The monotony of life in Byrock was beginning to bother all the recruits. Taken from their homes and orphanages, they had been training swordsmanship for months, trying to get through to the next stance, repeating almost the same thing every day. The liters of sweat poured out, and the pain, the soreness, and the corns on their hands were a daily occurrence for the recruits.

During Kane's training, as he focused on developing his own body, many recruits made their way to further stances. 

All recruits left the groups from the first stance, a little more than half of the recruits were still training in the second stance, while the rest were in the third stance and in small numbers, the fourth and fifth. 

Daren and Auren had been in a group with Kane from the third stance since the fall, when Collin got into the fourth stance. By the end of the fall, a total of three recruits had become lower knight. The first person to complete all stances and become a lower knight was Jin. 

To mark the end of a windy and cold yet beautiful fall, tutor Lorenz made an appeal to everyone at supper.

"Attention!

We have officially ended the fall, and in this matter, I have some important information for you.

Due to the fact that the first people have become lower knight, the first tests for the Knight rank will be held in early spring. If someone does not manage to become a lower knight by then or does not pass during the tests, the next opportunity will be at the beginning of summer.

For the next 3 months, before the snow melts, you have time to complete the 5 stances, otherwise, you will have to wait until summer.

That's all from me."

Excited conversations echoed among everyone in the dining hall as Kane sat in the corner, thoughtfully staring at the departing tutor Lorenz.

"I have three months left!I still have a chance to make it in time, to complete five stances!"

Panicked with excitement, Collin, still proud that from his room he was the first to leave the third group,  fighting a one-sided rivalry with Kane.

"We can try at best in the summer or when the next fall starts..."

"You, Daren, shouldn't have a problem leaving the third stance, maybe you can still make it."

Muttered a resigned Auren.

"I don't know, I've heard that the higher the stance, the more difficult it is."

They both sighed, disappointed, not feeling up to leaving Byrock too soon.

Kane, thinking about his training so far and the fights he had fought, finally decided after long and tiring months of hard work.

"The time has come"

He had no intention of staying in Byrock for long and decided to move up to the rank of lower knight as soon as possible, so he could pass the test and see if he could master Ren.

Kane looked forward to his next swordsmanship training, so he could move on to the fourth stance.

"I'm ready."

"Huh?"

"I want to go to the fourth stance."

Kane accosted tutor Escot at the very beginning of training the next day so as not to waste time.

"You finally made up your mind? Over these months, you could probably have moved on without a problem, which is why I wondered, along with the other tutors, why you continue to stay in this group of your own volition."

He began accosting the boy, strolling around the training ground looking for a free dummy to give him a test.

"There you go, remember the rules? Turn the dummy over five times in a row using the third stance."

"I remember."

Kane walked up to the dummy and, without thinking or taking a moment to set up, used the third stance. The attack was executed as naturally as if using it was as trivial as walking for a boy. The attack was executed with incredible speed, during which a swish could be heard from cutting through the air.

The force of the stab easily overturned the dummy, while pushing it a few steps away.

"Well, well, I can see the progress, however, it was worth waiting so long, wasn't it?"

"Yes, the results are satisfying."

Kane replied to the tutor without taking his eyes off the dummy, preparing for another attack.

"The effects are satisfying? Who says so, still at his age?"

Escot looked at the boy with incomprehension.

Attacking the dummy relentlessly, without even shedding a drop of sweat in a moment, he knocked it over five times.

Kane made his way officially to the fourth stance without a problem.

"Congratulations, Tutor Nilon will explain to you how to use the fourth stance."

"Tutor Nilon is training the fourth stance?"

"Yes."

"Ohh great..."

Kane did not hide his disappointment, being aware that Nilon was probably still hostile to him after the incident during the spring with Landis. Despite his bad feelings, he started looking for Nilon at the training ground.

As soon as he found him, he waited for a moment so as not to interrupt him in training the recruits.

"Tutor Escot sent me to start the fourth stance."

Nilon looked at the boy with disapproval and, sighing reluctantly, led him to the training dummy.

"Listen, because I'm only going to explain it to you once. The fourth stance is, along with the first stance, the most important in combat, and even though it sounds trivial, many people can't perform it correctly.

The fourth stance is the slash. An attack that must be executed with speed, strength, and precision at the same time. 

To perform the fourth stance properly, you must master holding the sword so tightly that it won't move even a millimeter, no matter how hard the strike. 

Swinging the sword is something anyone can do, but if you do it incorrectly, the sword will move in your hand, the strike will be weak and slow, and you won't hit the places you aim at. If you use the fourth stance on your opponent, being unprepared, then, through a weak grip on the sword, the blade, instead of cutting your opponent or damaging his armor, will move along the body or armor instead of cutting through them at the thickness of the blade, leaving a shallow wound or at most a scratch on the armor.

