Soft rays of sunlight filtered through the window, caressing the young man's cheeks.
That was the signal indicating he should wake up, though the boy felt too comfortable to get up.
"Mmmm..." Lloyd tried to move to one side, but couldn't; something was on top of him, not letting him move.
Was that the reason he felt so comfortable?
It was soft, and warm, not unpleasant, too light to exert pressure. Lloyd decided to wrap his arms around whatever it was.
Doing so, he could notice that "thing" had soft and silky hair, the boy couldn't resist caressing it.
Doing so, "the thing" moved, like a small animal seeking affection, burying its head in his chest.
Lloyd's hands descended, his fingers came into contact with something much softer than before; silky and warm feathers.
Lloyd caressed them, it was relaxing to do so, though it also caused "that thing" curl up its body in reaction, emitting a small sigh.
The boy opened his eyes, sliding back to be able to sit up better.
"Good morning Calypso. Did you fall asleep again? I remind you that your mission is to wake me up, not serve as my stuffed animal," he commented, while his drowsiness disappeared.
The girl also sat up, to sit on the sheets.
"I'm sorry master, it's just that your bed looked very comfortable," the girl excused herself, with a tired look while rubbing her eyes.
Lloyd let out a sigh, it wasn't too annoying a way to wake up either, but today was an important day.
"I told you it was necessary for you to wake me up earlier today."
His hand reached out, falling delicately on her head, petting it.
"I'll be more careful," she replied, though Lloyd knew she'd most likely repeat her mistake tomorrow.
He slid out of bed, while stretching, the drowsiness had almost completely disappeared.
Nineteen days had passed since Lloyd was in this body. In that time, he'd already gotten used to the routine.
"Say 'Aaaaah,'" Calypso said, while holding a cream-filled pastry between her fingers.
"Aaaaa," Lloyd obeyed, while accepting the food.
Calypso had learned that from Lloyd's mother, who had served him food this way a few times.
The boy had tried explaining a thousand times he could eat by himself, but both women turned a deaf ear to his complaints, and he ended up accepting it.
"Is it tasty master?" the girl asked, with a slightly expectant look.
Lloyd nodded. The food of that world was delicious.
Breakfasts and snacks were usually sweet, at least for wealthy people. The boy had tried all kinds of pastries.
While the gastronomy was similar to Italian from his world. Carbonara pasta, pizza, lasagna.
Though it was also common to eat fish and seafood, at least before the appearance of the abyss of Nun.
"Not bad. My palate deserves no less than this after all."
Lloyd enjoyed the sweet pastry, it was delicious. Though his arrogant attitude kept interfering.
The boy had managed to control his impulses from time to time, but it was inevitable to let slip some arrogant comment occasionally.
"What do you wish to do now master?" the girl asked.
Calypso had been trained by the maids, to be Lloyd's assistant. The xeno herself had asked to learn after all.
Her goal was to be Lloyd's personal maid, though she still had much to learn.
"I'll go to the nearby forest to train a bit," the blond said.
He'd been training during that time. In the morning he started training his endurance by running for half an hour, and then "played" with his hereditary magic until his magical power ran out.
The afternoon was mainly dedicated to researching in the library. He didn't only study magic, the novel didn't give him all the knowledge about that world, so learning geography, history, among others was vital.
Luckily, his mind seemed to remember easily what he studied, since it wasn't such a fun topic to study.
"Hiiiaaa!" a shout was heard in the forest, it was Joan, who was training as always.
Lloyd had spoken to the boy again a few days ago, at Gustavo's funeral. There Joan had promised he'd become stronger to be worthy of staying by his side.
During the kidnapping Joan hadn't been able to defend himself, however Lloyd had shown his strength abundantly.
The boy admired that, and also wanted to be able to defend himself. That's why since that day he started eating more and training hard, to one day become someone strong.
"I see you're training as always. Don't you rest? You're going to end up getting sick," the blond greeted his friend.
"Good morning boss! And of course I rest, you yourself told me it was important to rest the muscles."
