"It's focused on improving my body's overall strength," I explained.
"My body has become significantly stronger, faster, and more durable than normal humans. I've awakened a first-order trait that improved my body."
My father immediately burst into delighted laughter.
"That's my son! A combat-oriented Rare bloodline with a first-order trait awakening at Noble rank!" He stood up and clapped me on the shoulder with obvious pride.
"We need to announce this properly," he continued enthusiastically. "The other noble houses should know that the Blackwood family has produced another Rare bloodline inheritor. We should hold a celebration to—"
"Father, wait," I interrupted quickly. "I'd prefer to keep this quiet for now. At least until after I enter the academy.
I want to surprise everyone with my capabilities rather than having them expect it beforehand.
I'm sure you knew about it, but many noble inheritors snicker and make fun of me behind my back in their own groups. "
My father paused, considering my words.
In the end he agreed to my request and decided to hold on exposing my talent.
After breakfast was finished and the servants had cleared the table, Marcus was even more eager to begin training than he had been the night before.
His son had the potential to become as strong as him, possibly stronger since he had awakened a powerful first order trait.
With two Rare bloodlines in the family, House Blackwood would become significantly more powerful in the kingdom's political landscape.
While Adrian hadn't awakened a Legendary bloodline like Seraphina's, Rare was still genuinely impressive. And having a higher-tier bloodline didn't necessarily guarantee superior strength.
Aspects, echoes, trairs, and experience all played crucial roles in determining real combat effectiveness.
"Very well," Duke Marcus said, his eyes glinting with anticipation. "But now I'm even more excited to see what you can do in training. With your new improves body, we can push your development much harder than I originally planned."
I nodded, feeling somewhat excited. With my father's experience, I should learn to control my power more and utilize it better.
To survive the upcoming obstacles I needed to learn how to effectively use my abilities. Otherwise, my death would be gruesome, and I'd already experienced dying once. I had no intention of repeating that experience so soon.
…
Outside in the courtyard, I stood before my father under the scorching sun. The training grounds were spacious and well-maintained, with various practice weapons arranged along the walls and training dummies positioned at regular intervals.
We weren't alone. Several of the estate's guards and father's subordinates who trained here regularly were also present, working through their own exercises in designated areas.
They maintained a respectful distance but I could sense their curiosity about the Duke's sudden decision to personally train his son.
My father began my training with dynamic stretches and warm-ups, clearly taking into account the previous Adrian's leisurely habit of avoiding physical exertion. He was being careful not to push too hard from the beginning, gradually working up my flexibility and getting my blood flowing to avoid overtraining me.
I can tell he was getting me into the zone. I smiled inwardly, this new father of mine was really thoughtful.
"Your body may feel different now that your bloodline has awakened," he explained as we moved through the stretches, "but you still need to build proper muscle memory and technique. Havign raw power without control could be a weapon against you, not with you,"
I nodded my head, agreeing with his words.
Then he handed me a training sword and began teaching me the fundamentals of swordsmanship.
Honestly, the instruction was invaluable. My father possessed a Rare trait called Knight's Valor, and his swordsmanship was genuinely top-notch.
He was considered the strongest swordsman not just in the city of Luminara, but in the entire Kingdom of Eldrathia. Learning from him was an incredible opportunity that most people could only dream of.
In about half an hour, he managed to teach me the absolute basics of proper swordsmanship.
Whether it was stances, grip, basic cuts, defensive positions, and footwork. He had taught me all.
I felt surprisingly good about my learning speed. It wasn't genius or elite-level progression, but I was absorbing the lessons at a decent pace, which was encouraging. My vampire body and trait were definitely helping.
Swordsmanship wasn't going to be my main focus anyway. The primary reason I was learning was because it would be helpful for general combat situations, and because of a sword that I was going to take for myself soon enough.
The sword was actually a powerful artefact at the Enhanced Rank inside the academy's weapon hall.
When students enter the academy, they are given the opportunity of entering the weapon hall and selecting an item.
Naturally things weren't as simple as selecting the item you would like, if they were, a powerful sword like the one I was planning to take for myself wouldn't be there waiting.
There was a certain mechanism that I was planning to exploit, but that was for later. For now, I needed to focus on my training.
During the training, I decided to not tell my dad about the pendant. Simply because he had already bought the story of awakening my bloodline, he wasn't suspicious at all.
My father stepped back after demonstrating a basic combination sequence.
"Not bad for your first lesson," he said with approval. "Your natural coordination is definitely better than when we first started. Your swordsmanship has also improved, let's see how you handle some light sparring."