4 Chapter Three

A good number of days had passed after the bandit attack and the town of Rivendell has been peaceful ever since that incident. Varre did become the local hero overnight, for being brave enough to fight against the bandits, without a grimoire of his own and managing to take down quite a few of them, earning praise from the Magic Knights as a result.

Varre was least bothered about all of that, his main concern lying with the new changes in the 'original plot'. Of all things he had written, he did not remember writing a childhood friend for the main character, but here she is, right in front of him in flesh.

Tracing back to the original Varre's memories, he got a part of the story revolving around Altria. Elena had stumbled upon the blonde six years back, bruised and battered in the forested areas where she frequently visited for picking up herbs and flowers for her shop. Not having the heart to leave a child alone in the wilderness, neither having much faith in the orphanages, she brought Altria to her house and from then on, the blonde started living with them.

When she asked about her background or how she ended up like that in the forest, she responded with having amnesia and the topic was never raised again. At that time, the mother and son were convinced by it but the 'current Varre' assumes that she is avoiding the topic on purpose.

'Well it is not my problem for the time being. Though I am a little bit curious about her background and whether it will affect the storyline or not.' He stopped his train of thoughts, looking across the dining table, his jaw dropping at the sight of Altria having finished the third plate of her meal. His gaze switched back to his own half-empty plate. "Don't you think you eat too much for a girl?"

"I-I.." Altria's face flushed in a deep shade of red out of embarrassment and she couldn't come up with a proper response to that. She averted her gaze and stared down at the table, unable to meet Varre in the eye.

Luckily she didn't need to come up with a response, her rescue appearing in the form of Elena who smacked her son with enough force to leave him making out with the dinner table before joining them for the meal. "Never comment on a woman's weight and her eating habits, got that young man?"

"Lesson learned." The brown-haired teen replied after checking whether his jaws were broken or not. Today he learned an important life lesson, something which he missed out on his previous life. The words, "There is no end to learning" were indeed right.

"But Miss Elena. He is right about me eating--"

"Don't listen to what he says. He likes to pick on you and is just doing that for the fun of it." Elena cut her off. "You can eat how much you want to. I am telling you, and it will do nothing to your health or looks. Plus growing children should be eating more."

"That doesn't justify finishing three---" And once again, Varre's face met the wooden table. No matter how fast his reflexes are during fights, against his mother every innate talent seemed futile.

"If you say so." The blonde shyly replied, passing a glance at Varre who rolled his eyes and stayed silent for the time being, not in favor of getting hit anymore.

"So did you pick which magic knight squad you want to join?" Elena asked, facing her son.

"Not yet. Although I did pick the ones where I definitely won't be going." Varre answered.

"Those being?" Altria curiously inquired.

"Purple Orcas, Green Mantis and Blue Rose." He counted. "First one always has shady rumors going around it and the captain looks like a clown; the members of the second one are simply laid back and the captain might want to slice me up for no reason; thirdly, Blue Rose selects male members just to make them errand boys!"

"Wait! So the rumors of them selecting male members for errand jobs is true?" Altria raised an eyebrow.

"I mean it's not false. Blue Rose is popular for being an all-female squad so what do you expect the males who get unfortunately picked on by the Captain do?" The brunette shrugged. Having finished his meal, Varre stood up and put his plate in the sink. Heading for the doorway, he spared a glance to his mother. "I am off to train. Will return by an hour or two."

With that said, he bolted out of the house.

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Arriving at a clearing on the outskirts of the town, Varre quickly went over to a secluded area which he had stumbled upon a few days back. It proved to be a perfect place to train without much disturbance. Also the people around mostly minded their own business unless they were of nobility, who's only job was to harass and ridicule those of the lower class. Rivendell Town was a town filled with mostly commoners so they were safe from the harassment as long as a haughty and arrogant noble didn't pay an unwanted visit.

For the past few days, Varre had been doing countless experiments with his magic attribute. He discovered that since his attribute covered swords, he is able to conjure swords from any material, given he would need to have its shape, constitution, durability, appearance, texture, edge and sharpness perfectly envisioned in his mind. Magic comes from within a mage. As long as they have a clear mental image of the spell they wish to perform in their mind, they are able to perform the spell without any problems.

Closing his eyes, Varre spread out his right arm, letting mana flow through it. Visualizing a mental image of a wooden sword, he made the mana take the shape and a wooden sword was formed. After days of practicing, he has been able to make normal and wooden swords perfectly. Conjuring swords with elemental or other magical properties appeared to be complicated at his current stage.

"Nor can I give them any abilities." He muttered to himself, swinging the wooden sword after having coated it with a thin layer of mana. "I think I might be able to do it after I receive the Grimoire. That aside, will that move even work?"

