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January 30, 1561
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In a dark bedroom, the sound of someone moaning in pain could be heard. The sounds of crying also soon followed as the person quietly cried at the pain, unable to hold it in no longer. That person was Henry of course. However, his spirit was still unwavering.
It had only been over just a week since his new teacher Crow had begun to officially teach him the ways of cultivators. Or he was supposed to, instead all he did was make Henry do physical workouts. Henry could still remember the first time he had been forced to finish a 200-meter lap. What was worse was that Henry couldn't do anything about it. If he said no, Crow would beat him up to a pulp. Soon Henry learned that his mother allowed Crow to do whatever he wanted during his training. Grasping his injured leg, Henry thought of when he had first met Crow.
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10 Days Ago
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After learning of Crow's new responsibilities, Henry immediately became excited. This would be the second-ever cultivator Henry had ever met in his life. While he knew that his father was a cultivator as well, he never felt like he was one. For Henry, Father was Father, not an all-powerful cultivator, so meeting a real one was a memorizing moment for him. However, that moment was short-lived as he immediately felt pressure aimed at him. Looking over at the source he saw Crow staring at him, his eyes weren't even blinking as if he was afraid that Henry would disappear any minute.
Clapping her hands, Mary said, "Alright, shall we eat?"
"Yes! I'm really hungry mum," Henry replied while rubbing his stomach.
"Hahaha, of course, you are dear. You're still growing after all."
"Mmhm"
Clapping her hands twice, 4 maids entered bringing dishes for the 4. After eating quickly, Henry quickly got up ready to leave, feeling creeped out by Crow. As they ate, Crow never said anything, just glancing over at Henry for several seconds before quickly looking back at his eggs. Noticing his gaze Henry would smile at him just for Crow to do nothing but continue eating.
Seeing Henry get up, his mother told him, "Now now Henry. Where are you going? Sit down and wait for Mr. Crow here to finish."
"Eh? Why should I wait for him, mum?"
"You will wait for Mr. Crow because your first lecture with him is today."
"What?"
"You heard me. Now sit down before I raise my voice."
"Alright." Sitting down, Henry began to wait while Crow ate slowly. Henry would tap his fingers and moved his legs non-stop, signs of extreme energy usual in kids. After a tedious 5 minute session of starting at Crow as he ate, he was finally done. Getting up, he said," Let's go." before turning around and leaving. Henry surprised at him saying something, quickly got up and ran towards him but not before saying his goodbyes to Mary and Sir Stuart.
As the two left, the remaining two sat there in silence.
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"I'm sorry if my friend has caused any disrespect Maam."
"It's alright Sir Stuart. You've already told me that his personality is a bit eccentric. All that is important is that he guides my son correctly."
"In that aspect, I'm confident you won't be able to find anyone better than him at the Konj Kingdom."
"I do hope so Sir Stuart."
Catching up to Crow, Henry began to walk behind him wondering where they were going. Getting reminded of something, Henry's eyes flashed with excitement while asking, "Sir Crow, where are we going?"
".....Call me Crow," he replied, ignoring Henry's question.
"Alright! Crow, where are we going?"
"...Training grounds." he slowly answered.
"Okay," Henry replied, smiling.
Reaching the training grounds, it was empty as all the guards who had been training had been told to leave ahead of time. The training grounds were an especially large part of the castle, for it was gathering grounds for most of the guards that protected the castle. There would be around 10 guards always present here, training or socializing with one another. The total length would be around 200 meters.
Crow reached the middle of the training grounds before turning around and staring at Henry. After a few seconds of silence as the two stared at each other, Crow spoke up,".....Run."
"Huh?"
"....Run some laps."
"Oh...How many?"
".....10"
"Eh? 10 laps around the training field? That's too hard!"
"....Go."
"Can we do something else?"
SMACK!! A surprised Henry fell onto his butt. Touching his cheek, he looked at Crow with a surprised expression, who had suddenly appeared right in front of Henry. No one had ever raised their hand at Henry ever before. Who would dare with him being a child of a Baron?
".....Now"
Tears began to appear in Henry's eyes as he slowly got up and began to run not daring to question Crow again. Nodding to himself, Crow appeared in front of a chair, sat down, and began to observe Henry, making sure he wouldn't skip any laps.
After nearly 4 hours of Henry being forced to run laps, he had finally finished all 10. Collapsing onto the floor, his legs felt like they were being consumed by fire.
"Huff huff huff." He heavily panted, not daring to even take a step. Crow suddenly appeared in front of him with a disapproving expression and asked, "Are you ready?"
Not understanding what he asked, Henry replied, "Huff...What do you...huff...mean?"
Shaking his head, Crow replied,"....You are not ready."
Not understanding what he was saying, Henry suddenly collapsed; his consciousness slowly faded away from the sheer fatigue he had accumulated over 4 hours.
"GASP!" Henry exclaimed, suddenly jumping out of his bed. Glancing around his bedroom, he realized that it was already dark meaning that he had been unconscious for over several hours now. As he realized how late it was, the pain suddenly returned. It was an unimaginable pain for an 8-year-old child. Legs on fire and a cheek swollen, Henry began to sniffle. Soon tears came out as he was unable to hold them back no more. For the first time, Henry began to cry quietly in bed.
Knock Knock
"Sweetie, are you awake?" his mother asked.
Wiping his tears away, Henry didn't answer.
"Are you crying?"
"....No," he finally replied.
Opening the door, Mary walked in to see her son hiding under the covers with the occasional shaking. Walking over and sitting on the edge of the bed, she asked Henry, "So, how was it? I heard that you fainted."
"Mum, I don't want Crow to stay here."
"Why not?"
"Because he...he hit me!" Henry exclaimed, bursting into a new set of tears.
"Oh my. Come here, sweetie." Moving over to Henry, Mary hugged him and began to pet him saying that everything would be fine. After a minute of hugging him, Henry finally calmed down.
Mary asked him, "Do you want Sir Crow to leave?"
Nodding, Henry replied, "Yes. I don't like him."
"Are you sure?"
"Mhmm."
"I see but how can you follow your father around on his journeys he comes back if you're not strong enough?"
"Eh? But I can still cultivate on my own!"
"But what if you make a mistake? Isn't it better if you had a teacher who could help you become stronger?"
"Stronger?" Hearing that, Henry began to think about his dream of becoming the strongest. How could he become the strongest if he couldn't handle this? "Okay mum, let Crow stay. I'll become so strong that Crow wouldn't be able to do nothing to me!"
"That's the spirit sweetie. You know that I love you the most in the entire world right? I would do anything for you."
"Yeah."
"Are you fine now?" she asked, looking directly at him, and received a nod from Henry.
"Are you hungry?"
"Yeah."
"Alright, I'll call Amy over to bring you some leftovers from dinner. Sweet dreams my love." Mary said kissing him on the cheek before getting up to leave.