֍ Imperial Calendar of Merahs, Year 3264, Nearing the last few months of the year ֍
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Time slowly passed for the young Prince, with his focus on for the next couple of months on repeating the same routine every day, leaving very little time for Ben to relax and travel around freely or even play.
His typical day consisted of waking up at the crack of dawn, running several laps around the manor before eating breakfast.
After that, training with Alfred would begin, typically consisting of formal swordsmanship education that was taught to all nobles.
There was a style of swordsmanship only taught to nobles since it was mainly used for ceremonial purposes.
In case Ben would ever be involved in such an event, Alfred decided it would be best Benedict knew the formal nobility skill and abilities required of him and his noble stature.
So far, Ben was proficient in the Kros Battle Style, which was used during actual conflict and fights.
Deadly in large battles, the Style allowed the user to fight freely while preserving energy to extend the length of their combat prowess.
Above everything else, Ben had to learn how to defend himself.
Only after Alfred believed Ben could survive till one of them arrived by his side in a fight, did he move onto training the Kros Emperor Style.
The Kros Emperor Style was simple enough since the style was focused on quick slashes with minimal body movement, meaning the user would be hounded by attacks, only able to use his weapons to shield him.
Ben saw it as an ideal swordsmanship style for brutes in combat, but according to Alfred it had a few different effects.
It was primarily used for special occasions of noble society or the Empires because nobody believed it had any value in true battle.
But Ben found that evaluation to be a joke, after seeing Alfred practise the swordsmanship style at speeds beyond his senses ability to keep up.
While training swordsmanship with Alfred, Ben also learnt basic hand to hand combat techniques as well as some other physical fitness to keep his body lean and fit.
Alfred made sure Ben went through an intense training allowing him a small break before his training session began with Kage.
Ben would be exhausted at this point, but due to his own lack major breakthroughs so far, he failed to grasp control over his Shadows Energy, beyond the chaos that would erupt from his hands if he let it loose.
Even at this point, he was learning with the help of Kage to manipulate a small portion of his own Shadows' Energy, rather than letting it fester freely to cause endless chaos, much like Ben had done younger on within the manor.
Several times at that, always breaking items throughout the manor.
Ben would try to form the Shadows' Energy into something from time to time, using the mental image of a solid object he'd seen but he wouldn't get further than a form of a shadow flame within his palm for now.
In the end, the days training ended with Ben focusing on his control over the little amount of Shadow Energy he was able to manipulate under his influence.
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Once he cleaned himself up, he headed towards the workshop.
Tia would be waiting for him just inside of the workshop, ready to begin their day packed with a load of information.
The parchment books, bound by rough leather, were stacked together containing numerous blacksmithing techniques, different types of ores, heat required for melting points and so on, all writing within.
Ben found some of the books were diaries of past blacksmiths who left their thoughts behind rather than their methods instead.
But he still found they were helpful pieces of information that could help him.
Ben still had a heap of books to read through before he would be handed a piece of iron to play with.
Even Tia mentioned Ben was far from ready.
She, herself was still lacking and hadn't had the opportunity to study most of the books and scrolls as of yet, however she had been working with metals already for a long time.
There were even pieces of her work on display to be sold, though it wasn't anything major like complete swords, but rather fine and delicate jewellery and accessories.
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After that Ben would either spend some time working alongside Tia, who usually managed the orders for jewellery and delicate items as she was very stable and sharp with her hands, comparable to her father.
Val preferred she worked on such items so Tia would have better control over her work from a younger age, compared to his own smithing journey, which was heavily problematic in the earlier years.
Tia fancied working with the jewels and accessories people would request since it would allow her artistry side to shine when customers left the designing to her or asked for input on the matter.
Other than spending time with Tia, Ben would get to watch his Master Val work on some special orders.
Every day Ben felt his growth improved in the field of blacksmithing.
His body was very close to breaking out of his control and building something out of its own free will, however he had to push those desires down every day he entered the smithery.
Ben knew he wasn't ready yet and only when the time was right could he picked up a hammer willingly and forge his first item with his two hands.
Usually by the time the workshop would close, Ben would return home to begin extra training sessions with Alfred and Kage.
However, as the months passed, he spent more time at the workshop, and started focusing on only the early morning training sessions before making his way over to the workshop.
The extra time Ben spent at Vals workshop made the old Smith quite happy, since he could see the effort Ben placed on his work, and his willingness to ask questions when there was a problem, he didn't know the answer to.
Ben would silently observe, only speaking when he wasn't aware of a certain piece of information.
The thirst for knowledge was prevalent just as much as his own daughter's obsession for the dusty old books in the storage room.
As much as Val basked in his disciples' glory, this was the problem Bens previous masters and mentors noticed.
Ben was absurd compared to the rest of the children his age.
