Within the castle of the god of the deep a little Alice sat upon the lap of a titan of a woman who simply brushed the girl's hair with a beautiful comb made from orichalcum. The comb was encrusted with many bluish-green gems with mithril inlining around each of those gems as well as to connect those gems in an elegant manner. It just so happened this comb was a powerful artefact at the divine level which may or may not have the ability to heal most wounds thus having it fall into myth as a silly item that didn’t exist.

None of that mattered to the giant 10 foot woman as she continued to brush through the hair of the tiny girl who looked very similar to herself. Although her body was quite mature so in that aspect they couldn’t be more different; if one looked at their faces they would immediately be able to tell their relation being close.

She had long brown hair which looked like the dirt of the earth yet glimmered gently as if it were about to sprout new life at any time. Atop her hair there was a tricorn hat in addition to a leaf green bandana underneath the hat while wearing a style of clothing that didn’t quite fit with the aesthetic of those around her. In fact she wore cotton trousers with a sash around her waist to tighten them around her plump butt and at the same time wore a supposedly loose fitting blouse that certainly wasn’t loose around her chest.

That chest of hers forced the shirt to be open so much that it seemed her areola were only barely covered; not that anyone would sass the primordial goddess of life for being indecent.

Her eyes themselves were a beautiful green that appeared like fresh leaves glistening in the light of the sun while her red lips were more like an active volcano. Plump and seemingly ready to burst but also perking up towards the sky - in her case this formed a warm smile that worked with her slightly squinting eyes to display her joy. Alice was no different as she too had an almost identical smile upon her lips showing the two were truly mother & daughter.

There were many guards surrounding the room they were in while maids were always at hand to get the pair anything they wanted yet all they got to do was watch the pair. Occasionally a happy giggle would occur from one of the two nevertheless the other soon followed causing them to giggle to one another as if they got a joke nobody else did. Still that laughter was truly contagious so even the stern samurai outside couldn’t help finding themselves slipping a little.

Such a scene was actually very common for the ocean dwellers, the mother and daughter pair truly were happiest in each other's presence, efficiency somehow increasing. There was now a saying in the sea that “a child's laughter is the best motivator” which had already become a line told millions of times.

“Your father said he had managed upon something that he wanted to gift you, Alice.” <Gaia>

“I’m suwe awythin father giwes me will be gweat!” <Alice>

“Now, now, Alice, a deity shouldn’t yell as it could scare those who follow us at best and bring uncertainty to them in times of harshness at worst.” <Gaia>

Despite being told off by her {The Mother} there was no sign of dispiritedness in the little girl as she answered just as cheerfully as before if now quieter.

“Yes mom.” <Alice>

With that they both turned towards the door as both could sense the approach of two primordial entities which could only be exactly who they were awaiting for. From the corridor the sound of metal creaking echoed out - signalling the approach of the primordial pedlar. Sure enough the guards waiting outside slid the doors open for Leviathan to walk in with a familiar steel coloured serpent.

The snake didn’t pay too much attention to the mother-daughter pair as they instead took to taking swigs from the gourd they had recently earned a few of. In direct contrast to the metal reptile’s lack of attention the deep sea titan held two nicely wrapped objects of massively varying lengths though both fairly small when compared to his own mighty sword. Seeing her father arrive Alice jumped up from her mothers lap to fly through the water to slam into his sturdy waist like a rocket.

Obviously the literal titan wouldn’t be shaken by a little girl's level of strength/weight yet he still braced himself to lessen the impact on the girl herself.

“I’ve managed to obtain some quite good items for you Alice so let me show you in the training grounds where I may also teach you a thing or two.” <Leviathan>

“Yes father~.” <Alice>

His voice was gruff while his ocean blue hair was combed backwards into a top knot to enhance that stern aura of his. Even his beard was perfectly shaped to the point of sharpness making it clear he was a serious and cold man who didn’t have any patience for lollygagging. Despite that he was obviously actually quite doting to the little girl as his hand rested upon her head making her squint her eyes in delight.

