Four months later
I stood in the center of the training ground, breathing slowly as I held a simple training staff.
"Hup!" Thrusting quickly, I followed with a quick sweep, blowing through one of the training dummies. Pulling my staff quickly, I thrust once more, impaling another wooden dummy. I quickly twirled my staff above my head, deflecting some projectiles that were shot at me and then followed up with a quick kick to another training dummy.
"Nicely done. You should be able to beat a small rabbit now."
"Fuck off old man."
THWACK
"Ow!"
"That's no way to talk to your teacher, brat."
"Tch."
THWACK
"I'm thowwy."
Elmer chuckled in a way that suspiciously sounded evil…
"Brat, are you thinking bad things about me?" I vigorously shook my head in denial. Elmer stared at me suspiciously for a few seconds before nodding slowly.
"..Hm. Fine." I sighed in relief.
THWACK
"Why!?"
"That sigh was suspicious." Elmer nodded once. "Anyway brat, what Circle are you at right now?"
I had learned a lot these past four months. The old man had literally jammed them into head. He would beat me with his staff if I ever got a question wrong…
The first and most important thing I learned about were Circles. They were how warriors classified their strength, based on a few things. First was overall Kinesa capacity, or how much Kinesa your body could store. It was stored in your core, which could be located in various areas of your body, depending on how many affinities you had.
Since I had two, I had two cores, although strangely, they both circled my heart, something Elmer had found strange. Even stranger, according to Elmer, was that I had a protective layer around my cores and heart, something only Circle 4 warriors and up usually had.
When Elmer had asked me about it I didn't really have an answer for why, though I had a theory on it. During one of my mining excursions, a cave collapsed, almost killing me. In panic, I had instinctively thrown all my Kinesa around my body in an attempt to protect it… but it all ended up around my heart instead. Which almost killed me instead.
Elmer had laughed hysterically when I told him, which kind of irritated me. I mean we're talking about my life here you know?
Basically though, Circles started at your cores, and spread through your whole body. There were countless amounts of circuits your Kinesa followed when going through your body and when you were consciously able to move your Kinesa through those circuits in your body 10 times, you had reached the first circle. After that, it basically multiplied by 10. So for Circle 2, it would need to be 100 circuits, then 1000 for Circle 3, and so forth.
The next thing I learned about were techniques. There were movement techniques, weapon techniques, spell techniques also known as just spells, and many more. I honestly still can't remember all the different classifications… which Elmer still beats me for.
Tch.
He also blabbed to me about the history of the world or something like that.
In one ear and out the other.
"I'm sitting at Circle two still."
"What tier?"
"Uhhh, I think I just hit tier 8."
Tiers were counted within a Circle. They were basically how many circuits you can get through your channels before being unable to. Ah, channel was the official name for what your Kinesa runs through in your body.
"Hmm, not bad I suppose. Considering you just started training, at least at a conscious level, that's actually quite impressive… brat what's your potential?"
"I dunno. It never got tested."
"Ah I see. I suppose that makes sense." Whether Elmer thought that was because of slavery or not I don't know. He probably has a guess at the real reason but I didn't really feel inclined to share.
"Well, it'll be tested during the exam so I'm not going to bother. I should have checked before we got to the academy but I forgot."
"You getting dementia, old man?"
THWACK
"Oh yeah, today's the day you're supposed to meet the princess. Do you remember the conditions we discussed?"
I nodded once, my gaze turning serious. The old man had offered me a way out of slavery. On two conditions though. One, I was required to protect her highness for the duration of her academy years. If she died, I died. Simple as that. Two, I wasn't allowed to tell her I was a slave. Apparently it didn't look good for a bodyguard to be known as a slave.
I had asked why I couldn't just be set free then and guard her still but all Elmer could do was sigh. Apparently when I had first been sold, there was a clause listed that I am to be a slave for a minimum of 25 years, no matter who owned me. So when I was branded, I was branded with a curse based on Spirit Kinesa. If my brand, at any point, was to be removed before 25 years I would spontaneously combust.
Shitty parents.
The only reason I'm even having this chance is thanks to Elmer actually. Turns out he also has an affinity with Spirit Kinesa. With his strength as well, he was able to alter my curse to some extent, thankfully. I guess whoever had originally branded me was pretty strong, considering even the old man struggled with altering the curse a bit.