Nobody could absorb knowledge like him, even Tias own growth rate from understanding the methods and information described in books wasn't the same.
Even when she observed her father's work, she could notice a lot, but even then, there were certain techniques Val would use that were out of Tias comprehension.
Tia knew as long as she kept working hard enough, she would soon begin to understand it all and eventually rival her father's ability.
Even then, Tia was quite happy with all she learnt and knew to this day.
Tias wood crafting skills were especially exceptional, even making Ben quite jealous of her craftsmanship level.
He really wanted to know all kinds of things.
Especially knowledge that would be beneficial during his journey in the 'Endless Sea of Forest'.
That's why Ben chose to spend more time at the workshop observing his master skills at the workshop.
The late nights showed Ben the various equipment used by adventurers, even though it was all similar in design, they had their own custom sweet touches to personalise the appearances.
Since Ben heard the freedom adventurers had, he wanted to travel along as one and fight against some strong monsters and beasts.
While travelling the world and explore unknown areas with dangerous and unforeseen risks.
It sounded like the best life!
He understood the responsibility he had to manage his fief but the allure of an adventurer's freedom, highly enticed the young Prince.
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֍ Imperial Calendar of Merahs, Year 3264, Middle of the 11th month, Pullan ֍
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One such evening, Ben had decided to remain back at the workshop.
Ben was originally concerned what his two training mad masters back home might say.
But for the last several weeks, Ben's training had doubled in the morning instead, meaning he was quite exhausted by the time it meant he had to leave for the workshop.
The other thing that made it manageable with Bens body's adjustment to the new training schedule.
Kage and Alfred both were surprised by Bens quick adaption to the extreme change so quickly.
Weirdly enough, they planned on increasing his working sessions and even thought about an earlier starting time for the Young Master.
They had tunnel vision for their little highness future greatness that would spread across the land, and anything that would dirty their future ambition would be drowned out as 'unnecessary noise '.
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While Ben cleaned around the workshop, he was trying to listen to the orders and requirements of one of the adventurers that came to the store just before closing.
'I wanted something for speed and agility, the sword and shield set up is just impossible.
I can't manage to carry both without having to sacrifice what I am good at.
Goddammit, its nearly cost me and my party members their lives!
Can you please, please help me for old times' sake Val!'
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Ben slowly swept the broom towards his master in hopes of listening in a bit more to the adventurer's issues with his equipment.
Val noticed him moving closer, Bens eyes glistening with curiosity, Val reached out and grabbed the noisy kid, lifting him up onto the counter beside him.
Val introduced Ben to the customer with the problems.
"This Boy is my disciple, little Jym.
He's that kid I told you about."
"Ohh… he's that kid… the curs-"
Before he could finish, Val landed a punch square on Jyms jaw, while cursing back at him for being foolish enough to say words that would disrespect his disciple.
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"How dare you, asshole!
This is my disciple, the kid that got me out of my stupid rut and you dare fucking call him that!
I swear I should beat you to death here, right now!"
"Whoooaaa there buddy, calm down…" Jym raised his hands defensively, with his palms up, half-heartedly laughing at Vals foul mood.
"It's just what everyone says you know, I just thought you were joking when you told me...
Never thought you would take the freak-"
"Watch it…"
Vals cold voice and eyes were enough to freeze someone solid in the spot, leaving them unable to utter a word further on.
Ben hadn't tasted the full extent of his strength but Jym on the other hand was being pressured heavily by the weight of Vals auras strength.
It was more than enough to terrify Jym straight, causing the adventurer to speak praise of the child with new newfound respect, even if it was being forced out of him.
"… - This fine young gentleman as your new disciple.
Congratulations kids!
The world is your oyster!
And don't die…!"
Jym said with a forced smile as he tried his best not to further anger his smithery friend by adding a couple of crude jokes in for fun.
He had known Val for many years and knew parts of his history, so Jym didn't expect the 'cursed' and forgotten prince would actually be that very child, sitting on the counter in front of his eyes.
Jym just thought his old friend was duped by some stupid kid, but once he saw the child, Jym instinctively saw the similarities between the emperor and empress within him.
While he tried to make himself believe the kid couldn't possibly be the Cursed Prince, Jym had to relent in the end and accept that his dear friend had taken in the Prince as his disciple.
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"This fine young gentleman will also be handling your orders now." Val spoke in an authoritative tone, his fiery gaze was stuck on Jym, as if ready to burn his soul away to ashes with the might of her furnaces.
"… Sure."
Jym moaned unhappily, realising he'd long too far and pissed his friend off, screwing himself in the process even further for good.
He was just wondering if this little squirm would even be able to hold a hammer long enough to hit hot iron, even though Jym found the bulky formed of the Prince quite impressive for his age.
