(9) Sword training

Returning to his room, Nicokel began devouring the food brought in by the maids. He was tired out from the workout in the morning. 

Finishing breakfast, Nicokel headed to the library with no hesitation. He saw a few servants along the way too, who bowed 90 degrees toward him.

'Looking at them I always remember that I am a noble heir.' Nicokel felt somewhat used to this feeling as he walked by the servant.

Reading history books in the library for an hour, Nicokel felt all his fatigue melt away. Closing the book in his hand, he got up and headed back to his room.

But before that.

"Hey, you, bring me a roll of bandage," Nicokel ordered the maid he found in the corridor. 

"U-understood, young master Nicokel!" She moved towards the storehouse quickly.

By the time Nicokel finished changing his clothes, the maid had brought the bandage as he had ordered. 

Staring at his fist, Nicokel couldn't help but shake his head. 

'They are too delicate no matter how I look at it. Just swinging the sword at full force would most likely make my skin burst.' 

Nicokel was aware of this point, therefore he brought bandages to not lose grip on the sword, which would be smeared in blood. 

By the time Nicokel arrived at the knight's training ground, it was almost empty with a few knights tidying the place. They bowed respectfully toward him. 

Signaling them to continue, Nicokel moved towards the weapon slots. They were kept in order, ranging from sword to spear; there were mostly swords as the Verskein family's sword technique was deeply connected to it. 

Screech~

Pulling out a sword from the scabbard, Nicokel looked at it. 

'It's heavy...My hands are shaking just from holding it.' Nicokel put it back into the sheath and then held it using both of his hands. He began moving out of the arena.

"Young master Nicokel. May I ask what you are planning to do with that sword?" 

Nicokel turned around hearing the question, only to find the knight captain who had his usual calm expression. 

"Muscle training," Nicokel spoke bluntly.

"I see. The sword is blunted but please be careful with it." The knight captain tried to walk away after saying this. 

"Wait." 

The knight captain turned around, seeing Nicokel gazing straight into his eyes. 

Thinking for a second, Nicokel opened his mouth: "Do you think I can awaken mana?" 

It was a question he couldn't find an answer to anywhere. Nicokel was aware that the road before him would be a lot easier if he could just use mana. That was why he wanted to make sure that he didn't leave any opportunity unchecked.

"It's most likely borderline impossible, Young Master Nicokel. As you might know, the world measures your talent by how much time you take to awaken mana." The knight captain spoke with a stoic face. 

Nicokel began to closely pay attention to what he was saying. It was a piece of information he didn't have access to. 

"Most people who can use mana awaken it by the time they turn two or three years old. It shows that they have average talent. As for those who awaken after that time frame, they are true talents."

"Their mana storage would be bigger compared to others. As it has been proven, you can only awaken mana when your body is ready to accept it. There was one person who awakened his mana at the age of 9, it is said that his mana was equal to a dragon. So you should know about your situation...." 

The knight captain didn't try to give Nicokel any blind hope. He spoke mercilessly so that Nicokel wouldn't waste time on something useless. It was his duty to show young people the best path for them.

"Thanks." 

The knight captain's eyes widened before his face was replaced with a smile: "Hahaha, it's nothing, young master Nicokel. Please visit the arena whenever you please." 

"Sure will." Nicokel waved his hand and moved to his usual training spot. 

'He turned out to be more approachable than I thought.' The knight captain smiled bitterly. 

Gazing at the clear sky above him, Nicokel sighed.

'I don't have a talent for mana in the end. I would like to see if I could become a mage or not, but asking that question to the knight captain would be a waste of time.' 

Placing the sword on the fountain alongside the bandage, Nicokel made two laps around the mansion. One while jogging and the other one running. 

Resting for a minute, Nicokel pulled out the sword from the sheath and held it in both his hands in an open area. 

'It's still heavy. I guess it was to be expected, as it is used by the knights to train.' Nicokel breathed out and tensed his muscles. He still had the mask on, hence his breathing was limited.

Copying the stance of the knights he watched for a week, he held the sword on his right hip with both hands.

'Place your feet on the ground to provide the strength for this strike. Footwork is very important in all the stances...' Nicokel recalled the stance from his memory. 

The knights used numerous stances, practicing them in order one by one. 

The stance Nicokel was using currently was to launch a strong initial strike. 

Swoosh~

Nicokel frowned, feeling the tingling pain in his palm. Feeling that his skin had not torn yet, he changed his stance and continued swinging the heavy sword. 

One swing.

Two swings

Three swings.

Drip~

Clenching his teeth, Nicokel looked at the blood dyeing the grass. Drops of blood were falling on the ground from the tip of the sword handle.

Swoosh~ 

Swinging for one last time, Nicokel felt his hand give up due to the abuse. His muscles didn't have the energy to swing the sword anymore. 

"Y-young master Nicokel! Are you alright?" A servant ran towards Nicokel looking at him kneeling clutching the sword. Blood was visible everywhere making the servant's mind go blank.

"Get back to your work." Nicokel nonchalantly got up and picked up the bandage from the fountain. 

"Eh..." The servant blankly stood there to understand what was going on before slowly moving away from there. 

Nicokel found that the skin between the index and thumb finger had burst, Bleeding non-stop. Both hands were covered in deep red blood. 

Opening the roll of the bandage with shaking hands, Nicokel began professionally rolling it around his palm. Covering even his fingers, which had turned red due to the friction of the sword handle. 

The frown on Nicokel's face deepened by a layer: 'It hurts more than I had expected. It's like my hand is on fire which just gets hotter and hotter. I can heal the injury using a potion, but doing so would not allow me to get a better grip on the sword.' 

Resting for multiple minutes for his muscles to recover, Nicokel held the sword and began swinging it again. Not caring about the searing pain in his palm. 

From then on, Nicokel changed his training plan. 

Stamina exercises in the morning, sword training after breakfast, and leg exercises in the evening like squats and side lunges.

.....

A month has passed since the day Halbert took over Nicokel's body. 

The sun peeked through the window, shining its rays upon the room. 

Nicokel concentrated on eating the type of breakfast prepared solely for him. Its taste was nothing compared to what he had in the blodraid dukedom, but he felt the food to be strangely appetizing. 

Looking at his palm which was covered in red bandages, Nicokel smiled in satisfaction. 

'My skin doesn't burst anymore as I swing my sword and I can feel my hand grow stronger too. Now I can swing around the sword for a minute before getting exhausted.'

And more than anything, he had lost almost all the fat around his body. He appeared like a normal 12-year kid, with some muscles. His height had also increased compared to before. 

'Now that my body has grown accustomed to the sword, I need to gain practical experience. The knight training ground is the only place where I can spar with others.' Nicokel looked out of the window with his dark eyes.