Unlike his wife & daughter he permanently had his eyes closed though it was no because he was blind or unwilling to look at them. Rather it was to keep his pressure at bay, a pressure which could bring a god to their knees with ease, through a technique he had developed.

Those closed eyes notwithstanding, with practised hands he managed to scoop Alice up to rest her upon his shoulder without a need to open his eyes. Nobody was surprised with his deft skill though as it was obviously obvious that the undisputed ruler of the seas wouldn’t even need to open his eyes to tell what was happening. Thus without being offered any help from the samurai, who were used to their lieges behaviour, he swiftly arrived in the indoor training ground as if he couldn’t bear to have her work hard outside or wait more than a second.

Alice on the other hand couldn‘t get away from her curiosity as she saw the various samurai wielding similar weapons to her own father.

“Father, awe you also a samuwai?” <Alice>

“Hm… Although the one I once dedicated by blade is no longer among us I would say I am after all as long as we hold up what those lost stand for they will always be with us.” <Leviathan>

Hearing the cool & calm words from her father Alice practically had shining eyes while looking up at him as he placed her on the ground. After placing her down he proceeded to hand the smallest of the packages then handing the second to a nearby maid who finally found herself being able to actually do something.

“This is a blade called [Forgiveness] which will never be able to kill anyone yet maybe will be able to defeat anyone in the future. The other is a sword to be used when you’re older and more prepared to fight - it is called [Mercy] though I’m not quite sure what it does. If it ends up being useless you can blame your uncle Dealmaker.” <Leviathan>

“Wight father.” <Alice>

“No, not right, this is clearly slanderous which is especially stupid for someone just talking about upholding the big man's legacy!” <Dealmaker>

Leviathan just shook his head with a gruff grunt while turning towards the snake who just spit out a mouthful of potent alcohol. Seeing this Alice immediately began to laugh out loud while pointing towards the serpent until Gaia told her “gods don’t point and laugh at people” which made the girl promptly stop laughing.

“Atlas was all about judging people so I’m judging you-” <Leviathan>

“-and I’m all about laws so I would never sell a faulty product!” <Dealmaker>

“What about not giwing all the details?” <Alice>

“... That is another matter that we won’t discuss brat.” <Dealmaker>

It was clear they all had more to say yet unfortunately for the trio {The Mother} had other intentions as well as better things to do today than watch her two oldest friends bite at each other for the umpteenth time.

“How about you two begin teaching Alice about the sword?” <Gaia>

She said with her usual smile as well as an ever so slightly tilted smile & closed eyes yet somehow everyone else in the room felt a shiver down their spine. The two eldest of which looked at one another before nodding once more - at which point Leviathan quickly grabbed a wooden sword that was longer than Alice was tall. Walking into the middle of the room he soon came to a stop while hefting his practice sword above his head where the grip met with his second hand.

“In some ways swordsmanship is simple as it all comes back to three singular movements with a five if one includes the blade draw and sheath. I myself primarily focus on the three movements rather than the initial & concluding movements - pay close attention as I will show you what the three will look like when you achieve the peak of swordsmanship. The first I will be showing you is commonly referred to as [Heaven’s Movement] which holds the most power out of all the strikes.” <Leviathan>

With that he took a deep breath in before stepping forth at the same time as releasing that breath which brought with it his blade. The sound of the air being sliced with the wooden sword echoed throughout the castle while the wooden sword easily appeared to cleave from the ceiling to the floor in a clear precise cut. Following that strike he then proceeded to slide one foot behind the other while presenting the sword to his side while breathing in once more.

“This is [Life's Movement] which carries the most freedom of all the strikes.” <Leviathan>

Releasing his breath he stepped forward to swiftly draw another line across the far wall that was just as sharp as the prior yet clearly was less powerful than heaven’s slash. Still that was hardly noticeable considering Leviathan was clearly holding back as to not bring the entire country down with the power behind his sword. Though he wasn’t finished yet as he took another breath while pivoting at the same time as bringing his sword to point forward towards that wall for one last strike.

