"Ninety-seven… ninety-eight… ninety-nine… one hundred." The little girl that was counting the numbers while performing the sword stances was out of breath now. She had done the Sword Thrust a hundred times and just that was enough for her arms to feel like they would fall off.
But with the determination that she had of gaining the freedom to explore the world, she took the stance necessary for the Overhead Strike.
"One…two…three…four…" The little girl kept swinging her sword, her mind turning off the unnecessary thoughts, the only thing that was in her mind was swinging the sword and not faltering in the stance.
---
Damien was astonished at his daughter's determination, he knew that she was tired and wanted to rest but kept pushing herself to the absolute limit.
She briefly stopped when her arms felt like they would fall off while practicing the stances.
After completing the Sword Thrust, she was now practicing the Overhead Strike. It had been an hour and half since she woke up, she didn't have anything to eat at this time. Running for half an hour, practicing the Sword Thrust for half an hour and resting for about the same time.
"Honey, I think we should stop her now. At this rate she won't be able to get out of bed for at least two days." Isabelle said from the side. Ever since she became a mother, her personality had completely flipped, the uncaring and ruthless noblewoman had become a worry wort mother of a five year old little girl.
"I know. But we can't meddle in this matter." Damien said. He was as equally concerned as his wife.
"I know what you mean Damien, but still she's just five years old. She hasn't even eaten anything yet. If she keeps going on, she will eventually collapse." Isabelle said but Damien only nodded at her, understanding his wife's concerns.
Meanwhile, Thomas who had been standing in the training grounds was surprised at the couple's behaviour. He had thought that they would come and stop Sophia from training but nothing of the sort happened, they just kept observing from a distance. Even if both of them had work on their plates, they were also determined to see through their daughter's resolution.
---
-One Hour Later-
Thud !
Sophia collapsed on the ground after swinging the last repetition of Horizontal Slash. She was so tired that it felt like if she closed her eyes now, she would sleep for more than a day. This intense training had worn out her body and her mind.
Sophia looked at her hands that had held the wooden long sword, they were swollen and hurt a lot. She tried to move her body but it refused to do so. Her feet, arms, shoulder and back felt like they were paralysed, not moving an inch. She was a little afraid to go through the same thing again tomorrow but, the thought of power to live freely was too tempting and pushed the fear that was grasping her.
"Good work kiddo !!" Thomas said as he approached Sophia. He now had a good impression of the young girl, her determination would surely make her reach new heights soon.
"I…huff..can't move" Sophia said while heavily breathing, she looked at Thomas who extended his hand to get her up.
She took the hand and got up, her legs wobbled a little, almost losing her footing. "Thank you." She said before steading herself.
"Now with that done, I'll see you the day after tomorrow." Thomas said as he let go of her tiny hand, ready to leave. "What do you mean the day after tomorrow?" Sophia quired, she had thought that she would have to do this daily.
"Well, since your body is not used to these types of intense training, you would feel fatigued tomorrow and if you did the same training, your growth would be affected. A balanced training includes a resting time for the body and giving you a day off is the best thing right now. But don't get your hopes up, once I see that your body is adjusted to the routine, I will make you train daily." Thomas said before taking his leave.
Sophia stood there as she wondered about the training sessions that would come, once her body got adjusted to intense training like today. She was happy that she got the day off.
"My baby !!" Sophia was taken aback from her thoughts after hearing her mother's voice.
Isabelle came rushing as soon as Thomas had left. She swept up Sophia in her arms as she kissed her cheeks. She wasn't concerned about the sweat and grime that her daughter's face had accumulated, she was more concerned for the little girl.
"Mom !! Stop that, my face is dirty." Sophia shouted but was not given a chance as she was enveloped in a motherly hug.
"Isabelle, stop it. She's getting uncomfortable." Damien's voice was heard from behind the hugging pair.
"Bu..t…" Isabelle wanted to continue but Damien's eyes stopped her, she looked at her daughter and saw that she was embarrassed, so she reluctantly let go of her.
"Hah…." Sophia breathed out as she finally got out of her mother's embrace.
"Sophia, you have done well today, I am proud of you." Damien said as patted Sophia's already dishevelled hair.
Sophia was happy to hear her father's praise as she had never been praised in her previous life. She looked up at the smiling couple and was glad that she got reincarnated. She was going to make sure that no one would be able to take this happiness away from her, she would protect this family that she had gained.
---
It had been a few minutes since Sophia came down from her room, she had changed into new clothes and her hair hadn't dried fully but she did not care about that. All she cared for was to devour the food that was on the dining table.
"Slow down a bit or you will choke on your food." Isabelle tried to calm down the hungry little wolf, but Sophia didn't stop, she kept devouring the food. The concerned Isabelle was totally ignored by Sophia.
