Jamie looked out of the window at the dark sky and yawned.
5 o’clock in the morning. Normally he would be up around this time, but today he was finally going to learn the sword.
Count Welton told him to gather at the training hall by 6, so he woke up an hour earlier to prepare in advance.
“Prrrrrr-Prrrrr-”
“… she sleeps making all sorts of weird noises.”
Meanwhile, Venna was sleeping with her body curled like a shrimp, and making strange sounds.
He thought of messing with her, but decided not to.
Unlike yesterday, today she would have to deal with Sarah.
Sarah cried yesterday asking Jamie to give Venna to her, so he promised her Venna for today.
“Sleep well while dreaming in this land. In a little while those happy dreams will shatter.”
“Ugh…”
As if she could hear Jamie’s words in her dreams, Venna trembled.
Smiling, Jamie changed his clothes.
After a brief mediation time, he headed to the training hall.
“What kind of training will it be?”
He never expected himself to learn the swordsmanship of the Welton family. No matter the fact that he was the young master of the family, there was no way his father would directly teach him swordsmanship without teaching the basics.
Well it was a good thing.
Starting on a blank sheet.
So Jamie would be able to absorb anything that is being taught to him.
‘Because this body definitely will perform well.’
This body had the blood of Welton, and was being held by the Orb of Life.
Although he never used the orb for close combat, he was still confident about its usage.
Well, this could be because Jamie had the personality of Diablo Volfir who was narcissistic.
So he didn’t have the thought of failing anything.
“I am here.”
Jamie saw the door of the training hall.
If he entered this place, he would get to learn the sword in earnest.
It was always nice to try something new. Even if it was in the field of magic.
He thought that his father would be the one teaching him today and went in.
However, it wasn’t Count Welton who was inside.
“I am Hamilton Leonardo. I will be the instructor who will be in charge of young master’s training from today.”
The man who introduced himself as Hamilton had red brown hair, dark features and copper colored skin.
Jamie knew him.
He was Count Welton’s aide, and the vice-captain of the Pier Knights.
In Apton time, Jamie heard that he stayed in Haiss instead of his Captain Zach who accompanied them.
And Jamie hadn’t seen him since he returned either.
There was no single contact between them till now, and the man was known to be a busy person in the family. So why was he standing with Jamie in the training hall instead of the Count?
‘Instructor?’
So Jamie asked him as if something had gone wrong.
“Where is father Sir Leonardo…”
Hamilton answered with an expressionless face.
“There is no way a great Sword Master would teach a kid who is just starting with swords, right?”
He wasn’t wrong, but the way he spoke was rather shocking.
Jamie is the young master of the Welton family.
Even the vice-captain of the Pier Knights wouldn’t dare treat such a kid rudely.
Either way, Hamilton continued.
“For a while, I will teach the young master.”
“Yeah, okay. But I don’t see any wooden swords around?”
He looked around but Jamie couldn’t see any equipment around the hall.
He needed a sword to learn swordsmanship.
Since a beginner cannot use a real sword, he would have to use a wooden one, but he couldn’t see that here.
Hamilton smiled. And that smile meant he was looking down on Jamie.
“You don’t need a sword for the training you are going to do today.”
“Huh?”
“The young master will run in the training hall from now.”
Running all of a sudden?
Jamie was here to learn the sword not to run a marathon. So he asked Hamilton.
“Sir Leonardo?”
“Enough. From now on, refer to me as an Instructor not Sir.”
The answer was rather cold, the same as his expression.
Hamilton had red hair on his head which Jamie didn’t know when it came. It was Jamie’s first time seeing that and that made his eyes look shadowed giving out a dark atmosphere.
‘When did he get it?’
Did this man learn magic?
As Jamie was in thought, Hamilton continued.
“And the answer to the instructor in the future should be ‘Yes’!”
“Yes?”
“And not young master. But trainee Jamie.”
His title was being changed.
If it was someone normal Jamie would have talked back, but it seemed impossible to do it with Hamilton.
“Ah. Yes!”
“Is that the sound you can make?”
“Yes!”
“Right. Very good.”
Said Hamilton, now having glasses on too.
Where the hell did all these come from?
Jami wanted to ask, but he didn’t feel the need to take a risk.
Hamilton put on the glasses and ordered the trainee.
“You will run from now.”
“… how many laps?”
“No questions! Just follow the orders given! Run!”
“Yes!”
Jamie started to run through the wide training hall.
“As expected, Hamilton is the best at educating trainees.”
Count Welton looked at Jamie who was running around in the training hall from the top of the mansion.
Beside him was Sears, who seemed worried for her son.
“Will he be fine?”
“There is no way he will be fine.”
Sears frowned at her husband's irresponsible remarks.
At the face of his wife, the Count said with a firm expression.
“Still, he needs to do it. Only then will he be able to truly prove the sincerity he showed.”
Jamie’s will is short-lived if he can’t even run.
And if Jamie decides to give up, the Count wouldn’t pass the family’s sword.
“You are being harsh.”
“There is a need to be harsh. To avoid the name of Welton being ruined. And it isn’t something to the level of harsh.”
“Are you going to add more stuff later?”
