Chapter 4: Training Time

The birdsong formed the perfect melody for lunchtime.

And it wasn’t only ordinary birds—other magical beasts joined in as well, singing with equal vigor. Perhaps they were searching for a mate, or simply letting their sweet calls be heard.

Inside the Hope family’s home, at the dining table, at least two plates were nearly empty—one in front of Christopher, the other before his father, Alexander. Both had clearly enjoyed their meals, and the happiness on their faces was unmistakable.

“Valentina, honey… this is absolutely delicious. I can’t believe everything you cook tastes this good. Were your hands blessed by some god?” Alexander said with a warm laugh, still chewing with obvious enthusiasm.

“This is a dish only a goddess could make.”

Alexander Hope had short brown hair, his slightly lifted bangs leaving his forehead clear. His lightly tanned skin, the result of years spent training under the sun, contrasted subtly with the darker tones of his hair.

Two scars marked his face. One ran vertically just beneath his right eye. The other began at the corner of his left eyebrow, cut diagonally across his face, split his lips, and ended at his chin.

His hazel eyes shone with calm confidence, forged through years of battle and hard-earned wisdom.

At that moment, he wore a smile on his lips, his mouth full… and his heart content.

He stood just under one meter eighty tall, his build muscular enough for his clothes to subtly reveal it.

He wore a khaki short-sleeved shirt and, over it, a black leather trench coat, its sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Below, he had black elastic trousers and leather boots that reached halfway up his calves.

Resting beside the table was his sword, still sheathed—like a silent shadow waiting for action.

“It’s true, Mom! Everything you cook is delicious! I love your food…” Christopher exclaimed. “Please, cook for me forever!”

Valentina, overwhelmed with happiness by all the praise and lightly blushing, brought both hands to her face, holding her flushed cheeks.

“For you, Sweetie, anything you want! And for you too, my handsome husband. I love seeing how much you enjoy what I cook,” Valentina said with a smile, blushing at the lovely words from both of them.

“For the two of you, I’ll always prepare delicious meals. And besides, Alexander, you’re mistaken about one thing.” The beautiful elf wiped her lips with a napkin. “It’s not that a god blessed my hands—rather, I, your beloved, adored, beautiful, and attractive wife… am a goddess!”

Everyone laughed at the joke.

“I love you both so much! And even though you’re a pair of meat-eating monsters, I’ll always cook delicious meals for you!”

Valentina was genuinely funny and often made remarks like that when she was surrounded by the people closest to her.

Lunch was so pleasant that, even after finishing, they remained seated, chatting about all kinds of topics, in no hurry to get up.

“By the way, Honey,” Alexander said as he wiped sauce from his mouth with a cloth, “how did our son do with his magic training? Christopher, were you able to defeat Mom?”

“I’m not that little, Dad! I’m very close to being an adult,” Christopher protested irritably as he took a sip of juice. “And no, I didn’t beat her. It’s impossible to win against Mama… she’s way too strong…” he added with a hint of pride, puffing out his chest and smiling.

“That’s right, Sweetie! Your Mom is very strong! You should compliment her a lot,” Valentina said with a huge smile, puffing out her chest and casting a mischievous glance. “And yes! You’ll be an adult soon… you only have ten more years to go!”

Christopher’s face twisted into an expression of pure rage. He turned red with embarrassment and fury, his eyes seeming to blaze as a bit of steam comically puffed out of his ears.

Alexander, meanwhile, made a tremendous effort not to spit out all the food he had already eaten—he nearly choked on it from laughing.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

As expected, the man lost the battle and could barely breathe from laughing so hard. He had to make another effort to calm himself and draw air back into his lungs.

“Don’t go on, Honey… can’t you see that our son is already a full-grown man?”

With playful mischief, Valentina pretended to be shocked.

“What? And I didn’t even realize my baby had grown up?”

Christopher’s expression was pure anger… and it only continued to intensify.

Alexander, now standing, wrapped an arm around Valentina’s waist, while she clasped her hands together and pretended to cry. The two of them continued to add fuel to the fire.

“That’s right—he’s started taking his first steps toward maturity,” Alexander said.

Both of them looked at their son with teasing smiles, causing an irritating twitch to appear on the boy’s face as he made a titanic effort not to lunge at them and teach them a proper lesson.

“And besides…” Alexander showed no intention of stopping and continued with his jokes. “It seems he’s already conquered the heart of one of the beautiful maidens of Gignit.”

“Don’t tell me! My little one is a true casanova!” Valentina exclaimed, her acting absolutely terrible.

She clasped her hands together as if pleading and turned to her husband.

“Tell me right now! Who is that beautiful lady in love with my child? I must know at once! I have to meet her as soon as possible and make sure she’s worthy of my baby!”

