Chapter 20: Herman
Austria, December 1st 1791
3:45 PM
Lukas was laying on the sofa while he read a book. He was holding it above his face as he read it with semi-closed eyes.
Suddenly, Olivia walked inside the room where Lukas was. She looked intrigued. "Lukas, Mr. Hügel called you," Olivia said.
Lukas frowned as he sat up. "Father? Why?" Lukas asked. It was not usual at all for his father to call him all of a sudden. Actually, it was not usual for his father to call him at all.
Olivia shook her head. "I do not know. I only know that you need to go to the garden and that there is another man with him," Olivia explained.
Lukas's frown only got deeper as he heard Olivia's explanation. 'Well, I guess the only way to know it is to go there and find out,' he thought.
Lukas sighed. "Fine, Olivia. I will go right now," he said.
Olivia nodded his head. "Very well, then."
Lukas stood up and lazily went to his room where he put some boots on. Since it was very cold, Lukas decided to put on a coat as well.
As Lukas headed towards the exit door, he found Frida sitting at a table. She looked nervous.
Lukas raised his brow. "Is everything okay, mom?" the boy asked.
Frida quickly turned with a gasp. "H-Honey! Were you not taking a nap?" she asked nervously.
"It's almost 4 PM, mom. I never wake up from my afternoon nap after 3PM," Lukas answered.
"O-Oh, it is true," Frida chuckled nervously. "Mommy is so silly, huh, Lukas?" she said as she massaged her wrists.
Lukas didn't answer. Instead, he watched Frida fidgeting. "Is everything okay with your wrists, mom?" he asked.
Frida widened her eyes. "Y-Yes, sweety! Of course it is! Why would it not?" she answered with a clearly forced smile.
'What's wrong with her?' Lukas wondered. "Whatever. Look, dad called me to the garden. Do you know anything about it?" Lukas asked.
Frida hummed as she put her finger on her lip. "Oh! Of course! I do know, but your father told me that he wanted to tell you about it himself," the woman answered.
Lukas raised his brow. 'They have been talking? Wow! This is strange,' he thought. "Okay, thank you. I'm going there now," the blonde boy said.
Frida nodded her head with a smile. "Of course, honey."
So Lukas started heading to the exit door once again. He opened the entrance doors and he immediately saw Elias along with a bulky man standing behind him with his arms crossed.
The man had a serene expression, however, he also seemed to be rude and short-tempered somehow.
Since Lukas always watched both real and fake sides of most people when he was a baby as they were not afraid of showing them to him, he got very good at reading people, and, mainly, at
reading people's feelings. However, he obviously made mistakes sometimes.
The man also had a scar on his left cheek. His eyes were brown and his hair was black.
Lukas didn't let himself get intimidated by the man's presence and kept going towards him and Elias with a calm expression, which seemed as serene as the man's.
Once Lukas was standing in front of the two men, he raised his hand as to greet them. "Hi," Lukas said calmly.
The man raised his brow. "Is this brat your son, Elias?" he asked.
Elias gazed at the man and limited himself to nod his head slightly.
The man snorted. "I thought your son was older and looked more manly, Elias," the man said.
"I didn't call you here to tell me what you thought my son was like. I called you here to train him," Elias said.
Lukas raised his brow. 'Train me? I'm three years old, right?' Lukas wondered.
The man chuckled. "Oh my, you didn't change a bit. You are always grumpy, huh?" he looked down at Lukas with a smirk. "By your son's expression, it seems like he's gonna be just like you," the man teased.
"Please, Herman, shut up," Elias said calmly.
Herman laughed. "Okay, my bad," he said as he crouched in front of Lukas and he stretched his arm slightly in order to shake the boy's hand.
"What's up, boy? My name's Herman Meyer," the man said.
Lukas followed Herman's lead and shook his hand. "I am Lukas." The blonde boy quickly felt Herman strengthening his grip on his hand, which made him shudder in pain before releasing a high-pitched sound. "Ouch!"
Herman laughed at Lukas's reaction. "I know you are! Your father doesn't stop talking about you!" Herman said as he glanced at Elias.
Elias looked away as his cheeks blushed slightly. "Nobody asked you to tell him about that, you idiot!" he said.
Herman laughed. "See? He got all embarrassed," he said.
'Wow, dad looks very different with Herman around. By the way, when did he have time to tell him about me? I almost never see him leaving this mansion. It's almost as if he's a prisoner in here,' Lukas thought as he rubbed his hand in pain.
