Chapter 14: A year of training.

I was wrong, incredibly so.

I never liked admitting it, I did so very few times actually, but when I was this wrong I couldn't help but admit it.

Its was indeed hard, this training thing was cool and everything, in just a few months I could feel that my body was getting stronger at an incredible rate.

It started with running, it was okay, I was good at running, at least that would have been the case if it weren't for the fact that I had to run nonstop for two hours at the highest speed my body could sustain.

After that came the time for muscle training, it was an incredibly convoluted series of actions aimed at strengthening all my muscles equally.

To start it off, I had to create a bar of earth above my head and repeatedly lift myself up, after that I had to lie down on my back and lift myself using just the muscles on my stomach area and when those got too easy I had to put some weights on myself, but I still hadn't reached that point.

And this was just the start, I would do four hours a day of exhaustive physical training, but the results were obvious.

Before this I couldn't even lift a real sword, but now I could wield a two handed sword with just one hand and swing it without many problems.

The all out physical training went on just for six months and in the six months after that, I added sword training, but I was pretty sure I would have collapsed much earlier had it not been for the base healing spell the old man taught me just for this purpose alone.

It was a very easy spell, it used the same light mana I used to create a sphere of light, I had to spread it in the area I wanted to use it on and it would then accelerate the natural regeneration of the body.

This could only be used on small injures like cuts, or to get rid of tiredness, it couldn't substitute a good night of sleep, but it was really good nonetheless.

"And, done…" I said out loud while breathing loudly, there was sweat all over my clothes, but the sweat was gone the moment I used a spell I devised exactly for this purpose, I didn't like the feeling of being sweaty.

I put down the sword in my hand, clearly a bit too big for how tall I was as a barely eleven years old, but light enough to be lifted with no problems after several months of training.

"You're done?" asked my mother as sat up from where she was looking at me.

The place I used as my training ground was still inside the walls and relatively near my house, but it was in the area of the city filled with trees used to breed chickens for their eggs and a goats for milk, a big park so to speak.

And even more than that, it was a beautiful place filled with nature, people would usually come here to relax in their free times, but I had been using this place for my training in the last year, both magical and physical.

I was now eleven years old and taller than average for a girl of my age standing at 160 centimeters (5,3 feet), I still didn't interact with anybody outside of my family and the old man Sigmund.

The only exceptions were the people who would occasionally talk to me when I took my usual walks around the city.

"Yes mom, by the way, what are you doing here? You don't usually come here."

Normally, ever since father stopped instructing me, I would come here in the evening and make my way back in time for dinner, mother came here only a few times to see me training.

"That oaf of your father just told me that the Bluewings will come to have dinner with us today, so I've come to fetch you to get ready." She said with her normal smile, but from her tone it was evident that she there was some annoyance in her.

"Who?"

"A merchant's family, they were at our marriage and have a child your age, but it's normal that you don't remember them, it's been a long time after all."

"If you say so." I dismissed, there were plenty of times when other families would come at out house to have a meal and there were times when we would do the same at other people's house, but I was never really interested in them.

Most of said families had children my age, both male and females, but they were all dumb.

Some had the talent for magic, but they didn't know much above a few simple base spells, they were unfit for battle and I felt that whatever child this Bluewing family had wouldn't be much different.

"But why would I have to get ready?"

I'd usually keep my own schedule, not even changing clothes as I could simply wash them with magic as long as they weren't ruined.

"Because you're eleven, and if you have to leave for the outside worlds next year you'll have to learn how to do these things well."

"Why and what things are you talking about?"

"I have no idea about the why, your father and Sigmund said you needed them, they know the outside worlds far better than us, so it must be true, they've brought a bunch of things that they said you'll need, they're called cosmetics I think."

The Wild Lands didn't really have a concept of make up as our resources were already spread thin as is, pointless things like that were put aside.

"Well… If you say so." I gave in and followed the expert, well, not really an expert as it was the first time she saw such things too, but she still had at least heard what they were used for.

I was brought to my room and Sophia brought in a bag filled with weird brushes and sticks, it looked suspicious, but I trusted her.

"Okay, first of all we need some foundation, I'll go very light as you already have a great skin…"

The next ten minutes were pretty much straight torture from my point of view.

