-Reyha Kingdom; Gallo City; Royal Palace; Heroine Living Quarters-
In the female quarters occupied by Heather, Lavenica, and Kymani, sitting on the bed, master and servant were communicating without having to say anything out loud.
{To sense mana, Master will have to meditate and concentrate your consciousness on your surroundings through your own body. It might take some time, but I believe that with enough work and meditation, in a few days, you won't simply be seeing like before since mana sense allows for a 360-degree field of vision, capable of detecting even minor details in your surroundings.} Lavenica explained calmly and carefully.
{Ok! I'll be ready! I don't mind if it takes some time, as long as it can be accomplished it's good enough.} Kymani responded with enthusiasm, as the idea of being able to see again enthralled him.
Immediately Kymani began meditating, ready to have to do so for days and not expecting any results at all.
[You have acquired the skill
[Mana sense: You will be able to perceive the world through the mana particles in the atmosphere in a certain area of your surroundings, in all directions at the same time.
Current Perception Area: 1-meter radius]
Just like that, the moment Kymani tried the world once again became colorful as the mana reflected the light around him, making it perceptible to his slime senses. All the beauty of the world was once again in his field of vision, and fortunately, he could see a normal distance ahead of him... Actually, he might even have better vision depth than an average human. It seemed that the area restriction was more so about detecting mana itself than how he decided to use that mana per se like he's doing to be able to see.
{Hum... I think I did it... I can see again...} Kymani was underwhelmed by how easy that was and felt awkward admitting it after mentally preparing for failure.
{.... You... As expected of Master, using common sense as a basis was an incorrect decision. Before I can understand how fast Master grows, I'll have to see you train with and acquire a few more abilities, then and only then will I be able to come to a proper conclusion about your growth standard.} Lavenica narrowed her eyes before smiling slightly, but that was short as she soon turned back to stoicism as she expressed her thoughts.
{No problem. Lavnik did say we'll be starting training soon, so that should work.} Kymani was satisfied.
{Master... Why not simply sneak out and strengthen ourselves by killing monsters at night?... Honestly, it should be possible for us to get permission to just do so if Master prefers to be upfront. I believe waiting for the training here, will greatly slow down your growth.} Lavenica suggested as she didn't see the point in waiting for these people at all or why her master even cared about them in the first place. It was clear to her that he could easily outgrow the other heroes, he simply didn't need all this.
{That's true and I actually thought of it as well, but I first want to get a full grasp of the situation here, then I'll start doing my own thing. I understand that with all my blessings, the fact I have the strongest Goddesses in my soul somewhere, my status as a hero, and my system make me probably a monster all things considered, but having allies is always as good thing. I'm here not just to be the best, but to also have fun and live a fulling life.
If I just ignore everything that isn't the most efficient to my growth, I'll probably get bored very quickly... And finally... Nobles tend to have at least a few super beauties among their ranks, and I'm sure I'll eventually meet some if I stay here... Heck, the hero girl and the princesses are already a great start... Honestly, if the Queen wasn't married... Hehehehe!} Kymani was providing his reasoning with sincerity, that was until his more nefarious intentions started to leak.
{... I truly cannot understand you, Master... So much potential and this is your focus... At least you're sincere...} Lavenica curled awkwardly her lips as she was stunned by her master's antics.
{I'm a man true to myself. No bullshit! I'm proud of who I am! Hahahaha!} Kymani almost sounded maniac with his truthfulness...
{...} Lavenica didn't say anymore and simply observed her Master. A smile would appear on her face every now and then while watching him.
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-Reyha Kingdom; Gallo City; Royal Palace; Dining Room-
After waking up and getting ready, everyone met in one of the dining rooms to have breakfast. It was just the 5 of them, once the maids left.
"You know what? This place isn't so bad after all. The maids are cute, the guards are nice and respectful, and I even get to enjoy a pretty luxurious lifestyle overall." Fritz said with a smile as he ate and tried various dishes. The food was different but delicious in a way he couldn't quite explain.
"Until we have to be soldiers and fight their wars for them. Yeah sounds like a great life to me." Leopold remarked as he rolled his eyes.
"Don't be so harsh on him, he's just trying to lighten up the mood." Heather retorted to Leopold as she thought he was being a bit gloomy even if he was right.
"Yeah! I'm just trying to change the flow and put some positive energy on the table, since no one else will... Look at this guy... One year younger and yet no respect." Fritz faked tears and dramatized it, despite not really minding what Leopold said, since it was the truth after all.
"Tch! Respect is earned not granted. Anyway, is it really safe to count on that thing to be one of the heroes?" Leopold asked as he looked at Kymani.
"It's a he, and he is really nice." Before Lavenica could even answer, the one to defend Kymani was Heather.
"How do you know that?" Leopold asked legitimately curious.
