Dawn came too soon, but Rex was already awake and ready.
He had spent the night going over everything he knew about the Starlight family and their party, mentally making a list of their weaknesses and chances, like a predator studies its prey.
He had the beginnings of a plan by the time the first rays of sunlight came through his small window.
Four women. One week. And a hero who was too dumb to see that his whole world was about to be torn apart piece by piece.
Rex wore the simple training clothes that Mara had given him. They made him look humble and eager instead of scary.
First impressions were important, and he needed the Starlight party to see him as a harmless young man who was thankful for their attention.
"Just another poor person who got lucky enough to train with heroes." Rex smirks while looking at the reflection in the mirror.
He went downstairs, where Mara was already making a quick breakfast for the people who got up early. Their eyes met for a moment, and something happened.
Maybe an understanding or an acknowledgment of what they had shared and what had to stay.
Well, it's all a secret in the end anyway.
"Morning," Rex said as he picked up a piece of bread.
"Morning," Mara said, her voice steady.
"Your training is about to start, so try not to be late on your first day."
"Nah~ There's no way I'll let that happen."
Garrett came down a few minutes later, yawning and stretching. "Big day for you, huh, Rex?"
"Training with real-life heroes."
"You're one lucky man, Rex."
"Very lucky indeed," Rex said, looking back at Mara over Garrett's shoulder. "I should probably leave now."
"I don't want to make them wait a little longer."
...
Overnight, the heroes set up various training equipment in a cleared area just outside of town. There were neat rows of wooden practice dummies, archery targets at different distances, and a big circle in the dirt for sparring.
Elliot was already there, doing some kind of fancy sword routine that didn't seem very useful. The morning light made his silver armor shine, making him look like an angelic warrior.
Rex fought the urge to roll his eyes. "What a fucking loser..."
When Elliot saw Rex, he yelled, "Rex!" and his face broke into that annoyingly real smile for Rex that almost made him puke.
"Glad to see you could come in time."
"Are you ready to learn?"
"Of course," Rex said, putting just the right amount of excitement into his voice. "I've never had any real training before."
"This is amazing."
Elliot said, "Well, we'll fix that," and patted him on the shoulder. "Everyone has to start somewhere. By the end of the week, you'll have a strong base."
More volunteers began to arrive, mostly young men from the town who wanted to learn how to fight. Rex positioned himself in the center of the group, visible but not overly enthusiastic.
Although he was just another face in the crowd, he stood out from the rest. He was watching, learning, and keeping track of everything about how Elliot moved, taught, and talked to people.
It was clear that the hero was real. He really cared about teaching these people and thought he was making a difference.
He wasn't cynical and didn't have a hidden agenda. It's just his pure, dumb, heroic conviction.
Which made it easy to guess what he would do. Rex knew exactly how to take advantage of that predictability.
"Okay, everyone," Elliot said when everyone had arrived. "First, we'll go over the basics of stances and footwork."
"It's not about how strong you are in combat, but it's about how well you balance and position yourself."
"Learn the basics, and everything else will fall into place."
He showed everyone how to stand in a basic fighting stance, and Rex followed along. At first, the movements felt strange because his body wasn't used to holding itself in such planned ways.
"Good, Rex," Elliot said as he walked around the students and made changes. "Your position is strong."
"Have you ever fought before?"
"Just street fights, only," Rex said with a grin that showed he was embarrassed. "Nothing official or fancy... or anything you could name."
"Well, mostly, I'm just trying not to get my ass kicked."
Elliot laughed. "Well, getting formal training will help you more than fighting in the street."
"Even though instinct and experience are important."
They did a lot of drills, and Rex made sure to do moderately well. He wanted to look good enough to get Elliot's attention, but not too good that Elliot would be suspicious until he questioned his background.
Elliot asked for a break to drink water after an hour of basic training. Rex picked up his canteen and saw Lily, the youngest Starlight daughter, standing next to him with bright, curious eyes as she watched the training.
She said, "This is so exciting," when she saw Rex next to her. "I've never seen Elliot teach before."
"He does it very well!"
Rex took a drink and said, "He seems like a natural swordsman."
"By the way... are you Lily, sister of Elliot?"
"Yup! That's me!" She smiled at him. "And you must be Rex, judging by your pretty blonde hair."
"You're also the kind helper at the inn, right?!"
"Well... something like that," Rex said with a small shrug. "Honestly, I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do with my life, but it looks like you have everything figured out."
"Are you training to be a mage?"
Lily's face lit up more. "Yes! Well, I'm currently trying to be the better one !"
"My mother is an amazing mage, Diana is great marksman, and Elliot is the perfect hero."
"And there's me... I'm still trying to find my own thing."
There it was.
The nervousness lurks beneath the excitement.
The stress of striving to live up to the high standards of a family of exceptional individuals was present.
The fear of being the weak link is also present.
Rex could deal with that by trying to manipulate it.
He said, "That must be hard," with sympathy.
"It must be challenging to have so many successful family members," he said. "The expectations must be very high."
Lily looked shocked that he got it. "Sometimes... it is..."
"I love them all, but it's hard not to think about how I compare."
"At my age, my mother was already a powerful mage."
"Diana was the best winner of archery contests. And Elliot was already going on adventures."
"They have great achievements while I'm still zero... huhuhu... so sad..." Lily pretends to cry.
"You don't need to compare yourself with someone." Rex said, "In fact, you're still young."
"You have lots of time to make your own way to be even better than them all! And to be honest, from what I've seen, you seem more interested in learning than in getting praise."
"That alone is enough to be worth more in the long run."
Her eyes got a little bigger. "You really think that?"
"Yeah, of course. The best mages I've heard of weren't the ones who showed off the most."
"They were the ones who really understood the basics and built on them." Rex didn't know if that was true, but it sounded smart anyway, and Lily was eating it up.
"I'm just saying shit right now..." Rex said in his mind.
"That's what Mom used to say," Lily said, and her smile came back. "My gosh, Rex!"
"You're surprisingly smart."
Rex smiled and said, "I've had time to think about things, and there's not much else to do when you're just trying to stay alive."
They talked for a few more minutes before Elliot told everyone to get back to work, but Rex had made his first link. Lily now perceived Rex as someone who comprehended her issues and possessed wisdom beyond his years, despite his limited financial resources.
Just as planned.
The sparring practice was the next part of the morning training. Elliot put people in pairs and had them practice basic combinations of attacks and defenses.
Rex was paired with a big, enthusiastic farmer who wasn't very good at what he was doing.
He permitted the man to strike him several times, feigned ignorance regarding his actions, and generally projected the image of a diligent student struggling to keep pace.
He caught a glimpse of Helena watching the training session out of the corner of his eye. She stood apart from the group, graceful and calm.
She sometimes gave Lily magical advice, but most of the time she just watched.
When the sparring was over and people were leaving for lunch, that was a signal for Rex to make his next move.