After finishing breakfast, I headed out back to the village. Compared to earth, a whole day in this world is 38 hours, meaning that when divided by morning and night, each would have 19 hours. Going to the village by walking takes around an hour or so, and because of that, I would have to leave early to catch up to Mr. Renard's mentoring.
The village in sight was bathed in sunlight as the Dorr rises from the horizon. It left a calm and peaceful feeling, with no traces of a war happening just 7 years ago.
Once I arrived closer to the village, I saw two figures standing and chattering. One was a tall and well-built man and the other an energetic-looking child who was almost about the age of my body, both having navy blue hair.
Sensing my presence, the Child waved at me enthusiastically while I can feel a slight twitch of lips and a dreadful glare coming from the tall man.
"White! You're finally here!"
"Your rather late brat, you took a dump or something?"
"I'm sorry I'm late."
Contrary to Kayla's cheerful and energetic response, I can feel animosity coming from Mr. Renard. Although I was late, I don't think I was that late. Or is it that time here is really important...
"So? where's your sword?" Mr. Renard asks
"About that, I thought of using a stick or branch first before using a real one."
"Hah? that won't do brat. Although using a substitute is fine and all, knowing how to swing around a simple stick isn't at all similar to wielding a real sword."
Well, he does have a point, especially if the point of this training is to get my body used to swordplay. Sensing my acknowledgment, Mr. Renard sighed and turned her gaze to Kayla, changing his demeanor in the process.
"Kayla, I have a few short swords at the back of the house, can you come and get them for me, sweetie?"
That's disg- extremely different from how Mr. Renard usually talks... I don't know anymore. I felt my facial expression die from the pain of hearing and seeing him like this.
"Ugh, disgusting," Kayla responded, flinching from his father's show of affection and her eyes burning in disgust. Seeing his beloved daughter's expression, he immediately step back with a hint of sadness in his eyes, then he proceeded to look in my direction. But the previous hint of sadness in his eyes turned to eyes of annoyance before he turned his head away and clicked his tongue.
Is it just me or are the people of this world really strange... As Kayla ran off towards their house's direction, Mr. Renard came closer to me.
"Hey, brat."
"Yes?"
"..."
"..."
"Uhm?"
"Did you awaken recently?" He asked after that long but short awkward silence. Though thinking of that stare of his, I can't help but remember the Astesia who has that same eerie stare.
"You noticed?"
"Well, you see, the sword you held yesterday was a special sword," He says whilst looking as if reminiscing about something, "and for a child such as yourself to carry it... The only natural answer would be that you did."
"...Yeah, I did awaken recently, but I can't use my magic since Grandpa said it was unusual," I replied, keeping my response to a minimum.
"Hmm? unusual how?" Mr. Renard asks, closing his face in out of curiosity.
Stepping back a little to distance myself, I answered. "It seems that it has a different form."
"oh? hmmm what about your attribute brat?" he asks. Although it is true that I am in a body of a child, it felt rather annoying when someone openly calls me a brat in front of my face. But then again, it was possible for the customs of this world would be more casual compared to my previous one.
"It's ice. My attribute is ice," I answered.
"ICE?!" Mr. Renard turned wide-eyed as he repeated what I said. Looking at this man's surprised expression, well that look on his face is definitely one to remember though.
"Are you serious brat? you're not lying to me now are you?" Mr. Renard asks after regaining his composure and closing his face in once more to try and see if I was lying. High attributes are hard to come by after all, but I guess Kayla having the lightning attribute made it feel as if it wasn't.
As he closed his face in, I could see a glimpse of a certain navy-blue-haired girl dashing towards us with a remarkable speed, then slamming the scabbard of her sword to Mr. Renard's crouching back.
"What do you think your doing trying to kiss White Dad?!?" Kayla fumed, scolding her father who was lying down on the ground with tears forming in his eyes from the unexpected pain. He wasn't even able to answer as Kayla scolded him mercilessly.
Looking at the scene before my eyes, I let out a small laugh of amusement from this father and daughter's antics. Although I myself had never felt what it was like to be with a loving father, I could tell that it would have been fulfilling.
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As the three of us walked deeper inside the forest, I took the time to wonder about how in the world is the light that the Dorr emits not blue, but the same white light a yellow sun does in the morning? Furthermore, the water is crystal clear blue, yet the sky shines in a pinkish hue. Such pinkness would have been the same as an afternoon before the sunsets, but for the sky to remain the way it is. It just doesn't make sense to me at all.
Although asking Mr. Renard right now would probably sate my curiosity, his grim yet mischievous expression makes it hard to ask. Luckily Kayla, being the ball of energy that she is, is humming around whilst skipping and lightening the mood around us.
