Chapter 18 - Moving in

Julian's first day after his return had just ended after the announcement that andra mentioned was given. The students were all picked up by their parents and left the academy, after the principal informed the parents to do so.

"Julian can you explain what happened all of a sudden that the principal asked all the students to move into the dormitory" Amanda asked Julian who sat beside her as she drove.

"I don't know honestly, they just up and announced it right after we finished our physical assessment and got our mana affinity results back, oh I had forgotten to tell this to you earlier, but I received a D- grade mana affinity, and while it is disappointing I'm okay with it" Julian replied as he looked out the window with his chin on top of his palm.

(note: I will just use affinity as short for absorption affinity, typing the whole thing every time feels uselessly redundant.)

"Is that so well if you are okay with it then it is fine" andra nodded and continued to drive.

'Well those results don't matter anyway, according to what Nihil had said I have no physical limits and that should also apply to my mana affinity'

Their drive home was mostly silent after that as Julian had decided to take a good look at the scenery outside.

'I never really got the time to look at the scenery outside after my parents died, so looking at the beauty of nature truly feels odd.'

***********

Inside a massive mansion that was right in the middle of the count Alfred's estate in the capital.

"Andrew this is my butler Christian, he will show you to your room, also I have already told him that you are my disciple so if there is anything you need. You can simply ask him." Alfred said as he pointed to an old man wearing a butlers uniform, with a well built body, and a cleanly cut white bearded with black streaks running down.

"Also change of plans, I will be leaving you here for the time being, I will have to visit the palace on his majesties orders. Also, your training with me will begin in a weeks time, until then Christian here will be getting you back into shape, as such work hard and do not disappoint me."

"Yes sir" Andrew responded with an understanding nod, after which the count turned around and started to walk towards the gate.

"Great then I will be leaving for the palace now, oh and one more thing before I leave, don't call me sir anymore, call me master." he said as he stopped and turned around right before the gate.

"Yes master" Andrew replied to Alfred's statement.

"Good" the count turned around and said with the faintest of smiles, and walked out before using the teleportation stone he had gotten from the palace to leave the estate.

"Well young master Andrew, let us proceed shall we, to your new room?" Christian asked Andrew with a smile.

"Yeah sure let's go, and thank you for hosting me." Andrew said with a smile of his own.

"No need to thank me young master, I am quite simply following the will of the count" the old butler said as he started to walk towards the stairs.

'So he wants me to prove my worth, I see well it's understandable I guess.' Andrew thought as he heard Christian's reply.

"Oh by the way mister Christian, master mentioned something about you getting me back in shape, I didn't quite get what he meant by that?" Andrew asked the old butler with a confused look on his face as he too started to climb up the stairs following Christian.

"Oh right about that, well you see before I became a butler for the count I used to work as the knight's commander under his father, and as such was also responsible for bringing him up to peak physique so that he could handle the training of the last count. As such he has often asked me to train his knight's whenever I am free. Which is also why I will be training you so that you don't die from the training the count will be giving you." the old man said with a light laugh that terrified Andrew of the training that he would have to soon go through.

"The training couldn't possibly that hard right?" Andrew asked out of sheer fear caused by the way Christian had worded his sentences.

"The young count had thought the same as well, well that will be a story for a separate time. For now let's get you settled in your room."

"Okay." Andrew said as he shook from fear.

"And as for your physical training we will start it from tomorrow onwards, as such I want you to be on the training field at 5 am sharp in the training suit that has already been placed into your room. Oh! Also call me sir during training hours." Christian said as they reached the second floor of the mansion, which was where Andrew's room would be located.

"Yes sir"

With a content nod Christian started walking once more before halting at a sizeably tall white gate with golden carving "Well this is your room." the butler said as he opened the gate showing a decent size room with white walls and great furniture that illuminated the room.

"It is on the same floor as the count's room, so you may talk to him if you need when he returns" Christian said as he walked into the room behind Andrew and closed the door.

"Also by tomorrow I will assign you two maids who will handle all your menial tasks, and the count has told me that you will be eating dinner with him on most days in the large dining room below, do not worry about the direction's once I assign you with your private maid all those things will be handled. So any other questions?" Christian said as he looked at Andrew who was looking at the room in surprise of its sheer size. Andrew was an orphan, so it was understandable that he had never seen a room so big, and as such was just staring at it.

"No I'm okay." Andrew said as he snapped from his daze and looked at Christian who was smiling at him.

"Great , then I will be taking my leave, oh by the way, your food for today will be sent directly to your room, as I imagine the day may have been quite tiring for you. Now take care." the butler said as he stopped for a moment before the door, before leaving the room with Andrew in it alone.

*********

Meanwhile, inside Julian's home,

"So you are saying that Julian has to live at the academy for the next four years? What kind of reasoning does the school have to do that?" said a handsome young man in his 30s, as he sat on the couch inside Julian's house.

"Father it is okay, it would be better anyway if I were to stay in school, I would be able to train more and get stronger faster under the guidance of the teachers." Julian replied to Jacob with a wide smile on his face to which Jacob looked at with a frown.

"Julian my son, that isn't the point, getting stronger isn't everything in the world, when you were born, the only thing I wanted you to do was enjoy a normal life. If you were to go live at the academy you would be missing out on a lot of time that you would have been able to spend with us as family, do you understand that?" Jacob once against said with a dejected face that looked straight at Julian.

"Well it isn't like I won't come here, I will have vacations during which I will be able to stay here for a few months at a time, so we can spend time together then right." Julian's smile still didn't waver even as he said this, but internally even he did not want to separate with his parents who he had met with after such a long time.

He knew that if he wanted to save his parents at least, that staying here would only hinder his progress and as such had decided to resolute himself.

"Huuuuuuu well it seems like you have already made up your mind, so there is no point in continuing with this conversation any further." Jacob said as he waived his head and looked down on the floor with a look of disappointment.

"Thanks for understanding dad."