In a blink of an eye, two years had passed.
Alexius gripped his sword firmly while keeping a steady posture in front of his opponent.
*Wham!*
Gritting his teeth, he blocked the incoming attack, following his enemy's trajectory. Then, sticking his leg out, he interfered with his opponent's footwork, causing him to lose his balance and the power in his strike, allowing Alexius to close the distance and stab the opponent.
"Argh!" The boy fell to the ground, writhing in agony. However, the instructor merely waved at him to get out of the fighting ring.
"Did I... hit him too hard?" Alexius sheepishly asked, wooden sword in hand.
The instructor shook his head. "Letting you kids have a taste of pain is a good way to prepare you for the future. Besides, you have certainly improved a lot over the past few months."
"Your practical application of hand-to-hand combat is quite polished, even for a professional. However, your sword techniques are still very lacking. For example, when blocking, you didn't make use of the opening that your opponent's outstretched hand gave you and parry it, allowing you to strike and end the battle right then and there. Instead, you missed the opportunity and let it drag on."
Alexius nodded. Indeed, he could've saved himself a lot of breath by doing that. The instructor continued. "In a real battle, one small mistake might mean your death. Even if the consequences did not show themselves immediately, like the opportunity you missed, your opponent could've had the time to stabilize himself and retake the initiative."
Alexius bowed to show his respect. "Thank you, instructor. I'll keep this in mind and focus more on my sword skills."
Nodding, the instructor turned towards Alexius' opponent. "James! Your stab was atrocious! I could almost feel the wobble in the tip! That's just asking to be fucking beaten, isn't it!"
Turning away from the scene, Alexius heaved a sigh. He had really been practicing hard with his sword, so being told that they were still lacking was disheartening. However, he didn't let that get to him.
'I've only started practicing with the sword when I was 8 years old, while others started from when they could walk. Being able to defeat most level opponents- that isn't too bad, right?'
The sun shone down mercilessly on the Knight's courtyard, but Alexius continued his training. Beads of sweat dripped down his body and fell on the floor as he did so.
Just then, a voice rang out from behind him.
"Oi! Alexius, what're you doing?"
'Not again!' Alexius wanted to scream, but restrained himself. Turning around, he found himself face to face with Arkadios.
Spitting on the floor, Arkadios snarled. "Commoner, in the test tomorrow, I'll go easy on you. I'll show you what real swordplay is like, not your unrefined brawling!"
Alexius wanted to roll his eyes. This guy was as immature as ever! Even though tomorrow was the test, he still wanted to insult others like he didn't have anything better to do.
However, since Arkadios was technically a higher noble than him, he had to remain courteous, even though his veins were throbbing.
"Of course- may the best man win!"
"That would be me you're talking about." Came Arkadios' haughty reply.
The test wasn't really very important, but to the rest of the children, they saw it as a chance to prove themselves to the others.
As such, everyone was talking about it, including the usually timid Anthony. As for Alexius, he was just counting down the days to his tenth birthday, when his mana heart would either awaken, or he would be left as a normal person.
He had been in this world for nearly five years, so the age of his body was that of a ten-year-old. In the meantime, he had worked hard on learning as much as he could about Nessim, the world in which he now lived, as well as picking up skills such as horse riding that all the trendy young masters were supposed to know.
In his free time, he had gone to the nearby town of Hanan to check out the life of common people.
Although most of the kids that he was with didn't leave Knight Rictor's manor because of its sheer size, Alexius, as a rich person who received a lot of money from his adopted father, Rowan, back home, had a lot of resources compared to normal people.
And Alexius had not let those resources go to waste.
"Alright kids, training is over! Go do whatever you want now, but remember that tomorrow is Knight Rictor's official evaluation!"
...
"Jacob, make sure that no one knows where I am."
Jacob was the name of Alexius' servant, who had followed him to Knight Rictor's mansion for the first time two years ago. He was a tier two mage, and as such was entrusted to protect Alexius by Rowan back in Cassidy Town.
