He looked down at the necklace she had picked out for him, and, satisfied with it, he walked out of the store.
“Oh wait, I need to buy a necklace for Reine still!”
He returned to the store and spent some time picking out an appropriate souvenir for his sister.
After he finished shopping, Cain returned to the mansion. Garm and Tris had already returned. They were currently lounging and chatting in the drawing room.
“Oh, Cain. You’re back. How was the marketplace?”
“Yes, I’m back. The marketplace was a lot of fun. I bought a souvenir for Reine.”
“That’s good to hear. Oh, that’s a nice necklace you’ve got there,” Garm said, noticing Cain’s new jewelry.
“A lot happened, so I ended up buying one for myself as well,” Cain explained. He continued, recalling the events from earlier. “Lil was pretty cute…”
They didn’t spend much time together, but she was the type of girl that left an impression. She had a refined air about her, and it wouldn’t have surprised Cain to learn she came from nobility. She was a little too proactive, though.
Cain spent the rest of the day thinking about Lil.
The next day, Cain accompanied Garm on an inspection of the knights and soldiers responsible for protecting the fortress. They were taking today’s training even more seriously than usual, perhaps because they were informed of the Margrave’s visit in advance.
There were roughly one hundred people using the training grounds. They wielded wooden swords and spears with rounded out edges, and they were currently sparring each other in small groups. A bit further away were archers shooting arrows at targets, and there was also a section for mages, where they could practice chanting and firing magic at a rock.
“What do you think? They seem to be working even harder than usual since they heard you were coming today,” Tris explained with a wry smile.
“Yes. Things appear to be in order. What do you think, Cain? Want to join them for a bit?”
The adventurers he had hired as tutors had praised Cain’s abilities to high heaven, so Garm wanted to see for himself just how capable Cain was.
Tris was taken completely aback by the suggestion. “He’s still eight, isn’t he? Don’t be ridiculous. These soldiers are responsible for protecting this fortress; there’s no way they would lose.”
Although Cain had hunted monsters in secret, the only person he had ever sparred with before was Millie. He had gained a significant boost to his stats after slaying that dragon, so he did want to test out his new abilities.
Cain immediately responded, “I’d love to.”
“Lord Garm, are you sure about this? I’ll call some healers and have them on standby, but…”
“Yes, I don’t mind. He was tutored by adventurers for three whole years. I’d like to see how much he has grown with my own eyes.”
Since he had been given permission, Cain headed over to the changing room and used his Item Box to switch into the light armor he usually wore. After changing, he grabbed his wooden sword and headed to the training grounds.
The knights had already been informed of the situation, and they seemed to all be surprised to learn an eight-year-old child was going to participate in their training.
“Is this really a good idea? Even with healers around, if we were to injure the son of a margrave…”
As one would expect, they were concerned about the potential repercussions if an accident were to take place.
“Don’t worry. Lord Garm is the one who suggested this.”
The soldiers breathed a sigh of relief at Tris’s guarantee.
Cain began some light stretches in order to loosen up his body. Once he was ready, he headed to join the soldiers.
“Thank you for waiting. I’m ready now.”
Amidst the large-bodied soldiers was a small boy by the name of Cain who barely came up to their waist. It definitely made for a strange scene. Garm and Tris were sitting in chairs overlooking the area, waiting to watch what might happen.
“Okay, then let’s begin. Are there any volunteers?” asked the captain. None of the other soldiers responded. There was nothing to be gained from sparring with a child, and if they screwed up, they might even be punished.
“So, no volunteers? Fine. Slad? You’re up.”
The soldier named Slad, clearly unhappy about being chosen, stepped forward.
“Are you sure about this? I’ll do my best to hold back, but I might injure him on accident.”
“Yeah, Margrave Garm said he doesn’t mind. There won’t be a problem.”
“Okay, fine. I just have to fight him, right? Okay…”
Slad readied his wooden sword and stood in front of Cain. He wasn’t very tall, but it was obvious that he had lean, well-trained muscles.
“Kid, I’ll do my best to hold back, but you be careful as well, okay? I don’t want to get punished after being forced into this.”
“It’s fine. I won’t get hurt.”
The two stood roughly sixteen feet away from each other and prepared for battle.
“Begin!”
Cain immediately channeled mana throughout his body to strengthen himself. He then lunged at Slad. He instantly covered the sixteen-foot distance and slashed horizontally with his sword. Cain’s speed shocked the onlooking soldiers, the captain, and Garm and Tris as well.
It needn’t be said, but it also shocked Cain’s opponent, Slad.
Slad instinctively raised his wooden sword to block.
Smack.
Cain had not only empowered his body with magic, but his wooden sword as well. It wasn’t something a normal, non-enhanced wooden sword could hope to withstand. A single swing from Cain sliced straight through Slad’s sword.
Everyone watching was speechless. Cain’s swordsmanship was astonishing. Slad was astonished as well. His wooden sword had been cut in half. It was pointless to continue.
“I lost.” It took all of Slad’s will power to utter those words.
“The fight is over! Sir Cain is the victor!” The captain’s words woke the other soldiers out of their stupor.
“Whoa!” The soldiers surrounding them began to cheer.
“Lord Garm…I feel as if something strange just took place.”
“I feel the same way, Tris. I did hire adventurers to serve as his tutors, but I did not expect him to become this strong…”
“He’s already this strong at age eight? Are you planning to raise him to become a future knight captain?”
“He wishes to become an adventurer. Seeing his abilities, I’m sure everyone will want to get their hands on him… If His Majesty were to hear of this…”
Garm and Tris were not able to hide their astonishment either, as Cain was much stronger than they had anticipated.
As for Cain, he hadn’t realized that if he strengthened his own wooden sword with mana, his opponent’s wooden sword wouldn’t be able to endure it. He felt like he had made another mistake.
“I wanted to enjoy that spar for a little longer…” Cain mumbled.
“Sir Cain is still raring to go, it seems. Anyone want to go next?” The captain asked.
Everyone knew that sparring with someone stronger than you was the key to becoming stronger. Although there were no volunteers originally, now the soldiers were all fighting with each other to be selected.
“Okay, you’re up, Delto. Step forward.”
The next soldier readied his wooden sword and stepped forward.
“Kid, you’re strong. This is gonna be fun,” the soldier said, assuming a fighting stance.
“Begin!”