Eldric got up during the first waking hours. There was barely any light outside, besides the natural dusk illumination.
The moon still decorated the dark sky.
He was wearing simple pants and a long-sleeved shirt. Likewise, he stretched his limbs and yawned; traces of shut-eye still apparent
"Thanks, Epine." he muttered.
Eldric has already informed her of his desire to start waking up along with the staff of the mansion.
What he didn't expect, however, was how early it was.
It was easily five in the morning.
He looked gratefully at Epine and inspected the plate presented in front of him. She had already taken it as her job to prepare his meal in the early morning.
He could have mentioned how the head chef was already awake, and she wouldn't have to do it.
But it didn't seem like she particularly hated it, so he didn't want to rain on her parade.
Both he and Epine were sitting on rather normal chairs.
To be honest, Eldric somehow felt more comfortable sitting on them instead of the fancy ones.
*Fuuh* *Fuuh*
After blowing on his spoon, he took the first bite of the soup. It was a vegetable and meat soup with some stock from the leftovers, or at least that's what he has been informed.
Epine was patiently waiting for his reaction.
"It tastes good, Epine." he lightly complimented her.
The maid nodded, slightly bowed her head and said" I'm glad it does, young master."
He grinned slightly." It sure does. Especially since you just high jacked the kitchen from the staff…"
Epine didn't seem to make note of his sarcastic tone. She just nodded to his inquiry.
Eldric looked around, registering the full details of where he currently was.
The manor kitchen was huge, however, Eldric was slowly getting used to the overblown proportions of every single little thing in this estate.
It was separated into two parts. The part where he was currently sitting alongside Epine was the area in front of the huge counter.
The walls and floor were made of stone— unlike the marble fitted ones of the other parts of the property.
On the opposite side of the counter sat the cooking utensils and equipment. Eldric yet again found only basic tools; he at least assumed he'd be able to find something that ran on magic like that luminaire.
Finishing his meal; a basic soup and some bread. Eldric decided it was time to head out to train again.
He was itching to get his body moving.
It must have shown on his complexion because Epine sighed and insisted," Young master. Although I find your drive commendable, I can't have you be as reckless as the day before."
Eldric was about to respond." Can't you—
"No, young master, we already went through it once. Recovery potions are not miracles."
Eldric felt it was somewhat creepy how easy she seemed capable of reading his intentions.
He wanted to wave off her concerns. "Don't worry about it, I'm feeling re—"
*Swoosh*
The sudden pang of pain left Eldric unable to continue what he was saying.
Epine all but too lightly hit his sides, and that seemed to re-ignite the effects the training had on him.
Eldric was indeed still in pain from the exertion of the day before.
He looked angrily at her." Did you have to do that?!" He paused, "You could have just told me you knew!"
She looked weirdly at him," Young master, I already told you that you shouldn't push yourself. You just didn't listen." She nodded wisely.
Eldric went mouth-agape by her utter shamelessness.
—he was still clutching his sides, for god's sake.
"You're getting cheeky, Epine," he directed.
All he received was a head tilt as a response to his comment.
He just rolled his eyes and said," Whatever, you got your point across." He quickly added, however, he quickly added, "I'm still training. I just won't force myself."
"Deal?"
Epine didn't argue further and just nodded.
Eldric was confused at that reaction; he expected a lot more resistance.
He looked at the slight smirk on her face, and it all came down on him.
Her objective was never to prohibit him from training. She just wanted to make him take it easier.
"You actually tricked me, didn't you?" he groaned.
"I don't know what you are talking about, young master," Epine answered— her still present smirk said otherwise.
"Of course, you don't" bickered Eldric.
—-----------
It took some time convincing, but Epine eventually let Eldric go to train alone. She instructed him to just swing his sword to get a good feeling for it.
In the same training backyard, there was a familiar, red-haired Armsworth.
At first, Eldric thought it would be Cenric, however, he was proven wrong when it turned out to be his half-sister.
Elah Armsworth.
Her shoulder-length crimson hair danced in the wind as she performed multiple swings of her swords. She was vaguely looking in front of her in total concentration as her bright green eyes dilated in focus.
She was putting every ounce of her being into every single swing. Elah stopped her training when she registered Eldric's appearance.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, a mocking tone in her voice.
Her wooden sword's tip was directed at Eldric.
"Why do you think I'd be here for… I'm trying to train," sarcastically said Eldric, not at all nervous by her sudden turn of aggression.
Elah didn't seem that convinced for some reason. But she seriously took in his appearance this time.
"You shouldn't be able to move in that state."
Eldric was surprised just how easily they could find out about his state; he had a lifetime of experience hiding pain.
So far it was only Elah and Epine that could, however.
"Well. I kinda did train too much yesterday."
Elah seemed to know much about swords and fighting in general, or so Eldric thought.
Eldric wasn't averse to asking for tutorship from someone better; even if the person was a child.
"Do you mind teaching me for a bit." hopefully asked Eldric
He wasn't one to shy away from asking for help; even should the helper be a child. Knowledge didn't have an age limit.
Elah looked weirdly at him, yet still took the wooden sword that lay on the ground and handed it to him.
"Here, you can mirror me." she offered.
Eldric copied her swing to the letter.
*Swoosh*
She seemed surprised by your swing.
"It's completely shit— I mean, it is unsatisfactory."
Eldric was confused by how much she was afraid of that slip-up. There was hidden terror in her eyes, and her lips quivered for a moment.
"I assume it is." He took another swing. "I just woke up from a 2-year nap."
She grimaced at the mention of Eldric's comatose state, "Right, There was that."
The both of them continued their sword-swinging.
"Are you not going to mock me?" asked Elah after what a dozen minutes must have passed.
"Why would I mock you?" answered Eldric back with a question.
Elah was not expecting that response.
She looked even more strangely at him than before, almost as if he were an alien walking on earth— she was not wrong in that regard.
"Is that so?" she said out loud, not to anyone in particular.
She stopped the conversation and they both went on doing their thing.
Eldric looked at the little girl's face, and unlike before, there was a smile that graced it.