Chapter 17: Chapter 16 - Hard Work
It has taken me eight months, but I've finally mastered the art of arrays. In fact, I've gotten so good at drawing arrays that I can even draw my own now, without having to copy from another.
Around two weeks after Serena gave her first demonstration, I'd managed to copy it freehand onto one of the stone slabs well enough that it activated the array. She would leave me a few of the stone slabs after our lessons so that I could practice while she was gone.
Actually, I managed to make a better copy of it earlier than that. I simply traced the pattern onto some paper and followed the guidelines.
But I wasn't going to use it to pretend like I knew how to draw arrays.
Even if it gives me some short term benefits, I need to build a strong foundation.
That means no shortcuts.
The hardest part was drawing the runes in a uniform manner around the crystal.
Despite me enchanting my hands and eyes in the hopes of improving my control during the carving process, progress was still slow.
Or at least it felt slow.
I tried asking Serena how long it usually took for people to learn to carve their first array, but she wouldn't answer.
When she first heard that I'd carved my own copy of an array, she kept the same neutral smile that she always wore on her face and asked me to prove it by drawing one in front of her.
And when I successfully carved it and activated it in front of her, Serena's expression still wouldn't change, so I'm leaning more towards my progress being slow than fast.
I've also yet to graduate from using the stone plates to the metal ones.
Thus I spent the past few months arduously practicing drawing a variety of arrays given to me by Serena, each one more complex than the other, while not forgetting to cultivate my mana and train in swordsmanship.
Speaking of swordsmanship, Abraham taught me a new move.
After the first lesson, the majority of my time was spent self studying. Abraham would usually just make sure that I was waking up on time to practice and that I was heading out to the training area before getting on with his work.
Each week he would take some time to check up on my progress and answer any questions I had.
Four months since I began practicing the slash, he was finally satisfied with it. The next step on my path to becoming a swordsman was to learn how to lunge.
We headed to the scarred tree that had been the subject of Abraham's earlier demonstration for his latest one.
We both waited there in silence.
Abraham closed his eyes, his breathing gradually slowing down as he focused on the task at hand.
Once a few moments of silence had gone by, he opened his mouth.
"Watch carefully."
His actions were slow, but I could feel he was like the calm before the storm, slowly building up mana before releasing it in one devastating blow.
Like a streak of light, the sword was now held in front of him while he stood stock still, displaying the correct posture for a lunge.
Looking towards the tree, there was a fresh new scar on it, this time a centimetre thick hole had been pierced cleanly through its trunk.
He then demonstrated the movements a few more times before he was happy with my imitation of them and left me to practice on my own. Being a lord of a territory must come with a lot of work.
Keep working hard, father.
As per usual, Alexandra was still stuck to me like glue. When I didn't have to be alone like during my lessons with Abraham and Serena, she would appear beside me out of nowhere and act like she belonged there.
No matter where I went, whether to the training area to practice my swordsmanship, the garden to practice magic, or my room to cultivate and carve arrays, she would always follow me closely as if she were my shadow.
At first whenever my parents or Annette wanted to check up on Alexandra and they found her with me, they would say things like, "Oh, there you are".
Now whenever they want to check up on her, they simply look for me.
In fact, in the rare cases where she's not with me and the adults see me by myself, I'm met with voices like,
"That's a surprise. I thought Alexandra would be here", or,
"Hey Cain, have you seen Alexandra around?"
What am I, chopped liver?
Thankfully it doesn't seem like Alexandra is as shy as she was when she'd first arrived.
She's started to initiate conversations with me more in her tiny voice, even though once she's finished speaking she'll cover her face in her hands, and when I reply she does her best to acknowledge it or respond back.
As opposed to replying while hiding behind me whenever she's asked a question by my parents and Annette, she instead avoids eye contact with them and look towards their feet while replying.
Keep doing your best Alexandra.
As for Annette, I usually see her busying about around the house.
The house is usually spotless so I don't get why she's always so busy.
When I asked her, she simply replied,
"Why do you think this place is so spotless in the first place?"
I understand that, but I don't think it would hurt to take a break every now and again.
I don't want her getting overworked.
After I told her about my worries and how I thought she might want a break, she refused it. Apparently it would reflect badly on our parents if others came over and saw anything unbecoming of a noble.
Since I couldn't convince her to take a break, the best I could do was give her a hug.
Now whenever I see her I'll offer her a hug and thank her for her work. Luckily she's never refused one. Seems like my cute charms are still intact.
Annette is working hard too.
Regarding my time spent with Clarissa, now that I was no longer having lessons with her we didn't spend much time together. There was still the usual stuff like tucking me in at night, but that was a far cry from how it used to be.
Since I didn't want her to feel lonely, I tried my best to check up on her now and again to see what she was doing.
In the mornings, she takes lessons from Annette, learning how to cook and bake sweets. Sometimes she will be helping out Abraham with his work, and other times going out to the city
One time she asked if I wanted to go with her to meet some of her friends.
Since I thought that I could use a break, I agreed.
Once we were there, it was quite a delicious experience. All of the women were beautiful and they fawned over me, giving me treats and expressing their jealousy to Clarissa about how they wanted a child too.
I could get used to having that sort of thing happen now and again.
It certainly wouldn't hurt.
Even though they were supposed to be having some kind of bake-off, they swiftly forgot about the purpose of the meeting once we'd arrived.
Strictly speaking, rather than a bake-off it was more like a get together where they learnt various cooking related things from one another and ate their creations at the end.
Since I was the newest member of the group, they had me taste test everything and be the judge of who won this round.
Unfortunately due to my small size, I couldn't eat as much as I wanted. There was simply too much.
In the end there was only one person I could have chosen to be the winner.
It was of course, Clarissa.
When I announced the result, there weren't any disappointed or jealous faces. I could tell this was a very wholesome and friendly group of people.
Naturally, my mother was ecstatic and showered me with even more love.
Though don't rest on your laurels quite yet mother.
I might have been slightly biased towards you.
That red-haired lady over there could give you a run for your money.
Keep working hard.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone