“Ah, you won’t be needing that.”

Shaden nodded and put down the small wooden sword at his father’s instruction. Rother had already packed his training supplies and was ready to go in his uniform. Garthan helped Shaden into a simple shirt and long pants. The weather was still cold, after all.

After saying goodbye to Melsei and Melany, they exited the house and jogged through the wide streets. Then at an intersection, Rother split parts with Garthan. Rother was currently carrying Shaden on his back.

“Rother, take care of your brother.”

“Of course, Dad!”

With a wave, Garthan ran to resume his duties as a member of the city guard. Rother likewise treaded his footsteps to the Academy.

Shaden was feeling slightly nervous. Would his small body be able to handle it? He had reviewed some healing and reinforcement spells, but he recalled the harsh bruises Rother had gotten while training with his father. Training here would by no means be an easy task. But he had to do it. For the sake of reality.

“And~ we’re here!” stated Rother.

Shaden got off from his brother’s back and put his feet on the ground. He stared at the gigantic building. The stone structure loomed mightily over his small body, and the stairs leading upwards looked imposing and menacing. He was actually going to study here.

“Follow me. You can climb the stairs, right?”

Shaden nodded. He quickly walked up, trying not to lag behind his brother’s fast-paced footsteps. Seriously, this guy was 13, yet he had the muscles of an adult. Though his physique looked small, his individual muscles bulged out with great clarity. The veins were all over his legs and arms.

Shaden hoped he could become like that too. But he would surely have to suffer through a lot.

He quickly cast a reinforcement spell on himself. Just climbing the stairs was tiring.

*RDRDRKRRD*

The great doors of the Academy made a grinding noise and Rother pushed it open. Not one door, but both of them. They were thicker than Shaden’s body.

Oh gosh, thought Shaden.

He had come here once, during Rother’s birthday. But coming here to actually attend made him very nervous.

The cold, stone halls stretched endlessly upwards, and two giant passageways gaped from the sides. An imposing slab of solid stone was directly at the front, and an elderly woman was seated on it, looking over some papers.

Rother walked into the hall, and Shaden followed after him.

“Headmistress,” he called out.

The elderly woman looked up and adjusted his glasses.

“You’re early today, boy. And he is your brother?”

Rother nodded. Shaden automatically bowed to the lady. There was something pressuring about her presence. Similar to what he had felt inside the so-called Reapers. It was subtle, but Shaden sensed it. Something deep and great and majestic.

“Your name, boy?”

Shaden straightened his back and put his arms to his sides. “Shaden, um…Headmistress?”

“Yes, I’m the Headmistress. Your age? No wait, you are five.”

She stroked her chin.

“You’re a year early, boy.”

“I want to begin as soon as possible.”

“Hmm…”

The Headmistress clapped twice. The sharp, crisp noise echoed throughout the hall, and right after, footsteps were heard approaching them. Then out of the right hall, a tall lady dressed in simple red and white—much like Rother’s uniform—emerged.

“Yes, Madam?”

“Is the Juvenile Instructor where he is supposed to be at?”

“Do you mean Instructor Reedock? He is…”

The Headmistress raised an eyebrow. “At the tavern?”

“Most likely.”

“Basalm, that lazy rascal.” The Headmistress waved the servant away. Then the sound of something being scribbled came behind of the large counter. With a rip of paper, the Headmistress got out of her seat and walked to Shaden.

She looked down at him. He didn’t know if her eyes were kind or stern.

“Boy, this is your first task. If you cannot do this, return next year. You are still too young.”

Shaden looked back up with determination. “I’ll do it.”

A faint smile crossed the Headmistress’s lips.

“It’s a simple task. Go to the address I have written here and fetch the Juvenile Instructor for me. He’ll understand once he sees the paper. Can you read, boy?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good. Now hurry up. Things are busy around here.”

Shaden nodded and turned back.

“See you later, Shaden!”

Rother waved at his brother and dashed to the right hallway. Shaden too went to the giant doors and pushed.

With a grunt, he pushed.

He pushed again. He planted his feet firmly and pushed with all of his might.

Ah, damn it.

A chuckle came from the back. Was this part of the test?

He didn’t ask for help.

