Martius wiped the fresh blood flowing from his nose. He stared intently at Aldes. The corners of his lips pulled upward, forming a wide smile that showed his row of teeth.
"Hahaha! Crazy! Crazy!" his laugh echoed loudly.
Aldes breathed slowly through his nose. Just as I thought. Earth's martial arts are highly effective against the beings in this world. Aldes glanced briefly at Ilfa and Klaus, who were still standing frozen.
I hope my name improves a little now. I don't want to go down in the history books as a lazy person.
Aldes shifted his gaze back to Martius. Now there is only this man in front of me. What will he do? Fight again? Ugh, my stamina is almost depleted. I used too much magic energy.
Martius walked to the side and picked up his sword lying on the stone floor. He gripped the weapon's hilt. An enthusiastic smile was still clearly plastered on his face.
"Forgive me for underestimating you, my brother!" Martius shouted loudly.
Klaus instantly dashed forward. His boots scraped hard against the white floor. He stood right in the middle between Aldes and Martius with both arms spread wide.
"Alright. That is enough, My Lords," Klaus said firmly. "You have a gathering tonight. Do not let anyone die a foolish death in this room."
Hearing the word gathering, Aldes's head immediately throbbed. A barrage of new memories flooded his mind instantly. The gathering Klaus meant was a grand palace dinner banquet. The kingdom would welcome nobles from three human kingdoms and one dragon kingdom.
Aldes's heart beat faster. Additional memories regarding this world's map hit his head.
There are only three human kingdoms left? Aldes held his breath. His facial expression hardened severely. His gaze turned blank, staring at the floor.
Wait. What does this mean. Three kingdoms? Could it be that there are truly only three human kingdoms left in this world? What happened to the other kingdoms? Why are there only three? Does this mean the human race is quite rare here?
A soft touch landed on Aldes's right shoulder. A fragrant soap scent wafted, driving away the smell of sweat.
"Master Aldes?"
Aldes flinched slightly. He turned to the side. Ilfa looked at him with a worried expression.
"Ah, yes. What is it?" Aldes asked while stepping back slightly.
"What is wrong with you? Are you still angry?" Ilfa asked softly.
Martius sheathed his sword back to his waist. A sharp sound of metal friction was heard. "No. You have indeed been acting strange since this morning," Martius replied casually. "Well alright. We will continue another time, brother."
Klaus let out a long breath from his mouth. His tense shoulders visibly relaxed. "That was close."
The white-haired man then turned to look at Aldes from head to toe. "Have you been training on your own secretly, Master?"
Klaus narrowed his only eye. "I have never seen fighting movements like that before."
Ilfa nodded in agreement. Her eyes still stared in amazement. "Yes. Especially the movement using your elbow or the way you moved your head to dodge."
Martius crossed both arms in front of his chest. "Yes, I am curious too." Martius stared straight into Aldes's eyes. "All I know is, you are very anti-fighting. Terrible at combat. Hot-tempered. A coward. And a loser."
Go ahead, keep listing them. What else?! Aldes cursed in his heart. He felt annoyed hearing all the pathetic facts spoken by Martius.
Aldes thought quickly to find a reasonable excuse. He cleared his throat softly. "I..."
The three people waited in silence.
"Secretly experimented," Aldes continued calmly.
Klaus raised his white eyebrow. "Experimented?"
Martius furrowed his brow. His mouth fell half open. "Haaah?"
Aldes nodded confidently. "Yes."
"I secretly watched your fighting movements every training session. Then I secretly tried to create my own movements," Aldes explained with a flat expression.
Klaus's eye widened. "Y-You..." Klaus's voice trembled slightly. "You created your own movements just by watching us?!"
Ilfa covered her mouth with both palms. Her eyes looked at Aldes with extreme admiration. "Aldes.."
Martius rubbed his chin slowly. "I never thought of doing something like that," he muttered softly. "Maybe I will try it."
Klaus took one step forward. "Since when did you start this experiment, Master?"
"Three months ago," Aldes answered.
"Three months?!" Martius shouted loudly. "Three crazy fucking months?! Th-ree-months?!"
Martius shook his head vigorously. "And you only want to show off now? You did a great job acting like a loser all this time until I didn't realize you were training."
"Shit man..."
Did he just praise me or insult me? Aldes muttered in annoyance.
Suddenly, the air around them vibrated. A bright, blinding green light flared right next to Klaus.
Martius clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Tch. How annoying."
Aldes's memory responded again to the flash of light. Teleportation light. Magic belonging to the Witch class. A high-level mage class capable of using spatial displacement spells.
The green light faded completely. A woman with long green hair appeared there. She wore a blue combat outfit exactly like Klaus's. The woman immediately bowed her head deeply.
"Sorry for the intrusion, Captain," the woman said respectfully.
Klaus turned his head. "Veyra." Klaus straightened his back. "What is it?"
Veyra remained silent in her position. Her eyes glanced hesitantly at Aldes and Martius alternately without making a sound.
Ilfa caught the signal. She nodded in understanding, then turned to the two princes. "Forgive me, My Lords. Our training time ends here. Uh..."
"You may both leave. We will meet another time. There are things you must not hear," Klaus cut in with a firm tone.
Martius protested loudly. "Eeeh, why not report it somewhere else? Hah? I want to try making new moves here like Aldes."
"I am too lazy to change rooms!" Klaus snapped. "Leave quickly!"
Martius exhaled roughly through his mouth. He waved his hand in the air. "Yes, yes, yes. Sure, sure."
While walking slowly toward the exit, Aldes tried to dig into his memory about the abilities of the Witch class. But his head was empty.
The original Aldes truly knew absolutely nothing about the magic of this world.
Ugh, what a lazy bum. After this, I have to go to the library to learn about the state of this world, Aldes thought seriously.
The two of them walked past the large iron gates, leaving the training room and walking down the quiet palace corridor.