Black and blue

Kai was hurting.

He hadn't expected Ezekial to be so merciless. Kai expected that he would be taught how to wield a sword, not get viciously beaten up for three hours straight.

And to make matters even worse, Petunia seemed to be having the time of her life watching Kai get beat up.

Still, it's not like the fighting had been useless.

Throughout the three hours and all of their duels, Ezekial had been hammering in the idea that Kai should never let go of his sword, but there was also another one that he kept mentioning repeatedly.

Footwork.

According to Ezekial, footwork was one of, if not the most important aspect in weilding a weapon.

In that moment where Kai was knocked off balance when Ezekial poked his sword with a single finger, the blue haired swordsman explained that he was taking advantage of Kai's horrendous stance and posture.

He also explained that in his eyes, it was as if Kai was controlling a body that wasn't his.

And to be honest, he wasn't exactly wrong.

Whatever properties that porridge had in the tutorial, combined with the fact Kai had even exercising nearly non stop for about three months, they had all contributed to the massive change that his body had gone through.

He had lost weight but gained muscle, and he had even gotten a tiny bit taller.

It was kind of like the situation he had faced in the white room after the tutorial. His Lycan form with Umbra had undergone a change. His body had gotten denser, his mass bigger and his height even taller than it already was.

It would take some time and practice to get used to controlling it, but Ezekial thought that even when Kai was just being a normal human, he had to train to get used to the changes his body had gone through.

That was the main thing that happened in the three hours where Kai was relentlessly beat up.

Whenever he made a clumsy swing, Ezekial struck his arm. Whenever he tried to do a predictable attack, Ezekial struck his back. Even when Kai thought he was at least doing a tiny amount better than the previous attempt, Ezekial would shut that notion down in an instant by attacking Kai's legs.

But even though he had been battered relentlessly, the three hours had definitely been productive.

Whenever Ezekial hit Kai, he would do so in a way that it positioned his body into the stance that it should have been in. What Ezekial was essentially doing was beating Kai into shape, literally and metaphorically.

However, there was one fact that remained the same throughout the entire three hour training session.

Kai was not able to land a single hit on Ezekial, not even once.

Even though it could be argued that Kai was holding back, so was Ezekial. In fact, Ezekial was probably holding back more than Kai, considering that he was a higher level and thus had many more skills than Kai.

He was like an insurmountable mountain that Kai could not even get a proper foothold on, let alone catch a glimpse of the peak.

Still, mountain climbers always had to train before their final attempt, so Kai had plenty of time.

After falling to the ground for the final time of the day, Kai let out a groan as he clutched his side, the most recent victim of Ezekial's attacks.

The culprit nodded at Kai before making his way back over to the edge of the arena before calmly picking up the sword he had discarded all those hours ago and neatly placed it back on the rack.

"You performed well. While your technique lacks refinement, there is certainly something there. You were also able to take a beating to some degree, which is undoubtably a good thing."

Sighing, Kai used his wooden sword as a stick to help himself up and glared slightly at Ezekial.

"I know this is a dumb question, but could you not have gone a little easier? Is that actually how you initiate all the people in the city guard, beating them up? This isn't some wax on wax off situation you know."

Ezekial tilted his head slightly, a curious expression on his face.

"Wax on wax off?"

Kai let out an exasperated sigh.

"Ah nevermind, it's an Earth thing. Anyway, thank you for training with me, I'm sure it will be helpful."

With that, Kai himself also returned his wooden sword to where he had got it. He then stretched his back and wiped the large amount of sweat on his forehead off.

He then cast a glance over to Ezekial, inwardly cursing.

He looked the exact same as three hours ago. No sweat on his face, no sign of exhaustion, even his hair was still in pristine condition.

Meanwhile, majority of Kai's body was covered in the stuff, he would most definitely be having a bath once he returned to his bedroom.

However, this time, there would be no flies.

"If you wish, I would be willing to train with you again, if that is what the honoured guest wants of course."

Kai glanced over at Ezekial again. He was adjusting the cuffs of his uniform, making Kai wonder if he always was so serious and professional.

"Sure, I would appreciate the help."

Ezekial nodded his head in response.

"Alright then, does same time tomorrow work?"

Kai let out a stifled groan as he stretched his back once more, trying to get it to feel normal.

"Yeah, that's fine with me."

Kai then got ready to leave the arena and return back to his room, but it was then he realised that he had forgotten to address the elephant that had been in the room for the last hour.

Well, not elephant, Queen.

"Good job both of you." Anastasia clapped as she stood up from her seat in the stand, Petunia following suit as she had been sitting beside the queen.

She then elegantly made her way down the few steps that there were before smiling slightly at Kai and Ezekial.

But why did Kai think that her gaze was mostly focused on him..?

Petunia followed behind Anastasia, a childish smile on her face as she walked right up to Ezekial.

"Mister, you're really strong!"

She then glanced over at Kai, and he could already tell what was coming.

"And Mister Two, you're really weak!"

Kai let out a soft groan, which he quickly stopped when he heard Anastasia giggling softly beside him.

"Petunia, dear, that is not a nice thing to say. And it's not that Kai here is weak, it's just that Ezekial is much older and much more experienced than him."

Petunia frowned slightly.

Ezekial was old? No, he looked about 23 maximum, how could that be considered old?

"Anyways" Anastasia sighed softly as she cast a glance at Ezekial. "Are you going to bring her back to her room?"

Ezekial nodded his head respectfully.

"Yes."

He then shifted slightly, and Kai thought he was going crazy with what he saw next.

Was that... a look of embarrassment on Ezekial's face?

"I want to get a head start on her hair before dinner."

Well, Kai couldn't fault him for that, he knew that he definitely wouldn't have been able to style Petunia's hair the way it was now, there was just too many curls.

However, he was a little surprised that Ezekial had been the on styling her hair, did that mean that he had been the one who put all the curls in it in the first place?

Kai shivered slightly, just how long would a job like that have taken?

"I see, then, I will see you at dinner time, Ezekial. I myself will escort our other guest back to their bedroom."

Kai inwardly cursed, but didn't display any emotion on the outside.

Ezekial bowed to Anastasia before taking Petunia's hand and leading her away from the arena and back into the main hallway of the castle, leaving Kai and Anastasia alone.

"Well, that was quite the sight, wouldn't you agree?"

Kai successfully held back the urge to groan, instead just saying:

"I don't know, should it be?"

Anastasia smirked softly as she started walking towards the exit, not waiting for Kai to follow.

"I think that Ezekial likes you, otherwise he wouldn't have gone so easy on you."

Kai's eyes widened slightly, but it's not like he hadn't expected it. Even though he had been completetly overwhelmed that entire training session, he could still tell that Ezekial was using less than a tenth of his true power.

Kai sighed softly as he caught up to Anastasia, him shaking his head slightly.

"How did you even end up with someone like him? He mentioned that you and His Majesty took him in when he was a baby."

Anastasia shook her head slightly, a nonchalant expression on her face.

"I wouldn't know about that, that was all Castillian's doing."

Kai simply shrugged in response. Castillian didn't exactly seem like the type to take in a child out of pure good will, but then again, wasn't that basically what he was doing with Petunia?

However, to Kai's horror, there was a reason that Anastasia was so eager to gloss over the subject.

A sly smile started to creep its way onto her face as she leaned down slightly into Kai's ear.

"Anyway, did you get around to reading any of the book I left for you?"