Corpo: But adults do lie to children. Children are the largest demographic that adults lie to.
Tarhil: Let's not let the kid grow up thinking that Knights will lie to children.
Corpo: But we almost exclusively lie to children?
Tarhil Let out a deep sigh, not bothering to continue this and staying silent. Corpo and Simon were snickering, finding this amusing.
...
The next day.
Cashew slept a lot longer than he usually would under the effects of Mana exhaustion. He usually only slept for 5-6 hours, but it was morning the next day when he woke up.
When Cashew rolled over and opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Meredith crouched down beside his bed resting her chin on her hands and looking at Cashew.
Meredith: Good Morning, Sleepy head. I've missed you.
She said with a smile on her face. Looking at Cashew like an affectionate mother.
Cashew looked at her with a tired and confused look on his face before rolling over with his back turned to her.
Meredith was hurt by this and got up, leaning forward and hugging Cashew.
Meredith: don't be like that, I missed you! I know it's only been 3 days, but I still missed you!
Cashew not enjoying how clingy she is, shot himself out of bed and ran out the room, hoping to go practice his magic again only to be stopped by his father.
Eric: Hold it, where do you think you're going?...
Eric had a Dangerous smile on his face, Cashew didn't respond.
Eric: I was told that you know magic...mind explaining that to me?
Cashew didn't respond again. Just looked at his father with bored eyes, confused as to how he found ou-... Why he thinks Cashew can use magic.
Eric: You're still young, we all make mistakes, I'm disappointed you're interested in such a Cowardly way to fight, but don't worry, I'll train you and force that interest out!
Cashew stopped listening, blocking out the anti-magic speech his father is giving, Eric notices that Cashew isn't listening.
Eric: Thanks to you, I have more time off! You sent that Knight out to save that woman you saw in the Goblin Cave and now the population of that Goblin Cave is 90% lower. So thanks to you, I got more free time that I can dedicate to training you into a good swordsman!
Eric's words caught Cashews attention finally and he looked at his father with a look of confusion.
Eric: Although I'm Conflicted... On one hand, you attacked Meredith, who has been nothing but kind to you, so I wanna punish you for that by molding you into a model Knight.
Eric raised 1 hand with his palm out as he said that.
Eric: On the other hand, you went out of your way to get that woman you saw in the Goblin Cave help, so I'd like to reward you for that... I could call it even and not reward or punish you, but you committed the grave sin of using Magic, so unfortunately, I have to pick one.
As Eric spoke, he lowered his hands and pulled out a gold coin, tossing it to Cashew.
Eric: Since you're still being difficult with speaking, I'll let you do a little Coin flip. Heads and I'll reward you for seeking to help that woman, Tails and I'll punish you for attacking Meredith. So, Go ahead. Flip the coin. What it lands on determines your fate.
Cashew wasn't interested in playing the game, but saw no way out of it, so he tossed the coin in the air, aiming for it to land by his father's feet.
...
...
...
...
Heads!
The coin landed on heads. Seeing that, Eric sighed with disappointment, wanting it to land on tails.
(Authors Note: I went on Google, typed "Coin Flip" and I let that decide Cashews Fate. So it was literally up to chance, not me choosing this.)
Eric: Well, that's unfortunate... Tarhil said that Simon said he would buy you something if you were right about a woman being in the cave, which you were. So your reward for getting heads will be my approval of him buying you a gift. It is embarrassing to have another man buy things for my son, though...
As for your training. Since I have so much free time thanks to you, I'm still gonna train you with the sword. Gotta get all that interest in magic out of your head, after all!
Cashew tried to sneak away from his father, but was stopped by bumping into Meredith, who was standing behind him for he doesn't know how long.
Meredith: I was gonna try and negotiate for you, but since you so rudely rejected my morning greeting, you're on your own with this.
"Since when were you capable of cruelty?!" Cashew internally exclaimed, feeling betrayed.
6 months later. (2 years and 6 months after Cashews Birth.)
For the past 6 Months, Eric has been training Cashew hard. 100,000 practice swings for each type of sword swing, overhead swing, Left hip swing, right hip swing, etc. Practicing swimming with rocks tied to him, 1,000 push ups, sit ups, and Squats a day, and even having Cashew hunt his food.
Luckily, Eric wasn't too cruel on Cashew, He taught Cashew how to swim first before tying rocks to him and he wouldn't let Cashew drown, sticking with smaller rocks first, and he taught Cashew how to gut and prepare an animal after killing it, as well as how to cook. Cashew was planning to start exercising once he got a little bigger anyways, so the push ups, sit ups, and squats weren't too bad, although the practice swings were terrible.