Lloyd nodded. He had modern knowledge, he knew the most efficient way to become strong.
He was the one who advised Joan to eat more protein.
"Keep it up, you shouldn't overexert your body, or you'll just end up injured."
"Yes sir!"
Lloyd smiled.
"Show me how much you've improved," the boy crossed his arms, while observing Joan.
He nodded, turning to face a tree. The boy raised his arms to head height, like in boxing, then threw a punch toward the tree.
Upon hitting, the boy gritted his teeth. The wounds on his hands weren't visible because of the bandages, but Lloyd knew they were there.
"You need to separate your legs slightly. When you attack, rotate your hips, you must move your body to get more strength," Lloyd instructed seriously.
Joan nodded, repeating the punch, following Lloyd's instructions. But the latter didn't look satisfied.
"Why do you brake before hitting? More so, you don't even use all your strength."
The boy turned toward Lloyd.
"That's not true! I gave it everything," the boy assured.
The blond clicked his tongue.
"Do you take me for a fool? You think I don't know when you're holding back?" the young man reproached him, giving him a stern look.
Joan lowered his gaze, embarrassed, Lloyd was right.
"But... It hurts."
"Of course it hurts! You're punching a tree with your fists, it's not supposed to give you pleasure. Don't be afraid of pain, face it head-on."
"But what if I get injured?"
"That's what we're looking for! I already told you this exercise consists of creating micro-fractures in the bone, to increase its density when they repair."
Joan cursed under his breath, getting back in position, throwing another punch at the tree.
This time he did hit hard.
"Shit!" the boy complained, while grabbing his hand.
Lloyd sighed.
"That's all? Weren't you supposed to get stronger?"
The boy lowered his gaze to the ground.
Wasn't Lloyd being too hard on him?
"Answer when I talk to you!" the blond demanded.
"Yes... But—"
"Are you going to back down then?"
"No but..."
"Then hit that damn tree!"
Joan sighed. He was starting to regret this.
With no other option, he threw another punch at the tree.
"Harder!"
Another punch was thrown.
"You call that a punch? You hit like a little girl, if that tree could talk it would surely laugh at you."
And another.
"Come on! You're not even trying."
Joan began to get irritated.
Who did Lloyd think he was to yell at him like that?
"That's better, you're finally trying."
Why was he doing this? What for?
"That's it. Show me your determination!"
Why did it hurt so much!?
"Harder, I know you can hit harder."
Why didn't he give up?
"What?"
Joan's punch had no strength this time.
"I can't..."
"You remember it right?"
Joan tilted his head. What was this crazy guy talking about now?
"The impotence of being weak, of not being able to do anything."
The boy's gaze darkened, it was true. He wanted to become stronger, because he was weak.
Because he was tired of having his loved ones taken away.
"Do you want to feel it again?"
"No!" Joan roared, while his fist lifted off, striking the tree hard, making it tremble.
"Do you want to be trampled again?"
"No!"
The wood cracked under his fists.
"Do you want to be stronger!?"
"Yes!"
There was no more pain, he felt nothing anymore.
"Prove it!"
"Aaaarrgh!"
The blows began to rain down, with relentless force. Rage had possessed his body, and there was no way to stop him.
"Imagine you're hitting those xenos!"
Joan's bandages began to fall off, soaked in blood.
"Imagine you're there again, that this time you can do something!"
Joan didn't stop, he continued, the wood began to break under his fists, while the boy screamed with fury.
Hitting had become his only purpose.
"Enough," Lloyd finally said. "Rest."
Joan wanted to keep hitting, but his body had no strength left, and he simply let himself fall.
"You did great brother, you did great."
Lloyd smiled with pride, but a whistle made him turn around.
"Wow, that was impressive to watch actually. I wouldn't want to bother you in your activities but, could you help me with something?"
Long silver hair, blue eyes, and an outfit that stood out from the conventional.
Lloyd remembered, today his private magic teacher was supposed to come.
And apparently, he had that instructor right in front of him.