Although he was relatively unassuming, Alexius found that the man was very loyal, and, after forming a bond with him, trusted that he wouldn't betray him- even to Rowan, Jacob's master.
"Yes, master." Jacob replied, giving him a slight bow. "I'll tell the rest that you went for a walk around the Knight's manor, if that's alright."
A smile etched itself on Alexius' face.
"Of course that's alright. If that's everything, then I'll get going."
"Safe journeys."
...
Alexius, beside the wall of the mansion, allowed an armoured guard on patrol to pass by. The man was sweating profusely, and no wonder, for it felt like an oven even for Alexius, who was dressed lightly.
He felt a little sympathy for the guard who patrolled in full armour before letting him vanish around the corner. Then, he quickly and quietly jumped onto the wall, grabbing the ledge, and raised himself up, letting himself down the other side.
'Now- to Hanan Town.'
Today was the day to see whether his hard work for the past few months paid off.
Entering the city, he quickly found himself in the slums, where multiple pitiful people of all ages sat quietly with their eyes closed, wishing for some respite on this hot day. They wore tatters, and some of then groaned softly.
Quietly walking past them, Alexius reached the door to an old building on a side street. On top of the door held a sign that read, "Marv's Blacksmith". It was old, with one being barely able to read the lettering on it.
However, this was exactly where Alexius placed his hopes onto.
Opening the door, he was suddenly met with a blast of hot air. "Marv! I'm here!" He called out, but to no response. Raising an eyebrow, he looked around. Where was the elusive blacksmith? Surely he hadn't-
*Bang!* "Hah... Ha ha ha!"
The sound startled Alexius, whose ears started ringing as maniacal laughter was heard from the second story of the building.
"I've done it! I've done it! I've- oh, you're here?" The bulky, balding and bearded man who was wearing nothing but pants and some gloves wrapped his arms around Alexius faster than he could react. "I've got good news! The thing you asked me to make- the-"
"The pistol. Yes, I know. I heard it. It's successful, right?"
Marv looked a little sorrowful at having his thunder stolen away, but he nevertheless took an the gun out. 'Yes, it's a pistol alright.' Alexius thought. It had a wooden handle and a barrel, with the flintlock mechanism protruding from the top.
He took the pistol and felt it over, noting the poor craftsmanship of the wood, but excused it, since Marv wasn't a carpenter.
Checking the barrel to make sure it wasn't loaded, he then checked the inside of the barrel. It was dirty and had black powder all over it, which was understandable since it had just been fired.
'A true medieval game-changer.'
A devilish grin etched itself onto Alexius' face, which, in addition to his blood-red eyes, had the effect of involuntarily sending a bead of cold sweat down Marv's spine.
Alexius broke the silence first. "Excellent. I'll reward you an extra three gold crowns for this; make sure to tell no one. If you do, I'm sure you will know what will happen..." He stopped, resting his palm on the hilt of a sword he had "borrowed" from Knight Rictor's mansion. Really, people should take more responsibility over their weapons!
Marv gulped. "Yes, sir... I will follow your orders."
"Good. I want five more working pistols by the end of the month; can you do that?"
After he saw Marv nod his head, Alexius bid him farewell and hastily took his leave, heading out once more. The sun was already beginning to set; he would have to hurry to get back to Knight Rictor's mansion in time for dinner.
Back at the blacksmith's, Marv sat on a chair and sighed with relief. 'I really should not be intimidated by him... but whenever I interact with him, it feels like he's always in control.'
He shook his head to get rid of those thoughts.
'Stop thinking too much! The boy is giving me work to do, so I won't starve to death like those people out there. That's all there is to it.' He took a deep breath, and got to work once more. 'One more thing though... where did he get his ideas from?'
...
*Clack!*
"Master, you're back!"
Jacob was the first to greet Alexius, as usual, as he walked into his room like nothing had happened.
