Chương 9: 7 years old
{Part 1}
Paul and Reinhard did their sparring in swordplay as always. Their fight got super intense that a single misstep could be a lethal blow.
The purpose of doing a sparring is to practically apply all the skills he polished and refined that was taught.
Reinhard doesn't have any bit of interest on beating Paul in a sparring at all. There is a time and place for everything, that's how he see it. Just apply the skills he practiced in a sparring and let it go for as long as they can.
"...I think that should be enough for today?" The one who came to stop them was Rudeus.
Since he already graduated from Magic lessons with Roxy, Paul insisted that he also need to learn swordsmanship.
Paul and Reinhard stopped swinging their swords.
"You have grown much stronger and faster than I have expected." Paul grins at Reinhard. This is the son that he wanted.
A son who is devoted in becoming a swordsman just like him. Which parents would not be happy if their children would like to become like them?
"Hmph, that's only natural. I'm going to create a Legend, this much is normal." Reinhard is as always...
'They're a freak of nature.' The corner of Rudeus' mouth cracked awkwardly.
They have sparred for like what? 4 straight hours the entire afternoon? If they're not a freak, then what are they? Can you even call them humans at this point? The word 'Fantasy' in fantasy world sure didn't disappoint!
"Hey Rudy! You should work hard, look at Rein he's even stronger than you even with your magic. Don't you want to grow up to be a cool guy like your dad?" Apparently Paul had heard from the villager kids about their bout.
It was a thrilling match that could keep you on your toes. And Reinhard won that match without a sweat and a scratch.
"Is it cool to be a guy who cheats on his wife and risks tearing his family apart?" Rudeus retorted.
"Ngh!" Paul backs off hearing that, like an arrow pieced his chest. "Hey Rein, beat some sense to your big brother. Learning the sword is much better right?"
Reinhard only looked at him like he was some kind of an idiot, "What beat some sense? If it wasn't for him, it would have been dangerous. You better be thankful old man. Beat some sense? Your impudence knows no bounds old man."
(AN: Old Man= Oyaji)
"Guh." For the second time, an invisible arrow hits him.
"I mean, you're a guy." Paul said. "You know how it is."
"Hm, well I can't deny that. Making a harem is a dream for every guy. I understand..." Reinhard didn't deny it too. He might not look like it, he was a huge pervert too. But he does it in moderation.
"And girls like their man to be physically strong you know? So Rudy, what about it?" Paul grins at Rudeus.
"Oi, I still don't agree that cheating is cool." Reinhard's words fades in the background.
"Haa... Well I also want my Swordsmanship to grow like my Magic abilities." Rudeus sighed and held his wooden sword.
"Hmph, good luck with that Rudy." Reinhard says.
"What, you think I'm gonna be a nuisance when I got stronger than you?" Rudeus teased him a little.
"Do you really think I'm a sore loser?" Reinhard glared at him menacingly making Rudeus instantly regretting teasing him. "That's not it. That old man sucked at teaching so good luck..."
Reinhard then turned his back and went to the house saying, "Old Man, I'm gonna go play outside."
And then Rudeus was personally instructed with Paul.
Reinhard was in his post nut clarity mode. After a long day of workout, his cells are getting cooled down and his mind relaxed.
As he go out, he met Sylphy on the way. She bowed a little respectfully and smiled at Reinhard.
"Rein-sama." Sylphy was given permission to shorten his name. Reinhard, Rein for short.
She's been working hard as always. And she's been a genius with Magic too. She displayed her progress to him and Reinhard was pleased with it.
"Good work. Rudy is learning swordplay, so for now let's do combat practice."
+++++++++++++
{Part 2}
Soon after that Zenith and Lilia gave birth. At the same day at that.
It was a very rough experience for both mothers, and the men of the Greyrat Family.
Zenith had a breeched birth, and Lilia is premature birth.
Thankfully with Rudeus' and Reinhard's Healing Magic, it was a great help.
Zenith's daughter was named Norn. Lilia's daughter was named Aisha.