He instantly summoned three giant mana-hands into existence. One to firmly attach to the ground, the other two to push the door open. He looked back at the Headmistress, her eyes were fixed on him, but she didn’t look like she saw his hands. He couldn’t see them either, so it made sense.

After positioning himself, he placed his hands—real and conjured—on the door and pushed. He felt the mana flowing out of him, but this much was barely anything now. The door slowly creaked and moved forward. Soon, he had enough space to squeeze through.

He looked back, bowed to the Headmistress, and went on his way.

Meanwhile, the Headmistress kept her eyes on the boy that had just left. She had suddenly felt a surge of mana from him. A significant amount abnormal for a child. But now it was gone like it had never existed.

And he had managed to open the door. Perhaps his father had taught him.

She remembered Garthan huffing and puffing as he barely pushed the door open. He was but a child. Now he had two children. How fast time passed…

Nobody at the Academy knew her true age. Few knew her real name.

“The boy shows potential…”

By the looks of it, he would get through the trial without a problem.

She returned to her papers. Those halfwits had asked for soldiers again. Some skirmishes at the edge of the continent. She would have to meet with the Council again.

〄 〄 〄

“Barmaid’s Joy…?”

Shaden inspected the address for the tavern. It had a weird name.

“West Wing, Street of Rats…? Fifth block to the left. Look for the sign with a girl holding a bucket.”

West Wing. Simple enough it meant west. Street of Rats? He had no clue. But wasting time was something he learned to dislike. He started walking towards the right side of the Academy.

The Academy was located slightly above the center of the city. And judging by the context, the tavern was probably nearby.

He walked through the smooth pavement made out of cleanly-cut stone. The area around the center always looked clean and cared for.

Along the way, he asked some locals about the direction of the tavern. They kindly pointed him out to its location, which was around ten blocks away forwards and three blocks to the left. Shaden thanked them and quickly went on his way. The earlier he started training, the better.

He came out to a large street occupied by a decent amount of people. Merchants were strolling by on their wagons (and horses with yellow eyes? Wait, were those springs on the wheels?) and the sounds of street music quietly hummed in the distance. The city was lively as ever.

Now that he thought of it, it was the first time he was traveling alone. If his mother found out, she’d panic.

He continued walking left. Then he saw it. A sign with a girl holding a bucket. He went in front of the building and read the words.

“Barmaid’s Joy…yup, this is it.”

Shaden pushed opened the door and heard the bell ring. Inside, various people were eating or drinking. He even spotted some men snoring on a table.

“Hey, kid! What are you doing here!” shouted a woman. He looked over to the counter. A sturdy lady with thick arms and a dark-blue headband was eyeing him with her hands on her hips. Her clean checkered apron slung in front of her, covering her stocky build.

“Excuse me!” shouted Shaden back at the lady. “I’m here to find someone!”

“Come here!” said the lady.

Shaden held his sheet of paper and approached the lady. She looked down at the little boy.

“Who are you searching for! Your parents?”

Shaden shook his head. “I’m from the sword-training school nearby. Someone there wanted me to find the Juvenile Instructor.”

“Ah! You mean Basalm?”

Shaden nodded.

“He should be around—ah-hah! There, kid. On that table at the corner.”

Shaden looked where the lady was pointing. Like she had stated, there was a man at the corner of the table. But he didn’t look like an instructor. His dark hair and beard were messily covering his face, and he snored loudly as his saliva dripped onto the table.

“Are you sure?”

“Sure as a light of the skies. That’s your man, kid.”

Well. This was unexpected. Shaden approached the man and sat down on one of the chairs at the table. The man reeked of alcohol. He was going to be his instructor?

He shook the man.

“Sir, sir! Mister! Wake up!”

The man continued to snore away. Shaden sighed. He was clearly drunk.

So, he cast a detoxification spell.

“Oh poison, dissipate and purify within the body – Cleanse.”

The smell of alcohol disappeared from the man and he made an uncomfortable expression. He grunted. Shaden shook the man again with his small hands while standing on the chair.

“Mister! Wake up!”

“Hrrr…Let…me….*grunt*…whaa….Hmmm?”

The man’s eyes snapped open. His sky-blue eyes instantly focused on Shaden.

“What! I was sure I drank enough! Hey kid, who are you?”

He was drunk on purpose?! Shaden sighed. Was this really going to be his Instructor?

