(Liam's POV)
I could feel my body getting stronger over the pasting few days. All I've been doing lately was train and train but unlike my past life, I had people who cared for me and enjoyed my company and I enjoyed there's.
While my father taught me how to fight and get real experience in fighting, my body did get better at adapting, but not to the point that I wanted it. I still lacked in some departments.
But with Grandpa solely training my body and mind, my physical and mental capabilities had drastically improved. His training was hard but it was rewarding. It was a different type of hard compared to a father's training. Father's training was hard in the way that I would get a couple of injuries or bruises here and there. Grandpa on the other hand was that of something else.
My body was toned and more defined. Well, better than what the average 4-year-old had at least. Some attacks that I normally couldn't do, I was able to, thanks to the training. My body was able to keep up with some of my actions.
The strengthening of my Mana core had also been done with my grandfather's training. Though the training would last for hours on end. It was very demanding but it was all worth it in the end. It made my attacks much more powerful. It was like an amplifier to my abilities as a mage. Pretty neat if I said so myself.
For my mental training, my grandfather ran various types of situations under which I could be placed. I'll admit it made me uncomfortable about the pressure that was on me, but it defiantly did improve me. It made me get out of my comfort zone a lot more than usual. My Mana Core was entering dark orange but not completely quite there yet.
However, there was a problem with this training. Despite the training helping me a lot with my Mana and my physical and mental body,
The more I trained, the more my Mana core started to hurt. As if it was like a searing pain a knife in my chest digging deeper and deeper. When I was with Grandpa I did my best to hide the pain from him. Whether he noticed or not I had no idea but I didn't want him to worry.
At night whenever I slept that was when true pain got let out. There were some days that I couldn't even sleep due to how much my Mana core was hurting. Hopefully, it would be a phase and it would go away by itself.
Now onto today's training session.
"Alright Liam, I want to see how much my grandson has progressed through combat!" Grandpa gestured for me to get up from the ground.
I stood up distancing myself from him, and I grabbed my wooden sword. He grabbed him as well.
BEGIN!
WHOOSH!
I wasn't going to give any chance to have any sort of breathing space. I was like a vacuum with all the space I was taking up from him. I slashed my swords downwards quicker than I ever had before in my previous duels. All thanks to Grandpa's training.
"You've gotten stronger! Excellent Liam!" Grandpa praised.
The way he moved with the sword was impeccable. It was as if that sword was an extension of his arm. It flowed smoothly and gracefully.
But no one's swordsmanship was better than mine. I was the best at it. In my past life, I was a prodigy at fighting with a sword. I knew my way around a sword. I knew every little detail, skill and trick to be at a better advantage when using a sword. Even the dirty little tricks as well.
I swung the sword at Grandfather with such accuracy and positioning that even he was a bit shocked. I knew I wasn't faster, stronger or more efficient than him when it came to swords because of my age, but I would do my best to execute my moves flawlessly not a mistake in sight. Though no matter how perfectly I struck with my blade, I couldn't make a dent in his ability.
It was time to use Mana.
GUH!
My chest was beginning to fire up again. Not again. I would have to push through the pain.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
Now this was what power felt like! I clashed again and again against my grandfather's sword, but this time I was beginning to chip the wood from my grandfather's sword.
"Nicely done Liam! I guess it's time for me to try a little bit!"
"Wh-"
GUH!
What was this incredible strength? It was exactly like fathers. If that meant one thing, he was barely trying.
With every slice of the sword from him, it was dangerous. The impact would be too much to handle for me. I rolled away, having to distance myself from him. I wasn't quite sure how many blows I could take until I would have to surrender. And my core wasn't holding up too well.
Just as grandfather was about to strike his downwards to mine. I knew I would have to pull something out of the bag.
CLANG!
SWOOSH!
What once was a plain normal wooden blade, was something more, something better. A fiery burning wooden sword.
Was this cheating? Slightly, just a little bit. It was mainly meant to be just an augmenter battle but just a little bit of magic wouldn't hurt every once and a while.
We clashed swords together on repeat. It wasn't a duel between one another, it was more like a dance. A beautiful dance. I could tell that Grandfather could see the countless weak spots that I had, due to me getting tired and Grandfather didn't have any weak spots himself. The duel was coming to an end, but not in the way I predicted.
GUH!
I dropped to the ground, immediately placing my hand on my chest. It felt as though my chest was going to erupt and explode in pain. But I gritted my teeth through it not showing a pinch of pain in my face.
Grandpa quickly dropped his wooden sword coming to my aid immediately. He picked me back up, worry was etched on his face.
"Liam! Are you alright?" Grandpa checked for any inflicting injuries that he might have done by accident on me.
"I'm fine," I replied with a smile on my face. "I think might have used a bit too much of my Mana core." I scratched the back of my head, chuckling.
"I was worried for you there Liam. You wouldn't give your dear old Grandpa a heart attack would you?"
We burst out laughing together. "Of course not!" I said.
"That's good to hear. . . I must say I've been impressed with your skills you're going to be a fine mage one day Liam." Grandpa gave me the finest praise, ruffling my hair up. "Now how about we go to the city. . . I've been meaning to show you something."
"Sure!" And like that, we were off.
(TIMESKIP)
I wasn't expecting this. Defiantly not in a million years I would be expecting to be in a place like this. Let's just say I wasn't so keen on being here.
Because.
They were so many kids around my age here. What was Grandpa thinking about me bringing me here along with him?
"Liam this is where the best of the best of your age, train, talk and have fun." He placed his arm on my shoulder, gesturing with his hand to our surroundings. Kids having fun, kids talking and kids duelling with one another.
"And I also understand that you and both your mother and father lived in a pretty secluded area. So I'll think it'll be good if you get to know people your age." Grandpa crouched down. A smirk formed on his face. What were you thinking now Grandapa?
"Besides you might find a pretty girl you like there." He whispered, laughing loudly.
I wouldn't be all too surprised if that was the actual reason why he wanted me to be here.
I rolled my eyes, slightly embarrassed at what he had just said, but he wasn't necessarily wrong about socialising with others. It would be nice to get to know kids around my age.
The kids greeted Grandfather as if he was some sort of a god. I mean, after all, he was the king at one point. We could hear the murmuring and the roaring chants of kids surrounding what looks like a duel.
All the kids looked ecstatic and hyped about what they were watching.
I couldn't see much due to so many people, already being there so Grandfather decided to give me a piggyback, giving me a clearer view of what was going on.
Woah.
It defiantly was a duel. But not a duel that I was expecting at all.
1 v 3
Namely speaking a girl against three guys. I would be surprised at the scene before me if I didn't have Mum popping up in my mind. I knew how scary strong girls could be. So I was keen on watching.
And because surprisingly she was really pretty. She had light green hair that was neck length. Her eyes were like crystals, blue shun so brightly to my eyes. But I was more focused on the duel than her beauty.
She hadn't even fought yet but she was so captivating.
Who was she?
The duel began and it was amazing how quickly I could instantly notice that not a single inch of fear could be read on her face. In reality, I think she was having fun fighting against the other three. Not in some arrogant or mocking way but from the looks of it she liked the fighting experience of it all.
It was clear to see that she was the real deal in this duel. She was dominating this whole duel with ease. Though they were movements that I read that were pretty sloppy and could need fixing, everything else was fine.
One of the boys attempted to reach out to her but she quickly evaded him, sweeping him off the ground, and taking him out of the count.
One down.
The next person was a bit hesitant in attacking her, after what she had done to the other guy. Smart choice from the guy. Another one was behind her, and there was a clear-cut chance that she could weaken.
She stomped the ground with her leg, and the earth below the boy had to be lifted throwing him up in the air, having no time to brace for the impact and landing on the ground like a fly.
So she has the earth element. Not bad. Not bad at all. I smiled watching her continue with the duel. Now it was just one-on-one.
How would she play this out now?
No, that was stupid of me to ask. How would the last guy play this out?
Would he just give up completely or would he still try, even knowing that he would end up losing this fight?
It was clear to see that the girl had more Mana than him and was a lot more capable than him. If I was in his situation, I would still play it smart. Find her weakness, find out what she does and doesn't do.
I've noticed a couple of weaknesses that I could exploit against her just from watching the whole fight. The main one was that she would always wait for the other to strike her first. It must have been her way of gauging out how strong her opponents were.
I would of pressures her into making the first attack on me, rather than me having to attack her myself. However, while I was too busy thinking of the possible ways that I would defeat her myself, the crowd has already erupted into cheers. The girl had already won the battle.
Judging from the last guy on the ground, he must have followed what the others did to lose. He charged head into the battle without any sort of game plan in mind to even have a chance to beat her, not like they would have in the first place.
But oh well. It was the first time that they had truly. . .
Notice.