‎Nior's hands trembled, she could barely lift her sword anymore. She looked down at her hands, and she had never experienced something like this before. Her whole body was still capable of fighting, but her wrists and hands had given up. With a heavy heart, she stabbed her sword to the ground.

‎"I lose..." Nior said as she looked at Uriel with the seven rapiers floating around her. "I'm no match for your skill," she said as she clenched her fists, frustrated by her limitations.

Uriel grabbed the floating rapiers around her one by one, sheathing them on her back. Although she looked fine, her hands had started to numb as well. She had trained nonstop ever since the war ended in South Neva. She had grown stronger, a lot stronger than before.

‎"No, Lady Wolffein. If it was me from a year ago, I wouldn't be able to win this spar. I'm being honest," Uriel said as she approached Nior, seeing the frustration written all over her face. "I wouldn't win if I only used two swords against you. That's the truth," she added.

‎Nior scoffed as she massaged her right wrist, looking at Uriel with a smirk on her face. She nodded as she looked at the sheathed rapiers on Uriel's back that almost looked like a crown from the front. She didn't expect Uriel to be smaller than her because she thought that Uriel would be as tall as her.

‎"We both are holding back because we don't want to cause any damage to this place. I believe in real battles, you might win against me," Uriel lifted her head to look at Nior's sharp face and black hair that looked like a black wolf.

‎Nior's expression darkened so suddenly as she looked down, letting her black thick wavy hair cover her face. She remembered about her brother because they both had a wish to meet with the Queen of Swords and spar with her.

‎"If my brother is still alive, you might not stand a chance," Nior slowly lifted her head with a bit of a smirk on her lips.

‎"Your skill alone has convinced me that I would lose if your brother was here with you," Uriel answered, slowly offering her hand for a handshake. "Lady Wolffein, there's something that I want to suggest," she said.

‎"Suggest?" Nior stared at Uriel's hand.

‎"To share what we learned in swordsmanship. We are at war against an enemy that we can't defeat easily. I believe, if we shared what we learned, we could grow stronger together," Uriel suggested, her hand still waiting for Nior to shake it. She noticed that Nior's swordsmanship was unique and there were certain moves and techniques that she had never seen before.

‎Nior thought it was a good idea as well because there were a lot of things that she wanted to learn from Uriel. The thing that she was curious about was the way Uriel controlled the floating swords with Aura, making them look like her own limbs.

‎There were no words needed for Nior to shake Uriel's hand, only a nod. They both showed determination and flames in their eyes, agreeing to learn each other's technique.

‎"Is there room for one more?" Arandil asked as he approached them.

‎Uriel and Nior turned to look at Arandil. Nior was surprised that Arandil was there, and wondered if he had been observing their spar. On the other hand, Uriel narrowed her eyes, showing a bit of a displeased expression to see him. However, she knew she had to push her feelings aside since they were in a crisis.

‎"You're willing to teach us your swordsmanship?" Uriel asked with a serious expression.

‎"Yes, everything," Arandil nodded, answering without hesitation. "It's not the time to hide anything from each other. To not reach each other's swordsmanship, that's the same as letting ourselves lose against the enemy," he explained, standing in front of them.

‎Nior looked at Uriel and she gave her a nod, telling Uriel that there was no reason to not let Arandil join them since he was the First Swordmaster. Uriel nodded, agreeing with what Arandil said.

‎"Might as well bring the others, and I can ask Elder Lazarus to teach us as well," Nior suggested as she looked at both of them back and forth with her arms crossed. "Maybe if we all come together, Elder Lazarus might consider it," she added.

‎To hear Lazarus' name, both Uriel and Arandil couldn't hide the excitement in their eyes. In the world of swordsmen, everyone knew about Lazarus and his achievements. Nobody denied that Lazarus was the strongest man alive, especially in swordsmanship.

‎"That would be like reaching a star and touching it with barehand. Everyone would love that and it would be like a dream come true," Uriel nodded, appreciating Nior's thoughtfulness.

‎Arandil nodded in agreement, and then the three of them left the training ground. They went straight into the palace to meet with Lazarus and informed the others to join them.

