Knock knock knock
"Your Highness, may I come in?" a voice called out from outside of John's room, well before the sun had risen and the darkness of the early morning still lingered.
John groaned in irritation, "Who is it at this early hour? Aishhh," as his peaceful slumber was disrupted.
"Come in," John grumbled as he sat up in bed.
The door opened to reveal a man dressed in formal attire, "Good morning, Your Highness. I am Hans, I will be acting as your butler during your stay here."
John scowled, "Okay, but why have you bothered me at this ungodly hour? The sun hasn't even risen yet."
"I apologize, Your Highness. His Majesty, the Grand Duke, has requested your presence in the training hall," Hans explained.
"What? Why so early? I'm used to training early in the morning, but this is a bit excessive," John queried, confusion and frustration evident in his voice.
Hans shook his head, "I am not privy to the reason, Your Highness. I am only following the Duke's instructions."
John sighed, "Fine, give me a minute. I'll get dressed and be ready to go." He reached for a set of training clothes that had already been prepared for him, even before his arrival in the Duke's territory.
"Yes, Your Highness," Hans nodded as he stepped out of the room to give John privacy to change.
A short while later, John emerged from his room and signaled for Hans to lead the way to the training hall. "Let's go," John said, his tone resigned.
"As you wish, Your Highness," Hans replied as they made their way through the grand palace's hallways.
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Upon arriving at the training hall, John couldn't help but notice the thick blanket of snow covering the entire area. The weapon racks were barely visible, and the ground was completely obscured. He was greeted by the grand duke, who simply said, "You're here."
"Good morning, mind telling me why you have brought me here before dawn?" John asked, trying to mask his confusion and annoyance.
The grand duke raised an eyebrow, "It's for your training of course. Why else would I call you to the training ground?"
John couldn't help but feel a sense of frustration. "Right…but how can you call this a training hall? You can't even see the ground here." He tried to keep a smile on his face, but it was clear that he was not impressed.
The grand duke didn't seem bothered by John's comment. "Well, get to shoveling. We will need to train your basic stamina, and there is no better training for that than this," he said, pointing at the snow.
John couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Shoveling? Are you serious?"
"Yes, I am. Here," the grand duke said, handing John a shovel.
John looked at the shovel, then back at the grand duke. "You can't be serious."
The grand duke gave John a stern look. "I am. Get going now."
John reluctantly took the shovel and started to shovel the snow. The grand duke watched him closely, urging him to work harder and faster.
"Come on, we don't have all morning," the grand duke shouted.
John huffed and puffed as he worked, the cold biting at his fingers and face. He couldn't help but curse under his breath, "Fuck my life."
"You won't get any stronger like this, come on faster, faster," the grand duke shouted, clapping his hands.
John gritted his teeth and pushed on, the physical exertion taking its toll on him. "God damn it," he muttered as he continued to shovel.
"Harder, God damn it! You have to clean all this up before the knights arrive," the grand duke barked.
John gritted his teeth and pushed himself harder, his breath coming in ragged gasps. "Use your mana, you goddamn idiot," the grand duke shouted, "It will help you move faster."
"What? But wouldn't that be counterproductive?" John asked, confused.
"Do you think you can clean all of this without mana before 6 am?" the grand duke retorted.
John shook his head, realizing the truth in the grand duke's words. "Then what are you thinking, you idiot? Come on, move, move, move! Use your mana properly. Tell me if you don't know how to control it," the grand duke screamed.
John gritted his teeth, silently vowing to get revenge for this. "Umm, your majesty," a third voice interrupted, belonging to the grand chamberlain.
"What is it?" the grand duke asked, turning to the bald man.
"The teacher you called for his highness has arrived. He wishes to meet with his highness as soon as possible," the grand chamberlain replied.
"Oh, that old man is here already? I knew he was impatient but wasn't this a bit too fast? I told him about the kid just last night. Hahahaha, well, whatever it is, it is. Tell him he can meet with the prince at breakfast. He should rest till then. I'm sure his journey must have been exhausting. The kid is training right now, anyway," the grand duke replied dismissively.
"As you wish, your majesty," the grand chamberlain said, bowing before leaving the hall.
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"Good job, kid," Dante said as he watched John finish clearing the field. "Now that you're finally done, we'll move on to physical training. Follow me." He led John to a medium-sized hill, where a guard stood with a large brown sack.
"Why are we here?" John asked, looking at Dante with confusion.
"For training, of course. Why else would I bring you here?" the Grand Duke replied with a hint of annoyance in his tone.
"Ah, I knew it was for training, but what kind of training?" John asked, unable to control his annoyance.
"Can't you guess? There's a hill, and there's you. What kind of training could there be?" the Duke replied.
"Hold on, you want me to climb that thing?" John asked, staring the Grand Duke straight in the eyes.
"Yep," the Grand Duke nodded.
"Haaaaah, well I shall get to it then," John said, letting out a slight sigh.
"Wait, hold on a second, guard," the Duke said, stopping John before he could start running. "What are these?" John asked as he looked at the four pieces of metal that the Grand Duke pulled out of the bag.
"Weighted metal bracers for your arms and legs. Put them on, you are to keep them on at all times except when sleeping, got it?" the Duke said, looking John in the eyes.
"You're serious?" John asked, surprised.
"As serious as I'll ever be. Why do I look like I'm joking to you?" the Grand Duke replied with a nod.
"Go on now, put them on," the Grand Duke said, handing the bracers to John.
"How heavy are these by the way?" John asked as he put them on his legs first.
"For now, we're keeping them light, about 5 kilos each," the Grand Duke replied.
"And one more thing," the Grand Duke added. "At the top of the hill, there's a red flag. You need to bring that flag with you as proof that you've climbed all the way up. If you don't make it back by 9 o'clock, there'll be no breakfast for you."
John began his climb up the hill, the added weight of the bracers making each step a struggle. He could feel the burn in his legs as he pushed himself forward, sweat drenching his clothes. He had never felt so challenged physically before, and it made him realize just how much he needed to get stronger. As he reached halfway up the hill, he began to feel the weight of the bracers becoming overwhelming. He knew he needed to conserve his energy if he wanted to make it to the top. He closed his eyes and focused on channeling his mana, using it to alleviate the weight of the bracers. With renewed energy, he pushed on and finally reached the summit, panting and exhausted. He looked up and saw the red flag flapping in the wind, a symbol of his accomplishment. As he made his way down, he couldn't help but feel proud of himself for pushing through the difficult climb. He knew that this was just the beginning of his training and that he had a long way to go, but he was determined to become stronger.
'Haaah this body really is in a shitty state right now.' john sighed to himself as he reached the foot of the hill.
"Good job, kid," Dante said as he saw John approach. "Come on let's go, we will end it early for today, there is someone who wants to meet you at breakfast today."