Trainings
There isn't much to do these days. After the kingdom split into two parts, many nobles died while many took flee from the kingdom and settled in another kingdom with all the money they could take with them.
In all this chaos, no one gave any thought to us. The third squadron team is almost fully independent now, operating in without any command.
It kinda made me wonder, did people actually forget how dangerous we are? Or maybe they think we are still working under Lady Mariette?
Well, if this is what they think, I guess they aren't really wrong either. I would like to work for her for the rest of my life. L
And right now too, I have been given an important task by Lady Mariette: to assign proper trainers to Irish, Ravenna, Brenna, and Corin.
That is why for the past few days, and even now, I'm overseeing their regular activities, their self-training, and also doing an overall background check on them to know their full history.
Of course, background checks take quite the time, especially for someone like Brenna, who is from a remote village with few records, and Alice, who just seem to come out of nowhere, a ghost without a past.
Why am I doing this?
Well, one way or another, it certainly helps in understanding them more. Maria, one of my colleagues in the third squadron, is a specialist at digging backgrounds of even high-class individuals.
Of course, it would have taken way less time if her partner, Emily, had been with her. But Emily is already assigned with the task of spying in the desert kingdom. There are high chances that Cassandra and her comrades are hiding there.
I resume my current daily activity of overseeing their lives. I first went to Maruti's house, or more accurately, the shared house. It always feels a bit strange going there.
Out in the balcony, Brenna and Ravenna were sitting on the floor, their chins resting on their knees. In front of them were several plant pots, some already had vibrant, green plants growing in them, while others were just filled with dark, rich soil, waiting for a spark of life.
Brenna also had an affinity with the nature element. Ravenna had the 'One with Woods' essence stone, which granted anyone an affinity with the wood element and gave it to brenna. But just having affinity wasn't enough; it took control, precision. This was Ravenna's method of teaching those basic things.
"Now try making the magic circle I taught you. But this time, make sure to only grow wood without any leaves, and try to give it a shape," Ravenna says, her voice calm and encouraging.
"Shape? What kind of shape?" Brenna asks nervously, her hands fidgeting in her lap.
"Umm, anything. Let's take a heart for example," Ravenna says, extending her index finger.
A small, intricate magic circle, glowing with a soft green light, appears in front of her finger. From the pot, a heart-shaped piece of wood grows rapidly, twisting and forming until it stops at just the right size, smooth and perfect.
"See?" Ravenna says, a proud smile on her face.
"Okay, I'll try," Brenna nods, her expression a mix of determination and fear.
Unlike Ravenna, who did it so casually, Brenna closes her eyes, her brow furrowed in concentration. She's imagining a heart shape inside her mind, pouring all her focus into the image. She uses both palms, held forward, to maintain her magic circle, her hands trembling slightly with effort.
The green-colored magic circle forms in the air, shimmering and unsteady at first. Slowly, the wood begins to grow from the soil. The wood disbalances a little from the heart shape, and a small, stubborn leaf could be seen sprouting from it. But overall, it was a clear success.
"Nice, you are progressing quite smoothly," Ravenna praises, her voice warm and genuine.
"Thanks," Brenna says with a small, relieved smile.
At that moment, Ravenna finally senses my presence behind them and turns to look up at me, her eyes widening slightly in surprise.
"Miss Meldia, you were here ever since, watching us?" she asks, her voice respectful but curious.
I shake my head slightly. "I just came here. You can resume your teaching," I say, my voice a low, neutral tone. Before stepping up and opening the door, I enter inside.
The same usual atmosphere greets me as I enter. On the sofa, Alice was laying down, a still figure in the quiet room. All the color seemed to have drained from her face, and her body looked as if all the blood had been sucked out, leaving her pale and lifeless.
"Is she turning into a zombie?" I thought, knowing it wasn't true but the image was hard to shake.
She seemed quite normal at first, but as time went by without Maruti, she started spending most of her time laying on the bed, either thinking about her or sleeping.
I can only hope that she stays alive by the time Maruti comes back. And to be honest, I specially told Maria to give special attention to Alice's background. She doesn't seem normal from any perspective.
She's also my main hurdle in completing my task. I kind of already have a clear idea of what kind of teacher I should assign to them.
For example, Verdes would be a good teacher for Brenna and Ravenna. He, too, has an affinity with nature and wood elements and actually has mastery over them.
As for Selene, although I'm still overseeing her, I'm pretty sure Lady Mariette is definitely a good teacher for her.
And then Corin. Rather than one, I'm actually thinking of assigning at least three teachers to him. One should be a beast kin, who could teach him about controlling himself in any situation and how to use his wolf potentials. One for teaching him about space elements, And one for physical training, to push his body to its limits.
