"haaaaa!!!" With a scream from the bottom of my lungs I lunged at Paul.
(poow!!)
The sound of our wooden swords clashing could be heard throughout the house.
I moved to the left, he moved to the right, I advanced and he retreated, I ran and he trotted.
"Okay, try to go faster." Paul's words brought me momentary relief. We'd only been going for half an hour and I couldn't go on.
At least it's good to know I'm doing well.
"nngh!" With all the strength I could muster I jumped and my sword went for his hip but he blocked me effortlessly and sent me rolling to the ground.
"Don't let your emotions cloud your judgment, you must remain calm."
"Yes..." I said as I struggled to get up from the floor and I could see Paul staring at me.
"Haaa!!" I started running towards him again and...
"Okay Rudy, that's enough for today." His words were like a switch as I immediately lost all strength in my body and fell to the ground.
"haaa...haaa...haaa..." I was on all fours as I felt the sweat run down my face and fall onto the grass, my heart pounded in my chest and my muscles burned.
"Well Rudy, you're getting better every day...I think it would be wise to name you a beginner in the God Sword style." Pual said and I immediately looked at him.
All the tiredness left my body at his words as he looked at me with a smile, a sincere smile, not like the mocking smiles I'm used to.
"T-thank you so much Dad..." I said as I got up from the floor to look at him better.
"Hehe, whenever you want, now rest" he said and so I went back home to take a bath.
It's been three months since Roxy arrived as my new magic teacher, she has taught me hundreds of things and I am now an intermediate level water mage.
Mom was ecstatic to see my enormous progress in such a short time that they even organized a welcome party for Roxy.
At first she seemed like an antisocial girl to me, but as this month went by I discovered that she is simply a quiet and somewhat shy girl who tries to hard to appear mature.
His morning classes develop naturally, and in the afternoons I practice swordplay with Paul. My routine has been good, but honestly, a little free time wouldn't be a bad idea...
I'm surprised that my parents aren't worried about an issue like this, but it all made sense when I discovered that Paul is 22 and Mom is only 20.
They are first-time parents and very young.
"Rudy, you know we can have classes at night if you want, right? After all, I have nothing to do," Roxy said while stroking my head, a habit that became common between the two of us.
"No thanks...I'm fine with just morning classes," I said with a smile.
Roxy smiled the same way and then pinched my cheek treacherously.
"hey!"
"Hehe, I'm sorry, you're just adorable," she said before retiring to her room but I could notice a slight blush on her cheeks...
Nngh...I must grow up fast.
"Haaa...this is life" I murmured as I let myself fall onto my bed, this was, with the exception of eating and taking a bath, one of the most satisfying sensations in the world.
"mmmh..." I murmured as I stroked my sheets and got comfortable, tomorrow I would learn healing spells and possibly die while training...
But this is definitely a routine I won't get tired of anytime soon.
"n-no...dear...Rudy can hear us aaagh!~"
"Shhh...he'll only do it if you're loud."
"haaa...haaa!!!...more!, more!"
Oh yeah, that would never change.
"more!, more!, more!"
"whatever you say, dear!"
"ooh!"
These bastards! There are children in the house!
"Looks like I'll have to take advantage of my innocence! If that's what they want!" I muttered as I got out of bed.
The plan was simple, sneak into their room, catch them in the act and ask an innocent question only for them to kick me out and in later days think twice before being so loud.
It was simply the perfect plan!
Hehe...Mom, Dad, what are you doing naked?...hehehe uh?!
As I was leaving my room and planning what I would say, I came across the image of Roxy in her pajamas spying on my parents' room, and she was masturbating...
"Oh boy..."
"Hah?!"
Shit she found out about me.
"I'm sorry!" I quickly excused myself and quickly closed the door and buried myself in my sheets.
Oh shit...and when I thought we were becoming friends...how am I going to see her face now?!
"haaaa..." I gave a huge sigh as I buried my head in the sheets, my mother's moans no longer bothering me.
"I guess I'll have to apologize to her tomorrow," I mumbled as I fell asleep.
...
"Roxy, I want to take Rudy to the lookout today, you won't mind, right?" Paul said suddenly at breakfast.
"Huh?...Hah! Y-yeah, no problem!" She said, her cheeks flushed and as if she had just come out of a trance.
"Paul... isn't that dangerous? What if a monster attacks?" My mother protested with concern but not forcefully.
"Don't worry, he has me as his guardian after all," Paul said, smiling proudly.
"Fine, but bring him before dark," my mother said and he nodded.
Neither of them asked if I wanted to go...but it's okay, in fact this is necessary.
Since I woke up Roxy hasn't even met my gaze today, I think she needs time to stop being embarrassed.
So after breakfast my father and I went out on horseback to my father's work, according to Paul, Caravaggio was lost on the way to Roa so my father had to buy a new one, a total shame.
"Dad...where are we going today?" I asked.
"Hmm? I'll show you where I work, that's all," he said, but I could see a small smile on his face.
It took us about half an hour on horseback until we reached a huge wooden tower and in front of it stretched the forest.
