A Verteran Knight’s Advice

"Good! Good! That was much better. Remember to always look for the opening. Parrying an attack to create an opening is a must in battle. Veteran knights and enemies will always try to find a weakness in one's stance and ability. You will always need to look for these weaknesses. If you can not find one, you have to force one by parrying. You have a lot going for and against you at the moment since you are small. As you age your body will grow which means you must practice even harder since your height advantage will lessen as time goes on. Right now you're small and can easily outmaneuver a larger man. But that will all change as you get older." Dalton pointed out all of Alicia's good and bad points making sure she knows what she will need to work on from now on.

"Thank you very much for your guidance, Sir Dalton!" Alicia was very happy for this help. She had learned a lot from just one morning of training. This made her even more excited to become a squire because she will learn even more from the trainers there!

"It is my pleasure little Lady! Now!" Dalton turned his eyes over to Blake who was standing at the side. "Come on and spar with me lad. I want to see how much you match up to the rumors!"

Blake nodded his head and walked forward. He gave a small bow as he said: "Sir Dalton, please guide me."

"I won't go easy!" Dalton shot forward with his sword in hand which caught Blake off guard. But Blake quickly regained his composure as he saw Dalton's sword swing down at his head.

*Clang!* *Clang!* *Clang!* *Clang!*

The two's swords clashed together multiple times. In a matter of only a few seconds, their swords had crossed over one hundred times. The speed between the two shocked Alicia. They were not even using magic and could move at such speed! This made Alicia realize that she still had a long way to go to match even Blake who was a few years older than her! Dalton had even gone easy on her matching her level by being just a degree higher! Although she was shocked it did not deter her determination one bit. Instead it filled her with even more determination as she now knew that she was only at the starting line!

Alicia's eyes were like stars shining in the sky as she watched the two. She could not peel gaze away from the two men as they fought. Loeri who was sitting on top of her head only watched with interest for a few minutes before yawning and going back to sleep. Frey was awake but she was busy giving self made commentary as the two were fighting. "Oh! Yah! Ouch! OOOo! Waaa!" She bounced from one of Alicia's shoulders to the other making all kinds of noises.

Ela who had come out saw this scene and instantly let out a laugh. She really found Frey to be cute. Not long after Ela came out, Rebecca came wandering out with a teddy bear in one hand wearing a pink one piece nightgown rubbing her sleepy eyes. "Mother, what's all the noise?"

"Your father is sparing with Alicia and Sir Blake. They have been at it since before the sun came up." Ela explained.

"Oh…." Still half asleep and not really paying much attention to what was said to her, Rebecca walked over to where Alicia was sitting, sat down next to Alicia, rested her head on Alicia's shoulder and went back to sleep.

This did not disturb Frey's back and forth commentary as she was more than happy to use the top of Rebecca's head as extra space to bounce around on. A few hours passed and finally, the two slowed their actions. Dalton, who was still not out of breath looked at the panting Blake and gave a smile. "Lad you are very good. Your stance and swordsmanship are well refined. As you get older it will become even better. Your reaction time is also very good. I see why he has you protect Alicia now. Lad, promise me that you will not let anything happen to the little lady on the remainder of her trip."

"You have my word, Sir Dalton. I will not let Alicia die on my watch. Thank you very much for this chance to spar with you." Blake respectfully bowed before wiping the sweat off his forehead.

Alicia looked at Blake's handsome face and blushed a little. Noticing that she was staring at Blake, Alicia got even more flustered, she stood up quickly and shook her head trying to clear her mind. It was only when she heard a groan and a complaining voice that she realized that Rebecca was using her shoulder as a pillow.

"Ouch! Big Sister what did you do that for?" Complained Rebecca.

"Rebecca I'm sorry! I did not realize you were there." Alicia quickly apologized and gave a bow.

"Alright, it was an accident. Why don't you all come in for breakfast." Ela walked forward and picked Rebecca up off the ground and dusted her off before pulling her hand walking back towards the house.

After breakfast, Alicia found herself in a carriage with Ela and Rebecca as they made their way to the shopping district. "Alicia today we will take you on a tour of Parith. There are many sites to see! We will start at the shopping district where you can get anything from clothes to magi weapons and magi armor!"

Hearing magi weapons and magi armor Alicia's eyes lit up. She herself had magi armor as well since all of her clothes were made out of pure Magicules by Berlin. But she always wondered what heavy armor looked like in this world. She had seen Blakes light armor but she also wanted to see other designs as well. Maybe if she was lucky she could find something that could go over her clothes as added protection.