Well, it turned out not to be so soon after all. Elias was 6 years old now, according to the system, that is.
Today was the day he would begin his weapon training, and he would be allowed to explore the house for the first time, alongside Seraph, of course.
'Finally I can move freely inside..'
He was pretty tall now, undeniably, he was definitely special and superior compared to other children.
At least, compared to kids from his old world, he hasn't met anyone new in the past few years to gauge how similar this world is. The world of Aurelion, yes, that's what the world was called.
'It's pretty fancy.'
Elias was walking alongside Seraph, exploring the corridors and different rooms of the magical house.
The corridors were pretty simple, candlelight flickering on the walls, and a simple, gigantic rug enveloped the floor everywhere. The walls had no design or anything; it was the authentic hut of an old man like Seraph.
Most of the rooms were empty or just guest rooms with beds, however soon they reached a gigantic training room.
"Woahh, this is insane!"
Elias couldn't hold back his excitement after rotting for basically 6 years. He was practically starving for action now.
The training room had weapons layered all over the walls, different kinds of weapons, long, small, giant, bows, everything a person can imagine.
Seraph patted his head, his long white hair still hiding his eyes, now it was hiding most of his face, reaching all the way down to his ankles.
Both of them were wearing simple white robes that hugged the body tightly but allowed free movement.
The bottom of the robe rustled against the carpet due to its length.
'Kind of like training gear..'
Once they stepped inside the room the air felt different though, it was harder to move, like an invisible tension or force was pushing down on Elias.
It was dry and heavy, almost as if it were packed with sand.
"What the—"
"Mana pressure, will help your training."
Seraph answered him instantly before he could even finish his complaint.
'Mana pressure…I see..'
He lifted his hand to try to scratch his head, but even that seemed to make him struggle.
'Isn't this how those overpowered protagonists train?'
He smiled faintly and started walking further into the room, slowly, of course, he didn't and couldn't rush, even if he wanted to.
Seraph stood still without saying a word, then, using his walking stick, he tapped the ground once, increasing the pressure on Elias.
'The hell is this old man thinking?'
Beads of sweat rolled down his head and back as his movements became sluggish, but he kept walking instead of giving up. His robe was now stuck to his back from all the sweat.
"Pick a weapon of your choice, but choose wisely."
'How am I meant to hold a weapon when I can barely walk, old man?'
Seraph's sentence made Elias wrinkle his forehead as he walked towards one wall of weapons, his legs trembling slightly now from the pressure.
He didn't have any skills or titles to resist—
'Wait, I do have a title..'
He wanted to facepalm, but his hand felt way too heavy.
'Show me my title!'
[Froir's Apostle]
[Current effect: none]
'…'
His face twitched, and luckily it wasn't visible to Seraph, who just stood still waiting to see which weapon he'd pick.
'Is this shit fucking serious? A title with no effect? What is it even good for? Show it off for my OWN TWO EYES?!'
A vein on his forehead started throbbing, but he shook his head off instead and kept examining the weapons before him.
'What am I even doing? Not like I have experience wielding any of them. I'll just pick the prettiest one.'
His hands slowly reached for a simple white sword. Without a clue as to what it was made of or any information about it.
It was simply the prettiest…
'I'm such a simpleton, aren't I?'
However, as soon as he grabbed the hilt, nothing happened. Nothing, as in the sword was so heavy he couldn't move it.
'Are we serious right now, dude?'
Seraph cleared his throat, which made Elias even more embarrassed.
"To be able to wield that sword, you have to be able to stimulate even a small amount of mana."
'…'
Honestly, Elias had expected something similar for the explanation. Even if he was weak and the pressure of mana was high, he should be able to make the sword budge. But he wasn't able to.
"I want this sword, though."
He kept trying as he slowly pushed his leg against the wall, trying to force the weapon off.
"Is there any particular reason why you want that sword? You can choose any other weapon, Elias."
He heard Seraph approaching due to his stick tapping the ground however his footsteps were completely silent probably due to the mana.
"It's the prettiest."
Elias's weak explanation brought the tapping to a halt as Seraph stood still, dumbfounded by the lack of reasoning.
'Yeah, that probably sounded dumb as hell..However, I should be able to use it. My mana isn't at zero.'
So he did what every other protagonist he read about would do.
He closed his eyes and prayed for some magical plot armor to lift the sword.
"…"
Both of them stood silently. Elias was trying to make the sword budge, his eyes closed, praying for a miracle, while Seraph stared at him, still dumbfounded.
'Move, god damn it.'
His tiny fingers slipped off the sword, and his body fell onto the ground. His knees hitting the ground made him feel cold, and his head felt dizzy.
It felt like the air thickened in his lungs, and his ribs felt tight. His ears rang a little from the pressure, but it was manageable.
Seraph watched the whole thing silently as he shook his head.
"Let me show you how it's done."
He stepped closer silently, laid his walking stick on the ground, and touched the hilt of the sword.
'Is he going to aura farm…'
The moment his fingers brushed against the hilt, white light exploded, and the sword started shining. He took it off the wall and swung it around cleanly and precisely.
It looked weightless in his hands due to his smooth movements. Elias didn't spot a single flaw, not like he was a master with weapons, honestly.
"That is how you do it."
After finishing his demonstration, he placed the sword back onto the wall cleanly. Elias just looked at him, flabbergasted.
'How can this old man even move so freely? Just who is he?'