A calming silence ensued in a lavish room reminiscent of a noble’s room. One could see a black haired young man sitting with a somewhat rigid posture and a frown on his face. He looked like he was in deep contemplation about something.
Opposite him was a thin, scholarly looking man donning a violet robe over his body. He calmly sipped tea as he stared at the black haired man in front of him. His expression seems to indicate that he is taking pleasure in seeing the young man’s suffering.
‘Clank’
"That is it for today; let’s continue tomorrow, Roy." Lud said as he finished sipping his tea and fixed his gaze at Roy. Hearing Lud, Roy’s face brightened, but it soon fell after hearing his next words.
"But as you can see, we have a lot of time left, so I will teach you something else."
Roy felt he overestimated himself; he thought that learning this world’s language would not be that hard, but in the end, he realized that, compared to the languages spoken on Earth, Aavinisian is on a whole new level, with 72 letters each having at least two alternate pronunciations. Memorizing all of that gave Roy a headache, but for the sake of learning the language, Roy persisted.
Seeing Roy’s face, Lud quickly continued.
"Don’t misunderstand; I am going to teach you some common sense of this world so you can get used to living here faster."
Roy heaved a sigh. Seeing how Lud was teaching him, he sensed that Lud thought that he would live here for a long period of time. Even Jonan thought it was so. It appears to be hard to look for a way back.
Lud continued explaining, as he didn’t understand what Roy was going through.
"Let’s begin with the basics, like the name of the world we
are in."
As Lud’s words resounded in Roy’s ears, it woke him up from his thoughts. Hearing him talk about this world caused Roy’s to perk up his ears and concentrate to avoid missing something important. Seeing Roy like that improved his image in front of Lud.
"This world is called Aavinisia and is divided into five continents. The one we are right now is known as Verdantia."
As Lud was going on with his explanation, the door to the room opened to make way for several maids carrying trays of food in their hands. They elegantly placed them on the table in front of Roy and bowed to the two of them.
"Ah, perfect. I was just getting hungry. Would you mind listening to me as we talk, Roy?"
"No, please go on."
Roy replied. He was perfectly fine talking while eating. No, it could be said that his curiosity got the better of him.
"So where was I? "Yes the name of the continent we are currently on is Verdantia, and it is the second largest continent on Aavinisia and home to many great kingdoms and empires."
Roy listened to Lud’s words with great interest. Occasionally, he took a bite of the unknown snack that was placed in front of him and, surprisingly, tasted like strawberry cake.
Roy, who was paying attention to Lud, naturally did not pay such a detail any heed.
"Within this continent, there are five nations that are considered to be superpowers. These nations have a vast land area and a strong military presence, both of which far exceed those of the other kingdoms on the continent. These include two empires, two organizations, and one kingdom."
Lud Salen, a mage appointed by the Imperial Minister to teach the Drifters that had just arrived in this world, He is considered a genius in the field of magic and is said to be involved in the research and creation of new magic. He himself volunteered to teach the drifters, as he had been curious about them; now Roy was the third drifter he was going to teach. Lud continued.
The Valoria Empire, which has the strongest military might,.
The Fiortian Empire is a haven for aspiring magicians.
The Devils Eye, a mysterious bunch, is said to accept any request for money.
The Council of Eir is also known as a sanctuary for healers.
Lastly, the Cilicia Kingdom, which is where we are and is located at the southern end of the continent,.
These five are collectively known as the Five Sovereigns of the Verdantia Continent.
Roy's eyes glinted with excitement at the introduction of these powers; more specifically, he was excited about hearing the word "magic." Roy, who is the most curious about magic among the other things in this world, would naturally find it very interesting at the prospect of an empire, which is called a haven for magicians.
Roy was about to ask Lud about the Fiortian Empire but quickly realized something amiss. Lud has given a brief introduction about what different powers are famous for, but for the Cilcia Kingdom, he just said where the kingdom is situated. Curious as he was, he decided to just ask the man sitting opposite him.
"Why is Cilicia Kingdom a part of the Five Sovereigns?"
"I was just going to get to that," Lud replied, as he had a complicated expression on his face.
"The thing is, Cilicia Kingdom has just recently been considered one of the Five Sovereigns; in the past, there were only four. The reason it is considered one of the strongest kingdoms is because of our king."
"King?"
"Yes," Lud replied in a proud tone, and he continued.
"Regulus von Abastar, the 13th King of the Cilicia Kingdom and the strongest swordsman on the continent of Verdantia."
Lud concluded and looked at Roy, expecting to see the shocked look on his face, but when he glanced at him, he was quickly disappointed because Roy was just blankly staring at him with the blank look on his face.
Then he realized that he was mistaken; Roy had just arrived in this world, and of course he didn’t know just how big of a deal it was to be considered the best swordsman of the continent.
