Chương 23: Chapter 22: Training

I nodded at the shocked woman and walked away from her.

"Remus, Ross had fixed his mistake. Your chambers are on the third floor, fourth room," said Madam from behind. I stopped as I heard that and turned toward her. She is in control of her emotions once more.

"Thank you, Madam," I replied and moved toward the third floor. She appeared beside me and walked silently; when we reached the third floor, she turned toward me.

"Remus, I hope you will not be harsh in your report to Father," she requested, emphasizing the last word as if reminding me she, too, had a good relationship with Grandfather.

"I will be writing what I have observed, madam; nothing more, nothing less," I replied. The sparks of anger lit up in her eyes once more, and she opened her mouth but closed it a moment later and walked away. Click! I reached the door of my room and opened the door before walking inside. Seeing all my stuff inside. I walked to the bed and lay on it tiredly before closing my eyes. So, much had happened in the past few hours. I was able to see the level of hate my family has for me.

It is strong enough; they want to kill me. I knew they hated me; they wouldn't have taken my inheritance if they hadn't, but they never expected to the level of trying to kill me. It was beyond my expectations. I shook my head at those thoughts and took a deep breath. I am tired; the journey, the battle, and the treatment had tired me out. It took me seconds to fall asleep. When I woke up, it was evening. It is six and a half, and I am looking at my pocket watch.

I slept for almost three hours, which alleviated much of my fatigue. This is good; I need to remain alert to face any challenges. They had tried to kill me once. They might try to do it again. Knock Knock I had just freshened up when I heard a knock on my door. Click! I opened the door to find a blonde-haired woman, no older than thirty, standing on the other side. She was Marge, Madam's maid.

"Master Remus, Lord Baron, had sent his invitation for tonight's banquet," she said and handed me the pearl white card.

"Thank you," I thanked her as I took the card and opened it after I closed the door. I left my chambers a minute later, with Johan following me. Soon, I was out of the keep and climbing the battlements. Nobody had stopped me, and the guards did not even dare look at me. I am sure what happened earlier had already spread, which is great, as now nobody would stop me from enjoying this wonderful night.

"It's a beautiful night," I said as I looked at the silvery moon in the sky, bathing the forest in its light and making the whole scenery even more beautiful.

"It really is," Jonah said from behind. Seeing the moon, I couldn't help but think of the establishment. It would be an understatement to say I'm thinking about it—I'm consumed by it nearly every minute. I can only hope there won't be any problems. It's not that I didn't believe in Carla's abilities; I just wanted to be there, keeping an eye on my business that had only opened a few days ago.

I walked around the battlement before walking toward the barbican; the guards were posted everywhere, watching everything vigilantly. They didn't want to miss the orcs if they attacked again. Soon, it was eight-forty, and I returned to my room and changed into the suit for the banquet. After checking myself in the mirror, I opened the door and walked toward the banquet hall.

"… today, we will begin a new chapter of our life, a beautiful chapter…." Edwin had rambled on for more than ten minutes, and even now, his speech wasn't over. As he spoke, he seemed to be in his own little world, not seeing how everybody had become bored and plastered fake smiles on their faces, including his mother. I am sitting at the head table with the family. I don't think I would be sitting here. If not for the incident earlier. It affected not only Madam but also my brother and uncle.

They are speaking with smiles on their faces, and they have never done that before, making it all look unnatural. They all want me to write good words in my report. A lot of it depends on it.

"As you can see, I have done a wonderful job here. Be sure to mention that to father, dear nephew," said my uncle. I nodded absently, which made him angry, but he controlled that anger. There are more guests than I had expected; aside from Lester, mages, and other members of the new army, there is also commander Markus and a few of his people, whom my uncle was able to convince to stay another day. We will go to the Mirador Hold with them; it is the only way to reach Greltheaven safely.

Going back the same way as we came would be dangerous, with orcs roaming around and Edwin unwilling to send too many of his people with us. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. So, we will first go to the Mirador Hold and then travel to Greltheaven. It is the safest way, but it comes with its own dangers. These dangers won't harm us—for now, at least.

"To the prosperity of Blain!" he said finally, raising his glass. We raised our glasses with him. The food was served a minute later, and I couldn't help but feel grateful for that. I was famished. What happened in the afternoon took a lot of energy; I ate some of the snacks I had brought, but that did not satisfy my hunger. It is frustrating that I had to eat with manners while talking and laughing. If I had been alone, I would have dug in.

The dinner lasted for nearly an hour before we mingled; there were not many people I had to talk about. I did not talk to Lester, mages, or the other important people in the army, especially Lester. I had heard quite good things about him from my father, but after what he did, I am simply disappointed. Angry. I would have died there. I could see him looking at me with guilt, but what's the use?

I was watching the hall with a nearly empty glass of wine in my hand when a middle-aged man with dark brown hair walked in front of me.

"Mister Remus, I did not think I would see you here. Though, I had very much wanted to meet you," said a middle-aged man, to which a surprise couldn't help but appear on my face.

"I did not think we knew each other, Captain Markus," I said with a smile, searching through my memories to see whether old Remus had met him, but there was nothing.

"We did not, but I have heard many things about you from my uncle," he said, and immediately, it hit me. That dark brown hair, light blue eyes, and that nose reminded me of someone.

"Ah, instructor Arthur," I remembered.