A plus side to all of this was that Cashew could shoot some Ice Balls in the sky when he was done training for the day and use that as a sort of sleep medicine, so it was working out fine for Cashew, His dad helped him improve his body and he improved his Mana when his dad wasn't looking.
As for the Gift he was supposed to get from Simon? Cashew never approached Simon over it yet. He was usually practicing swimming during the time of the month Simon and the other knights came around, so he never got the chance to even ask. But today was the day. Cashews body has improved enough that he can finish his training early, so he was able to approach Simon. Cashew still wants to be difficult with speaking, but he's getting older, so he decided he's only keep it up until he is 3 years old.
Cashew approached Simon and handed him a piece of paper.
Simon: Hm? Oh, hey kid. What's this?
Simon crouched down and grabbed the paper, it said "You said if I was right about a woman being in the cave, you'd buy me something. I want a Restoration Magic Spell book. If that's too expensive, then any type of spell book will do. ❤️" After Reading it, Simon rubbed the bridge of his nose.
Simon: Right... Kids always have a good memory when an adult says they'll buy something for them... Wait, is that a heart?
Cashew Gave Simon a thumbs up before walking away. Simon stood up, confused.
A Woman knight with grey hair in a high ponytail approached Simon and looked at the note.
Woman Knight: That's the kid you owe a present to?
She asked as she took the paper from him and read it.
Woman Knight: Aw, look at that, he even gave a cheaper option in case what he wanted was too expensive! How considerate!
Simon: it's also kinda insulting. He thinks I might not be able to afford the spell book he wants?
Woman Knight: Can you?
Simon: No... Well, I can if I skip out on the Brothels this month...
Woman Knight: Aw, you're sad you can't lay with a woman for this month?
Simon: Shut up! I can handle a month of no company... It's no big deal.
Simon said that with a Nervous laugh, as if he doesn't believe he can go a month without the company of a woman at night. With how his job is, he only gets about 3-4 days of time off during the month. If he can't visit Brothels this month, he's gonna have to wait until this time next month. Which he's not looking forward to.
Simon: Maybe I can visit a cheap prostitute instead for the month?
Woman Knight: and catch a disease? Good luck getting into a brothel ever again after getting a disease.
Simon: if I catch a disease, I'll be rejected from all Brothels?
Woman Knight: oh yeah! As an ex prostitute, we can smell the STD's on you and will refuse you service for life.
Simon: Well, Damn...
...
6 more months later. (3 years since Cashews Birth.)
Cashew is now 3 years old. These 6 months, Simon never returned with the book Cashew asked for, although Cashew is unsure if the reason is because Simon never bought it or if he kept managing to avoid Simon. Even though he's not trying to avoid Simon.
The training his dad gave him slowed down as the Goblin population regrew and his dad got his normal work schedule back. Although Eric started dragging Cashew to work with him to make sure that he was still doing the exercises and practicing.
Now that Cashew was a bit bigger, his dad was now making him do 10,000 practice swings per day, 1,000 push ups, sit ups, and squats per day, and he slowed down on the swimming.
As for Cashews magical Talent,he was still able to sneak off and cast Ice Ball until Mana Exhaustion and as far as he can tell, his father is clueless. Cashew did learn a few more spells though. He learned an Ice Rune spell, which is just like Poison Rune, but Ice. He learned an Ice Wall spell, which raises a wall of Ice to absorb incoming spells or projectiles. And he learned an Icy wind spell, which sends a small ball of Ice at the target with its own wind currents attached to it.
Cashew also learned that changing the shape of magic effects the cost. Ice Ball is normally a cheap spell, but when the shape of the spell was changed to a spike, it got more draining to cast.
As for Cashews habit of sneaking off, Meredith still hovered over him, but his parents eventually stopped caring that he would disappear. Meredith would still follow if she notices and Eric would still check up to make sure Cashew isn't using magic, but Meredith was the only bothersome one.
Cashew was in the forest, Practicing his magic, it now takes him 47 Casts of Water Ball to lose consciousness. He was using Ice Wall to practice, shooting it into the sky as usual when he heard a noise. Cashew hid behind a tree and a few minutes later, Goblins showed up at his area. This time, it was 39 Goblins that he saw, they were all looking around, sniffing and examining the area.
"Luckily, I had just started practicing magic for today, so I didn't use up much of my Mana." Cashew explained in his head, feeling confident, as if he wants to see if he can defeat all these Goblins or if he can't. See how much he's improved.