A Teacher For An Unmotivated Student

The day was spent in peace. Jien spent his time in his room reading Grafler's Theorem or meditating on the experience of receiving his first two spells, trying to pick apart how to cast them. He came out to eat lunch and dinner with his father before delving back into it, ignoring the fact that tomorrow would likely be the beginning of a grueling new routine. Mark Blood spent his time settling into his room, ate with the staff and decided to meet with the manor's guards to get to know them since he would be borrowing their training ground for the near future. This ultimately ended up with having a few drinks with the guard captain and the off-duty guards.

Like this the evening too passed. When the first light was barely cresting the horizon Mark was already up and dressed in a simple linen shirt and pants, along with his pair of black leather boots. He walked swiftly towards the manner and was met there by the staff who were starting their duties. He asked for assistance in locating Jien's room since he was yet to get familiar with the layout of the main manor. He knew that it was probably earlier than Jien was used to getting up, but if they were going to get through preparing him for the academy in the coming years he would need to start getting used to a more routine schedule. What he didn't expect was that when he approached the door and knocked loudly that there would almost immediately be a response.

The door opened to reveal a Jien with slight dark bags under his bloodshot eyes. He looked as well put together as he did the previous day if not slightly pale from the obvious lack of sleep. Jien was wearing a simple white linen shirt, pair of black leather pants and a pair of black leather boots. He had expected that he may not sleep, having so much to think over that he purposely dressed shortly after finishing dinner with his father and then went about his studies. Mark arched an eyebrow after seeing this. "You should have gotten some proper sleep you know? This is going to make things harder for you in the end" he stated calmly. He couldn't say that he expected this outcome, but he also was aware that it may have been a possibility. There were many in the academy that were similar, spending all-nighters working on what they wanted because they realized that was the only way to fit in everything that they wanted to do. Though admittedly in those cases it was usually drinking, parties or couples sneaking out past the dorm curfews.

Jien looked Mark in the eye calmly before responding with a light sigh followed by his actual answer. "I likely will sleep well tonight and with time my body will adapt to whatever schedule you set." He didn't state this in a confrontational manner. It was as if he was talking about the weather rather than his personal health. Though this was a true statement Mark was more than a bit surprised that Jien had thought about it that far. Most kids his age, even well-educated noble children would likely have simply given an apology or been confrontational about the matter. Mark smiled at this and nodded lightly, "this is true. Given the fact that from what your father has told me, you tend to be light on your physical exercise, this is bound to exhaust you. That being said I have no intention of pushing you too hard today. I will simply be checking where you stand in terms of physical performance and discussing how we will be handling your training going forward."

To this Jien nodded before asking the most pertinent question, "what are we starting with?" To this Mark nodded in approval, appreciating the straightforward attitude that Jien was taking to this training. "The first thing is to have breakfast. Nothing too heavy of course but the body needs something to run off of" he responded before turning to the staff member, an older maid with slightly greying blonde hair and deep green eyes and asking her to lead them to the kitchens. He then turned to Jien and began to explain what he felt would be a good starting routine for the first while of his training. They would wake up close to dawn, as that was in line with the schedule used by the academy for all members, staff and students alike. They would then have a simple breakfast to make sure that they would have the energy to make it to lunch. They would then start with general stretches before moving to a run around the manor property, roughly a three-mile jog. From there they would move on to some more general muscle building exercises, general weapons training and mana reinforcement exercises. After all of that they would begin training in the arcane arts. This final piece would go on as long as Jien wanted as agreed upon, as long as it didn't interfere with any of his other duties.

Jien didn't complain about this proposed schedule, but it was obvious from his neutral reaction to everything but the arcane arts piece that he clearly had little to no interest in anything else. Still, they soon made their way to the kitchen where the family cook was beginning to prepare Lord Losler's breakfast. The cook had been informed the prior day by his lord that Mark and Jien would be visiting him for an early breakfast from now on and that he should assist them as needed. Mark made a simple request of cured ham, a few rolls and a few apples along with two bottles of water. All of this was quickly prepared for them and set into a small basket, which Mark promptly took before walking out the back door of the kitchen. This brought them out into a small courtyard not far from the guard's training area.

Mark led the way to the training area and sat on the dirt, setting the basket beside him and gesturing Jien to sit across from him. He then split the meal between the two of them and began to create a small sandwich with a roll and some of the cured ham. "You know, I can relate to you not wanting to take over the duties of your family" he mentioned casually as he began to eat. "I was in a similar situation. My family wanted me to take over since I was the eldest sibling, but I never found myself to be interested in the prospect." Jien gazed at him with a slightly interested look. He could tell that Mark didn't end up running his family's territory by the fact that he was here as his instructor. That being said he was curious about what led up to this situation. "What changed that they allowed you to come here and train me rather than administrating your family's territory?" he asked as he started to eat as well, knowing he was going to need every ounce of energy he could get.

Marked gave a short but slightly sad laugh. "Nothing changed per se. They still want me to return home and run their territory. However, after entering the academy I decided that I wanted to stick to my own path. Knowing this I worked hard in the areas I wanted and when I graduated, I took the chance to start a career as a mercenary rather than returning home." He sighed deeply before continuing. "My family of course was not thrilled by my choice to say the least, but they couldn't do much about it. I was too far from their territory, and I had the skill set and capital to do what I felt best for myself." He looked Jien in the eye and firmly continued. "Just know that I am not going to force you onto a path that you don't want to be on. I am only here to prepare you for the academy not to influence your life decisions. I will do what I can to prepare you both physically and mentally but you will have to put in the effort to make it count at the end of the day."

To this Jien responded with a firm nod. "I don't feel any pull toward the martial path or to the path of a ruler, but I will do what I can to make sure that I am ready for the academy." After saying his part, they both ate in silence and prepared for the day ahead. Jien at least felt that Mark was a decent person. He didn't expect his new instructor to go light on him, but he also felt to understand that Mark wouldn't try to push him towards a path that he did not himself choose. This left his heart feeling a little lighter about the days to come.