Shaden waved the sheet of paper in front of the man. The man frowned and took the paper.

“A call from the Headmistress…looks like I finally have a job to do.”

He turned back to Shaden.

“Alright kid. You can go home now. Your job is done.”

Huh?

“What! No. I was told that you would be my Instructor.”

“Me? Your instructor? You’re still a baby!”

“The Headmistress told me.”

“The Headmistress did? Well, tell you what. Let’s go back and sort the situation out, eh?”

Shaden nodded. The man grabbed his bag and sword from the ground and tossed a silver coin at the tavern lady, who snatched it in mid-air.

“Do you need me to piggyback you, kid?”

“Erm—no. I can run.”

The man chuckled. “I guess you can. Sorry if I hurt your feelings, little boy.”

Shaden raised an eyebrow at the instructor. Was this guy seriously teasing him?

“Let’s go.”

Shaden walked out of the tavern first and started running. He hated wasting time.

〄 〄 〄

“So, boy. He will be your Instructor. Make sure to follow his orders.”

“Seriously, Headmistress? He can’t be more than six.”

“You have complaints?”

“No,” said Instructor Reedock. “I can finally work now.”

The Juvenile Instructor wiped some grime of his face with a cloth from his pocket.

“Sorry about that, kid. It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten a student.”

Shaden was feeling doubtful, but this was the best chance he would get. “I’ll be in your care.”

“Good. Follow me.”

Instructor Reedock stretched his arms and walked towards the right side of the hall. Shaden quickly followed after him.

They passed the stone arches and classrooms that were filled with students.

“You see, kid, normally students should enter when they are six. I’m in charge of training them until they are eight. But these days, parents don’t send their kids in so early. They wait until their child is eight, which makes me lack work. I’m not usually like this.”

“Uh-huh.”

The Instructor sighed and swiped his rugged hair to the side. He stroked his beard.

“Hmm…I forgot where to begin,” he joked.

Shaden was starting to feel a little hopeless.

“Maybe some basic training, sir?”

“Some basic training! Sounds good.”

They walked through the halls once again. The sounds of students letting out energized cries echoed through the building.

“So, kid. Why do want to learn swordsmanship? Your parents told you to do it?”

“No, sir. I just wanted to train my body.”

“No need to be so formal. You’re just a kid.”

“Yes…sir?”

“Yes is fine.”

“…yes.”

Shaden noticed that the pathway was slanting upwards. He had suspected it from the view outside, but the Academy was huge like a fortress. He even saw some gardens to the sides of the hall.

“It’s your life. But kids like you give up too easily.”

He let out a sigh and turned his head around. “You won’t give up so easily, won’t you?”

“No. I’ll try my best.”

They passed through a series of classes, and the presence of other people died out. Then at the end of the hall, the Instructor opened the doors to a dusty-looking room.

“Come. It hasn’t been used for a while.”

Instructor Reedock held the door open and let Shaden enter. Shaden itched the moment he came inside. The room was filled with dust, and the only light sources were some windows high up on the walls that let in sunlight.

From the corner of the room, the Instructor fetched two brooms and passed one to Shaden. Shaden almost fell from its weight, making Basalm chuckle.

“Easy there. This will be our first task: cleaning the room.”

With this? Shaden barely managed to hold the broom up. The wood felt like wood but weighed like lead. What kind of broom was this?

“Instructor?”

“Hmm?”

“Won’t it be better to use magic?”

Basalm smiled. “This is part of training, kid. All novices have to go through it. Don’t worry, I’ll help. But the sooner we get this done, the faster you can start your training. For now, clean the end of the room. You do know how to sweep dust away?”

“A little bit.”

“Then—begin.”

Shaden nodded and held up his broom with all his might. No, he dragged it across the ground. He had the urge to use his mana-hands, but he felt like if he did, it would ruin the purpose for the training.

“Students learn to clean the whole place by the time they are seven years old. That is, a year after they are admitted. Are you up for the challenge, kid?”

“Yes!”

How bad could it be? Shaden covered his face with his shirt and dragged the dense broom around. Alright, maybe it wasn’t that easy. But cleaning was simple enough.

The dust rose to the air as Shaden moved around. He coughed but continued regardless. He was barely making a change, though. Only a small portion of the large room was cleaned, and that was becoming covered with dust.

