Can I ask why you want me to use a sword? I’m here to learn how to fight with my fists, claws, legs, and body. Not a sword."
Ormon narrowed his eyes and a tinge of surprise could be seen in his eyes.
He looked at the sword on the ground, and his eyes flickered with confusion.
"Considering how you fight like an elite swordsman at your age, I was very sure that you loved the sword and that even if you had never touched a sword before, you’ll feel a natural connection with a sword."
"Was I wrong?"
His eyes never left the sword on the floor, and with every passing second, the confusion in his eyes deepened.
"Is it because it’s not an artifact you’re not interested in it?" He asked with a frown.
Simon immediately shook his head.
"No..."
He looked at the sword for a few seconds, then he spoke.
"Despite my talent in using the sword, I’ve never used a sword or held a sword ever since I arrived in the clan because I made an oath."
Instructor Ormon was surprised and taken aback.
"An oath?"
Simon nodded. "Yes... When I was younger, I killed a close friend of mine when we were playing with swords."
"It was a mistake... A horrible mistake..."
He looked down with a blank and downcast expression.
"... I remember that day vividly... We were both playing with swords, acting like Sword Masters, but... the moment I started swinging the sword, the better I got and the more frightening I became."
"Subconsciously, I treated him as a target practice, and, and... and he begged... I can remember clearly how he begged for me to stop."
"I remember how he called my name. How he screamed for his mother and father to come save him."
"I remember how I forced him to get better during our... swordplay... all so that I can enjoy swinging the sword."
Simon paused and released a self-depreciating chuckle while shaking his head.
"Whenever he was at his limits, I would tell him what to do so that he could last a little bit longer... so that I could enjoy myself more."
"I’ll tell him how to swing, how to parry, how to block, how to stand properly, and how to attack. He got better, a lot better compared to how pathetic he was when the swordplay started."
"And why wouldn’t he? His life was in danger, and he needed to survive no matter what."
"When one’s life is in danger, they perform feats they can normally not perform.
He looked at Instructor Ormon, and everybody could see the sadness, pain, and regret in Simon’s eyes.
"Eventually... he could not take it anymore. I was improving at a faster rate than him even with my teachings."
He released a deep sigh.
"I beheaded him... and the moment I dropped the sword, I came to my senses."
He looked at the sword, and Ormon and the other Initiates also looked at the sword.
"I don’t know why I acted that way. I completely lost my senses and I just wanted to swing the sword till I was satisfied or till I dropped dead."
"After that day, I made an oath that I would not hold a sword, talk less of use it, till I’ve forgiven myself."
"That is why I do not want to take this sword, Instructor Ormon."
The entire training ground was dead silent after Simon spoke, and Instructor Ormon and the Initiates had varying expressions.
Three seconds later, the silence was broken, but not by Ormon or one of the Initiates, but by Lilith.
[You truly are the father of lies.]
[I have never seen anybody spew out lies as much as you.]
Lilith could not believe what Simon just did in the slightest.
She had been watching and observing everything, and she was very interested in seeing how Simon would wriggle his way out of the problem of not being able to hold a sword.
However, never did she expect that Simon would lie in such a manner.
She knew that Simon had to lie to successfully hide the truth that he couldn’t weapons, but his acting was just absurd and unbelievably believable.
She could think of many ways this could go wrong, but the truth of the matter is that she was fairly certain that Simon had wriggled his way out of this situation.
Even if Ormon does not completely believe him, he would not force Simon to fight using a sword.
And this was what Simon wanted.
Besides, Ormon would not mind since he was a brawler and not a swordsman.
"Hmm." Ormon hummed deeply and folded his arms.
"So, you made an oath to never use the sword because you killed your childhood friend the first time you started swinging the sword?"
Simon nodded.
Ormon immediately scoffed.
"That’s very foolish of you."
Simon did not respond. In fact, he completely agreed with the Instructor.
If he was told such a thing by somebody else, he would call the person the most foolish person in the world.
"I’m not going to talk about why you reacted that way after swinging the sword since I have a few guesses, but they might be wrong."
"What I want to talk about is how foolish you are for doing such a thing. Your talent with the sword is extremely high to the point that you could correct the mistakes of a child when you were a child, and you don’t want to take advantage of it?"
"I would never expect you to do such a thing or have such thoughts after everything you’ve done in the academy." The instructor shook his head with an extremely disappointed expression.