Chapter 6:Training

“Pardon?” Lord Gamberdash stared blankly at Shiina and asked.

“Dad,may I meet my mother?Its been many years since I have last seen her.” Shiina repeated himself.

After some slight hesitation,Lord Gamberdash said with a frown. ‘No.”

“Why?You said that I could ask for anything!” Shiina cried out.

“W…well…I have sent your Mother on a er…very important mission outside the mansion.” Lord Gamberdash said with a stutter.

“So I can't meet my mum?” tears started forming in Shiina’s eyes as he snort started flowing from his nose.

Sweat started pouring down Lord Gamberdash’s back. “How do I solve this problem?”he thought.

“Um… your Mother will finish her job in er…15 years!Yes,15 years!You can meet her then.”

“Really?” Shiina wiped his eyes and asked.

“Of course!In the meantime,you can communicate with her through letters!Are you okay with that?”

“Yes!” Shiina’s teary face disappeared,replacing it was a great smiling face that can touch the hearts of anybody,pity Lord Gamberdash didn't notice it for he was busy thinking of his possible future prosperity.

……

The next day.

“Here is the letter your mother had just sent,take a read.” Lord Gamberdash presented a beautiful envelope sealed with wax seal.

Shiina tore open the envelope and carefully took out the letter.The words that filled the letter were written in fancy-looking font and the paper used was snow white with gold lining tracing out a flower on the sides.Without even having a hint of doubt of the legitimacy of the letter,Shiina read.

Dear Shiina,the son I love the most.

How have you been?

I’m so sorry for seeing you for the past who knows how many years.I had been just so busy!

I am very healthy here,absolutely no problem at all!

Lord Gamberdash has ensured that I can eat my three meals and treats me very well!

Lord Gamberdash has given me a very,very important job that requires me to take a very very long time to complete.I think that it may take from 10 years to 12 years to finish so I will not be seeing you anytime soon.Therefore for now,listen to everything your daddy tells you to do and don't misbehave!

I heard that you have a unique skill don't you?Be sure to train it well to serve Lord Gamberdash well!If you work hard enough and serve the great Lord Gamberdash well,I may be able to go home earlier.Do your best!

Yours sincerely,

N̶a̶g̶i̶s̶u̶ N̶a̶g̶i̶s̶a̶ ̶G̶a̶m̶b̶e̶r̶d̶a̶s̶h̶ Nagisa Motoyu

As Shiina was reading,Lord Gamberdash was fidgeting behind his back while his face remained indifferent.

“Okay.” Shiina muttered as he lowered the letter in his hand.

“Now,do you understand why was I unable to let you meet your mother?” Lord Gamberdash asked,seemingly trying to justify his actions.

“Yes Dad.”

“Now that that's out of the way,lets get you started on your new schedule.”

“New schedule?” Shiina tilted his head in confusion and asked.

“You are now a person deemed worthy for the family to spend resources on,of course you have new schedules.”

Lord Gamberdash handed Shiina a piece of paper with a timetable drained on it.

“This is your new schedule for the next 9 years.You will be starting on your basic training before being sent off to work for this family.” Lord Gamberdash explained.

“Physical training before breakfast,noble etiquette and general lessons between breakfast and lunch.After lunch,magic training until dinner and…”

“What?Problem?”

“But…”

“What did your Mother tell you to do huh???”

“To follow Dad’s instruction…”

“Well?!?!”

“Yes sir.”

… …

“From today onwards,you will be training with Astachev,the leader of my sercurity squad,on combat.” Lord Gamberdash said as he introduced Astachev.

Stolen novel; please report.

“Good morning Mr Astachev.” Shiina bowed and greeted.

“Em.Lets start.” Astachev acknowledged Shiina’s greeting and immediately displayed a stance,ready to attack Shiina at any moment. “Experiencing close combat helps you learn faster.Just dodge all my attacks and try to find a chance to counter.” Astachev explained as he took a step forward to launch a punch towards Shiina.

“Astachev is not good with words.Have fu~n” Lord Gamberdash said as he walked away.

“Kkkkkyyyyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaa!!!” Shiina’s scream resounded non-stop throughout the mansion for the next 4 hours.

… …

“Oi Shiina,still alive?” Lord Gamberdash entered the training ground and asked a corpse on the ground.

“Y…yes dad…” the corpse raised his head and said softly.

The corpse was Shiina completely covered in wounds.

Lord Gamberdash let out a sigh. “If you died from the training,how can I still use you?” he muttered.

“Oh mana within me,transform into a guiding ray that speeds up recovery.Mend his bones,connect his tendons,cure his soul.[heal].” Lord Gamberdash chanted and from his hand,particles of light were produced.The particles travelled in a set pattern and formed a smal globe of green light which landed on Shiina.Wherever the globe of green light touch,all bruises in the respective area healed in a blink of an eye.Within minutes,Shiina has completely healed.

“This is…magic?” Shiina stared at his pure white hands with interest.

“Yes,that is magic.You will learn more about it after lunch.For now lets go have breakfast.” Lord Gamberdash said as he urged Shiina towards the mansion’s dining area.

After having a light brunch,Lord Gamberdash brought Shiina towards the mansion’s library.There,stood a middle-aged women.

“Aunt May!” Shiina couldn't help but shout out.Aunt May,the middle-aged woman,is the famous first wife of Lord Gamberdash who was famous for being greedy and her lack of respect towards anybody.