Elmer never told me his full strength but he's definitely strong. I mean, he's able to beat me senseless while reading a newspaper afterall…
"Yeah, I still remember them, old man."
"Good. Let's go then, we're to meet them in a few minutes."
Following behind Elmer, I tucked away my staff, deciding to practice manipulating my affinity as I walked. Holding a few stones in my hand, I eroded them to dust one by one in rapid succession. Following that, I narrowed my eyes in concentration.
'This is the hard part.'
[Reversal].
This was another spell I had developed myself, although it was still in its testing stages. To put it simply, upon successful usage, it would reverse the erosion I had caused, at least on a basic level. Further down the road, I'm hoping to use it on objects other than the ones I had already eroded.
The dust in my hand trembled before slowly knitting itself back together.
'Tch, I was only able to reverse two of the stones.'
When I first showed this to Elmer he seemed pretty shocked. I guess the spell I had developed usually fell into the Celestial Kinesa category, which dabbled with time and space. After a little explanation he just nodded, saying it was a surprisingly positive usage of the Erosion affinity.
"Chin up brat. We're here."
Looking up, I blinked in confusion.
"I don't see her though?"
"RAHH–"
THWACK!
THWACK!
"What the hell old man! Why'd you hit me?!"
"You brat! You just hit the princess!!"
"Huh." Slowly, I turned my head towards the person I had hit. Laying pitifully on the ground, clutching her head, was a strikingly beautiful girl. Her blonde hair lay somewhat messily around her, her eyes squeezed tightly shut in pain. The biggest two things I noticed though…
"Big…"
THWACKTHWACKTHWACKTHWACKTHWACKTHWA–
"Mercy! Mercy!"
"Pervert! Abusive pervert!"
***
"I'm thowwy."
Kneeling obediently on the ground, I watched as the princess huffed in anger, barely being held back by the old man and some of her guards. It's not my fault they were big. Like what the hell did they feed her in the palace for them to get so big?
Wait… isn't that the old man's staff? No wonder it hurts! That old basta–
"Tch, pervert."
"Princess, you shouldn't click your tongue."
"Tch, fine."
'I don't think I made a good first impression…?'
"So who is this abusive pervert anyway?" Elmer came and stood next to me, coughing once, very obviously attempting to hold back a laugh as he glanced at my swollen face.
"Princess Lily, this will be your bodyguard for your academy years." Elmer then nudged me with his foot. Understanding quickly, I stood to my feet and bowed hastily.
"Tryston Nyuusen, at your service your highness."
"No."
"Parden?"
"I refuse to allow this abusive pervert as my guard. Pick someone else."
"Ah, your highness, I regret to inform you but he's the best candidate there was."
"Hey old man. Why do you regret that?"
"Tch, are you sure?"
"Unfortanatley so."
"Hey old man. Why is that unfortunate?"
"I want proof. Have him spar one of my guards."
"But they're at least Circle 4–" I began my protest.
"Of course your highness."
I was swiftly ignored.
'I'm going to die today aren't I?'
"This way Tryston." I nodded in defeat as I followed Elmer.
We were led to a simple training ground. Dummies were spread out across the area along with targets and free weights. A simple sparring arena sat in the center, currently unused.
"First to land three hits wins. No Kinesa allowed. Just pure weapon technique."
A burly guard stepped forward, wielding a sword and shield.
"Tall…." I cranked my head back to look at his face as he approached.
"Greetings tiny human pervert. I wish you the best of luck, or I would say that but my lady has forbade me from speaking to you." I sighed.
"Please cremate me and spread my ashes across a bed of flowers after my death sir." The knight nodded once, his lips twitching.
"You have my word."
"Stop blabbing and get ready to fight!"
"Shut up old man! I'm trying to die peacefully here!" I glanced at the old man as he gripped his hair with frustration. Looking back, I noticed the knight staring at me in shock.
"What?"
"I'm surprised by your boldness."
"What do you mean?" The knight looked at me in confusion.
"That man over there is the headmaster of the academy."
"...The old man?"
"...Yes…"
"...Kekeke, that's a good one. He has dementia so there's no way–"
"BEGIN THE SPAR!"