‎Lazarus listened to the three of them, and Arthor was there as well. They thought Lazarus would take his time to think, but to their surprise, he agreed and immediately told them to gather in the training ground.

‎All the Paladins from both saint families gathered in the training ground. Arandil and his disciples were there as well because Lazarus wasn't just a swordmaster, he was a grandmaster in all weapons. Uriel, Thalior, and Xena were there as well since they were also Swordmasters, but the three of them had shared their techniques already. Arthor and Maximilian were there as well since it had been a while since they both received a lesson from Lazarus. Alexander, and even Isador also joined them because it would be a once in a lifetime opportunity.

‎Lazarus looked at everyone standing in front of him, seeing various reactions and expressions. He nodded after he found out enough of everyone's desire to grow stronger. He walked to the weapon rack and grabbed a simple iron sword, swinging it around to understand its weight and flexibility.

‎Everyone waited for Lazarus to speak or to do something since everyone was so eager to learn from the best. However, they were shocked when he dropped the sword that he had just taken from the rack.

‎"Let's learn from the very basics, the state of mind..." Lazarus tapped his head as he stared at them with a serious expression. "Your path of learning swordsmanship was only one path of the many. I will add a different path to make all of you see swordsmanship in a different light," he explained as he looked from the left all the way to the right at everyone's faces.

‎Hours had passed and everyone had been enlightened by Lazarus' teaching. They also began to learn about stances, how to swing a sword, and how to move their bodies. Those things should have been simple, and yet they struggled to keep up with his movements.

‎"Now..." Lazarus looked at his reflection on the blade of the sword he was holding. "I want all of you to attack me, and if you could disarm me, it meant that you had mastered my teaching. However, if you got disarmed by me, punishment awaited you," he swung his sword around as he looked at them with a serious expression before he suddenly disappeared.

Nobody could see Lazarus, but then suddenly some of them got disarmed, watching their swords flew into the sky. They didn't know what was happening until more and more of them got disarmed. Arandil and all the swordmasters could barely see the glimpse of Lazarus, and they tried to predict his movements, hoping it was enough to prevent him from disarming them.

They all spread and held their weapons tightly as they tried to dodge Lazarus' ambush attacks. The others could only watch from the sides as the only ones that still had their weapons in their hands were Arandil, Arthor, Maximilian, Nior, Uriel, Xena, and Thailor. However, it only took Lazarus a few minutes until all of them got disarmed and failed to disarm him.

"How could we even disarm him when we could barely saw his movements..." Xena said as she stared at Lazarus, standing in the middle of the training ground.

"If you failed to protect your sword from me, than your chance of winning this war is extremely slim," Lazarus said as he looked around at the Swordmasters. "All of you need to sharpen your senses, and I will push your senses from now on," he added and looked at all the knights and warriors that had joined the training.

Suddenly Lazarus' ears perked and noticed two people had just entered the training ground. When he looked over his shoulder and saw Aris and Rullein standing side by side, he put a smile on his face.

"What about you sparring with us? See if you can disarm us. If you couldn't, then you need to train more," Rullein smiled as black smoke wrapped around her hands that slowly turned into two greatswords. At the same time, Aris pulled the Black Swords from the spatial ring without saying a word.

Lazarus chuckled as he nodded in agreement as he reached out his hand toward Arthor.

"Can I lend the family heirloom for a moment?" Lazarus asked as he looked at Arthor.

Arthor, Nior, Maximilian, and everyone that from the North were stunned because the heirloom that Lazarus requested was a sword called Dragon Slayer. That sword was the sword that united North Neva and the sword that killed a powerful tyrant that even the three elders had to work together to kill him.

Arthor pulled the long sword with the hilt that was shaped like a dragon, wrapping the base of the blade and the tail that was the handle of the sword. He gave the sword to Lazarus, and then walked to the side, watching his father hold the sword that reminded him of the past back when Lazarus was the head of the Wyverncrest family.

"It has been a while since I hold this sword, I might get a little rusty," Lazarus said as he swung the sword around, trying to re-adapt with the sword's weight, size, and length again. "However, I will do my best to not disappoint the two of you," he readied his stance, his eyes as sharp as the blade itself when he stared at Aris and Rullein.