Cass and his father left the house on foot, walking down the main road that leads towards the village from their manor house.
'First, we will visit the agricultural trading company, it's the closest to our house and I usually go there after training in the mornings, it's also my last stop on the way home'.
The pair continued to walk down the main road. Having spent most of his second life inside the manor house, Cass rarely went into the village except for special occasions like the harvest festival, so now that he was able to fully take in the surrounding view, its charms completely wowed him.
The Manor house he lived in was a 2 story house with 2 toilets, a large bath house, Enough bedrooms for 10 people to sleep there, a dining hall, kitchen, and living room for entertaining, as well as a well kept garden, there was even a small stable and paddock, however they had no horses or beast mounts to fill it.
The houses of the village, however, were made up of single-story bungalow cottages with packed mud brick walls and thatched roofs. The brick chimneys that protruded from the roofs were puffing out grey smoke rings, and the entire view warmed his heart.
Their charm was indescribable, and in his previous life, he would have loved to live in a place like that instead of the orphanage he grew up in.
'I forgot to tell you before, but you will now be getting up earlier with me and Marcus so that we can travel to the foot of the mountain every other day and spar. There you will observe us, as well as spar against us, while we limit our abilities to be a suitable challenge for you.
On days when you are not sparring with us, you will train combat technique with Marcus, as well as do physical training to improve your stamina and strength. We need to prepare your general physical fitness as much as possible before your system arrives so that you can take full advantage of it. Ah, here we are. This is the agricultural trader'
They had stopped in front of what could only be described as a barn with 2 brick cylinders attached on the side. The barn was mostly open on one side so that carts could easily enter and leave. The floor was compacted dirt and was layered with dry straw and sawdust.
Along the back wall, there was a wooden ramp supported by thick wooden beams, and a worker was pushing a hand cart filled with wheat grain up it. Cass watched as the worker arrived at the side of the barn where the brick cylinders were located, opened a small metal door, and began to shovel the grain inside.
'Come on, let's go meet your first instructor'
In the far right corner of the barn was what appeared to be a small shed-like structure. Lucius walked up to it, knocked on the outside of the hut as the door was wide open, and then entered the room, gesturing for Cass to follow behind him.
'Lucius, what brings you here today?'
The room was barely decorated. Inside was a simple wooden table with what appeared to be a few writing implements and pieces of paper. A black cat slept on the table's edge, the carcass of some kind of rodent still lying beneath its curled-up paws.
The man behind the desk was a dark-haired middle-aged man, who was missing many of his teeth, whether they had been knocked out or had fallen out due to decay wasn't really clear. He was wearing a straw hat and was dressed in what appeared to be simple but very tough work clothes, which were overlayed by a leather apron.
'Willem, I came today to introduce you and my son to each other. As we spoke about last week, I want him to come here 1 afternoon a week to help you with chores and administration. He might not be good at the big physical stuff right now, but he can read, write, and do mathematics far better than I can. I am sure you can put him to good use.'
'Well, don't beat yourself up about the reading thing, you grew up a farmer like me and had to learn to read and write after becoming a noble. I would pay good money to see that red head wife of yours teaching you how to read and write!'
'Please don't remind me. She wrapped my knuckles with a cane so many times that even now I still try to avoid letting her see the way I shape my letters.
'HA! Well serves you right for driving off them demons on the border all them years ago, like they say, no good deed ever goes unpunished. Now then, let's have a look at the boy. Willem stood up out of his chair, walked around the desk, and started squeezing Cass' arms, chest and shoulders.
'For a squirt, he has some potential, I suppose all that fancy pancy swordsmanship training you put him through helps a little there, but he won't be of great use until he is a little older. Boy! Go get me of those burlap sacks of grain on the floor by the silo over there and bring it to me'
Cass turned to look at his father, expecting that his father would step in to stop a ten-year-old from having to engage in strenuous heavy lifting, but his father in fact stood to one side to open the path for Cass to make his way over to the stack of burlap sacks.
'Toothless old slave-driver, worse than my damn sargeant in the army'. Swearing inwardly, Cass made his way over to the pile of sacks and bent down with his knees. He wrapped his arms around a sack and then stood up again, gripping it to his chest. The bag was heavy!
As far as Cass was concerned, there was no worse job than carrying bags of heavy material without purpose. During his military days, he was forced to pile bags of sand high, only to then be told to break it all down and return it to where it came from.
With an expression of disdain, a stomach full of hate, and a grunt that would make wild boars flee, Cass powered his way over to his father and Willem, slamming the sack down on the old man's table with another bestial grunt.
Lucius and Willem looked at each other and burst into laughter, and both of them started slapping Cass on the shoulders. Their laughter only enraged Cass more.
'Why are you laughing at me? I don't find it particularly funny to make a young boy carry a heavy load for no reason other than testing him, only to then burst into laughter, mocking his effort!'
Lucius wiped a tear from his eye and pulled Cass close to him. 'I am sorry, son. I promise, the reason we are laughing is not because we are making fun of you. Willem served with me in the army, and we are laughing because you made the exact same face that Willem and I both made when we were being trained in the conscripts' training camp.
An instructor there used to make us pick up heavy rocks and carry them to the other side of the training field, all while he screamed in our faces and insulted us. Then, he would make us pick it up and carry it back.
The reason Willem is missing teeth is because he once told the instructor that when he overtook him in strength, he would lodge the stone up the instructor's backside, and force him to make the same journey carrying the rock between his cheeks. The instructor got mad and knocked him around a bit, and refused to give him a healing pill or potion after, so his teeth never grew back!'
'Aye, Lucius, this one will do fine, if he can carry a whole sack the distance of the barn while making a face like that, I have no worries. I can make a man out of him for ya. Kid, you start next week!'