"Jason this is Tobias, he is the second in command of our mage guards. He will train you in the art of mana weaving as well as meditation. He will be working with you Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. The other three days of the week you will be doing weapons training. I will introduce you to your instructor tomorrow. I will warn you the man who will train you is definitely crazy and he is the only man who will not listen to me in my march." Gerald explained with a slight grimace.
"My Lord, you can not be serious. Jason is only a mage and the War Blade nearly killed qi warriors do to his methods." Tobias shouted out in fear and trepidation.
"I know his methods first hand, as he trained me as a kid." Gerald grimaced once more at the painful memories. "However, he has trained some of the best warriors in the dukedom. He was furious when he heard a mage was trying to learn to be a warrior. He refuses to allow someone trained as a warrior in the House of Kovar to be mediocre. So he insisted on training Jason himself. That being said, Jason, it is your choice. I can guarantee he will not kill you, but you may be disfigured or maimed."
After taking a few breaths to think Jason responded, "Is he going to try to kill me or make me stronger? Also if I successfully pass his training, will it be a blessing for my strength?"
Gerald and Tobias share a reluctant glance before admitting, "His goal will be to strengthen you, not harm you. Also his training method is a long lost method of the Ascendant Emperors. It will give you immense strength but it is true torture. you must finish each round or it will maim you at best or kill you at worst. With you having a weak mages body, I do not know if you can survive those methods. We also have no mage healers here, as you should know qi can only heal oneself, while mana can only heal another and is useless to heal yourself. "
"I am confident in my natural healing talent. " Jason said thinking back on his conversation with Jess. "This is a path I am willing to take to achieve the power I need and desire."
Gerald was startled. for a moment Jason's eyes seemed to be that of a warrior who had crawled through battlefield after battlefield, walking over the corpses of friends and foes alike. But the next moment it was gone like a flash.
"Sir, you must change his mind. He is the one to save the young lady. You cannot allow him to do this. " Tobias tried to reason eith Gerald.
"You are right Tobias, he saved my daughter even at such risk to himself. So if he chooses this path I will not bar him from it. I know all the guards look at Anna as their sweet yet troublesome niece/sister, but would you actually deny the heartfelt desire of her savior just to protect him?"
A young blond haired, violet eyed lad ran in causing a commotion. "Sir, were is the man who saved Anna?"
Gerald turned to the man of about 14 or 15 with a amused smile and laughed, "Haha, her savior was the little kid you almost bowled over when you came running in here."
In embaressment the young lad turned to Jason, "I am greatly sorry noble sir. I just wanted to thank you. Anna is my best friend and I'd die without her. "
Jason figured it would be to childish to argue with a fifteen year old boy, especially when he seemed genuinely sorry. "It is ok. But maybe you would like to introduce yourself? My name is Jason"
"Hehe, I'm Thomas, I turned 10 five months ago." Thomas answered feeling a little more embarrassed.
"YOU'RE ONLY 10 YEARS OLD! YOU ARE ALREADY OVER 6 FEET TALL AND LOOK LIKE A GRIZXLY BEAR." Jason shouted in shock.
"Yeah, I'm so big so most people dont like me, but Anna has always been my friend and she always plays with me. So thank you for protecting her." Thomas answered.
""Haha, sorry about that I was just shocked. I am 10 too but im on the small side. In fact I was just talking with Gerald about being trained by someone called War Blade." Jason tried laughing off the awkward situation.
"War Blade? Are you insane? My dad made me train with him for 2 weeks and it was hell. Why would you do that? I am never going back to that old demon's training. " Thomas shivered in fright.
"I am not insane. I hate being powerless. I want the strength to protect those I love as well as myself. He can offer me strength that I could not recieve elsewhere." Jason calmly explained.
Thomas was thinking about something for a while before raising his head to Gerald, "Marquess, I ask that you allow me to join Jason in training with the War Blade."
Gerald was even more shocked to hear this than to see that Jason wanted the training, "Why? You already know the horrors of that training method, what could move you to continue using it?"
"It's because of Anna, sir. You know she is going to join the Adventurers Guild after she graduates from the Academy. I want to have the strength to protect her. If going through a little pain can save Anna, I am willing." Thomas said with steel in his eyes and iron in his spine.
"Well if you are serious enough to call that torture as only a 'little pain' I will allow you to join. Never expected such hogwash from you." Gerald guffawed loudly.
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Jason had just gotten out of the shower and was marveling at his appearance in the mirror. His new body had onyx black hair, compared to his old red curls, it was quit different. The most shocking thing though was his eyes. They were emerald green with flashes of golden lightning that seemed to be actually moving. His eyes seemed to be glowing slightly as well, not enough to be noticed during the day but at night it most definitely was noticeable.
After looking for a little longer he decided to get some sleep. Today had been a really long day. He had died, reincarnated, learned magic was real, nearly died again, planned for his immediate future. Tomorrow was Sunday so his mage lessons would begin.