“So, you want us to throw these at you?” Corie asked, giving me a skeptical look.
My disciples and I, together with Mother and Kaylee, were near the outskirts of Sturm Manor. It was an overcast day, as a thick layer of clouds blanketed the sky, though it didn’t look like it would rain today. The air had a slight chill to it, a lingering remnant of winter. In the distance, birds sang their praises and called out to each other.
When we had set out this morning for training, Mother brought Kaylee along since my little sister needed it. While she was now a cultivator, she kept her training and her cultivation to a minimum, since she preferred to focus on wizardry. However, Mother insisted that Kaylee join us so that she didn’t fall too far behind. If nothing else, Mother wanted Kaylee to master the basics. Even if she focused on wizardry, going through basic cultivator training would go a long way.
It was a few days after Priestess Kara had come to Sturm Manor in order to retrieve Grand Priest Darius. When I woke up the next day, after sleeping for more than fourteen hours, I was annoyed at myself for not asking Grand Priest Darius about Hadley. I wanted to know if they were related or not.
More importantly, I wanted to talk with Grand Priest Darius about what kind of support I could receive from the Church of the Sun. Until I revealed my status as the Chosen of Tempest, I would only receive limited aid from them, but it was better than nothing. I needed to meet with Grand Priest Darius to discuss that.
After that, I decided to keep myself busy. The long nap had eased my headache, but it also helped me realize that putting myself through stressful situations exacerbated the pain I felt from my damaged mind. Fighting off mental demons, meeting with my ex-fiancée, and dealing with a loud Thunder Badger all counted. Avoiding stressful situations was my go-to plan for the next month.
Unfortunately, there was one in particular that I couldn’t avoid: meeting with Annabelle’s family. The day after I sent them a message, I received a reply. It was an invitation to a tea party they were hosting at Thorne Manor. It would take place a week after I sent the initial message. I wasn’t sure if this party was limited to me and House Thorne, or if there would be other outsiders.
Usually, in this situation, I would meet with Lord and Lady Thorne in private in order to discuss my courtship with Annabelle. If I brought a gift, all the better. It wasn’t necessary on my part, but it was a good idea. I decided to go with a painting, since I already had all the supplies.
However, since House Thorne invited me to a tea party, which may or may not include other guests, told me that they were up to something. Still, at least they sent a reply. I half-feared that they would ignore my message, and that I would have to resort to more drastic measures.
I decided to focus on my training until then. My martial training that was. Since I couldn’t use my divine sense, I couldn’t cultivate. No building up pillars for my foundation, no divine body cultivation, no forming new threads. Nothing.
Without the ability to see mana with my divine sense, as well as my own being, that was a risk I wasn’t willing to take. I mean, I still could have, but the chances of something going wrong were too high. Aurora’s presence could help, but it was better to wait for my mind to heal.
To that end, we built a little training area, since we didn’t know how long we would stay here at Sturm Manor. My goal was to get House Thorne’s blessing and rebuild my reputation within House society, while Mother’s goal was to spend more time with all of her children and make connections with the other cultivator Clans and sects in the area. It would take us a while to accomplish all this.
The training area we built wasn’t much. It was a simple training yard, with wooden dummies and archery targets, as well as two sets of Plum Blossom Poles. One set was closer to the ground, for beginners, while the other set was much higher up, for those with more experience.
I found it funny that we went through all the trouble and expense to build all kinds of fancy training facilities at Sturm Hill, but we were still using these much simpler methods.
Mother created a crude obfuscation magic circle to hide all of this from the retainers and servants who weren’t in the know. While it was clear that something was going on, they wouldn’t know exactly what. Even if they disobeyed Mother’s edict and poked their noses in where it didn’t belong, the training area itself gave nothing away. It was weird that we would build a whole new training area, but nothing about our actions screamed cultivation.
While we were busy with all of this, Father dealt with the aftermath of the necromancer attack. He met with representatives from both House Solaria and the Sun Guard. A part of me had wanted to sit in on those meetings, but I decided not to for the sake of my mental health.
My disciples loved the Plum Blossom Poles and thought they were cool. Leroy in particular enjoyed using them. After gaining insights from my display in front of the other House Sturm retainers, Leroy had gone up a small realm. This put him ahead of my other disciples. He was also one step closer to manifesting sword intent. Hell, it was possible that he would do so sooner than expected.
