Tok! Chok! Plack! Kai’s sword clashed against the wooden dummy like a tornado, leaving sloppy cuts and dents everywhere as he trained his technique. He returned to his sharp basic stance after each hit or chained hit, walking around the dummy and striking at precise points. Sweat dripped down his bare chest, accentuating his more muscular places as the moonlight shone upon them. His skin, still painted with the scars of his endeavor, began getting damaged more and more. Anywhere the light shone, a soft, short-lived stinging sensation spread in a small area.

However, ignoring the temporal pain, Kai kept attacking the wooden puppet with vigor and technique. He let out grunts as he exhaled, and used sharp, precise movements to conserve energy as he moved back and forth. His footsteps left puddles in their tracks as sweat drenched his clothes and disheveled hair.

“Woof!” Onyx watched from the side, his tail standing upright as Kai trained. The Obborik’s eyes observed his companion’s movements and began imitating the direction with his paws. His eyes focused on Kai’s torso and hands, the place where the Giant Serpent attacked the most - The beast that almost took their lives due to imperfect coordination.

His ears suddenly twitched, and his vision snapped toward the gate, hidden by the darkness. A soft pair of footsteps approached the training grounds, sneaking behind Kai, whose focused state didn’t allow him to notice an additional person standing next to him. The mysterious figure reached out and lightly tapped his shoulder. He turned immediately and swung his sword toward the figure’s head. It dodged, the blade cutting nothing but air as Kai stepped backward. His chest heaved as he swung once again, putting one foot forward and using both of his arms to deliver a vertical slash, which the figure easily evaded. It took a short step forward and lunged its arms at Kai’s forehead. Before he could even react, the boy’s head flipped backward as an intense pain spread from his head. He fell, rubbing his skull while looking at the attacker, only to be left with widened eyes as the moonlight shone upon their face.

With beautiful dark locks of hair and a mesmerizing pair of purple eyes, her enchanting figure immediately revealed her identity. She wore her usual armor and green clothes, and a grey cloak to protect her against the cold.

“Euphy!”

His fatigued voice bounced against the pillars as he quickly stood up, ignoring the burning pain spreading on his face. Kai dropped the sword and grabbed her into a tight hug. His heavy breathing crashed against her armor as it rattled under his strength. “Yes, Kai. Hello.” She said in a soothing voice, returning the hug with a soft smile.

“Are you finally back?” He asked, looking up at her with puppy-like eyes.

“Yeah, I’m back. I feel better now, thank you for waiting. I see you’ve been training by yourself, you have progressed pretty well.” She separated herself from his body and began paying attention to his muscles. “Your chest and arms look good, however, your legs seem a bit skinny. Have you been training your entire body or just your upper chest?”

Hearing that, Kai’s face flushed red, unable to hide the shame of having his body grazed upon this closely and being immediately told off. Averting his gaze, he quickly said “How are you feeling?”

“I’m feeling… ready to teach a brat what true pain feels like.” She grabbed Kai’s ear and twisted it lightly before letting go. “Come on, we got some training to do, and we’re starting with your legs!”

“But-”

“I don’t wanna hear it! Come on, start doing some squats!” She commanded, slapping Kai on the back and prompting him to follow her orders. Without waiting any longer, or talking back, he began rising up and down in a rhythmic pace. Sweat drenched his body before long, and he let out groans as his knee creaked. Euphy, however, didn’t look like she had any plans to stop this torture any time soon.

“After this I want you to do ten laps around the manor, and then one hundred more squats, after which…”

…

The sound of fluttering pages occasionally disturbed the quiet silence of the library, as Kai, Aina, and Elizabeth each stood in their corner. Aina and Elizabeth each read a book about history and medicine, respectively, whilst Kai read a black one with the engraving of a variety of plants on its cover. His eyes sparkled as he mouthed the words, speaking them under his breath.

“You’re getting better and better at Elvish, Kai.” Aina remarked, putting her book down and listening closely. “I’m surprised at how fast you’ve grasped the basics, it’s been what… nine months since you arrived here? And you can already read such complicated books.”

Kai stopped reading and locked eyes with Aina as he replied in his broken Elvish. “Yes, I learn to read. Book easy, medicinal plants, helpful.” His tone had a bit of a thick accent to it, however, the attempt brought a smile to Aina’s face as she added in her tongue.

“You’re doing great, this language isn’t as easy as it sounds. At least you can read better than you speak, that’s for sure, fufu.” She chuckled as she picked her book back up. “That’s a good one to start on herbology, you’ll need it for whenever you go out, or for whenever you feel ready to leave.”

Kai’s gaze drifted downward, a melancholic expression manifesting on his face before he continued reading, absorbing the information within its pages the best he could as he trained in Elvish. The hours passed like that, none of them talking too much or causing too much of a commotion as the books in their hands changed. However, while Aina and Elizabeth picked up different subjects, Kai still struggled to read and understand the herbology book. He frowned occasionally, and after a few seconds he picked up a notebook that stood beside him. In it, he looked for what he didn’t understand or wrote it for future translations. After that, he picked up from where he left off.

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As the moon rose, Kai put the book in its place and prepared to go outside to train. His muscles contracted as he stood up, revealing the shape of a skinny, yet well-toned body. His hair, now tied in a ponytail, had also grown longer, and so did his height. After putting the book in its place, he left without disturbing the two, and picked up a bag placed just outside that he had prepared beforehand. Onyx waited a bit farther away, in an intersection between two hallways. Standing up with a wagging tail, he walked up to Kai and caressed him with his big, fluffy head.

