Training and Discussions

Early morning on the backyard of Selianna's house. A figure of a boy with orange shirt and navy pants tied in blue obi was standing with his eyes closed.

The surroundings was serene and silent, not even a chirp of a bird could be heard.

In an instant the atmosphere around the boy changed and he opened his eyes sharply.

"Ha!"

He swung his right fist forward followed by rotating his body to unleashed a roundhouse kick then he proceeded with three successive combo of left side kicks.

He dashed and jumped to the wall, kicking it with his feet as a foothold to make another jump to the side upwards.

Catching a tree branch with his hand, he flung his body forward, he controlled his timing and body weight skillfully to prevent the branch from snapping from his weight.

Rolling in the air, he landed on the ground with a handstand and started a session of push ups.

Both of his wrists and ankles were wrapped by thick metal armbands and boots. They were both weight around 500 kilograms each, made by Elsie on his request.

Back in Calad he asked the same thing from Elsie but he could only afford 150 kilograms each. Because of his recent [Growth] and training he finally mastered the 500 kilograms weights.

His feet were hurting from the metal boots but it couldn't be helped, Elsie didn't know any gravity magic to enchant a weight enhancement for normal materials after all.

3 hours later he already finished his training and raised his body from the last session of sit ups. His body was full of sweat now from the vigorous training.

He opened the armbands and took off his boots and dropped them to the ground gently in order to not damage the ground.

Stripping his wet orange shirt, he exhaled deeply and stretched his body while feeling a light sensation by taking off his weight equipments. He took a towel and wiped his sweat around his body.

"You're so diligent Haruto-kun."

A lovely voice from a girl could be heard behind him, he turned his head and notice Kaori in a sportswear (given by Elsie too).

She was also sweating from training and currently had a towel wrapped around her neck. She was training separately on the basement because the yard would be too cramped for the two of them together.

Haruto was dazed seeing her alluring skin wet from sweat and flushed red, her clothes were a little transparent, further increasing her attractiveness. She looked incredibly charming right now.

"I could say the same to you, you woke up even more early than me right?" He shook off his thought and smiled wryly in his heart since it seemed like Kaori was not paying attention to her current appearance.

"Hehe, maybe so but I certainly did not train by placing weights on my body like you. I'm impressed of your spirit to keep using those metal boots. I tried using them but my feet felt like broken after I did intense movements."

Kaori did not notice his thought and giggled while putting on amazed expression towards Haruto.

"Don't be like that, you made it sound like I like being in pain, even my feet and arms are very sore right now you know? ...No, it felt numb instead? In any case please lend me a help....."

He asked with a pitiful expression for some recovering magic from Kaori. She smiled helplessly and cast a regeneration magic to increase his natural recovery speed.

She purposely did not cast an instant recovery magic because there would be no meaning like that since he's just trained.

It's important to let his muscles and bodies to recover naturally. Smiling feeling his feet and arms started to feel better, he thanked Kaori and she nodded while blushing a little.

Sitting on the yard he reflected on his progress.

'I'm several times stronger than before indeed because of my [Growth]. My fighting skills along with my movements were also improving nicely. But it still far from 'his' level....'

He indeed received Goku's skills and techniques but that didn't make him a master in an instant.

Just like Vegeta once said, Goku's skills were forged from his countless battles and experiences and for Haruto himself in the end it was nothing but a borrowed thing.

If he fought against Goku on the same power level now, he would be beaten in about 10 minutes. A mere copy wouldn't be able to match against the real deal....

But that's fine, Haruto thought. He never intended to be Goku anyway, he was his own self, a reborn otaku high schooler, that's who Sugimura Haruto is. He would surpassed Goku with his own way.

He inheriting his power was only as a helper for his growth to reach higher heights.

He grinned widely and raised his fist upwards as if showing his determination. Kaori was mesmerized seeing his expression, she really thought he seem so cool right now.

She also thought she needed to train harder in order to not be a burden for him in the future.

But still....

Seeing his figure naked on his upper body Kaori couldn't help taking some glances at his well built muscles. Along with his handsome face he just look so alluring right now and her face flushed red from the view.

She started to dwell on another delusional thought but just at this moment Haruto stood up, startling her and made her face so red like a tomato. She averted her face from him to hide her blush while putting her best effort to shake off her thought.

"What's wrong Kaori?" Haruto asked bewildered.

"N-N-N-Nothing at all you know!? Maybe the weather is a little hot or something and made me a bit dizzy, I wonder!? I wonder!?" She said stuttering with clear agitation while flailing her hands.

Haruto made a "?" face seeing her odd behavior. 'What hot? It's still morning....' he thought but he shrugged since Kaori was quite a weird girl after all.

Of course if Kaori knew what he thought she would surely give him a piece of her mind for having that kind of impression on her.

"Well then let's clean ourselves up, we're going to be busy today."

He said while standing up and took his dropped shirt.

Kaori returned to her sense from his words and nodded seriously, they indeed had a lot of things to do for today. It was all from the discussion from yesterday night.

###

Last night...

Haruto and the others already back to the villa and currently having a discussion with all the member of the house with the exception of Fia who's currently sleeping on her room.

"The Granger House...."

Selianna muttered deeply, her expression was grim hearing the identity of the culprit of the attackers.

"Do you know about them?" Haruto asked.

"....I indeed know them, especially the master of the house."

"Just what is the Granger House? I know they're a noble household but what kind of noble are they?"

"*sigh*...Granger House is a 3rd Class nobility. They're one of the most famous household in the entire Filtrania. They are tasked of managing the security of the capital alongside some other noble household and one of those noble is my own household, the Grehilde House."

Selianna exhaled a deep sigh and began explaining.

"Eh? Did that mean your family are close to them?" Kaori raised her eyebrows.

"No, not close. Their relationships were just like oil and water. They would always compete with each other for the Emperor's favor aiming to be raised to the 2nd Class nobility."

"So they're rivals huh..." Haruto muttered.

"Yes, you could say it that way but the problem is, the rivalry from the Granger House is not the 'good' kind of rivalry, they intended to crush our house to remove us from the competition."

"Tsk, it looks like the type of people I despised the most." Haruto clicked his tongue while his expression distorted from disgust, Kaori too frowned hearing that. Selianna smiled bitterly and continued her story.

"My father did not wish for such thing for them, instead he tried to have a peaceful relation with them and had a healthy rivalry. He asked for a discussion to the master of their house in order to fix their relationships but they refused. Father did not give up and repeatedly sent letters to their house day by day, until one day...."

Selianna's face became gloomy and her atmosphere turned dark. The others noticed the change on her expression and became tense.

"The master of the Granger House, Bryan Granger accepted Father's request but only in one condition. He had to give his only daughter for a hand on marriage, as Bryan's bride of course, not his heir. It was 12 years ago."

The others were shocked hearing that. Her father only daughter? That naturally meant he asked Selianna to marry him, and just when she was still 12 years old at that time for god sake!

Kaori gritted her teeth while her eyes were teary, Elsie was stunned while covering her mouth and Haruto's face darken from rage while his eyes started to flicker between black and green.

".....And your father accepted his condition?" He asked with a sharp glint on his eyes. Selianna knew what he was thinking so she shook her head in denial.

"No, he's not. He was extremely angry at that time and spat on his letter after finished reading it.

But starting from that day the tension between the houses were increasing and without knowing some of our members were getting attacked and injured by unknown assailants.

Our house was thrown by pebbles from unknown people and our territory was trashed around. That kind of harassment continued day by day....." Selianna pursed her lips and her eyes started to get wet recalling her past memories.

"Father tried hard to find evidence on their deeds but he couldn't find anything to accuse them so, they must be hiding the evidences cleverly. Our house's members could not hold it anymore and they began to pester him for handing out myself for Bryan in order to stop the commotion.

Father was grimacing from their endless pestering and as the head of the house he couldn't disregard their wish just for his daughter. In the end he was forced to make the decision to hand me over. Mother adamantly refused but she knew it was futile and cried in despair.

The me at that time felt frustrated and refused to admit defeat to a person like him so I made another decision secretly in order to escape from Bryan's grasp. That is....by becoming a Knight."

By becoming the member of the knighthood they would be released from their noble's duty and focused themselves to improve their strength in order to protect the country.

This meant Selianna would be protected by the Emperor himself and Selianna's father wouldn't be able to force her to marry Bryan even if he wanted to.

To apply for the recommendation, she needed her parents help and of course they helped them secretly by having her mother signed the letter.

They made excuse that her father did not know anything about the matter and it was all her mother's idea so neither the member of the house nor the Granger House could file a complaint.

Her mother was punished by 3 years of house arrest but such thing was trivial for her if her daughter could escape from that wretched man.

"And so I managed to avoid being married to him. But after Bryan knew I was selected as a Knight, he didn't seem upset, in fact he quickly give up saying it couldn't be helped."

"...In other words that was his plan all along." Haruto drew a conclusion and Selianna nodded her head.

"Yes, that bastard never intended to marry me or anything, he just enjoyed seeing my father and my family in despair. For him it was all a game and prank....." Selianna said while wiping her tears.

The room turned quiet for a moment after Selianna finished her story.

"So cruel...." Kaori clenched her fists while letting out tears from her eyes she was so angry right now and wished to chop Bryan into pieces this instant. Elsie's already sobbing saying Bryan is unforgivable.

"Do you know why that guy attacked Elsie and Fia, Selliana? The leader guy did not know anything except by receiving his order." Haruto asked solemnly. Selliana pondered for awhile and shook her head.

"I'm sorry I too don't understand why he targeted both of them. That man's objective was always unpredictable for both father and me... or maybe he attacked them because he knew you're all living in my house? I don't know..."

Haruto lowered his eyes and mulled deeply. After a few minuted he raised his head and glanced at his companions before moving his gaze to Selianna.

"Alright then, in that case we have to find out the reason by ourselves."

"W-What? But how...?" Selianna's eyes widened in shocked hearing his suggestion.

Haruto moved his lips, making a very vicious smile, Selianna shivered when she saw that.

"Obviously from the person himself. We'll infiltrate his house tomorrow night."