Narrator's point of view
Merlin arrived at the training ground in a few minutes. It was already twilight, and some manor guards were leaving the area before noticing his arrival.
"Good evening, Young master ..." They all greeted Merlin, who responded to their greetings with a nod and a slight polite smile.
Merlin knew that as a man from Earth, it was always pleasant to receive a small mark of attention or politeness from women.
He also knew that in this world where social dominance roles were reversed, men had become slightly similar to women on Earth. Of course, there were exceptions like him.
He was perceived as a "tomboy" because of his actions that weren't really appropriate for a man in this reality according to customs. The women of this world were in a similar situation to men on Earth, or even worse.
Just imagine: you're a man on Earth with a ratio of 1 woman for every 1000 men. It would be a nightmare, and that was the situation for women in these training grounds or in the entire world.
They sometimes forgot that Merlin was just a child and tried to impress him by counting on his "naivety," which disgusted Merlin.
He forced himself not to show his disgust towards these women; they were the people are protecting him. He wasn't strong enough to have animosity towards them.
"Adrianne!" he shouted once he arrived, spotting a woman with black hair and blue eyes, wearing a distinguished armor.
Merlin wore a brighter smile than his usual polite one. This woman in front of him was named Adrianne.
(Image)
A friend of his mother, but also the head of the manor guards. She was one of the few servants, along with Susan, with whom Merlin could slightly lower his guard.
"Merlin, you're arriving a bit late if you want to train," Adrianne said in a nonchalant tone.
Adrianne was a commoner and wasn't very comfortable with etiquette, which was also why Merlin was so at ease with her.
"I know it's getting late, but I just want to let off some steam. Could we have a little fight?" Merlin asked, heading towards a shorter-than-average spear.
It was his training spear adapted to his size. Merlin had been using it for a few months along with other weapons, but he had a preference for the spear and hand-to-hand combat.
"I don't know why you want to let off steam, but I never refuse a bit of exercise before eating," she replied, taking two training swords before heading to the field.
Merlin performed some basic movements with his spear to warm up before nodding with satisfaction and signaling Adrianne to start their little duel.
"Clarisse, I want you to analyze my fighting style and note the unnecessary movements before transferring the information to me," Merlin thought.
[Understood, user...]
This was the reason for Merlin's monstrous evolution in the way of weapon handling. He used the AI to analyze his use of weapons, and it had to report defects using the collected data or information.
It was thanks to this that despite his extremely young age, Merlin wasn't underestimated by the knights, especially not by those who didn't master aura.
*Bam* Sounds of clashing weapons.
Merlin continued to defend and maintain distance with his spear while Adrianne attacked mercilessly with her two swords.
Their exchange seemed equal, but the reality was quite different.
Merlin was slowly being pushed back.
He managed to compensate for his lack of strength with the reach of his weapon, but also thanks to his flexibility and various little tricks like feints.
The problem lay in the difference in experience. Adrianne had faced several individuals of various races and origins. She had even participated in some expeditions in the dark forest next to Baroness Blight's lands.
Merlin's movements, therefore, couldn't be enough for him to beat her.
It should also be noted that she knew how to use aura, but she knew it was exaggerated against a 4-year-old kid, even if he was monstrous.
*Bam* Kick to the stomach.
"Can't you avoid hitting me so violently? Haha!" Merlin got up laughing while dusting off his clothes.
He hadn't brought training clothes. He didn't really want to make a detour to change clothes in his room, and it was out of the question to change his clothes in the guards' dormitory.
It wasn't that he was capricious, but Merlin didn't want to be a victim of voyeurism, especially not at 4 years old.
It was just... weird to imagine that.
"You hate it when I'm gentle with you, and now you want to complain?" Adrianne wore a mocking smile.
Merlin resumed a basic position with the spear and charged towards Adrianne. Their exchange continued until late into the night.
....
"How's the meal?"
It was morning, Olivia had left the manor to go perform her task in town. Merlin was currently having breakfast with an undesirable company for the moment.
"Mother... please, give me some time," Merlin said before leaving the table without finishing his meal.
He didn't want to act exaggeratedly towards Chloe, but he couldn't forgive her after only a few hours for her mistake unless there were things of great value at stake.
*Bam* He heard an explosion behind him but ignored it.
As he continued on his way, Merlin was stopped by Susan in front of him.
"Why are you here?" Merlin asked without hesitation.
"I know your mother has a bit..." She wanted to say more, but Merlin stopped her.
"I've already said it, I don't hold it against her, and since you're here, I'd like your help to talk to her a bit..."
....
Merlin's point of view
I'll have to shorten the time of mother's punishment, but I don't seem to really have a choice. She had a slightly worrying look at breakfast, I even wonder if she was able to sleep.
"Merlin, we've arrived," said Adrienne, opening the carriage door. I got out with her help.
"I don't understand why madam agreed to let you come to a place like this," Adrienne frowned, looking around.
We were currently in the commercial area of Blackwater city. I headed towards the market containing various plants and creatures from the dark forest.
The dark forest, which shares a border with the territory managed by mother, has enormous resources and dangers.
The tribal in the dark forest are also considered resources by the empire. The rare men found are immediately transported to the capital of the empire.
I hadn't come for the slave market, I just wanted to buy products to start creating a laboratory.
I was currently living in a situation similar to a prison in the manor. I could understand it thanks to my maturity, but I often needed stimulants or distractions.
I could socialize with Adrianne, Susan, or mother, but that had its limits. That's why I was going to add alchemy among my activities.
It wasn't just related to its crucial importance in my evolution as a magus, but also to occupy my mind.
"AI, were you able to analyze the energy awakened in me during the ceremony with Olivia?"
It was a task I had asked the AI after calming down in the evening.
[Affirmative, I was able to get an idea of possible use using your knowledge as a base.]
[An example of the possible use of this energy is a representation of your global attributes.]
Name: Merlin Blight
Age: 4 years
Race: elf, ???, ???
Strength: 0.5
Speed: 0.9
Robustness: 0.4
Spiritual energy: 1.2
Mana (or magical energy): 1
Potential : S+
[I was able to use the unknown energy named by you mana to analyze the physical attributes of the people around you and yours.]
[Here are the attributes of the woman named Susan for example:]
Name: Susan
Age: unknown (estimated at 40 years)
Race: elf
Strength: 0.8
Speed: 1.2
Robustness: 0.9
Spiritual energy: non-existent
Mana (or magical energy): non-existent
Potential : non-existent
'Since when can you do this?'
I frowned at this unprecedented situation. I thought the AI could only store and analyze information, make suggestions and theories using this data as a base.
It seemed to have evolved, I didn't know how to understand this news.
[You had several unopened notifications during the awakening ceremony...]
Now that Clarisse mentioned it, I had indeed received notifications during the ceremony performed by Olivia.
I had put them aside and forgotten because of the little incident with Chloe.
"Merlin, stop dreaming and express yourself."
Adrianne woke me from my thoughts. I was currently in a strange place.
I could only describe it as a warehouse with cages that sometimes glowed, with inscriptions on the bars.
"So young master Blight, what kind of products do you want?"