Chapter 03

I am back in my room, after a short trip to the mansion’s library, currently reading a book about various Items and how they were created.

‘I have to make the most out of my new [Create Blueprint] and [Crafter’s Mind] Skills’

When I suddenly hear a knock on my door.

“It’s time, Ben. Everything is ready, come and let me celebrate my son’s sixth birthday”

“Ok mom, be with you in a second.”

I close the book and go to my mother, who hugs me after opening my door and says:

“Happy birthday my little boy, come now, your father and friend are already waiting”

So I follow her. She leads me out of of the mansion, to a carriage in front of it. My Father and a nervous Elaine are already waiting for us. My mother, obviously excited about her planned trip:

“Get in, I have everything planned out already and Elaine, don’t be so nervous you’re not here as our new maid, but our son’s friend”

It is my first time, away from the mansion. I am quite excited to see the different houses and people, the coachman drives us by. The town is surprisingly clean, for a medieval settlement. Magic probably plays a part in that.

Not much later, I can see the town wall and we pass through the gate without problems, the Guards even bow to us.

Soon after, we drive up a small hill and arrive at a place with two waiting maids and a picnic blanket.

“We’ve arrived, come now, there it’s an incredible view here.”

My mom says, while pulling me outside.

The scenery is indeed, incredible.

We stand next to a big, blossoming cherry tree, with the town at the bottom of the hill and a river going straight through it.

Our little group sits down on the picnic blanket. The maids pull tee, snacks and a cake, out of thin air, for us to enjoy.

A little later, my father says to me:

“Son, I may have not spent as much time with you as your mother, but I am happy to be able right now. I wish you a great next year and I have some gifts for you, that should help you with your training and future endeavors.”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

He pulls a ring out of his pocket and hands it to me. It glows and changes its size, for a perfect fit on my finger.

“That, my son, is a Epic grade [Ring of Holding]. Try to focus on it and you should find in it: a peek Rare grade [Leather Armor Set], a Rare grade [Knife], [Shield] and [Sword]. I also included ten other uncommon graded Weapons and a blunted replica of each, for training. The Rare grade equipment should be usable for quite a while, since it’s enchanted with [Size Adjustment] and you are a growing young man.”

“Thanks a lot, I don’t now what to say”

“How about: I will put it to good use”

“Yes, I will do that”

I look happily at my father and he points at my mother.

“She also convinced me, that you should be able to spend more time with your friend. So my second gift is that I assign ownership of Elaine to you, as your personal maid and allow her to take part in your training.”

“Wait, ownership ?”

“Yes, most servants, especially of nobles, are turned into [Blood Slaves], to prevent any espionage or traitors. [Blood Slaves] in contrast to normal [Slaves] that just wear a [Slave Collar], are created through an expensive ritual. Since the Slave Contract is ingrained in the person’s Blood, it is close to impossible to break, without killing the owner and also has a small chance to be inherited, like with Elaine and her mother. I just need a drop of your blood and I can later, transfer ownership to you.”

“Okay, but if possible I would like her to be free”

“I won’t stop you from pursuing that, but it’s going to be expensive and you’ll have to achieve it on your own.”

Meanwhile I can see my mother and Elaine whispering with each other, while the latter is getting redder and redder. Until she bursts.

“Okay, Okay … Ben I would be happy to belong to you … as your birth… as your friend and hope we have a great future together…”

My Mother has a mischievous smile on her lips, but stays quite for now.

“I hope we have a great future, together, too.”

We stay a few more hours and talk, about nothing important, before we return back to our mansion.

…

… …

… … …

Early in the next day, my mother wakes me and brings me to our courtyard.

Elaine is already waiting there together with a tall, bulky man, with brown, furry arms and round ears on his head.

“That’s the trainer your father hired. He is a bear-beastkin and a Level 148 Tier 3 [Master Trainer]. Me and him will train you and Elaine for the next few years, so go and introduce yourself.”

So I walk over to the bulky man and introduce myself.

“Good morning, I am Ben Lionheart and here for my training.”

“Good, I am Edward Stonebreaker and will be your trainer for the next few years.”

“For the first lesson we will go over the theory of the skills you will learn and afterwards I will answer your questions.”

“The Skills you will learn will mostly be different Weapon Arts. There is no Weapon Art that I know of that has no lesser version, that can’t be learned regardless of your class. Your Weapon Art skills will be an indicator of your ability to wield a certain Weapon. Upon learning a Weapon Arts you will notice that they will come with skills included. For example, if you learn [lesser Sword Arts], you will automatically know the Skills [Thrust], [Slash] and [Parry]. Other Weapon Arts will give you the same, similar or other Skills.”

“To learn the Weapon arts of your choice, I will show you different movements you will repeat until your stamina is at half of your maximum SP, afterwards your mother will teach you [Meditation] and [Mana Control], for one or to hours, to let your stamina regenerate. Afterwards you will try to fight me until I see some progress or your stamina runs out. Any Questions ?”

“Wha..”

“No ? Then let’s get started and wait for questions after today’s training.”

“First step: how to not hurt myself during hand to hand combat”

…

… …

… … …

I am lying on the floor of the courtyard, breathing heavily. I wonder how I am going to survive the next few years of training.

At least the [Meditation] and [Mana Control] training was kind of relaxing.

No new skills learned, but that would be ridiculous for the first day.

I slowly pull myself up and walk over to where Elaine is lying on the ground, in a similar manner to how I was, a few moments ago.

I help her stand up and together we try to walk back to the mansion, heavily leaning on each other.

…

… …

… … …

The next days go by in a similar manner of mainly hand-to-hand combat training.

After two long months of training I finally get a System message, while being punched in the face by my trainer, ending the mock battle.

[[lesser Hand-to-Hand Combat Arts] learned, with the assigned skills [Fast Punch], [Palm Guidance] and [Block]]

The only thing that changed in my Training afterwards is, that we now use knifes instead of fists.

One Month later I learn [lesser Meditation] and [lesser Mana Control], but stay they stay unchanged in my training program.

…

… …

… … …