The twins had turned 7...
The two little sisters, Norn and Aisha, were growing quickly. They cried when they peed themselves, they cried when they pooped themselves, they cried when they were upset about something, and they cried even when they weren't. They'd cry in the middle of the night, and they'd cry first thing in the morning, and when afternoon rolled around, there'd be some particularly energetic wailing.
Before long, Paul and Zenith were having a shared nervous breakdown. The only one who kept her cool was Lilia.
"See!" she said, tending skillfully to the two girls, as she usually did. "Now this is what childrearing is! Things with young masters Rudeus and Reinhard were much too easy! You could hardly call that real childrearing!"
Lilia is so cool.
As for the elder brothers...
"Hey Rudeus!!! Don't you fuck around and give that filthy towel! Boil them with magic first to kill the bacteria!! What happens if they got sick?!! Haaa?!!"
"Alright I know already..."
Reinhard was turned on his super cleanfreak mode. He's getting more bossy than usual, and gets irritated seeing a single speck of dirt or mess in the baby's things.
Rudeus had some experience taking care of his little siblings in his previous life, so this much wasn't that tiring.
They're both super reliable in a sense that Paul and Zenith could only sit back and let them handle it. They're not acting like a real parent at all.
Well that's only understandable. They both grew up in noble families, and usually the maids handle the child rearing more than the parents themselves.
++++++++++
{Part 3}
One fine day during a swordsmanship training.
"We've got trouble Paul!" A man who looked like a farmer came rushing asking for help.
"Is that Eto? What's the matter?"
"Near the forest, monsters are approaching! Rawls is fighting them right now. Please help!"
It seems an event had occured.
'Rawls? Sylphy's Dad?' Reinhard wondered if her dad was strong enough to handle a Monster in the vicinity.
He never fought a monster, but he thought it would be fine if it's just an oversized animal.
"Understood, appointed Knight of the Buena Village reporting for duty." Paul then looked at both his kids. "Both of you, seeing a live scrimmage is a good learning experience. Follow me."
And so the three went to the forest.
Paul was up against four monsters. Three of them were what we called Assault Dogs, canine monsters that moved about like trained Dobermanns. The fourth was a bipedal, four-armed porcine monstrosity known as a Terminator Boar. The boar had emerged from within the forest with the three dogs in formation behind him.
Paul handled them with ease, beheading the lot of them in a single stroke.
I'll say it again: It was pretty damn amazing.
His fighting style had a certain beauty to it– a mysterious rhythm that made your heart race, yet put you at ease while watching.
Paul's fighting style had charisma. It earned absolute trust from the men in his command, won Zenith's heart and Lilia's lust, and even stoked the passions of Mrs. Eto(Who came to the house asking why her son got beat up by Reinhard).
He was the most desirable guy in the whole entire village. Every single women in the village want to be his next wife(if that's possible).
While Rudeus was in awe of Paul's fighting style, Reinhard was observing Paul frame by frame.
Like always he could perceive the slightest of movements and the entire fight in slow motion.
He will then try integrating it by practicing daily.
Day by day, his understanding with Touki got even more deeper and bigger. Piece by piece, a puzzle was forming slowly.
And the Ultimate Fighting Style, that is new is slowly forming. But it still had ways to go from completion.
+++++++++++++++++++
{Part 4}
One day, there is only Paul and Reinhard in the yard doing practice sparring.
After a few rounds, they ended it.
"I'm surprised you could keep up at that level. You already reached Advanced rank long time ago." Paul had mixed feelings between proud and frustration.
Having his son already at the same rank with him, made him feel anxious. His dignity as a father are in danger.
"This is nothing much. I still haven't reached my limits yet." He replied.
Honestly competing with Paul, an Advanced rank swordsman and a former S-rank Adventurer, at an equal level as a 7 years old was already unimaginable.
By nature, the bigger the stronger. That's just how it is...
Reinhard's even smaller than Roxy, and imagine Paul a strong adult man.
