Here is part 2 as promised!

[th_113_.gif]

-----------------------

“RISE AND SHINE!”

Chase’s eardrums almost exploded as he jumped out of bed in surprise. He turned his head around and looked for the source of the sound. Aaron is seen to be standing in a bent position beside Chase’s previous position, his hands cupped around his mouth to amplify his voice.

“Get up, freshen up and I’ll meet you outside in five minutes!” Aaron shouted in a soldier-like manner and proceeded to march out of the room, leaving Chase sitting on the floor with a headache.

Chase shook his head as if to shake off the drowsiness and peeked at the window.

‘Pitch black, figures. I probably only slept for three hours at most’ Chase thought dejectedly.

He slowly stood up and a dull pain was felt all over his body. The muscle pain from the previous day’s exercise seems to have finally begun their assault on him.

‘Ouch! Ouch!’

Chase endured the pain and went to the bathroom. He washed his face and looked in the mirror. A tired boy with black hair and eye bags under his pair of violet eyes was staring back at him.

‘Guh…. I look terrible’

Minding the time, Chase finished up quickly and went outside to the compound of the house. The temperature is even colder than the previous night; Chase’s body is shivering visibly. Aaron is standing there waiting for him.

“Here, put this on” Aaron casually said as he tossed a pair of thick leather gloves and boots.

Chase gratefully put them on.

“We won’t be wearing any travelling cloak, we’ll warm ourselves up by running back to our house and then double back to the village!” Aaron grinned as soon as the sentence escaped his mouth.

‘WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT????!’

Chase is screaming in agony inside his head, but it doesn’t show on his face.

“The shops in the village would open in another five hours or so. I expect the both of us to be back within six hours. We’ve got some shopping to do later. Let’s go!”

Aaron excitedly exclaimed and began to run, once again leaving Chase behind and alone.

‘Nope, still not regretting this…’

Chase mustered up his strength and began to run, sore muscles and all.

-------------------------------

*Gasp* *Gasp* *Wheeze*

Chase and Aaron arrived back in Thanes right on the count approximately six hours after their departure that morning. To be more specific, Aaron made it back healthily within four hours, did the laundry and came back to the entrance of the village. On the other hand, Chase made it back to the entrance of the village in about six hours and collapsed on the ground wheezing and gasping for air. Worried passerbys tried to provide assistance but were shooed away by Aaron who stood nearby.

“Good! We will be having breakfast at the inn!” Aaron shouted, but in a slower tone than yesterday, probably in consideration of the horses nearby.

Chase then proceeded to follow Aaron after he had five minutes of rest lying on the ground.

‘My body feels like lead…..’ Chase thought as he pitifully dragged his feet around.

They arrived in front of a large establishment, about four times the size of Gillian’s house. The inn in the village doubles as the Adventurer’s Guild office. They are usually separate buildings in towns and cities but for a village like this with less people, they are combined under one roof. Aaron pushed open the door and both of them walked inside.

The inn had dozens of tables in it, and half of them were filled with people eating, drinking and chatting around them. The atmosphere is filled with noise coming off from all the voices talking at once. Two wooden counters could be seen side-by-side near the wall opposite to the entrance. One of the counters had a man wearing an apron and a vest cleaning some glasses, wooden shelves lined up with bottles could be seen behind him. The other counter had a woman with a ponytail dressed in leather armour manning it; a gruff looking team of people were talking to her. Which side belongs to the inn and Adventurer’s Guild is blatantly obvious.

Aaron and Chase went to sit at an empty table by the window and a male waiter appeared by their table to take their orders shortly after they have taken their seats. The waiter is visibly wrinkling his nose. Chase looked down at his own sweat drenched shirt and noticed the stench he was giving off.

“Right, why don’t you give my son a bath with a ‘water ball’ considering he stinks so much” Aaron told the waiter while grinning, he obviously realized the waiter’s expression as well.

The waiter complied and gathered his mana, a big ball of water about the size of a bucket appeared from his hand after five seconds and splashed Chase’s body.