“I-I’m n-not… a-a b-baby…”

Christopher was no longer annoyed.

Thank all the gods that none of my friends are here… I can’t even imagine how much they’d be making fun of me if they heard these two.

His attitude had completely changed. Now he was red with embarrassment, silently thanking the heavens that none of his friends were present—because chances were, they would have joined his parents in mocking him.

“Valentina, isn’t it obvious?” Alexander said aloud, his tone triumphant. “Who is it that always asks him to carry her? Who is it that cries whenever our baby is around and only calms down when he pays attention to her? Who is that maiden?”

“Honey… are you referring to…?” Valentina asked.

Alexander and Valentina both looked at Christopher, who already had a blue aura of depression practically floating over his head.

“That’s right,” Alexander confirmed. “It’s the daughter of my dear and best friend, Hermán—and also the little sister of our son’s best friend… the sweet maiden: Diana.”

Fake tears welled up in Valentina’s eyes and rolled down her cheeks.

“The adorable Diana!” the elf exclaimed, as Christopher’s face turned bright red and he seemed to emit steam from his ears. “I see now, it’s true! Our son has stolen her heart… I approve!”

“You’re so annoying…” Christopher muttered under his breath, deeply embarrassed and still burning red with shame. “I really can’t stand you…”

✧ ✧ ✧

A few streets away from Christopher’s home, inside a lovely house, the members of another family were seated together.

The husband sat at one end of the table; to his right, his beloved and beautiful life partner; to his left, a small girl; and at the opposite end, a boy.

They all shared the same distinctive traits—dark hair and piercing black eyes.
This was the León family, made up of four members.

“Achoo!”

Diana sneezed cutely to the side, carefully avoiding spraying her food.

“Didi, are you feeling alright?” her mother asked. “Did you catch a cold?”

“No,” Diana replied, lowering her gaze to her plate, while thinking that later she would go with her brother to the Hope family’s house to play.

✧ ✧ ✧

Alexander and Valentina kept joking around, first teasing Christopher, then turning on each other, until it all ended in shared laughter.

The Hope family was a happy, affectionate one. All the inhabitants of the village of Gignit regarded them as excellent rulers—and loved them dearly.

As they continued to poke fun at Valentina, Christopher briefly averted his gaze, focusing on a framed picture near the kitchen. It looked like a photograph of his parents alongside many of their friends.

People of many different races could be seen celebrating something together.

Judging by his father’s appearance in the picture, it was clearly old—taken many years ago.
His mother, on the other hand, being an elf, hadn’t changed in the slightest.

“So then, Christopher…” Alexander asked jokingly, “when you’re adults, are you and Diana planning to get married?”

He was still going on about the whole “the man and the maiden” thing.

“Dad…” Christopher said, a large bead of sweat forming on his forehead. “You do know Diana is only THREE YEARS OLD, right?”

Veins bulged on his forehead as he smiled, his fury barely held in check.

“Right now, yes—but your father said when both of you are older, didn’t he?” she added, cornering him even further. “We’ll invite the entire village.”

Christopher admitted to himself that his parents were strange and thought about even stranger things—but that was precisely what made them fun.

He was aware of Diana’s attachment to him, but he saw it as nothing more than simple friendship like when a small child admires someone older. Christopher viewed Diana as a little sister. The aura of sweetness she gave off made everyone around her dote on her.

The only living being immune to that aura was her brother, Sebastián.

Alexander and Valentina drifted off into their own fantasy world, while Christopher let out a sigh.

“But I… want to be like you,” the boy said softly, his head lowered.

“Huh?” The joking and noise vanished from the air.

Christopher had said many times that he wanted to be like his parents, but he had always meant their magical or martial abilities. Now, they had no idea what he meant by this new I want to be like you.

“What do you mean, son?” Alexander asked, his curiosity clearly piqued.

Both parents leaned forward to look at their son, whose face was sunk in embarrassment.

He frowned. The shame was overwhelming, but he needed to settle this once and for all.

“I want to start a family with a girl from another race,” he said, gesturing toward his parents—the greatest examples he knew. “Just like you and Mama: from different races.”

His parents were a mixed couple: his father belonged to the human race, and his mother to the elven race.

Christopher felt proud that his father was a formidable martial artist and his mother a powerful mage.

But what filled him with the greatest pride was something far simpler—having parents of different races. And that… was something he wanted to emulate.

“It makes me very happy knowing that Dad is human and Mama is an elf,” he said, smiling shyly as he looked down at the floor. “Maybe that explains why I’m so good at magic and martial arts.”

An imperceptible twitch briefly took hold of Valentina’s right eye.

