Leni, Berthy, and everyone else present were briefly confused by Victor's statement, but they suspected that he had something important to say, so they all paid close attention to the head of the Emerdine family.
"I think all of you already know how far Emerdine's three sons have come in terms of combat skills after the match just now. I hope the three of you continue to train regularly. And it seems some of you have something to say, so please go ahead."
Victor looked at his three sons and then at everyone present. Berthy then responded to Victor's words in a loud and firm voice.
"My son Gerdan will win if a certain someone doesn't use cheap magic tricks to block his vision!"
"In case you forget, Lord Victor does not prohibit tricks or any other means as long as they do not endanger lives. Have you forgotten that?"
"Tsk!"
Gerdan was confused to see his mother protesting his defeat to Leni, even though he believed his brother Ardyn's victory was due to his strength as a talented Mage.
Meanwhile, Ardyn simply watched the two women argue with a straight face, knowing that his victory over Gerdan did not violate the rules set by his father Victor.
"Ahem. Ardyn, Gerdan. Is there something you want to say?"
Victor's statement caught the attention of the people around him again, causing Berthy and Leni to stop arguing. Gerdan then raised his hand cheerfully.
"I wish I were stronger and faster, Father! Then I could defeat Brother Ardyn!"
"And better at reading the situation."
"Eh!? Sir Norrit! But why!?"
"Because that's the truth."
Winfred smiled slightly at the banter between Gerdan and Norrit, but the knight's words were true, and it was up to Gerdan to figure out how to resolve his weakness. Ardyn thought with his hand on his chin, then expressed his opinion about today's sparring.
"I need to expand my knowledge of magic and combat, then apply it in daily training or sparring like today."
"That means you're willing to fight me every day, right, Brother Ardyn!?"
Gerdan immediately replied to Ardyn's words enthusiastically, but Ardyn ignored him. Victor then turned his gaze to Winfred and asked him.
"What about you, Winfred?"
All eyes were on him. Winfred swallowed hard and looked at his father. Speaking in front of a crowd was nothing new to him, thanks to the jobs he had done in his previous life, but it was a different story when it came to talking about someone's combat abilities in front of them.
"Should I share my opinion? Ah, it's okay. Besides, it's for their own good, right?"
Winfred then took a deep breath and, with a confident expression, shared his observations from today's sparring match.
"As Sir Norrit said, Brother Gerdan is too focused on the fight and enjoys the moment too much, forgetting about his surroundings and the rules of combat. Perhaps Brother Gerdan needs to learn to hold his desires and emotions during a fight."
"As for Brother Ardyn, I think he is too focused on the objectives and rules of the match, which makes him seem too rigid. If Brother Ardyn faces reckless and daring opponents, he might have a hard time."
"As for me, I need to improve my stamina and spear technique so that I can face strong opponents like Brother Ardyn and Brother Gerdan for a long period of time. Oh yes, I also need to fight various types of opponents often because it seems that I still have difficulty with opponents who use various techniques and magic spells."
After expressing all his opinions, Winfred looked at everyone and saw only surprised faces. His mother Olivyn was shocked and looked anxious as she hugged his shoulders, Leni just raised her eyebrows with a gloomy expression, while Berthy glared at him and looked like she was about to get angry.
"Thank you for your insights, Young Master Winfred. I will keep your words in mind and train my disciple more diligently."
"Huh! Hold on, Sir Norrit! I disagree with what my little brother said-"
The knight's sharp gaze silenced Gerdan, and the red-haired boy could only fidget and scratch his head. On the other hand, Berthy seemed to be merely observing, even though her face clearly showed discomfort.
Ardyn seemed in deep contemplation as he listened to his younger brother's opinion. Seeing that his mother did not support or say anything, he then responded to the opinion of his dark brown-haired younger brother.
"Good observation, Winfred. I guess that's the reason why you were one step ahead when facing my spell?"
"Ahaha...you could say so, Brother Ardyn..."
Winfred could only laugh at his perceptive older brother. He then looked at his father and was surprised to see the corners of his lips slightly raised.
"Hm. Very good, everyone. The three of you expressed your opinions about each other. I hope you can learn something today and train yourselves to be better for our family. Now, please return to your usual activities. Good day."
Following the words of the Head family, one by one, people began to leave the training hall, starting with Victor and Sebastian, Ardyn and Gerdan who followed their respective groups, until the last ones were Winfred and his group.
"Just now...did Father just smile?"
Winfred couldn't believe what he had just seen. He saw his father smile, but when he blinked again, his father's face was emotionless once more. Was he hallucinating, or was he just too tired from fighting two people? He cleared his mind and focused on the present situation.
"You must be tired. How about we go back to your room?"
"Yes, Mother…"
And just like that, the sparring between Emerdine's three sons came to an end.
***
Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, months turned into years. Snow fell in the First Month of the year 1291 in the Noggen Empire. Although the winter air was bone-chilling, it did not dampen Winfred's enthusiasm for training with Wayne.
In the same training hall, Wayne fought with his disciple. They exchanged blows for quite a while, which impressed the eyepatch man with his disciple's progress.
Winfred released his Sonar and observed his mentor's movements. The man approached him with his body lowered, both hands gripping the wooden spear tightly near his chest, which meant his mentor was about to launch a quick thrusting attack.