‘Ooooh, so that’s a ‘water ball’! Chase instantly memorized the spell’ He did not mind being wet at all.

“Hahahahaha!!!” Aaron was laughing loudly without restraint as he pointed his finger at Chase who was soaked from head to toe.

*Splash*

Aaron is soaked with another ball of water, his hair drooping over his face. He slowly turned his head towards the waiter and glared at him.

“My apologies sir, I thought you requested for a bath as well.” The waiter shrugged and said with an innocent face.

The people from the adjacent table start to snicker and chuckle after witnessing the scene. They immediately glanced away and stifled their laughter however, when Aaron directed his bloodlust at them.

“We’ll have whatever you got for breakfast” Aaron said after calming himself down.

“Understood, your food will be arriving soon”

The waiter walked away and turned his head around to give Chase a wink and a grin. Chase smiled in reply. He then came back within five minutes with their food on the tray. He quickly set them on the table professionally and poured them some drinks. With a slight bow, he went about his way to serve some customers who had just entered.

“Eat up quickly now, we’ll only have about three hours to shop around then we have to head over to Gillian’s house so I can get started on teaching you and that granddaughter of his some combat”

Aaron had finished the food on his plate in an instance as usual. Chase’s hands are slightly trembling from tiredness as he mechanically lifted the spoon to his mouth.

Once they were done, Aaron got up and went to the counter to pay. Chase followed behind him, curious about the procedure. He had never bought anything from anyone before, so obviously he doesn’t even know how the process works. Chase watched with interest as Aaron mentioned the food they ordered to the bar owner and asked for the price. Ten copper coins were procured from Aaron’s pocket and were put onto the owner’s outstretched palm.

“Oh, that reminds me! We’ve got to buy a portable Glyph of Evaluation as well” Aaron mentioned as he turned around to face Chase.

“Umm, where do we get one?” Chase asked.

Aaron tilted his head to the counter belonging to the Adventurer’s Guild right beside them. They walked up to the counter and are greeted by the woman wearing the leather armour with a smile.

“Welcome to the Adventurer’s Guild office, Thanes branch. How may I help the both of you?” The identical hair and eye colour of both Aaron and Chase gave the fact that they are related away.

“I’d like to purchase a portable Glyph of Evaluation” Aaron pronounced.

“That would be one gold coin, please” The woman said as she rummaged under the counter and produced a hexagonal white metal plate from under the counter.

“Why do we need to buy a portable Glyph of Evaluation, dad?” Chase’s curiosity got the best of him.

“Well you se-“ Aaron was cut short by the woman.

“A portable Glyph of Evaluation allows a person to check their skills and abilities without having to visit any villages, towns or cities. It is especially useful for those who are training far away from human settlements and wishes to check their progress. The abilities shown by the portable Glyph of Evaluation are also only available to the one who touches it and those he or she wishes to show it to. It is very useful to identify yourself as well. If you would like to see your abilities for free, you may use the Glyphstone of Evaluation behind me for free as it is a free service for everyone”

The woman kindly explained to Chase who blushed in return. She pointed out a metal plate as big as a book placed inside an indentation on the wall behind the counter which Chase hadn’t realised earlier. The stone tablet had the same white colour as the small hexagonal one in the woman’s hand.

“The portable Glyph of Evaluation loses the enchantment placed upon it after five years and would need to be replaced with a new one” The woman added further.

“Yeah, I’d like to buy a new one to replace my old one” Aaron lied through his teeth.

He put his hand in his shirt and pulled out a small pouch. He opened it and took out a single gold coin from inside it. Chase could see the how expensive the portable Glyph was. It takes a hundred bronze coins to be exchanged for a silver one and a hundred silver coins to be exchanged for a gold coin. They had a meal for two for only ten bronze coins and the Glyph costs a thousand times that.