Then he saw the instructor.

Basalm was swinging the broom around like nobody’s business. And yet, the dust didn’t spread about. In fact, it swirled around him as he swung the broom and swept the ground. Then with a swish of his arms, he flung the dust out of the window at the top of the room. Shaden watched with his mouth hanging open as the Instructor continued the process around the room. Where he passed, the floor was completely vacant of dust.

He looked over at his feet. It was far from clean. He was supposed to do that in a year?

The Instructor noticed his shock and let out a hearty laugh.

“Don’t worry about it, kid. You can use the door.”

Shaden nodded. Still, the room was enormous. He couldn’t even properly lift the broom so it would take even longer. He resisted the temptation to use his mana-hands.

With a grunt, he attempted to wipe the floor again. By supporting the broom with his back, he dragged it around the floor, collecting dust as he moved around. He thought he was doing okay until he looked back and saw the dusty ground. He wasn’t doing it fast enough. He sighed.

“Good idea, kid. But your execution is bad.”

With a swing of his broom, Basalm sent the dust in the air flying out the window. He motioned to Shaden to move out of the way.

After taking a stance, he swept the floor in a majestic pattern, causing the dust to swirl around him, which he sent flying out the window. He repeated it, then the room was completely clean.

“For now, you’ll have to train to even carry the broom.”

Shaden nodded. His respect for the Instructor had risen significantly.

Basalm took the broom from Shaden with ease and fetched a small stick from the corner of the room. He rolled it to Shaden’s feet, and it stopped right in front of him.

“Starting today, you will train using that. Try swinging it, kid.”

Shaden picked up the stick that was around three-fourths of his height. Just like the broom, it was heavy like metal, but he could hold it better than the broom. It had to weigh at least 10, no 15 kg.

He failed instantly. He couldn’t hold it up by the tip like a sword. He heard a chuckle to the side.

He tried again, this time adjusting his grip a little closer to the center of the stick. He raised it above his head and swung down, but the stick came crashing down on the stone floor.

“Enough. I’ve seen your limits.”

Just from that?

“Kid, looks like you need some really basic training. But don’t let go of the stick. It’s part of your body now. Understood?”

“Yes!”

“Good. Now hold it up on your shoulders.”

“Like this?”

Shaden placed the heavy stick on both of his shoulders like a staff.

“You’re pretty fast for a kid, aren’t you!”

The Instructor motioned to Shaden to follow him.

“We’re going to run now. Make sure to keep the stick on you at all times.”

“Yes!”

Shaden knew how to run. He could even say he was good at running. He knew how to endure the pain, and he even had magic to assist him in this world. He happily followed Instructor Reedock out of the room.

〄 〄 〄

“So? How was the child?”

“He’s great. He learns quickly and he isn’t a dimwit.”

Basalm chugged down a mouthful of water after swallowing a piece of hard bread. He liked the stuff. It reminded him back when he was happier. The irony was great.

“He could probably clean the room within the year. He says he’s five, but he seems much older. Did he have any traumatic experiences before?”

“Not within my knowledge. However, his father is Garthan.”

“Garthan? You mean the sword-demon-wachimajig?

“That is an absurd title for a trained soldier. Yes, him.”

“Hmph. I guess it makes sense.”

The servants took away the Headmistress’s plates of food.

“Push him forward. It’s what you’re good at.”

“Eh. I’m out of shape.”

The Headmistress sipped on a cup of tea that the servants brewed for her. She took a sniff and let it down on the small tea-plate.

“He opened the front doors by himself.”

“Alone?”

“Alone.”

“Wow. But he couldn’t even hold up the broom properly.”

“He didn’t show signs of using mana?”

“Hmm…now that you’ve mentioned it, I think he used some basic support spells while he was running. The mana was definitely active. But I didn’t see him chant.”

“How peculiar…”

Basalm swallowed another piece of hard bread and gulped some water down.

“It’s rare for you to show this much interest.”

“Is it? I am unsure myself. I felt something vast within the boy.”

She took another sip of tea.

“You know what to do.”

Basalm got up from his seat. “I’ll polish him like a jewel.”

After fetching his sword, he left the dining hall. He wouldn’t drink tonight. He finally had work to do. Work he had obtained at the cost of everything else.