Chapter 5 : Preparation

The Arcanum Academy is a place with centuries of history and is renowned as the premier institution for individuals from all corners of the world to delve into the arts of magic and combat. There is no doubt that that place is the best for learning magic.

"Why? You don't want to?" He asked, after seeing my shocked expression.

"Of course not, father. I'll go."

I calmed myself, gradually regaining my composure. I did not expect to enter that corrupted place so soon. And additionally, the Academy was the place that I would meet that guy for the first time too.

"Good. It'll still be a good opportunity for you."

"Yes, father. I know that too." I agreed with him.

Well, he wasn't wrong about that. The Academy was certainly a good opportunity for me to grow. However, there were still too many secrets of the Academy that is currently unknown to the world.

"And what about you two?" He asked again, turning his head to face the direction of my two siblings.

"Of course we're going, father." Both Cedric and Eldric replied at the same time, their words overlapping with each other.

"Then, that's settled. You'll all depart in a week. Get ready for it."

He gestured the guards at the entrance to open the door.

"Yes, father. We'll go prepare now." The three of us spoke in sync as we bowed deeply at a 90-degree angle.

Soon after, I exited the Royal Court, along with both of my siblings.

"Good luck, brother." One of them, a grey haired and blue eyed boy, Cedric Lorendale, spoke.

"Haha, thank you, brother. You too."

"No need for that. I don't need luck to survive there." He smirked.

"Right. My apologies. Anyways, I'm quite busy, I'll go first then." I said, walking away from the both of them.

Subsequently, as I walked back to my own mansion, I mused over my previous plans. I had to make changes due to the sudden need to attend the Academy.

After arriving back to my room, I immediately called for both Winston and Wallace, my two personal butler.

"Wallace, prepare for a long trip. I'll be attending the Academy soon." I informed them.

"Prince, are you sure…? What about your half-crippled body…?"

Wallace expressed his worries.

"Don't worry about it. I'll deal with that myself. Just go prepare. We'll be departing tomorrow." I announced.

"Yes, prince… Then, I'll take my leave."

Wallace instantly left my room as he had to prepare all of my outfits and daily necessaries.

"Anyways, Winston." I called.

"Yes, my lord? What do you need from me?" He bowed slightly.

"Bring me to the training hall. I want to train a little."

"Of course, my lord. But don't you already know the way?" He asked with suspicion.

"…Obviously, it's just that I needed some guidance from you."

"Right... Then, follow me, my lord."

Winston signalled me to follow his footsteps while he walked out of my room to the training hall.

"My lord, we're here." Winston said, after walking for a few minutes.

"Yeah, thanks. Now, go get me a wooden sword."

"Yes, my lord.

Winston promptly walked to the rack at the corner of the hall with a variety of weapons placed on it.

He picked up a medium sized wooden sword from the rack after taking a glance at my body's condition.

"Here you go, my lord."

He extended his hand with the wooden sword he picked to me.

"Thanks." I told Winston, taking the wooden sword away from his hand.

Immediately after that, I walked towards the basic training dummy, a dummy made to withstand techniques without being enhanced by mana.

At the moment I reached a certain distance from the dummy, I stabilised both of my foot onto the ground and grabbed the sword with both hands. Following that, I raised the sword above my head.

"Ha!!!"

I swung the sword down, using one of the seven fundamental techniques, [Chop].

Consequently, a moderate sound was heard across the training hall as my swinging sword collided with the dummy.

"Ha… Haa…" I gasped for air after the sword swing.

"My lord… What happened?" Winston questioned, noticing the absence of my sword skills.

"No idea… So? Can you help?"

I turned to face Winston with my already exhausted expression. I've had used every last bit of my strength into the swing.

"…Of course, my lord." He answered after a slight hesitation.

After agreeing, he walked closer to me and rolled up his long sleeves.

"My lord, raise your sword up again." He told me.

Following his words, I raised my sword up again.

Afterwards, Winston stretched his arm out onto my hand. and slightly adjusted my arm to straighten the sword.

"Now, remember this stance. Stabilise it."He said as he slowly removed his hand away from me.

To stabilise the stance, I did not respond to his words. But instead, I poured all my focus onto the sword.

As a result , the sword's condition transitioned from shaky to complete stillness.

"Good. Now, swing it."

"Ha!!!"

I swung my sword with as much strength as I could muster at that time.

Bang!!

A loud sound was made at the moment of collision. It was way louder than the previous collision.

"There you go, my lord." He smiled slightly.

"Yeah, thanks, Winston."

"Of course, my lord. Don't worry about it. And for the next stance… Raise your sword first."

He signalled me to raise my sword again.

"My lord, remember. All sword stance shares the same requirements."

"And the requirements is?" I asked as I raised my sword for the second technique, [Slash].

"A firm and steady grip."

"It's… That simple…?" I questioned.

"Of course. But most people ignores the basic." He explained as he walked to wards me.

Subsequently, he adjusted my stance. He moved my sword slightly further away from me to make my swing more accurate.

Not only that, he also adjusted the angle of my sword, allowing my swing to be far more powerful.

"My lord. This is the most efficient stance for slashing."

Winston moved away from me, and gesturing me to try slashing onto the dummy.

Swoosh!

I swung my sword with all my strength again. I slashed through the air and the dummy. I'd say that was a decent slash in my eyes.

"My lord, that… was slightly worse than average…"

"Oh, Right… I should try again then." I said, disappointed at myself.

However, even with that slash being bad, the feeling of cutting through the air… It was the best. It was extremely satisfying.

And just like that, I trained my sword skills with Winston for almost the entire day while Winston slowly guided me through all seven fundamentals techniques.

After those training, even I, who barely has any talent in the sword, could tell I've improved to a certain extent.

"Ha… Haa… I'm… So tired…" I gasped.

I dropped down onto the ground after swinging my sword for thousands of times. It was painful to even muster up any strength within me.

"It's almost night time, my lord." Winston spoke.

"Haa… Yeah… I know… Let's… go back now…" I said breathlessly.

"Sure, my lord. You've gotten back some skills."

"I know that too. Though I'm not sure what happened to them in the first place." I told Winston as he assisted me to my feet.

"It's fine, my lord. You can get them back."

Consequently, We slowly walked back to my mansion together. My leg was sluggish for the entire trip back. I could barely take a step without the help of Winston.

After arriving at my own room, I immediately jumped onto my bed, disregarding the sweats on my body.

"Haa… This is so nice…" I exclaimed in relief.

"My lord… Your sweats…"

"It's fine. Just help me change it later." I said, resting comfortably on my bed.

"Yes, my lord…" Winston uttered with slight annoyance.

"Oh, right! Winston, please help me prepare a carriage. I want to go somewhere." I informed Winston after recalling the next step to my newly revised plan.

"Huh? So suddenly?"

"Yeah. Now go. I'll shower first."

"Yes, my lord."

Winston promptly left my room after receiving my words. However, before the door was completely closed, I spoke again.

"And tell Wallace to change my bed too!" I yelled.

"Okay, my lord." Winston said, continuing to close the door.

After the door was closed, my room instantly turned silent. There was no other sound, except for the clock's ticking.

"I miss the fan…" I reminisced.

"Whatever. Let's just go take a bath.

I walked into the luxurious bathroom and then to the bathtub. But surprisingly, the bathtub was already filled with a huge amount of comfortable hot water.

Furthermore, there was a note left beside it too. So I picked the note up and read it.

"Prince! I saw you were training for the entire day, so I prepared this hot water for you! Please enjoy your rest."

That was the words written on the note.

"This guy… He's really caring, huh?"I smiled.

It was Wallace. It was Wallace who filled this bathtub with hot water.

After confirming that those hot water weren't harmful, I immediately jumped into the bathtub.

"Ha… This is so comfortable." I remarked.

Those hot water were a luxury for me. It was something I could rarely experience in my previous life.

Despite being the top student in the entire country of Korea, I never had much money. I could barely survive on the allowance provided by my parents, who were exploiting my talents.

So this type of things were something I really enjoyed and appreciate.

"Tsk, no. I can't. I still have plans." I reminded myself.

Thus, I promptly exited the bathtub and wore a new set of clothes. However, instead of the usual fancy clothes, I wore a black robe that could conceal my face, discreetly hiding my identity as a prince.

Following that, I made my way to the front yard of my mansion, where a carriage awaited me at its center.

"My lord, it's ready Please get on." Winston greeted me on the carriage.

"Thanks, Winston." I replied, walking towards the carriage.

"And what's with this… secretive appearance…?" Winston inquired after taking a look at my outfit.

"…It's to hide my identity."

"Hide… Your identity…?" He questioned in suspicion.

It wasn't unexpected for him to suspicious. The original Emrys was quite arrogant, so he would never hide his identity as a prince.

"…Yeah. I don't want to draw unnecessary attention." I answered, to clear his suspicion of me.

"Prince!! Where are you going?" A voice was suddenly heard from the other side of the carriage.

"Huh?"

I turned my head to the direction of the voice in a fit of curiosity.

"Oh, I'm going to buy something." I replied to the voice.

"Can't you just order someone to buy it?" Wallace asked, appearing from the direction of the voice.

"…Maybe it'll be cheaper if I buy it?" I said, telling some nonsense excuse to Wallace.

"Oh… But… Isn't it dangerous?"

"Of course not. Winston will be following me. He'll protect me. Right?"

I turned to face Winston, silently signalling him to agree.

"Oh, yeah… Of course I will." Winston agreed after understanding my actions.

"Okay, then… Still, be careful, prince."

"Of course. Then, we'll be off. See you later, Wallace."

"Yeah, prince. See you later!" Wallace said in relief.

Afterwards, I hopped onto the carriage while Winston rode onto his black horse at the side of the carriage.

"My lord, where are we going?" He queried.

"The Lorenton's Commerce Street." I answered, before settling into the carriage seat.

"Huh? That Commerce Street?!" He exclaimed, with his tone clearly shocked by my response.

The Lorenton's Commerce Street is a renowned streets within the Palace's territory, Lorenton, it is widely known for its numerous thriving business enterprises, hence its name. It stands as one of the most vibrant and bustling streets in the entire kingdom of Dale.

As a result, the original Emrys seldom visited Lorenton's Commerce Street, much like the library. Instead, he would instruct his servants to handle such tasks rather than attending to them personally.

So, it was no surprise that Winston reacted with astonishment to my response.

"Yeah, that place." I replied nonchalantly, ignoring his bewilderment.

"…Yes, my lord. Then, let's depart now."

"Sure. That's exactly what I wanted."

Right after our conversation concluded, Winston directed the carriage driver to set off. And without delay, the carriage began its journey towards my destination.