Grant headed towards the kitchen with the speed and purpose of man on a mission.
He knew the dark corridors like the palm of his hand.
Don't you mean back of your hand?
No, I mean palm. No one ever looks at the back of their hand, idiot.
Well, what about all the people typing comments on web novels, idiot.
Well, now they are! Congratulations you successfully broke the fourth wall.
You're the one th-
Grant successfully arrived at the kitchen, completely unaware of the fight he had started off-screen.
As the early morning light filtered into the kitchen, Grant suddenly wondered why he never ate there anymore.
The realization brought on by how inspiring the kitchen looked in the morning light. He saw this pristine kitchen with marble countertops. A platoon of chefs bustling around the room yelling at each other and working on their dishes with a variety of tools.
At the very back of the kitchen was a massive pantry with cooling and preservation runes on every door. Mysterious latices spun and intertwined, giving the feeling of an aura of cogs veiling the area from unworthy eyes.
Grant's eyes must have been unworthy because that's when he got smacked into the floor.
"Oof."
'Well, this is familiar.'
Rubbing his head, he turned to see a young woman with tanned skin and blonde hair. She wore a robe that was stained brown by numerous years of abuse. He noticed that various places were covered in soot, including her hands.
'Please tell me that she didn't get soot all over my cloak. I chose a white one for a reason. I can't go walking around in a white cloak that has a black handprint. I'd look like a fool!'
"Phoenicia, It's been a while."
He said while getting back to his feet.
"You weren't at practice this morning."
The curt tone grabbed his attention. It was then that he noticed that she had a particularly nasty scowl on her face.
'Nine out of ten; would use to reprimand someone.'
"Yeah, turns out that I had a different definition of early than-"
She suddenly summoned a fireball in her hand and pulled him closer with the other.
"If I ever see you late for practice again, I'll shave off your eyebrows and make you wish you were never home. Are we clear?"
"Crystal."
She dropped the fireball and started pulling him along. Weaving through the busier sections of the manor
"Uh, where are we going?"
"Training."
She said not even turning around as she said so.
"What? But I haven't gotten breakfast yet."
He whined while dodging someone's checklist.
"You should have been here at four then. Like the strong, handsome, respectable senior you should have been."
'Why is everyone so good at sarcasm lately? Wait.'
"You think I'm handsome?"
Grant asked in honest surprise. Even before he threw the match; no one had ever wanted to get to know him like that, much less call him handsome.
"Should. Should have been handsome."
Quickly striking down his delusions while avoiding a water dragon's corpse.
"Oh, woe is me. Other families have brave, strong senior brothers that blind people with their smoldering gaze."
"Oh, I see what's going on here."
"Their every action is a goal that inspires others to improve."
"I get it."
He complained as they stepped over a bench.
"Their own father's stepping down due to their feelings of sheer incompetence compared to their children."
"Please stop."
"Stopping is for people who earned it."
She said, cutting him down ruthlessly.
"Come on, at least ease me into the-"
It was then that she threw him onto the floor.
'We have to stop meeting like this, miss... Dirt path?.'
Sitting up he saw that they were on the track. He saw numerous people training and gathering energy in the distance. He even saw the spells being cast at the sparring grounds from here.
'That explains the bench.'
"Well?"
He looked up and saw Phoenicia tapping her foot impatiently.
"Well, what?"
"Gather energy!"
She shouted in exasperation.
"What else are we going to do since you missed the best time earlier."
Realization dawned on Grant.
'That's why they wanted me up so early! I was so absorbed with my plan that I completely forgot how everyone else would see it. Welp, here it goes."
Standing up he cleared his throat.
"Actually, I was thinking..."
"What?"
She said through gritted teeth. You could practically see the cartoony vein popping out of her skull.
Grant rubbed his hands nervously. He was well aware that he was playing with fire, literally.
"Well... You know how I haven't been training for the last year..."
"Yes."
She said with painful slowness.
"I was thinking that my constitution may not be equipped to handle my restored progress. So rather than waiting for my body to acclimate, I was wondering if I could go and exercise before I restore everything?"
He rushed through the rest of the sentence in the smallest voice he could make audible.
"Sure go ahead."
She said in a jovial tone.
Grant started to scratch the back his head as he turned to face her.
"Oh, really? Thanks, I really expected you to blow uuuuh...
He trailed off as he saw the fireballs floating around her. He noticed that her soot-covered face was in an expression of glee.
"Start running."