Chapter 2: 2. The Family and Swordsmanship

After about half an hour of idle chatter talking about everything from how her school day was to the plans for her birthday party the door opens and a young man with a height of around 172cm, a muscular build and dark wavy hair swept back walked in. Wearing a similar school uniform to Elyssia with a black blazer, purple and white striped tie, long black trousers, and well-maintained black leather shoes, he confidently walked in showing a charming yet confident smile on his face.

"Brother!" Elyssia exclaimed as she quickly gets up to give her brother a warm hug.

"Haha, sorry I'm late little sis, Mr Jones wanted to talk to me about the model United Nations Society and organising the trip next month. I hope your excited for it?" saying this, Christopher returns the hug then moves to sit at the table while a brief hint of sorrow flashed across their grandfather's face.

Her brother, Christopher was a stoic man who like her valued family and loyalty above all else. While he had a strong sense of pride, he would never let it take him over and cause him to make a poor decision. He was both smart and wise for his young age and while to those outside of his family he came across as a serious and calm man, to his family he was quite like his grandfather, loving and doting.

After a short amount of time conversing, Harold came in to inform them that dinner had been served as the three joined the rest of the small family in a lavishly decorated dining room that showed off the history of the family, with portraits of the previous generations of the family alongside a large kite shield that hung over the fireplace. While one might have thought 'why does the mansion have so many fireplaces', being an old stone building with high ceilings and large windows there was only so much modern radiators could do, so an open fire was the most effective method.

Sitting in the room having an exaggerated conversation were Elyssia's mother Helena and grandmother Delia. Her mother, now looking a lot more mature than 16 years ago, still held the picture of beauty was quite similar to Elyssia with golden blond hair that was not quite as vibrant as hers, sharing the pink eyes that was strangely unique to just them in the family. Her mother was one of the kindest people she knew, always wearing a warm smile and unable to say a single bad thing about anyone.

Meanwhile her grandmother was quite contrasting to her mother with long hair that had gone grey with age and was tied up into a neat bun and proudly sitting with a straight back. While still very loving towards her family, she had quite stern gaze. It was quite clear that she was the head of the household, usually scolding Arthur for being so doting.

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An hour after dinner had finished Elyssia excused herself as she had her swordsmanship training as part of her usual routine. As far back as the family history could be traced, the family had always trained is members in the various styles of swordsmanship. The family's origin could be traced back to Ancient Rome where after the eventual conquering of Britannia and establishment of the province, the families' ancestors had moved and become a part of the ruling elite for nearly 2 millennium which in itself was like a miracle.

Having been trained by her grandfather in all the family styles he knew by the age of 12, Elyssia went on to train in whatever else she could. The rate at which she had learnt and mastered everything taught to her absolutely astounded her grandfather all of her teachers who thought that she was a one-of-a-kind prodigy which was in part true. Elyssia had a natural talent for combat, easily able to adapt and pick up on even the most advanced techniques. However, what made her a truly monstrous talent was her photographic memory. She only needed to see something once and after a little trial and error she could reproduce whatever she saw.

And if that was not bad enough, when she was 8 years while in training against her grandfather, she had experienced a weird phenomenon where her perception of time had slowed down to 2x which gave her unimaginable benefits while practicing. After years of trial and error Elyssia had managed to master the ability, able to use it both in and outside of combat. Elyssia knew that this was not normal at all, so as to avoid any complications for both her and her family she had kept this matter to herself and limited her skills somewhat so as to prevent any further suspicion.

Walking into the training hall below the mansion Elyssia found her master for the yagyu shinkage-ryu style, Naruhito Nosuri sitting in seiza with his katana on the floor in front of him in his traditional training clothes. He was a native Japanese man in his late 60's who normally would not have travelled away from his dojo to train some foreign noble lady, however after testing her and seeing her innate talent and speed of learning, he decided to agree to the request and spend 6 months in England imparting everything he knew to Elyssia.

Speaking in Japanese Elyssia says "Greetings Sensei" while respectfully bowing.

"Indeed. Are you ready to spar?"

"Yes, please take care of me"

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With a small smile on his face Nosuri stands up and asks, "I assume you will continue trying to integrate all of the styles you know?"

Replying Elyssia explains "yes sensei, of all the styles, the flowing nature of the yagyu shinkage-ryu style is the perfect foundation for integrating different techniques, so I hope you can continue to give me advice or ideas to try while we fight."

Happy one again with the respect this foreign girl gave both him and the yagyu shinkage-ryu style he has spent his life mastering, the two get into position to begin the fight. Nosuri holds position with his sword held above his head, ready to strike while Elyssia holds her blunted katana in the fools guard stance, with the tip of the sword pointed to the ground to her right and her left foot forward.

Breaking the stare down, Nosuri rushes forward, bringing his sword down towards Elyssia who quickly steps in towards him, bringing her sword vertically up and blocking the strike with the handle of her sword above the guard. Quickly slashing diagonally up from the right under the blocked sword, Nosuri is forced to take a step back surprised at how accurately his attack was blocked by Elyssia without having her hands hit. Little did he know this was thanks to Elyssia's slowed down perception as she was making the most of the slowed time to plan and create her next attacks.

Taking the opportunity of Nosuri retreating, Elyssia takes a quick step forward to perform a thrust from her left side which was quickly blocked by Nosuri whose sword flowed down carrying the force from Elyssia's earlier block. 

The exchange of the blunt metal swords clanging could be heard for the next hour straight as the pair of master and student exchange continuous attacks with Elyssia winning some exchanges through the use of unexpected attacks and ways of blocking to create an opening, and Nosuri winning many more as he exploited the holes left in Elyssia's swordsmanship as she experimented and showing his superior mastery and experience in fighting. Throughout the training session

After the intense hour of fighting both Elyssia and Nosuri were sweating heavily with ragged breathing.

Speaking up Nosuri announces "I think that is enough for today. The speed at which your proficiency increased throughout the fight is truly frightening. I have, nor ever will likely see anything like it again. After the weekend I will return back to Japan as there is nothing more, I can teach you, only time and experience will see you further improve your swordsmanship."

He was truly proud to be able to teach a student like Elyssia and glad that he decided to accept this young girl as he also managed to gain further insight and skill into his own swordsmanship.

Deeply bowing, Elyssia responds "thank you very much for all your teachings and wisdom, I hope that when I next find myself in Japan that we can spar again."

"of course, you will always be welcomed with open arms." Replying with a smile of a grandfather who is proud of their grandchild. After Nosuri leaves the training hall Elyssia puts her training sword away and sits down on a bench to the side of the hall contemplating about the day and her earlier conversation with her grandfather.

'Why does he want to have a whole day for the conversation? Surely if it was something that was not so important he would ask for just an hour? Its not like anything has happened to the family recent right? The businesses are going well, there have been no fallouts or anything controversial. Hmmm. It must have something to do with me or my birthday given the timing, and I'm sure its not some sort of nice surprise as grandfather would not be able to contain his excitement as it would show in his behaviour somewhere.'

Deciding once again to put it at the back of her mind, Elyssia decides to have a quick shower and head to the family library for a few hours before bed. Even if she never needed much sleep, she still had school tomorrow and didn't want to feel fatigued. Returning to her room she enjoyed a warm shower then put on a casual white long sleeve dress before making her way to the library.

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