Days passed by, everything seemed to be slowly fitting into place.
Waking up, eating, leisure time and sleeping.
One thing that was always changing and becoming more prominent was the growing distaste of Claude that he had for Kai.
It was obvious.
The way he pointed out the smallest mistake and made it seem like the biggest problem mankind ought to solve in order to get Lithia to scold Kai.
He always purposely ignored Kai and his generosity. He was openly expressing his hate with everything he could.
Kai got the hint and gave up being friends with Claude. He figured it wouldn't be worth his time. Even if it was, it wasn't worth his effort.
Instead, he spent time doing the household chores against Lithia's will. He cooked, cleaned and washed.
It took hours of convincing before Lithia finally let it go and took a well deserved break.
The guards outside the village have been ordered to go due to Lithia. They had been causing more trouble than good, restraining innocent people.
Besides, she didn't really need all that protection in the first place, it was just the king being paranoid.
Lithia was far more stronger and less fragile than they had imagined her.
When the guards had denied her request, she simply casted a water barrier that surrounded the village from the start to the end.
They had no choice but to leave, seeing as how they weren't even able to enter the village through the strong barrier.
Lithia started up her shop after the situation calmed down. The assassination seemed to have lessened once the snow came.
It was reassuring.
At night time when everyone was asleep, Kai was practicing magic in the guestroom.
He read multiple books in order to acquire knowledge about obtaining a secondary element.
It required one to be extremely well versed on a primary element. Precision, control and technique.
Even if that was accomplished, one must also have a mana core that is strong in order to comprehend the large mana usage of secondary elementals.
Kai trained his core every day for at least 5 hours every night. It was energy consuming and made him exhausted as he had performed it in such a long period of time with no breaks.
But there was no time for breaks. He had no intention of stopping. He needed it to be done. As quick as he could.
Sleep wasn't as big a need as it used to be. He only took small naps every 3-4 days when his exhaustion reached its peak.
There were many ways to train one's core. People over the years have created and perfected many forms of core strengthening. Many chose to keep it a secret and only to be passed down from a family member to another.
But there were some core strengthening ways that can be purchased through books. They were costly and valuable, therefore hard to obtain.
But it seemed like Lithia didn't lack any money or connections, she had a library on the upper floor that was filled with books. And no doubt there were also core strengthening books.
Kai had gotten permission to take one of them and practice with it. It was an easy task and Lithia highly encouraged it.
In fact, Lithia even offered to train Kai but he felt a glare piercing him through the small gap in the door. It was better if he didn't take her offer.
Kai finished his core strengthening session and fell back on the wall. He breathed in and out at a slow pace, trying to calm down.
He had to get stronger. And work on something else rather than the unreliable magic he had. Something he had almost honed before.
To kick off the start of his plans. It will take years to accomplish but he has the patience for it.
And there was also another reason why he ought to get stronger.
Kai stood up and walked towards the door and left the room. With his silent footsteps, he made it to the front door and opened it. He knew he was right. He could hear them rustling above him.
With one step into the yard, an arrow shot past him.
Swiftly, Kai created a shield. It started building itself from the ground before rising up and surrounding him. He turned around and made eye contact with the sneaky assassins.
"That kid saw us. Shoot him down quick." A man urged his partner who was nervously putting an arrow on his bow like a novice.
While his partner struggled with the arrow, the man opened his palms and shot our fireballs that could set a forest on fire.
Kai quickly extinguished it without looking behind. His water flowed freely before disappearing along with the raging fire.
"Who do you work for?" Kai asked, standing still while his shield withstand the arrows that were sent to him.
The man ignored him. "Kill him, what are you doing?" He ordered his partner who was sweating buckets. He knew he couldn't rely on someone to do such a simple job for him.
"Sir..my arrows can't get through the shield.. " The man meekly said as he lowered his crossbow.
Kai flicked his hand and a whole rain of ice spikes shot down on the people on the roof. They saw it coming too late and one of them was impaled to the bricks.
The man from earlier now held a long sword that was blazing with fire. Melting the surrounding snow. He swung the blade and locked down his enemy.
Kai dodged but still could feel a strong force hitting his chest. He fell back and could feel the lingering pain and the heat. He saw the man swinging the blade again.
Just before the blade met Kai's pale neck, an ice spike blasted in the man's face. Forcing him to jump and fall backwards in pain.
He held onto the sword tightly and pointed in front of him and waved it around, hoping to hit something or someone. He still was recovering from the pain.
"I asked you a question."
"Not answering." The man coughed as he thrusted his blade forward where the kid stood.
Clink. The sharp ice fell from above him and sliced through his arm as if it was tofu.
"ARGH!" The man yelled in pain. He couldn't feel the hand that once held the sword was gone. It laid beside him as if it were some type of pet.
Kai was grazed by the hot burning sword. If he had set off his magic later, it would've been a deeper cut.
These people were insistent on not revealing their identity no matter what it seems. Is it not for the money then?
They don't seem that trained to be working for another continent's royal unit. And they had always killed themselves off before he could start.
The man was doing the same. His mouth that once yelled in pain was now about to drop the top set of his sharp teeth on the red flesh.
Kai picked up the sword with a small kick and planted the hilt of the sword into the man's mouth.
The man made ununderstandable muffled noises. His own hands began to blaze with his own fire as he launched another fire attack right at Kai.
It was quick and abrupt. Leaving no time for a counter attack.
Kai lurched sideways and quickly looked back at the man. But he had already successfully killed himself.
His body erupting in his own flames while his mouth held his trustworthy sword.
"Tch." Kai clicked his tongue.
They were annoying midgets that swarmed the house. Once you get ahold of them they disappear desperately as if under a spell.
How did they even get to Lithuania's indestructible border in the first place? The only people who could get in were those accompanied by a villager.
Kai stared at the houses that were across the road from him and back at the two bodies sprawled around.
He then noticed a small silver pendant hanging out of the man's pocket. Cautiously avoiding the fire, Kai went in and grabbed the pendant.
It was a huge mistake.
Kai saw a small gap in the pendant and placed his finger nail in and forced it open. It snapped open and there laid a picture.
Two children that looked identical playing in the fields. Their lips formed into the biggest smile they possibly could. Even if the picture had no color, he could feel the warmth and glee that painted the photograph.
Kai closed the pendant and dropped it on the floor. He lifted his leg and wanted to crush it to the dust. But he stopped.
"So..annoying." Kai murmured. He picked up the pendant and placed it inside his pocket.