The training ground located behind the cabin.
Zenre stood face to face with Elia, looking at the marks of the footwork engraved on the hard sandy ground and the armored doll almost reduced to rags from being struck by a wooden sword.
“……”
Elia, looking up at Zenre with eyes filled with faint anticipation, was holding her lips tightly, as if she wanted to smile at any moment.
Seeing that cute expression, Zenre let out a satisfied smile in her heart and cleared her throat before speaking.
“Ahem, then let’s start with the grip of the sword, as I mentioned earlier. Please try holding the sword in whatever way is most comfortable for you.”
“Yes!”
Elia tightened her grip on the model sword in her hand and quickly assumed a proper stance.
‘……Oh??’
Zenre, seeing Elia’s posture, couldn’t help but let out a silent exclamation in her heart.
‘It’s better than I thought…?’
Perhaps it was because she had watched Kael practice every day, but even though this was the first time Elia had held a model sword and assumed a stance, her posture looked quite decent.
It was hard to believe that this was the stance of a five-year-old.
Although there were some parts that didn’t fit Elia, like the width of her legs or the position of the sword tip (since she was mimicking Kael), it wasn’t much of a problem.
Zenre, who had been worried about Elia developing bad habits by practicing alone, felt incredibly satisfied with the situation.
With just a few minor corrections, Elia’s stance would be nearly perfect.
“Hmm, good. The posture is better than expected.”
“Really?”
Zenre honestly praised Elia’s stance, which she had learned by watching Kael from over his shoulder.
There was no reason to use carrot-and-stick training methods on a five-year-old.
At her age, it was enough to praise what she did well and only point out what was wrong.
“However, there are still a few incomplete parts, so I’ll correct those for you.”
“Yes, Master!”
After the praise, Zenre corrected a few noticeable parts of Elia’s stance, perfecting it.
Elia, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the new stance, let out a soft sound.
It was only natural that she would feel discomfort since her previously established stance had been modified.
However, this stance was one that would stay with her as she grew, so Zenre spoke with a determined expression.
“From now on, when you swing the sword, you must always start with this stance. If you don’t naturally adopt it when you learn proper swordsmanship later on, you won’t be able to learn it properly.”
“I understand! Master.”
“Good. Then, starting today, before every training session, we’ll maintain that stance for ten minutes.”
“T-Ten minutes…?”
Elia’s eyes widened at Zenre’s words.
It seemed quite shocking for her to have to hold such an uncomfortable stance for ten minutes.
But what was needed to engrain a movement into the body was nothing but time.
If Elia were a slightly older child, Zenre would have made her hold the stance for 30 minutes or even an hour, but since she was only five, they compromised with ten minutes.
“Now, we’ll begin. For every movement you make, one minute will be added.”
“Yes, yes…!”
“Begin!”
As soon as Zenre’s words ended, Elia focused on maintaining her stance, even squinting her eyes.
Zenre, watching her, began drawing lines on the sandy floor of the training ground, spaced five meters apart.
‘After all, she doesn’t have much muscle yet, so using heavy equipment would be too much.’
Elia’s body, at her age, had so little muscle that even simple actions like standing up and sitting down more than twenty times would cause muscle soreness.
There was no need to work out with weights at this stage since her body hadn’t yet fully developed.
What Elia needed now was full-body muscle development through simple, body-weight exercises, like running or climbing slopes.
By gradually increasing the intensity as she grew, by the time she was ten, her strength and stamina would surpass that of her peers.
By then, she could hold a wooden sword weighing 3-4kg instead of a near weightless model sword and start learning actual swordsmanship.
The “dream swordsmanship” known as Kael’s swordsmanship.
‘About five years, huh…?’
It felt like a long time, but on the other hand, it was also short.
After the war and up until now, the time spent was given to Elia, and so was the time ahead.
‘I’m good with this.’
Rather than wasting time in a knight’s order where there was nothing to do, it was far more meaningful to be Elia’s master, especially since she was adopted by Kael.
After marking the lines for Elia to run, Zenre took a moment to look for a suitable uphill slope.
