Hi guys!

Had some time today and I felt like writing so this chapter came a little sooner than normal! :D

I'm going to miss writing this kid when he finally grows. It's refreshing to write a child's point of view.

Let me know what you think!

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- Chapter 7 -

In the training yard outside Master Krieg’s cabin.

“Haah, Haah” Mano was lying on the ground, breathing heavily. He was exhausted, he still wore the 160 kg clothes and by now that wouldn’t be a problem during training. What was draining him was the metal pole in his hand and the shackles on his arms. They were both “gifts” from his Master, Krieg. Both were magical items the put a considerable burden on the user. The spear, which was inlayed with weaker versions of the magical runes used primarily on prisoner restraints, had the property of draining the stamina from the user. This made Mano feel like he had maybe a fourth of his stamina from normal. The second tool of torture, was the pair of shackles he wore on his ankles and wrists. From the outside these looked like tasteful black bracelets, but if one looked closely you could see a complicated knot of magical runes. The shackles had the property of increasing in weight in comparison with the amount of strength used. The most scary part of these tools though, was the fact that they grew with the user. Which meant the person equipped with them would always be working.

Both of these items together were being used in terrifying tandem to forge a monster. Master Krieg once went through this hell herself, when her father trained her as a hellsman. Now she was passing on those teachings to her first person she deemed worthy to learn her craft, Mano.

“Get up! We aren’t nearly done yet!” Master Krieg was standing over Mano’s body, urging him to keep going. “We may have ran as much as your normally did in the past, but we are increasing your workload from now on!”

Mano looked up at Master Krieg, weakly standing back up, muscles quivering. “Master, may I have some of the tea?” Mano felt sick when he said those words. “Hou~?” Krieg raised an eyebrow at this, “Sure. wait here while i get you a cup.” She walked over to the large barrel resting on the table near them, and filled a glass with a suspicious green liquid that screamed of danger. When she returned to Mano with the cup she offered it up to him, “Here you go! But you know what will happen you waste even a single drop right?” She wore a kind smile that brought shivers to Mano’s spine. He knew by now that this tea was hard to procure and Master Krieg worked very hard to produce it. He wouldn’t dare waste a drop.

“Yes Master.” He slowly brought the liquid to his lips. Almost coughing and passing out from the impact of the tea. It’s flavor was terrible, it was hard to describe. He struggled to take down the last of the tea, but he quickly drank the rest when he could feel his strength returning. The pain from the work out still existed, but he could feel his stamina returning. As much as he hated the tea, he had to admit to its advantages.

“You waste too much strength child. The shackles only burden so harshly because you waste too much energy. Reflect on this and try to correct yourself.” Master Krieg says while putting away the cup. “Now let get back to the run.”

The run went by without a hitch, well except the two times Mano collapsed from muscle exhaustion, only to drink more of the green tea and continue on.

“Come now, we need to begin flexibility training.” Master Krieg led Mano to a clearing near the pond where two mats lay.

Mano has been going through flexibility training for the last three years. The results of this were readily apparent. Mano could easily bring his legs to a full split while resting his body on one leg, stretching his sore muscles and helping them recover with controlled breathing. Due to his training his balance was incredible, allowing his body to remain in complicated positions for long periods of time. While he still struggled with the forms that required him to be on his hands or arms, Master Krieg never hounded him for it. It would still be a while before Mano had the same balance upside-down as he did normally.

Sweat was dripping from Mano’s brow. “This is a lot harder than normal.” Mano admitted while struggling with a basic form. “That’s the shackles letting you know you’re wasting movements. I keep telling you this is the proper way.” Using her hands Master Krieg adjusts Mano’s body accordingly. Compared to his other training, the flexibility was the most calm. Atmosphere played an important role in stretching after all.

After about an hour of flexibility stretching it was time for reaction speed and evading training. After another cup of tea Mano was about to equip the weights to his feet when Krieg stopped him. “Wait, you are passed the use of those weights. From now on you will be defending against my spear. You are free to dodge in anyway possible and also use your own spear to block or evade if need be. Don’t try to run, you wont out speed me.”