"How is the old man these days?" I asked, remembering the old man with the same eyes and nose, a little shorter.

"He is doing good, teaching some promising students, but even now, he tells me, he had never come across someone who had a tenth of talent and dedication as you," said Captain Markus.

"He was heartbroken when you decided to leave the way of the sword after your accident," he added with a shake of his head. Everybody was shocked by my decision to leave the way of the sword after the accident. Even the grandfather had sent a letter to me, asking me to reconsider it. I was their best chance to be closer to the throne; there was a high chance I would have been accepted into the imperial knights. They bear a lot of influence in the empire.

"Those days are past now, Captain Markus; I am now just a humble merchant," I replied; hearing my reply, a small smile appeared on his face.

"I have heard you fought an Orc today, " he said after a second of silence.

"More like nearly died," I replied.

"Most people would have died if they had fought against it without skill and class," he added. To that, I just smiled. I talked to him briefly before walking out of the banquet hall. There are not many people I could talk to, not to mention I woke early tomorrow for an important thing. … I woke up before dawn. Though it was not as refreshing as I would have liked, I had a few nightmares about the orcs. In them, I got killed and even stereotypically eaten.

I shook my head at the thought of the nightmare, got out of bed, and went to the bathroom to freshen up. Click A few minutes later, I came out and changed into more loose clothes I could find before walking out of my chambers. Dan followed behind me, and soon, we exited the keep through the stairs, which were only lit by the magic lights. The sun had started to rise, but it barely lit up the sky; it would take a few minutes before light could fall on the forest and the castle. Soon, we reached our destination.

A few guards from the army and the men of Captain Markus were already there; they stopped as they saw me come. I walked toward the weapons rack and picked up a practice sword while Dan did the same.

"I am no instructor, Mister Remus, so please forgive me if I hit you a little too hard in the heat of the moment," said Dan.

"It is fine," I said and lunged at him. I have no interest in fighting, which is why I didn't choose to walk on that path. If I had wanted to, I could have made a respectable career and might even have joined the imperial knights, but I did not want to choose this path. My thoughts have not changed even now, but I have become aware of my condition and know I cannot depend on others for my safety. Since I had inherited Remus's talent, I might as well exploit the hell out of it. Clang!

I swung my sword at Dan as I appeared before him, but he moved quickly and defended against it with a smooth, precise motion before attacking me. I dodged left but smoothly changed the sword's direction efficiently, and it followed me like a snake. Thap! Before I could defend, the sword hit my shoulder, giving me stinging pain.

"Again?" he asked, and I nodded and started with the attack. Dan responded at the same pace; his speed was not faster than mine, but he was far more skilled with his experience. I soon learned I could forget hitting him; I couldn't even get my sword near him. In the short few minutes, I was hit across my body many times but kept pushing myself, trying to land a hit. This is impossible; he is a level 20+ fighter with decades of experience.

Most of his attributes go to strength and vitality; he is not using any of them, just fighting me with his experience. As for his skills, he did not even think about using them. The sun ultimately came out, and more people gathered, but I did not stop; I kept pushing myself against him while he made me red with his strikes. I am improving tremendously; all the old Remus experience and skill lost through time are returning as my movements become efficient and my attacks finer.

The most surprising thing is that I am having fun; I had never thought I would have fun fighting. As I had said, I did not enjoy it. Thap! Once again, his sword hit, this time at my thigh, giving me another wave of stinging pain, and this one sharper, considering he had already hit that place a couple of times.

"I think it is enough for warm-up, Mister Remus; use your skills," he said, and I nodded; it is time to use them. [Quick Steps] I activated it, and my speed doubled as I moved toward him. A second later, I activated my second skill as I swung my sword. [Consecutive Strikes] I felt resistance, like something grating in my head, but I bored it as I activated the second skill.

Using multiple skills at a time takes practice; while charm and intelligence make it easy to bear mental pressure, it still felt grating that I nearly let go. Clang! My sword clashed against his, but to his surprise, he saw my sword did not lose momentum; instead, its momentum seemed to have increased, and immediately, the understanding dawned on his face. Clang Clang Clang He defended against my second attack, but I launched the third and then the fourth without losing power. This is [Consecutive Strikes].

I could keep launching the attack without losing momentum, a great skill that worked flawlessly with [Quick Steps]. Right now, I am moving around with the [Quick Steps] and attacking with [Consecutive Strikes], not giving him even a window to hit me. For the first time since we started sparring, this was the full minute he couldn't hit me. Though I know it restricted his power, it still didn't make me happy. This is why I am suppressing my tiredness and pushing myself harder to go faster and make powerful attacks.

Thap! Finally, he dodged my attack and attacked my thigh with the back of the sword, sending me stumbling to the ground.

"You should control the skills, not let the skills control you. Don't go for speed and power; it will drain your stamina fast. It is better to find a balance so that you can last longer," advised Dan as I got up.

"I will remember it," I replied, once again activating both of my skills and going for Dan. For the next forty-five minutes, I collapsed many times till I collapsed again and did not have the energy to get up for a minute.

"I think it is enough for today. Remus," Dan said as I sat in the dirt." OK," I replied with a breathless voice. Even if he had asked me to continue, I did not think I had the energy, not to mention the pain I was feeling at every movement I made. This was just the beginning; the soreness would soon come, and it would bring the pain with it.