This time, though, there was a difference. Yes, his coin pouch was lighter than usual, but lying strapped to his waist lay the first hot weapon of this world.
"Jacob, remember those small stones I asked you to find and polish?"
"Yes, master, I have around one hundred, but I don't understand-"
Alexius held up a hand, cutting his servant off. "It doesn't matter if you do or do not understand. Bring the black powder and ammunition to me- I'll show you something that you have never seen before."
Jacob scurried off to bring his master the polished rocks and strange powder he had been preparing, while Alexius' heart ached. 'Damn! If only I had more saltpeter; then I would be able to get much more use out of my pistol!'
He woed the black powder he was about to spend like his child, as he had had a hard time getting saltpeter in quantities. All the saltpeter he had managed to find were classified under miscellaneous minerals that were dug out from saltpeter deposits; although cheap, it was scarce.
After that, he had to overwork Jacob of a month, processing the saltpeter with other resources like sulfur to create primitive black powder. In their inexperience, the duo wasted much valuable ingredients, to Alexius' chagrin.
Right now, he only had enough black powder for about 100 shots, and he was about to use one on a demonstration.
When Jacob returned, Alexius wasted no time on loading the pistol, having to clean its barrel before inserting new gunpowder and ammunition. When it was ready, Alexius stood up.
"I want you to set up a magic barrier to prevent any sound from leaking out. Do you understand?" He instructed his servant.
"Yes, master."
Then, he pointed to a ceramic mug on the opposite side of the room, with a solid stone wall behind it that led to the exterior of the mansion. "Watch that cup." Aiming his pistol towards it, he felt a wave of ecstasy wash over him like he was back on the shooting range for the first time, all those years ago.
'External factors- zero. There's no draught in this room, thank heavens. Pistol is smoothbore, but that shouldn't be too much of an issue at this range... steady...'
*Bang!*
A thunderous sound roared through the enclosed room, startling Jacob so much that he fell butt-first onto the floor, before starting to cough because of the thick cloud of smoke that rose from the barrel.
"Oh, sorry for not warning you- that's one of the downsides of using black powder." Alexius apologized with a sheepish smile.
But Jacob's attention wasn't focused on his master. Instead, he pointed at where the mug was- or used to be.
"Th- th- the- it's..."
Replacing the mug was empty air, and behind it, a deep hole in the thick stone wall.
"That... master, that was you!?"
Jacob couldn't believe his eyes. His master, who hadn't awakened his mana yet, had just unleashed the equivalent of a tier four spell! Even he, as a tier two mage, would find it difficult to piece through good-quality steel armour, but his ten-year-old master had just created a hole in the hard stone wall that was almost two inches deep!
Alexius smiled. "If that wasn't me, then who was it?"
Then, he turned to the window next to the stand where the ceramic mug used to be, which was now scattered all over the ground, having shattered into tiny pieces.
"Jacob, I actually called you here to witness this demonstration because of something else."
"What is it, master?"
"Take an oath of loyalty."
"I'm sorry?"
"You heard me." Alexius turned around, looking at Jacob like he was staring into his soul.
"Swear your utmost loyalty towards me, and follow my orders above all else."
Jacob seemed hesitant. "But, master, I already swore an oath to master Rowan."
"I'm not asking you to renounce your oath to my father, just to swear that you'll follow my orders above everyone else's. No one has to know, not even my father. Besides, I won't go against my own father."
'Strike while the iron is hot!' Alexius continued. "Jacob, you've been with me for two years now." pointing to the pistol on the table, he said, "And you have seen what I can accomplish."
"So, I'm asking you to share in my future achievements. I guarantee you..." Pausing for dramatic effect like a generic movie villain, he continued. "You will not regret becoming my retainer."
The tension in the air was so thick that one could cut it with a knife.
However, after a prolonged silence, Jacob finally knelt down, and, holding his hand to his chest, said, "I swear my utmost allegiance to you, my master."