“Finally there is [Earth’s Movement] which both hold the most accuracy & precision thus also allows you to most efficiently use the weight.” <Leviathan>

Finishing with one last breath he stepped forward one last time to deliver a powerful thrust which ended piercing through the point where both the other. From that single accurate thrust the one sturdy wall that showed no signs of collapse crumbled without ceremony, not that Alice had been paying any attention to the damage from the sword movements. She held true faith in her father’s words so she needed no reassurance of their effectiveness; instead her eyes stayed on the man while her divinity closely watched every single muscle of the titan to take it all in as she moved to get her own practice sword. However, unlike her father, she took some time when going through the various sizes of weapons though in the end decided to get weapons of a similar size & design to the ones she would use in the future when she was grown up.

To do this she quickly went from weapon to weapon while weighing them in her hands however before she even finished selecting the two she found herself with a third. She didn’t know why but the seemingly standard katana just felt right in her hands thrust she took that as well as the other two and kept them at her waist using her sash.

Stepping forward her father didn’t say a word or motion more than just a gentle nod at which she quickly began to practise. She began with [Heaven’s Movement] though with the little dagger and it was quite messy at first… That was it though; it was only her first slash that could be considered amateur. Each slash only got closer & closer to perfection and when she achieved it she switched to her next weapon - thanks to her previous experiences the other two took far less time than the first. It didn’t even take a single evening for her to perfect all 3 movements with all 3 weapons making her turn back to her father.

Afterall, even if her swordsmanship was just as perfect, she clearly lacked the strength her father did resulting in a clear division between the two.

“Hm I suppose we should move onto [Dawn & Dusk Movements] though I don’t think we actually keep sheaths for those…” <Leviathan>

For his part he didn’t seem troubled by the fact the little girl quickly achieved what he had dedicated his life to. He knew his child was a genius so what was wrong with her being talented is something he himself was interested in - if anything that was better as he would be able to gift her something of more worth than any dress or gem. Surprisingly it was Gaia who stepped forward to suggest something while tapping her chin with a thoughtful expression.

“You should still teach her them as [Dawn’s Movement] is the first movement one should practise when it comes to protection as it’s perfect for ambushes.” <Gaia>

“But they are merely movements for drawing and redrawing to see pointl-” <Leviathan>

“Nothing is pointless when one is dealing with a weapon.” <Gaia>

“Yes dear…” <Leviathan>

Gaia stepped up which immediately resulted in Leviathan standing down with no complaints yet the goddess wasn’t done yet as she turned towards Dealmaker with her usual kind smile.

“Is there any other useful information?” <Gaia>

“There is also something called ‘Martial Arts’ which a mortal born from immortals created in order to fight against her woeful fate as well as cultivation to achieve her ‘birthright’. I have not met her myself though I’ve heard she is a very frightening individual - apparently always has an unnatural smile on her face. Think she was called Cherbis or something and created a huge uproar in the Beast Kingdom when her father and fiance died.” <Dealmaker>

“Hmm… This could be interesting plus there should be quite a lot of slaves located within their territory as those predators are about as bad as they come. Perhaps you should set your next destination to figure out more about that mortal - perhaps we could even discuss cooperation though I doubt a land based mortal could set foot down here herself. At the very least we can help her claw out a place for herself and perhaps others.” <Gaia>

“Indeed ohohoho~.” <Dealmaker>

“Now we should also teach little Alice that sealing technique so she doesn’t accidentally hurt anyone when she grows up to be bigger and stronger than her father~.” <Gaia>

“I don- yes.” <Leviathan>

Feeling the chill of death for the first time since the dawn of time, the samurai promptly surrendered himself to his wife.

Alice watching her mother oil the gears could only watch with shining eyes.