Chapter 8: Training

When I said what I wanted to do, we went to the music room on the first floor. The room was filled with various musical instruments. Strings, percussion, brass, and cord-type musical instruments. Each article was made of high-quality materials and had state-of-the-art details.

(As expected of the Country of the Arts.)

The mansion we live in was a reward from the Kingdom of Astley. That means the furniture in the mansion was made with quality. The mansion itself also had state-of-the-art architecture.

"What do you want to play, Young Master?"

"Hmm. That one!"

I pretended to be naive and thought for a while, even though I already had one in mind. I pointed out a cord-type instrument painted in black. A grand piano.

"Then, let's try that one." She guided me to the grand piano placed beside the window.

"Do you want to see how to play the piano?"

"Mmm." I nod.

Mary sat on the chair and put her hands on the keyboard. She pressed some keys to test the tune of the piano.

"Now then," she pressed the keys again, but unlike before, she started to play a piano piece.

It had an allegro-like upbeat tone. I do not recognize the melody, and it could not be a piece from Earth. So maybe this piece is native to this world.

Mary played the piece with mastery and fluid movements. She used to play piano to a certain degree. I totally forgot that she was from the Art Country until I saw her piano.

She then finished the piece and bowed to the audience, still having her elegance, although we were the only people in the room. I applauded afterwards and then gave her a compliment.

"That was amazing. I never thought that you were good at music."

"Thank you for your compliment, but I am not that amazing. This piece was a must for every noble in our country, after all."

The nobles in Astley were probably obliged to learn how to play music out of respect for the Mother of Arts. The piece must be a basic piece that all the kingdom's nobles know.

"Still, your execution of the basic piece was very good."

"Then, would you like to try?"

"Yes." I replied, then took a seat.

I activated my Computerized Mind and ran a MIDI player application. I installed several applications from the net to my brain to kill time. One of those was a MIDI player.

I planned to release new musical pieces into this world. But it was today that I found out that there was probably an artist reborn in this world. The only difference between me and her, if she was reincarnated, was that I have a collection of five hundred years of music that she hadn't heard of.

I searched for the piece that I wanted to play. I press the G-note key that every fan of a certain emo band will immediately recognize the song. I pressed the keys one by one with my right index finger until I finished the piano intro of the song.

I looked to Mary, who was standing behind me diagonally, and saw her open her mouth. She immediately regained her composure and stared at me with enthusiastic eyes.

"That was beautiful, even though it was still short and unfinished. If you continue to improve your skills, you will finish it, and it will be a great piece."

The piece that I played was already good to the ears of an Art Country noble. So what will happen if I release the music of the Baroque Period and later that even their former queen did not heard of? Well, I have to release it at the right time with an interval to avoid raising suspicion.

If I release music pieces nonstop, they might recognize me as the reincarnation of their former queen. Intervals between releases should make people think that I took a long time to compose it with effort.

"Then I have to practice piano and complete this composition."

"If that is the case, we have to hire a professional to teach you."

"Then I have to ask permission from my parents to have me a tutor."

"Leave it to me. I have known an acquaintance who is a professional pianist and a tutor."

I have a tutor to teach me how to play slowly. It would be strange if I already knew how to read the notes in the music sheets and knew what key to press. I have to take it slowly and just go with the flow.

"Thank you."

"For now, I'll teach you the basics first."

Then, she taught me the basics of music, and before we knew it, it was already evening.

A few days later, my piano tutor came to teach me piano. Apparently, she was a baron's daughter like Mary.

I spent my days practicing piano, and I became skilled with it, although I can't still do octaves with my small hands. I also practiced other musical instruments like the violin so I could play Vivaldi and Paganini in the future.

While at it, I studied with my sister about this world and learned etiquette from Mary. I also trained my body and practiced my skills to become proficient with them.

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I kept training and practicing, and before I knew it, a year had already passed. During my practice, I composed (copied and pasted) two easy piano pieces, Little Star and Minuet in G Major (Bach).

"I have nothing to teach you. You are already at the level of a professional, despite your young age. Just keep practicing and improving your skills. I will spread your compositions when I get back to the capital."

"I understand and thank you for everything."

We bid farewell to each other as she gave me a compliment and some advice. She will be spreading my compositions and popularizing them.

Now that I am seven years old, I can start my practical training. Sister Louise had already started her training last year, but she was more excited about this than her studies.

The next day, my training started. I will be trained in martial arts and swordsmanship by Mother Mylene, and I will have magic lessons by Mother Claire.

Physical training in the morning and magic lessons in the afternoon. Each training session consists of a three-hour block. We trained five days a week and took a break on weekends.

"One more lap, Raphael!" Mother Mylene shouted.

