To my joy, I didn't have to wait long to find good tutors. The first wasn't some old wizened man, no he looked more like a naïve graduate that landed his first big break, a chance to teach a child, most likely an easy gig. I was made to sit in the room with my mother and father as they reviewed the last potentiates. The final 3 were a group that consisted of 1 other man and a woman, the young man from before, the second man was what I assumed my tutor would look like, graying at the sides, a strict looking man with a monocle and a ridiculous handlebar mustache, and the last a woman more mature looking than the naïve gent, she looked like a secretary with her hair in the bun and with her glasses. The first one dismissed was the woman, my mother must've felt threatened a primal emotion known as envy, at which parts I could take an easy guess. The next was the wizened man, to my surprise, since he had proven credentials at teaching other children of nobles. The naïve looking man to my surprise was actually a prodigy as a child and already a named scholar.
"Hello there Adam, it seems like I will be your main tutor during this next year, I will be teaching you about History and Etiquette. You will address me as Scholar Zenon, understood?"
"Kay Scholar Zenon, the others teach me too?" I said looking up to my new tutor.
Possibly taken aback at my understanding his mouth was slightly ajar. I could hear him muttering under his breath.
"I look forward to teach you."
"Ahem, that is correct young master, I will let them introduce themselves to you." After finishing what he had to say, he exited the room.
"Please call in Lady Erin." To my surprise my mother was in fact not envious of her, well maybe she was but I definitely didn't know. Lady Erin entered the room and introduced herself and her role to me as well.
"Pleased to meet you, young master, as you've heard I'm Lady Erin. I will be teaching you about magic more specifically alchemy and monsters of our world." She smiled at me and departed as well.
The man with the ridiculous mustache came in last, I must've missed it the first time since I just noticed the cane he was using. It turns out he was a knighted man due to results in war but suffered an injury to his knee that debilitated him from applying to much stress on it for long periods of time which war would do.
"Young master, you may call Sir Henry, I will be your teacher in tactics and swordsmanship." He gave me a bow and strutted out.
My mother gave me a smile and asked me what I thought of my tutors.
"Scholar Xenon dumb, Lady Erin pretty, Sir Henry strict."
My mother stifled her laughter while my father could care less.
"And is that all you think about them?"
"We have to play first."
"Honey drop, you won't be playing, they will be teaching you new things."
"New things not fun?"
"I supposed that depends on the person. Your father didn't enjoy learning new things."
I just nodded and looked up at her.
"Honey drop you okay?"
"Hungwee, tired."
"Oh, of course, you been here for more than an hour, we might've missed lunch due to the interview, and you surely missed your afternoon name as well."
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The day was quiet I assumed, my nap was serene. The day would continue even in my sleep and before I knew it was already time to eat dinner. After eating the maids made me play with my letter blocks which I didn't mind since it would help me in the coming days or rather years. Even with a teenage brain, there was only so much I could articulate in my speech due to my limited vocabulary and ultimately growing body of a child.
…
The next day my tutor Xenon taught me some history and made me practice more of my writing as he wanted me to read aloud but more importantly understand what I was reading. Lady Erin went through the monster encyclopedia with me, the one I recognized off the bat were main monster tropes, slimes without faces, goblins that rape woman as an alternative means for reproduction, pig-headed orcs, one and 2 headed ogres, along with the other classic slew of training monster. The few that were new to me were the Monifer, it was a prickly lemur due to its stranger thorn like fur, the Androgen basically the mule of dragons, due to its unique scramble of monster it created genetic makeup wasn't viable long-term, but the short term it was alive wasn't pleasant, to say the least for those unfortunate enough to encounter them. I learned of variants which I was expecting, all manners of elemental or environmentally adapted monster, the most adaptable being dragons and their offshoots. I learned bigfoot is real in this world, it's some primate with white fur and subsists mainly on mana and snow, it seems that they are treated as a sacred creature since they often lead the lost back to civilization. I also learned of a few plants with their beneficial abilities. And lastly, I practiced my swordsmanship with a toy sword that Sir Henry had carved from wood with a cloth wrapped at the handle. It was exceptionally fun learning martial arts since I never aspired for it in my past life, well at least my teenage self didn't experience anything like that. The day went by quickly and again it was already time to sleep.
…
It'd been a month since my studying began, it was fairly simple, I mean the course was created for a child. Again, I reviewed history, etiquette and learned the alphabet with Scholar Xenon, the alphabet was quite nice, the language was similar to English made it especially easy to pick, well that's not right too since the writing looked like geometric shapes, rhomboids and swirls. The way they were similar was the sound each shape connotated, and the small amount they used to create all manners of "words". After scholar's Xenon, I had a short break between lesson today since Lady Erin was out gathering some herbs for me to see. When lady Erin did come, she showed me Prickle Pine, Moon Clove, and Sun Flower. From my studies I recognize Moon Clove and Sun Flower since they equated to me as Mana and Health potions' main ingredient, the prickle pine was used as a needle and in some cases, they were hallowed out to be used as a syringe. Since I recognized the plants, she was satisfied and made me "play" matching monsters it was simple enough, mainly teaching me to recognize which monster was which and their vulnerabilities. The harshest was probably Sir Henry, at this point, we were passed the basics much to his delight. Now we were learning how to block and fight bigger opponents I assumed with his towering form looming overhead, he taught me some "techniques" that while wouldn't be suitable for dueling would help me in a real fight and the like. We finished the lesson practicing the basic stances of the sword like every day, and these days would continue until my second memory fragment unzipped, this file felt significantly smaller, it focused mainly on math such as algebra and geometry. It felt easier to grasp these memories and it would seem I had lost the bad habit of stuffing my brain only to dump the knowledge after a test. It was likely due to the pace of this world, learning a subject was slower more understanding and it not being a race against time. These days were "peaceful" I'd noticed the bulge on my mother's stomach long ago, childbirth seemed more arduous in this world since she had been caring the child since before my first memory and that being a year ago. I practiced with my tutors as usual until one of my butlers burst into the room, he looked a bit frantic. He and scholar Xenon had a small conversation and I was told that I would have the remainder of the day off. The butler leads me to the room I was delivered, it seems my mother was finally going into labor. My father again pacing back and forth in the hall, and once I was in his sights there was no escape. Currently, I was being rocked between my fathers' arms, most likely to comfort himself in the anxiety of waiting.
"Papa, are you ok?"
"Yes, mmm no honey-drop I'm worried about your mommy."
"We go inside?"
"Hmm, maybe that's for the best, it’s better than waiting, not knowing.
My mother's rough breathing could be heard as soon as we entered. My father shuffled quickly to grasp my mother's hand with me in tow. We waited silently together, my mother pushing all the while. The baby was delivered successfully but that wasn't the end since there was another on the way. The first was a girl, as well as the second. I was a brother again, and I hoped it would continue to be so. This time, my father and mother had to hold out on naming their children immediately.