Sigh……

A long sigh escaped from my mouth as I stood in front of the old guard with my staff pointed at him. I was drenched in sweat and my arms had begun to feel heavier than usual. The guard’s eyes were sharp as he looked for an opening in my stance. We had been sparring for around 15 minutes now and neither of us had managed to hit each other. This was an improvement on my part. I had been slowly getting used to my body and it was gradually turning into a weapon that I could be happy with. What I was not happy with, though, was this strange power I had.

The guard kicked the ground and lunged towards me but as he was about to get into the range, he shifted the weight on his legs and changed his direction a bit. It would be a bit difficult for the current me to handle such maneuvers, but my power kicked in at the last moment. The time around me slowed down to a considerable degree and only my mind raced in these moments. I could see all the minute movements the guard was making. The shifting of his legs, the feint he had put in and the actual attack that was coming from my left side. This power was pretty neat but I still didn’t know how to control it properly. It started on its own and ended on its own. Moreover, it took a huge toll on my mind and left my conscience in a disarray for a moment when it ended. I needed to either create some distance or hit him in this time allotted to me.

I started moving my body, albeit slowly. I could see the trajectory that the wooden sword, the guard was holding, would take. I had preemptively moved away from the range of the sword but I had also started swinging my staff. I knew I would be able to avoid his attack, so I decided to put an end to this spar with my attack. My staff moved up vertically and crossed by the side of his sword. I noticed he had started moving his sword in the direction of my staff to halt it in its charge. But I put more power into my arms and increased my speed. In this world of slowed down time, I had an overwhelming advantage. And yet, what happened next left me absolutely speechless.

I saw the guard twisting his neck preemptively by judging the trajectory my staff would take. I had noticed this, but I couldn’t follow through on the attack. After all, only my mind was at normal speed, not my body. The guard, after twisting his neck, moved his body in a diagonal direction and changed the track of his wooden sword. I could see the sword coming towards my neck, slowly, but I knew that was it. I couldn’t avoid this attack. Even with this strange perception related power, I couldn’t beat the old guard. Well, it was testament to the power of the Frye family. While I had defeated and killed the captain of the guard in the merchant’s house, I haven’t been able to hit a single guard here.

My thoughts came to an end with the power around me. My mind reeled in from the shock and I felt a sharp pain in my head for a moment. I struggled to not show it on my face and stood my ground perfectly. I felt the touch of the wooden sword on my neck and I looked up to see the guard looking at me with astonishment. I noticed the drops of sweat on his forehead and at that moment, I knew I was getting close.

Not much longer now, I will surely defeat you.

“Man, what a little monster!” Someone exclaimed from the side as I was taking deep breaths to regulate my breathing. The old guard patted my shoulder as he smiled widely. The people here were quite amusing. Even though he had almost been defeated by a little child, he was still smiling widely and he even gave me pointers after every spar. Not that I needed any. But I liked the people here. After all this time, I had started to enjoy their company. Not the Frye family, but the guards in here. They were simple people without any blemishes in their character, and open enough to a degree that someone would deem them simpletons. And yet, every single one of them was a highly trained individual. None of them had ever used mana while sparring against Sirius and I. However, I knew that every one of these guards would be considered some of the best if they came to my old world.

“I almost lost today, huh. You really have become a lot better. I can’t even imagine how much stronger you would become when you comprehend mana.” The old guard spoke as we walked towards the resting area. Old man Blake was standing there with the wet towels and drinking water, looking at a different spar going on in the training area.

I also turned my head towards the direction and noticed that the spar had almost come to an end as well. Sirius was fighting one of the younger guards.

“You both are quite different from each other. While you try to create chances for attacking, Young Master Sirius lets the other person make mistakes and capitalize on them.”

It was true. Sirius took a very protective approach to a fight. While he was good at fighting, not as good as me obviously, he always let the other person attack him first. He would then deflect his attacks and try to take the chances created after the deflection. His fighting style was beautiful but if you asked me, I would say that it could only be used for a dramatic performance. If you do not take the active role of pushing your opponent, you would be the one being pushed back. Well, it was only my opinion anyway.

“Young Master doesn’t seem too into the spar.” Old man Blake spoke while looking at Sirius sparring.

“It's nothing. I’m sure he is just upset, again, that he couldn’t meet the king at the Forde’s party.” I answered while giggling. It was very funny how randomly, out of nowhere, Sirius would remember that he couldn’t meet the king and become upset. The party was a few months ago and he still wasn’t over it.

“Still? Young Master needs to learn how to get over his grievances. There will be much bigger issues in the future. And if he doesn’t learn to let go, his grievances will eat him from the inside.”

I disagreed with old man Blake but I didn’t outright say it. After all, it wasn’t my place to comment on these things. Sirius was still a child and I had noticed how Blake and the Fryes put unnatural expectations on him. Sometimes, I felt it was quite disgusting that this family treated Sirius as some aspiration of the future. While I didn’t know the exact details, I didn’t like the way Sirius was treated. It wasn’t anything downright degenerate. Rather, it was the underlying expectations and projections of their beliefs that I found disturbing. It felt like… they were using Sirius.

On the surface Sirius had the enviable life, only son of a powerful family, being protected by absolute powerhouses such as Lady Maria and old man Blake. However, due to the time I had spent with Sirius, I knew he was hiding something. He was carrying a weight of expectations that his family had put on him and he couldn’t even complain about it to anyone. Not even to me.

I remember Lady Maria had told me that she wanted good for Sirius but I couldn’t just go on believing whatever came from the mouth of that duplicitous woman.

Let a child live like a child. Is it that difficult for these people to understand?

Sirius’ spar ended with his defeat, of course. He slowly moved towards the resting area while looking angry at himself. He picked up a wet towel and began to wipe off his sweat when old man Blake started speaking.

“You looked distracted during the fight, Young Master.”

“I was. I apologise for that.” Sirius answered while looking down at his feet. He looked quite ashamed of himself.

“It is fine, Young Master. But please take care in the future. Every fight should be fought with the intent to win, at any cost. Always remember that.” Old man Blake went away after saying his piece. Sirius was still standing there looking down at his feet. I walked up to him and nudged him with my elbow.

“Oi, let’s go.” I said while trying to look at his face.

“No, I’ll train some more.” Sirius answered in a meek voice.

“We’ll train together in the evening. But let’s go play hide and seek now. I’ll seek this time.”

Sirius looked up at me and I noticed that his eyes were a little wet. His eyes were a bit wide after listening to what I said.

“Really? The whole palace then?” Sirius asked with a voice that was regaining its vibrancy.

“Are you stupid? It will take me days to find you then. Only our rooms.”

“Hehe, okay then!” Sirius giggled as he answered with a wide smile.

Yeah, kids shouldn’t have unnecessary burdens in life. Life is too arduous to not enjoy it’s few good years.