Your hand is supposed to become one with the sword, so that it is stationary no matter what it faces

Your blade must be stable and unwavering, fast, and precise. Otherwise, your sword, instead of cutting through, will ripple across your opponent's armor."

"Yes, I understood everything. Will you show me how to perform it?"

"There is no specific way that you take a stance, position your body, and so on, the fourth stance can be used in any position and situation and at any cutting angle. The key to this is to master your own hands and their muscles, not the positioning of the body."

"In that case, what do I need to do to move to the fifth stance?"

"Using the fourth stance, you must attack the training dummy ten times. If, during the test, I see that your sword in your hand has changed position or moved instead of cutting as deep as it was set, you fail.

So far, you have wooden swords, so you won't cut the dummy, so all you have to do is that in the process of cutting, the dummy changes position or falls over while your sword is stationary.

Now get to training."

"Yes sir!"

Kane saluted, having not done so in a long time, he felt distaste, as if by saluting, he was participating in a circus. He himself did not understand where such a feeling towards the usual military salute came from, but he did not bother with it and moved on to training. 

Standing alone on the sidelines of the training ground, he silently stared at the dummy and clenched the sword in his hand, thinking about the capabilities of his body.

"Clenching the sword will easily be enough, I'll have to focus on my arms and shoulders to give it a try, but there shouldn't be much trouble....

Okay, one week, that should be enough..."

One week, that's how much time, in Kane's estimation, is enough for him to become a lower knight. Without wasting any more precious minutes, he began training the fourth stance.

To warm up, he started with the fourth stance performed in the air rather than on a dummy to get used to the new attack. 

With each swing, the swish of the blade slicing through the air could be heard. The muscles that Kane had gained through training were increasingly visible on his hands. 

Even with the warm-up, great progress was evident, in the strength and speed the boy had acquired.

Kane decided during the spring that he needed to get his mind and body under control in his life. In addition to striving to learn about his own body and its capabilities, he depended on perfect mastery of his own mind.

He knew that in order to achieve mastery in swordsmanship and effective combat, he needed unshakable calm, composure, and intelligence. When he was in the orphanage, his mind was like a storm, restless and unpredictable. During his stay in Byrock, his goal was to achieve a state of calm like peaceful water, without a blemish or even a small ripple on the lake.

Since the spring, whenever any emotion — excitement, pain, fear or happiness, appeared in him, Kane immediately suppressed it within himself in order to achieve the state of self-control and calm he desired.

After warming up, he stood at the training dummy, starting his training for the fifth stance, wanting to get there as quickly as possible.

Starting with slow but powerful slashes, he accelerated more and more with each attack, as if he was revving up like a machine that gets faster and more efficient the longer it runs.

Using the fourth stance, Kane focused on his own hand rather than the dummy's, trying to find things to improve in his attacks to make them more effective and faster, making adjustments on the fly with each attack.

After a few minutes, the training dummy was constantly wobbling from side to side, barely staying on the ground from incessant, fast and powerful slashes.

The focus that Kane possessed during the training was incredibly effective, but also exhausting. Continuous, fast and powerful attacks, simultaneously supervised by his own eyesight and body sense, improved with each strike. All performed simultaneously, it overloaded his body and mind, tiring him out remarkably quickly.

Jin, who was training nearby for the knight test, watched Kane, seeing how much progress he had made in just a few minutes. As the son of a Master and an accomplished swordsman himself, he couldn't take his eyes off the boy out of curiosity about his unusual technique of learning to wield a sword. 

"Literally, fifteen minutes ago showed him the fourth stance, and he already has such progress? At this rate, he'll be able to go to stance five by the end of this training."

Jin smiled to himself, staring at Kane.

"Hmmm... He should come in useful."

Throwing his sword on the ground, Jin began to approach the boy, still watching his training. 

"Hey Kane!"

The boy didn't respond, as if he didn't hear him, and continued to attack the dummy.

Jin began to walk closer and closer, still calling out.

"Kane!" KANE!"

Nevertheless, no reaction was visible from the boy, as if he had fallen into a trance during the fight.

He walked up to the boy and grabbed him by the shoulder, interrupting his training.

As soon as Kane felt the touch on his shoulder, instinctively, his blade instantly stopped under Jin's throat as he panicked and stood still with his hands raised, not wanting to provoke the boy.

A drop of sweat caused by stress slowly ran down Jin's forehead as Kane realized what was happening and withdrew his sword.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

He apologized as Jin sighed in relief as he saw the sword retreat from his throat.

"You scared me."

He mouthed it with a rushed breath. After a few deep breaths as Jin calmed down, he finally said.

"Kane, I have a proposition for you."