“Ugh…….”
Elia was sweating heavily, but she still maintained her stance firmly.
Even though it was just a model sword, her persistence in holding the uncomfortable stance without shaking was quite impressive.
‘Her patience is excellent.’
Most kids her age would struggle to stand still for one or two minutes in a comfortable posture, but Elia’s ability to maintain the stance for over five minutes in discomfort showed remarkable endurance.
“Even though she’s been watching every day, perfectly copying a stance at once and showing that level of patience… She’s more talented than she looks, isn’t she?”
It had been less than an hour since she’d first seen her, so it might have been a hasty judgment—but Zenre genuinely thought so.
Because sharp observation and patience were traits that, beyond a certain point, couldn’t be acquired through mere effort.
Especially for someone as young as Elia.
Thinking that perhaps Elia’s talent was greater than she had imagined, Zenre marked a suitable hill near the training ground that caught her eye.
‘That hill should work.’
After scouting a few more spots, Zenre suddenly caught sight of Kael’s back through the window of the cabin, where he was busy cooking.
It was a sight that didn’t match the image of Kael that Zenre remembered—Kael, who was now busily preparing food in the kitchen.
‘He’s really softened up a lot.’
Even before the war began, Kael, who had trained her and the other disciples, had been sharp and dangerous—someone who seemed like he might cut you if you approached him the wrong way.
Now, seeing him as an ordinary father raising a child, Zenre felt a sense of cognitive dissonance.
Does having a child really change a person so much?
It was still difficult for Zenre to understand, but after seeing so many examples, she could somewhat grasp the feeling.
While Zenre was lost in such thoughts for a moment—
“What are you thinking about so hard?”
“Kyaa?!”
Zenre let out an involuntary scream at Kael’s question as he suddenly appeared, carrying a tray full of snacks.
“Wh-When did you get here, Master?”
Despite not having completely concealed his presence, Kael had approached without being detected by Zenre.
It was just a matter of approaching her unnoticed, but even that alone revealed the difference in skill between Zenre and Kael.
“You’ve improved over the past five years, haven’t you?”
“Barely maintaining it, at best. But you seem to have improved more than before.”
There had always been a considerable gap in skill between them, but Zenre hadn’t expected the difference to have grown even wider despite her own improvements over the past five years.
Kael downplayed it, saying he was only barely maintaining his level, but Zenre could tell from Kael’s increased muscle mass and the hardened calluses on his hands that his skills had definitely improved.
Despite losing some of his edge, his swordsmanship had actually gotten better.
Seeing Kael’s growth, both as a person and as a swordsman, Zenre couldn’t help but smile.
“At this rate, I might need to learn swordsmanship from you again instead of training Lady Elia.”
“Ha… This kid’s acting up again. If you want to learn swordsmanship, why don’t you ask ‘her’ instead? She’d teach you just as well as I could. After all, she was the most talented of the students I trained.”
“I’d rather not learn from that brat. She’s so good at swordsmanship that she treats it as a secondary skill. Why would I be crazy enough to learn from her?”
“Well… You two never did get along very well. Anyway, how’s Elia doing? Is she handling the physical training well?”
Brushing aside the face that had briefly crossed his mind, Zenre turned to respond to Kael’s question.
“Huff… Huff…!”
Elia was struggling to maintain her stance with one minute left, but her posture was still steady and without significant trembling.
After watching her for a moment, Zenre nodded at Kael’s question.
“Yes, her patience and observational skills are both impressive. If she keeps building up her stamina, she should be able to start learning swordsmanship by the time she’s ten… maybe even as early as eight.”
“Hmm… I knew she had patience, but observational skills too?”
“Didn’t you know? When I asked her to take a stance earlier, she perfectly copied your posture.”
“…Really?”
Kael’s eyes widened in genuine surprise at Zenre’s words.
Mixed into his expression were not only surprise but also contemplation over something.
But only for a moment.
After thinking it over for a short while, Kael nodded to himself and said:
“As expected of my daughter. A genius in swordsmanship too.”
“…”
Zenre was left speechless by the blatant display of fatherly pride.