“This is just the beginning, and once he takes the sword in earnest, I have no intention of being considerate even to my own son.”
“Can’t you be a bit softer to him?”
“My father never did that for me either.”
And that was why he was able to become a Sword Master.
Sears understood that too, but seeing her son like this made her heart ache.
“He will do well. Because he is our son.”
The Count wrapped his arms around Sears’ shoulders.
Sears leaned on her husband’s chest and watched her son run.
“Ah, I forgot to tell you.”
“About?”
“Perhaps tomorrow or so, Viscount Balle will arrive in Haiss.”
“Why are you only mentioning this now?!”
Sears said in shock.
“I don’t have time. I need to get things ready…”
“What are you in a hurry for? And they will be here tomorrow or the day after. And Viscount Balle is close to us, it is fine…”
“Even then we need to show our sincerity. I am heading down. What should I start with? Ahh!”
Sears went down the stairs with great speed.
Count Welton scratched his head as he looked at her go down.
And looked out again.
Jamie was running better than expected.
“Cheer up, Jamie.”
The training has just begun.
‘Hot…’
The time when the sun rose in the middle of the sky.
Jamie was still running.
He wasn’t sure how many hours he ran, but he was now unable to feel anything down his lower back.
‘Isn't this autumn?’
Even in autumn, running in the sun made it feel like a hot season.
If it hadn’t been for the occasional winds, he would have been exhausted right away.
He was like this in autumn, he couldn’t even imagine what it would have been like in mid-summer.
‘Damn it. Isn’t that bastard tired?’
Hamilton was standing in the center of the training hall as if nailed to the ground for hours. He looked like a stone statue.
In the beginning, he respected the man but now Jamie was thinking of him like a devil!
‘How long do I have to run?’
Slowly he was having trouble breathing.
It was as if his lungs were failing him.
His head was hot, and above all, the world was starting to look yellow.
Jamie knew better than anyone what it was. Because he experienced this dozens of times in the past.
‘My body is pushed to its limit.’
Even though he was born with Welton’s blood and Orb of Life, it was surprising that he was being pushed like this.
Running for several hours without a break was excruciatingly difficult.
Especially for someone like Jamie who never exercised.
‘I want to lie down.’
But the thought stopped but now Jamie, even though he didn't know if his body was running or walking.
This was tough, but in the past he had gone through several situations which were hundreds or thousands of times more difficult than this.
Which was why his mental strength didn’t give up on him.
‘This is amazing.’
Jamie’s instructor Hamilton was shocked by Jamie who had been running for more than 5 hours.
‘How can a 7 year old keep running without a break?’
He knew Jamie Welton was an amazing kid.
An undisputed magical genius, he even heard the kid was now a Saint of Goddess Pyro.
He was shocked by that, but he couldn’t believe his stamina.
‘I don’t remember seeing him exercise at all.’
The resilience of the Orb of Life was one thing, but the stamina Jamie had was unbelievable.
And that shock was something Hamilton would never be able to describe.
‘Absurd!’
As the aide of Count, he knew things about Jamie. In fact, the Count could consult him several times.
-My son was chosen by magic not a sword. I don’t know. If he has the talent, maybe he should give up sword and focus on magic alone but… what would you do in this situation?
Hamilton didn’t answer.
If a child was gifted in magic, the concerns a father who prefers swords have is extreme.
The Count eventually decided to let his son go with magic rather than the sword. And Hamilton thought it was the right decision.
‘Lord. We were both wrong.’
Unbelievable stamina.
Perseverance not to give up.
Patience to endure everything.
Jamie Welton wasn’t just born with magic.
‘Though he would have to catch the sword for us to know for sure.’
Hamilton was half convinced.
A 7 year old boy wanting to run this much means he could master the sword real nicely.
“That should be enough.”
Running anymore would be torture.
“You may stop!”
Hamilton told Jamie to stop running.
But Jamie kept running as if he couldn’t hear him.
It was as if the body had reached the limit and his five senses were shutting down!
“Trainee! You can stop running!”
He shouted louder, but this time too his voice didn’t reach Jamie.
Countless times it didn’t, so Hamilton walked over to Jamie.
Shoulders drooped and back bent.
“Trainee Jamie, stop running…!”
It was the moment Hamilton tried to grab Jamie’s shoulder and stop him.
Shh-
A creepy energy emanated from Jamie.
Jamie’s half closed eyes turned sharp like a beast.
Hamilton took a step back without realizing it. And realized that his own face was confused.
He didn’t know how to accept the fact that he was overwhelmed by a little boy.
And in a minute-
“Uh?”
Jamie’s face was back to normal.
And he asked Hamilton with a tired face.
“Instructor. Are we done?”
“…”
“Instructor?”
“Ah, yes. Right. Today’s training ends here.”
When Jamie called again, Hamilton answered.
Jamie smiled faintly at the fact that he didn’t have to run.
“Now I can rest…”
Jamie didn’t finish those words.
The boy, who was lying on his back and limbs stretched out, snored on the ground as he fell asleep.
Looking at the sleeping kid, he rubbed his face.
How was he supposed to report the appearance of Jamie he just saw to the Count?
“… this won’t be easy.”
He took Jamie in his arms and headed to the room.
