Chapter 8 A Meal

Lucas was led to a small canteen where other soldiers were enjoying their meals. The hall had around 3 long tables that stretched from one end to the other. In total, about 60 soldiers could eat at the same time, creating a cacophony of noise. Most people were enjoying the beer and having fun. Some of them noticed the other party came back and greeted them briefly with cheers.

"Alright Lucas, I'm Liam, I don't know exactly what the baron has planned, but for now you can eat with us."

Instructing Lucas to grab a seat, a meal was placed in front of him. A warm meal consisting of chicken and vegetables, he couldn't hold back. He started to eat as fast as he could, using his hands to rip apart some of the flesh.

The other soldiers made mocking remarks about his way of eating, but he didn't spare them any attention. After his meal, his hunger was satisfied for the first time in a while.

'The mayor couldn't even get meals like these. I knew that this was going to be a heaven on earth!'

'I don't know...I feel uncomfortable.'

'Why? Don't you see all these delicious meals in front of you? We finally get to eat!'

'...'

Not knowing what to do he stayed seated and looked around. Eventually, he saw the mage returning and speaking to Liam. Lucas didn't know what they were talking about due to all of the commotion around him, so he couldn't make anything out of it. From the behavior seen during the trip and the disparity between the different ranks his negative side started to develop a bit of an untrusting mindset but his positive mindset still believed that most people were inherently good, just misunderstood at times.

The captain looked at him with a slight tinge of sympathy before returning to his serious face. He signaled Lucas to come to him, so he did as ordered.

"Alright Lucas, have you eaten?"

"Yes, sir, thank you so much for the delicious meal."

"Good, the baron has decided to train you to become a knight, meaning that you will have to start practicing daily, starting today."

"What?", the request, no, order came out of nowhere, he was barely recovering and the master of the mansion decided he was fit to become a knight?

'This doesn't make any sense!'

"Don't ask questions, just follow Liam's orders, got it?" the mage quickly added in a freezing tone.

'Wow, I'm going to become a knight?'

'There's no way that this baron or whatever thinks you're knight potential. He didn't even meet you yet.'

'Who cares, if they think I should become a knight, why not follow them?'

Lucas showed his enthusiasm through the smile that was plastered on his face.

"Follow me, Lucas, we will start with endurance training.", Liam said with a slight sigh of reluctance.

Guided, he came to one of the training grounds. Wooden targets in the form of a scarecrow were placed alongside a line on one end of the courtyard. There was a rack filled with wooden weapons and arrows with a cloth ball instead of an iron point.

"For your first goal we need to make sure you have high endurance, so you can run in laps. You need to keep running following the outline of the training ground, if you ever decide to stop running, you'll have to do another 5 push-ups at the end. The courtyard's outline is about 100 meters, so you'll start with about 50 laps. This much should be possible for someone your age. Now, GO!"

"Huh, 50 laps, isn't that a bit too much?"

"Didn't you hear the mage, no questioning, now get to it before I get the whip out!", Liam did care a bit for Lucas, not that he actually knew him or anything. But forcing a child to endure such training, didn't make him feel any better. 'I'm sorry Lucas, but the mage is probably watching from somewhere, I can't be too lenient on you.'

Feeling a bit scared he decided to follow his order 'It's only 50 laps, I should be capable of that.'

'...'

Lucas started to run, but it didn't take long for him to slow down. He had just eaten, and couldn't digest everything in time. After the third lap, his stomach started to ache pretty bad so he slowed down.

"Don't slow down, keep up the pace!" Liam yelled, he could see the mage standing in a window watching over them. Lucas could only force himself to bite through the pain for now. His wounds had mostly healed up, but exercising now would only force them back open. Especially the burn wounds on his back were troublesome to deal with. With each step, he could feel his back turn a bit a pull it open.

The captain was looking at Lucas trying his absolute best. He was ordered to let Lucas run about 75 laps but secretly brought it down to 50. He was also a commoner once and didn't want the kid to be forced through hellish training.

'I don't understand why he needs to be trained, he's way too young to become a knight, even the rank of soldier would be out of his reach.' The captain was wondering about the choices the mage made, but he quickly suppressed those thoughts because Lucas was slowing down again.

"Lucas, you know what happens if you slow down right?"

Although Lucas heard the remark he had to stop so he could empty his mouth. Barely digested food had forced its way back up his throat. Barfing everything he could, he felt the acid from his stomach burning his throat. The puddle he left behind was a combination of actual food with a few patches of dirt he ate not too long ago. After he lost everything he had eaten during the meal, the captain didn't exactly know what to do.

'Should I just let him rest for today, he already did about 17 laps, that's already a pretty good start.'

Sadly enough, Lucas misinterpreted Liam's stern face, thinking he was angry at him. Standing back up he started running again, this time it went a lot better, considering he couldn't vomit anything else anymore. Still, the burning feeling in the back of his throat didn't stop and even increased a lot more. Parts of his body that he didn't even know could hurt started to feel pain, but he pressed on.

Time passed and Lucas kept going, forcing all his muscles and energy out of his body. He used every trick he could think of to keep going, even envisioning monsters chasing him to keep his run going.

'Wow, I have to say I'm impressed, I don't know how, but I guess, he really does have the potential to become a fine knight. Was this what that mage saw? This determination isn't seen very often. Hmm, no, a mage couldn't possibly see a knight's potential, or could he?', glancing at where the mage previously was, he could only see an empty window. 'Seems like he got bored.'

Lucas was on his last lap, but he was very exhausted from all the exercise he had experienced that day.

'I did it, finally, I knew I could do this, I am qualified to become a knight now!'

'You don't even know what it takes to become a knight, perhaps you'll have to do this daily now!'

'I don't believe you, and even if I did have to do that. If I can do it today, why couldn't I do it tomorrow, huh?'

'Oh please, you don't-'

"Good job Lucas, you're done for today. I'll excuse the push-ups for today since it's your very first day.", now that the mage wasn't there anymore, Liam had a little bit more authority.

Pleased to hear some acknowledgment he collapsed on the ground. Instantly falling asleep in his sweat.

'Guess I'll just throw him in the hay. We haven't prepared any room and I don't think there are any spare ones left. Guess I should find something for him.' Liam thought while picking up Lucas' body and smiling a little bit, bringing him to the shed where the hay was stored. After laying him down he went back to the canteen, seeing if he could join the festivities of their return. Upon entering he could see the mage looking for him.

"Ah, there you are Liam, was the training successful?", the man was once again hidden under a cloak, even though they were inside. He looked happy, but also in a bit of a hurry.

"Yes sir, he actually completed the first exercise." The captain was lying directly in the mage's face, but as far as he knew, there were no lie-detector spells.

"Good, good.." the mage started to wonder in his thoughts, forgetting that Liam was standing in front of him. "Liam, make sure he takes this after every exercise." The mage pulled out a potion filled with a purplish-looking liquid. "I'll have a few crates delivered to your quarters, just make sure he drinks them okay?"

Liam looked at the disgusting-looking concoction, but didn't dare to ignore the orders "I'll make sure he drinks one every day."

"After every exercise, you mean" Venion put heavy emphasis on the fact that it had to be every exercise.

"Yes, my apologies, I was just stunned for a moment, but may I ask a question?"

"Tch, what is it?"

"Is it necessary that he receives the training for basically two knights at the same time? Won't that kill him?"

"Not if he drinks the potions." the mage stated in a very matter-of-fact way. The captain nodded and just accepted the way things were. Although he liked Lucas' spirit, it didn't exempt him from following his orders.