TBATE: Blessed by Mana (Dropped)

5. Basic Training

"While I do agree with what you are saying, shouldn't it be done a little later?" Father asked. He shared the same worried thoughts as mother.

"While I appreciate the concern you have for your child, there is still the need to train his body to get adjusted to mana and the mana core inside him." Grandfather Virion responded, poking my belly, me instinctively grabbing his finger with my two little hands. It is something all toddlers do. "Right now he is safe because his core is in the black stage but what about when he makes a breakthrough to red? Unless his body is prepared for it, it might backfire on him."

Hold up! No encyclopedia on magic and mages informed me about this. And is it really okay to discuss this in front of three-year old? Well for them I really am a three-year old who isn't understanding even a single thing about the conversation. Anyways it is better this way. I get to learn more without people around me suspecting a thing. 

But what got me actually curious was the fact of mana core breaking through the next stage. From what knowledge I had assessed so far the mana core advancement is done through training one's body and the core regularly. One has to give their all in order to make a breakthrough in their mana core. Now it made sense why training is important. It is done for the body to keep up with the mana core advancement.

"That thought never crossed our minds." Mother spoke, finally realizing why her father-in-law is putting so much emphasis on her son's training.

"Then father, everything is clear as a day." Father said, his voice sounding firm. It seemed he had made his decision. "I think we both know how much you want to be the one supervising his training so I won't be robbing you of that."

"Wait! Are you really letting me train him?" Grandpa's grip on me tightened. He is already bubbling with excitement on the prospect of training me and is doing a poor job at hiding it.

'You really suck at acting. Your acting skills need good amount of working.'  This is the thought I had in my mind while trying to free myself from his grip or at the very least loosening his hold me. This toddler body can feel uncomfortable too! It has every right to do so.

"You don't want to train him Father?" Father played along with grandfather's acting. "Should I look for other elves at the level of great Virion which is really a drag to find?"

With all his responsibilities as the king and grandpa's detachment from everything had sort of strained their relationship which somehow my birth fixed. This is what I felt most of the time seeing them together talking with one another.

"No. No need for that much trouble." Grandpa shook his head. "There is no mage in the entire Elenoir who is qualified enough to train this little monster. Just leave your son to me."

"We happily leave him in your hands Father. Train him well and do take care of him. He is still three." Mother had finally agreed to this for the sake of my body not getting damaged from the core advancement. Yet I could still sense a tinge of worry in her words. 

Why do I get a feeling that this isn't that good of an idea at all?

____________________________________________

Absolute physical torment!

That is how I would describe the physical training that I underwent under Grandpa Virion. If my body were of my age, this kind of training would be a breeze but right now for a three year old this is pure torment. Our daily training involves running in the open fields away from the palace to increase my body stamina. Then after running it is time for daily exercises where I become a complete laughing stock for my grandfather. 

Half of his time in training is spent on him trying to contain his laughter over me trying to do the exercise poses. While attempting pushups, I can clearly hear him laughing out loud sitting right beside me. I would bet seeing a three-year old attempting pushups is the funniest sight to see.

The next phase of training would include basics of mana manipulation and augmenting. Here grandfather taught me how to coat mana all around my body and how to channel mana from my core, a basic step of augmenting. He did his best to explain all the complicated stuff in a manner where a toddler would able to understand and frequently rubbed his temples while trying to translate the complicated instructions into simpler terms.

After morning training was done, I was given a break for a few hours which I would spend in reading books related to magic and mana manipulation which I found in the library. Mother took it upon herself to teach me reading so that I would be able to understand complicated things better. Whenever she got time and not bothered with court proceedings which she attends with father, she spends time with me teaching me language.

I acted like I took my sweet time learning to read because I wanted to spend more time with my family. I hardly remembered the faces of my parents from my past life, let alone have any memories of them so I want to enjoy my childhood to the fullest. Having received a Four-Leaf Grimoire in the age of fifteen, I was made the representative of elves. A responsibility I unwantedly took upon at a very young age.

By learning language from my mother, there was no room for suspicion regarding me reading books from the library. 

Months passed by and my fourth birthday came by. October 3rd, surprisingly two days after my original birthday. Hell if you ask me even I am surprised by this. Then again my reincarnation is a mystery in itself so I didn't give much thought over my birth date. 

My birthday as usual was celebrated with great pomp and show in the kingdom and I was even taken to a royal tour around the kingdom with all four of us seated in one carriage. My face was mostly stuck in the window, looking at the people of our kingdom gathered to see their first prince. My entire ride was spent waving at them. And I ended with an ache in my small hands.

Many gifts were showered upon me but the one I liked the most was the wooden sword fit for my current height and size which was a gift from my father. According to him and grandfather, there weren't many swordsmen among the elves and nor in their family. And they were hoping if I could become one. That was the meaning behind presenting me with the wooden sword. 

They had high hopes for their child who had awakened at the mere age of three so it didn't come off as a surprise. 

Holding the wooden sword, I felt a wave of nostalgia hit me. The familiar feeling of holding the hilt of the sword made my mind travel back to the time when I first discovered my affinity for Sword Magic. The sensation really hit at home and I was really thankful for this gift. The wooden sword is so precious to me that I even take it to my bed while sleeping.

I am obsessed with swords I know that very well.

Few months had passed since my birthday and I was alone in the training field practicing sword techniques suitable for my four-year old body. It mostly involved getting this body used to stabbing movements and both vertical and horizontal slashes. I even mastered augmenting the sword with mana a few weeks ago and was putting it to test when I heard footsteps behind me.

I knew who it was and thus stopped what I was doing to look up at the century old man.

"Morning grandpa."

"Morning Licht. I see that you are getting used with the sword even without anyone's guidance." He commented. "Say how about a friendly spar?"

Did I hear those words right? A spar against a four-year old or did I miss something?

________________________________________________________________________________________