The next day, my grandfather left early for work, showing no intention of seeing me.
Ah, what a busy man. Someone with such a strong lust for power like him is surprisingly diligent in his work.
Although he is somewhat perverted in certain aspects, you have to admit that when it comes to the struggle for power and profit, he is extremely serious.
He tries every means possible to get close to the King and the Crown Prince, who is most likely to win the next throne, becoming an indispensable and important partner, or rather, a supporter by their side.
This behavior could also be considered a form of effort.
It reminds me of university, where many good students tried to curry favor with their advisors, often hanging around their offices.
You could call such people sycophants, but flattery is also a skill.
People who are good at flattering at crucial moments fare better and succeed more easily than people like me who only know how to be flattered but not how to flatter others.
This is perhaps a lesson learned from observing events as a bystander.
After finishing breakfast alone, the butler informed me that the magic teacher my grandfather had found for me was not yet in Yars.
I received word that she is expected to return in another one to two months, and I would need to wait for her return before I could formally request tutelage.
Then, I expressed my intention to the butler to seek tutelage at the Water God Style Dojo.
The butler said he would immediately arrange for a carriage and guards to escort me to the Water God Style Dojo.
Since the Water God Style Dojo is located in the Noble District, where security is quite safe, I rarely saw commoners walking by the roadside.
Occasionally, there were only teams of knights patrolling the streets.
Nobles mostly travel by carriage when going out, so I felt bringing several hundred knight guards along in such a safe place was making a mountain out of a molehill.
I declined the butler's proposal for a large escort and instead opted for a small carriage with only four to five guards accompanying me.
Perhaps the butler knew I would have hidden guards accompanying me, as he didn't object to my proposal and readily agreed to my suggestion.
Thus, I left the mansion in a much smaller carriage, and the journey was very safe, arriving at the Water God Style Dojo in less than 20 minutes.
This Water God Style Dojo truly lives up to its name as the main dojo of the Water God Style lineage; it was likely larger than my grandfather's villa plus garden.
The style was very similar to ancient Chinese architecture.
Upon entering the double doors, there were rows of wooden buildings inside; every room was made of wood, and the style was Chinese, somewhat resembling the gardens of Suzhou.
Corridors connected each building.
After seeing so much European architecture, seeing this kind of housing felt somewhat familiar.
I heard that the neighboring nations of Ranoa, Kikaku, and Sanakya all have similar buildings, and I must visit them if I have the chance in the future.
I reported at the registration office near the entrance, where they simply asked for my exact age and my family affiliation.
The Water God Style Dojo basically enrolls three types of people.
The first type is commoners, but only those with exceptional talent are allowed entry.
The second type is knights; basically, all knights in the Alus Kingdom learn Water God Style techniques, as the Water God Style is very formidable in protecting people.
The third type is nobles like myself; after all, not every noble child inherits the family business, and having an extra skill might provide some security later in life.
I recall that Rudelious's cousin, Luke, became Princess Ariel's personal guard knight; he probably had to make his own way because he was the second son.
After completing registration, I was quickly led into a Water God Style class.
The class was full of children around my age.
This must have been the noble class, as I could tell from their attire.
The fine craftsmanship and exquisite details of their luxurious clothing all told you that this was a group of noble children.
Of course, I was no different; my clothes were just as elaborate.
I completely understand why they dress this way; it's because there are no simple clothes in my wardrobe.
From the moment I was born, my clothes were never of a simple style.
Perhaps this is how nobles deliberately dress to highlight the difference between themselves and commoners.
After some simple greetings, these noble children became immediately lively once they realized I was from the Prodia Family.
Although they all looked like children aged four to six, the way nobles interacted was in no way inferior to adult nobles.
Including me, there were eight boys in this class, and not a single girl.
It's probably because noble girls don't study swordsmanship.
Even if they were to study, they would only learn some Healing Magic, and even learning offensive magic is relatively rare, as in this era, it's fundamentally men who fight on the front lines.
Although the existence of magic and swordsmanship allows women to have means to fight men, this basically only exists among commoners; noble women rarely learn these things.
This dashed my hopes of befriending young ladies through studying.
Ah, whatever, they are all just little brats; what's there to befriend?
Soon, the teacher entered the room; the teacher's name was Uriel Hunter, who looked like a knight but wasn't wearing a knight's uniform.
Today's lesson began.
Since everyone was new, the teacher gave many motivational speeches before quickly having us put on protective gear to spar and test our aptitude, or rather, our level of mastery over the Water God Style.
Sparring within the Water God Style is quite strange because the Water God Style is a school that emphasizes defense.
Basically, Water God Style practitioners never attack first; they need to wait for the opponent to attack before using skills to counterattack.
If both were Water God Style practitioners just defending, how would they fight?
Would the two just stare into each other's eyes?
Therefore, sparring between two Water God Style practitioners is turn-based: first, Party A attacks while Party B defends; after the defense ends, Party B attacks while Party A defends.
This procedure is quite silly, but it's the only way.
The eight of us were divided into four groups for defensive counterattacks.
Of course, since I was just a child, I didn't exert much strength.
I easily defeated my opponent using the Water God Style beginner technique, 'Reverse Scale Lure'.
'Reverse Scale Lure' is a relatively difficult move to learn in the beginner level of the Water God Style.
It's essentially using a special stance to induce the opponent to attack a seemingly weak spot on me, and then counterattacking them with the momentum.