But Reinhard was already beyond Advanced rank. If he wanted in the entire sparring, he could have think of hundred ways to beat him. But he chose not to do so.
And the biggest contribution for that was his eyes that could perceive time in a very slow motion.
"By the way Rein... About School." Paul said as if remembering something. "No, you probably don't need that. Never mind. Let's get back to it."
"What do you mean, school?" He asked.
"There's an educational institution in Roa, the capital of Fittoa, where they teach things like reading and writing, arithmetic, history, etiquette, and that sort of thing."
"I've heard of it."
"Normally, you'd start going there around your age, but... you probably don't need to? You already know how to read and write and do sums, right?"
"Sure enough, yeah."
With the two baby girls in the family, the financial situation at home had gotten rather tough.
Everyone knew that Lilia had been teaching him things like Math, but when they saw him and Rudeus helping, they never thought that they're that good.
More importantly they hardcore flexed their ability by not using the abacus(middle age calculator). They easily do multiplications and divisions on three digit numbers, and even knew the conversion on different types of coins.
Rudeus gave an excuse that Roxy taught him, and Reinhard just said 'A King should not be ignorant' maintaining his superiority complex. Which could irritate most people.
"School, I'm a little interested in it." Reinhard says. 'Bullying some pompous brats sounds fun.'
"I mean it's not all that great a place. Etiquette is just stuffy nonsense, knowing history doesn't help with anything, and you're definitely going to get bullied. A bunch of local noble brats will be there, sure, but they just get all bitchy whenever they're not number one. With a kid like you there, they'll probably form a clique and push you around. And my father was a marquis, so with you being of even lower standing than I was, you'll be seen as even more of an upstart." Paul said as if he's got a lot of experience.
"I think there might be a lot of cute noble girls." He says while wondering. He's not just a training maniac who lived his life through the sword. At the end of the day, he's still a man. And someone of the 'Greyrat' bloodline at that.
Speaking of which in his past life there were some girls he liked, but he's focused on playing soccer and missed the opportunity. So at the very least, he was interested in doing something he isn't used to.
"Let me stop you right there. Noble daughters cake their faces thick with makeup, fuss obsessively over their hairdos, and reek of perfume. I mean, sure, some of them practice swordplay and are hot, but the bulk of them keep their bodies hidden underneath corsets, and even when you do get one into bed and get her clothes off, they never get any exercise, so their bodies are all loose and flabby to boot. Your dad's been tricked many times on that front." Paul had a distant look in his eyes as he spoke.
Reinhard then looked at Paul a little speechless. This guy really is popular with the opposite sex. Knowing the Middle Ages, the topic about sex should be more open-minded than in the modern world.
From what Paul said, when he's still attending school he must have already lost his V-card. 7-10 years old at that timeframe. His high status as a noble would also helped, with nobles sending their daughters at him knowing his father was a Marquis.
"Instead of going to school, how about just become an adventurer and go delving in some labyrinths." Paul recommended.
"An adventurer?"
"Yeah. Hitting up labyrinths is great. The ladies there don't wear makeup, so you can tell at a glance who's pretty and who's not. And whether they're swordswomen or soldiers or wizards, they're all in great shape."
"That's a tempting offer." Reinhard nods his head.
Even if he chooses that his women would be from a Royal Family befitting of his Kingly self, the temptation of the flesh is still every man's weakness. He wanted them to be drop dead gorgeous and sexy with hips that could bear dozens of children. Also they needed a lot of stamina to satisfy his Kingly self, and a woman in shape is the most fitting...
Still as a King, his standards for women should be top notched. Even his concubines should have a standard of being a Ms. Universe level of beauty. And noblewomen always fit that description...
Reinhard shook his head. He's still a 7 years old kid. That kind of thing will come eventually. In his childhood, he should focus first on studying and practicing. Such distractions like women will just ruin his future.
.
.
.
Okay, setting the garbage bits of all that aside, labyrinths were a kind of monster themselves. They started as simple caverns, but were altered by accumulations of magical energy, transforming them into labyrinths.