He cleared his throat and proceeded to explain to Roy.
"The fundamental difference between your world and this is the presence of Prana."
‘Prana’ Roy thought; he felt that he knew what it meant. As an avid reader of fantasy novels, Roy immediately knew where this conversation was going.
"The energy present in our environment enables us to achieve many feats that were thought to be impossible."
"People who use this energy are divided into various professions. For example, a swordsman, magus, or alchemist."
Hearing Lud talk about it caused Roy’s eyes to widen as he looked captivated by the sudden rush of information.
"And among the numerous swordsmen, our king is the strongest."
Lud declared confidently while puffing up his chest. Roy can see that he is quite proud of that fact.
Lud stared at Roy with a complicated look in his eyes. He sighed and continued.
"We are among the five only because of our King; we don’t have our own specialties like the other four, so this caused us to be looked down upon by them."
Lud gritted his teeth as he spoke to Roy.
Roy didn’t know what to say; unlike Lud, he doesn’t know how the politics in this world are, so he thought it was better to refrain from commenting.
*Click*
Roy turned his head towards the noise and saw an old woman entering through the door. She bowed her head towards them, approached Lud, and whispered something in his ears.
Lud nodded and turned his head toward Roy.
"It seems that blockhead Krom is tired of waiting. Well, I don’t mind making him wait for a little bit longer, but he might take his anger out on you. So it will be good if you start making your way there."
‘Is he so petty that he will be angry with me?’ With those thoughts in his head, Roy hurriedly stood up and followed the old maid as they made their way to where Krom was.
As he remembered something, Roy turned around to face Lud.
"Thank you for the lesson." Roy said this and turned back to follow the maid.
Soon, Roy found himself staring at dozens of men running around the yard. He turned his head around and saw some of the men swinging the swords, some sparring among themselves. Roy found Krom standing on top of a platform with his arms crossed. He quickly made his way to Krom.
Before he could say anything, Krom stopped him with a wave of his hand and said:.
"Save the talk for later; join the others in running 30 laps across the field."
"30 Laps?! " Roy exclaimed that the field was almost as big as a football field. Completing thirty laps of that with his physical condition was close to impossible.
Just as he was about to complain, Krom glared at him, which caused him to swallow his words and start running.
The men who were running along with him glanced at him and nodded; it seems they didn’t want to waste their breath on talking while running.
As Roy predicted, he started to get tired from the 5th lap onwards, and during the 12th lap, it was hard for him to even take a step further. At that time, Krom’s voice echoed in his ears.
"That’s enough, kid. Come here after you finish catching your breath."
Roy didn’t have the strength to reply, so he just nodded his head at his words.
Krom didn’t have much hope from Roy; the only reason that he even took the job to train him was because of Jonan. Training for wielding a sword had to be started at a young age; building up physical strength and training to properly control your body and movements require a lot of time.
He picked up a wooden sword from the weapon stand and gave it a few swings. Krom heard footsteps approaching him, so he glanced sideways and noticed Roy making his way towards him.
"Look carefully at what I am about to show you."
Krom decided to take it from the basics—how to hold a sword properly.
"First, hold the sword with a firm yet flexible grip; make sure the sword is aligned with your arm and shoulder." Krom held the sword firmly in his hands and took a stance, as he was ready to swing the sword.
"See where my legs are at; make sure to stand like this while swinging the sword; this will help you maintain a balanced stance for control of your movements."
With that, Krom started to swing his sword as Roy watched, engrossed.
Roy didn’t know if there was any use in learning this; asking him, who had never even picked up a sword before, to practice it suddenly caused him to be confused, but nevertheless, he didn’t question Krom about the reason behind it. Roy intuitively knew that practicing it now would be beneficial to him later. Besides, he wanted to distract himself, so practicing swordsmanship seemed like a good idea in his mind.
Roy still couldn’t get used to this. The different culture, traditions, language, and uncertain future all of this stuff caused him to be quite overwhelmed.
*Swoosh*
Krom sopped, swinging, and tossed the sword to Roy.
"Go ahead, try to do it."
"Yes"
Roy tried to mimic the stance of Krom. He held the sword firmly with his hands and swung.
Krom was inwardly impressed; even if Roy's pose was full of flaws, it was extremely good if it was Roy’s first time wielding a sword. Krom didn’t expect Roy to actually be this good; he was testing him to see how much he grasped by seeing him perform his swings, and at the same time, to gauge if Roy has enough talent or not. Krom wasn’t disappointed in the slightest.
Of course, he wouldn’t say all of this to Roy.
"Spread your legs further."
"Stand straight"
"Maintain the grip on the sword."
And so the voice of Krom reprimanding Roy resounded in the Knights Barracks.
