"You are already seven years old… where does the time go?" Angela asked when Gaius paid another visit.

"Indeed… while I certainly am not seven years old mentally," Gaius nodded. "It is also hard to say that I am twenty-six mentally since I didn't have that much life experience after dying when I was just nineteen. Maybe we should just add both numbers and divide by two and say that I am thirteen."

"Maybe we should," Angela laughed a little.

"Anyway, about this power, can I make someone from my list disappear?" Gaius asked. "Relia is more depressing than the worth of summoning her for, and while I can force her to forget almost everything, it would be… difficult for someone like her to stay here."

Gaius wanted to say that it would be a living hell, but that would be kind of insulting to Angela. He wondered if those two could stay and talk together, but it was hard to imagine. Angela wasn't the type to show much emotion, and Relia was depressed, and she didn't feel the need to hide it anymore. It was a terrible combination.

"If you disappear, their spirits can go and follow the usual process after turning into spirits, and while you can get rid of them, it would be the same as destroying their existence in all forms," Angela explained after thinking for a while.

"That is quite something… but what kind of process is that the spirits go through?" Gaius asked.

"I wouldn't know. I am not a spirit and I have never been one," Angela shrugged her shoulders.

"Even though you brought me here?" Gaius asked.

"Well, let's say that I wouldn't be able to do that again even if I wanted," Angela forced a smile. "I got extremely lucky… in any case, let her stay here for a while, and then you can do whatever you want if it doesn't work."

"What do you have in mind?" Gaius asked.

"Nothing much. I just want to talk with her for a while," Angela showed a smile that was more like a poker face. "I think she would benefit from that and me too."

That sure was suspicious, and it wasn't like they would just have some girl talk. Still, it was better than the other two options. In the end, Gaius agreed with it.

"Also, you don't have to kill anyone or anything if you want to make them return here," Angela said. "You won't have to use more mana to summon them the next time, but they will be summoned where you are."

"Isn't it a bit late for you to reveal that?" Gaius asked while feeling like facepalming.

"Well, it didn't look like you needed that kind of information until now," Angela forced another smile.

She sure liked to use her smile to escape her way from those troublesome situations. In any case, Gaius decided to ignore it and just focus on other things.

The next day, Gaius sent Relia to that place after he recovered the knife. He had planned to take some time off to consider his next steps, but then his father approached and said something important.

"Gaius, it is time for you to make a decision," Zairus suddenly said with a serious expression on his face.

Zairus only showed that when he was truly serious, so Gaius decided to pay attention to him.

"I have already taught you the basics of combat. Now you will have to choose your own path and refine the fighting style that you think suits you," Zairus said after he crossed his arms. "You need to choose a weapon that you will use for the rest of your life."

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Gaius never thought too much about it, but few people in the village used swords and shields. His father used a broadsword that he had for who knows how long. He also took good care of it every day. Cleaning, polishing, sharpening… Gaius felt slightly annoyed since he always does that while humming.

In any case, now that Lord Ekirenton was treating the village like a proper vassal, he sent some weapons for the people to use. Kids, when they become nine or ten, receive real weapons to get used to them, and Gaius was going to get one at seven… only because his parents knew that he had a good head. Still, Kaira was hesitating.

"Well, now… what should I do?" Gaius rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Gaius had all the basic options: swords, spears, bows, and axes. After thinking for a while, he truly didn't have a preference… considering the skills that he had, Gaius could pick a sword and a bow with no problems. After all, he truly got skilled after Rein leveled up alongside Swordsmanship. To the point that his father had to risk breaking the training sword in order to pass through Gaius' defenses.

"I still don't know a way to combine magic and melee combat aside from just enhancing my body," Gaius thought. "Still, I would like to keep training. I think it would be better if I start to train seriously with a sword for close range, with a spear for the middle range, and with a bow for long range. Magic will support all fighting styles… Or so the theory goes. I don't think anyone will complain if I show some skill with the weapons… the real problem is the spear. Until I get someone that is really good at it, I will have to train hard to learn the ways."

Gaius' dexterity wasn't high. He was in the middle when it came to the ranks of the village, and few people could use spears. When it comes to basic attacks, one didn't have to be a genius to handle the spear, but to reach mastery was another story altogether.

"You want to train with three types of weapons?" Zairus frowned when he heard what Gaius had in mind. "You know… liking to practice and cover your bases is good, but you shouldn't try to focus on too many things."

Zairus scratched the back of his head since Gaius was resolute and didn't want to back down. In the end, he just lent him some of the items from the armory of the village.

As expected, some of the other guards didn't like that. It looked like Zairus was giving special treatment to his son just because everyone respected him a lot. Still, they changed their minds when Gaius began to train. Despite his size and age, his sword strikes were firm and precise… even though the sword was almost taller than him. However, the more complicated the move, the more Gaius had to put effort… something like continuous sword slashes could only be done for two seconds. That was the limit of Gaius' strength and Sword Mastery.

Using the bow was a bit better since he didn't have to try to fire them in quick succession. Just hitting a few trees forty meters away left the other guards speechless and Zairus proud of his son. Still, even with his current strength, Gaius had to enhance his arms a bit to pull the string of an ordinary bow fully… the long one was going to be way harsher.

As for the spear, Gaius could show some skill. At least he didn't look like a total beginner. He was slow, though. He could use some points to solve that issue, but Gaius decided to put some hard work into that instead of cutting corners.

Just like Gaius expected, nothing major happened in a while, and he had the chance to focus on training. Now and then, Zairus would show up with another guard and their kid who wanted to spar with them… Gaius had a really hard time trying not to show an expression of utter boredom whenever that happened.

While those kids were bigger than him, Gaius still managed to overpower and outspeed them, thanks to Sword Mastery. He didn't even have to try to use all of his strength.

After numerous victories, Zairus thought that his son would develop a long nose, but as soon as every spar ended, he would resume his training and push his limits.

Things were going slowly when it came to Gaius' experience gaining. Mostly because he hunted almost all demons in a twenty-kilometer radius… Thanks to that, he was only paying a visit to Angela once a month, and it had been a while since the time Relia had been there. Gaius was worried… he didn't know what to expect once headed, and his tension increased when he leveled up.

"Hahahaha, is that right?" Relia laughed in her spirit form, and Gaius imagined her rolling on the ground.

"Yes, it is true," Angela nodded while smiling like usual. "The most interesting part was when Gaius made an ant dance on his nose. He had some suspicious tastes."

Gaius frowned when he heard that. Those two were so busy talking that they didn't realize that he had shown up, but they eventually did, and things got a bit awkward for a moment.

"Then the next time, Gaius made—," Angela added.

"Are you seriously going to pretend that you didn't notice me?" Gaius asked while frowning.