Almost ten minutes later, Sophia had finally calmed down as she had finished her breakfast, her belly was a little bloated, her mouth was covered with bits of the food she had devoured. All the mannerisms that she had learned in her previous life were forgotten, the only thought she had now was to fill her belly and relax.
"It's good that you finished your breakfast but don't forget that you have a Magic teacher too." Damien reminded her.
"About that, can he teach me tomorrow?" Sophia asked, she was not sure when her Magic teacher would come. She wanted to rest, maybe even sleep for the whole afternoon.
"Oh, he will. I had arranged it so that your body and mind would get equal rest periods during the training. Your swordsmanship and magic training will be one day after another. Today was only dedicated to swordsmanship, tomorrow it will be magic and the day after tomorrow will again be swordsmanship, giving you plenty of rest." Damien explained the routine that he had planned out of Sophia.
"That's good. At least I can go and rest now." Sophia said.
"Yes, but once your body is attuned to swordsmanship training, you will have to also do the magic training in the afternoon on the same day." Hearing Damien's words, Sophia was surprised that she would do both training sessions in a single day, once her body could get used to fatigue from swordsmanship.
"Alright. I'll go and rest then." Sophia said as she kissed Isabelle's cheek and Damien's cheek before leaving the dining room.
---
It was already twelve in the afternoon and Sophia was planning to sleep till the evening.
"Master, where is the young miss?" Iris asked as she entered the study room of Damien after knocking it.
"She's sleeping, let her rest. She has worked hard today." Damien said, dismissing Iris from the study room.
Iris had just now come to the mansion from her house. The knights of Verdant House were provided housing and their own training grounds and Iris, who had woken up at five in the morning, was busy training herself. She knew that the young miss would not wake up before afternoon, so she usually came to the mansion around that time. But hearing Damien's words, her thoughts went back to the day she was called to the training grounds. She remembered the teachers that were going to teach Sophia swordsmanship and magic.
Iris was surprised that a noble girl at the age of five was interested in swordsmanship and magic, she had thought that the young girl would never be determined enough to train but surprisingly enough the girl had woken up and even completed her first training session.
Footsteps echoed across the hallway as Iris walked towards Sophia's room on the first floor, thinking about what kind of training Sophia had done to instantly go to sleep after completing it.
Creak—
Iris peeked inside Sophia's room, only to see her sleeping peacefully on the massive bed. Her breath even, her chest heaving up and down, indicating her state of deep sleep. Closing the door, Iris began wondering if she should come early to see Sophia's training.
It was almost evening, the sun had started to go down.
Inside one of the mansion's bedroom, the little girl groggily woke up, rubbing her eyes but she couldn't see anything except for darkness. Fearing that she was once again in the void, fear began to seep into her mind. Afraid of losing the family she had come to care about.
"He…lp me." Sophia said, in a soft tone at first but soon, she shouted at the top of her lungs.
"HELP ME!"
Iris, who was right outside the door, immediately went into killing mode. She loudly opened the door, drawing her sword out of the sheath, ready to kill any intruder.
Bam!!
She spotted the curled up ball on the floor in one of the corners of the room. She switched the lights on and saw Sophia, crying softly.
She looked around the room for the intruder but there was none.
Still on the edge, she slowly approached Sophia. Her eyes scanned the bedroom, unable to find any trace of an intruder.
"Miss, I'm here, no one is going to harm you." Iris said as she sheathed her sword that was ready to kill the intruder that dared to make the young girl cry.
Enveloping Sophia in her arms, Iris began to caress her back.
A while later the cries had died down and Sophia was once again asleep. Iris looked at the fragile little girl in her arms, who not long ago had been crying like someone was going to kill her. Iris didn't know what made the little girl cry but in her heart she promised herself to never let any harm befall the little girl.
---
"Did that really happen?" Damien asked Iris, who was reporting to him about what happened inside Sophia's room.
"Yes Master, I don't know the exact reason for it. I checked the entire room and even the mansion for the intruder but I couldn't find anything. The only thing I can think of is that she had some kind of nightmare." Iris said while bowing her head, she was feeling down about not being able to do anything for the little girl's nightmare.
"Alright, you can go back now. Don't tell Isabelle about it. I'll tell her about it myself." Damien said before dismissing Iris.
After Iris had left the room, Damien sat on his chair, lost in thought about the things that were happening too quickly. It had been only five years since Sophia's birth and she was already determined to learn swordsmanship and magic, sometimes it felt like Sophia was not a little girl despite her age. She appeared to be more mature than other kids in necessary situations but other times, she would behave like a normal kid. Now with the nightmare she's experiencing, Damien was concerned that it would affect her mental health if it continued to happen.
He thought about it a lot and came to a conclusion.
When Iris had entered the room, Sophia was crying in a corner of the room and there was no hint of light inside the room.
'She must have been scared of the darkness and that might be the reason for her shouting for help.' With this in mind, he came to the decision of never letting her inside any dark places on her own as it might trigger the same reaction that she had today.