Chapter 9

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Hey, author here, I hope you like the story so far, if so it would help me a lot if you commented to help me improve.

My goal is to start writing my own story, I see my two fanfics as training, don't hesitate to criticize even negatively :)

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Edward lay on the ground looking up at the clouds, breathing still irregular, exhausted from his sword training.

He let out a deep breath while observing a cloud shaped like a bird, or maybe a cat? A small, solitary laugh escaped his lips echoing throughout the Greyrat garden.

For several months, Rudeus had been coming to morning training less and less often, so even today, Edward was the only one suffering from this long training.

Out of the corner of his eye, Edward saw Paul walking towards him with a towel in his hand.

"Have you finally gone crazy laughing to yourself?"

As the distance between the two closed to about 5 steps, Paul threw the towel towards Edward's face.

The latter did not move and let the towel rest on his sweaty face. His face hidden by the towel, Edward frowned deeply, it was not Paul's habit to be so attentive.

Finally, he removed the towel and with a single thought, he summoned a sphere of water hovering in front of his face.

Looking at the water sphere, Edward felt a little pang in his heart, despite hundreds of attempts, Water Ball was the only magic he never succeeded in summoning.

Suddenly the magic gave way under gravity and fell towards Edward's face, the cold water removed all the sweat from his face and cooled him at the same time.

Edward then sat back down using his towel to dry his face.

Looking up, he saw Paul staring at him with an unwritten request in his eyes.

Edward sighed then summoned another water ball using silent magic, this time the spell didn't hover, instead it quickly moved towards Paul's face, exploding on contact and wetting him from head to toe.

Edward chuckled and spoke in a flat voice "Sorry, I didn't do it on purpose, after all I'm not an expert in magic."

Paul massaged his temple for a few moments before displaying a brutal smile. "No matter, I will increase your training tomorrow so that you become a real expert."

Edward froze for a second cursing inwardly 'curse you, old man!'

As Edward cursed inwardly, Paul spoke again while wiping the water off his face with the towel he had retrieved at one point or another.

"Kid, tomorrow Rudeus turns 5, you can come if you want, you are his only friend after all."

Edward nodded and responded in as confident a voice as possible.

"Of course old man, I'll come and tell my mother this evening."

Even though Edward had a small smile on his face, inside he was rather agitated.

'So Rudeus is going to celebrate his 5th birthday... I more or less expected it, after all I already celebrated my birthday 4 months ago.'

Edward was already used to celebrating birthdays every 5 years, his older siblings being the main cause.

Paul then turns towards the house while making a small sign of his hand "Tomorrow is a day of celebration, we will resume training in 3 days…. Don't think I forgot your punishment, the next training session will be 10 times harder!"

Resisting the urge to throw another water ball at Paul, he spoke stiffly, "Alright."

'3 days, that probably means Roxy is getting ready to leave, just after Rudeus' birthday…'

Edward got up with his mind still in his thoughts, he headed for the gate, on the way he met Zenith who was still explaining notions of gardening to Roxy.

"Have a nice day Zenith, Roxy. See you tomorrow."

Both girls looked up, Roxy had her face covered in a small amount of dirt, earning a chuckle from Zenith and Edward much to her confusion.

"W-What's wrong?" The magic teacher who looked like a little girl spoke with a frown.

"Don't worry, it's nothing, see you tomorrow~" While stifling another chuckle, Edward left the Greyrat property, heading towards the edge of the forest.

The path he takes was not unfamiliar, for 2 years now, Edward has been marking him several times a week, his direction was clear, the hunter's hut.

The fatigue from training had almost completely disappeared, Edward had long noticed the peculiarity of his body which allowed him to recover in an almost inhuman way.

A few minutes later, he finally arrived in front of the old hunter's cabin. Pushing the heavy door, Edward entered the old cabin filled with dust and a strong game smell.

Before he even had time to take a step, a pair of arms wrapped around his shoulders, almost knocking him off balance.

"Ed~!" A soft voice called his name coming from the owner of the arms.

"Hi Sylphie, you look okay." Edward responded with a weak smile at the 5 year old girl.

The young girl, Sylphie, removed her arms from Edward and took a few steps back with a childish pout. "You are late !"

A small snicker escaped Edward's mouth, then, ignoring the girl's remark, asked a question in return. "Where is the old man?"

The young Elf's swollen cheeks deflated, producing the same noise as a balloon emptying of its air that Edward knew from his previous life.

"Dad went hunting this morning with Gaston and Brus, he left us a mission today!"

Edward nodded, Gaston and Brus were the other two hunters in the village, from time to time the duo accompanied by Sylvano went on an expedition into the forest, sometimes for several days.

According to Sylvano, these expeditions serve as a scout for possible monsters in the forest, as well as an old village tradition.

"What mission did he give us?"

Sylphie rubbed her ear and looked up thoughtfully "so… He said to spot 2 white hare burrows… Ah, he also asks you to think about his proposal."

'This guy is asking his daughter to tell me that... a real tyrant...' Edward sighed in disappointment at the old hunter who keeps surprising him in his attempts to make him marry his daughter.

Edward got up and walked towards the door.

"Let's go"