CHAPTER 18
After getting back into the mansion, Hirayon spent his days like usual. Waking up, reading, eating, sleeping, then reading again. It became a routine for almost a week until Hanan told him he would be homeschooled.
For the past few days, the child has read over a hundred books, and it is right to say that he is a total bookworm and a nerd. He does nothing else but read to the point that Veno and others get concerned that he is not interested in anything. Thus they proposed that their young master study under a teacher.
Because Hirayon was behind in his studies and Hanan didn't want children pointing their fingers at him, he decided to make Hirayon study at home until he could catch up with the other children.
At first, he thought Hirayon wouldn't want that and would like to have some friends, but Hirayon was adamant about staying most of the time at the mansion because of the library.
"Isn't that the same?" Zeno said while listening to his father reporting and sharing his concern at Hanan.
"What do you mean same?" Veno inquired.
"I mean, he is studying now by reading, self-studying," Zeno pointed out.
"He is, but it is different to actually have teachers. Hirayon will have direction in what he's studying, and it can even lead him to be interested in something more other than studying," Veno explained.
"Alright, I will hire some teachers," Hanan said and immediately went to work. He contacted professors he knew and also those who were known in specific fields such as mathematics, history, science, geography, elemental abilities, and more.
In the span of three days, the mansion was filled with guests who had undergone strict hiring by their one and only chief. Even though Hanan personally reached out to them, they still had to be interviewed by the doting and protective Hanan.
After everything was done, Hanan introduced Hirayon to his new teachers. It was an uneventful meeting as Hirayon just stared and listened to the teachers introduce themselves. He already knew that he would be studying, and although he was excited at first, it died down when he realized his time reading would be cut short. But as he would still be learning, he decided to follow his father and attended the classes.
That went on, and a week passed, and the teachers realized what kind of child Hirayon was.
"He's a genius!" An old professor said as he showed Hirayon's test papers to Hanan.
"I second it. This is the first time I experienced teaching someone so keen to learn and just brilliant!" Another teacher said with clasped hands. She had a fair share of experience teaching kids as she used to work in the academy, so she knew how special Hirayon was.
"What's more, he is extremely fast in understanding complex things. Even a genius would hide in embarrassment with his talent," A teacher with glasses said. He is Hirayon's math teacher, and he had to teach the child advanced math because the one for his age was too easy for Hirayon.
"This might sound surprising coming from teachers, but chief, I had nothing to teach the child that he couldn't learn by himself," a teacher admitted to Hanan.
They were all at Hanan's office to report Hirayon's performance for the past week, and he was above the clouds hearing other people praise his son. He was even smiling slightly, clearly showing how proud he was of Hirayon.
He didn't see it unusual at all that his son was extremely smart because Hanan was a brilliant kid as well as a child. But he knows that Hirayon is different, and the teachers' reports proven it more.
"Are you sure he can learn everything in the library? Does everyone think the same?" Hanan asked and looked at all of Hirayon's teachers.
They all nodded, and some even sighed. "It's a shame not to be capable of teaching such a child, but we are slowing down his learning by teaching. It would be faster for him to study himself," the old professor said. He felt ashamed that he won't be able to help and teach a remarkable child.
"What we could do is list books that are not in the library so he could study them." The woman teacher said, and everyone else agreed.
After their report, they listed all books they knew that weren't in the library. The list reached tens of thousands, and Hanan immediately ordered it to be bought and delivered to the mansion, which most would come from other territories. Hanan also decided to renovate the library again to accommodate all the books. He called for a Spatial Oddity to expand the library and an Earth Oddity specializing in Carpentry to make the shelves.
After the teachers left, Zeno looked smugly at Veno, who was also in the room and heard all the praises about Hirayon.
"I told you he could study by himself," Zeno said, irritating his father.
"It seemed like I didn't fully understand the young master's capabilities," Veno admitted and smiled at his chief.
"If he wouldn't need teachers, how about a trainer for his body?" Veno suggested, and Hanan fell into deep thought.
Hirayon's body was small for his age. And because he spent most of his time cooped up in the library, he was still thin even though he was eating healthy and nourishing meals.
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"Who?" Hanan asked as he knew Veno would only suggest that with someone in mind.
"The previous commander of the Sea Knights," Veno said, and Zeno's hand immediately stopped typing in the hologram.
He looked at his father with shaky eyes while the latter just gave him a cold teasing smirk.
The previous commander of the Sea Knights was a man of honor and dignity. He is a Noble Oddity who has experienced thousands of battles and survived countless attacks. He had led the Sea Knights for more than six hundred years and only stopped when it was time for him to retire.
Oddities' lifespan is different from their distant ancestors who had no abilities. Together with the emergence of basic and innate elemental abilities, they also realized that their lifespan increases depending on the number of abilities they can wield.
In particular, oddities gain extra twenty years of life for reaching the first phase of a rank together with the basic ability. Then they earn forty years for every innate elemental ability they acquire.
With that, every rank an oddity could surpass would give them a hundred years, resulting in Normal Oddities living up to two hundred years and the Prime Oddities living up to one thousand years. Hanan, in fact, is already in his late 200s and about to reach 300.
