After a few more decades, Bella Noll finally commanded Eric, Lyria, and Livy to stop.
As soon as all three of them let go of their swords, they felt like losing consciousness, but somehow didn't. Even Livy held on, though she didn't look any different from dead. No, in fact, she didn't seem to be breathing.
Bella Noll calmly kicked Livy in several places on her lifeless body. Suddenly, Livy was pulled back into the living world and started breathing as if she had never breathed before.
The other two were also on the ground, panting like Livy.
Among the three, Eric was in the best condition, but only by a tiny margin.
He had never thought there would be a day when he would be pushed this far.
The previous evening had been different, as instead of experiencing anything, they had been so focused that none of them noticed or felt much until they stopped at the end. It had been mere exhaustion. But today was far beyond that.
Lyria stared at the sky with an expression of extreme determination.
Eric wondered if she was deciding whether to kill Bella Noll before it was too late.
The training session ended. Since there was nothing to say to half-dead children, Bella Noll left Eric, Lyria, and Livy alone… to breathe.
Hannah appeared sometime later with a large bucket filled with water.
After resting for a long time, the three tormented children made their way back to the main building on wobbling legs and took fresh baths.
After resting some more, they ate dinner with trembling hands, then went straight back to sleep. They didn't even have the strength to speak to anyone.
Eric had originally planned to practice Mana Channeling, but he was too broken to do so. So, he gave up and slept.
The next day, Eric woke up a bit later than usual. His body was still a little numb, though he had largely recovered.
Since it was already late, he once again skipped morning workouts and focused on Mana Channeling.
"How is it? Is it healing?" Eric asked Riya.
"Yes," Riya nodded. "Though extremely slowly. If my calculations are correct and you don't practice Mana Channeling, it will take around 30 more years to heal naturally. But since healing accelerates with Mana Channeling, my estimate suggests 8 to 10 more years, provided you dedicate at least 4 to 5 hours daily to this training."
Eric nodded in understanding.
Finding five hours per day would be a real challenge, but he also didn't particularly have anything to do, so it didn't matter much either. The library and theoretical knowledge could be handed to Riya.
Riya squealed with delight, "Yes! Yes! Use me more! For studies, of course, you naughty boy!"
Eric rolled his eyes at Riya's self-amused giggling and didn't bother responding.
After the usual morning rituals, Hannah walked up to Eric and reported, "The exam should begin around 11 AM. When should we leave?"
Eric already knew that Hannah would also come with them. It was her responsibility to ensure 'he' didn't get kidnapped on the way to school, and now two more girls had been added to her heavy burden.
"Hmm... So, where are the exam participants? I haven't seen them since morning."
It was already 10 AM, and they should leave now. Though, since the exam was only for those two, it didn't matter much even if they were late by more than an hour- after all, who would dare to challenge the tyrant Bella Noll?
If Bella Noll told the school to take the exam at midnight, then midnight it was!
Anyway, Lyria and Livy were smart enough to finish those tests in half an hour at most, so being a little late didn't matter. But he currently had a lot on his plate and didn't want to drag things out. He wanted to finish all these pointless tasks as soon as possible.
"They just went to bathe... About half an hour more until they're done, I guess," Hannah answered, calculating Lyria and Livy's breakfast time as well.
"I also want to go to the library and exchange the book for a new one," Eric conveyed his plans to Hannah.
He wanted to deal with the library issues quickly so that from this day onward, he could focus solely on his physical and Mana training.
Hannah was surprised. "You're already giving up?" Obviously, she thought Eric was abandoning that thick book, probably finding it too hard for his childish brain.
"I've already finished it!" Eric gave Hannah a disdainful glance. "I just want to get another one." He had already decided he would stand and flip through pages for Riya to copy. Borrowing a new book was just for appearances.
Hannah snorted inwardly. 'Like hell that was even possible!' But exposing Eric would wound his childish pride, so as a respectful elder, she refrained from mocking him further.
Soon, Lyria and Livy had their breakfast and wore beautiful new dresses.
Eric checked on both girls and felt they were ready to conquer all the Ringwood townsfolk's pitiful hearts.
"Lyria, Livy, how are your hands?" Eric asked, as exams are handwritten.
Livy smiled forcefully, recalling the new 'level' of losing her life she achieved yesterday.
Lyria answered, "It's not as terrible as we imagined, but it might just take us a little longer to write answers, that's all." Their hands were still quivering, but they had mostly recovered.
Eric agreed, as he was also in a similar state.
At that moment, Lyria smiled at both Eric and Hannah and requested, "Please call me Ly and Livy by Liv."
