Laura was Vladislav's personal maid. She had taken care of him ever since he was born. She was ten years older than him, so she was like an older sister to him. She had always been by his side.
However, when he was four, she had to leave the estate to visit her family and solve some issues...
"It was a great visit. My 'sister' and I could finally see our parents after a long while. They're doing great. You should've seen their faces; they were crying from happiness, hehe," she giggled.
Her 'sister' was Athelstan's personal maid, Clara. She was also the same age as her; they were both twins. Though they were the same age, Clara was born first, making her the older sister.
He smiled. "It's good to hear that you enjoyed your visit."
"Now, how does the outside look? You never told me, and you know I've always been curious about it," he asked.
If you're wondering why Vladislav asked such questions, it's because he had never been outside ever since he was born, and neither had Athelstan.
It was all because Geneviève, his mother, was too overprotective. Whenever he asked to go out, she always denied him, saying things like, 'You're still too young,' or, 'You can go out when you turn eight and Athelstan turns seven.'
"Well, young master, the outside world is beautiful. The large cities have tall buildings reaching towards the skies where flying ships soar. There are different types of delicious foods in various restaurants and food stands," she said while smiling.
"What's more interesting are the people roaming the streets of the cities. Different people of different races: humans, elves, dwarves, etc."
"Wow, it sounds amazing. Can't wait to go there," Vladislav replied, astonished by the things she said, especially the other races. I think I should read more about them.
She smiled at him. "Don't worry, young master, you'll be able to go there soon," she assured him.
She told him more about other things. He also told her about how he had awakened and started training under Jian.
Growl!—
Vladislav's stomach grumbled.
He grabbed his stomach and said, "I didn't eat yesterday because I was very tired from the training."
Laura stood up and said, "Go wash up while I clean up your room, unless you want me to give you a bath," she teased.
Vladislav replied with, "No thanks, I'm old enough to take care of myself," stood up, and headed to the bathroom.
She just laughed a bit and started cleaning up his room.
After she was done, she left Vladislav's clothes on his bed and left the room.
– – –
After he was done showering, he took the clothes that were on the bed and dressed.
Growl!
His stomach grumbled again. "I know,I know, we'll eat soon," he said.
He stretched out a bit more. It seemed like that fatigue had already faded, but he still felt a bit of aching.
He activated his mana breathing and then headed out of his room to the dining room.
He greeted Lucas and John as usual and then entered the dining room.
He found Athelstan already eating; it seemed that he now had the strength to eat. Geneviève ate alongside him; the rest were not present.
"Good morning, Mom. Good morning, At," he greeted.
"Good morning, bro," Athelstan replied.
"Good morning, sweetie. Come, give your mother a hug," Geneviève said as she opened her arms wide.
He hugged her tightly and she did too, patting his back.
"Sit down and eat. You must be hungry since you skipped dinner yesterday," she smiled.
As if agreeing to her statement, his stomach grumbled again, causing her to laugh a bit.
Embarrassed, he quickly sat down.
He poured some juice into his cup and grabbed some bread with eggs and started eating.
His mother later congratulated him on choosing a weapon.
They spoke a bit more and then he left along with Athelstan.
They started their morning exercise: running 10km, 100 push-ups, squats, and pull-ups.
After that, they started training with Jian. He was teaching them how to parry attacks and counter them.
Clang! Clang!
They were striking the dummies.
"Good, you're getting better," Jian praised.
Whenever they messed up their stances, Jian hit them with the wooden sword.
SMACK!
"Your shoulders are too stiff, Athelstan. Relax them." He hit Athelstan's shoulder with the wooden sword. Athelstan gritted his teeth and relaxed them.
SMACK!
"Vladislav, you're not bending your knees properly," he spoke as he hit him on the leg.
Vladislav groaned and bent his knees slightly.
SMACK!
He hit Vladislav's legs again.
"The gap between your legs must match your shoulder width," Jian said.
He nodded and did exactly as he was told.
"Good. You must work on your footwork properly. A swordsman is a dead man if he doesn't know how to move," Jian spoke.
"Your slashes are weak. Grip your sword properly, not too hard and not too light either." He hit their backs.
"Urghh, is it really necessary to hit us, Uncle?" Athelstan complained.
"You're talking back, Athelstan, instead of fixing your stances and swinging properly?" He struck Athelstan's legs and back, making him stop talking.
"Pfft," Vladislav chuckled at the scene.
Seeing Vladislav laugh at Athelstan, Jian hit the back of his arm, lifting it up.
