The Guardians' Throne - The First Magic Swordsman

"Good morning, Jeline," Zaos said after he suddenly appeared in the living room and saw Nyana's mother. "What do we have for breakfast?"

"Young master! Well, what do you wishes to eat, I will prepare immediately," Jeline said, visibly surprised.

"I will have the same father had. It should be faster to prepare it anyway," Zaos said. "I will be in the dining room in ten minutes."

                                      Jeline imagined that Zaos wouldn't eat much for a few days, but he was starving since he had just finished his morning training. That day would belong, so he might as well eat more than usual. So, after a bath and changing his clothes, Zaos ate several pieces of bread filled with cheese and cow's milk. His father sure liked simple things, even food. That being said, even though it was simple, it was pretty good after sweating that much.

"Thanks for the food. I won't be back for lunch, so you don't have to prepare anything for me," Zaos said after he stuffed his stomach. "See you later."

                                      After that, Zaos left the mansion. Jeline couldn't help but feel astonished. While Zaos never mistreated her, she imagined that things would change now that his mother died… she couldn't help but wonder why since that didn't make any sense considering his previous behavior whatsoever.

                                      Since it was morning, the king will have some appointments with other people, and since he knew his father, Zaos would be the last one to talk with him in the morning. So, he decided to head Merkin's shop. He didn't have much use for money now since he won't need to use it and get his hands on some ancient scripture about the ancient language. Still, he needed to know how things were going regarding his magic books.

"Oh! Young master Zaos! It has been a while!" Merkin said when Zaos suddenly showed up. "I heard that you and the other young heroes returned a few days ago, I am glad to see that you are all fine, and I am sorry about your mother."

"It is okay, anyway. How is business?" Zaos asked.

"They bombing! Didn't you see that when you count the money, I sent you?" Merkin asked.

"No, I didn't count any money… but now that I think about it, yesterday I saw some weird bags in my room," Zaos rubbed his chin thoughtfully. 

"I sent those bags, and your lord father probably put them in your room," Merkin said. "As you can see, I am having a hard time making copies of the magic books."

                                      Zaos looked around and saw many things that were supposed to help Merkin with that, ink, pencil, covers, pages. Zaos looked around and saw only two copies of his book. It seems things were really going well.

"Right now, I am preparing to sell fifty magic books that Ojala family of Vezar asked," Merkin said. "Aren't they…"

"Yeah, the people that we helped," Zaos said. "Still, it surprises me that you can send them abroad already."

"Well, the kingdom receives taxes for each of those sales, and since they are mostly healing and support spells, His Majesty doesn't think that we will lose much by trading that knowledge with other countries," Merkin explained. 

"Is that so…" Zaos said. "I guess I have got to start thinking about what I should about all that money."

"Speaking of money, when are your next magic book coming up?" Merkin asked. "You don't have to worry about a single thing aside from writing the original."

"Well, I already learned three new spells, but I don't think others will come anytime soon," Zaos said. "I am going to give a pause on my research."

"Well, I understand," Merkin nodded. "In any case, I will give you a head-up in case something happens related to the magic books."

"All right, see you later," Zaos said.

                                      Speaking of results, Zaos decided to check his status now that he was completely fine. He gained a fair deal of strength in the last six months. Still, he didn't make many discoveries since he had been fighting or trying to decipher the symbols of the ancient language.

  Health: 930/930

Mana: 2190/2190

Stamina: 2060/2060

Strength: 465

Magic: 1095

Endurance: 1030

Resistance: 1095

Focus: 08 + 01 

Sorcery Lv 65 (+ 06 UP), Meditation Lv 35 (+ 04 UP), Magic Swordsmanship Lv 39 (+ 01 UP), Magic Spearmanship Lv 11, Magic Archery Lv 15 (+ 02 UP), Magic Martial Arts Lv 09, Alchemy Lv 09, Magic Resistance Lv 16 (+ 05 UP), Magic Perception Lv 16 (+ 03 UP), Swordsmanship Lv 56 (+ 03 UP), Axemanship Lv 14, Spearmanship Lv 15, Archery Lv 28 (+ 03 UP), Martial Arts Lv 12, Assassination Technique Lv 07 (+ 03 Up), Shield Mastery Lv 22, Pain Resistance Lv 39 (+ 05 UP), Poison Resistance Lv 09, Blacksmithing Lv 15 

"I guess I am totally back," Zaos nodded to himself. "I need to find something better to do with my extra time since I will take a break from my research, and I can't exactly train the whole day. Come to think of it, I always planned to study the rapid-fire crossbows, but I never had the chance."

                                      It seemed that it was time for Zaos to expand his horizons, but he couldn't but wonder if that would work. He always did the same things single-mindedly over and over again, after all. Still, he had to at least try. While Zaos was thinking about that, he saw himself in a capital street that sells several types of weapons. He always like big swords, but he couldn't help but wonder as well if he shouldn't diverse his fighting style. If he had something lighter, he probably would be faster. He wouldn't have almost died while facing Crow, and the weapon could have flown higher when he threw in order to repel the lightning bolt that Ferdinand made fell toward him and his allies. It seemed too late for that since Zaos had to stay unconscious for days after those battles. Still… he should learn from his mistakes.