I did look slightly hotter than before, but I was already the most beautiful, fantastic, awesome and modest person in the world, so I didn't see the reason to even do such a thing.

I then put on one of my less consumed clothes, fortunately they didn't bring some from the outside, I already felt too uncomfortable from having this things covering my face that the thought of more things I wasn't comfortable with sounded revolting.

I then went to the dining room where three people I could only imagine where our guests were seated and talking with my father.

One was a tall man, very burly and wide, he had auburn hair and deep green eyes.

The woman looked normal, she was what I could describe as a cool type, she was taller than average with the normal hair and eye color for inhabitants of the Wild Lands, auburn heir and stone gray eyes.

The kid was roughly my age, slightly taller than me with similar looking features as his father.

"Long time no see kid, I hope you progressed a lot in your magic since the last time we met." were the words the burly man told me.

I had absolutely no memory of who this guy was, "It has, it's good to see you again."

But I had learnt how to feign these things, after all I forgot about ninety percent of the people who visited us if they didn't create an impact on me, most didn't.

"You've never met her, but this is my wife, Lara, and as I hope you remember, this is our son Roman."

"Nice to meet you Avys, I wish I could have seen your spectacle at your parents marriage, but I was sick that day, I have heard that it was incredible."

I now had a name to work with, apparently I had already met the father and the child, they were called Bluewing and the child was called Roman, but I still had absolutely no clue about who they were.

"N-Nice to see you again, Avys." Stuttered the boy with a slightly gaping mouth.

'Ooh, I remember now, it's the stuttering boy.' I thought to myself, it's that guy, maybe I'd remember him in the future, maybe.

"Yeah, good to see you, what about dinner?" I said while looking back at father, who showed a wry smile on his face at my words for some reason.

"In a minute Avys, why don't you show Lara a bit of your magic?" asked Sophia with a hint of pride in her eyes.

I accepted, she had hit the bullseye of my childlike desires, the need to show off.

I was more mature than normal, but even mature people liked to show off from time to time, even more so when the person asking for a show was their own mother.

"Admit that you want me to show off and I'll think about it." I said, but internally I decided I'd do so regardless.

Who was I to refuse my mother from showing off her great and talented daughter to her friends?

"Yeah, yeah," she replied, already used to my antics, "just do your best."

"Oh well." I looked around to make sure that it was okay to do what I wanted to do.

I snapped my fingers and shut down all the light sources in the room, confusing the people in it.

After that I created a butterfly of fire, very similar to those I used during my parents wedding, but very different at the same time.

This one was way more lifelike, instead of fluttering its wings at given intervals I made it so that they would flutter in the most realistic way possible in reaction to the environment, it was also easier given that I only had one instead of hundreds.

But I wasn't done there, I created light sources around the room in the shape of butterflies very similar to the first one.

But then I created one more, made of lightning, making it shoot toward the first fire one.

I made them fight, because why not, this was way to sudden for me to create something more interesting and intricate.

After a few collisions the fire and lightning butterflies fused and exploded in a storm of sparks and cinders, after that I did the same with the light ones creating a waterfall of light particles.

Pretty cool for something I made up on the spot, if I can say so myself.

I replied after lighting up the candles in the room once again, there was still some light outside, but it was better with lights on.

"That was fantastic!" exclaimed the boy with sparks, metaphorical ones, in his eyes, before he close his mouth in embarrassment.

I really didn't like kids, if he was going to feel embarrassed about it why did he speak up?

"Indeed, I probably can't do something like that." Replied the father, this I took as a great compliment.

After all, the man was a merchant, even if it was just lip service it was a great compliment.

"Thank you."

The dinner passed pleasantly, I received compliments, which I enjoyed, and the food was fine, but I didn't speak much after that.

The kid kept stealing glances at me, it kind of reminded me of something, but at the moment I really couldn't remember what.

After a few more words the Bluewings left our house and went back to their own place.

"What did you think?" asked my father to me soon after.

"About what?"

"About Roman."

"Nothing, what should I think? He's like all other children around here." I dismissed, I didn't know why he asked about this, but he did the same after every dinner with other people, I gave up in trying to figure out his motive.

"Oh well," he sighed, for some reason, "go to bed since it's late."

"Whatever, see you tomorrow." I waved as I left my parents behind me to go back to my research.