31 Chapter 31 Training (2/2)
Joseph looked at her in surprise. ”What?”
”I want to make sure that if anyone tries to attack me or Master Joseph, I can fight them off. My body isn't strong enough, so I'm trying to get it stronger.”
William nodded. ”That makes more sense. I suppose that's why you've been running alongside the wagons and doing the other things that have been reported?”
She turned pink, nodding.
Joseph raised his eyebrows in surprise.
”Well, I have to admit, I am a little disappointed. I was hoping to hear all sorts of exciting things from you, since you just got the system, but I suppose it can't be expected of you to be super cool so quickly.”
Joseph was a little surprised by his father's reaction, but then he realized that what Stella had said earlier, about his father really not having any use for her, was true. This gave him something to think about as they finished the meal and returned to their carriage.
The next day was pretty uneventful. He put in 12 hours of practice. When he was returning from using the bathroom, he noticed that the dumb latch on the carriage was loose again so he had to tell Richard, the slave in charge of making carriage repairs. He also thought it was strange. The lock was still fine because it's on the inside but Stella and Joseph were both checking the latch every morning after ”the incident.” They were definitely changing out this carriage at the next chance.
The next day was boring for Joseph. He hoped Stella was doing something fun and exciting. It was the first time, since he had started training magic, that his interest wavered a little. Worried that it might become a common thing, he started intentionally thinking of fun things he could do to make it more fun. Besides, he really enjoyed showing her something cool when she came back in.
By lunch he had figured out how to juggle little marble sized b.a.l.l.s of mana. He was able to control them just enough to make Stella laugh. Thankfully they didn't hurt when they hit him in the head, but went back inside of him.
”You know your eyes flash when you did that?”
”Did what?” asked Joseph, confused. He hadn't been using gaze.
”When the b.a.l.l.s of mana fell into your head, your eyes flashed.”
Joseph laughed, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get it to do it again.
”Oh, well, I guess I better be a king now, I could probably never get a job as a street performer.”
(NOT IMPRESSED)
Joseph laughed when the system informed him of its opinion, which made Stella roll her eyes. It looked like he thought his joke was really funny.
Joseph needed twelve more hours of practice to finish the current sub-skill, but they would arrive at the guard town that night. He knew that he was going to have to follow his dad around for much of the day, and since he couldn't show off his ability in front of anyone, he probably wasn't going to get in the necessary hours. As exciting as it would be to learn more about what his father did, his obsession with getting his magic learned made him a little anxious about the whole thing. Trying to calm himself down, after lunch, he a.s.sured himself that he would finish it before they left the town, hopefully.
x.x.xxX
Stella was horrified to find that William had learned of some of her training from the other slaves. She would have to work harder, to get better, if she was going to be any good. Currently she was only training at the first level of all of the exercises that she remembered from her previous life. When she was Sylva, she had been one of the best hunters of her people. She was human, instead of fey, and she was starting at a later age than she had as Sylva, but she was determined.
Never again would anyone take advantage of her, or hurt her Master Joseph.
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