“Alright boy, come on. Today is a big day… I hope I’ll be able to take my first steps and not fail… catastrophically.”

“Woof!” Onyx answered with an excited bark, his paws softly stepping on the carpet as he almost pushed Kai to go faster.

“Alright, alright. I don’t see you this excited when you train.” Kai chuckled, a soft smile creasing his lips as he watched Onyx’s ears lower slightly. Patting the Obborik’s head, he hastened his steps as they walked into the training grounds behind the manor. A metallic clang rang from the middle of it, and Euphridia’s figure rapidly appeared in his field of view. She wore the usual armor, given to her by the kingdom. It bore the history of her fights, with scratches and dents covering the metal protecting her body. And her sword, made out of a beautiful, silvery iron, showed slight signs of wear and rust. Sweat dripped down her forehead as the blade cut into the wooden puppet, whose head immediately fell off as she delivered a horizontal slash.

“How many more are you going to cut off?” Kai chirped as he picked up a wooden sword.

“As many as the number of swords you’ve destroyed.” She quipped, throwing the head in the air, and slicing it in half with a single horizontal slash.

“That’s a bit much, isn’t it?” He chuckled as he took a ready stance in front of her. Breathing deeply, Kai faced Euphirida who sheathed her blade and grabbed a wooden sword from the side. Sweat dripped down Kai’s forehead, the blade within his grasp trembling softly as his heart raced. Gulping softly, he licked his dried lips as he watched his teacher like a viper, ready to react to any of her movements.

“No warm-up?” She asked, standing in a casual stance, her hand tightly gripping the hilt as well, looking at Kai with an excited expression.

Their eyes met mid-air, and her figure instantly became a blur as she sped toward Kai. Biting down on something, his body glowed with a faint light as he murmured something under his breath. Euphy’s sword passed a few centimeters away from his face, creating a gust of wind that blew his hair back as he dodged to the side. Watching the blade with widened pupils, he raised his own, aimed straight at her throat. Euphridia took two steps back, dodging the blow before bowing down and advancing with a horizontal slash toward his stomach.

Kai’s midsection contracted as he arched his back, blocking most of the blow with the side of his blade. Dust rose under his feet as he got pushed back, and he took a short breath as her sword lost momentum. However, Euphridia didn’t wait for him to recover and instead turned the horizontal slash into an upward slash, heading straight for his chin.

Clicking his tongue, Kai‘s pupils trembled as he watched the sword rapidly approach him. Biting down on his slip, he quickly moved out of the way, however, it didn’t prove enough as the tip of the wooden blade grazed his shoulder. A sharp, crimson line connecting the sword and his shoulder formed for a split second as Kai groaned in pain. Gripping his sword and ignoring the fresh wound, he thrust as Euphy recovered, taking her by surprise. A soft smirk manifested on her face, along with a small glint in her eye which quickly faded as she deflected Kai’s blade. Raising her leg, she aimed toward Kai’s stomach. Kicking him to the ground and pinning him in place, her sword swished toward his chest, splitting the air in two as he heaved.

Kai bit down on something and quickly murmured under his breath as his body glowed with a faint orange hue. With Euphy stepping on his midsection, Kai struggled to turn over for a split second before kicking toward her leg. Clicking her tongue, she took a step backward, allowing Kai to free himself and quickly stand up.

With heavy breathing, he quickly took the proper resting stance as Euphy charged him once again, not giving him a single break as she aimed for every weakness of his, any blind spot and difficult angle. Despite all that, Kai managed to stand or get back up each time, bringing even Euphridia to the point of annoyance.

“Alright, time to get serious then!”

Hearing that, Kai’s heart skipped a beat as she watched Euphridia’s body glow like a candlestick. I’m fucked… Her figure turned into a blur as she appeared before him in an instant, her sword splitting the air as it landed on his shoulder.

“Argh!” He fell to his knees, dropping the wooden sword and rubbing his shoulder, where his flesh turned red.

“Why!?” His cry, mixed with grief and tears echoed in the night as he looked up at Euphridia.

“You needed to be put in your place.” She said with a smug expression on her face, behind which hid a bit of guilt.

“You just used three spells! Three! I can barely cast half of one and you used three! You’re cheating!”

“Alright crybaby, calm down. You can’t complain when an actual enemy intends to take your life, now can you?” She sat down with her legs crossed, watching Kai wince in pain.

“But this is training, Training!” He replied, rubbing the wound and the newly created mark. “You hit too hard as well! What the hell!”

“Language! And I only used the blunt part of the sword with minimal strength, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to complain right now.”

“But-”

“No buts, ten counts of rest and then we’re going back to training. You’re still a bit off being able to develop your body core, though I’m impressed by your progress.” A soft smile appeared on her face, and she rested her chin on her hand, which rested on her leg before continuing. “However, most elven children would have already developed their body core by your age, and a mana core even earlier.

“I-” Kai’s lips parted, however before he could continue Euphridia cut him off once again.

“I know, I know, your mana core was already formed. But right now I want you to understand the difference between the past you, a genius, the current you, a cripple, and your peers. You are weaker than them, I could pick any random kid off the street and they’d wipe the floor with you.”

“That’s… sort of mean, isn’t it? I’m sure I could defeat a toddler…”

Euphridia chuckled, her cheeks turning rosy, however, she remained silent, wearing a smug on her face as she went and used the gym equipment, letting Kai rest for the time being.