Aaron reached out his hand and placed the coin on the woman’s outstretched palm, without letting go of it. The woman frowned and grabbed the coin, pulling it with a considerable amount of strength. Aaron did not flinch and stared blankly at the coin.

“Sir, if you would kindly LET GO of the coin!” The woman half shouted in a strained voice.

“Wha- Oh! Yeah! Sorry!” Aaron snapped out of his stupor and immediately released his hold.

The woman tumbled back in surprise and almost fell as a result. She corrected her posture and fixed the locks of her hair and professionally handed over the Glyph to us. Aaron pocketed it.

“Thank you for doing business with us, do come by and visit again” The smile on her face returned but the part about coming by and visiting again sounded a bit forced.

Aaron and Chase exited the establishment and was greeted by the warm sunlight. Aaron looked up at the sky.

“It’s almost noon, we’d better hurry up and get you the equipment you’ll need”

As soon as he said that, he walked away and made his way through the familiar streets. Chase had a hard time keeping up with his tired body. They came upon another establishment, a metal sign designed like a shield and a sword hanging over the entrance gave away that it is an equipment shop. They entered inside and Chase immediately looked around excitedly. Rows of armours were put on display and various weapons ranging from bows and throwing knives all the way to spears and swords are lined up on the wall and on weapon racks placed near the walls. A thin bespectacled man is sitting behind the counter, while reading a book. He lifted his head up and stood up as he saw Aaron and Chase entering the shop and approaching the counter.

“Well, you’re sort of scrawny for a blacksmith” Aaron rudely said to the man.

The man did not take it as an offense and replied.

“Oh, I’m not a blacksmith you see… I’m just the guy he hired to sell the equipment he forges. He rarely leaves the smithy, that Duncan”

“Right, so I’ll need a bow and three quivers of arrow, a short sword, a great sword, a spear, a battle axe, a halberd, and a mace. Make sure all the metal weapons are rust-free steel”

The man at the counter did not seem to be bewildered with the large amount of weapons being ordered and nodded in compliance. He proceeded to walk around the shop bringing out a few weapons for each type requested to the counter. For such a thin man, he carried the weapons effortlessly. Aaron observed the weapons carefully and picked them one-by-one. After all the weapons were picked, the man took out a piece of parchment and started to calculate the price.

“That would be six gold and seventy silver coins in total”

He said with an emotionless face as he handed Aaron the receipt.

Aaron almost cried after hearing the price of the weapons.

“Can I get a discount?” Aaron asked without any shame.

“Well, as you are buying quite a lot of weapons…. Sure, why not. The discounted price will be six gold and twenty silver coins”

The man replied like this is a normal occurrence.

‘That must be the original price’ Chase thought, but decided to keep quiet as he isn’t knowledgeable about the market price of weapons.

Nonetheless, Aaron’s face brightened up and paid the bill. The man proceeded to sheathe the swords and wrapped up the pole arms and battle axe to make it safe to carry around.

Aaron handed half of the weapons over to Chase and merrily walked out. They started to walk over to Gillian’s house as promised.

The sun now stood at its highest point. The birdbath is currently occupied with birds wishing to escape the heat of the sun. Gillian’s house looked more impressive under the light of day.

*Knock* *Knock*

Aaron knocked the door using the now familiar lion shaped knocker.

“Yes? Who is it?” Gillian’s voice could be heard from behind the door.

“The devourer of souls and Overlord of the abyss” Aaron replied.

The door swung open with a chuckling Gillian standing behind it.

‘I guess this is some sort of inside joke for them’ Chase thought.

“So where’s the girl that’s enrolled into my hellish training regimen?” Aaron inquired as he looked around the living room.

“Just a minute, Aliceeee!!” Gillian shouted for someone, most likely his granddaughter.

A little girl the same size as Chase came running down the stairs shortly after, with sword in hand. She is wearing leather pants and shirt. Her brown hair is cut short to shoulder-length and her brown eyes matches the colour of her hair.

‘She’s quite pretty’ Chase slightly blushed as he looked at her. Then again, Chase is so shy around females that he pretty much blushes in front of every girl and woman that talks to him.

