Reincarnation Of The Bullied

Tatia

Aleric kept searching for the old man and sometimes he would see him and sometimes he would not, but he didn't stop. The old man thought Aleric would stop after a few days but he was wrong. Aleric kept tracking him down and the old man has no other but to test Aleric.

"Have I convinced you of my resolve?" Aleric asked the old man as they stood face to face in the same place they first had a discussion.

"Not yet, first I should tell you I can't teach you anything about mana." 

"That won't be a problem." 

"Alright, here." The old man threw a bracelet at him. 

"What is this?" 

"Wear it, it would make you unable to use mana and harder to sense mana." 

"What is the purpose of it?" Aleric has just recently succeeded in sensing mana so he didn't like the idea of it being stripped away.

"By holding back your mana, you would be able to develop your muscles and stamina without the use of mana. When you now start using mana after you have developed your stamina you would be so much stronger." The idea was enticing to Aleric so he wore the bracelet. He instantly felt his mana being cut off, he fell on his knee and felt so weak. Aleric has no idea that the bracelet he just wore is one of the elven priceless possession and the old man is a vagabond of elven royalty.

"Now the test is that you have to jog around the village lake 100 times before nightfall." It was a simple thing to do if he is making use of mana, but now his mana is cut off and he is back to his weak body, it's not so easy. Aleric was never the type to give up so he accepted the test and went to start it immediately.

The old man kept watching the weak boy jog around the river with a determined expression. He knew it was impossible for him to run a 100 lap he just wanted to see how determined Aleric was. Aleric kept running until he was exhausted and the only thing carrying him was sheer will. It was on the 90th lap that he passed out but before he could fall the old man was able to catch him.

"You're one stubborn boy." He took the boy inside his hut and used a potion to recover his exhausted stamina and allowed him to sleep. The old man has discovered that Aleric is the Young Lord of Warkinles. "What a strong son you have, Enzo." 

"Did I pass?" Aleric asked the moment he woke up.

"Yes you did, now I have conditions if I am to teach you?" 

"I am listening."

"First, you would always wear the bracelet whenever we are training and you should never question my method."

"Alright, but after I finish my training and I remove the bracelet, would I be able to sense mana then?"

"Yes, you would even sense it better." The old man wouldn't be able to teach Aleric about Mana since the way humans sense mana is different from elves.

"Great, I would be your care. What is your name?"

"You can call me old man Sawyer." He answered after a brief silence.

"Thank you for taking me as a student master." Aleric bowed to his master.

"You can leave now and we would start our training tomorrow." Aleric left Sawyer and went back home.

When Aleric came back his father was already back and waiting for him with his mother. 

"Welcome father." Aleric went and greeted his father. 

"How have you been son?"

"Never better." Aleric smiled. Because of the bracelet, Enzo was unable to notice the mana core in Aleric. Enzo is an 8th class warrior so if it wasn't for the priceless bracelet he would notice the changes.

"I want to introduce you to Tatia." A beautiful girl that is about the same age as Aleric stepped out from being Enzo. She was so fragile that Aleric felt pity for her.

"She is the daughter of the village chief, her family died at the orcs' attack so she is now under my care." Aleric looked at her and studied her features. She had long black hair and her lashes were long. Aleric knew she would definitely be a beauty when she grows up.

"Hi Tatia, I am Aleric." Aleric stretched out his hands for a handshake but Tatia hide back at Enzo's back.

"She is still shakened up. Let's go get her freshened up." Lady Brienne carried Tatia and the latter didn't resist. "And you boys, go freshen up your smell." The ladies left and the boys went to do as instructed.

After bathing, Aleric tried to meditate and know if he could sense mana while wearing the bracelet but he was unable to do it. Though old man Sawyer said to only have the bracelet on whenever he was training, Aleric has no intention of removing it at all. After knowing the bracelet is making it harder for him to use mana he decided to also train his mana with it. Aleric figured if he successfully sense mana while wearing this bracelet, it would be easier for him once he remove it. After failing to sense mana he stopped and decided to go have his dinner.

The dinner was lively and the whole family tried to make Tatia feel at home. Aleric stopped talking to Tatia when he realize the girl didn't answer any of his questions.

"Don't hate Tatia too much, she has just been through a lot." Enzo said to his son as the two were talking a walk around the castle.

"I understand. Tell me about the attack?" Enzo wishes to protect his weak son from the cruel world. He knew that the only respect Aleric was having was because of him the father. He knew Aleric would be thrown away by the people the moment he dies. 

"There is nothing to talk about." Enzo is making a plan to have Aleric live a simple life, away from all this burden, make a family, and grow old.

"Alright." Aleric dropped the subject since he noticed his father's unwillingness to talk. 

Aleric came back to the old man to start his training. Sawyer knew the most important thing is to have the boy build his stamina, so he made him start with exercise. 

"Your father is an 8th class warrior, so if you want him not to also know about your secret, you should always wear the bracelet in front of him." He forgot to tell Aleric about it yesterday.

"How did you know about my father?"

"Do you think I wouldn't be able to know that much about my student." 

"Thanks for the heads up." Aleric looked at the silver bracelet in his hand and was glad he didn't remove it last night, now he has more reason to not remove it.

Aleric kept coming for training during the day and practicing his mana circulation during the night. He was making progress in his daily training but his mana practice has not progressed at all. Tatia has gotten more civil with him and always reply him whenever he asked her a question.

"So you said you would like to be a healer?" Lady Brienne asked Tatia during breakfast. One must have an affinity for an occupation before one can start practicing it. Though there are situations when one can practice many occupations there must be one that is above the rest. And it's disadvantageous to practice multiple occupations since it's time-consuming and you might end up not being able to level anyone.

"Yes, I want to be able to save people." Tatia said and it warmed Aleric's heart.

"With you as a healer, I would play without a care of being injured." Aleric joked and Tatia smiled.

"You better not stress Tatia." Lady Brienne reprimanded her son. Ever since Tatia came, lady Brienne has been spending more time with her, Aleric didn't care. Aleric was happy about that since she would keep his mother occupied and not bother him.

"Aleric, I would like you to take Tatia out today to play. It would be great for her to look around." Lady Brienne doesn't bother giving guards to her child since she knew he would be safe in the town. Nobody would be dumb enough to cause harm to the only son of Enzo, the person known as the strongest human warrior.

"Alright, mother." Aleric had his training but he knew refusing his mother would make her ask him questions and it's been weeks since Tatia came and she hasn't stepped outside.

After breakfast, the two children left the castle. Aleric planned to convince Tatia to play alone while he go to his daily exercise. 

"The town is big." Tatia voiced her surprise.

"I can allow you to walk around yourself and we will meet up at the castle gate at sunset." Aleric suggested. Tatia wanted to spend some time with him but she noticed that Aleric wanted to dump her so she accepted.

"Great, see you at sunset." Aleric left her to go meet Sawyer. Sawyer has increased his exercise and was amazed at how strong Aleric was becoming. Elves are known to be the highest of all prodigies but Sawyer was sure no elf holds a candle against Aleric.

"In a month I would start teaching you some combat styles." Aleric would be 6 a few weeks from now so that's great news for him.

After leaving the old man he went back to the castle and met Tatia waiting for him at the castle gate.

"Hope you enjoyed your day?" Aleric asked and she nodded without meeting his eyes.

"Here," Aleric came him a bracelet he got at the market for her. The gesture warmed her heart and she rewarded Aleric with an innocent smile that tugged at the strings of his heart.

Aleric happily led her back inside the castle and pray that Tatia doesn't tell his mother he left her alone.