Herman cleared his throat. "Anyway, your father told me to teach you the art of swordsmanship and physical fight. Besides, I'll teach you how to wield many other weapons properly," he said.
Lukas didn't look impressed, he was already expecting that. 'What I'm impressed about is that mom let my father call a teacher of such thing for me,' he thought.
"I see, but do I not have a say in this matter?" Lukas asked.
Herman started laughing loudly. "Oh, Lukas, Lukas, of course you don't! What an immature question! How old do you think you are?! Three?!"
"...Yes," Lukas answered. 'Why is it immature anyway?' he wondered.
Herman kept laughing, but it soon trailed off as nobody followed his laughter.
He cleared his throat. "W-Wait, are you serious?" Herman glanced at Elias, but he quickly looked back at Lukas.
"God! I thought you were like six and you were just very, very tiny for your age. I mean, you speak very well," Herman said.
Lukas just answered him by raising his brow. 'Did he only meet my father after I was born or what?'
Herman quickly turned to Elias and whispered. "Hey, Elias, are you sure you want me to train him? I mean, he's still practically a baby. He might not even have enough capability to focus and do all the exercises," he said.
Elias calmly nodded his head. "Do it. And don't worry about his focus, I know he will be able to do all the exercises you propose him," he confidently answered.
The both of them looked at Lukas simultaneously. He was speaking to a bird who was standing on his left shoulder.
The blonde boy was crouching as he drew something on the ground with a stick. "Is this what you dream your nest will be like in the future?" Lukas asked.
As they watched him, Elias and Herman had weirded out expressions on their faces.
"...Please, go easy on him," Elias said.
"Leave it with me, Elias. I will make him a full-fledged warrior, no matter what," Herman answered.
Herman walked closer to Lukas as the boy stood back up and looked at him. "...So... will we start now?" Lukas asked.
Herman nodded his head. "More or less, first we will assess your skills," Herman answered.
Lukas raised his brow. 'What? Do you expect me to have some skill right off the bat?' he thought.
Still, the boy nodded his head. "Very well, let's do it."
Herman nodded his head in approval, he liked Lukas's reply. "Okay, first, I will assess your physical strength. Do 10 push-ups!" Herman ordered.
Lukas raised his brow. "Push-ups?" he asked.
Herman sighed. "Of course. It is normal you don't know what a push-up is," he said.
Herman got down on all fours as he placed his hands slightly wider than his shoulders. He slowly lowered his body until his chest touched the ground. After that, he pushed himself back up.
He quickly stood back up. "This is a push-up," Herman said.
Lukas slowly nodded his head. "Oh... I see," he said. 'Looks tiresome, I don't wanna do it,' the blonde boy complained internally.
Herman crossed his arms. "Very well, you can start."
Lukas sighed. After that, he quickly got down on all fours. 'I guess it was like this,' he thought. 'Very well, now, I'll have to..." the blonde boy tried to push himself up, he was going slowly but surely as his whole body shook. In the end, he only managed to do 5 push ups.
Lukas was sitting on the ground as he panted. 'Was this... enough to wear me out?!' he wondered, incredulous.
Herman watched Lukas panting. He didn't look impressed. 'I knew this was gonna happen, he is just 3 years old after all. Well, let's go to the next stage.'
"Okay, Lukas, pull yourself together. We'll assess your physical fighting skills now," Herman said.
Lukas grunted. 'You gotta be kidding me!' he begrudgingly stood up and looked at Herman. "Okay, so... should I attack you or something?" the blonde boy asked.
Herman nodded his head. "Yes, that's the idea."
Lukas took a deep breath. "Fine."
"Stand aside, Elias!" Herman said.
Elias rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he said as he walked away from the spot.
"Come at me, Lukas!" Herman said trying to motivate Lukas.
Herman's attempt apparently worked because Lukas went at him with everything he had. Or perhaps he just wanted to finish the assessment with his pride unscathed.
Lukas decided to start punching Herman, but he obviously just blocked Lukas's punches with the palms of his hands.
'His punches are strong for a three-year-old child, besides, he closes his fists properly. However, his footwork is terrible,' Herman observed. 'He just tackles me with everything he got and leaves his legs completely vulnerable, as well as the rest of his body.'
As Lukas was about to punch Herman again, the bulky man stepped aside in the last moment, making Lukas fall with his face on the ground.
'Crap...' Lukas thought.
He raised his head. His face was covered with grass. Lukas didn't look happy.