Aunt May smiled towards Shiina.”Welcome,Shiina.Hurry and come here to seat down.We are going to start with your lessons now.”

Without the slightest hesitation,Shiina took a seat in front of a table and started listening to the lesson attentively.

2 hours later,when Lord Gamberdash went to pick up Shiina,what he found instead was a dried corpse.

Vein popped from Lord Gamberdash’s head. “Not again…” Lord Gamberdash casted  [heal] yet again and brought Shiina back to life.He then dragged Shiina off to lunch.

After lunch,Shiina’s revitalised body was dragged to a hall for his magic lessons.

“Good afternoon Lord arch magus.” Lord Gamberdash greeted an old man clad in a stereotypical mage outfit.The old man then indifferently sent Lord Gamberdash off,only leaving Shiina in the hall.

The old man’s indifferent face changed to a gentle smile when he saw Shiina.

“Hello there little girl,my name is Marcus Anvegalon,arch magus and retainer of the demon emperor.I shall be teaching you magic here for the next few years.Any questions?” Marcus introduced himself and asked.

“Why are you calling me a girl?” Shiina asked.

“You are not a girl?”

“I am a boy.”

Marcus looked shocked,but overall,still quite calm.

“My sincerest apologies,Shiina.” Marcus bowed his head and apologised.

“No no it does not matter much so please raise your head Lord Marcus!” Shiina hurriedly said.Imagine this,a CEO of a great company suddenly bowing down to a small little commoner.That feeling of anxiety was what Shiina was feeling now.

“Oh,is that so. ”Marcus raised his head. “Then without further ado let's start on your first magic lesson.” Marcus declared.

“To start off,what do you know about magic Shiina?” Marcus asked.

“Magic is something that can heal you,something that goes bing…bang…boom?” Shiina displayed his obvious lack of knowledge about magic.

“Ha ha ha.” Marcus laughed. “You are not wrong but there is more to it to magic,watch.”

Marcus pointed his hand towards an empty space of the hall.

“Oh mana within me,transform into a guiding ray that contains the attribute of lightning.Call upon the lightning spirits of this world to congeal a mass of lightning to break my enemies.Fry their body,fry their brains,fry their minds.[Lightning crash].” Marcus chanted and glowing particles exited from his hands.They formed a large magic circle with a complicated design and suddenly,large amount of lightning was discharged towards the empty space.As a result,the empty space was charged black.

“Wow.”Shiina looked in awe.

Without even stopping to take a break,Marcus chanted another spell. “Oh mana within me,form a guiding ray that contains the attribute lightning.Call upon the spirits of lightning to wrap me with lightning.[Lightning clad].” Glowing particles exited from Marcus’s hands yet again to form 2 fist sized magic circle.Marcus placed his hands through the small magic circles and when he took it out,they were covered in lightning.

“Both of these magics are middle-tier class magic and low-tier class magic respectively.Shiina,can you tell me what are their similarities?” Marcus asked.

“Both use lightning?”

“Correct,what else?”

“Hmmm…”Shiina closed his eyes and tried entering a state of deep thought. “I don’t know.” He answered.

“The correct answer is…glowing particles,called mana,exits my body to form magic circles which brings out the effect of the magic used.” Marcus shook his hands and the lighting around him disappeared.

“You can only use the magic you have the aptitude for.For me,I have the aptitude for lightning.Therefore, I can use lightning magic.All in all,magic is the usage of the mana in your body to produce result corresponding to the element you are skilled in.Understand?” Marcus looked at Shiina with a slight playfulness in his eye.

As he thought,Shiina did not understand even the slightest bit of what he said.Steam was emoting from Shiina’s head. “Shiina’s still young after all.” Marcus thought as he let out a sigh.

“Shiina,for now,all you need to know is that you use magic with mana and chanting makes using magic easier.Understand?”

“Yes.Lord Marcus.” Shiina said respectfully.

“Good.” Marcus nodded his head and smiled.

“Now that the basic theory is covered,lets move on to your unique skill next.”

“Unique skill?Oh you mean [create dagger]?”

“Yes,that.The difference between normal magic and unique skills is great.” Marcus explained. “While you have train for a long time to master a spell, unique skills requires lesser time and attention.”

“Ooh.” Shiina looked at his hands in interest with his ruby-red eyes. “Create dagger!!!” Shiina shouted with his hands outstretched.But nothing happened.

“Haha,it is not so easy to use magic Shiina.” Marcus chuckled.

Upon hearing that,Shiina excited eyes turned downcast.

Seeing his sad expression,Marcus hurriedly said “Don't worry!Let me tell a small secret,when someone uses magic,their eyes will glow slightly.And just now,I saw your red eyes flowed slightly.”

“Really?” Shiina asked with a tear in his eyes.

“Yes yes.” Marcus comforted.

The hall seemed to brighten as Shiina smiled.

For the next few hours,Marcus slowly imparted some magic theory into Shiina until Lord Gamberdash came to pick up Shiina for dinner.

…. …

That night…

“Um Dad?”

“What is it Shiina.”

“Why am I wearing clothes meant for girls?”

Shiina was surrounded by noble women putting makeup onto Shiina.

“This is training for your future job.Deal with it.”Lord Gamberdash said indifferently.