This was the meeting point for the hunters and subsequently Paul's workplace.
"Good! We're here!" He said as he took me in his arms and we started climbing a ladder to go up the tower.
Fortunately, it wasn't too high so we reached the top quickly.
Up there was a blond man with red eyes and...elf ears?!
"Laws! I brought my son like I promised!" Paul said as he took me in his arms.
Laws?...is that Laws?, is Laws an elf?, why didn't anyone tell me before?!
"Hey Paul! Hoh! So that's little Rudeus? Your dad told me a lot about you!" Laws said as he came up to me and patted my head.
"Yes, my name is Rudeus Greyrat" I said with a smile.
"Ha! So what your father says is true, huh?" He said and then he looked behind him.
"Come on Phi, say hello" he said and a green ball peeked out of his leg.
Huh?...
First her elf ears were revealed, then her red eyes and finally the rest of her body...a green-haired elf girl...totally adorable.
"Oooh..." I couldn't hide my astonishment and Paul immediately put me down, so I started walking towards her.
"Hello! My name is-"
"eeep!"
With a squeal the girl ran away from me and hid behind the legs of his psdking
"I-I'm sorry! She's always like that! "Come on, say hello!" Laws said in a more authoritarian tone.
"huuummm..." And once again the girl left her father's legs but now with her eyes on the ground.
"Come on Phi...time to tell her your name" Laws mumbled and Phi looked at me briefly before looking at the ground again.
"Sylphiette..." The girl murmured and I nodded.
"Oh? Sylphiette! What a beautiful name! Like a wind spirit!" I said with a smile.
The girl looked at me in shock at my comment, blushed slightly and nodded with a small smile.
"Thank you..." She said.
"No problem! Besides, I really like your green hair!" I said, and she was in total shock and put a hand to her hair.
"You...you...do you like it?" She asked and I nodded with a smile and I swear I could hear a sigh of relief from Laws.
This made the girl smile more and she now looked into my eyes as we smiled at each other.
"Well, it seems you've become friends very quickly! How about Rudeus, if you take little Sylphiette to play with you?" Paul murmured as I looked at him out of the corner of my eye.
"...okay! Sylphiette! Come with me!" I said as I took the girl's hand and we started to go down around the tower.
I walked along the path with little Sylphiette, thinking about what I could do with a three-year-old girl.
I wasn't actually specialized in talking to small children so I stopped near a tree on a hill.
I looked behind me and could see that little Sylphiette had her head glued to the ground again while she grabbed the hem of her clothes.
Now that I looked at her properly, her hair and clothes made her look like a boy. If it weren't for her little face, she would be a man, but even so...
"Hey Sylphiette..." I muttered as I sat down in the shade of the tree.
"w-what's wrong?..." She asked.
"Why do you dress like that? I mean, you're a girl, shouldn't you wear a nice dress and have longer hair?" I asked her while looking at her.
"Haa..." She let out a small sigh as she fiddled with her feet.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to and also don't stand there, sit with me" I told him.
"I-it's nothing!..." She said as she quickly sat down "It's just that...my mother says the clothes are so I can run in case some bad boy wants to bother me..." She muttered while I listened to her.
"Brother You? Why?" I asked, making the concern clear in my voice.
"I-it's because of my hair... y-you don't mind?" She mumbled and I could see tears forming in her eyes.
"because of your hair?..." I said in shock "but what's wrong with your hair?" I asked
"My mom says people think of evil demons when they look at my hair and...and...I-I don't know if I-I..." Tears quickly leaked from her eyes and she began to cry.
My heart sank seeing the little girl so sad so I hugged her quickly and to my surprise she hugged me tightly while crying on my shoulder.
What kind of superstitions are there with her green hair?...
I guess it's something I'll have to ask Mom.
"Okay, okay, don't cry anymore," I said softly as I stroked her head.
Fortunately, the girl relaxed as she stared at me.
"If bad kids bother you then I'll be your friend!" I said with a smile and the girl's eyes widened.
"R-really?!...b-but...the other children won't want to hang out with you anymore..." The girl murmured at the end, letting out her insecurity.
"That's no problem, you and I can be friends!" I said with a smile and the girl was shocked.
"S-so we're friends?..."
"Of course!" I said with the best smile I could muster and the little girl's ears wiggled like a little helicopter.
I've never seen anything so cute.
"A-and so what do we do now?..." She asked and I was speechless again.
"Ha! Do you know what soccer or basketball is?" I asked and the girl tilted her head in confusion.
True...another world.
"Hmm...look at this" I muttered and with beginner level earth magic I formed a ball of mud and hardened it enough to make it soft and resistant at the same time.
After that I created a small stone pillar about one meter high with a ring on top.
"Is that a game?" She asked and I nodded.
"Yes, what you have to do is make the ball go through that ring, whoever does it the most times wins!" I told her and she nodded thoughtfully.
I can assure you that she had fun and so did I, it was refreshing to play with someone without it being training or magic,... I guess I can get used to this.