“Yes Master!” Although scared of challenging Master Krieg, Mano was extremely proud that he made enough progress to move on to actual strikes.

I need to test if what I saw Mano do in his duel was real. Master Krieg thought to herself. She managed to watch as Mano easily dodged the strikes of child Charles. If she was right about her theory than she could train Mano accordingly.

They were in a clearing just in front of the cabin, standing across each other about ten meters apart. Mano was tense and readying himself to dodge any strike coming his way.

“I’m coming.” With that statement Master Krieg released a pressure that Mano could barely handle. With a twirl Master Krieg dug her spear into the ground, launching herself headfirst toward Mano.

The pressure instantly hit Mano, causing him to brace himself for impact. This pressure was enough to bring most trainees to their knees. On the contrary though, Mano was excited. The thrill of battle he experienced with Charles started to flood into his body, blood boiling. He smiled, the world around him seemed to slow down, seeing everything clear as day. He loved the feeling of a shroud being lifted from his body. Watching Master Krieg vault toward him with her spear, he easily dodged her strike by a hair. He wasted no movements and his body seemed to flow around Master Krieg’s strikes. If you looked closely you could see a faint blue glow surrounding Mano’s body, almost indiscernible from the naked eye.

Finally, after what felt like an hour an immense fatigue hit Mano, bringing him back to reality. Falling down to one knee using his spear to support him he felt countless impacts from Krieg’s spear, shooting pain through his body.

Stopping her attacks Master Krieg smiled. “It seems my theory was correct.” Bringing a cup of tea to Mano and filling one up herself she drank with him.

“Master. I’m so tired. I’ve had this feeling before, back when I fought Charles.” Mano looked up to Master Krieg as he shakily brought the tea to his mouth. “What is it?” Mano was confused.

Laughing Master Krieg patted Mano on the back, making him wince, she explains. “What you just experienced is something called ‘The Flow’. Your done training for today Mano. Let’s go take a bath and I’ll explain what ‘The Flow’ is when I give you your massage. After that you can go ahead and have a free period again.”

Master Krieg and Mano would often bathe together, with swim ware on of course, to bond play. Krieg noticed that Mano loved baths and decided to join him from time to time, usually once or twice a week, to massage him and just talk like normal people. Mano needed these interactions, he was a child after all, and constant training can wear on the mind. Krieg found out first hand she made a mistake with him when she witnessed the duel between Mano and Charles. If Mano had more interaction with his peers he would’ve been able to avoid that situation all together.

Mano was extremely excited when he found out Master Krieg was going to bathe with him. He always had fun when she joined him and he would talk about many different things, causing Krieg to smile often. The massages she gave him were amazing as well, it helped in his recovery immensely. Once Master Krieg released him he escaped to the cabin quickly with renewed strength. The stamina of a child was frightening.

Changing into a pair of orange shorts Mano walked outside toward the bath, stoking the fire underneath to warm the water. Once the water was warm enough he slowly slipped into the water. Sighing with relief when he was submerged. The bath was quite big, It was probably safer to call it a small pool than a bath, and Master Krieg was quite proud of it. Once Mano’s body became submerged he noticed something strange. He felt like all the work from today meant nothing and felt his muscles starting to heal. He always felt like the water helped him recover but this time it was incredibly obvious that the water was giving him power. His body was like the desert he was born in, absorbing the power from the water greedily. Once he got over the feeling of the water he sat down in the bath, thinking he’d have to discuss this with Master Krieg when she comes.

Stepping into her room Krieg was excited. She was excited that her student had so much potential, but even more so than that. Krieg loved bathing with Mano. He’s always so cute when I massage him . Krieg’s face flushed when she thought about the times she massaged Mano before. Mano was quite ticklish and Krieg couldn’t resist tickling him when she gave him massages. Standing in front of her wardrobe she opened up a drawer. In it were countless bathing suits, ranging from plain all the way to scandalous. She picked a red two piece out of the stack and looked at herself in the mirror. Satisfied with her appearance.