For today’s training, I wanted to hone my mundane senses and my situational awareness. By relying too much on my divine sense, I neglected this fundamental part of my training, which had bit me in the ass multiple times already. I would also make sure that Mother and my disciples went through the same training. It was a bit too early for Kaylee to give it a try.
When the five of us set out for the training area this morning, I brought along several bags. Most of them were filled with cloth balls covered in red dye, two were filled with white robes, and the last one was filled with all sorts of potions. I handed the bags with the cloth balls to my disciples, while I donned a set of white robes. As I did so, I explained to everyone the sort of training I had in mind.
The basic idea was that they would all throw the cloth balls at me, while I did my best to dodge their attacks. Since the cloth balls were covered in red dye, and I wore a set of white robes, it would be easy to tell where I had been hit and how many times.
“Not that I’m complaining,” Corie said. “In fact, I think it would be fun, but why? Isn’t your divine sense better than spirit sense? Why would you need to go through something like this?”
“I relied too much on my divine sense,” I said. “And it became a crutch. Now I’m paying the price for that.”
“So you’re taking this opportunity to fix that oversight?” Mother asked with a raised eyebrow. “Since you can’t use your divine sense?”
“Correct.”
This was a reminder that though I was a reincarnated Immortal, I was not infallible. Far from it, in fact.
“Will we all get to go through this training?” Lorelei asked with a grin on her face. “Because I want to give it a try.”
Leroy, who wore a speculative expression on his face, nodded.
“Yes.” I gestured to the bags. “I brought enough robes for everyone, along with plenty of spares. We’ll each take turns.”
Kaylee raised her hand.
“Will I have to take a turn?” she asked. “I don’t think I’m ready for this sort of training.”
“All the more reason to give it a try,” I said, giving my sister an evil grin. “The best way to learn how to swim is to get thrown into the deep end.”
Kaylee blanched at this.
“Gabriel,” Mother scolded. “Stop teasing your sister.” She turned to Kaylee. “Don’t worry, sweetie. The two of us will be training on our own. It’s been ages since we last spent any alone time together.”
“Why can’t we just go shopping or attend a party instead?”
Mother put her hands on her hips.
“Kaylee Amelia Sturm,” she said. “I know you prefer wizardry and dealing with House society, but your cultivation and your martial training is important as well. It can, and will, save your life one day. Don’t neglect it. Now then, I don’t want to hear any more complaints out of you, young lady.”
Kaylee heaved out a sigh.
“Yes, Mother.”
“Good. Follow me.”
The two of them headed towards the opposite end of the training area, so we wouldn’t get in each other’s way. Just as I opened my mouth to explain things further to my disciples, Aurora flew out of my dantian.
“This sounds like fun,” she said. “Can I join?”
After thinking about it for a moment, I shrugged.
“Sure,” I said. “Why not? The more the merrier.”
Despite being a spirit, Aurora could still touch and affect the physical world. Not only that, but she could fly. That would make the training extra challenging.
With a cackle, Aurora flew over and grabbed one of the bags filled with dyed cloth balls.
“Ideally, we would do this sort of training in an underground chamber specifically built for this sort of thing,” I continued after my familiar settled down. “We’ll have to make due with a blinding potion instead.”
I made a mental note to tell Grandfather Gabe to build such a chamber at Sturm Hill the next time I saw him.
“Blinding potion?” Corie asked.
“In the same way that I was too reliant on my divine sense,” I explained. “Humans are too reliant on their eyes. The best way to hone one’s other senses is to train without using one’s sight. Thus, the blinding potion.”
It had taken me a few hours to brew them up. While I hadn’t brought my entire alchemy lab down with me, I brought enough equipment to make most kinds of potions and pills.
“Why not use a blindfold instead?” Corie asked.
“It’s more effective to use a blinding potion. The effects only last for an hour.” I hardened my expression. “Just don’t use the ones set aside for me. I’m at a higher cultivation than you three, for both spiritual cultivation and body cultivation. If you use the blinding potion that I made for myself, you’ll lose your sight for far longer than an hour.”