Although it is sad that Oddities with fewer abilities could only live a short life, they also have an alternative of taking a pill that the Mind Clan had invented. The pill contains purified and powdered parts of monster cores with some Aura, which they have learned could increase the lifespan of Oddities but not enough to give them another ability.
Ingesting a pill could increase five years of an oddities' life. Even though it sounds like it was the solution for their short lifespan, they must consider their body's capability of handling a part of the monster's core because if their body is weak, they will get overwhelmed and immediately die. That is why Mind Clan gave a limit of ten pills for Normal Oddities, twenty for Skilled Oddities, thirty for Veteran Oddities, and so on.
"Will he accept it?" Zeno asked in a worried voice. He was anxious not because the previous commander might decline but instead scared that he would accept. He had past traumas with the man and would still shiver in fear whenever he saw him. He was glad that the old man retired, but then his father was suggesting for the previous commander be Hirayon's trainer.
"Of course, he will. Dewan is a workaholic. He didn't even want to retire in the first place. He had no choice because he realized Amis had huge potential and didn't want to rob the kid of experiencing real battles and leading the knights," Veno said.
"Are you really going to invite him?" Zeno asked, looking at Hanan with pleading eyes. He will be on his toes if the previous commander returns.
"Yes," Hanan answered, not even looking at Zeno's anxious face.
"Damn."
"Language," Veno scolded.
"Are there no other choices?" Zeno asked, desperate to not meet Dewan again.
"He is the best choice. It's your fault anyway. Who told you to prank him and pour monster goo in his shampoo?" Veno said, reminding his son of the absurd thing he did when he was a kid.
When Zeno was young, he was trained under the watchful eyes of Dewan. To his fury for having to do intense training every day, he mixed monster goo into the commander's shampoo, causing a chemical reaction and making Dewan bald. Because of that, the previous commander threw him into monster territories in the sea and didn't help him until he was on the brink of death. That happened multiple times, enough for him to have nightmares just thinking of the previous commander.
"I was a kid, and you didn't even help your son!" Zeno said and stood up, mad that his father didn't even try to help him before.
"Why would I? I have six sons and three daughters. They all grew up well and had peaceful childhood. I don't think I'm the problem," Veno said, pointing out Zeno's siblings' peaceful lives.
Hanan frowned at the father and son. Veno was acting like he didn't care about Zeno, but in actuality, he was the one who begged the previous commander not to kill his child and just let him experience hardship.
Although Commander Dewan was extremely scary, he wasn't planning on killing the child for a mere prank. But Veno didn't know that and begged the commander and even offered one of his territories in exchange. Of course, Dewan didn't take it, which made Veno more worried.
Good thing Dewan only scared Zeno to the point of having trauma and shaking just by hearing the commander's name.
"I will contact him," Hanan said, earning a miserable look from Zeno. He tried to beg Hanan more, but his chief was adamant about his choice as the previous commander was a great and honored man who trained Sea Knights to be capable of defeating monsters in any situation.
A few days later, the Dewan returned to the territory from traveling across Diwana and immediately went to Hanan's summon.
"Welcome," Hanan said shortly and glanced at Zeno's empty seat. The man hurriedly ran away when he learned that the commander had arrived.
"Thank you, chief. Where is the child?" The commander asked, getting directly to the reason for his summon.
Hanan scanned the man. His appearance and voice were the same as what Hanan could remember, but he could feel that Dewan had become stronger.
'Looks like he didn't stop training,' Hanan thought.
"He is at the library now. I will send him to the knight's training field," Hanan said and sent a message to Amir and Veno to prepare Hirayon for the first day of the training.
He told Hirayon earlier that he would start training today and that he would call him once his trainer arrived. Although the two didn't say anything about training immediately, Hanan knew the commander's personality and was sure he would start training Hirayon from day one.
"What is the child like?" The commander asked while they were walking toward the training field.
"He is extremely brilliant," Hanan said with a hint of a smile painted on his face.
When the commander saw that, his brow raised, and he realized that the rumors around the territory were true.
"If you said so, he must really be." The commander commented.
"He is. You'll be surprised what he can do."
"Can he already use water abilities?" Dewan asked.
"See for yourself," Hanan said as the large door toward the training field slid open. Revealing a vast area of seagrass.
The whole field was surrounded by a tall fence, with a barrier, stopping the sea water from flowing in. On its left side was a large building meant for soldiers. Inside are rooms with their own bathrooms, a dining area, a huge bathhouse, a weapon room, and many more. Adjacent to it is the sea mammals' stables that some knights ride during their missions.
The two walked toward the center of the vast field, and Dewan scanned the area.
"Brings back memories," he murmured as he smelt the seagrass and salt water. He had spent hundreds of years of his life in the field, and he was extremely thrilled to be back. He was feeling excited to the point of smirking and having thoughts of checking out the current knights of the territory.
"There he is," Hanan said, looking at the door where they came from.
The commander first noticed Veno's familiar face, whom he had worked with for years. The man was smiling wide as well, happy to see the previous commander. Together with him is a young man who seems like a new butler. In front of the two was a scrawny little child who looked four years old.
He was walking with an expressionless and uninterested face, reminding him of the person by his side.
'Definitely his son.'
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