"…Hey kid I nee-"
"I already know you need something lighter to handle as you can't manage the weight of the sword and shield, gramps…
I overheard your conversation earlier, with my Master when you moaned for his help like a helpless prick…
Can you please give me information regarding your fighting methods, strategies and anything else relevant you believe I should know?" Ben said to the surprised face of Jym, as he prepared some parchment and ink to note down everything
Jym didn't know how to rebuttal the kid right now, however he realised he found someone to bother that would at least bite back to his aggression.
"Why are you wasting quality parchment kid?
Your master knows everything about me, why don't you ask him…?
Worm…" Jym failed miserably at his attempt to annoy the young Prince.
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'Ahh so it's time for name calling, great...'
Ben thought, before replying.
"You see, my master has said I need to keep my own record of my customers.
Some customers might be unhappy with my master for passing their information to his disciple.
Plus, it's a good indicator if the adventurer is serious about their request or just dawdling.
As I can see you must be the later, as you haven't moved onto a choice of weapon like a 'dagger'."
Unconscious of what he had said, Ben harshly reprimanded the annoying adventurer for his choice of weapon so far.
Ben started urging Jym to hurry up and leave as he had to go home or there would be trouble if he were late again.
Jym could not understand why the kid was pushing him along.
'What kind of trouble is this kid talking about!
He isn't going to kill me in my sleep or something right…
What the hell have I gotten myself into.
I just want a weapon that I can carry for fucksake.
Now I am getting threatened by some stupid kid…
Ahh, I miss the old days.'
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After listening to Jym ramble about himself for some time.
Ben was about to kick him along or leave himself, but Jym grabbed onto him, restricting Ben from leaving the counter.
Thus, begun all the self-praising and preposterous scenarios of life and death Jym faced on a daily basis.
A great example was when Jym went out for a drink once, only to find a dragon nest to have stolen all the ale in the town and cities nearby.
This led to a manhunt which led to a subjugation party aimed at taking down the dragon and then slaying it, but for some reason or another the dragon was really chill and returned some of the ale 'because they came to an understanding' even though he still slayed the dragon afterwards.
That was just so they could make honour the incredible quest, yet they left behind the corpse when Ben asked about the materials that could be utilise from its corpse.
He really wanted to beat him senseless, but Jym was his masters friend and his first customer, so Ben didn't wish to screw up his relation with the adventurer, and got involved in the stupid nonsense that Jym sprouted from his mouth.
As he was about to jump off the counter, close to losing his mind, and head towards the back to find his master for help to start, Ben was stopped by Jyms, though his voice carried a weight of seriousness rather than the vibrant voice he typically spoke with.
"Hey worm, umm… don't be an ass, but what is a 'dagger' exactly…?" Jym whispered, hoping he didn't sound like a stupid adventurer on his first day.
"What do you mean?" Ben said, puzzled.
"… I have never heard of something called a dagger…"
"…" Jym couldn't help but look at Ben with a confused expression on his face, wondering what kind kid his dear friend had accepted as his disciple.
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Ben was racking his brain for the answer.
He was wondering why he said the word dagger.
Ben felt like he knew what it was, but now he was struggling to remember.
'What the hell was a dagger?
What did it look like?
Why was it called a dagger?'
His mind was screaming for answers, but he knew he couldn't answer a single one.
Confused by his rumbling thoughts he replied "I don't know" before quickly running towards his master with several questions on the tip of his tongue.
Ben felt like screaming out his emotions, however he maintained a tight control over them before they left his ability to manage.
Frustrated, Ben rubbed his eyes, annoyed at being so feeble and useless when his emotions could fester out of control.
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This wasn't the first time he had said such a thing occur, when he said something or mentioned a word or place that nobody knew or heard of.
It had happened many times but when he tried to recall what it meant, his mind would have an internal battle looking for answers leaving him wondering was this the result of his coma.
As he rushed to his master's side he quickly asked.
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"Master, can you please tell me what a dagger is?"
"…"
"Master?"
"… Boy, where did you hear that word…"
"Huh"
"I said, where did you hear that word,… Boy…"
In a stern cold voice, Val glared at Ben.
He knew this kid was special, but sometimes his actions and words were so vastly unique it would give him chills.
Ben slowly raised his head to match his masters gaze as he sheepishly replied.
"I don't know.
I said it to Mister Jym that a 'dagger' would suit him, but when he asked what it was I couldn't… remember…
I don't remember… what a dagger is Master…"
Ben croaked, frustrated at his inability to understand what the word meant.
He felt useless and now he possibly angered his master as well.
Suddenly, Ben felt a comforting hand brush against his head, gently patting him, turning his attention back towards his master.
"Ahh, so its time boy…
*sigh*
Follow me, it's time I tell you some tales Boy... of this land…
The history of the past and present…of Ullan…"
As he walked towards his room with Ben right behind, Vals face looked sombre, as if he were about to revisit a past filled with pain and sorrow.
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