At least they would get their sight back. A regular mortal would end up permanently blind after using the potion I created for myself.
After making sure everyone else was in their starting position, I applied the blinding potion to my eyes before tossing the vial aside. In seconds, the world went dark and my other senses grew sharper.
I became more aware of all the sounds around me: Mother training Kaylee in the distance, the sound of my disciples’ breathing, the noises of the animals that called the grounds of Sturm Manor their home. A gentle breeze blew through the training area, which I both heard and felt. The cool air felt good against my skin, and I could faintly make out the air flow’s movement.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Even my sense of smell and my sense of taste grew sharper.
“You can begin when you are ready,” I called out. “Just know that you can use magic, but only hits from the dyed balls count.”
“Yes, Master,” my disciples called out in unison.
Underneath the sound of their words, I heard something flying in my direction. I stepped to the side to avoid it.
“You’ll have to do better than that,” I said.
“Damn it!” Corie said. “I thought that would get you.”
After that, there was no more talking as Aurora and my disciples tried their best to hit me with the dyed balls. At first they took it easy, since I was blind, but after I dodged all of their throws, they took things more seriously. They started throwing the balls faster and more frequently. They didn’t stay in one spot either. My disciples moved around, aiming for me from different angles. Aurora flew through the air, trying to hit me from above.
The earth beneath me rumbled, and I jumped into the air just as I heard the ground where I was standing collapse. This turned out to be a trap, since I heard another ball heading in my direction. Using a bit of Air magic to move my body, I twisted mid-air to avoid it. However, before I could celebrate, another ball impacted me from below, catching me by surprise.
“Ha!” Aurora said from right beneath me. “Never underestimate a World Serpent!”
Clever girl. Due to her dragon form, I expected Aurora to attack me from above. However, I should have remembered that she started out her existence as a World Serpent. She was born from the earth.
After that, my disciples hit me a couple more times, often by distracting me while Aurora went for the kill. By the time my vision returned and I called an end to the training, they had managed to hit me a total of three times. I frowned when I looked down at my stained robes.
“Damn,” I said. “I’ve gotten rusty.”
Given my previous experience and level of skill, they shouldn’t have been able to hit me at all. I needed this training more than I realized.
“Rusty?” Corie said, panting. She had her hands on her knees and was covered in sweat. “Fuck you. Do you know how hard it was to hit you even that much? Did that potion actually blind you, or did you lie to us?”
Leroy and Lorelei were in a similar state. The only one who looked happy was Aurora, who gave me a smug grin.
“Of course I blinded myself,” I said, affronted by her accusation. “What would be the point of lying? That would defeat the whole point of this training exercise.”
She flipped me the finger. Where had she learned that? I assumed from Annabelle, since I never used that gesture. I returned it right back.
“You know what,” I said. “Just for that, you’re next.”
Panic flashed across Corie’s face.
“No, I’m good,” she said. “Why not have Lorie do it?”
“Are you disobeying your Master, Celestial Arrow?” I asked stalking towards her.
“At least let me take a break, Master,” Corie said, backing away from me.
She didn’t see my other two disciples sneaking up on her until it was too late. They both grabbed her by the arms. She struggled to break free, to no avail.
“Lorie!” she said. “Leroy! Let go of me.”
“Don’t worry, Corie,” Lorelei said, a wicked grin on her face. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. After all, you were so quick to volunteer me for this.”
The panic on Corie’s face morphed into dread. She looked towards Leroy.
“Leroy, you’ll let me go, right?” she asked. “I don’t want to go next.”
Leroy studied her for a couple of seconds.
“The fact that we managed to sneak up on you means that you need this training,” he said, a serious look on his face. “It will save your life one day.”
Realizing that she wasn’t getting out of it, Corie gave up.
“Fine,” she grumbled. “Let’s get this over with.”
I had a lot of fun over the next several hours as I pelted my disciples with the dyed balls. By the time we finished with the training, their robes had turned completely red. Even back on Spirit Earth, I had never had this much fun teaching my disciples.
I felt like I finally understood Grandfather Gabe that day.
----------------------------------------
A few days later, the day before the tea party, I stood in the impromptu studio I had set up in my quarters. There were painting supplies everywhere. In the center of the room stood a painting on top of an easel. I studied the painting with a frown of dissatisfaction on my face.
