"The spar is over…" Lexus said.
Henri sighed… To think that he would lose like that against someone five years younger… He couldn't deny Aion's skill, but losing in brute strength was truly mortifying.
"You all showed a lot of improvement in the last few months, keep working like that and your skills will never disappoint you," Lexus said. "From tomorrow onwards, you will train by yourselves. You can spar together, but if I hear if any of you went too far… Nevertheless, I am going on a campaign with the battle tactics instructor. So study and practice diligently."
"Father, I can go with you, I won't slow you down!" Philip said.
"It has already been determined that you are going to work under another commander for a while and in a few months," Lexus declared. "I am going to the western border to deal with someone troublesome, and that isn't a place trainees of your age should go."
"Who is the enemy, father?" Henri asked.
"You should have heard of him, Caelis the Tainted…" Lexus replied.
Aion had heard of him. Caelis the Tainted was a powerful warrior of the Rosberg kingdom, which was localized west of their current kingdom. He was a man who had been fighting around like a madman for fifty years, and aside from his violent nature, he was known for defeating his opponents and making them go mad when they didn't die. They become like zombies thirsty for battle, and they become totally loyal to him.
It seemed like his father would participate in one hell of a battle, and despite the fact that he was basically the jailer of his mother, he was worried about him. He might be a terrible husband for her, but he wasn't a half-bad father. He was only too serious and awkward…
Regardless, Aion said that he wanted to go the bathroom, but he only wanted to heal his fists. He wondered how things would go now that his father was going to stay away from home for a couple of months. He will have to be careful…
Regardless, while Lexus' was preparing his things for his trip, the boys had the rest of the day free for themselves, and it seemed that the girls also didn't have to study that day. He was truly awkward since all of them had followed him all day. Meanwhile, Aion went to the library to check things about people like Caelis.
Apparently, there were a few dozen of them around, and they tended to live for hundreds of years… they were like a real menace since no one could predict what they could do; only others like them could understand their way of thinking.
"For all intentions and purposes, it doesn't look like they are acting with normal interests one would have during a way," Aion thought. "So, they are truly random guys…"
That was kind of annoying, most people live their lives with a purpose, but since they lived a lot more than most people, they could think in a different scale. In the end, it made sense for them to be like that, but the fact that they made others be caught up in their randomness was still annoying…
For some reason, Lexus' left the mansion after sunset. Aion assumed that his father didn't want to let many people know that he wouldn't be around for a while. Sometimes, that was necessary to avoid problems… Regardless, one of the servants told Aion that his father was waiting for him outside. He sighed… his mother couldn't even cross the damn walls for five minutes.
Outside, Aion saw his wives and daughters hugging Lexus, but it seemed that the boys were growing to become as awkward as him as they felt embarrassed to do that. In any other situation, he wouldn't care about that, but he was a bit pissed not to care about that.
"Remember what I said and behave properly," Lexus said while looking at the boys.
If he were planning to travel in incognito, that kind of farewell certainly would attract a lot of attention, but it wasn't like many people traveled around that part of the capital at night… only the guards doing their night patrols could move freely. In any case, almost everyone said something to Lexus, and at some point, Aion wondered if they would sing kumbaya together, but he shook his mind to change his mood.
After a while, Lexus left, and all the others entered the mansion. Soon after, they had dinner, and then Aion went to train outside, he was planning to get another weapon, but then he saw Elio and Georges waiting for him outside. He was so angry that he thought that Georges wasn't going to train with him anymore, and he was just trying to make his father proud… Aion sighed… to think that he would let his emotions control him that much.
"Father is going on a long trip, but I don't plan on slacking off… if you want to practice with me, then you will have your chance," Elio said.
He talked like he was doing a favor to the others… in the end, Aion just shrugged. Kids will be kids, and when they are raised by nobles, they become even more like that. On the next few days, all the boys began to spar against each other more often, but they didn't do anything too dangerous…
Maybe Aion underestimated their growth or how much they respected their father. Eventually, even Philip and Henri showed up to train in the garden after dinner once they noticed how much progress their little brothers were making.
They didn't talk much aside from training and the techniques that they were using, but Aion still felt that getting closer to his half brothers like that was better than nothing. Around the same time, Aion began to train with bows since he wanted to level up the archer class. However, he still practiced with the others using the gauntlets. It felt really comfortable to use his fists like that, after all.
Archer Lv 12
Health: 28/28
Mana: 14/14
Stamina: 60/60
Strength: 08
Dexterity:19
Magic: 06
Endurance: 06
Resistance: 01
Speed: 11
Status: 15
Bow Refinement Lv 0
Bonuses:
Skills: Power Shot Lv 01, Quick Bow Lv 01,
Passive: Bow Mastery Lv 01
Improvement Points: 33
Accumulated Experience: 0
Coins: 00
Inventory:
Absorption: 0/1000
Processing: 0/1000
Reset
Since Aion added a lot of points into dexterity and speed, he already could shoot arrows pretty well, and the power of the string of the bows that he could use was nothing against his arms' strength. Still, he felt that he needed to spread his wings, just leveling up the classes wasn't enough, and he had to use the refinement, coins, processing, and absorption features…