Aiden & The Holy Sword by Nick Venom (parable of the sower read online txt) 📕

Aiden and Eryn clashed swords, chipping the wooden swords right off the bat. Eryn looked fierce as he pummeled Aiden with blows, each one being parried by Aiden. Their fight was growing into a stalemate. 

Meanwhile, Mia went to deal with Payton, clashing swords with her. The two broke apart, colliding swords for a second time. She held the tension on her sword, purposely allowing Mia to hold the upper hand. 

Mia continued to press down on Payton, walking right into her trap. Payton smirked as she ducked and rolled to her left, avoiding Mia’s fall. The building tension was gone in a second; Mia falling forward because of the broken tension. 

She landed headfirst into the dirt, her sword being thrown a few feet away from her. Payton was behind her, waiting for her to get up. 

Mia picked herself up, running forward to reach her sword. Payton was close on her heels, nipping at them. 

Mia found her weapon, turning on her heels to face Payton. They collided again, their wooden swords echoing a dead man’s whisper. Mia clashed swords with Payton again and again until they were both running out of stamina. 

“You’re going to lose. I have the advantage,” Payton remarked, whacking Mia. She defended herself from the blows, being driven into the ground. She looked up at Payton with fearful eyes, catching her off guard. She hesitated in giving the final blow, granting Mia an opportunity. She dropped her weapon and rolled out of the way, flanking her. She dealt a blow to Payton’s neck, knocking her unconscious.

“Using Payton’s conscious to secure a win, incredible,” Kirby whispered to himself. “She’ll grow strong.”

Meanwhile, Aiden and Eryn continued to trade blows, both losing and gaining ground. They refused to give the other an opportunity. 

Aiden would jab at Eryn, while he dodged the jab, returning the offer. They continued to duck and throw attacks, coming to a stalemate. 

“I’m surprised you aren’t using Divine Hope,” Eryn remarked, clashing with Aiden for the hundredth time. 

“I want to see if I could win without using it,” Aiden said, grinding his teeth as he slowly pushed Eryn back. Eryn, however, was waiting for this moment. He slowly loosened the pressure he’d applied on the sword. Aiden continued to increase the pressure on Eryn, putting all of his weight to drive him into the ground. However, as it looked to be in Aiden’s favor, Eryn dropped his weapon and darted to the left. The loss of tension drove Aiden forward, his balance being uneasy. He fell to the floor as Eryn recovered his weapon. Almost immediately, Aiden whispered “Locate,” disappearing from sight. Eryn looked around, searching the clearing for Aiden. 

Aiden appeared behind him, ramming his sword at Eryn from point-blank range. He couldn’t miss it. 

As expected, he drove the sword into Eryn and dropped him in the dirt. Eryn fell face-first on the ground, closing his eyes as he waved one hand in the air. The surrendering signal. 

It was Aiden’s win, but he didn’t feel satisfied. He wanted to avoid using his skills, but he ended up doing so anyway. He felt a mix of pride and disgust. However, the feelings soon disappeared as he felt a strike hit his back. He was thrown forward, not towards the ground, and disappeared again. Mia had snuck up behind Aiden, waiting for the duel to end. Once it did, she struck at the opportunity. 

Aiden disappeared and reappeared behind Mia, a tactic she knew and analyzed. She spun on her heels and struck, making contact with his shoulder. It knocked him to the ground. He quickly got up and disappeared, fleeing from Mia. A disgraceful sight for skill wielders; fleeing from a non-skill wielder. 

He reappeared much farther from Mia, pondering his choices. He didn’t have many options. The only one he could think of was using all three skills at once to overwhelm her. He had to rely on his skills once again. 

He activated all three skills, turning invisible and disappearing. Mia looked around wildly, unsure if he went invisible or disappeared. She spun around multiple times before stopping. She slowed her breathing and relaxed her mind. She closed her eyes. She had shut down every sense aside from feeling, attempting to sense Aiden’s presence. 

She felt the grass being moved by the wind, bending back slightly. They would then stand up straight after the gust of wind left them. They bent back when another gust of wind penetrated them. 

She could feel the grass’s movements, detecting a patch of crushed grass some distance away from her. She gripped her sword tightly, waiting for Aiden to get closer. The grass continued to be crushed down by Aiden as he neared her. When he was close enough, she opened her eyes and struck. She expected him to collapse and for her to win, but that wasn’t in the plan.

Aiden knew Mia could track him from grass crushing, so he’d used it to his advantage. When he was close enough, he used Locate to get behind her and ram the sword in her back. She yelped as the force knocked her away. She fell face-first into the ground, eating a mouthful of dirt. 

Aiden rushed to her side, picking her up. By this time, Kirby had already reached them. He applauded their efforts, Eryn joining in. Payton was at the edge of the clearing, sleeping. She was still unconscious.

