31 Training in the Garden

Mordred couldn't help but be stunned and feel incredibly awkward after he casually caused Beatrice to mana-orgasm or something; the little girl's moan still reverberated in his ears.

Mordred liked petite women too, but Beatrice was simply a child! He would never even begin to view her in a romantic light. It was just too awkward.

"Sorry. It's the first time I transferred mana to someone," he said.

"So reckless, I suppose!" Beatrice snorted.

"I'm sorry. I promise to be more gentle next time, Beako," Mordred whispered softly while giving Beatrice an affectionate look.

"I don't like this perverted look, in fact!"

Mordred chuckled and then said normally: "Haha, I'm only joking. I'll go slower this time."

"Hn. Better be careful now or Betty won't forgive you next time, in fact!" Beatrice snorted and extended her hand which Mordred took into his own instead.

Mordred hummed and nodded. He said, "Tell me when the speed is good. I'm not used to controlling my mana like this."

"Betty will tell, so listen carefully, I suppose…"

Soon the two began the mana transfer again.

"This is good, in fact! Don't go any faster," Beatrice said while lightly panting, her face flushing red once again.

Mordred could see that Beatrice still seemed to experience some kind of pleasure from the act of the mana transfer, though this time it was more controlled and prolonged.

Beatrice continued absorbing Mordred's mana for a few minutes until she had a little trouble breathing.

"That's enough, I suppose," Beatrice finally said as she pulled back her hand. "I confirmed that you aren't an enemy, in fact."

"You can still take some more if you want. I regenerate mana rather quickly," Mordred said.

"Hm, that's enough. Though you really have a lot of mana, I suppose. What are you, I wonder?" Beatrice's butterfly-shaped pupils looked at Mordred sternly.

"What am I? You're talking about my race?" Mordred asked.

"You're reckless, but not too stupid, I suppose."

"Not too stupid? So I'm still stupid, just not as much?" Mordred asked with a light smile, not taking Beatrice's words to heart. After a brief pause, he didn't wait for a reply and continued, "Ah, well, I'm mostly human. Originally I was an artificial human raised by my mother, and I'm partially a spirit."

Beatrice's stoic face seemed to flash with amazement as she looked at Mordred silently for a few good moments, before it returned to cold suspicion. She said, "Partially a spirit. If Betty hasn't seen you with her own eyes, she wouldn't believe it. What a strange thing you are, I suppose."

"Thank you," Mordred said with an honest tone. He was glad to be whatever he was - it certainly beat being human.

"Hn. What's with the stench on you though, I wonder?" Beatrice said and then squeezed the tip of her nose. "It's ridiculously dense, in fact."

"You must be talking about the Witch's scent. Well, two things - my mother was a witch, and I also have a connection to one of the witches of this world," Mordred said.

"Hn, your mother was a witch? You're trying to trick Betty, I suppose!" Beatrice crossed her arms.

"You can think what you want. You asked why I have the witch's stench, so I answered." Mordred shrugged his shoulders. "Just please don't mention it to the others in the mansion or they will freak out."

Beatrice remained silent as she continued staring at Mordred. Finally, she said, "You said you're connected to one of the witches. To which witch are you connected, I wonder?"

"I would rather not tell," Mordred said rather firmly.

In response, Beatrice didn't push it and seemed to have accepted this answer. "Why did you even come here to Betty's library, I suppose?"

Mordred sighed and lightly smiled. "I wanted to meet you."

"Hn. Nonsense, I suppose." Beatrice pouted. "Betty is not stupid. You're here to take away Betty's library, I suppose! Just like the others, in fact!"

"That's not wrong. I hope for it eventually, but today I only wanted to meet you, Beatrice," Mordred said with a tone of complete honesty.

Beatrice seemed to be at a loss for a while, before her visage turned suspicious again. "How do you know all this, in fact? How do you know about Betty's contract and mother?"

Mordred shrugged his shoulders. "I already said that I know a lot of mysteries of this world. I can't tell you how I know it though. It's my secret."

Beatrice gently wrinkled her eyebrows. "Hn. What a strange thing you are, it's quite frustrating, in fact."

"Anyway, we started on the wrong foot, Beatrice. I only answered your questions to ease your worries. I can answer more of your questions later, but today I just wanted to meet you." Mordred took a step forward and extended his hand to Beatrice. "Nice to meet you, Beatrice."

Beatrice looked at Mordred's hand for a while, before she crossed her hands behind her back. "You wanted to meet Betty, and you did, I suppose. You can leave now, in fact!"

Mordred only pulled back his hand and smiled in response. "Then I'll leave for now. I have a question before that though. Beatrice, is there a spell that can steal a person's memories or knowledge? Or a soul maybe? Extracting a soul or something like this might work as well."

Beatrice stayed silent for a while. "It is possible with Yin magic, I suppose. There is one rather simple spell to extract a person's soul, in fact. One can then place it into a puppet. Why do you want to know that, I suppose? Do you want to use such a nefarious method on someone?"