"And more importantly, if it's a he why doesn't he sleep with us?" Fritz added.
"We talked yesterday during our bath in the female hot spring of the palace. As for the rooms, he is asexual in his reproduction and has no urges, so it doesn't really matter." Heather calmly answered.
"Only she can talk to him?... Isn't that a bit suspicious?" Leopold was still wary.
"Yeah, what he has mind control or something like that?... You saw how against him most of the people in the throne room were, and they even said he's dangerous." Fritz reminded her.
"You two are building a conspiracy theory in your heads in real time. Do you really think that if he could do that, they would actually let him go?" Heather narrowed her eyes at the two.
"That's a good point... Just be careful." Leopold didn't pursue matters further.
"Sorry, my mind can go wild with all the supernatural stuff that happened to us. I don't even know what's possible and what isn't anymore." Fritz apologized and moved past it white quickly.
"It's not me, you should be apologizing to!" Heather scolded Fritz but didn't bother saying anything to Leopold.
"Yeah, yeah... Ok. Sorry, little guy, didn't mean to be rude, I'm just new to all this stuff. Also, did you brainwash Heather, or is it just that time of the month? She's a bit overwhelming today." Fritz gave Kymani a thumbs-up as he smiled.
'This guy... He has some guts to just say that... Not bad.' Kymani was a bit surprised by Fritz's boldness.
Leopold chuckled slightly at his words while Lavenica simply shook her head.
"Dear sweet Fritz... I haven't properly thanked you for what you did before. Let me give you a hug." Heather said with a fake smile and a knife in her hand.
"... Hehehe... Normally I wouldn't reject a pretty young lady, but my mother warned me about women like you... And while I hope she was right... Today I'll have to pass!" Fritz smiled slowly got up from his chair while speaking and dipped as soon as he was done.
"Oh, don't be shy! I'm sure you'll appreciate it." Heather let go of the fake smile and went after Fritz with the knife.
"I would make a bet on how he's not making it back with you, but I don't know what type of money they use in this place." Leopold commented.
Unfortunately for him, Lavenica said nothing in response and this left an awkward silence in the air.
'I think he was trying to tell a joke...' Kymani thought to himself.
-Reyha Kingdom; Gallo City; Royal Palace; Training Area-
Much later in the day, after going through a few classes and being taught a bit more about the world. The heroes found themselves in a training facility in the back of the palace after the garden labyrinth. Inside there were various wooden weapons, real weapons, weights, three odd-looking devices, and four arenas.
The heroes were standing in line, one next to the other, and in front of them, was a man in full armor except for the helmet, and on his chest plate, there was a mediation with 3 golden stars, and on the lower end of it, the number 11 could be found.
"Good afternoon, heroes. I'm Commander Rana Gallo. One of the 11 Commanders in the Reyha Royal army, and as expected, a 3rd class knight. My rank aside, for the next few months I'll be your physical and combat instructor. Since you are heroes I was supposed to be accompanied by a royal mage of similar rank to teach you magic, but due to some urgent circumstances, they were summoned by the Magic Academy of Sage Gustav.
Don't worry though, arrangements have been made and you'll get the best magic teacher on the continent, it's actually more so a blessing for you that this happened. In a few weeks, your new magic teacher should be here, and until then you'll be solely under me. Oh and I almost forgot, she'll be bringing her daughter, and I hope you youths behave, as not even I or even the other Commanders will be able to save the Kingdom from her wrath if you mess with her daughter. Any questions?" Rana introduced himself before explaining the situation.
"Hum... What counts as messing with her?" Fritz took the situation leisurely.
"Ah... So we have a jokester among us?" Rana smiled and asked calmly.
"... Hehehe... I'm sorry, I can't help myself whenever I get nervous." Fritz felt a bit embarrassed being called out, he really didn't mean it.
"Oh, I see, unfortunately, I also can't help myself but have you do 50 push-ups and 150 laps around the field! If you can't even do that, I'm very you'll have a lot of time to practice your jokes while you clean a portion of the royal stables on your own!" Rana did a 180 and immediately scolded Fritz firmly.
In fear, Fritz started doing the push-ups to the best of his ability, and actually managed to do all the push-ups relatively easily. The same could be said about the laps, it was light work. All this surprised Fritz as he was never the athletic type, and this was well above would have been able to do before. He was finally realizing that he wasn't just a Hero in name. Soon he went back to the group.
"Be careful all of you. Don't take this training lightly and if anyone else has any especially smart remarks to me, remember that all of you, might end up like that next time. Since it was all an accident it was only a light workout, but next time if there is one, will be triple that. Anyway, it's time we start training and we're starting from the basics!" Rana gave them a warning before preparing to start the actual lesson.
'I'm not sure if I can benefit from this at all...' Kymani thought to himself, as after all, slime had no muscles.