Two familiar figures stood among the soldiers. One of them was a tall man with broad shoulders and short black hair, while the other one was slightly shorter and had brown hair.
For a moment, Lionel simply stared at them, frozen. His chest tightened, and an odd warmth filled it.
Then, without thinking, he suddenly ran.
The knights nearby were startled at the sudden action.
"Y–Young master?" one of them called, unsure what was happening.
But Lionel didn't stop. He just ran straight toward the two men. The two men weren't just strangers. They were the people he had once trusted more than anyone else.
In his past life, they had been his most loyal aides. They were the ones who had stood beside him through countless battles, even in his final moments. No matter how desperate things became, they had never left his side. Not even once.
So when he saw them again, something inside him sparked. He felt joy and relief as he saw their young faces again.
Before the two soldiers could even react, Lionel threw his arms around them in a sudden hug.
Both men stiffened in surprise.
"Y–Young master?" the taller one stammered, glancing awkwardly at the other.
The other soldier blinked a few times, then chuckled awkwardly. "Y-You don't greet us like that, young master."
Lionel didn't answer them. Instead, he laughed. He let out a bright and genuine laugh that made the soldiers around them exchange bewildered looks.
Pulling back, Lionel looked up at the two men with a grin.
"It's really good to see you both again," he muttered.
That made the two knights even more confused.
The taller knight was Rylan. Right now, he's just a normal soldier, but later on, he will be known as one of the top knights of House Exelio.
The other was Eiden. He may be short, but he has great speed. He was more of a strategist, but was also good at battling.
In the future, or rather, in the past, both of them would die protecting him.
The corner of Lionel's lips rose to a smile as he looked at the two of them.
The two soldiers kept glancing at each other, both still confused. They couldn't bear to remove Lionel's arms that were wrapped around them. So instead, they just asked what was wrong.
"Did something happen, young master?" Eiden finally asked.
Lionel shook his head. The smile on his face was widening. When he noticed that he had been hugging them too long, he quickly stood straight and remained looking at them in a dignified way as if he hadn't done anything wrong.
"No," he muttered. "Nothing's wrong."
"Oh—"
"Then, did we do some—"
Before the two could say anything, Lionel raised his hand to stop them from speaking.
"I choose you two."
"Huh?" Rylan blinked.
"Choose… us?"
Lionel just shamelessly nodded.
"From now on, you two will be my trusted aides. You will be trained under my watch, and you two will go with me whenever I go… even the forest retreat that will be happening in 5 days."
- - -
Soon after, Lionel started preparing for the retreat.
True to his words, he sometimes spent his afternoon training with Rylan and Eiden.
Rylan, despite his current rough movements, had shown remarkable endurance and strength. He rarely complained, even when Lionel asked the instructor to push him past his limits.
Eiden, on the other hand, was quick and precise. He was not as physically strong as Rylan, but his mind was sharp, and he always found efficient ways to counter Rylan during their sparring sessions.
Watching them, Lionel couldn't help but smile to himself.
So this is how it all began, he thought. No wonder they became so strong in the future.
At first, the two men were awkward around him. They still treated him with excessive formality, unsure why their young master suddenly took interest in them. But after days of training together, the atmosphere started to change.
They started to laugh more and even spoke to him comfortably once in a while.
Meanwhile, Cassian's attitude toward Lionel seemed to have changed again.
A day after their duel, and after Lionel announced his decision, Cassian returned to his usual bright and friendly self. He often came to visit the training grounds again, chatting and training with Lionel as if nothing had happened.
But Lionel could tell it wasn't really genuine. Once Cassian learned that Lionel would just be bringing regular soldiers, he became more at ease.
At night, though, when the rest of the mansion was quiet, Lionel would continue his secret routine of training his magic. He had been doing it ever since, slowly refining his control over his mana.
The process was slow, especially with his young body. The flow of energy inside him often felt unstable, and sometimes his control would slip. But he was patient. He knew that learning how to use magic would take time.
Just like now, Lionel was sitting cross-legged on his room's floor. His eyes were closed while his hands were resting on his knees. In front of him was a book that talks about magic. He was reading and applying what he was learning to himself.
"Remember Lionel… become one with magic…" he reminded himself. Swear was already rolling down his temples. He had been in the same position for more than an hour, and yet, he couldn't seem to be successful at what he was trying to do.
Lionel relaxed all his senses in his body. He exhaled slowly and slowly opened his palms to manifest a small light. In there, a slow orb of light flared into life. It was now stable within his use.
"Now, I just need to make it bigger," he muttered under his breath, before opening his palms even more.
For the past few nights, he had been attempting to do a Light Speere. It was a simple beginner's magic meant to be used as an offense. But he wasn't aiming for the basic size.
He wanted to create a larger and more stable sphere that could light up the entire room and deal a good attack when used.
He had just advanced his mana from E to E+ an hour ago. That should have been enough to pull this off.
But reality said otherwise.
The moment he tried to expand the light, it would flicker violently and collapse, scattering like dust.
"Tch…" Lionel clicked his tongue in frustration, wiping his sweat with the back of his arm.
He gritted his teeth and tried and tried again.
He inhaled deeply again and steadied his breathing. "Focus," he whispered. "I can do this."
Once more, he lifted his palms, and a small orb of light flickered to life. This time, instead of rushing, Lionel guided it carefully. He felt the mana inside him flow smoothly than before.
Slowly, the orb grew brighter and larger, spreading soft light around the room.
"Finally…" His lips curved into a tired smile.
The ball of light hovered stably above his hands. Its glow was decent enough to light the room. It wasn't perfect, but that was enough for what he was achieving. He read in the books that the size of this magic could already deal a lot of damage to monsters.
At the end of the day, that was what he was aiming. He wanted something that could protect himself.
He let out a long breath and leaned back, his shoulders slumping with relief.
"Now… I'm ready," he muttered.
A small spark of happiness rose to his chest, but when he turned his head toward the window, his smile instantly dropped.
The faint color of orange was already peeking through the curtains, a sign that morning was just soon to rise.
"Oh, shoot."