“Is this man my tutor, grandpa?” The girl looked at her grandfather.

“Yes, and the boy beside him is his son. He’s going to be your classmate. Go and introduce yourself to them.” Gillian gently pushed Alice’s back.

Alice steadily walked over in front of Aaron and knitted her brows in a serious expression. She put out her hand and introduced herself.

“My name is Alice Cloud, I’ll be in your care!” She half-shouted her introduction.

Aaron chuckled and shook her hand.

“Nice to meet you, young lady. The name is Aaron Blackstone and I’ll be in charge of showing you hell” Aaron said kiddingly, or was he?

The girl is unfazed by Aaron’s reply and moved on to Chase. She did the same thing and held out her hand towards Chase with a serious expression.

“My name is Alice Cloud, I’ll be learning combat with you!” Her tone of voice did not change at all.

Chase went red in the face and shook her hand while trembling. The girl adopted a puzzled face.

“N-n-nice t-to meet y-you, my n-name is A-a, N-no! C-Chase Blackstone!” Chase stumbled on almost all of his words out of nervousness.

Aaron stood at the side smirking. Gillian is stroking his beard while smiling at the display.

“Are you fine?” She said, worriedly looking at Chase’s bizarre reaction.

“Y-yes” Chase’s face turned into an even deeper shade of crimson, if that was even possible.

*Clap*

“Alright! Aaron you can start conducting your class in the front yard now!” Gillian interjected the awkward conversation, possibly out of pity for Chase.

“Can I store some of the weapons I bought here?” Aaron showed the bundle of weapons on his and Chase’s backs.

“Yes, sure. Just put them by the shed beside the house”

“Okay, all of you come along now!”

Aaron walked out into the front yard followed by his two disciples.

“Wait here for a second, I need to store these weapons.”

Aaron took all the weapons except the short sword and entered the shed beside the house.

*Clang*

He unceremoniously dumped them inside and closed the door. By the time he was finished, Gillian had already brought out a chair outside and is comfortably sitting on it while sipping tea from a cup.

“Today you would be learning the basics on how to wield a sword! I’ll be teaching the both of you for two years! There are seven type of weapons I know the basics of, and we are going to split up the time evenly for all of them! Around three months’ worth of time would be allocated to each type of weapon! Am I understood?!” Aaron loudly explained.

“Sir, yes sir!” The girl replied just as loud.

“CHASE!!”

“S-Sir, yes sir!” Chase was startled and remembered to reply.

“GOOD! Alice! You did not join us for our light morning jog, so you would have to warm up by running around the compound of the house for 300 laps!”

‘What?! ‘Light jog’? I almost died from doing that! And 300 laps? It’s still way shorter than the distance I ran but she’s a girl!’ Chase is surprised and was about to talk to his father about it.

“Understood!” Alice replied energetically and immediately ran around the compound of the house while holding her sword.

Aaron nodded in satisfaction and turned to face Chase.

“Okay, now I will show you how to swing a sword and you will repeat it a thousand times in succession with each hand!”

‘I got a feeling my arms would fall off from the first swing’ Chase gulped.

Aaron reached out his hand to his waist and rubbed around it as if searching for something.

“Wha-?Oh! Right! I didn’t buy a sword for myself!”

“Don’t worry about it, squad leader. I have a sword right here!” Gillian threw a sword with a black scabbard to Aaron.

“This is so nostalgic, you always forgot to bring along any weapons except those twin daggers of yours”

Gillian chuckled and sipped some more tea from his cup.

‘Does that cup automatically produce tea? He’s been sipping on it for quite a while now’ Chase wondered about the possibility of magical enchantments placed on the cup.

“Hahaha! Well, I never really use anything except my daggers anyway!”

Alice had already finished ten laps in the meantime.

“Okay! Watch closely!”

Aaron unsheathed the sword and the gleaming blade of the sword shined brilliantly, marking how well-polished it is.