“Good job, you two. You’ve both done well. However, Mia!” He turned to face Mia. “You cannot keep letting him deceive you. You’re doing better by sensing his location, but you have to remember that he can teleport. And you Aiden!” He turned towards Aiden. “Relying on your skills is not a disgraceful act. They are what propels simple soldiers into a powerful army. They are what rebuilt the kingdom. I understand that you want to win without using them, but Eryn and Payton have experience with you. In a fair fight, Eryn and Payton will always beat you?”

Aiden nodded his head. “They’ve been training for much longer than I have.”

“Correct. Your skills are simply responsible for putting you on the same playing field as more experienced people. Don’t forget that.” Aiden nodded. Kirby then smiled, patting both Mia and Aiden’s heads. “You’ve done good, let’s go feast our hearts out.” 

They cheered, excited at a break. They were happy to be released from training and enjoy a nice dinner meal. However, they---except for Kirby---didn’t realize they were being watched by an unseen force from the forest. Kirby kept an eye on the unseen force.

TBC…

A week after the tournament, Kirby took them to the nearby large town of Altis. Kirby was satisfied with their training, taking them to the town to reveal their skills. The device, known as the Skill Activator Device, or SAD for short, was a small calculator-like machine that “shocks” the skill into existence.

After the initial war with the demons, a lone man named Wilbert Rose created SAD, learning that every being had a skill that only needed a shock to awaken it. He began testing it on himself and his family, creating the first skill-bearing family. This invention was then sold to the Holy Kingdoms and every person with a skill began assisting in the war efforts. SAD was revolutionary, moving street rats into the limelight. Anybody could become someone by getting their skill activated. No matter how big or small somebody was, there was a chance they could rebel against their oppressors.

As time went off, SAD was modified to use for children who were frightened by the shocking part of the machine. SAD was then shipped out for towns and cities to have, but the relatively expensive piece of machinery was too much for Hemlock or any other small villages, prompting a trip to nearby towns to use it. 

With the knowledge that everybody has a skill, Eryn, Payton, and Mia were ecstatic. Eryn, mostly. He hated the gap that formed between him and Aiden; a gap that could never be filled without a skill. However, Aiden was also armed with his sword and four skills---three from the goddesses and one that he’s carried onto since birth. This knowledge made Eryn look at Aiden with envy, but he never acted on his feelings. Instead, continuing his training earnestly. 

The other two weren’t as competitive and driven as Eryn, enjoying the good moments of life than 24/7 training, something near-barbaric. 

They entered the town with ease, heading towards the center. In the center of town was a SAD building that charged a fee for each person that used the machine. The building was a two-story brick building that resembled a factory. The factory look wasn’t far off. Men in brown clothing held SAD, using it on people like a factory line, shocking person after person for hours. The conditions were terrible for the workers.

Kirby ignored the conditions and paid the fee, ushering them into the line. A man looked at Eryn, his eyes devoid of emotion, and stamped the machine on his wrist, over a blue vein. The shock jerked his body and he, temporarily, lost control of himself. 

However, as soon as it appeared, it disappeared. He regained control and was ushered to a nearby room in the building housing a multitude of screens plastered on a wall. The data taken by the machine was immediately sent to the monitoring room. There Eryn learned of his skill, a speed skill known as Speed - Mark III. He gawked at the screen, his name in bold letters with his skill’s name under it, in a unique font. After seeing his skill and receiving a printed version of his results, he was ushered outside. 

Payton and Mia went through the same process. Payton got a strength skill, Light Sword, while Mia got Creation: Earth. Payton and Mia left ecstatic at their new skills, satisfied to not receive a low-level skill like Disintegrate or Cooking - Mark I. Those types of skills were treated as useless because they provided no advantages. A low-level cooking skill barely made the food edible while Disintegrate seemed good, except that it was low-level and couldn’t disintegrate bodies. Nobody knew how to raise that skill to disintegrate complete bodies instead of garbage. Low-level skills were deemed unnecessary to society.

The last person to get tested was Aiden. He walked through the line, soon reaching his turn to get shocked. He was feeling a mix of nervousness and anxiety. He had skills, but to know what his true skill was, was a scary thing for him. What if he got a low-level skill? Not that it would matter as his other skills would balance it out, but the thought remained in his head. What happened if people began treating him differently?

He sucked up his anxiety and breathed it out. He got shocked by the machine before being ushered to the monitoring room where his bold name was displayed. Under his name were his skill, Light and Darkness. Aiden jerked his head back. He never heard of that skill before. He looked to his right at the people sitting by the screens, who were also confused by the skill’s name. 

One of the people stood up and raced off, most likely informing his superiors of