His intuition proved correct. Wayne quickly thrust toward Winfred, but the attack was blocked fairly easily. Again, he changed his attack by pulling his wooden spear far back.
"Lunging attack!"
The attack struck the tip of Winfred's spear, sending a powerful tremor through his hands. He quickly kept his distance and regained his fighting stance, but there was no follow-up attack from his mentor. Wayne withdrew his spear and walked leisurely toward his disciple.
"Break time, Young Boy. Huh...is it just me or your movements getting sharper every day? At this rate, in a few years you'll surpass me and we'll end these training days sooner, hehehe!"
"That's not true, Master! I do feel that my movements and attacks are improving, but it's still too early to compare myself to you!"
"Young Master, here's your drink."
"Oh, right. Thank you, Nina."
Wayne watched his disciple gulping down water given to him by his personal maid. The desire to be strong, the humble nature, yet at the same time appreciating his strengths and caring for others reminded him of his own youth.
He hoped his disciple would maintain such attitudes into the future. However, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and reminded himself that it was merely wishful thinking.
Thinking about his disciple, Wayne remembered something. He picked up his bag lying on the edge of the field to take something out of it. He carried a small rectangular wooden box and walked back to Winfred.
Winfred finished wiping his sweat with a towel and saw his mentor approaching him carrying something.
"For you, Young Boy. A gift from your father. Be sure to thank him, okay?"
"What is this?"
The young man with dull green eyes ran his fingers over the surface of the wooden box, which was quite smooth and looked luxurious. He then opened the box and found a long, transparent glass object with some writing on it that he recognized.
"Huh? Is this thing what I think it is, Master?"
"Heh, a small Manameter. Precisely, it measures how far your Mana has developed. But for this size, it only goes up to High-rank."
"May I try this thing, Master?"
"Be my guest! You just need to circulate your Mana throughout your body."
Winfred saw a small arrow at the bottom of the device and thought that its use was similar to that of a Mana Sphere. He then decided to use only half of his total Mana to test the device. It didn't take long for the small arrow to rise from the bottom to the middle, where it stopped completely.
"Huh, you're almost a full-fledged Apprentice-rank, Young Boy. Not bad!"
"Thank you, Master."
Wayne was pleased with his disciple's progress. Seeing the 10-year-old boy smile for some reason made him feel relieved and not regret his decision to teach here.
On the other hand, Winfred, who had not yet exerted all of his Mana, was a little surprised by the results shown on the Manameter.
He thought that with all the clichés he had experienced, there was little hope that he would reach the full-fledged Apprentice rank with only half his Mana, but the results were not as expected and it seemed that he still had a long way to go to become strong.
Distracting himself, he asked his mentor.
"Oh yes, I heard that Brother Ardyn and Brother Gerdan have received acceptance letters from Voggen Academy."
"Heh...do you know what the letter says?"
"Unfortunately, I don't know much about it. Nina, have you heard any news about it?"
"Yes, Young Master. Apparently, Young Master Ardyn and Young Master Gerdan have successfully passed and will enter the Academy next spring."
Winfred was grateful to hear the news. He had been worried about one of his older brothers, who wasn't very bright, because Voggen Academy was quite strict with their entrance exams. While talking about the Academy, he asked his mentor a few questions.
"Academy, huh? What's it like studying there?"
"What is it, are you curious? Heh! That place is just a bunch of noble kids showing off their social status. But I can't deny that the curriculum, teaching methods, and research there are the most advanced compared to other institutes in the world."
"Master. You speak as if you've enrolled there?"
"Hm? Ah! I haven't told you yet. Your father, Alcott, and I were in the same generation at Voggen Academy."
Winfred and Nina were shocked to hear Wayne's confession, especially Winfred. He had a feeling that his father and his mentor were quite close, well, maybe just acquaintances, but it turned out to be much closer than he thought.
Especially about his formal education teacher, Alcott, because his bespectacled teacher never talked about himself. Wayne then continued the conversation.
"About the Academy, there are two entrance exams if you want to study there. The first is a written exam and the second is a practical exam. As far as I know, Voggen Academy has never changed their enrollment quota and it is always the same every year."
"Hm...can anyone enroll, Master?"
"Of course. Young men and women who are 15 years old have the opportunity to study there, provided they are talented and smart because every year there are always many applicants."
"Even commoners?"
"That's right, Young Boy. Like I said, as long as they are truly talented and smart."
A feeling of relief washed over him. Luckily, Voggen Academy still followed the same pattern as the game.
Winfred himself did not know yet whether he would enter the Academy, considering that it was one of the central settings of the story in all routes.
He also hoped that the game's protagonist would still be the same one he knew.
"Anyway, thank goodness your two older brothers got in. If you want to be like them, you have to practice and study hard, hahaha!"
"Yes, Master!"
"Excuse me, Young Master. Regarding the news just now, I was also told that next week there will be a grand party to celebrate their acceptance...and it also coincides with Young Master Ardyn's 15th birthday."
"Huh? Next week!?"
"That's right, Young Master. Moreover, I was also asked by the Head Butler to convey this news to you, Sir Wayne. The party invitation will arrive at your residence tomorrow."
"I'm invited too? That guy... he didn't need to go to all the trouble..."
Wayne shook his head and smiled wryly at Nina's words. On the other hand, it was the first time Winfred had heard this news. Once again, it looked like next week would be a busy one for him.