Alexander lifted him into his arms.

“Thank you for thinking so highly of us, son.”

And he couldn’t have been happier that Christopher was his child.

Valentina shook her head, brushing away whatever thoughts had crossed her mind, and completely changed her attitude.

“So then…” she nudged Alexander with her elbow, and he smiled mischievously. “Are you going to marry Selestia?”

Once again, they began teasing him, recreating countless wedding scenes in their minds.

Valentina placed a hand on her chest and pointed to herself with her thumb.

“Well, you’re very lucky to have me as your Mom, Sweetie,” Valentina said with proud airs. “Selestia is an elf, just like me. I’ll teach you all the techniques to conquer the delicate heart of a beautiful elven maiden.”

A bead of sweat slid down Christopher’s temple. He was already regretting having revealed his deepest, most intimate secret.

But Alexander had to object.

“No!” he exclaimed emphatically, pointing to himself. “I’ll be the one to teach my son the techniques I learned to win over an elf, and—”

The temperature in the house dropped the instant Valentina looked at him with icy coldness.

Alexander’s body reacted on instinct—his shoulders slumped, and his smile vanished at once.

And like a venomous serpent, Valentina opened her mouth, and words soaked in poison slipped out:

“Tell me, Alexander Hope… what do you mean by having learned techniques to conquer another elf? Have you been practicing behind my back?”

Valentina puffed out her cheeks in an almost childish way, like a sulky little girl, her eyes filling with tender tears as if she were throwing a small tantrum.

“Alexander… do you… want another elf?”

But that petulant attitude contrasted sharply with her true intentions, for behind her, sharp shards of ice began to form—poised to be hurled straight at her husband.

“Eh… eh… Honey?” Alexander stammered. “I-I-I didn’t say that… I-I’ll just tell him everything I did s-so that you would agree to be my wife…”

In an instant, all of Valentina’s murderous aura vanished, replaced by a faint blush on her face.

“Oh my, how embarrassing,” she murmured sweetly as the sharp shards of ice faded away. “I remember everything… you really did put in a lot of effort. I’m not easy at all.”

Both Alexander and Christopher were sweating nervously.

“Dad, that’s enough already. Can’t you see Mom almost killed you?” Christopher muttered under his breath.

“Y-yeah…” his father replied. “We’d better stop these kinds of jokes… I’m sorry. Let’s talk about something else.”

✧ ✧ ✧

Christopher opened the door to his room.

The place was fairly tidy.

He walked over to his bed—more precisely, to the side of the headboard, where a small nightstand stood. Leaning against the wall right beside it was his sheathed sword.

The scabbard was made of black leather, with a straight embroidered line running along both sides. Near the top—close to where the blade was inserted—it had a strap shaped like a belt.

The sword itself couldn’t be seen, but from the shape of the scabbard, one could tell it was double-edged.

The guard was shaped like a simple silver cross, without many details.

The grip was wrapped in hardened brown rubber, forming the hilt, and it bore the faint impressions of fingers from constant use.

At the pommel, there was a metal sphere that served purely as decoration.

“Here it is!” he exclaimed with a smile.

He picked it up and, for a moment, considered fastening it around his waist—but for some reason, he decided against it. In the end, he chose to carry it on his back; he liked how it looked that way.

Before leaving, he glanced out the window.

The afternoon nap hour was beautiful, and the weather was perfect for the villagers to go out for a stroll. A walk through the plaza, surrounded by trees, with the chance to rest in the shade and eat something… it didn’t sound bad at all.

Christopher thought he’d like to do that with his friends someday.

He left his room, went down the stairs—his bedroom was on the second floor—passed by without calling to his parents, who were still in the dining room, and headed to the front yard.

There, he settled beneath one of the four trees that served as natural parasols.

“I’ll wait for Dad here.”

With a light yawn, he prepared to wait out the remaining time before training… but his plans changed when someone called out to him.

“Christopher!”

By instinct, he looked toward the source of the voice—and saw two of his dearest friends: Sebastián and Mathias.

“What are you guys doing here?” he asked, standing up right away. “There’s still some time before training starts.”

“I know, but it looks like this guy’s way too excited about his first lesson… so he came to get me,” Sebastián said with a sigh.

It wasn’t a sigh of annoyance, but of genuine amusement.

He couldn’t blame his semi-human friend… he had been exactly the same on his own first day.

“How about we start with some sparring?” Mathias asked, clearly excited, clenching his fists.

Then he opened them, and his nails began to grow—at least three or four centimeters—revealing his claws.

“Mathias… did you at least eat something for lunch?” Christopher asked with a small laugh.

That was how the three of them were: inseparable.

Christopher’s group was made up of six children in total, and they all brightened his days by playing together, pulling pranks… and even training in secret among themselves.