Aaron extended one of his leg forward and the other backwards, slightly widening his stance. He gripped the sword with his right hand and held it in front of him while keeping his left hand tucked behind his back. He took a deep breath and lifted the sword above his head, and then he swung it down while exhaling loudly.

“HAA!!”

His hand and sword blurred and reappeared with the tip of the blade an inch from the ground. A blade of wind was propelled in front of him and cut a straight line through the grasses and a bit of the ground below.

*Whoooosh!*

The sound came slightly after the swing. The swing was faster than the speed of sound.

“Now, imitate the way I swung just now. You don’t have to swing it as fast as I did, but I need you to swing it as hard as you can with the correct form. A swing which is not done with the correct technique won’t be counted towards your one thousand swing mark”

Chase tried to gulp, but his mouth was dry. Gillian was excitedly tapping his feet on the ground at the spectacle.

Chase unsheathed his newly bought short sword and imitated the stance. He took a deep breath and swung, stopping the tip of the blade an inch from the ground.

*whoosh*

The sound that accompanied his swing sounds weak and pathetic compared to the one his father did. He could barely swing it given how tired he was, let alone put power into it. Chase hung his head down in dismay.

“Don’t worry about it, you did it correctly! Now do it for another nine hundred ninety-nine times and then you can start with your left hand!”

Chase nodded and diligently continued to swing the sword. Alice joined him after finishing her laps around the house after he had swung his sword for about seven hundred times.

Beads of sweat trickle down Chase’s body and fall onto the ground. Every swing of the sword increased in difficulty. He had made a few errors with his swings and was immediately corrected by his father. Alice is energetically swinging her sword and is catching up with Chase.

‘I will not lose to a girl!’ Chase’s pride as a male is the pushing factor behind his perseverance.

Despite Chase having an earlier start, they finished off a thousand swings for each hand simultaneously an hour after sunset. Chase’s hands were numb from swinging the sword.

“Good! That would be all for today!” Aaron had not moved from his position since the beginning of the training. Gillian had already went inside a couple of times and brought a book to read on his chair.

Alice bowed down to my father.

“Thank you for your guidance, sir!”

‘What a girl!’ Chase felt ashamed of himself for being so weak.

“We’ll be heading home then, see you tomorrow Gillian!”

“Sure, you can hold on to the sword for as long as you need. I don’t need it anyway. Chase my boy, be sure to turn up for your Magic class tomorrow afternoon and don’t be late!”

Gillian reminded Chase while flashing that old gentlemanly smile of his.

Alice waved goodbye to the both of them as they left, Chase shyly waved back.

-On the way back home-

“You know, you did pretty darn well just now! I never had a beginner student who completed my course for the first day on their first try! It usually took them three weeks before they could do it!”

Aaron revealed the fact to Chase.

“Huh?”

“I expected you to fail but somehow you managed to hold on! Was it because of the girl?”

“W-wha?” Chase’s face started to redden as usual.

“Must have sucked to be losing to a girl, huh? All the more reason you should train more, hahahahhaha!”

“That girl is a monster though, she looked like she could swing another thousand times!” Chase defended himself.

“Hmm? Oh, that’s how it looked like to you, huh? Actually she was probably just as tired as you were, probably even more but she kept on swinging the sword. She must have a very strong reason to train her strength.”

‘Huh? She was even more tired than I was?’ Chase was silenced after hearing his father’s remark.

“Make sure you sleep early today and get lots of rest, you won’t have any physical exercise tomorrow. Overworking your body would only be counterproductive. That’s the reason we alternate between Combat and Magic practice every day.” Aaron explained.

‘No combat practice?! Thank the Heavens! This is bliss!’

Chase thought to himself as if he had heard the most wonderful sentence in the world.

That night after having dinner, Chase immediately fell asleep while thinking about how relaxing Magic class would be the day after.

------------------------

[th_113_.gif]

Dem Purple Eyes!ArmusThe unforeseen part 3