At the deepest part of the labyrinth was a magical crystal you could think of as the power source, which was protected by a boss that acted as the guardian. This magical crystal was bait, exuding a powerful, attractive energy. Monsters were drawn in by that energy and made their way into the labyrinth, where they fell victim to traps, starved to death, or were killed by the boss that guarded the crystal; the labyrinth then absorbed the magical essence of those dead monsters.
However, newly formed labyrinths often had their magical crystals devoured by monsters instead, or the crystal was shattered by the cavern collapsing. Hearing that some of them met clumsy ends made them seem all the more like living creatures.
But monsters weren't the only thing drawn in by these magical crystals. Humans found them quite tempting as well. The crystals could be used as catalysts for certain spells, and they fetched a rather high price. The price went up with size, but even a small one would bring in enough to afford someone a full year of easy living. And while as the power source, which was protected by a boss that acted as the guardian. This magical crystal was bait, exuding a powerful, attractive energy.
Monsters were drawn in by that energy and made their way into the labyrinth, where they fell victim to traps, starved to death, or were killed by the boss that guarded the crystal; the labyrinth then absorbed the magical essence of those dead monsters.
However, newly formed labyrinths often had their magical crystals devoured by monsters instead, or the crystal was shattered by the cavern collapsing. Hearing that some of them met clumsy ends made them seem all the more like living creatures.
But monsters weren't the only thing drawn in by these magical crystals. Humans found them quite tempting as well. The crystals could be used as catalysts for certain spells, and they fetched a rather high price. The price went up with size, but even a small one would bring in enough to afford someone a full year of easy living. And while these magical crystals were the only treasures the monsters cared about, that wasn't the case for humans.
As time passed, the equipment that belonged to the monsters and adventurers that the labyrinth had devoured would grow imbued with magical energy. They became a new sort of bait: magical items.
Magical items differed from magical tools in that they could be used without drawing upon the wielder's own magical energy. Most magical items, however, didn't come with useful abilities; the majority of them had powers that were garbage. Still, there was a chance that you might find one among them that gave the user the abilities of someone who was a Saint-tier magician. Items like this sold for a fortune, and people delved into labyrinths with dreams of striking it rich quick.
The bulk of them fell before they could reach their prize, however, their deaths feeding the labyrinth as it took their magical essence and used it to grow larger and deeper. This was how long-standing labyrinths came to have their depths filled with hoards of treasure.
The oldest and deepest known labyrinth was the Pit of the Dragon God, situated at the foot of the holy Mount Dragoncry in the Red Wyrm mountain range. From what I'd read, it had been around for at least ten thousand years, and was estimated to contain some twenty-five hundred floors.
Apparently, this colossal dungeon was connected to a hole at the pinnacle of Mount Dragoncry itself. By leaping into it, you could presumably plunge right to the very deepest floor, but no one who tried that stunt ever made it back alive.
"What d'you think? Adventuring might be pretty fun, too, right?"
"Yeah, it is a great idea to spread my name."
Actually, he already had plans.
Conquering labyrinths, becoming rich, participate in wars worldwide, travel the world in all the continents, slaying a Demon King to get a Title of a Hero, beating a 7 Major World Power and being one himself...
He didn't know how long it would take. Now that he thought about it, he had a busy schedule ahead of him for the next 10 or more years...
"Yeah, and if you become famous. Ladies will flock at you for sure. Just looked at your Dad."
"Hmph..." Reinhard shook his head about this guy who is so shameless.
Just because he's living a harem life, he's bragging it in his face?
'You only have 2? I'll get more than that you lowly peasant.' Reinhard's competitive spirit had been ignited.
He will never be inferior to anyone. Not even his father. He will make higher quality(and quantity) ladies fall in love with him...
Though he doubts if there is anyone who could surpass Zenith and Lilia... He's biased with his family...
SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO 
Roxy_Greyrat21
Roxy_Greyrat21 Aiyah... don't worry about it. He won't become a Pokemon trainer to collect beautiful girls in his PokeDex. He got his own standards as a King.
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