Nuclear Warlock

In the early morning, close to the training ground of the village, a small boy could be seen running around in laps, he seemed to be out of strength, and his harsh breathing sounds could be heard clearly, yet he kept running, he showed no signs of stopping even though he felt he would collapse on the ground any moment.

"Keep doing Artus!"

"You can do it"

"You boy, you have to push yourself beyond the limits"

"One more lap"

A man was standing on the side watching the boy, he was full of youth and strength, he looked no older than late twenties or early thirties of age at most. He had short brown dark hair; he was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and leather pants.

His arms were covered with various scars, there was even a scar on the side of his forehead, it appears as though he lived a rough life. He was holding a wooden stick in his hands, shouting at the boy, encouraging him with tough love.

*THUD*

Artus finally could not hold on anymore, he collapsed on the ground lying on his back, he was out of breath, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

He was absent-minded, looking at the sun when a large shadow came blocking the rays of the sun, looking at him from above.

"Good job, Artus"

"Today you did well, your strength and stamina are improving. Now you are ready to start real training"

He was Gabell, Artus's father since he came back from the hunting trip not long ago, he focused all his attention on training Artus, every day they would come here early in the morning, he would instruct Artus to do various exercises, running laps, weightlifting, starching, and flexibility but Artus had yet to start training on actual combat.

Gabell brought another wooden stick throwing it towards Artus.

"Get up"

"I will teach you the basics of weapon handling"

********************************

In the evening Artus and Gabell returned home, Artus was too tired, so he sat down on the small box beside the table in the kitchen while Milla prepared food.

Artus fell asleep directly on the table, though he was hungry, he was even more tired so he could not hold anymore.

Milla looked at Artus, she could not hide the distress in her eyes, she felt that Gabell was so strict…. his small body could not handle such harsh training …without even mentioning the fact that his body was weak to begin with.

"Gabell, I think you are a bit too harsh on Artus, he is still a child"

"Milla, you knew the academy started their recruitment, now they are visiting all the villages and cities looking for young talents, soon they will come to our village"

"I know…but isn't it a bit too excessive?"

"Milla you very well how much I love Artus…. the academy opens its doors for talents regardless of background once every decade"

"It is a once-in-lifetime chance for Artus….to change his life…. or do you wish for Artus to spend his life in this isolated village?"

"I want him to live a good life…. A life where he doesn't have to worry about food and clothes…where he doesn't have to worry about the attacks of monsters…."

"a life where he looks at the rain from his house while enjoying drinking tea instead of living a life where the rain sweeps through the roof and floods the house"

"Yeah, but Gabell, why are you rushing things…. what do you think he could achieve in such a short time…you should take things more slowly"

"Anything is better than nothing…. if I can give him even a slim chance…the recruitment this time will be open for all regardless of background even commoners will have chance…."

"But we are not commoners!"

"We are now!"

"Milla…. we don't have a status anymore…. we don't have money…without money or status this will be the only chance that Artus has to work at the academy…we should put everything on the line"

"Tomorrow I will be able to obtain another bottle of potion"

"Make sure that Artus drinks it"

"let's not wake up Artus…. the training was trough….and it will get harder…. keep the food…I will wake him up after a while"

Gabell stood up and he carried Artus towards his bed.

"Milla…let go of the past…. forget about it…. we should only focus on the future…. Artus's future"

Gabell left the absent-minded Milla and headed towards the attic where he put Artus on his bed, covered him with a blanket, he stared at him for a moment they he left.

Little they did know, the child whom they thought was asleep was awake the whole time, was wide awake, he was awake more than ever in his life.

Artus slowly opened his eyes.

**************

In the middle of the night, Artus sat down on the floor, pondering about the things he heard today.

There was a lot to digest, the academy, lost its status, commoners, nobles…. etc.

There were a lot of things he did not understand as he was missing lots of important information, but he knew one thing for sure, he had to get stronger, be it physical strength and exercising with his father or comprehending magic.

"I don't have any time to waste…. the so-called talent scouts of the academy will arrive at any moment"

"No matter how hard I train…. I will not be able to achieve remarkable results in this short time…. I always knew my body was weak"

"I should put more effort into my magic training"

"I have read the book several times…. even though there were no details about how to awake as a mage. The first step in every spell was to gather energy so logically speaking to gather energy from the environment, you should first sense its presence"

"If there was no one to teach how to use the sword, then I would teach myself"

"I will reinvent the sword art!"