Rather than wasting time thinking hard, he decided to experiment with it on himself. Channeling a considerable amount of magic in the wooden sword, he swung it, sending a crescent slash of mana up in the area in front of him before letting go off the weapon and augmenting his feet to maximize his speed.

Dashing ahead, he ran past his own attack, halting a few meters ahead of it and begin focusing his magic in his palm. A curved shortsword with five holes in the middle of the sharp blade along with five half-moon holes on the side of the blade materialized. The sharp part of the blade was silver in color and the opposite was a shade of mossy dark green .

Gripping the sword tightly in his left hand, Varre put his right leg behind as the spell closed in.

"Full Cou--!!"

The spell crashed onto him, followed by an explosion. Instead of the result he desired, he was sent crashing and rolling, all covered in soot and dirt.

"That wasn't the best of my ideas.." Varre coughed before sitting up. His weapon had already shattered when he attempted to block his own spell with it. "It was a good thing that I used less mana than usual or else I would have been a goner."

The ability he was trying to imitate belonged to a main character from another verse. Simply copying the design of that character's weapon wouldn't give him access to the ability itself. The ability was exclusive only to that character so getting hang of it was going to be very difficult.

"Did you really hit yourself with your own magic?" Altria's voice cut him out from his thought process. Tearing his gaze from his empty and dirt-covered palm, he lifted his face, his hazel eyes meeting with her green ones.

"Here to make fun of me?" Varre countered. "I was trying out a new spell. And as you can see it backfired."

"You know you have been weird these days." Altria commented before holding out her hand to him and pulling him up from the ground. "I mean you were weird before, but lately you have been practicing way too intensely than before. Is it because of the sudden change of heart to become a Magic Knight?"

The girl knew about how Varre did not wish to become a Magic Knight previously and also how he came over it one day and decided on becoming one. She did not ask what caused him to change his mind but in a way it was good for her. Now they could take part in the Magic Knights Entrance Exam together, once Varre ends up receiving his Grimoire. She had already received hers a year ago but did not partake in the Exams. At that time she was hoping that somehow she would be able to change his mind.

"It's something way more than that." Varre replied in a deep voice. "I have been having dreams lately."

"Dreams? What kind of dreams?" The girl curiously asked.

"Dreams of a swordsman who almost moved at the speed of light and had much more refined techniques than mine. In the blink of an eye, with his superior speed he could take down his enemies no matter the number and with one slash of his sword he could even cut down hurricanes." Varre explained. "These dreams have been constant and I am here trying to reach that man's level, if even by a little bit."

"You really are strange. Chasing after someone whom you didn't even meet in real life but in your dreams." Altria hummed, walking up and picking the wooden sword from the ground and casually swung it around. "Tell me, do you really wish to become like that man in your dreams? Even if it is just a fleeting dream?"

"Huh?" Varre was taken aback by the question, not having expected her to ask it. "Well as absurd as it may sound, I want to become strong so I don't see what's wrong with chasing someone stronger?"

'Not for now, but for the enemies I will have to face in the future, I need to be strong enough.' He had no idea how much more the original plot was going to change or what kind of changes his actions will bring in which is why he would need every ounce of strength he could muster to be able to face them. 'Also since the dreams have started, it won't be long....'

"Then let me help you achieve your goal." The blonde girl suddenly spoke, after listening to Varre closely without having interrupted even once. "You are right. There is nothing wrong with the desire to pursue strength, and knowing you, I am sure that you are pursuing strength for the sake of those around you, right?"

The path to pursuing strength for the sake of others might be a noble path but it is a lonely path too when pursued by one man alone. And there can be times when the person can get lost in it. She wished to be by his side, as an anchor who would help him achieve his goal without holding him back and instead giving him the strength to achieve it.

'I will have to accept the fact that this is my new life and they are my new family. I will need to be able to protect them at the very least from all the danger that is to come.' He stared at the girl in silence, contemplating her words. 'And simply being stronger in magic won't be enough. I will need to be in some kind of high social standing too. Another reason to join the Knights.'

"D-Did I say something wrong?" Altria stuttered with her words, having caught Varre staring at her. She glanced down at the ground, nervously fiddling with her fingers.

"Nope, nothing like that." Varre shook his head before making her look up by pressing a hand on her shoulder. "Since you decided to help me, there's no backing off. I will be in your care."

"I will do my best and don't expect me to hold back." Having heard his words, she felt relief wash over her and responded with a toothy grin. Then her expression changed as she was reminded of something. "By the way, what does 'Nope' mean?"

'...I should be more careful with my words..' Varre's palm met his face, realizing the unknown blunder he made. "It's just another slang for saying No."

"And what does slang mean?"

"Manner of speaking, that has a different meaning than accent." Varre deadpanned at his own blunders that he made consecutively. 'I even fucked up the meanings and phrases!'

"Oh." The girl tilted her head in visible confusion. "Do these weird new words also come from your dreams?"

".....Let's just get to practicing.."