Chapter 6

Part 6: Awakened (2)

Despite the duke's suspicious expression, the time that followed passed without much incident.

The dry congratulations from Simon and the duchess, the ignorance from little Manuel, and the proper praise from my sister and the second duchess.

Even the butler and the household staff, who offered awkward congratulations.

"Don't be too disappointed. Just awakening your ability is already a great achievement."

Back in my room, my mother hugged me tightly and comforted me, but I didn't really need the comfort.

Instead, I was quite satisfied with the result.

'It's better than not awakening at all.'

While safety is important, being cast out as a commoner in this era would make life very difficult.

An ambiguous ability that doesn't encroach on my siblings' domains would certainly be helpful for my future while ensuring my safety.

'Well, to be honest, I'm just trying to convince myself since I had no choice but to awaken.'

Even an ambiguous ability is still an inherited ability.

Now that the duke's protection has ended, danger might come again.

'Don't let your guard down. Stay alert. Stay alert.'

After greeting my mother, I returned to my room and sighed.

Since I'm staying in the duke's household, the tense times will start again.

'Now, my goal is to branch out! I'll throw away the genius cosplay and become a somewhat useful person!'

While making this resolution, a knock came from the door.

'Is it Flora?'

"Come in."

However, the person who opened the door was the head maid, an elderly woman.

"Tomorrow morning, go to the training ground at the back of the mansion early."

She spoke as soon as she entered the room.

"Training ground, right?"

"Yes."

I tilted my head. Why the training ground all of a sudden?

I asked again.

"Who gave the order?"

"The butler."

The butler... If he gave the order, it means the duke gave the order.

Then, there's only one reason for being called to the training ground.

"You want me to meet a knight there, right?"

"Yes, you're to meet Sir Alonzo, the head of the knight order."

The head maid's words made me look uneasy.

'The head of the knight order is quite troublesome...'

Sir Alonzo.

Unlike other knights, he was a commoner who awakened his ability and became a noble, and he didn't like me, a bastard.

Even though I'm the duke's child, he would pretend not to see me when we passed in the hallway.

I couldn't refuse the duke's order, and I needed to check how helpful my awakened ability would be.

The next morning.

I followed Flora to the training ground at the back of the mansion.

Of course, I knew the location, but they wouldn't let a six-year-old wander alone.

The training ground was a short walk down a path behind the mansion.

In the small training ground surrounded by trees, only two people were visible.

A private training ground used by nobles who don't want to show their abilities to others.

It was mainly used by the duke and my half-brothers.

The duke wasn't there today, nor were my half-brothers.

Instead, two knights were standing in the center of the empty training ground: a middle-aged knight and a young knight in his early twenties.

The middle-aged knight with a sharp expression was Sir Alonzo, the head of the knight order, who didn't like me, and the young knight was someone I hadn't seen before.

'Who is he?'

I put aside my question and stood in front of the head of the knight order, greeting him.

I stood straight and placed my hand on my left chest, a gesture of respect for a trusted noble.

"It's Alex."

The head of the knight order and the young knight flinched at my polite but noble greeting.

It wasn't a greeting a six-year-old would normally give.

"Sir Alonzo... of the knight order."

The head of the knight order's slightly elongated response came back.

"By the duke's order, I will be testing Alex... young master's ability."

Indeed, it seemed very awkward for him to show respect.

I didn't think I could get along well with this head of the knight order, but at least my proper greeting prevented me from being looked down upon.

Respect starts with words.

Although a bit of distance was created, I was satisfied that I wasn't looked down upon, as I didn't particularly want to get close to him either.

Anyway, as expected, they were going to test my awakened ability.

The duke's face was quite scary; perhaps he had some ulterior motive?

I had such thoughts, but I had to deal with the strict knight in front of me.

"So, what should I do?"

In response to my question, the head of the knight order handed me a wooden sword.

A wooden sword resized to fit my body. From the marks on it, it seemed to be a used item, not a new one. Perhaps it was used by Simon or Manuel?

'Could I be inheriting this too?'

After a fleeting thought of despair, I moved my hand holding the sword around.

As expected, I felt nothing. I had never held a sword or attended a fencing school in my previous life, so there was no way I would feel anything just by holding a sword.

The head of the knight order spoke as he watched me clumsily swing the sword.

"You have no basic skills, so we'll start with basic training. Miguel!"

"Yes, sir!"

'No need to say it so obviously. It's normal for someone who just picked up a sword to have no basic skills.'

While grumbling internally, the young knight stepped forward at the head of the knight order's command.

"I'm Sir Miguel."

A thick-armed, gentle-looking knight. Fortunately, he didn't seem like someone who would deliberately pick on me.

The head of the knight order stepped aside, crossing his arms to observe the training. He would watch from the side instead of training me directly.

"We will proceed with the squire training process for the day. We'll adjust the pace based on your physical condition, so please do your best."

