He saw them arrive in the distance first while he was practicing his swings with his giant wooden battle axe. As soon as he saw them he let go of the weapon.
"Aunt Teresa!"
He did not consider the consequences of letting go of the battle axe mid-swing. The battle axe flew backward, beheading a poor chicken who was clucking away, trying to attract a mate. It was doing its best, unaware of the axe hurtling towards it. After the axe had done what it was made to do, it lodged itself in the door of the shed standing in the little farm at the back of the house.
Teresa glared at the boy who was staring at the chicken flopped on the ground, all the other chickens trying to get away from it. The boy slowly turned toward her, sweating all over, with an awkward smile plastered on his face, which quickly fell when he saw her face.
"I didn't do it on purpose I swear!"
"Haaa...."
"Is this the other kid you got?"
Alex, who had been walking behind Teresa till now, suddenly popped his head out from behind her.
"Yes, this is the other child. He is quite the troublemaker"
"Hehe~"
The boy chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. Alex looked at the sheepish boy with his grey hair and darker-than-black eyes. The boy noticed him and gave him a curious once-over. Alex decided to speak up first.
"What's your name?"
"Haven't come up with it yet. What's yours?"
"...What?"
Alex felt it quite rude that the boy refused to tell him his name. He gave the boy the most menacing stare he could.
"What do you take me for? What even is that excuse?"
The boy just looked at him, dumbfounded. 'What's wrong with this guy? Oh..oooooooh does he want to fight!? Is this what they call brotherly rivalry? I've never experienced this before! This is gonna be so much fun!'
It was Alex's turn to be surprised as he saw the boy start smiling. His eyes narrowed further. 'This guy is mocking me!'. Electricity started to coat his body. A jolt of excitement passed through the boy and him simultaneously as the boy drew a pair of wooden swords from his back.
But before they could even begin their duel...
"Halt!"
They had both been bashed to the ground and giant bumps erupted from their foreheads. Teresa stood in between them with steam rising from her fists.
"Arrgh"
"Ouchie"
Alex and the boy were seated facing each other inside the little hut. Teresa was seated with them, monitoring them closely.
"Now that both of you have calmed down, let us get down to the introductions"
Alex started, "He didn-"
"No he didn't"
"Huh?"
"He really doesn't have a name, at least, not yet"
Alex looked at the boy. The boy nodded vigorously.
"Yeah yeah, I'm still working on my name"
"So...you weren't mocking me?"
"Nononono", he said while shaking his head even harder.
"If that really is the case then, I'm not gonna apologize! It isn't my fault!"
The boy smiled. "I'm not asking you to apologize"
"Alright then...my name is Alex"
"Hello!", he said while waving both his hands. Teresa smiled and nodded happily.
"Now that you boys are acquainted, you can help with the household chores. I'll cook the chicken that you killed-"
Teresa pointed at the boy
"-and as a punishment, you will work on the farm"
"Even the chickens?"
"Yes, even the chickens"
"Oh no!"
Teresa then pointed at Alex. "You can water the plants in the front. After you are done, you can come help me in the kitchen. Now, chop chop, get to work!"
Alex started to say something, "What about my training?"
"This is a part of your training"
"This isn't anything like training"
"Are you disobeying your master?"
"...No"
"Good"
Alex and the boy grumbled as they trudged off to complete their chores. Teresa then called out to the boy.
"Once you are done with your chore, I have a surprise for you!"
The boy turned around like lightning. "Is it what I think it is?"
Teresa nodded. The boy jumped, his eyes sparkling. He leapt away, his steps much more energetic than before. "YIPEE!!"
Teresa laughed and started to make dinner. She went to the farm to get the ingredients as well as the chicken. She looked at the boy jumping and buzzing around the farm and shook her head helplessly.
"Do your job properly"
"Yes!"
She walked over to the front of the hut and took a look at Alex, who had filled the pail and was coating his legs in electricity.
"No using your Art"
"What? Why not?"
"The training will be of no use if you use your Art to make things easier for you. You can't use your Art for any chore unless I allow it. Plus it will also ruin my plants"
"That's not fair!"
"Are you diso-"
"I'm not I'm not! FINE! I'll do it without my Art!!"
"Good boy"
"Arrgh"
So there they were, the 3 of them in a weird dynamic, doing their respective work with varying moods. Teresa was humming a tune while cooking, Alex was grumbling as he heaved the pail around slowly watering the plants, and the boy was busting his ass of in the farm, tolerating even the chickens as he drooled over everything, excited for the surprise.
He crashed into the hut before Alex, yelling, "THE SURPRISE!"
Alex grunted and came inside the hut next. Teresa gestured for them to sit down. Alex plopped to the ground, exhausted. The boy sat down too, vibrating slightly. Teresa served them chicken soup in wooden bowls, giving them a wooden spoon each.
"Eat first. I'll give you the weapons after this"
The boy did not waste any time. He did not even bother to reply. He snatched the bowl and gulped down the soup in huge mouthfuls, and immediately started choking.
"No no, eat slowly! There is time! Ugh, I almost wish I had not told you about the weapons!"
Even after he had finished, he had to wait for Alex to finish, who was taking exceedingly long in his eyes. He kept bouncing off the walls as Alex ate. Once he was finally done eating, Teresa quickly put away the dishes, unsure of how long the kid had before he burst.
Teresa then brought the cloth wrapped weapons and set them down in front of the kid. She removed the wrapping without touching the weapons and revealed them in all their splendor.