But what about Alice? From what I know so far, she has great physical abilities and offense, maybe even stronger than me.
Although I haven't gotten the results of her background check yet, I can kinda know some of her basic weaknesses.
Such as low self-esteem. She's way too much dependent, an introvert, and lazy.
But this is it, what am I supposed to assign her? A psychiatrist? A therapist?
I quickly take my leave without saying anything. To be honest, there was nothing really for me to say, nothing that would reach her in her current state.
I go back to Lady Mariette's palace. Just like the past few days, Lady Mariette was currently training Selene in the garden.
I stay at the back without interfering in their fight at all, just watching from the sidelines.
Selene moves at incredible speed, a blur of motion, landing as many hits as she can with her small body. Yet Lady Mariette either blocks them or dodges without any issue, her movements a calm, effortless response to Selene's flurry of attacks.
"Good one, you are getting good at attacking," she praises.
"But just attacking isn't going to do it. You have to be good at one more thing," she adds.
"What is it?" Selene asks back, her breath coming in ragged gasps.
I knew what was coming.
And just like I expected, at that moment, without saying anything, Lady Mariette clenches her fist.
In one blink, she was standing in place, and the next second, she was in front of Selene.
BAM!...
She directly punches Selene in the face, causing her to fly away, I'm pretty sure that it was enough to almost break the teeth out of her mouth. The sound was a sickening crack that echoed in the quiet garden.
But luckily, her teeth held on.
"You need to be good at taking attacks as well," Lady Mariette says, her voice a loud shout that carried across the garden. "I'm not gonna hold back just because you are my daughter," she adds with a smile that shows her teeth.
If anyone else were overseeing it, they would definitely feel like Lady Mariette is being cruel.
But I don't think so.
Holding back against your close ones might show your affection towards them, but it is only going to hold them back later on. Especially when she'll have to fight much stronger enemies, these kinds of training are necessary.
So I'm totally in with Lady Mariette this time.
Her torture of a training continues. She grabs Selene by the waist and does a backflip, directly smashing Selene's head into the ground.
Oops... that must've surely hurt.
She has quite the supernatural physical abilities for her age, but Lady Mariette is Lady Mariette, and that ain't gonna work against her much.
"Fighting against father is completely different than training with her mother," I can bet this is what she's thinking right now.
Lady Mariette goes for another quick punch without even giving Selene a chance to sit up.
But before her punch could connect, Selene turns into an older version of herself.
No, my bad. She turns into her current self. It turns out she has quite a high growth rate which doesn't match her age at all. She just transforms into a childlike version of herself, which she learned from Miss Lilith.
The clothes get really tight, straining against her rapidly increasing form. Her height increases rapidly, her body changing in a matter of seconds.
Lady Mariette's fist stops immediately, and I kind of know why.
Because Selene looks like a mirror version of Esdeath, but a more glowing and cheerful type, with different hair and eye colors. L
And I certainly know quite a few things from head maid Lorraine about how much Lady Mariette loves Esdeath.
She ain't gonna hit her, even if it's training. Selene really took advantage of her face.
BAM!...
Selene takes the advantage of the situation, landing her first hit on Lady Mariette's face.
Lady Mariette goes flying a few meters away, But she quickly turns in the air, regaining her balance with an almost unnatural grace, and lands on the ground, her feet barely making a sound.
Meanwhile, Selene goes back to her childlike form again, the transformation a quick, fluid motion, her body shrinking back to its smaller size.
"It's good that you also use weaknesses during a fight, but I'm afraid others won't have such a weakness," Lady Mariette says, There was no anger in her voice, only a casual advice.
And she is completely right. Selene has the natural advantage of looking like Esdeath, but it is only an advantage when facing Lady Mariettem
But Selene just laughs, a bright, cheerful sound that was a little chilling in its innocence.
"I know, but it's your fault for having a weakness, not mine. I'm gonna use it even if it's unfair. As long as I win, this is what matters in the end," she replies, her voice a confident, matter-of-fact statement.
Ack!...
Both mine and Lady Mariette's words caught in our throats.
Who taught her that?
To be honest, I can't really deny it either. Real-life fights, Specially war ones aren't like in an arena, bounded by rules and honor.
As long as one wins, that is what matters, She'll use any given weakness she finds against her opponent.
I kind of already knew that behind that cheerful side, there's a dark, cunning, and malevolent side hidden in her cuz I could sense it.
And I can certainly guess from which individual she got this trait from. It wouldn't be wrong to call her a 'spawn of the devil.'
But I know Lady Mariette would tear apart anyone who would dare to call her that, even me.
Indulged in my own thoughts, I could faintly see and hear Lady Mariette laughing out loud,Then, she continues their training once again.