Mordred had a relieved smile on his face. "I don't want to use it yet, but it's a relief to know that there's a spell like this. Just in case, you know."

"It's none of Betty's business, I suppose. Leave now!"

Mordred faintly smiled. "Okay. Then I'll see you later, Beatrice."

Beatrice only let out a light snort and Mordred soon left the library.

Without much of a delay, Beatrice quickly pulled out a book from below her ladder and hurriedly opened it with hope shining in her eyes. However, her expression instantly darkened. "It's still empty, in fact…"

***

The moment Mordred walked out of the Forbidden Library he was greeted with the sight of Ram seeming to give a mansion tour to Nadia and Ozwell - Mordred's assigned servants from the Astrea family.

"Mordred-sama, what were you doing in the women's wardrobe? Did you want to change those rags of pants of yours for a skirt?" Ram asked with an emotionless voice.

"Women's wardrobe?" Mordred asked, ignoring Ram's jab. He then opened the already closed door to find exactly what Ram was talking about - a women's wardrobe for the servants. "Damn, Beatrice. Not bad."

Mordred looked back at Ram and clapped his hands twice for a dramatic effect. At the same time, with a flash of crimson light, his casual outfit changed into a completely tailored black suit, making him look tall, elegant and sexy. "Thanks, Ram, but I'm good. I like to wear my casual clothing outside of official meetings because it's comfortable."

He then clasped his hands again and changed back into denim shorts reaching slightly above his knees and a t-shirt.

Mordred wasn't sure how it worked, but he was able to switch not only between his two magical outfits, but also a normal set of clothes. Both his magical armor and his casual set of magical clothes could also get easily cleaned or repaired from any damage simply by injecting mana into them.

It was a really nice small cheat!

Nadia and Ozwell were both stunned by Mordred's casual display of strange magic, while Ram, although attempting to appear stoic, also seemed surprised. What Mordred was doing wasn't normal in this world, after all.

"I planned to wait in my room, but since I'm already here I guess I'll go to the garden," Mordred voiced his thoughts. "Ram, where can I do some training? Something like a secluded spot in the woods would be good."

Ram looked at Mordred for a while. "I will show you. Dear guest, please follow me. You two as well."

Mordred was soon led to the back garden and was allowed to use this part to train in. There was supposed to be lunch soon, but for the time being Mordred wanted to do some training.

Flash!

When Ram and the others began leaving, Mordred equipped his armor, his head exposed, and then his sword. Although materializing his magical armor cost unnecessary mana, it also very slightly restricted his movements while worn, so Mordred preferred to always practice with it equipped.

He then took a two-handed stance and began to perform sword drills.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Mordred cut through the air with Clarent just with his physical strength. The movements were sharp yet fluid and calm as Mordred controlled the overswings for optimal strikes, practicing various footwork, swings, thrusts and guards.

Although Mordred seemed to have returned to his peak in swordsmanship as a Heroic Spirit, it didn't matter to him. He still wanted to keep practicing if he had the time to try to reach an even higher level. Especially since Mordred's style originally focused on obeying her instincts and on simple power-based swings - there was surely room for improvement in regards to technique and tactics!

In fact, because Mordred swallowed his pride and asked Reinhard for guidance and proper lessons in swordsmanship, he felt that it's likely that his swordsmanship has already surpassed the original Mordred who was self-taught.

On a long enough timeline, Mordred also hoped to experience physical changes to his body due to all the training outside of the loops - something that he naturally didn't have a chance to test yet.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Boom!

Mordred continued practice. From time to time, he would let out a wild powerful strike and produce a sonic boom as he cranked up his strength and speed and broke the sound barrier with his blade.

Unfortunately Mordred had to limit his power, or otherwise he would leave the garden in shambles. When exploding with full physical strength, just the wind pressure from Mordred's blow could easily cleave rends in solid concrete and stone, or create craters. What he practiced was mostly technique and control.

Just B-rank strength was enough for Mordred to topple buildings with a decent punch or to throw around earth dragons like baseballs and projectile weapons. (PS: no earth dragons were permanently hurt during testing)

However, B+ rank strength was just on another level.

As a Servant, B-rank Strength with a "+" modifier meant that when Mordred put his mind to it and committed to an attack, he could explode with physical strength twice that of B-rank, far surpassing a Servant posessing A-rank physical Strength! If B-rank Strength was 40 units of strength, while A-rank Strength was 50, then when Mordred pushed himself his physical strength would be cranked up to 80 for a single devastating blow.

Pairing it up B+ rank Strength with an A-rank Mana Burst that would multiply Mordred's speed and strength several times over the norm, Mordred could explode with frightening power if the situation called for it. And it was amazing! Mana Burst ability was a frightening ability, as he came to slowly realize it.

One more thing that Mordred came to realize was that he was far stronger than the Fate/Apocrypha animation made him think. On the other hand, he was not as strong as some of the hyperboles or descriptions of the Type Moon light novels talked about Servants.