Especially with these two—the ones he shared those secret training sessions with.

“They’re annoying,” Mathias complained with a faint smile. “It’s just that I can’t wait to fight Lord Alexander. Is he strong? Have you already managed to beat him in a practice match?”

Sebastián scratched his head, a little embarrassed.

“We’re five years old… beating him is impossible,” Sebastián said, then looked at Christopher. “Though you… you’ve managed to corner him a few times.”

He draped his right arm over Christopher’s left shoulder and, with a serious look, asked the question that both he and Mathias had been wondering about for a long time.

“Tell us, Christopher… how did you suddenly become so strong?”

“That’s right!” Mathias added, placing his left hand on Christopher’s other shoulder. “You always beat us whenever we fight.”

“It’s not fair…” Sebastián said, his gaze sharpening. His eyes demanded honest answers. “You already know how to use magic—and way better than us. But you always tell us you learned it just by reading.”

Christopher let out a troubled sigh.

It wasn’t the first time his friends had confronted him about this… but he had never lied to them.

“But I never lied to you… I just don’t know how to explain it. I simply read some magic books and… I already knew how to do it.”

What Christopher meant was that reading and understanding them hadn’t been enough—he had to practice. He had trained for days until, finally, he was able to use what he had learned.

“The same goes for martial arts… and you know that very well, Sebastián.”

Sebastián had to nod.

“You’ve got a point…” he admitted.

Meanwhile, Mathias kept pressing for an explanation.

“Do you remember when we started training like it was just a game? At first, we were terrible… Christopher included. That’s why you, even though you were terrible too, beat us—because you were stronger.” Mathias nodded to himself.

“One of those days when you couldn’t come with us—because you had some things to do… Lord Alexander found us training. He told us that from that day on, he would take charge of training us. During the first few days… he beat us senseless.”

“The days after that too,” Christopher added.

But Sebastián ignored him and continued, “I think that was around the time you learned to read… almost like magic.”

Christopher nodded, bringing a hand to his chin as if sorting through his memories.

“Yeah… I read books about magic and martial arts, and without even realizing it… I already knew how to do it. But I still had to train. Even so… it’s still impossible for me to beat my dad.”

“But you make plans… and you can fight him,” Sebastián said.

“I’m sure the three of us will defeat him someday… and Christopher will be our guide.”

Mathias continued, his ears twitching on their own while his tail swayed happily through the air.

A dark gleam flickered in Christopher’s eyes. Slowly, he drew his right arm back… and unsheathed his sword.

Both boys understood his intentions.

Mathias, now very serious, adopted an inexperienced fighting stance, his claws already bared.

Christopher, meanwhile, held his sword high with firm resolve… giving off the impression of a seasoned warrior.

With his legs spread apart and his eyes shining with an unsettling darkness… he opened his mouth, speaking as if he were a monster.

“Let me touch your ears…”

Mathias maintained a serious stare, legs planted firmly apart, guard raised, refusing to leave any opening.

“Never!”

Meanwhile, Sebastián brought a hand to his face, silently begging that no one be watching… he was dying of embarrassment at the realization that the reason for this “fight” was simply Christopher’s desire to touch a pair of ears.

✧ ✧ ✧

Alexander stepped out of the house, already prepared for the training session with his son and his friends.

He headed toward the yard, and after only a few steps, he spotted three children.

One of them was perfectly calm, sitting beneath the shade of a tree and leaning against its trunk. The sense of peace he gave off, as a gentle breeze passed by, made absolutely no sense when compared to what the other two were doing.

Mathias was on the ground, writhing and using all his strength to keep Christopher from reaching his ears.

On the opposite side, Christopher stretched both arms forward, just centimeters away from achieving his goal.

“What are you doing?” Alexander asked.

His voice startled them, as none of them had paid the slightest attention to the Lord, who had been watching with amusement.

“We’re playing,” his son replied with the utmost naturalness.

A thick, throbbing vein appeared on Mathias’s forehead, right above his left eyebrow.

“That’s not true! Get off me!” he shouted.

Slowly, making use of his semi-human physique, he began to gain ground in the struggle and push himself back to his feet.

“I just need to pet them once… and I’ll leave you alone,” Christopher repeated, channeling strength into his hands and feet as well.

Alexander looked at Sebastián, who waved his hand half-heartedly, making it clear through the gesture that there was no helping it.

A heavy bead of sweat slid down Alexander’s neck. He smiled… then adopted a serious expression.

“Alright, kids. Break time is over. It’s time to train,” Alexander announced.

Sebastián stood up without letting go of his sword. Christopher and Mathias stopped playing.

The three of them followed the Lord.