Third Person POV
'Gah! This is so boring!' Alaric groaned internally, flipping the page with an exaggerated sigh.
[Oh? Were you expecting skill books to be thrilling? Should I fetch you a novel with romance and drama instead?]
'That's not the problem!' Alaric huffed, scowling at the dense text. 'It's just… why is there so much useless information? I don't care about the creator's life story! I want to learn the skill. Why is there a history lesson in here? And half of it reads like bad fiction!'
He jabbed his finger at a particular passage and mentally ranted, 'Just look at this nonsense!'
'So this guy is apparently living in an era with no technology, suffering in some godforsaken wilderness… and then, boom, the next moment he's soaking in an artificial warm bath, admiring the heat instead of questioning how the onsen even functions? Who wrote this?!'
[And who told you to read this guy's entire biography?] Boon deadpanned. [You do realize you can summarize instead of suffering through every word, right?]
Alaric slowly lifted his gaze to the floating panel, his stare filled with unspoken judgment.
'Boon,' he said flatly, 'how am I supposed to summarize something I haven't read yet? Stop spewing nonsense and either help me or shut up.'
[Oh, I'm the one spewing nonsense?]
Boon let out an exaggerated tsk-tsk, and a new panel flickered into existence before Alaric's eyes.
[Stupid child, did you forget what [Eyes of Panoptes] does?]
[Eyes of Panoptes - The All-seeing Eyes]
[Use it.]
Alaric stared at Boon, eyes narrowed in confusion but still did as told. With a simple thought, his vision flickered, and two panels materialized in front of him.
A few seconds passed.
'…Why the hell did you not tell me about this earlier?'
[I mean… Last time you were reading a skill book, you seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the company, so I kinda forgot. Not to mention, you literally forced me to shut up.]
Alaric's lips parted slightly before snapping shut. He looked down at the book, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.
'Well…'
That was the truth.
But there was no way in hell he was about to take the blame for this.
'Then why didn't you remind me today?' He quickly turned it around.
[Oh? You mean during those hours you spent stealing glances at your darling crush instead of reading? I thought you were planning to spend the whole day like that.]
Alaric slammed the book shut so fast that the sound echoed through the library. His fingers twitched, aching to hurl the thick tome straight at the floating panel. But as he lifted it slightly, he remembered exactly where he was.
Clenching his teeth, he carefully set it back down.
[Weirdo.]
'If only i could grab you…'
[And I wouldn't blame her for staring, honestly. You're the weird one. You just confessed and now you're acting more casual than people do before confessing. It's like you were lying the whole time.]
'Huh?' Alaric raised a brow. 'What do you mean? I do like her. And why would I suddenly start acting all flustered after saying it? That's so stupid.'
[That's literally how it normally works. Especially when the girl says to wait for her answer.]
Alaric blinked.
'…Does it now?' He thought about it for a second before shrugging. 'I don't really get that. For me, the embarrassment was from hiding it, not from saying it. I kept it to myself for so long… and she most likely already knew, that's why she always teased me in such… provocative ways.'
Boon was silent for a moment.
[Sure. I guess. Your reasoning isn't wrong, but it doesn't change the fact that you're still a weirdo.]
Alaric's eye twitched.
This time, instead of arguing, he simply banished Boon from his sight.
After finally getting the peace he needed, Alaric flipped the page and let his eyes skim over the two panels floating in front of him. Both summarized the text he was seeing in front of him.
'Two whole pages and only three lines about the actual skill…' Alaric sighed to himself, swiftly reading through the summarized text thanks to [Eyes of Panoptes].
A few hours was all it took. Both reading the books and learning to use the skills. Yet, despite his achievement, a frown tugged at his lips.
"Now I have to start practicing these three," Alaric grumbled while walking down the empty hallway.
[Stop sulking. At most, it'll take you a week now.]
Alaric continued sulking.
With nothing better to do, he decided to go to the arbour near the training grounds for some fresh air. But as he stepped out into the evening glow, he noticed something odd—people. A lot of people. Guards, mostly.
'Huh… Are they scared of me or something?'
For the past year, they'd all changed their schedules around his training. No one trained when he was around, which weirded him out. Most of them were friendly with his father, yet they never interacted with him unless it was absolutely necessary.
Shrugging off the thought, Alaric continued walking towards the arbour—until a sudden burst of movement from the center of the grounds caught his attention. Two figures stood in the middle of the training area.
But the one that instantly drew his focus was in the arbour.
"Father!"
Alaric's steps quickened before he broke into a run, launching himself at Novius with a hug. He seemed to be in a coat, most probably because he had returned from wherever he was went just now.
"Oh? You're outside?" Novius chuckled, ruffling his hair.
"Why do you sound surprised?"
"Well… without training, I don't think I've ever seen you willingly step outside."
Alaric deadpanned. He couldn't exactly deny the claim, but hearing it said out loud wasn't pleasant either. He plopped down beside his father and held up a hand.
Novius stared at the hand for a moment before his long black hair fluttered, and his clothes rustled.
"Oh, great job, Al," Novius chuckled. "You mastered another one in a day."
The praise would've continued… if his face hadn't suddenly been splashed with water.
Alaric grinned devilishly. "Hehehe. How's winter treating you now that you're half-drenched?"
Novius blinked, his drenched face completely deadpan. Without a word, he used [Blow] on himself, slowly drying his clothes and hair.
"It's great that you learned two of them today," he sighed, "but you could have just told me instead of being a little menace."
"Oh? I actually learned all three."
Novius blinked. "Damn. That's great. I expected it would take you longer to read those books."
"Not to train?"
"I mean… you don't really need training. You're a natural at skills." Novius shrugged before smirking. "I was expecting you to tear a skill book or two in frustration, though."
"…Why?"
A beat of silence passed as father and son stared at each other.
Then, as if reliving a past trauma, their expressions died, and they both looked down at the ground, sorrowful smiles forming on their faces.
"…They're absurdly boring."
"Deadass."
For a solid minute, they sat in mourning, as if suffering from the memory of reading those cursed books.
A sudden uproar of cheers snapped them out of their shared suffering.
"So," Alaric said, glancing toward the commotion. "Why are they fighting?"
Novius leaned back with a smile. "Valen and Caelum spar frequently to compare their growth. The guards just turn it into an event."
The sky had darkened by now, but the training grounds were lively. Valen and Caelum stood in the center, facing each other with solemn expressions.
"Who do you think will win?" Novius asked.
"Are we betting?"
"Not really."
"Then I'll answer in the middle of the fight. I haven't seen them spar enough to judge."
Novius shrugged, turning his attention back to the match.
A bulky guard stood at the outskirts of the gathered crowd, raising his voice. "Are you both ready?"
Valen and Caelum exchanged nods.
The guard grinned. "Then let the spar… BEGIN!"
And as if every lamp around the mansion was choreographed with the announcement, they flickered on, illuminating the training grounds just as the fight began.