When it came to deflecting an attack or when committing to an attack with Mana Burst and a peak condition, Mordred judged that he could react at a Hypersonic speed, guesstimating it at over Mach 10, maybe up to 15.

When it came to sprinting when only using his physical body though, it was difficult for him to break the sound barrier and especially keep it at for an extended period of time. Though B-rank Agility, B+ rank Strength and [Mana Burst A] made acceleration, dodging and blocking at extreme speeds very easy when he strained himself.

At that moment, after continuously swinging his sword for around half an hour, Mordred suddenly froze his body as he paused after a powerful swing. He then relaxed and dropped his guard, letting out a breath.

Looking over toward the mansion, Mordred could notice Beatrice far in the distance behind one of the windows. He was aware that she was watching him for a while now. 'With the Forbidden Library's door crossing she can sort-of choose to be in any room she wants, I guess?'

Although on the first glance Mordred's meeting didn't seem to go that well, he was aware that Beatrice was quite cold to strangers, even though she was actually very lonely inside her heart. He felt that his meeting still went at least ten times better than any of Subaru's as that guy would basically insult her, treat her with no respect and make fun of her during every single time.

Mordred raised his left free arm and waved toward Beatrice.

"Huh, he noticed me from so far away, in fact." Beatrice snorted as she turned her head away from the window with a cold expression.

Mordred faintly smiled and then turned toward another spectator that just came over, accompanied by Ram who was likely there to observe them. "Subaru, what's up."

"Yo. I saw you training, or rather heard the shockwaves, so I thought I'd do some exercises too to stay in shape." Subaru started stretching himself, bending to the sides. "I didn't train for the last two days. If you miss one day of training, you'll have to train for three days in a row to catch up, or so they say."

"That's not exactly how it works, but it's always good to stay in shape," Mordred said with a faint smile. He recalled that although Subaru was a lazy shut-in, he still kept up a daily training calisthenics regimen. He said, "Come to think of it, you aren't a knight, but you're in quite good shape, Subaru."

Subaru was a little stunned, before he lightly smiled and casually said while he continued stretching, "Well, sort of. Since I'm a shut-in, I should at least exercise a bit."

Subaru then started waving his arms out while partially squatting and spreading his knees outwards in an awkward motion, seeming to feel no shame at all while doing so.

Mordred hummed for a while and returned to his own training with the sword.

Meanwhile Subaru did a routine of radio calisthenics and then a hundred push-ups, a hundred sit-ups, and a hundred squats, all while sweating profusely. This was the type of workout regime he did every day at home.

Following that, Subaru gave himself some rest while planning to do another round. Seeing Mordred in a trance and in his own world, he felt quite lonely; it was difficult for Subaru to stand silence.

"I wonder what's with these two."

At the sound of Subaru's voice, who seemed to have noticed something, Mordred stopped his sword drill that he got entrance in and looked in the direction of the manor.

The twin maids with their prominent pink and light blue hair came towards them. They both calmly gave formal bows.

""Roswaal-sama, lord of the manor, has returned. Dear guests, please come to the mansion for late lunch,"" the twins said in perfect unison without a single flaw.

This time, unlike before when they had joked around, the two girls standing in front of Mordred and Subaru now looked like proper servants of a mansion. In short, they went from private-mode to work-mode.

"Ah, Ross-chi is back. I'll continue my training later then, I guess." Subaru wiped the sweat from his face. Shortly after, the blue-haired maid quickly moved closer to him, brought out a handkerchief from her bosom, and finished tidying up his appearance for him. He said, "Thanks."

"No, as a servant, it's my duty, dear guest," said Rem.

"No, as a servant, it's my job, Barusu," said Ram.

Even though it was Rem that did it, Ram butted in as well as if it were only natural.

Meanwhile Mordred recalled his sword and armor, returning to his casual attire. Even though he practiced intensely for an hour, he was not tired at all thanks to his A-rank Servant's Stamina.

The four of them then headed back to the mansion.

…

In the dining room where the twins had led Mordred and Subaru to, Beatrice was already sitting at a table, and she silently looked at the two of them.

Beatrice - she was a beautiful, sweet girl. She appeared to be younger than Felt, perhaps eleven or twelve years old. Adorable came to mind, and the little girl's appearance seemed to be the embodiment of that word. The cuteness level was so high that one's heart couldn't help but melt if she were to smile.

"Oh, there is a little girl living here as well? Are you Ross-chi's daughter?"

Beatrice frowned at Subaru with a straight expression. "I have no idea what you're talking about, in fact. Though watching your weird dance from above, I felt… that you're quite out of your mind, I suppose."

******

(AN: So… I feel like the story is a bit dull with the current development, but I'll at least drop a few next chapters before I'm forced to go on hiatus to re-read the original. I more and more think of quickly writing up an alternative version during that time with both Subaru and Mordred starting with RbD (like I mentioned in one of the notes) or without Subaru at all. Originally I planned to just leave Subaru in the capital or off him quickly, but he's just like a cockroach.)

(Let's just say I'll release the next chapter on Saturday.)