Chapter 13 - Praise

After trying for three more days at noon, Zaos succeeded in completing a training session at noon. So, just like he predicted, he called his father and showed the result of his training on the fourteenth day. While he was a busy man, Laiex watched Zaos silently for an entire hour as the boy ran around the training grounds for an entire hour showing willpower that a three years old boy shouldn't have.

"Good work," Laiex said once he gave the order for Zaos to stop. "I thought you would need a few months to build the discipline and willpower necessary."

While Zaos was expecting much praise, that was even less than he had predicted. After all, his father assumed that he had underestimated him. While, from a certain perspective, that was good, Zaos wasn't pleased with it. In any case, his annoyance stayed well-hidden since he was breathing hard and sweating a lot while sitting on the grass.

"From today onward, you should practice the stance you just learned for ten minutes in the morning and afternoon," Laiex said. "You will lose everything you learned if you don't put them into practice regularly. After those exercises, you will jog again, but instead of moving around the training grounds, you will move from one side to the other, and once you reach the sides, you will lower your left arm and then raise your right arm, putting your wooden sword in a diagonal position like this."

Zaos frowned when he saw that. It seemed like another defensive stance, but he couldn't understand why the left arm would be lowered, and the right arm would be raised. His sword hand should be used to attack, and defending with a sword must be possible but impractical in several situations.

"This stance will grant you the chance to block some types of projectiles," Laiex said. "Sometimes in the battlefield, using a shield to block an attack isn't a good idea since you most likely will lose the sight of your target. That is why you can use your sword to parry those attacks. Try to keep your breathing controlled and your sword steady whenever you assume this stance. Once you reach a decent level at that, call me again and then we will proceed to the next lesson."

Once again, Laiex left the villa. Maybe that was the family's style to teach swordsmanship, but Zaos was already getting tired of it. If you can't stay and watch your student learn, why don't you pay someone else to train him?

"Don't frown too much, Zaos," Lyra said while she was cleaning the sweat from his forehead. "It would be a pity if a cute child-like you get some wrinkles."

Zaos could only smile after hearing that. Regardless, while he wanted to try the next stance as soon as possible, he was too tired. Despite how tiresome the training was, Zaos felt a strange feeling of accomplishment, and he couldn't help but want more… Maybe he really has warrior's blood in his veins.

"You are going to teach me magic now, right, mom?" Zaos asked.

"Sure, sure," Lyra said. "If you still want to learn magic after all this, then perhaps teaching you some basic spells will be useful to you."

That afternoon, Zaos made sure to endure his sleepiness and stay awake throughout the entire day. Unlike his father, his mother decided to watch over the whole learning process, so Zaos couldn't miss that chance. However, he also had to make sure that his mother's time wouldn't be wasted.

"You already know most of the symbols' meanings, and you have enough mana to use simple spells, but remember, don't use them anywhere," Lyra said. "While you can learn magic and even your father knows some spells, he is hoping that you will follow your footsteps. We can't let him feel sad."

Zaos couldn't imagine his dad feeling sad about anything. Either he will show an expression as if he doesn't care about something, or he will be angry that something didn't go as he had planned.

"Anyway, each spell has a symbol that not only names them but also can only be used to activate them," Lyra said. "Those symbols consume a lot more mana, so you need to keep your focus, even more when the spell is about to be completed because they are the last symbol."

While Zaos didn't understand what he heard all that much, he still nodded. Somehow, he had a feeling that it would be easier to understand once he tried to learn a spell. While his mother said that spells could be used as long as he reads the symbols in a magic book, Lyra said that it would be better if Zaos memorized them before anything.

"Why do I need to memorize?" Zaos asked.

"Because magic books are rare, and you can't expose them that freely, and if someone identifies the spell you are trying to use, they might try to stop you," Lyra replied. "Also, we are a family of warriors, and warriors certainly don't carry magic books around."

The last reason seemed a bit stupid, but Zaos also nodded after hearing it. In any case, while memorizing, Zaos also had to draw the symbols mentally inside his head in order to make the spell begin. The first symbols of the first spell were easy to memorize and draw, but the last one was fairly complicated. Not only that, Zaos's mana was being drained while he was drawing the symbols inside his head. However, that motivated him since it was the sign that he was succeeding.

All the symbols until now could be drawn in a single line, but the spell's name actually had three pauses. So, the caster had to stop two times while drawing the symbol. While the drawing was simple, since it was only a plus sign inside a circle, Zaos couldn't mess up while taking the pauses. If he draws something that he shouldn't, the spell would be canceled, and he will have to wait for a while to have enough mana and try again.