It was a work in progress, but I could already tell that it wouldn’t measure up to my standards. I mean, none of my paintings ever had. Which was a shame, since this was supposed to be Kaylee’s present. I decided to paint her gift now, since her birthday was coming up soon, and she was leaving for the Solarian Imperial Academy.
I had already finished with the painting meant for House Thorne, so I didn’t need to worry about that.
The problem with being a mediocre artist with a discerning eye was that I could always appreciate other peoples’ artwork, but my own never came close to that level of skill. What made it worse was that back on Spirit Earth, I had met several cultivators whose path focused more on cultural pursuits rather than combat.
While all cultivators were martial artists and warriors to one degree or another, for some that was a side benefit rather than the goal. For these kinds of cultivators, they pursued other crafts. Art, farming, calligraphy, etc. Cultivators whose path focused on painting could produce some amazing artwork.
Back when I was an Immortal, I met a few others whose path to immortality focused entirely on painting. The pieces they produced made my attempts at art look like children’s finger paintings by comparison. That never stopped me from trying every now and again, but it made it very clear to me that my skills were sorely lacking in this regard.
At least I was a better fighter than them, so I had that going for me.
As I frowned at my painting, I became aware of a commotion going on somewhere else in Sturm Manor. I ignored it at first, but when it continued, I put down my brush and went to take a look. It sounded like it came from the nursery.
As I drew closer, I heard my brother shouting. It seemed like he was throwing a tantrum. His nanny, a woman named Kristina Trask, tried to calm him down but it didn’t sound like she was having much success.
The nursery wasn’t just a single room within Sturm Manor. It was entire hallway dedicated to child rearing. It had everything a growing House scion needed to become a productive member of their House. This included, but was not limited to, bedrooms for up to four children at a time, a classroom for lessons, and a playroom.
I had a lot of fond memories of the nursery, since I spent a good chunk of my life here. House scions remained in the nursery until they turned twelve, which was when they were deemed old enough to have their own quarters. This meant that for this lifetime, I had spent two-thirds of my life in this place.
I went to the playroom, which was where the shouting came from.
“I hate you!” Roland shouted. “Leave me alone!”
I heard something smash against the wall.
“Lord Roland, please calm down,” Kristina said in a frantic tone of voice. “Please, stop this! There is no need for such violence!”
Other servants had come by, either to help her or to see what was going on, but I waved them away. I would handle this myself.
When I entered the playroom, the place looked like a mess. There were toys everywhere, most of them broken, and much of the furniture had been overturned. I raised an eyebrow. Pretty impressive for a four year old to manage that. While the furniture was small enough for children, it was still heavy.
Roland stood in the middle of the mess, screaming his lungs out, while Kristina hovered nearby. Even as I watched, she tried to approach him but he threw a broken toy at her. She looked at me when I entered the room.
“Oh thank the gods,” Kristina said in a relieved voice. “I don’t know what to do, Lord Gabriel. The little master got upset all of a sudden, and I can’t calm him down. Nothing I’ve tried worked.”
“I’ll handle it,” I said.
Roland looked at me. His cute little face was all red and scrunched up. Tears streamed down his cheeks, and snot dripped out of his nose.
“Go away!” he screamed, before throwing a toy at me.
I ignored the toy and went to pick up my brother. He threw another toy at me and tried to run away, but I caught him before he took a single step. The benefits of being a cultivator.
Roland struggled to escape my grip, to no avail. I held him against my chest, moving him in a gentle rocking motion.
“Shh,” I said. “It’s going to be all right. Let it all out. Cry as much as you want, little brother. I have you.”
Roland continued to struggle for a little while longer, before he gave up and cried harder. His tears and snot soaked into my clothes, but I didn’t care.
“Take a break and compose yourself,” I whispered to Kristina. “I’ll look after him.”
Kristina nodded and gave me a grateful look, before leaving the playroom. Roland continued to cry his heart out for the next several minutes, before petering out. I checked to see if he had passed out, but no. He was still awake. He had just run out of tears.
“Now then,” I said in a stern voice. “Are you going to tell me why you were giving your nanny a hard time?”