"Ly and Liv are your nicknames that your parents gave?" Hannah asked curiously.
Both Lyria and Livy suddenly blushed with shame.
Eric and Hannah were confused by both girls' strange reactions.
Lyria coughed and spoke with a slight blush, "Actually, our real names are Lyriana and Livyana, but since childhood, our mothers used to call us Lyria and Livy, so we always thought those were our real names. Later, one day, Liv and I decided to shorten them to Ly and Liv. Only much later did we learn that Lyria and Livy were already nicknames."
After speaking, both Lyria and Livy's faces turned bright red with embarrassment.
Hannah and Eric's eyebrows trembled. They nearly laughed out loud.
Eric was completely impressed. It seemed 'Ly' and 'Liv' were nicknames to the square root of their original names!
Then, wasn't it high time that he also changed his name to 'The Final Ultimate Evil Boss Eric the Men Women Children Slayer'?
While Eric was deep in thought, Hannah shook her head and spoke with a smile, "I'll go with what your mothers used to call you- Lyria and Livy."
Lyria and Livy didn't know what to say and just nodded. Then they looked at Eric expectantly.
Eric shrugged and didn't disappoint them. "I'll call you Ly and Liv," he said. He always liked shorter names as they were easier to remember.
Both Lyria and Livy smiled brightly. They felt as if they had finally made a friend for the first time.
Eric passed the library book to Hannah to hold, using the excuse that his hands were still recovering.
Then they all set off toward school. It was a little less than a half-hour walk.
While they were casually strolling, they received all the stares in the town.
Eric couldn't blame the pitiful townsfolk. Two absolute beauties, though sadly just children, with their unique and gorgeous looks were bound to completely capture everyone's attention.
It was like seeing top-tier foreigners for the first time.
The townsfolk had heard rumors before about the three unique beauties appearing within the town, but as most of them hadn't seen those girls, and now that they appeared for the first time, they all stopped and gawked openly at both Lyria and Livy.
Some pitiful youngsters even stumbled and tumbled on the muddy streets, still gaping at both doll-like girls while ignoring their own piteous states. But none of them had the guts to bother them, as the famous Blue-Eyed Demon was also in front of them, so they could only stare stupidly.
It was extremely awkward for both Lyria and Livy- especially for Livy, as she received the most stares due to her unique hair and eye color. She turned around, wanting to escape back to the torturous sword training that had nearly taken her life rather than be gawked at like this.
But Hannah, who was behind them like a guard, stopped Livy from escaping.
Livy could only give Lyria, who was beside her, a pitiful look. She wished to seek Eric's help, but he was walking ahead without paying any attention to 'them' - who were stuck in between like prisoners.
Lyria ignored Livy too, as she was busy gazing at the ground with utmost focus, as if marveling at the beauty of wet, muddy streets.
Eric was aware of Lyria and Livy's situation, but they needed to get used to this. It was the price for being too beautiful. They could only keep cursing their parents- just like him, who had done the same in the past for making him too handsome.
Not everyone was busy staring at them as they walked through the town's busy bazaar. People were busy buying things and going about their business.
For example, Eric could see two store owners across the street glaring at each other as if they were fighting demons and gods with just their gaze.
Eric focused and noticed that one store sold meats and another sold vegetables.
He felt his mouth twitch. He was sure they were currently fighting some legendary battle with their eyes. He was suddenly very interested in knowing their inner monologue.
But soon, his focus shifted to the fruit vendor beside them, and his mouth quickly started watering.
As the only prince of the orphanage, Eric could obtain any fruit as long as he asked, so he held back on humiliating himself by rushing to check what new fruits the vendor had.
Ringwood Town, or perhaps the world itself was quite strange. Or perhaps trade with faraway villages and towns was that easy for Ringwood Town. He didn't know.
But he had found both mangoes and apples within the same town!
Both fruits required completely different climates, soils, altitudes, and so on to grow. Yet he had found them, and many others, within the same town!
Not that he was complaining. He loved all fruits, as well as honey and nuts. But it was still baffling.
"It is probably due to Mana, and perhaps a few other factors also played a role. And as you guessed, the trade might have been really well established." Riya provided her guess, to which Eric just nodded.
Eric then noticed Livy was trying to escape, and some people were still gawking at both girls, so he decided to help Livy by diverting her attention.
"Liv, why do you keep your hair loose and not tie it into a ponytail like Ly? Also, aren't you uncomfortable with such long hair? Shouldn't you cut it down to at least Ly's length?" He was genuinely curious.