" Good morning Sir Moloen "
" Good morning young lord "
Sir Moloen and I were at the general study. No one was allowed to enter my room except for family and the butlers. Seated, I listened to the words of Sir Moloen, also seated opposite me. He was supposed to be injured and in bed but said he exchanged some information to father which made father reciprocate with a fairly powerful healing pill.
" We must prepare for you examinations in soon to come "
" Yes. Cole and I have been preparing for the physical part and I do my part for he theory "
" Good. Knowing you, I would take your word for it and leave but unfortunately it is my job to ensure that you are prepared. That, and I have to report to the Lord "
" Yes it is "
" Shall we begin? "
" Now? "
" Yes. Purely an oral test representing the theoretical exams and for the physical test… well surely Cole did a good job "
The simple mention of Cole training me was enough to give me bad memories. Cole was way too savage.
"… Yes. Too good of a job if you ask me "
" hahaha "
" Here I am young master " said Cole as he entered the study. " And Good morning to you Sir Moloen "
" Good morning Cole " answered Sir Moloen.
" What is it? " I asked. Cole was my sword, shield and right hand man. The times which we are separated are very few and today he was earlier called by my father's butler. Which smelled bad things to me. Honestly, sometimes, I prefer him to be called by mother's.
" That depends on who received the message but to you young mater, it would be cause for minor inconvenience "
" You mean bad "
…
Shaking my head, I turned back sir Moloen. His face as gentlemanly as always.
" Shall we begin? " Sir Moloen asked and I nodded.
The oral test was not that difficult, mostly because he drilled some common words words into my head at every session. Once again, he asked questions emphasizing the difference between the soul and the spirit. Some other questions about where magic comes from, how many kinds of magic are there and the sorts.
" I came across a beast… er demon on my way here " began sir Moloen. One of his roles as a teacher was to recount any of his traveling experiences except the personal ones. He was a good at story telling but overly concerned about his… gentlemanly face as he calls it.
" Didn't give it a chance to touch my gentlemanly face though " he continued. " It had ability to navigate through earth. And the speed at which it did it was insane… and f*ck I need to learn how to fly. I always tell you to add flight to you repertoire but now I tell you, add it to you repertoire if you don't want to be skewered be earth spikes and whatever disaster those earth mages and demons can cause using the earth. Luckily I am proficient enough in earth magic to be able to protect myself, barely. I wouldn't be here speaking with you if not that there was already a gathering of energy in the sky which I just facilitated it's decent to earth frying the whole damn place. Not sure if I killed it though, didn't even bother to check. Not wasting my life and my face, particularly my face to a random strong demon. Oh and try to get as good as you can with earth magic. This encounter once again proves how treacherous earth magic can be. But why am I even telling you this. Your father is as treacherous as they go. Better hope to have good genetics "
Huh… Interesting tale. Another mention of him using the surrounding environment to his advantage. He says every capable mage should be able to so that.
" Why not use water to drown the earth? " asked Cole by my side.
" Not nearly enough water in the surroundings to push him back. Plus, I suck at water manipulation remember? " and he really did suck at it. Not suck bad but more suck that a mage of his caliber should be able to do more. It was not a question of talent any longer but effort and experience.
"That said" he continued. "Why don't we test how far your combat skills are from the previous you."
I stood at his words and we all headed to the training grounds.
**********************************************
" Good morning young master "
" Good morning young master "
" Good morning young master "
At the training ground with Cole and Sir Moloen, we were met with the shouting and groans that usually accompanies training knights. I wasn't overly strict. In fact nobody from the family was, even the sucker for rules Marge. But it was customary for those with the less intensive activities to greet if they could.
" Yes to you too " I answered. Raising my hands, I signaled them to stop.
" Good morning young master " came the greeting from the knight commander who came running.
" Good morning " I replied and he proceeded to greet Cole and Sir Moloen.
We all then proceeded to my personal training hall. It's design, simple. Rackets by the walls with an assortment of weapons and a single carved circle at the center marking it as the arena. Of course the door straight ahead lead to where training pills were stored.
"Why are we even doing this?" said Sir Moloen while he and I were donning our armors of choice. "Couldn't you just order the house spells to change our attires?. I remember asking this some time ago too."
"Yes and I also remember telling you there is a limit to how lazy one can get. At this rate one can even forget how to dress "
" How is then even possible!? "
" Not taking my chances "
" You are wasting magic energy pool of the house. Not like them not working doesn't drain their energy. It drains whatever the case."
" Could you please not make my master entertain such thoughts Sir? " intervened Cole, standing at the training entrance.
At Cole's words, we both continued to don our armors. Mine was on the lighter side as I preferred being fast and so was Sir Moloen and for different reasons. Probably something along the lines of so that I can dodge strikes to my face faster. Turning to look at him at the thought, I saw him putting on a heavy helmet that covered is entire face safe for the eyes. It was a complete mismatch with what he wore. He then turned towards me and walked to the arena. His gentle and calm temperament gone.
" You do know you your gentle-manliness breaks when you get serious right? " walking to the arena while stretching, I couldn't help but say.
" Yes " he replied. " I'm working on it " Nodding my head, I stretched my arm and materialized Quapselpo's spear before me. It had been 3 days now. I had practiced some moves with it but never actually used it in battle or a spar. Today marked it's entrance. Raising my head, Sir Moloen was already in his attack pose. His weapon of choice were single edge blades with most of it's weight at it's blade. Seeing so, I reciprocated by taking a stance of my own. Feet wide apart and the spear facing his forehead.
" Begin " he said. And I immediately rushed towards him.