Elijah woke up just before daybreak,as usual, getting up from his bed he opened the door to balcony. Fresh morning breeze filled the room, this has become somewhat of his morning ritual these past years. But, today was different, from this day forward he would receive personal training from Sebastian.
He sat on the chair in balcony, observing the sunrise and gradual spread of sunlight; the emergence of vast blue sky from the darkness of night. He could observe soldiers on patrol around the castle walls, chirping of birds came from the eastern orchard, "yes, this is the best time of the day" Elijah said in a soft voice.
Knock! Knock!
"Young master" Sebastian called from the other side of the door
"Come in"
"Good Morning, young master, let's get you prepared for today's training" Sebastian said with a bit of excitement in his voice,
"Good morning Sebastian." Elijah nodded in agreement,
Sebastian was not in his usual Butler uniform, he wore a short white tunic along with leather pants and boots, which seemed to be the training gear. A foot and half long sheathed blade was suspended along his waist.
Sebastian entered , placing the tray in his hand containing the usual cup of milk and sliced fruits on coffee table, he then proceeded to take out and prepare the training gear for Elijah from the wardrobe. Meanwhile, Elijah got up from the chair and after drinking milk he entered the bathroom.
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Elijah followed Sebastian to the training ground, maids along with other staff members greeted Elijah and Sebastian along the way, Elijah had a bright smile on his face while returning each and every greeting with politeness.
'I better remain in everyone's good books, now, I don't even seem to be certain about my future. Maybe, I'll spend my future, being one among them'
Elijah was told to keep his inability regarding magic a secret, adding the information he gathered from those five information artifacts, there was not a single person in Fenice family who was unable to practice magic. Thus, he came to a rather disturbing conclusion about magic deficient people, which was that either they were disowned by the family and the information regarding them was concealed, or they were made to mystically disappear somewhat similar to the two family heads.
His both hypothesis were completely baseless, but, he had read extensively about historical figures and Noble families in his past life. Also, the anime he watched with Obito added to his paranoia, that noble societies only on their face appeared all high and mighty, following the principles like 'noblesse oblige' and the moral obligations. In reality they all had deep secrets to maintain their superior identity, power and public image.
With all that going inside his head, Elijah entered the training area and stood facing Sebastian, waiting for his specific training plan to be explained.
"Ten laps around the arena followed by one hundred pushups and fifty crunches for day one." Sebastian gave a short explanation in his usual stoic voice.
"Excuse me ?" Elijah blurted out in shock, his imagination about magical training was dealt with a finishing blow.
This private training area had a length of around five hundred metres, ten laps meant more than ten kilometres, forget about pushups and crunches. He could easily imagine himself dying mid running, forget about going bald and gaining superpowers.
Sebastian looked confused and didn't respond to his sudden remark.
"I'm five years old Sebastian" Elijah declared in a grumpy voice with a bit of anger.
Sebastian was again confused and could not understand what was happening, he came to a conclusion, " young master, you can add fifty sit-ups to the list if it's not up to your expectations" he said with a satisfied expression.
'What the hell, what kind of monster do you think I am' Elijah mumbled in his, but, Prevented himself from any further outbursts, 'is this some kind of test ?'
Elijah began his first lap, to his surprise his five year old body had great endurance and stamina, he finished first three laps without any problems, 'whoa, is this world full of superhumans, even without magic I feel so much energy' Elijah's thoughts were all over the place.
'Indeed, he has Fenice blood which can't be judged by normal human standards, I was a bit worried after what happened to his magic awakening. It seems, it is just like what Alina theorised, I just need to make him physically stronger. But, just how strong is his soul, even with such physical abilities it's unstable. I can't imagine his future strength.' Sebastian observed while watching Elijah finishing hundredth push-up.
Elijah became extremely tired after doing hundred pushups, he got carried away by his new found strength and let loose without concern. He could feel his legs going numb and he felt nauseous while doing crunches and at forty-seventh crunch he could not get his body to move any more.
Elijah laid there on the ground without moving any muscles while panting. Honestly, all that initial enthusiasm was gone and he felt pathetic after the adrenaline rush ended. Sebastian carried him on his back and brought him back to his room.
After laying Elijah on his bed, Sebastian removed his shoes and sat beside the bed on a chair.
"Young master, you should not hurry to finish training, letting body relax while running or doing any other physical activity, simultaneously, is the fundamental of any physical training" Sebastian started giving his after class lessons to Elijah, while Elijah's breathing stabilised slowly.
Finishing with some more pointers about his breathing technique and body physiology, Sebastian stood up from the chair. Looking directly into Elijah's eyes he continued,
"Lord Arthur would be back before evening, master Ellie, you should prepare yourself to greet him and your aunt Artoria." Sebastian then walked to the door, with a vivid look of determination on his face, he left the room and closed the doors behind him.
Elijah fell asleep a short while later. He woke up around noon and rung his bedside bell to call for Mary, the maid incharge of taking care of him.
Mary entered the room and greeted Elijah with a bow,
"Good afternoon, young master."
"Good afternoon, Mary, I need you to prepare my clothes and" Elijah hesitated for some time, he was still tired from all that training and was tempted to take another nap, "help me with the bath and dress me up for father's arrival"
"Yes, young master" A bright smile crept up on Mary's face, it had been a long time since Elijah stopped taking her help with bathing and dressing himself. Mary missed those days when he was younger and she used to clean him and dress him up daily.
Mary quickly prepared the warm bath and Elijah slowly moved his still aching body to the bathroom.