SMACK!
"Ow!"
"Is that how you perform a vertical slash? Your arms are too low when swinging. Keep them up and balanced. Why are you laughing when your slashes are a mess?" Jian spoke again.
"And you must work on your forearms, too."
After a few more smacks with the sword, they got a gist of it and started improving.
"Hmm, good, good. Your learning speed is great. Keep up the good work," Jian praised.
Vladislav felt his swings improving as he hit the dummies—not perfect, but decent.
He performed vertical, horizontal, and diagonal slashes, repeating them over and over under Jian's instructions.
After an hour, they took a break to relax and drink water.
Athelstan sat on the floor and said, "Hell, why do I feel like Uncle Jian is enjoying hitting us more than training?"
"You're mistaken," Uncle Jian replied flatly.
"If there's no pain, there's no gain. You see, you're already improving."
"And don't train only when you come here. You must also train on your own. The more you explore, the more you learn and advance. Train whenever you have time; getting strong doesn't happen out of the blue, nephews," Jian finished.
They nodded. "Yes, Uncle."
"You've rested enough. Come on, you two, spar against me," Jian smiled.
"Huh? What, again?? I thought that was only for yesterday since you said you were testing how bad we were with the sword," Vladislav spoke.
"Yeah, I remember you saying that too," Athelstan agreed.
"Well, I lied. The fastest way a swordsman can improve is by sparring against stronger opponents, and that's what you'll be doing from now on. You'll be sparring against me every single day," Jian smiled with his hands behind his back while holding the wooden sword.
"Ah shit, we're so cooked," Athelstan said, shivering.
"No pain, no gain, I guess," Vladislav smiled sourly, already imagining the pain he'd feel after the spar.
Jian moved to the sparring circle. "Let's start. Apply everything that I taught you today," he said.
"If you don't..." Jian's eyes became dark. "I'll hit you harder. A famous guy once said another way to teach your students is by beating the shit out of them so that they don't forget what you taught them."
They both gulped as they felt shivers going down their spines.
Vladislav tapped Athelstan's shoulder with one hand.
"Athelstan, you go first. You're the cute youngest, so you should have the honour of being first," Vladislav said as he looked at him with a serious face.
"Y-you are mad. Isn't it the opposite? Shouldn't the older brother act as an example and show the young one how it's done?" Athelstan rebuked.
"If you're not coming to me, then... should I attack instead?" Jian asked while he smiled.
They both froze and looked at him.
"Fine, we're coming," Vladislav spoke. "Let's go, Athelstan."
"Ugh, fine," Athelstan said as he took a stance, holding his sword with two hands.
Vladislav stretched and took a stance, too.
Then they moved.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
They moved with speed and reached Jian in an instant. Vladislav attacked first,throwing a horizontal slash at him, which he blocked effortlessly.
CLANG!
Vladislav ducked, and Athelstan was right behind him. He jumped over him, striking toward Jian's chest.
Jian twisted his sword and blocked the attack. "Good strike, but it lacks strength," he spoke.
CLANG!
Vladislav had already taken that opportunity to move behind him and attack his legs. Jian jumped over him, dodging his slash, and spun his body, striking Vladislav's back mid-air.
To his surprise, Vladislav twisted his sword and moved it behind him vertically, barely blocking the attack, which sent Vladislav skidding a couple of meters away.
Jian landed and said, "Hoh, that's impressive. Nice block," as he blocked Athelstan's slashes with one hand.
CLANG! CLANG!
Vladislav nodded, his hand holding the sword trembling from the impact.
Athelstan took a couple of steps back next to Vladislav.
"You good, bro?" Athelstan asked. "Yeah,"he replied.
"It's my time now to attack. You must try to parry and block my attacks," Jian said as he turned into a blur.
"Shi–" Before Vladislav could curse, he was sent flying by a punch he blocked with his sword.
CRASH!
He crashed against the dummies. "Urghh,"he groaned in pain.
Jian moved with speed and precision and was already behind Athelstan.
Athelstan, feeling danger at his shoulder, twisted his wrist and brought his blade around horizontally, blocking the attack and making him fall on one knee.
"Good block, At," Jian complimented him.
What happened next was a one-sided beating.
Athelstan and Vladislav lay on the floor with sweat covering their bodies.
"Good work. You lasted 5 minutes. Compared to yesterday, you've improved," Jian spoke as he looked down at them.
Vladislav spoke with heavy breaths, "Slow but progressing."
Athelstan just nodded.