Altura

Waking up was never easy. It was even harder when you were the Archduchess and could just sleep in without anyone daring to scold me. But at the same time, I couldn't. I had a schedule to keep. Or rather make.

I had decided a few days ago that I was going to learn how to fight properly. Thus, I had convinced Aswelth to train me. After all, who better than a literal General to learn from? What did irk me however, was that he insisted that I wake up well before sunrise to train? Apparently, that was the best time to do so.

So here I was, standing in the middle of the guard training field, at four am. Truly, the life of an Archduchess was not easy. But enough of that, I had training to do.

"Archduchess." Aswelth said as he walked in. "First we will start with a warm-up exercise. Jumping right into any training can be harmful to most bodies. Though your Plantling physique will negate the need for this, it is best that you do it anyway. "

Aswelth them moved, following a complex dance of moves. Normally, I would expect to not remember any of them, but that was not the case here. In fact, I remembered every single one of them. It didn't take a genius to figure out why I could do so, my stats were showing themselves.

“I take it that you were able to follow that, your grace?” Aswelth asked.

“Yes, it was surprisingly easy to do so. I take it that this is a consequence of my stats?” I answered, I was pretty sure it was, but a confirmation could not hurt right?

“Yes, now do it yourself.” Aswelth demanded. Confirmation was in, but now I had to do things myself.

Better to be done with them then. I began to ‘dance’ the dance, letting my body stretch and compress under their force.

“Slowly, your grace, slowly. The slower you are, the better effect the Arkil will have.” Aswelth said. Arkil? Was that the name of this dance? It sure seemed so.

I slowed down, trying to be measured in my movements. If I was back on Earth, my body would have failed in the first set of movements. This Arkil was not made for a normal human, it stretched the body to its farthest limits in every move, letting the muscles become a tad more flexible under its touch.

“That is enough, your grace. It is best if you practice the Arkil a few times a day, but not in quick succession. Now for the next part of your training, it is best if you summon that staff of yours.” Aswelth said. I followed his instructions, the staff appearing besides me.

“How hard is this, your grace?” Aswelth said as he chopped towards the staff. I let him. Somehow, I doubted the [Staff of Royalty] was something Aswelth could compete against. Aswelth’s chop landed on the staff, flinging it from my hold and nearly taking my hand with it. I might have forgotten that while the staff was Aswelth proof, I was not. But that did not stop me from giving Aswelth an angry glare as my hand reset itself.

Higher stats, it seemed would also increase how fast my body healed. And my body was healing very fast now.

“Ah, I apologize, your grace, I did not predict that the staff would fly away.” Aswelth said, at least he looked guilty.

“Fine, whatever -” I summoned the staff back into my seed and then back out. — “What did you want to know anyway?” I asked.

“A staff, or any other weapon in fact, has a high bar for use. A weapon breaking during a battle could easily lead to death. And wooden staffs are known to be easy to break.” Aswelth said. “Whatever this is staff is, your grace, it is not a common wooden staff.”

“Yes, I could have told you that. Or maybe that gem on the top could have.” I replied, dryly.

Aswelth actually looked sheepish, saying, “I think you would be shocked at some of the things nobles put gemstones on. But enough of that, it is time for you to learn how to use a staff, your grace.”

And so it began. If this training session was a book it would be titled, the time when a General made me learn so much that my brain turned into a sandwich. And that was exactly how I felt. Like my brain had turned into a sandwich. But it was a good sandwich.

I might not have learned to actually fight, but I had learned a whole lot about the techniques behind it. Guess the fighting would have to wait till next time. Right now I had different things to do, namely, Kerrin was leaving.

I sighed as I stepped out of the training area towards the city gate. Quite shockingly, I had been training straight to sunrise and the area was slowly welcoming a trickle of people. I was sure that at least a few of those had seen me train. Guess rumors would be spreading soon.

“If I may ask, your grace, what exactly are your plans for Kerrin?” Aswelth said, bringing my attention back to him.

“What do you mean? I thought I was pretty clear yesterday, Kerrin is to be my courtier to the royal court.” I said.

“And you have no other plans, your grace? Kerrin is a rare genius, your grace, restricting him to be a courtier could limit his growth.” Aswelth commented.

Ah, yes. I was expected to make plans to help the MC grow. Well I did have a ‘plan’ for him.

“Perhaps, the King’s promise of letting him reach peak Plant stage makes having him as courtier be a tempting idea. That said, I do hope that he will eventually take reins of the adventurers' guild.” I replied.

“I see…” Aswelth replied. By this time we had arrived at the city gate to find Kerrin waiting for us there with a shoulder bag of supplies.

As soon as Kerrin noticed my presence, he bowed, saying, “I thank you, your grace, for this opportunity and assure you that I will carry out my duties as courtier to the best of my meager ability. I shall not bring dishonor to the duchy, your grace.”

“I never doubted it for a second, that said, I have a special gift for you.” I said as I took out a pair of pebbles from my pocket, I’d had to have special pockets stitched into this dress for this, but it was worth it. Pockets were far too useful to go without.

These pebbles had appeared besides my bed sometime during the night along with a note that read -

These are three-way communicators, sending Qi to the right side will contact me while sending Qi into the left will connect it to the other pebble I sent you. Give one of these to your retainer, so you can keep in contact with him, and tell him to contact me when he enters the Capital. I will arrange for him to enter the palace from one of the secret entrances and send him to the Royal Grounds. That should enable him to reach the Peak Plant stage at least.

—the King

It would seem that Trees could simply teleport things around. Quite a useful ability that. Especially if they could teleport right into the middle of a battle. Thankfully the pebbles had an engraving stating which side was left and right or I could see Kerrin getting it wrong

“Here, take this pebble”- I said to Kerrin - “This is special communicator pebbles that will allow you to contact me. Just send Qi to the left side of the pebble. Do it when you emerge on the other side of the pass.” I had decided that talking about confidential plans in full view of what could be spies was a bad idea. Best to do it via communicator once we were in private.

Kerrin nodded and set off without much fanfare. This wasn’t some great emotional parting after all. Aswelth and I headed back in once Kerrin had safely entered the pass. The tunnel had been deemed off limits until Aswelth sorted out the situation with the mongoose. It would not do to have several high level mongoose running around in a tunnel that mortals were supposed to pass though.

“Um, your grace, what exactly would happen if Kerrin were to send Qi into the right side of the pebble?” Aswelth asked, his tone betraying his curiosity and nervousness.

“Oh, nothing much, it would just send a call to the King. After all, he is the one with the third pebble.” I answered as Aswelth’s eyes widened. I could practically see him imagining the scenario with abject horror. Silly Aswelth and his fear of Kings. I highly doubted that the King would mind much, the man seemed cool if a bit formal. But formal was to be expected when dealing with a King.