She wasn’t dressing up to impress Mano, he was only eight after all. But she wanted to dress cute anyway. Krieg is a girl after all. Once she put her bathing suit on she checked herself out in the mirror one last time, grabbed a towel, and headed for the bath, her ample chest slightly shaking with each step. Her hair was done up in a lose bun and her striking figure was enough to make most men drool. The red bathing suit fit her perfectly and accentuated her impressive form well. In just a few years Mano would start to hit puberty and she’d have to stop wearing these kinds of suits. While she was sure Mano wouldn’t care either way, the stimulation would be too much if he did.

Once, outside she made her way to the bath, only to see Mano deep in thought. Once she tended to the bath a little she slipped into the bath with Mano. Seeing Mano still thinking, “What’s on your mind child?”

Looking up Mano jumped in surprise. He was so deep in though he never heard Krieg slip into the pool. After collecting himself he finally voiced his concern, “I noticed this before Master, but never thought anything of it. For some reason when I’m in water I can feel its power rushing into me.” Mano quickly made his way onto a small table set up in the bath to lie on Krieg and presented his arm, which was still recovering from the water.

Master Krieg has no idea what Mano was talking about so she grabbed his arm and started examining the muscles in his arm. Surprised by the speed of recovery it had already gone through. “I’m not positive why the water is affecting so much, but when my friend gets here I’ll have her look into it. Come to think of it, she can also administer your magic test while she’s here, as you missed yours while training with me.” Master Krieg wasn’t an expert but Mano’s recovery may have something to do with his mana.

Moving on, Master Krieg began to massage the fatigue out of Mano’s arms and legs while explaining, “First I’ll explain what ‘The Flow’ I mentioned before is. The Flow is a state of mind that many combat proficiencies can tap into. Its extremely difficult to learn and few ever achieve it before they pass the threshold into the master ranks. It increases your physical abilities while also increasing the strength of your senses. It has different effects based on your mana’s elemental affinities but the most important thing you need to know is it puts a huge burden on your body. When I was training with you before, you maintained the state for about 3 minutes before it was too much for you.”

Mano turned over onto his stomach to let Krieg reach his back and asked, “Why does it last for such a short time?”

“Frankly speaking, your still too weak to properly use ‘The Flow’. Your use of strength is inefficient. You need much more training to use it effectively.” Mano sighed when he heard this, “I still have a long way to go.”

Krieg felt a pang of guilt when she heard then and set him back up, sitting him on the table, “Mano, you are the most talented kid I’ve ever met. You are doing great now, don’t beat yourself up okay? I’ll stay with you as long as you need me to be.” Krieg often times forgot how young Mano is and gets too harsh on him.

Mano smiled widely and exclaimed, “Thanks Master!” Pushing off the table he hugged Krieg tightly before getting out of the bath. “I’m off to get chanced and explore the campus further! Maybe I’ll go to the group mess hall and eat with the other kids!” Mano scampered off into the cabin, leaving Krieg with a goofy face on.

That last attack, Mano’s hug, was too much for Krieg and she stood there stupidly grinning. She couldn’t hold it in and started thrashing in the water “I CAN’T TAKE IT HE’S TOO MUCH!”

Like that the first day of training ended unexpectedly early and Mano, with shackles and spear strapped to his back, was now on his way to explore Myst Training Hall again.

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Just outside Roland City, in a small wagon, two women sat fanning themselves in the heat.

“Haah. Master are we finally here? This desert is the worst, how can anyone live here?” One of the people tells the other, grumpily pounding their staff on the wagon’s floor.

“Now now child, this place is actually quite prosperous. You can see Jewel from here.” Pointing toward the shining waters in the distance the child could only sit there and pout.

“That’s the only thing redeeming about this place.” the girl admitted. “By the way, who is this friend of yours we are going to meet?”

Responding easily the woman explains, “She’s one of my closest friends and she’s saved my life on multiple occasions. Apparently she found a child worthy of her tutelage and needs someone, like us, to heal him throughout his training. This will be a good chance for you to hone your skills as well as possibly making a new friend. I heard he’s quite cute.” Finishing her explanation she gave a sly wink to the child.

“Pssh! As if!” The girl retorted quickly.

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