11. A New Door

Castus quickly learned that under that sunny disposition of Ben laid a cruel drill master. He pushed Castus harder than he had ever exercised before. Finishing had been the hardest thing he had ever done since coming to this world. He knew it would be difficult especially due to his blessing stifling his potential physical stats. Upon finishing Castus was beyond tired lying on grass as Ben who had run beside him the entire time wasn't even breathing hard. "Castus that was a good first day, but if we are going to get you to the physical stats needed to learn the weapon specific skills it's going to take a lot more training. I'll talk to your father about potentially leveling you up to make sure you can keep up with the schedule I have laid out." Ben sat down on the ground next to the wheezing and exasperated Castus. Castus weakly turned towards Ben. "What do you mean weapon skills?" Ben looked surprised at first, but then regained his normal disposition when he realized how young Castus was.

"Ah, I suppose you don't know yet. Performing certain actions with the required physical or mental status will result in you gaining a skill, which can give you boosts to yourself or knowledge. You get what I mean... Here its better to show you." Ben looked forward and the screen that Castus had been so familiar with appeared in front of Ben. This realization brought a tremendous weight on Castus' shoulders as he realized how many times he had opened that screen with others moments away from the door. Ben ignored the gulping coming from Castus and moved it in front of him. "Now normally you would never show this to another person as your personal status is a very private matter, but I'm showing you for clarity. Look down to my skills, do you see the skill sword mastery?" Castus nodded with a blank stare looking at the rows and rows of skills that Ben had as well as the level of 47. He had so many skills and his stats were so far beyond Castus. He realized that if a simple tutor his low ranking noble of a father could hire had this, what would he need to protect himself from people who were more serious about power?

Ben closed the screen out and finally noted Castus' open jaw, realizing that he had dumbfounded the boy. He stood pulling Castus to his feet. "Not to worry Castus, I can promise you will gain enough strength to stand on your own very soon." Ben smiled at Castus reinvigorating his weary frame. Castus looked to Ben and asked a question that had wormed its way to the front of his mind. "Ben, what if I can't learn offensive skills?"

Ben looked at Castus with a sympathetic gaze. "Castus I know your not physically strong right now, but I can promise you I'll get you there eventually!" He clapped Castus on his back. Castus realized that Ben was brushing him off as a child right now. He clenched his fist out of sight and looked up to Ben. He was going to disclose information that no one else in his family knew. It was a risk, but he didn't want to waste his learning time practicing something he very well knew he couldn't acquire.

"Ben, promise you won't say anything about what I'm going to tell you." Castus tried his best to convey seriousness well beyond what his six year old frame could. Ben paused for a second observing Castus before his smile disappeared and looked at Castus seriously. "What is it Castus? I promise I won't tell as long as it's not dangerous to you." Castus sighed, worried about revealing information about the blessing that even the church had learned almost nothing about. He had kept the information close to his chest and fortunately his family hadn't yet tried to dig into it. "Ben, I don't think I can learn weapon skills due to my blessing."

Seconds pasted as Ben stared at Castus. The silence grew heavier and heavier. It weighed on Castus as he worried he had revealed too much. His mother tried her best to warn him and his sisters not to reveal their blessings, but this was his tutor and someone who was supposed to teach him about wielding weapons, even if it was only for noble duels. A minute passed before Ben took in a large breath. "I've never heard of a blessing doing that. I understand your worry, but I was hired to do a job. Understand something here and now Castus. Just because the system doesn't recognize something doesn't mean its absolute. For example you've been eating since you were a baby, you don't have an eating skill do you?" A rhetorical question obviously, but it opened a door of possibility to Castus.

Standing up Ben looked back at Castus. "Now it's time to continue training. Your physical abilities are abysmal and knowing what I know now, we are going to have a much more difficult time getting you to the point you need to be before I leave." Ben grabbed Castus by the nape of his neck and hoisted him to his feet effortlessly then began his hellish training once again.

They ran until Castus physically collapsed on the ground. Ben let him rest until he could walk again. Coincidentally the sun was beginning to set and it was getting close to dinner time. They both went in and washed up in preparation for dinner. Tonight, it was an important night. His father was socially obligated to throw a feast for his new guest. It was also the last night before his twin sisters went off to academy. Supposedly Yursa and Anabelle were preparing a feast for everyone. Castus looked forward to it. While he never ate poor food, these special meals always had desserts which he had realized were quite the rarity in this world.