The Next Year

Life didn't slow down for Kye at all since the deal with Amatiya concluded. Kye had been advising the craftsmen that would be working in the factory where the newly christened weave rifle would be manufactured. Kye had also given full control of the industrial condenser to Kyla so she could use the machine whenever they needed new Spellweave crystals, though Kye predicted that with all the crystals he had stockpiled earlier, they wouldn't need to use the condenser for some time. Frey had offered Kye to teach him the Runewalker martial style, which was a brutal mix of fine spearmanship and the brutality of hand-to-hand combat. While Kye had predominantly trained with his war axe, he had learned several hand-to-hand combat techniques with the Knight-Captain to compliment his axe style. Kye was told that he would need to dedicate the entire year to learning from his father so he would need to finish any outstanding business before starting.

After handing Layla a list of things needed doing for his new business contract and passing off some industrial Weavetech prototypes to Kyla, Kye was ready to begin his training. Frey knocked on Kye's door early in the morning before entering. Kye was doing up the laces on his boots and was already dressed in his knight fatigues. Frey nodded internally seeing his son ready before speaking up.

"You'll be isolated for a very long time so make sure to say a long goodbye to your mothers and sisters. I know it might get very boring but I'll come back and check up on you once a month to check on your progress. You will have to hunt and survive by yourself as well as diligently train the techniques I'm going to be giving you."

"Yes father, you said this last night. Hunting won't be an issue if I could bring my weave rifle but I suppose the answer to that is still a no?"

"Right, it wouldn't be correct of me to give you the easy way out on this. I know it's odd to say, but this year between nine and ten years old is the most important for physical development. Your natural affinity for weapons is indicative of latent combat crest potential so developing all the combat styles you'll be using before you head off to the academy at age fifteen is crucial."

"What will Vanessa be doing while I'm gone? I'm sure she'll insist on coming with me but you won't allow that either."

"Look, it was hard enough saying no to a greater angel in the first place, don't guilt-trip me over it as well."

"I'm just saying that Vanessa being there would allow me to focus more on the martial techniques instead of survival."

"You would be right, but survival is all that matters in fights. Having the techniques and weapons to fight is all well and good, but if you lose that drive to stay alive, to keep pushing forward independent of anything and anyone, you will never be a true knight."

Kye understood that his father was doing this for his own good but felt that there were parts of this method that were inefficient. Though if this is what turned Frey into the warrior he was, Kye was willing to put up with a few inefficiencies if he could anywhere close to Frey in the realm of the battlefield. Kye had finished putting on his boots and put a strap around his calf with a sheath for a survival knife. After securing the strap's buckle, he stood up and slung the small cloth bag containing a change of clothes, a pouch of useful tools, his communication tablet and a signal flare in case he was in danger. Kye also strapped a metal training axe to his back in a sling and left his room with his father, locking the door behind him. Though they were in runic chests, there are a lot of sensitive blueprints in his room that Kye needed to keep secure. They both made their way down the staircase to see his mothers and sisters all waiting for them. Alicia was barely keeping her tears in while the other mothers gave dutiful looks. Rose knew that when Kye returned, he would be a much stronger boy while his other two mothers knew that their involvement in Kye's plan was about to ramp up and they were excited. Though without Kye there, if things went wrong they would need to be on their a game so while they were excited, they also understood that this was a massive move of trust from Kye to them and it was one they didn't take lightly.

"While I didn't have high hopes for Signus or Evan to be here to see him off, to say I'm a little disappointed would be an understatement." Rose gave out a scoff.

"Neither of them had the guts to go through with your spearmanship training this early. Even then, both of them gave up after a few months of training because they thought it was too hard. I wouldn't count on them for anything." Signus was her son yet he was easily the biggest disappointment of the family. His hedonistic and depraved lifestyle was something the family took great shame in and were simply waiting for him to get his crest and then ship him off to the academy to try and shape him into a half-decent human being. Evan held a great distrust for his younger brother so stayed away from him mostly, so his absence was at least explainable. Kye's two eldest sisters were very busy these days between academy training and their own apprenticeships but had made the time to come home for Kye's birthday and stayed to see him off for his year in training. Kye walked up to his eldest sister and hugged her, then repeated the process for all his sisters.

"I'll see you four later." Kye smiled at them before moving on to his mothers. Anticipating that Alicia's goodbye would be the longest, he started with Rose. After Rose looked him in the eyes for a brief second, she pulled Kye into her strong arms for only a brief few moments. Layla and Kyla held their hugs for longer but Alicia was by far the longest. Alicia was aware of what the training would entail and worried endlessly for her son's safety. Though she recognised this as an important time in his development, his absence for an entire year was a lot for her to go through. Even when he was crippled, she often remained by his side, doing her tasks or just watching him. This would be the first time he would be out of her presence for an extended period and she couldn't help but break out into tears. Kye gave a slight smile as he tightly hugged his mother back.

"It's not like you'll never see me again mum. I'll be home before you know it."

