Cain once more enhanced himself with Boost and lunged forwards. However, this time he didn’t empower his wooden sword with mana. The fight would end if he destroyed his opponent’s weapon, after all. If he happened to directly hit his opponent, it could also potentially split their body in half, so Cain decided to hold back and not use his full strength.
Cain didn’t know this, but only the best veteran adventurers and knights were capable of infusing their swords with mana. Nobody expected an eight-year-old to be capable of doing such a thing.
Cain continued sparring with the soldiers, but even the best of them only lasted about five strikes. None of them could really match him.
After about two hours, none of the soldiers were left standing. Cain still had a lot of stamina left, but the soldiers were all sitting on the ground, panting heavily.
“Sir Cain…you seem to still be fine?”
Cain responded to the captain’s question with a smile. “Yes. I can keep going.”
“My apologies… It seems the soldiers are no longer able to face you.” The captain bowed his head and announced the end of the sparring sessions.
Cain bowed back to the captain. “Thank you for having me. It was good practice.” He did end up sweating a little, so he wiped himself off with a towel as he returned to where Garm was sitting.
“I’ve returned. That was good practice.”
Cain bowed his head to Tris.
“Don’t mention it. I now understand that my soldiers still have a lot to work on…I must ask though, Cain. What kind of training did you do to become so powerful?”
“I just had some adventurers tutor me for a bit. I also leveled up by defeating a few monsters.”
Tris nodded with a wry smile. “I see… Thank you. I’m sure the soldiers also learned a lot from you.”
“Father, I’ve finished sparring.”
“Well done. You were better than I expected. Still, you would do best to avoid revealing your abilities before others.”
“I agree with that sentiment. The capital will immediately act if they catch wind of this. I’ll tell my soldiers that they are not to speak of what happened here, although I doubt any of them want to talk about how they got beaten up by an eight-year-old.”
Cain nodded. “Understood. I’ll be careful.”
With the training session now over, Cain thanked the soldiers before following Garm and Tris back to the mansion.
The next day, Cain was supposed to accompany Garm again, but the captain showed up at the mansion and begged Tris for permission to have Cain train with the soldiers. Garm made sure to warn Cain to “not overdo it.”
Cain followed the captain to the training grounds. There were twice as many soldiers as yesterday. The moment the soldiers noticed Cain, they immediately started shouting.
“Oh!”
The soldiers he had already sparred against were some of the loudest voices. Like yesterday, Cain sparred one by one, and the soldiers all patiently lined up and excitedly waited for their turn.
Cain enhanced himself with Boost and fought whatever soldier challenged him. The soldiers from yesterday were already aware of how strong Cain was, so they weren’t surprised by the results, but the soldiers participating today for the first time were shocked. How could an eight-year-old young boy be capable of charging forth with the force of an ogre? It seemed many of the participants today had shown up only half-believing what they had heard about Cain’s abilities. Outside of a break for lunch time, Cain spent the rest of the day both in the morning and the evening sparring with the soldiers, leaving him very satisfied. In the end, Cain started sparring multiple soldiers at once. There were simply too many of them, so fighting them one at a time wasn’t feasible.
When Garm and Tris came by the training grounds to pick Cain up, the ground was littered with soldiers. They looked like corpses. The sight rendered the duo speechless. In the middle of all the bodies was Cain, standing with his wooden sword resting on his shoulder. They were completely dumbfounded.
The soldiers strewn about the training grounds all had satisfied expressions on their faces.
“Lord Garm, just what kind of monster are you trying to raise here? Take a good look. Not a single soldier here can still move.”
Garm’s forehead began to sweat when he heard Tris’s question. He had no response.
They learned later that apparently the soldiers who had sparred with Cain had leveled up their skills. That’s why they went so far as to beg Cain to come train with them again.
A few years later, unbeknownst to Cain, these soldiers of Lamesta became known as the strongest soldiers in all of the Esfort Kingdom—though it was hardly an unexpected outcome.
Their three-day stay in Lamesta was coming to an end and it was time for Cain to return to Gracia with Garm.
“Viscount Tris, thank you for having us.”
Cain bowed to Tris, who had come to see them off. Tris had a satisfied look on his face.
“Come play again sometime. Feel free to come even if Garm isn’t with you. The soldiers will definitely welcome you back.”
Cain responded with a smile. “Okay! I’ll definitely come again!”
Sebas approached. “Lord Garm, the carriage is ready,” he said with a bow.
“We’re off, then. Tris, take care. I’ll come by again soon.”
Tris smacked his chest and smiled at Garm. “Take care! You can leave the protection of this area to me. My soldiers learned a lot from your trip here.”
Cain and Garm boarded, and at Sebas’s signal the carriage started moving. Cain enjoyed the scenery from the carriage window, but eventually his eyes drifted down to stare at the stone on his necklace.
Garm, noticing what Cain was doing, asked him with a smirk, “What’s up with that necklace? You really seem to like it. Did something happen?”
Cain looked back towards the window in an attempt to play it cool.
“It’s nothing… I was just thinking about someone I briefly met,” Cain said, tucking the necklace inside his collar.
Two days later, they arrived back in Gracia. They passed through the city gates and headed towards the mansion. Upon arrival, Reine burst out of the mansion to greet them.
“Cain! Welcome home! You were gone for a whole week! I missed you so much!” Reine shouted happily. She ran up and hugged Cain, burying her face in his shoulder as she drew in his scent. She noticed the necklace he was wearing.
“Cain! What’s this? Did you meet a girl while you were at Lamesta?!”
Cain tried to calm down his older sister, who was jumping to conclusions. “Reine, I got you a souvenir. Look, now we have matching necklaces!” He took her necklace out of its pouch and presented it to her. “I think you’ll look really good wearing it…”
“Cain, can you help me put it on?” Reine asked. Her expression had completely changed, and she looked at him with watery, upturned eyes.
“Of course.”
Cain looped around behind Reine and fastened the necklace for her. Reine looked down at the sparkling goldsmithed necklace shining on her chest with a wide smile.
“Cain! Thank you! I love you!” She exclaimed, as she hugged Cain again.
Her hug was interrupted as Sarah, who had approached unseen during the exchange, grabbed her by the nape.
“Reine, you’re supposed to be studying right now. Come on now.”
“No!”
Sarah dragged Reine away with her into the mansion. This marked the end of Cain’s first overnight territorial inspection.