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[prontissimo]

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[wukuiyuxin]

[Alberto's amazed whistle is also not lost on Lan Wangji, whose stride does not falter but his gaze does cut to the side to watch the boy out of the corner of his eye. But Alberto does not stray, and Lan Wangji notes his self-restraint and attentiveness with not a little satisfaction. It's obvious this matters a lot to Alberto, and what matters to him earns his full dedication. Good.

Lan Wangji has already chosen the swords best suited to the basics and style of swordsmanship that he can teach Alberto. All of them are single-handed, straight and double-edged swords with sharp, pointed tips. The task now is to discover whether he would benefit more from a lighter, faster blade, perhaps even a relatively short blade, since he is tall for his age and can afford to lose some reach in favor of speed. Or if a heavier blade would give him the feedback and the focus he requires, would ground him and force him to slow down, in favor of building up the strength he had already shown fighting the cursed pumpkins. Lan Wangji has no doubt that Alberto has the potential to be a powerful swordsman, excelling in both strength and reach, indeed much like Lan Wangji himself, if trained correctly. So he has his opinion on the matter already, but equally if not more important is Alberto's own choice of whether he wishes to prioritize agility or power.

But that choice is for later. First, he must simply be introduced to the weapons. So Lan Wangji rests his own white jade-sheathed sword gently against the table, before picking up the lightest, shortest blade to start. It has a plain sheath, though the hilt and guard are decorated with exciting, swirling engravings. With both hands, he offers it to Alberto.]

Draw it.

[prontissimo]

[ Alberto's eyes widen once more at the sight of the sword as Lan Wangji offers it to him. He takes in the swirling designs, hesitating half a second to take it from Lan Wangji's hands. But when he does, he holds it gently but firmly with both hands, and draws it quickly but carefully. His gaze follows his hand on the hilt, watching the silver edge expose itself, until it's fully unsheathed, and he pauses to marvel at it. He's never held a nice weapon — or, well, really, anything nice like this... There's something austere in the air in this moment that even Alberto can't tune out of it, pausing to examine it. His eyes dart up to Lan Wangji's uncertainly, but after a beat, he readjusts the sword in his hands, and begins testing its weight with cautious swings side to side, up and down. He's not really sure how to test out a sword, he realizes now that the awe is starting to settle. He can trust his gut feeling all he wants, but he has no real knowledge of what qualities he should be looking for in a weapon. After those couple slow, aimless slices through the air, his eyes following his blade, he turns back to Lan Wangji with a tentative tone tugging his voice. ]

Um— What am I looking for, exactly...?