Ashen entered his own mansion to find Edward lounging on the sofa in a relaxed manner, not minding one bit that he'd been made to wait despite his exalted status.
Sabrina shadowed Ashen as always. He'd told his three lovers to stay away for now, just in case. The Kingmaker was at least a third step, and Ashen didn't know his reasons for coming here.
"Coach. I apologize for making you wait."
Hearing the familiar way Ashen greeted him, Edward cracked a small smile.
"No worries. I'm the one at fault for visiting unannounced." He slowly rose from the sofa and met the young lord in the middle. "We haven't had a good talk since your tutorial days, if I remember correctly."
As they shook hands, Ashen smiled nostalgically. "Yes. I must thank you for your guidance in those days, coach. Your teaching kept me alive." He paused. "And thank you for being a fair judge at the Assembly."
Edward clicked his tongue. "I don't need your thanks for doing my job, young lord. In both cases."
Ashen grinned. "Well, in the first case, you could have half-assed things. In the second, you could have simply not gotten involved. So I think a thank-you is very much deserved."
"...I see your slick tongue isn't much worse than Miss Evernight's." The coach eventually grumbled, finding no comeback.
"I'll take that as a compliment." Ashen shrugged, then turned to his side. "Sabrina, please bring in some refreshments for our guest."
"Yes, master." With a sway of her high ponytail as she nodded, the maid disappeared into her own shadow.
"Cornelia's girl is with you? Color me surprised." Edward raised an eyebrow.
"It's just a temporary measure. The Wrath Lord is supporting me. She's generous like that."
"I see."
Ashen guided the man back to the seats. They settled across from each other. Not long after, tea and biscuits appeared on the table, placed by the materialized Sabrina before she settled in her preferred spot beside her master's shadow.
"So, coach." Ashen finally asked the pressing question. "Did you come here with any particular goal in mind?"
Edward looked at him deeply for a few seconds, spiking Ashen's nervousness. Then he let out a hearty laugh.
"Haha! You don't have to be so nervous. I'm not here with anything malicious in mind."
He smiled reassuringly. "In fact, I came for two simple reasons. The first is that I wanted to see what I failed to see back in the tutorial. The feats I hear coming from someone I'd previously overlooked when I usually pride myself on my discerning eye… it bothers me quite a bit, I'm not going to lie."
"That's why I came to take a really good look and scratch that itch. I hope you don't mind." By the end, Edward looked quite sheepish.
No matter how wise, it always felt shameful to admit shortcomings. But thankfully for the Kingmaker, he had many qualities to compensate… like his honesty that rivaled his fairness.
"Oh, as long as it doesn't involve prying into my status window, you're welcome to look as much as you like, coach." Ashen smiled in agreement.
Inwardly, he was sweating bullets at the possibility that the coach's 'discerning eye' could somehow see something it shouldn't.
"There would be nothing of that sort, of course. What I wanted to see isn't skills or abilities. Those things can always come after." Edward's expression turned more serious. "What I'm after is actually something much more precious… your conviction and… your spirit."
Ashen gave him a clueless look. "Then I don't mind."
"Thank you." The older man smiled kindly before moving to the next reason. "As for the second reason, it's linked to the first. In case I liked what I found, I was planning to ask you to become my student."
Ashen's smiling expression turned serious.
Even Sabrina beside him let an involuntary twitch shake her shoulders. The memory of her mistress informing her that she was this man's student was still fresh in her mind.
…The mentor of a Sin Lord. What kind of opportunity was that?
Ashen also understood the magnitude of the situation from his serious demeanor. And he didn't mistake the concept of being his personal student with the time he was trained during the tutorial phase.
Eventually, finding no need to overthink, he asked tentatively, "So, coach... did you like what you found?"
Edward smiled helplessly. "Unfortunately, I can only see crumbs no matter how hard I try. It's like there's a veil obscuring my vision. Truly, looking at you makes one feel blind."
Ashen's expression also turned helpless, mirroring Edward, thinking he was about to miss this great chance to learn from the Kingmaker himself.
But Edward's next words overturned his expectations.
"But even the little crumbs I witnessed are enough for me to make the decision." He looked at Ashen directly. "So, son… are you willing to take me as your mentor?"
Ashen froze for a moment, processing the abrupt turn of events before smiling happily. "Of course, teach. I'll be under your care."
"Great."
Edward seemed to be in a good mood from gaining a new student. "Then let's move to a more open place. I want to see how far you've gotten with that spear of yours."
"Sure." Ashen got up first. Aside from his time in a coma, he'd never stopped training, so he was eager to show his progress.
⁂
They moved to the field behind the mansion.
Ashen started with slow stretches, loosening his shoulders and testing his range of motion. Then he summoned his spear and twirled it once, the weapon spinning smoothly through his grip before settling into his opening stance.
Then, he began shadow fighting against invisible opponents of his imagination; his movements flowed from one technique to the next without pause. His stance kept changing midway to facilitate harder moves… high guard transitioning to low sweep, forward thrust shifting to backward evasion, wide stance collapsing into narrow pivot.
His spear slashes and thrusts kept changing angles and techniques. Horizontal cut became vertical strike became diagonal slash became piercing thrust. Each transition was a key chain that opened a path to the next.
While every move looked almost identical at first glance, they were all diverse techniques that brought completely different results. A thrust that looked the same as the previous one would create different force vectors, allowing one to exploit different openings and punish different responses.
Edward watched silently, his expression placid.
Ashen cycled through more techniques. Even showing footwork patterns from a dozen different styles. Then went beyond even that, showing spear arts that borrowed from sword forms, staff forms, and even unarmed striking.
…Feints that looked real. Attacks that looked like feints. Defense that transitioned into offense mid-motion.
Edward noted at least a hundred distinct techniques combining concurrently. They mixed and patched each other's weaknesses to create something that exceeded the sum of their individual might.
But despite all of that, his expression stayed placid.
Ashen unexpectedly finished with a simple spear thrust. It was the simplest thrust of them all… a straightforward strike with none of the previous flourish, setup, or complex footwork.
But it looked like it had teleported to the ending point, arriving at the destination instantly.
Edward finally gave an approving nod.
Ashen stopped completely and turned toward him for the verdict. He noticed the approving nod and smiled, thinking he'd actually impressed the Kingmaker with his progress.
"I see."
"So, how is it, teach?"
His delusions shattered when Edward crossed his arms and spoke frankly.
"It's a mess."
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