It was brutal training, one might say it even bordered on abuse, yet Eldric kept up with it through blood, sweat, and tears. The town encounter and the Cenric incident truly set his spirits ablaze...
Only a week has passed since Eldric officially went under Epine for training. But, there was no doubt in his mind that he could easily manhandle the Eldric from before. It wouldn't even be a challenge. Albeit, that didn't really mean much in the grand scheme of things.
'Baby steps, Eldric. One step at a time...' he encouraged in his mind, grasping at his fists until they turned white from the pressure.
The scene that served as the spark to this succession of events passed by in his mind.
—
In the luxurious inner chambers of the Armsworth estate, a child gazed up to meet the form of his personal maid. No longer was the child wearing those shabby charred clothes; he was now outfitted in a light nightgown. Just like the noble child, he is supposed to be.
"Would you train me, Epine?" said Eldric. A pleading tone dominated his voice.
No matter how nonchalant he appeared to be. The incident with Cenric could have ended a lot worse without Epine's interference. He had to do something about it.
Eldric was not being complacent by any means, in fact, he may even have counted among the hardest working nobles. But that wasn't enough, it seems.
"I was already pl—"
"No, Epine." he briskly interrupted her from continuing. It seems she didn't understand what he was going for.
" I want you to make me stronger. I know you can do it…"
Raven black eyes and ocean-blue ones locked.
"Please." Eldric slightly bowed his head to her.
A high noble child bowing his head, slightly or not, to a mere maid; such a scene would warrant the laughter of all nobles around the world. However, that laughter would not be of mere amusement… That maid's head would surely roll on the ground.
Epine didn't respond immediately to Eldric's evident sincerity.
"Young master..." she paused at that display. An unidentifiable expression riddled her figure; it sooner disappeared.
"Why do you want to get stronger, young master?" she asked her own question in response instead of answering his.
Eldric raised his head and straightened up to look at her. He paused for a few seconds, and a completive expression riddled his face.
'Why?' he wondered.
There were multiple 'optimal' answers that entered his mind. Answers like 'I want to protect my family!' or 'I want to be the strongest person in the world!' were the first he thought of.
For some reason or the other, he couldn't say any of these when he looked up only to meet the impassive expression of his personal maid.
Eldric in the end chose to go with his actual thoughts on this matter. He had big dreams to accomplish, but you can't dream big if you're dead by the end of the day.
" I want to live. That's why I need to be strong. And If my strength can help my close ones, then that's even better."
His diplomatic 'boring' answer was met with a deafening prolonged silence.
All that registered in his ears, in the luxurious and brightly lit chambers, was the sound of his soft breathing and the sizzling of the firewood in the chimney. His quickly beating heart sounded like the heavy bangs of drums.
It was a tense few seconds for Eldric. Luckily, an answer came and the pressure vanished like it was never there, to begin with.
"Good."
Eldric didn't know if that was supposed to be the right answer or not. He just let fate take the wheels. He had already shot his shot.
An honest answer was all that Epine was looking for. He could have even said something as grand as world domination, and she would have still trained him regardless.
It just so happened that such a 'boring' answer was the perfect one for Epine. She would now train him not only with her 100% but her 120% instead.
Had he spouted the first things that came to his mind, that wouldn't have been the case. Those 'optimal' answers that he thought might have been optimal to another one, but not to her.
All she cared for and would care for is his safety…. She wouldn't break her promise again. Never again.
"Of course, I will help you train. Young master."
Eldric studied her expression for a moment. The rare faint smile on her face was all that he needed for an answer.
Epine showcasing a smile, no matter how faint, wasn't an everyday occurrence.
'She should smile more, a smile suits her better.' he thought.
—-
As such, he was quite grateful for her instructions and guidance. Nonetheless, he was also quite bitter by the degree she took it. It was contradictory, but that was simply how humans were.
Well, he only had himself to blame for it. Eldric seemed to remember a certain phrase that went around in his old world.
'No pain, no gain.'
"Ugh!"
Almost as if to demonstrate the phrase's meaning, Epine used that opportunity of apparent negligence to output a rather mean blow directly to his solar plexus.
The blunt damage suffered by Eldric was even higher due to her utilising the flat end of the wooden sword: It had a larger surface area.
"I told you to always pay attention!"
"Are you thinking about during battle!" she angrily shouted.
'THIS ISN'T A BATTLE!!' screamed Eldric in his mind.
" Just you wait! I will get back at you one day, Epine!"
He stopped dallying around and picked up his sword. He charged at her.
Epine sneered at him. "Yeah, right. Going by your pace, I might even be on my grave when that day arrives..."
"Young master~" She made sure to say the last part of her sentence with as much sarcasm as possible.
Eldric naturally caught that hint of sarcasm in her tone and grimaced. That insult hurt even more than what Epine would have assumed, as the people in this world lived longer than the individuals of his previous world. It was said that people of the [Divine] rank could practically live for eternity. Sadly, there was no one that entered the [Divine] since the gods cursed humanity.
Eldric could only lament his choices. He couldn't even respond to this demon. He couldn't afford to, she wouldn't even let him rest.
"Where is that block now, young master?"
Eldric's eyes shone for a moment, a block is guaranteed. He grinned victoriously; he could feel that sensation when he blocked her, with his entire being. Eldric's eyes followed the sword's trajectory like a hawk stalking its prey.
"Kuuh." Eldric coughed up empty air.
— the strike that he thought would be surely blocked, somehow impossibly diverged right at the last moment like a whip in front of his eyes. How was that possible was beyond him... The sword suddenly disappeared from his vision altogether, trajectory and all.
"So it was just luck, is that it?" disappointedly muttered Epine looking at Eldric that was kneeling down with one hand on the floor and the other clutching his right side in pain.
She crossed eyes with two dangerously glinting blue eyes— they screamed murder. The will behind them showed promise, but she wasn't the least bit unnerved. Epine would sooner eat dirt than let a kitten that just learned how to walk intimidate her.
No matter if that same kitten had the promise of becoming a lion.
The spars continued like that with Epine constantly getting in Eldric's head with the trash-talk. She was exceptional at it, much to his dismay.
Epine was very much not kidding when she said his training would be handled seriously, even psychological attacks were not beyond the line she was willing to cross to effectively teach him.
Ironically, Eldric's adult-like composure coming from his past self only played against him here. That allowed Epine to push his buttons further... Since he wouldn't shout or roar out his frustrations, she would have to get more 'creative'. Thus, a vicious cycle was produced.
With Eldric entirely preoccupied with the basic task of survival, he couldn't have registered the appearance of the newcomer.
'How did he improve so much in this small duration??!!' the redhead thought as her green eyes gazed intently into Eldric's fighting figure.
She looked with more focus, almost as if to confirm whether that was even the same person or not.... Elah could still remember how bad his form was only a week ago.
'Is it his blessing? It must be...' Elah's thoughts carried no jealousy or envy at her casual remark. She didn't need to have those feelings, after all.
All she needed was to get stronger. She refused to accept her fate of being turned into a political tool.
As such, she picked up her sword and started her daily routine. It was a bummer that Eldric and his maid came earlier, but that wouldn't dismay her.