"It's fine, Lukas, now let's go to the-"
"No," Lukas said as he stood back up.
Herman tilted his head.
"Please, just a bit more," Lukas asked.
Herman just shrugged his shoulders. "Okay."
'Good!' Lukas thought. 'Let's go!' He charged at Herman once again with the same movements.
Herman watched Lukas doubtfully as he easily defended his blows. 'Is he truly doing the same moves?' Herman wondered. 'I know he is just three years old, but still, this seems kinda off,' Herman thought.
As Herman stepped aside once again in order to make Lukas fall, the blonde boy placed his left hand firmly on the ground and tried to hit Herman with some sort of roundhouse kick, which caught the black-haired man off guard.
'Oh, not bad, he was expecting I would dodge again and he quickly thought about a way to use it on his advantage,' Herman thought, satisfied.
However, Herman still dodged Lukas's kick easily. It was a dangerous move since it would hit his crotch, but he avoided it without major trouble.
After missing his blow, Lukas couldn't balance himself and fell on the ground, but this time, he didn't hit his face against it.
'At least that,' Lukas thought.
"Very good, Lukas. Can we go to the next stage now?" Herman asked.
Lukas stood up and slightly nodded his head. He already had a convinced smirk on his face.
Herman watched Lukas's expression. 'Don't worry, I'll take that smug look off your face,' he thought.
"Very well, wait here please," Herman said as he headed towards some bags in the garden. He took two wooden swords from one of the bags. One was big and the other was tiny.
Herman walked back to Lukas and tossed the tiny wooden sword towards him. The boy managed to grab the sword as he struggled to keep himself standing with its weight.
Herman chuckled as he watched Lukas. "Is it too heavy?" he asked teasingly.
"N-No," Lukas finally managed to grab the sword properly with his two hands as he placed it on one of his shoulders. "It's fine!" he said
'Wanna see him fighting like that,' Herman thought. "Okay, start whenever you want," he said.
Lukas took a deep breath and charged at Herman. He struggled to run as the sword was a bit heavy for him, but he still managed to reach Herman.
When Lukas was about to swing the sword, it slipped off the boy's hands and flew towards Herman. He still managed to dodge it, but he had to throw himself onto the ground.
As Herman sat up, he had a dumbfounded expression. 'No way! D-Did he plan it?' As Herman turned his head to look at Lukas, he was kneeling on the ground with a smug expression.
'He made himself fall so he could throw the sword with more strength,' Herman thought. 'That was clever!'
After that, Lukas and Herman had a few more duels until the bulky man already had a good idea of Lukas's skills.
Herman cleared his throat. "We're done, Lukas. I am going to talk to your father now," Herman said.
Lukas just nodded his head. After that, he watched Herman walking closer to Elias.
"Did you see that?" Herman asked.
Elias frowned. "What? That boy being super lucky? Yes, I did see that," Elias answered.
Herman sighed. "Come on, Elias, don't be like that! I have been with him for less than two hours and I can already see he's stupidly clever for his age," Herman said.
"We are not talking about that. What do you think of him? I mean his fighting skills," Elias asked.
Herman sighed. "Well, it's still too early to take any conclusions, but..." Herman hummed as he picked the right words. "...well, regarding physical fight itself, he's really no big deal. His punches are strong and he closes his fists properly, but his footwork is horrible and most of his moves too," Herman said.
"Regarding swordsmanship, I would say he is even worse, he can barely walk with the sword in his hands, and much less can he wield it properly."
Elias nodded his head as if to make Herman continue his explanation.
"But... there's something about that boy that's intriguing me. He has very good intuition," Herman said.
Elias raised his brow. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"What I mean is that he reads the battle very well! It's frightening, it's almost as if he always knows what I will do next, or at least he has a good idea of it," Herman said.
"How sure are you about it?" Elias asked.
"Completely sure, Elias. It can't be a coincidence or just beginner's luck. It is something else. That brat really reads the battle like a true general! It's like he thinks about every move I can take and figures out a solution for each one," Herman said.
"You are overthinking it," Elias said.
"Elias, I am not! Experience it yourself. You don't even need to have a physical fight with him. Try to play some chess with the boy and you'll see it with your own eyes," Herman suggested.
The black-haired man sighed. "Anyway, he really needs to train his physical skills though," Herman said.
Elias nodded his head. "Very well, do it then," he asked.
Herman nodded his head. "Don't worry Elias, I will. I said I would make him a full-fledged warrior and I will not rest until he becomes one," he said with resolve.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone