Eventful Childhood

A year has passed since Nero started his training. He was currently wielding a wooden sword with a wooden shield and sparing against his instructor.

The old man pointed the tip of his sword over his shield in a balanced stance and looked at Nero intently.

Then quickly after stepping half a step forward and showing Nero the shield he motioned a quick stab with the sword remaining on his shield gliding on its rim with the broadside.

Nero knew what he was up to and put the shield closer to his body, placing it at an angle where the sword scraped along with the shield until it got to the point where Nero could push it away.

Every normal metal sword could have penetrated the wood and given him an even higher advantage if it git stuck but it was unlikely with wood.

That still gave him an opportunity and he pushed forward and wielded his sword arm to strike the instructor. But at that moment what Nero got to see was the shield of the man that slammed right into him and sent him flying on the ground.

Regretting that mistake Nero quickly positioned himself defensively on the ground and rolled back. Positioning himself back on his feet he got himself back into stance.

The Instructor put down his shield and sword and lastly his helmet.

"Well done. This is all for today. Go run around the castle for a few laps to train your stamina.", he said and smiled at the boy in front of him.

"Thank you, Ser Wallace." Nero took off his own smaller helmet and grinned at him.

The last year saw him improve tremendously in the arts of swordplay and usage of armor and shield. He learned what it means to be a true knight by this old veteran.

At first, Nero was always grumpy that he was sent flying to the ground and whacked black and blue. Not to mention how heavy actual armor was and how annoying it felt to move around in it.

But he soon adopted his own armor style that was heavy enough to protect well but at the same time light enough to move around agilely to perform stunning counters.

For all the glory armor has, if it is heavy you are moving around slowly and fighters that can see the gaps in said armor and move quicker than you will kill you.

So he made his arms plated on both sides. On the side where he used the shield, that was his left, it was slightly less plated than on the right where he normally held his sword. That was to protect his arms from being slashed off.

Underneath that, he wore a soft thin but also still stuffy gambison that was covered with chainmail protecting it.

His pants were basic black linen pants and only his knee and shin were still protected by a studded leather boots combo.

Of course, it was all custom made to fit his still childish body and would need to be replaced. But it sure gave him a feel for how heavy real combat was. And it was only used by him for certain events or prolonged spars of endurance.

His mother was very concerned about this harsh training and felt he would stagnate his growth, but Nero at some point convinced her to let him wear it. It was not all that heavy and the bruises he received just helped convince her.

Even though it also meant making Wallace a scapegoat for a while.

After a while, he became so efficient in his armor usage that his movement flowed like water and he didn't seem to be impeded by it at all.

That got another rumor spreading about him becoming a strong warrior. Monstrous in talent even. Right now Wallace was still debating him in spars but it became more and more a hard task for him to exploit weaknesses.

Nero was still a small child and therefore Wallace could use his superior strength to overwhelm him. But if a few years passed he would reckon he would be the one lying on the ground easily.

"Pup, are you really sure you want to visit the next tourney?", a voice came from the side and he could see his father standing at the side.

"Father." Nero looked at him and then nodded. "Yes, I want to see how much I improved. And going to a tourney is the best way to find out."

"But most other participants are either adults or a lot older than you. Sure, there are some nobles that let their young children experience it but I am somewhat concerned. Besides that, your mother is already breathing down my neck to do something to convince you otherwise.", explained his father.

"Hmm, I think mother dear is too emotional recently. Is it because of the baby inside her belly?", asked Nero innocently. Of course, he knew she had some troublesome outbursts. She is already entering the 7th month.

Nero was actually intrigued by this outcome since he did not remember a third child in the Couseland household. So besides his elder brother, there will be another member here soon.

"Haha, you should be careful that your mother doesn't hear that, or else you will receive some spanking on your arse."

Nero frowned because that sure did happen a few times and damn the woman did not hold back at all. Some times he hated to be a mere child.

"I would rather not...", sighed Nero. Then a cute barking sounded out and a dog ran to Nero when he came darting out from the corner.

Nero smiled and kneeled down. "Hey there, little buddy." scratching the little puppy behind the ears got him a hand licking in return.

"Where is that dog!!?", came a scream from somewhere.

Nero raised a brow and looked suspiciously at the puppy. Seeing that the puppy whined and sat down on its arse and then lay down.

"Did you anger nan again, Zeus?", asked Nero his Mabari puppy.

A short cute bark came as an answer. It was always like this. This little fella would immediately go running towards him when somewhat wanted to skin him for something.

"Alright, go hide somewhere. I will talk with nan.", said Nero with another smile.

A cute bark sounded and the puppy ran off. Probably towards his favorite spot in the castle under a tree that had a little fox den.

"That dog of yours is turning out to cost your dear nan the last of her patience.", commented his father. "And how is that other fella of yours doing?", he added as a question.

"Luna? Well, she is getting a big appetite. That is a good healthy sign for sure. She would soon be larger than Zeus.", answered Nero.

"Your idea of how to feed that hatchling sure did help a lot. Most caretakers already said she was a lost cause.", mentioned his father and still remembered the day when Nero came running to him with a little featherless being in his bosom.

"Of course, a griffon is such a noble creature. And that little fella deserves a chance at life.", said Nero.

"I just wonder how it ended up in the nearby forest. No one saw another wild griffon for ages. There is a rumor of them still existing but that is pretty rare. That they still exist is actually great news." His father smiled thinking about his son saving that noble creature. "Come to think, is she already eating meat?"

"Yep, small bites here and there but she still prefers the cow milk.", nodded Nero.

It was about 1 month now that he found a curious looking white egg in the forest nearby when he went hunting with Ser Wallace.

What was curious about it was that it had some beautiful tribal markings on it. When Nero touched it he felt movement from inside and soon the eggshell slowly cracked and a little featherless chick came out from it.

At first, Nero thought it was some kind of chicken but he soon saw its small body that had very tiny boney wings growing on its back. The other part of its body below the head looked like lions instead of chickens.

From then onward Nero knew what he stumbled upon. he even had his mouth wide agape and quickly looked around to see if the mother was close by. But even after waiting a while and seeing the chick trembling because of the cold Nero decided to take it with him.

He made a makeshift milk bottle for it with a mug and a leather glove that had a small hole pierced through it and fed it slowly. After the chick got accustomed to the way of feeding and that it meant satiating its hunger it soon knew how to behave in front of that glove.

After it got a little larger it started to drink on its own from a metal bucket.

All that examined the little griffon determined it to be female so it received the name that Nero chose for it. And that was Luna.