Nyxaria looked at Valdis and said, "Don't let these thoughts bother you, as you are too weak to do anything about them. Grow stronger to the point where even the heavens cannot hinder you."
Her words seemed to strike something within Valdis; they resonated with him.
"Anyway, you should get some rest because tomorrow your training begins, and trust me when I say it's going to be brutal," Nyxaria said
As soon as she finished talking, she began walking back into the room. Valdis, who saw her moving back in, followed her instinctively as he walked. He said
"Why are you all speaking as though the training is extremely terrifying?"
Nyxaria, who had been walking, paused and turned to face Valdis, looking him in the eye, and said: "Well, it's the Ebonhart basic training regimen, but most of the youths who are mandated to attend it, just like you, have made achievements in both technique and power, and somehow the training is called 'basic'."
Valdis looked at her skeptically for a while, and Nyxaria, seeing the look on his face, smiled and said, "You should know by now that nothing created by the Ebonharts has been normal, and this training isn't any different, so you should be mentally prepared for what's coming."
But even after saying this, Valdis's expression didn't change in the slightest. She sighed and turned, resuming her walk into his room, with Valdis following right behind her.
Soon they arrived in front of his bed, and that's when it dawned on Valdis, and he immediately asked.
"Where are you going to sleep?"
Nyxaria didn't speak but pointed her finger towards the sword in his hand
"In the sword? Is it even comfortable in there?" he asked
"More than you know, but before I go, I'll advise you not to underestimate tomorrow's training just because you are currently at the peak of the body refinement realm and the sword master realm. I know I've helped you a little, given you a small advantage, but that advantage would vanish fairly quickly. So good luck, you are going to need it," she said
As soon as she finished speaking, her body immediately turned into motes of light as she re-entered the sword
Valdis, who had suddenly become the only person in his room, shook his head and climbed into bed, and in no time, he fell asleep
His last thoughts were of anticipation as he waited for what lay ahead the next day.
Hours later, Valdis was woken up by a knock on his door, and as he opened his eyes and sat up in his bed, a voice came from the door.
"Young master, sorry for disturbing your sleep, but today is the first day of the Ebonhart initiate training, so you cannot be late unless you would be punished," the voice spoke before it left.
The voice belonged to the maid from yesterday, and he hadn't talked to her long enough to know he name.
'Punished,' Valdis thought.
He was the second son of the Duke, but the maid said that if he arrived late for the initiate training, he would be punished by the instructor. Valdis found the thought amusing, but he didn't linger; he quickly stood, went into the bathroom, and had his bath. In a few minutes, he was out.
As he got to his bed, he saw an attire neatly arranged on his bed. When he lifted the cloth, he saw it was black, with the Ebonhart crest on the right chest. This was his initial training attire; he quickly put it on and stepped out of his room.
The maid who had woken him up was waiting for him outside, and as he opened the door and stepped out of his room, she bowed and said, "Please follow me, you're almost late, but if we hurry, we should be able to make it in time."
As she said this, she started moving in a certain direction, and Valdis quickly followed without a word. They wove through corridors, passing many maids who, as soon as they saw Valdis, bowed in his direction.
Soon enough, he began seeing children his age hurrying in the same direction as he was and figured they must be the other Initiates.
They finally arrived at a field which was packed with around fifty children, but after walking a certain distance, the maid suddenly stopped and turned to him and said
"We barely made it in time, but this is the furthest I can go. I'll be here to pick you up after your training." After she finished speaking, she stepped to the side.
Seeing this, Valdis nodded and continued moving quickly, arriving where the children were gathered.
He spent some time inspecting each one on the field, and they did the same.
Suddenly, a Voice appeared from above them, "Well, this new batch looks slightly impressive compared to the previous batch."
The voice stunned everyone on the field as they all turned toward the origin of the voice, only to see a man resting on the branch of the tree directly beside them.
They hadn't noticed his presence as he arrived. They were all shocked, having trained in one or more sensory techniques and been proficient in them, yet they still hadn't noticed his appearance.
Without putting their shocked expressions to heart, he said, "Most of you are in the fifth level of the body refinement, and some are in the sixth and seventh levels, and the highest among you is at the peak of the body refinement level. Impressive"
Hearing his statement, the initiates were visibly shocked. What shocked them wasn't the first part of his statement; most knew it was the average for an initiate, and the evaluation was the same each year. What shocked them was the second part. Being at the seventh level at age nine was already impressive, but being at the peak of the body tempering realm was impossible.
In Eldoria, one could begin training only at six years old, and the body-tempering levels weren't easy to achieve, so reaching the peak in three years was considered impossible.
"Anyway, as you people are contemplating whether what I said was true or not, please can you create a little room in the center
Hearing this, the imitates spread out, forming a space at the center. Seeing this, the instructor smiled and waved his hand; immediately, many brown backpacks appeared in the space, and his voice rang out again.
"Pick one and strap it to your body; you have five minutes."
Soon, everyone rushed to grab one, but Valdis stood by the side and waited. He wasn't the only one who didn't rush to grab one; there were about five people who stood and waited.
He immediately thought they were probably children of high-ranking officials in the Ebonhart duchy, but that was when he thought that he didn't know anyone in this field, and the only person who knew his identity was the instructor. From the looks of things, the instructor couldn't care less.
As the crowd eased up, the remaining five finally moved. The first to step forward was a boy who had purple hair; his body was quite built. As he walked, some people quickly gave way, and from the way the rest looked at him, he understood they knew he was.
'It seems like I'm the only unknown person in this place,' Valdis thought
The second people to step forward were a pair of twins who both had red hair, and after they went, the rest went forward one after another, and after a while, the last person went and collected his as well, leaving Valdis as the only one who hadn't collected one
As soon as it got to his turn, Valdis stepped forward, and as he moved forward, he felt multiple eyes on him while he saw some asking the people beside them questions, probably about his identity
This reinforced his belief that he was the only unknown figure in the crowd. Soon, he reached the pile, but as he was about to stretch and collect one backpack, the instructor's voice rang out again
"Stop, those bags will be useless to you," he said
Everyone in the field wore a confused look as they looked at the instructor, but their gaze met his indifferent expression. He waved his hand again, and all the backpacks vanished.
Valdis, who was also confused, looked towards him.
Seeing this, he flipped his hand and a backpack similar to the rest, but black, appeared in his hand, and immediately he tossed it to Valdis.
Valdis stretched out his hands and caught the bag before walking back to his original position.
As he passed, people whispered among themselves, trying to make sense of the instructor's actions.
"Immediately put the backpacks on and wait for further instructions."
Everyone obeyed, and after a while, the instructor looked around and nodded. With a wave of his hand, the bags began inflating again, but for some reason, the person felt as though a massive weight had been tied to their back, increasing their overall weight.
And that was not all, Valdis noticed that the backpacks also had a special way to reduce blood flow and reduce breathing.
Seeing this, the instructor smiled and said, "Now we begin our training this morning. Your objective isn't difficult. You need to jog up that mountain and reach its peak while carrying those backpacks on."
After he said that, some people's tensed bodies visibly relaxed, but his next words shocked everyone
"You will be doing that while dodging all the traps I set up on the mountain and avoiding being ripped to shreds by the savage tier one beasts on that mountain."
His last words silenced the crowd as they realized that this was going to be exceedingly difficult to accomplish