Mother (Part 1)

After the discussion with Mark on the topic of Grafler things continued on as per usual. Like this the first month of Jien's training passed without any issues with his training. In fact, things were going exceptionally well. Much to Mark's surprise Jien never did switch away from the rapier as his weapon. He had intended for Jien to try multiple weapon types before settling on a first weapon to learn as his main weapon, but Jien eventually insisted that the rapier felt right in his hand and matched the fighting style he wished to pursue.

The other positive surprise was that it only took a little over a weeks' time to learn how to manipulate his mana consciously to the small degree that they had been practicing. Though at this stage he had to remain still and in complete focus to manage the flow of his mana up his arm and out his fingertip it was still a phenomenal accomplishment to perform this so early in training. Usually, it may take the average youth upwards of a month to learn even this easiest form of mana movement. With this accomplishment Mark started to discuss a bit of the theory of mana manipulation for the use of boosting the body's performance. This was a complex field but one of the most used in any conflict, so he took his time to discuss each muscle group and what fusing mana with it for a short period could help accomplish. Jien likely wouldn't be able to act on this information anytime soon, after all, infusing mana into a body part without proper control could be catastrophic. There were those that had lost limbs due to a simple mistake, even those who are skilled in the martial path, or the arcane arts were not an exception to this possibility. One slip up was all it could take.

Beyond these topics Jien was acclimating well to the new schedule and the daily routine included in his training. The first week had been the worst of all, his body still felt like he was running through sludge at first and his muscles ached to no end. Still, after a week his body got used to the exercise and sleep schedule. As time progressed Mark began to change up some of the exercises and increased the jogging distance a bit to make sure that Jien's improvement didn't stagnate too much. There was a fine balance that Mark was trying to meet, between overwork and not enough strain to continue improving.

Without either of the two being aware Lord Losler had continued to watch their training sessions from his study as he worked on his duties. He still had dinner with Jien each night as they had since the first night, but they spent most of their time apart while Jien trained as opposed to before Mark's arrival, when they had had each meal together and often times had discussions while Earl worked in his study. He watched as his son finally became able to move his mana and also when he refused Mark's attempts to have him try a different weapon. Though Jien wasn't nearly as energetic as Elenore had been, he still continued to see her in his son. He especially saw it in his swordsmanship, though it was far from being refined or made into something unique.

It was at the end of the first month that Earl decided to sit down and tell Jien more about his youth and his mother during that time. He had often told Jien about his mother after they had left the academy and decided to marry. They were both very different people at that point from when they had first met. They had been through the academy; they had seen the bloodshed of the Eternal Battlefield and they had refined themselves against the whetstone of a never-ending war before finally settling back in the Losler territory and taking the reins from his father. He found himself now wanting to discuss the time before, when they had been nothing but kids and some of the mistakes they had made. He wanted to help Jien avoid some of their pitfalls and also be able to reminisce about the fierce tomboy that was his wife before she became the refined lady that everyone in their territory came to know.

It was after a dinner at the end of the first month of training that Lord Losler invited Jien up to his study to talk. This wasn't exactly an uncommon occurrence, but it had not happened while he was getting used to his new routine. Jien accepted the invitation and the two of them made their way to Earl's study, finding themselves in the two maroon armchairs on either side of a fireplace. Lord Losler had started a fire not moments ago to make sure that the room maintained its warmth despite the coming cool of night.

After sitting Earl had a thoughtful expression on his face, his eyes slightly dazed behind his halfmoon glasses as he peered into the flames. Jien remained silent, contemplating many topics from tomorrow's exercises to how to move forward in his training with mana as fast as he could without endangering himself. Finally, Earl spoke and broke Jien from his thoughts. "Your mother was just as dedicated as you are, both in her youth and in her adult life." he stated calmly. This didn't seem to surprise Jien; his father had told him often about how hard his mother worked after they took over the Losler lands. He often spoke of her dedication to ensuring the people were well taken care of and ultimately it was she, who decided to create the gardens that supplied food to the less fortunate. Still, he didn't know that that dedication and drive was there in her youth as well.

Earl peered over at his son after a moment and saw that Jien was looking his way now. A smile came to his lips as he spoke of the love of his life once more. "I knew your mother from when we were very young. Our families were from neighboring territories and our parents were close friends. When she was very young, she was very much like a spoiled princess, having everyone running about to get her sweets or take her into the town to shop. However that was just a short phase, at some point when she was about four or five she decided that she didn't want that kind of lifestyle anymore. She wanted to be like her father, a man who was fierce as an angry lion and stubborn as a mule. She took him as her idle rather than her mother." He could only sigh helplessly at some of the memories that came with those words.

He leaned back slightly and lost himself in his thoughts for a few long moments before continuing. "She never did tell me what suddenly changed her mind from following her mother's example to chasing her father's image, but she stuck firmly to that goal after that point. The first time we met after our unsealing rites was when we were preparing to go to the academy much like yourself. We were brought together with all the other noble children of the neighboring territories, and it turned into quite the spectacle. Your mother decided that she would wear what was generally considered male training clothing instead of a simple dress like many of the other female children."

"As you can probably imagine it wasn't more than a few minutes before one of the boys made fun of her for dressing like a tomboy. Her response was much like what her father would have done. She challenged him to a training duel and shortly after she won. Of course, that was before she took it a step further and beat the boy black and blue. After that she became the leader of our group with no one to contest her. Even I, having been taught how to fight from the age I was old enough to hold a training sword didn't want to try and go against her." Lord Losler gave a short laugh seeing the look of confusion on Jien's face. Jien couldn't reconcile the elegant beauty portrayed in many paintings throughout the manor as anything but the gentlest of women. She looked like she couldn't hurt a fly, let alone beat someone black and blue.