What it truly means...
"Grr!" Conrart growled kicking the stubborn ground before him. "STUPID! STUPID! STUPID!" His hands had grains of dirt stuck to its skin. His knuckles hurt from punching the ground. What does he need to do to get it right?
He read the instructions right! He even observed Gwendal!
One more try, he said to himself. "HAAAAH!" he yelled as he punched the ground as hard as he could but was only met with pain.
"Ow!" he yelped, falling back. He sat there nursing his hand as he tried to hold back tears, he looked to see if his knuckles were bleeding. If anything he did not want his mother and his brother to worry.
"Conrart, what are you doing?" a familiar bored voice asked. If there was one thing Conrart appreciated of his older brother, it was the simple fact that the older boy did not coddle him unnecessarily. The little boy bit his lip, still nursing his hand as he looked to his older brother. Gwendal was looking at him with only mild concern.
"I'm trying to enhance Maryoku," the little boy explained.
"And I want to do all those cool things you can do..." Conrart explained. Blue eyes widened. Oh boy... Gwendal tried to hide his growing concern as he looked inquiringly at his younger brother, "You mean all those Earth-element Majutsu?"
"Yeah," Conrart said excitedly, "Those would be so cool. Then I would be able to fight off bad guys, and protect you and Hahaue." Gwendal resisted the urge to laugh as Conrart punched the ground again – not as hard – and tried to imitate his brother's techniques without success. Honestly, the sight was too cute; surely, he himself did not look like that when he first started.
Gwendal blushed at the memory of his own father laughing heartedly at his frustrations… Okay, maybe he had been cute… once upon a time…
"I appreciate that Connie, but," Gwendal said, picking his little brother and throwing him playfully over his shoulder, "I'm your older brother, protecting you is my job."
"Hey!" the little boy protested, though he knew his older brother was pocking fun with him, "Put me down, I'm not done practising yet!" Gwendal ignored his protest and took him to the bench on the terrace. "Conrart," Gwendal sighed, sitting his brother on his knee, "I hate to tell you this but you don't have Maryoku." The little boy looked at his older brother in shock and nearly cried. "H-how can that be?" he choked, trying desperately to hold back a sob, "I'm half-Mazoku aren't I? I should have Maryoku!"
"To be honest it's rare for people who are half-Human and half-Mazoku to have Maryoku," Gwendal told him in a gentle voice, "I'm sorry Conrart, you don't."
Conrart pouted, valiantly holding back tears. "How can I fight bad guys now?"
Gwendal blushed slightly. Surely he was not this cute when he was Conrart's age.
"There are other ways," Gwendal mused, "You love fencing don't you?"
"More than anything," Conrart said thoughtfully, the teary voice gone, "accept you, Hahaue, Chichiue and Raven-sama..."
"How about I teach you some sword techniques my father taught me?" the older brother suggested. Brown eyes lit up. To be taught by Gwendal was too cool!
"Before we do so," Gwendal said, interrupting the boy's train of thought, "let tell you what my father told me, a sword is like maryoku, you do not use it for power or to fight off bad guys, once you start using it, it becomes a part of your life. It is in this that you will find the what it means to wield a sword."
"What does it really mean, Aniiue?"
"It means you use your sword – in my case, Earth maryoku – to defend what you hold precious," Gwendal explained, "You'll have to surpass me and Gunter-sama if you want to protect me and Hahaue with your sword."
"Like you did with your father?"
"In a certain way," Gwendal admitted, "I'm not as good as he was... The point is, Conrart, as long as we perfect our skills, doubtfully anything can stop us."
Conrart looked down to his hands thoughtfully. "Ano sa, ano sa, Aniiue?"
"Yes?"
"If a half-Human Mazoku with Maryoku is rare, have you ever met one?" the little boy asked, "Or even half-Human Soukoku."
"I've never known anyone who is half-Human to have Maryoku to be honest," Gwendal admitted, "Let alone be a Soukoku."
"But suppose it is possible," the little boy persisted.
"If it happens, it happens," said Gwendal.
"Wouldn't be funny if there comes a day that we'll serve a Maoh who is half-Human like me?" Conrart asked then, "and a Soukoku?"
"I might eat my hat," Gwendal mused.
"I'll hold you on that," the little boy said cheekily.
"Oh really, you little miscreant?" Gwendal mused, bringing Conrart close and giving him one of his deadly tickle attacks.
When Yuri became King...
"What was that about eating your hat suppose a half-Human Soukoku became Maoh?" Conrad was asking when he told Gwendal of Yuri's parentage.
A dark eyebrow twitched. "Shut up, you little miscreant!"
Conrad just laughed as Gwendal gave him a playful shove. Gwendal responded with a smirk. It has been twenty years since Luttenberg, It had worried Gwendal when Dan Hiri passed; There were time when it was almost as if Conrart did not care for what he wielded his sword... it seemed different somehow, since he came back from Earth. Maybe this boy... this naive Soukoku boy... who had no background in swordfight and politics would be able to remind Conrart what it truly means to hold a sword.