April 30th, Monday Morning
Loud knocking sounds could be heard at Ryder's door. This sound came from a slightly annoyed older man. Next to him a younger women in a maids outfit stood a little worried.
'What is this boy doing? He should be inside so why is he not answering!?'
Eventually he just forced open the door! With a snap the door came off it's hinges.
"Boy! I hope you have a good rea-"
When he headed inside he went straight for Ryder's room, next to him Celestia followed wondering if Ryder was ok.
When he opened the door his words got cut off as he saw a peacefully sleeping Ryder with his body slumped over his desk. Last night he had stayed up way longer then he expected! The boy had passed out while reading [Parabellum] He had just gotten to the third page on the first chapter when he fell asleep.
Sirius could do nothing but sigh, however when he looked at him again he took a basic look at his energy and noticed something odd.
When he walked up Celestia had already begun to clean the desk and Ryder as best as she could before Sirius placed on hand on his hand going into his Soul Realm once again.
"What… where did it all go? Don't tell me the pup…"
He looked over to the pup that should have been what he though was only a premature avatar that took the form of Ryder's soul. However something was different about it the more he examined.
"You had been almost a quarter of the way there to become a Bronze Rank fighter… however in one night it's mostly all gone!"
When he looked at Ryder's soul force he realized the boy only got at most 20% of the soul force he absorbed before the rest was fed to the wolf.
Now Ryder only had 8 soul force out of the 15 he got from his trip to the library.
"Looks like I'll have to monitor him for now"
He quickly left the boys soul realm before looking over to Celestia.
"From now on keep a close eye on him, if there are any changes with his Soul Force in the future just notify me. However for now I'll be taking this boy with me, so your duties will be on hold during training"
He sent a little bit of his energy into Ryder as moments later his eyes opened up as he shot up out of his chair surprised by the sudden awakening.
"Finally you are awake, in the future try not to read yourself to sleep. It's very annoying to break your door each time I want to wake you up"
"I'm sorry master… I-I didn't keep track of the time… I'll try to fix my sleep schedule for the future"
"Good, then go get cleaned up and put on this"
He pulled out of a black portal the size of his hand a skin tight suit in all black fell out the next second before being caught by Ryder.
"Put it on under your clothes, it will be important for your future training"
———
It wasn't long till Ryder got out of the shower before walking to the living room where Sirius sat meditating as he waited.
When Ryder came out Sirius looked over at him, the sight made him smile a little as he waved the boy over.
'Now you look like a real cultivator'
"Boy, today our training will be for your body. From now on you are not allowed to take that training suit off. Of course you can wash it and shower with out it but every other time you must wear it understood?"
"Yes sir!"
He was about to bow before his master for instruction however when he began to lean forward a sudden weight began to grow all across his body. The suit he was wearing had been getting heavier until finally it stopped at a comfortable weight perfect for his body.
"Welcome to hell boy, because for the next 3 years that suit is going to gradually get heavier as your strength grows!"
At first Ryder was having a little trouble breathing, the weight felt uncomfortably as it pressed down against his body making it harder as the weight squeezed his rib cage from all sides.
"T-then what is next m-master?"
"We will be going over [Parabellum] I will show you the stances and I will correct your posture. Then we will spend our day doing light sparing, muscle training, cultivation, and training dummy practice. Of course the sparring will be at the end of our training so I can review your progress"
Ryder still had the struggling look on his face but contradicting his masters expectations instead of frowning or complaining he gave his master a smile.
'This is it… this is how I change myself… if I want to be like master then I must train even harder then anyone else!'
———
April 30th, Monday Night
Ryder was panting for breath as he laid on his back with his master standing over him. At the side line two women sat talking with each other. One was Celestia while the other was Kaylee kicking her feet to swinging them back and forth as she talked.
"That will end todays training, I'm happy to see you didn't complain even once during the day. Good job but our training will only get harder from here. Go get some rest for tomorrow!"
Kaylee and Celestia seeing that the spar was over soon walked over to help Ryder off the ground.
"Man Ryder you took a lot longer then I thought you would! Most people my age can't even hold a sword well let alone have a spar with someone called The Sword Saint! Oh those stuck up nobles won't know what hit them!"
Kaylee was giggling to herself thinking about how mad all of them will be when they learn her grandfather picked a random boy from the countryside as a student over any of the nobles in Thousand Star City!
"Lady Kaylee I don't think it's wise to say things like that about the nobles under you…"
"What are they going to do? Most of them just sit there and get mad because they know what would happen if they tried anything. Though I wish someone would try something! My grandpa would mop the floor with their face!"
She seemed to be 100% confident that no one could hurt her if she was beside her grandpa.
"Princess… I'll try my best to protect you with everything I got"
He knew with an attitude like hers she was bound to get into trouble. This added to his worries however it just strengthened his resolve to train harder in the future.
"Celestia would you please help me to my room… I would like to take a long hot shower"
Even though he had gotten up with both of the ladies help he was shaky as he stood there weak after expending all his energy training all day.
"Of course master"
She immediately picked up Ryder hugging him close to her chest as she heads towards his room.
'…I'm sorry Ryder… I should have done something much sooner…'
Even though her smiles and actions said one thing the guilt weighing on her mind and heart was still there. She had always been watching Ryder silently, as if he was her own child she watched him grow for the last 3 years.
Her heart broke when she saw him hanging there in that cell. She had heard that the Cosmos Dynasty was going to send people to investigate Elmwood which is why she let Ryder out back then.
She had planned it to use them to get the boy out of the compound and away from Elmwood. However when she heard that Maxwell had sent Marcus to kill him she tailed him all the way to the carriage. Once she saw no one came to rescue him after a beating from Marcus she intervened.
Regret filled her chest as she thought back to that time and how she was reminded of it from his current exhausted body laying limp in her arms.
Kaylee on the other hand had channeled her Soul Force and was constantly pouring it into Ryder while she walked beside Celestia holding Ryders hand the whole time.
This sight made many of the castles servants and or guests turn their head when the three of them passed by.
Of course they bowed to Kaylee showing her some respect but the more they saw her focus on the boy the more curious they became.
This would be the beginning of many rumors going through the castle. One of the people who heard these rumors suddenly got serious as they snapped the arm off their chair.
"So… Kaylee wants to hold hands with a boy now a days huh? Investigate the boy, I'll go and have a chat with him tomorrow. Report back to me when you have finished your investigation, now go!"
This person waved off what looked like empty air before a sudden rush of black streaks exited the, what appears to be, empty room. Sitting behind their desk an older man with short galaxy patterned hair in a Royal Uniform with the symbol of an A on his chest sat there contemplating.
'Since you want to casually hold hands with my sister I'll have to see if you are worthy of her!'