Right now, I am running around the mansion to improve my stamina. In the early days of training, I have to improve my physical attributes first by doing exercises.

"Haah, haah."

"Take a rest for a while."

"Thank you, mother."

After finishing the final lap, I dropped my butt on the ground and caught my breath. Mother approached me to give me water to drink. She also wiped my sweating body using the towel in her hands.

We are in the front yard for training. I can see my sister swinging her wooden sword to fulfill her daily quota. She's gotten a lot stronger than before, even though she's still at level one.

In this world, you can increase your stat without leveling up through training. You can increase your stats by leveling up, but the growth rate varies with your effort before you level up.

That's why we improve our base stats first before killing a monster and leveling up. That was what our mothers said during our studies.

There were no guards or soldiers in the mansion's vicinity. There's no need for guards because the mansion is surrounded by a barrier.

The barrier had impregnable defense and was continuously powered by a dragon's magic crystal. This barrier was made from Mother Claire's magic, and the magic crystal was hunted by my mothers when conquering a dungeon.

Our mansion was located in the center of the exclusive district of the city. The city was surrounded by a 20-foot-tall stone wall. The city was divided by four districts.

The residential district, where the citizens live. The commercial district is where merchants and craftsmen sell their products. The downtown district is where various establishments are erected, like the adventurers' guild, the church, the training grounds, the red light district, and other entertainment establishments. And the exclusive district where the government offices are located and influential people stay.

The exclusive district was located at the center of the city, surrounded by 15-foot tall circular walls. There are three main roads that separate the remaining three districts equally.

"Mother! I'm done with my sword swing quota today."

"Then let's start the sparring."

Sister exclaimed that she had already fulfilled her thousand-swing quota. Mother took a wooden sword and faced Sister Louise.

They took a fighting stance and launched at each other. Sister held her sword with her right hand and slashed it at mother's right torso horizontally. Mother raised her sword upward and put her left hand on the blade to block the attack. She stepped back and held the hilt of her sword with both hands.

"Speed Boost!"

She activated a Level 1 Martial Art Technique that enhanced her raw speed. She charged at mother faster than before. Sister slashed her sword diagonally at high speed.

"Slash!"

Sister activated a Level 1 sword technique this time. Unlike before, mother stepped back with minimal effort and let the sword pass in front of her. The sword sliced nothing but thin air, leaving my sister wide open.

Art and techniques are great factors in winning a battle. It made humans better, enhance their bodies, and widen the vocabulary of their fighting styles.

In this world, an ordinary human being could lift a weight twice their own by applying martial arts techniques to their own body. In my previous world, a skinny human with martial arts technique in this world could have a decent fight with a professional wrestler.

Art techniques in this world consume the user's stamina instead of mana. Mana could also be used to strengthen the user's body to increase the output of the technique.

Grabbing this opportunity, mother thrust her sword at my open sister like a rapier. Sister immediately rotated her body clockwise to avoid the sword and took a step back.

Mother moved her sword a little to the left horizontally, then suddenly swung it to the right, where my sister was. Sister raised the sword on her right hand and put her free left hand on the blade to block her mother's attack.

"Kuh!"

Sister Louise stepped back a bit due to the impact of the swing. She took several steps back to distance herself from mother. Mother pursued her and thrust her sword again.

"Thrust."

"Sword Wheel!"

Sister used a Level 3 Sword Art: Sword Wheel. She spins her sword clockwise to parry mother's Level 1 sword technique. Mother used the momentum to execute a Level 3 sword technique.

"Circular Swipe."

"Block!"

Mother rotated her body 360 degrees clockwise and swung her sword horizontally in a circular motion. Sister tried to block the attack by using a Level 1 Technique. Sister Louise held her sword tightly with both hands, but mother's swing was just too strong. If she blocked the attack the same as before, her arm would break.

Sister's sword flew out of her hands and knocked her backward. She was on the butt, then mother pointed her sword at her. The flying sword landed on the ground, and the match was decided.

"You were better than the last time. Keep it up and improve your sword."

"Thank you, mother."

Mother happily praised my sister for improving her sword. By the way, I used [Analysis] on my mother and found out that she was just using 1% of her power. Sister took her sword again and sparred with mother one more time.

After I took enough rest, I started to run around the mansion again. Seeing their sparring motivated me to improve my skills. But I have to improve my physique first.

Eat healthy foods, get enough sleep, and do regular exercises. I have to do all of that to withstand the training of my parents.

"Raphael, it's already lunch."

"Hah, yeah."

As I thought about the things that I have to do, I heard my mother call me out. I did not notice that it was already time for lunch. I wiped off my sweat and then came inside to eat my lunch.