It was the first time Kye and every referred to her as something other than 'mother' and her heart was overjoyed. She had always felt a kind of distance from Kye after he woke up even though he was always attentive and kind. This kind of address and casualness was what she wanted from her son. She regretfully let him go and backed off while wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. Kye nodded to his father and they walked out of the mansion to find a magic carriage waiting for them. Kye climbed into the carriage passenger seat while his father got into the driver seat and sat behind the wheel.

A magic carriage had no external power source and was instead powered by a very basic mana engine, used exclusively for magic carriages due to their expensiveness. The number of mana crystals needed to power one wasn't insignificant either so only very wealthy families could afford to use one for normal activities. This was another thing on Kye's list of things to change with Spellweave but he would focus on that kind of thing after this year was up and he was done with his basic training. Frey pressed a small button behind the wheel and the engine spluttered to life and droned out a rather loud sound. Frey drove the car out of the gate leading to the mansion and down the streets of Runia.

Those that recognised the pair stopped to wave or give slight bows as they passed by. Frey was very well-liked by the territory's populace due to his low tax rate and the high standard of living he had ushered into the territory. Though some complained about the mandatory military service many were called up for, those were far and few in between as the territory didn't allow noblemen and women to buy their way out of service or hire proxies to serve instead of their children. After nearly half an hour of driving, they finally reached the territory gate that opened up into the southern region to a thick forest. They drove down the paved road for nearly an hour, it felt like even time was telling Kye that this was going to be true isolation and not something he could simply shrug off as no big deal. The trees whizzed past as the carriage sped along the road at a comfortable yet fast speed of roughly 40 kmp/h. Eventually, they reached a small dirt path into the trees that Frey pulled on to and continued down. The car's rubber tires made the ride over the sticks and rocks easier but also bumpier for the passengers. Kye felt like his brain was knocking around in his skull and it gave him a headache.

"I'll make something to fix this fucking ride, I can't deal with this bumpiness."

Kye muttered slightly under his breath and attempted to rest his head on the seat headrest but the carriage kept bumping him around. Eventually, he gave up and sat bolt upright in his chair with an unamused expression on his face as they continued up the trail. They finally reached a clearing after a further thirty minutes of driving and Frey parked the car next to a small log cabin that had clearly been maintained well through the years. The logs hadn't rotted away and the glass on the windows was just slightly dusty. Frey pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the door to the cabin that would be Kye's home for the next year.

"As you can see, it's simple but it should make for comfortable lodgings while you're out here. Though remember that you might not always get to make it back to the cabin at night and it would be safer to find a tall tree and sleep in that, though I'll be teaching you all those survival skills later on anyway. For now, get set up in the bedroom and I'll give you the first month's lessons for you to complete."

Kye nodded and walked into the cabin with his bag, placed it down on the unmade bed and unpacked the few things he had on him. Kye went to remove the final thing he had brought, his axe, from the sling on his back before his father stopped him.

"You'll be fighting with the weight of the axe normally, so keep it on so you get used to it."

Kye nodded and walked outside where his father handed him his training spear. Unlike the practice weapons Kye used with the knights, this one was made sharp like a normal weapon and could be used as such. The tip of the spear wasn't the pike head that many of the soldiers used alongside their rifles, but rather a glaive head that was just as effective as stabbing as it was at slashing. This gave the user a wider range of lethal moves that could be done with the weapon while keeping its beneficial characteristics.

"Alright, follow along with me as I do my moves and watch them closely. Once you have these movements mastered we can move on but I expect this to take the next month of your practice."

This was how Kye's training started, following the slow and deliberate movements of his father with his training weapon. They continued this until Kye had the movements memorised and Frey handed Kye a book.

"That's the manual for the spearmanship technique you're learning. It's what taught me and so it should teach you just as well. If you have any questions refer to the manual and if it can't answer your questions, wait until I return. Remember to keep up your normal training alongside training the technique."

"Yes father."

Frey placed his hand on Kye's shoulder and nodded.

"Best of luck out here Kye, remember to use the signal flare if you're in dire straits. If I can't get here in time, I'm sure Vanessa will."

"Don't worry father, I'll learn your spearmanship perfectly."

frey just smiled as he hopped back into the magic carriage and drove off leaving Kye to his training. Kye looked at the small wood cabin he was left with and breathed a sigh. It wasn't much, but it would be home for the next year. Kye just went back to training the movements until the sun went down and disappeared behind the large oak trees of the forest. Deciding to call it a day, Kye went inside and cleaned his training spear with an oil-soaked rag and put the metal kettle on over the magic stove to boil some water for his coffee. After that, he would go to sleep and get ready to make the most of the daylight available to him. If that was to be his general routine for the next year, Kye didn't think he'd mind it even if it was a bit lonely. He had his communication tablet with him so he could talk to his friends if he got bored even if he didn't receive a hasty reply. Kye leant back in the simple wooden chair and breathed a sigh of contentedness before murmuring to no one.

"Maybe this won't be so bad after all."