Suddenly, Mr. Renard comes to a stop raising his hand to signal us to do the same. Following his gaze, there was a cat..? Well, to be more precise, it was a large brown cat-looking beast with horns branching and spiking upwards slightly to the sides of its head and back. It has a big frame, similar to a wolf, making it look unusual. Moreover, there were more of them just a few distances away.
"Oy brat, see those chimera wildcats right there? Those things may look like big adorable tamed cats, but trust me, they're not. So good luck brat!"
"...huh?" I asked trying to comprehend the meaning behind those words as Mr. Renard just puts on a mischievous smile on his face.
"...wait, isn't it like swinging, sparring, and the basic stuff?
"You wanted sword training right? what better way to train than to experience using it first hand?" Mr. Renard looks at me straight in the eyes like a jester before pushing me out in the open.
Because of my sudden appearance, all the wild cats stopped what they were doing and looked in my direction. Me trying to organize everything stood there unknowingly of what to do next.
"Don't worry brat, when you can't handle it, I'll come to save your sorry ass."
'This stupid-' I stopped my thoughts and prioritized what I need to do. It wasn't like I was fighting for survival in a one-on-one deathmatch similar to what I did with the bear. This was just training, yeah! so I'm not in danger... definitely.
Calming my breath, I focused on what I should do. Recalling all the training I had with the sword as a Prince, Even though said training is mainly for sword fighting and not beast slaying. I drew the short sword I borrowed from Mr. Renard and readied myself whilst clearing my mind as the chimeric wildcats rushed towards me.
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Renard Fowler's pov:
"Hey... are you sure this kid doesn't know how to hold a sword?" I asked Kayla, my eyes fixed on the young child thrown into a chimera den.
"Uhh.. yeah, I'm pretty sure he doesn't even know how to fight..."
This brat.. no this kid was relentless. The Spiked wild cats charged at the kid like a hungry wolf and pounced on him whilst using the spikes in its body to attack the kid. However, the kid managed to evade the beasts with small yet precise movements.
Not only that, but the kid also counter attacks with precision in each and every strike he delivers. As if he has perfect sight and footwork coordination.
Although his strikes don't seem to be too effective against the bodies of the beasts, he used his small frame to evade and collide the beasts against each other that are hurdling his way-- incapacitating both in the process.
Normally, an untrained person who hasn't used a sword before would have difficulty swinging one efficiently. This is due to having a weak grip and inflexible wrist, making the intended slashes differ from the sword slashes. That doesn't even take into account the varying footwork for different styles.
But this kid... although he often stumbles slightly as if he wasn't used to his body's movement, he was still precise and efficient in each of his attacks, as if he's already used a sword before.
I stared in awe at the child in front of me who stepped back and tried to catch his breath. His strength and stamina may have been a problem, but he makes up for it with his critical thinking as if his emotions aren't present. Not even a hint of fear.
After regaining his breath, the child readied himself once more, then dashed towards the remaining beasts. Although a couple of the beasts have been incapacitated, three more remained, looking furious as they charge back to the kid.
The kid, however, used his small stature to rush and slash the tendons of the beast's legs, making it collapse under its own weight. Coming to a stop, the kid looked up to see another one about to mow him down.
The kid, with no hint of hesitation, swung an arc, slitting the beast's unprotected throat. Then brutally kicked its front kneecap down, immobilizing the beast while letting it bleed to death, before distancing backward to regain his breath.
Although only one of the five beast's remains, the kid looked like he was about to collapse from his expression. Gulping down from his dried mouth, the kid steeled himself to end the bout with the final one.
To me, this was supposed to be a jok- way to observe the kid's determination and potential, but no one told me the weak-looking effeminate kid from yesterday was actually a natural bastard! What amazing potential this kid has!
I looked at Kayla beside me, her training had been similar to this one with the exception of having to fight wolves a little bit smaller than the chimera wildcats the kid is currently fighting, she looked awestruck with her mouth wide open as she watched the scene for even she hasn't been matched up against this third grade chimera beasts, furthermore a horde at that.
The kid however, was losing his strength from exhaustion, while the remaining beast, looked fresh. As much as I want to play around with this kid, he'll overtax his body at this rate.
Drawing my sword, I dashed between the kid and the beast, slashing a downward arc to cleave the beast's head off.
I looked back at the kid who looked like he just run upward a mountain, but his eyes looked chagrined as he stared at me straight in my eyes.
"Heh.. you're good kid, but you're going to need more than that to wield a sword." I tried to play it cool, as to not let this kid get too complacent. It's not as if he was THAT amazin-
"White that was amazing!" Kayla ran energetically to the kid, bringing him water to aid his exhaustion.
I wouldn't really stand for this sweet service from my angel, but I'll let it pass for now.... yeah, no.