Valtava: Dragon Sword

Chapter 2

"Tony!"

Tony opened his eyes in a startle, taking a moment to re-orientate himself. He was sitting at the dinner table, still with his spoon in his hand. Realizing he had fallen asleep in the middle of his meal, he felt a rush of embarrassment and hastily said, "Sorry."

Amber, who was sitting next to him, inspected him with a look of concern. "Are you ok? You seem to be tired lately." She reached out and felt his forehead with the back of her hand.

"I-I'm fine, Mother," he responded. "I just haven't been sleeping well the past few nights."

Lord Navarro was sitting across from Tony and threw him a fiendish glare, as if to say be careful with your words.

Alarmed, Tony immediately shut his mouth and finished the leftover soup in his bowl.

"You should head to your room and rest early, then," Amber said. "If you're feeling unwell, please call me."

Tony nodded and excused himself from the table. He returned to his room, climbed into the coziness of his bed, and drifted into sleep after a mere few seconds. Although his mind was exhausted, thoughts of worry seemed to infiltrate his dreams, and he woke up again wondering if he had done the readings for that night.

By then the room was already pitch black, and although he felt like his sleep only lasted minutes, he could tell that hours had passed. He leapt up from his bed, pulled the manual from under his pillow, and moved over to his table. After lighting up the wick on his shriveled candle, he turned to the page he had left off and concentrated on the tiny words written on it.

Iron chain formation: This is the most powerful technique developed by the Hollow Men, used to capture the strongest opponents. It was originally created by Lord Herydeus and since then has been refined through careful scrutiny by his descendants. Due to the rarity of the iron chains used in this technique, only the warriors who have demonstrated enough power and discipline should be taught to use it. The iron chains have mana embedded within them, giving them a spirit that allows them to target and immobilize limbs of the victim. In the history of the iron chain formation, no one has ever been able to escape its grasp.

Pausing every now and then to recite the information to himself and ensure he understood the contents, Tony was so focused that he did not realize his mother towering over him on the other side of the table. He closed the book shut and jumped up from his chair. "M-mother, what are you doing here?"

Only the dim candlelight illuminated her figure, casting eerie shadows on her face. But she did not mean to be intimidating, and in fact, she thought he was simply reading another literary work or indulged in an interesting poem. She softly said, "I came in to check on you. You really didn't look well today so I was worried that you might be ill. I saw your candlelight and wasn't sure if you had forgotten to blow it out."

Tony let out a weak smile. "I'm actually feeling much better now. I had a nap earlier and couldn't fall back to sleep. So I..." He held the book up to his chest to hide the words written on the cover, but he was a second too slow. Amber caught a glimpse of the words and swiftly grabbed the book from his hands.

"Battlefield Tactics." She gasped and looked up at Tony in shock. "Why are you reading this? Who gave this to you?"

Tony felt his chest suddenly turn heavy as he struggled for a response. "I-I..."

"Lord Navarro gave this to you, didn't he? Tell me the truth!"

Realizing he had nowhere to hide, he admitted, "Yes, it was Uncle Navarro. He didn't want you to know, so that's why he made me read it only at night. I'm sorry for keeping it a secret, Mother."