"Understood."

It was just for the day, and I was curious about my inherited ability, so I planned to do my best.

"Let's start with running. Since this training ground is small, let's do 50 laps."

50 laps? Did I hear that right?

My mouth dropped open at the knight's words.

Compared to the training grounds used by knights, this one was much smaller, but it was still a training ground. One lap was over 100 meters. 50 laps would be 5 kilometers.

To ask a six-year-old who doesn't exercise to run 5 kilometers, what was he thinking? Was I an assassin?

"Start running. Run until you collapse from exhaustion. We have healing potions prepared, so you don't need to worry about your body."

He was testing my limits.

I sighed. With such preparations, I couldn't refuse to run.

"Hold the sword while running. If you drop it, you'll have to start over."

With the knight's words, I started running.

'If I had known, I would have exercised more.'

I clenched my teeth and continued running while listening to the young knight's shouts.

After running and running, I reached the 32nd lap.

I finally passed out.

* * *

"You have some perseverance."

As I regained consciousness, an unexpected voice echoed in my ears. A voice I didn't expect to hear.

A cold, stern voice. The duke's voice.

"It seems you have indeed awakened your ability. The endurance of an ordinary six-year-old who hasn't trained is not like this."

This time, it was the head of the knight order's voice.

The duke and the head of the knight order were having a conversation.

Did they carry me back to the mansion?

However, the scent of the forest brushed past my nose, and I could feel the rough ground under my back and limbs.

I was still in the training ground where I had fainted.

But "not like an ordinary endurance"...

So, it was that, right?

In the middle of running, there was a moment when I wanted to give up due to the difficulty. The sky turned yellow, my limbs trembled, and my stomach churned.

Right at that moment, a surge of strength rose from deep within me.

At first, I thought it was "runner's high" from my previous life...

A physiological phenomenon where intense exercise releases hormone-like substances, giving a surge of strength.

But was it that? The feeling was different from the "runner's high" I had experienced in my previous life.

It wasn't that I forgot my fatigue, but rather that the difficulty seemed a bit less, or that my limits had expanded.

In any case, thanks to that feeling, I was able to run beyond my limits. Of course, I eventually fainted.

"Now he seems to have regained consciousness. His recovery is not bad. The ability itself has been confirmed. However... to me, it doesn't seem like a particularly great ability..."

The head of the knight order's words were met with no response from the duke.

Instead, I heard footsteps. The sound of footsteps gradually fading away.

I slowly opened my eyes.

I could see the head of the knight order standing at a distance and the duke's back walking towards the mansion.

Did the inherited ability improve my hearing?

The head of the knight order was quite far from where I was lying.

Flora, who had been using her lap as a pillow, and the young knight Miguel, who had been standing beside me, didn't seem to hear their conversation either.

I got up, watching the duke leave.

"Are you okay? Lie down more. You might have some aftereffects. I was going to call for help..."

I understood what Flora meant without her finishing her sentence.

With the duke present, what could she have said? She could only watch.

"I'm fine."

I really was fine. I had no pain, and my mind was clear.

My muscles, which had been overworked, ached, but considering I had fainted, I was surprisingly fine.

However, there was something more important than my fine condition.

The duke coming here was completely unexpected.

Was it just a passing visit? Or a momentary whim?

No, that was unlikely. If the duke were that kind of person, he wouldn't have ignored me all this time.

There was something. In this test. In my insignificant awakening.

There was a reason the duke was paying attention.

"Seems like there are no aftereffects. Can you continue training?"

The head of the knight order, who had approached me, asked if I could continue.

His expression was better than before, perhaps because the duke had come. Flora looked worried, but I nodded.

"I'll continue."

I needed to find out why the duke had come. Since he wouldn't tell me, I had to find out on my own.

And it seemed I hadn't given up after all. A small hope stirred in my chest.

I needed to clearly understand what weapon I had in my hands.

The young knight Miguel stood in front of me again.

"Normally, we would continue physical training, but since the priority is to confirm your ability, we'll start with sword training."

Unfortunately, it wasn't some grand sword technique.

It was continuous downward strikes, and when my muscles started trembling, he had me swing the sword from side to side.

After watching the training for a while, the head of the knight order left. It seemed the rest of the tests were complete.

However, my training wasn't over.

After eating the lunch Flora had packed, I continued sword training throughout the afternoon.

By the end, my arms were so weak that I couldn't tell if it was sword training or dancing.

As the sun set behind the forest, the training finally ended.

I didn't faint this time, but it was so exhausting that I wished I had fainted.

I was foolish to push myself this far, but the knight who had been training me all day was even more foolish.

"You did well. Even though you've awakened your ability, you overused your muscles today, so get a massage from the maids and rest for more than a day."

The young knight Miguel bowed to me, who was lying exhausted, and left the training ground.