Roland didn’t answer right away. That was okay. I could wait. It wasn’t like I had anything urgent going on at the moment.
“I miss everyone,” he said in a quiet voice. “No one has time to play with me anymore.”
Oh.
Over the past several days, everyone had been busy. Father focused on House business, which included selling the mythril, while Mother split her time between making social calls and her training. Kaylee had been preparing for the upcoming semester at the Solarian Imperial Academy, while also helping Lady Calla do the same. I had focused on my training as well as painting gifts for Kaylee and House Thorne.
During all of that, it looked like none of us had made time for Roland. We neglected him. I felt guilty and ashamed of my behavior. I valued my family, but made very little time for my younger brother. No wonder he threw a tantrum. He was lonely and wanted attention from his family. I would have done the same in his shoes.
I would need to bring this up with the rest of our family later on. Yes, we were all busy, but that was no excuse. Father and Mother made plenty of time for me and Kaylee when we were children. We could do the same for Roland. It was only right.
“I’m sorry, little one,” I said. “We were all dealing with adult stuff.”
“Is that adult stuff more important than me?” Roland asked.
The fact that he even had to ask that question broke my heart.
“No,” I said. “Of course not.”
“Then why did you ignore me?”
I sighed.
“Sometimes adults can make mistakes too,” I said. “We didn’t mean to ignore you, but we did and I am sorry. You deserve better. Will you forgive us?”
Roland didn’t answer me right away. Just when I began to worry, he nodded against my chest.
“I suppose I can,” he said with a dramatic sigh. “Just don’t do it again. I missed all of you.”
“You are the epitome of mercy and kindness,” I said.
Roland pulled his head away from my chest. His face was covered in tears and snot. It was rather disgusting. I picked up a nearby cloth and used it to wipe Roland’s face. He squirmed, but put up with it.
As I cleaned my little brother up, an idea popped into my mind, and I blurted it out almost as soon as I thought of it.
“Would you like a pet?” I asked.
The childhood of a House scion was often one of solitude. Roland didn’t have any friends his age. He spent most of his time with adults. For him, Sturm Manor must be a huge and lonely place. While some of our retainers and servants had children, they were either too old or too young to befriend Roland.
As for other House scions, my little brother didn’t have many opportunities to meet any. There were social events centered around children, but Roland was currently too young for those. He needed to be six, if I remembered right.
Not only that, but we weren’t too close with any other Houses. We had allies and business partners, but none that we would call friends. Setting up playdates with any of them was out of the question. They would twist it to their advantage somehow. There was House Icefall, I suppose, but they were too far away. Too bad. I think Roland might have liked Brody Icefall, Lady Calla’s little brother.
At least Kaylee and I had each other. We spent a lot of time together growing up, since we didn’t have anyone else. The two of us went on all sorts of adventures, which usually meant exploring the grounds of Sturm Manor. Kaylee followed me around everywhere. To her, I was the cool older brother who knew everything.
Roland didn’t have that. I knew what it was like to grow up without any friends. That's what it was like for me, during my life as Brandon Norwood. At least in my first life, I had Mutt. I mean, he betrayed me in the end, but at least we had each other growing up. Regardless, I knew how painful it was to grow up without any friends. Maybe having a pet could mitigate that for Roland.
Was I overreacting? After all, Roland would start attending social events within the next few years. I was sure that he would make friends then. However, he was lonely now, and I wanted to fix that. Getting him a pet seemed like the best solution, in addition to spending more time with him.
“A pet?” Roland asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “Like a dog, or a cat.”
Or some other animal. Maybe even a tamed magic beast, though that came with considerable risk.
“I thought you didn’t like dogs, Gabriel.”
“I don’t, but I would put up with one for you, little brother.”
Roland frowned as he considered my idea, but then his face lit up with a smile.
“I like it,” he said. “I want a pet.” His smile disappeared and he looked unsure. “What if Papa and Mama say no?”
“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’m sure they’ll say yes.” Especially if I guilt tripped them for neglecting Roland. “In fact, Father is in his study. Let’s go ask him right now.”
Roland held his fist in the air and let out a little cheer.
“Yay! Let’s go!”
With him still in my arms, my little brother and I headed towards Father’s study. The sons of House Sturm were on a mission.