My Wife and I Became Sages in Another World-Chapter 53: Ivy’s Warning

A few days had passed since I started training the knight’s order. I had planned to stay in town only for a few days before going back to the forest with the group, but the sad state of the knights got the best of me, and I couldn’t leave them as weak as they were.

I used that time to incorporate Reinar and the princess into our training too. They were already more skillful in magic than any of the knights, but when it came down to physical combat, they both were as weak as someone would expect a 14-year-old to be.

However, I didn’t want them to focus too much on building physical strength but to focus on technique and reflexes. Mages as good as them didn’t need a weapon to fight, but they should be able to protect themselves if anyone was skillful enough to get close to them.

Early in the mornings, we started with cardio, where all of the knights would run around the courtyard for half an hour without breaks. After that, they were sent to the "gym section" to train their muscles.

The gym section was an area that I had created on the first day of training with the knights and took a quarter of the space in the courtyard. I used earth magic to make what was a modern outdoor gym, albeit with a bit more of a rustic look.

The gym equipment wasn’t necessarily difficult to make. It was pretty simple as long as I didn’t try to make anything too fancy. We had bars for pull-ups, a bench-press area, dumbbells for the arms and shoulders, and even a leg-press machine.

One of the first things I noticed when I met all the knights was that they needed to be in shape. Besides magic training, they needed a new training routine and diet.

After the physical training was done, I prepared lunch for everyone with the help of the maids, making them eat bull’s beef with potatoes and salad for every meal after exercising.

I wanted them to bulk up, so I told them there was no negotiating when it came down to food. Nevertheless, nobody complained, which was understandable considering the beef was really tasty.

After eating, it was time for magic theory and practice, where the knights tried using their spells without chanting. However, it wasn’t as easy for them to copy as the princess.

("Well, it’s obvious considering her skill...") I thought as I glared at the struggling knights.

That’s why I told them to start by shortening their chants until they were able to cast them with a single word.

The spell they were practicing was "fireball," which was probably the most straightforward spell to visualize. Still, none of them could cast it silently yet, not even Commander Thomas and Sub-commander Harvey.

After magic practice, it was time for combat practice. Every day, I sparred against every single knight one by one using my bo while they used wooden swords. Although, honestly, it wouldn’t have made a difference since they never managed to get a hit on me.

The rest of the knights would spar in couples that I would switch every day so they wouldn’t get used to their partners’ movements. Both the princess and Reinar also participated in this training, along with the maids.

At first, the knights were wary of sparring against the princess, saying they didn’t want to hurt her by mistake. However, when the first knight went down after the princess swept his legs with her sword and a gust of wind using her magic, the knights realized that the girl wasn’t as weak as she seemed.

Reinar, on the other hand, was more on par with the knights’ skill level. While his physical strength and speed were that of an average 14-year-old, his magic allowed him to win his spar sessions from time to time.

When it came to the maids, Gina and Carli, they were simply too strong for the knights, and their sparring sessions with them wouldn’t last over ten seconds, so I had to ask them to go a bit easier on them.

Once the combat training was done, the knights were sent to the baths to get ready for dinner and go to bed, then repeat the same routine the next day.

As the knights’ training routine was set, we started to interval our training between the town and the forest.

We would stay in town for a week, training with the knights and completing any errand that I had to do, then go back to the tree house for a week to hunt and brew potions.

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Ivy, the fairy, visited the town every few days to stuff herself with chocolate and fruits before going back to her island. One day, as I arrived in town with the group, I noticed strange little shining orbs that were stationed around the town’s walls, and their energy felt somewhat familiar to me.

It was the same energy that emanated from the spirit shark that I had seen on Ivy’s island, which made me think that these orbs had something to do with the fairy.

While the rest of the group walked to the knight’s barracks to continue their routine, I passed by one of the stalls that had been selling chocolate and saw Ivy happily sitting down on the counter, eating a piece of fruit that was as big as her torso.

When I asked her about the strange orbs around the walls, she said with a prideful tone that she had decided to protect this town in order to keep her treasure safe, then kept munching on her snack with a happy expression.

From what she explained, the orbs could sense malicious beings and shoot spiritual energy at them from a distance.

I always thought that our defenses were decent, but knowing that now we had stationed automatic turrets made me feel like the town was turning into a fortified fortress. But as long as it helped everyone in town be safe, then I didn’t really mind.

I was about to remind Ivy that she didn’t have to do anything that wasn’t stipulated in our contract. I thought we would just be using the demon spiders to send her the processed chocolate, but when I saw her having fun with the people in town, I concluded that she genuinely enjoyed being around us.

Ivy had been alone for a very long time, and whenever she encountered other humans, they always tried to trick her, even though she was always willing to trade with them.

Now, she had found a place where humans not only traded with her but treated her as one of their own, giving her gifts and greeting her whenever she arrived with a smile.

Satisfied with my thoughts, I started making my way toward the knight’s barracks to meet with the others, but Ivy’s face suddenly lit up as if she had just remembered something important. freewebnσvel.cøm

She quickly flew next to me and began tugging on my cloak, although it wasn’t necessary since she already had my attention.

"I saw something big in the forest, by the way..." she said with a lighthearted tone.

"Something big? What was it?" I asked, my interest now peaking.

"Very big, and it looked like it was mad too! Did you happen to hunt their meal?" answered the fairy.

"Ivy, I don’t even know what you are talking about..."

The fairy held onto her dress as she kicked her feet in the air in frustration. "You guys hunted a black snake, right!?"

"Right, the princess hunted a black snake not too long ago..."

"Aha! Then you did steal their meal!" said the fairy, pointing her minuscule finger at me.

"Whose meal was it? You know that snake was huge, right?" I asked the fairy, unsure what she meant when she called the giant black snake a "meal."

"Dummy!" exclaimed the fairy before explaining her thoughts clearly. Black snakes were monsters considered cannibals since they ate other snakes in order to evolve and become stronger.

The reason I hadn’t seen many black snakes in the forest was that they always killed each other, making them an extremely rare monster to find. However, from what Ivy was saying, the black snake that the princess hunted wasn’t the biggest in the area.

"When a black snake eats enough of its kin, it evolves into a black dragon serpent! That’s why I’m saying be careful!" exclaimed the fairy with a pout and her fists clenched.

Honestly, her words did frighten me a little. Not because I was afraid of the monster but afraid for the people in town. Still, noticing Ivy’s worries for the villagers made me quite happy, so I used my index finger to give her a soft pat on the head and reassure her that everything would be fine.

While I kept walking toward the barrack, Ivy’s words kept spinning in my head. ("I’ll have to look into this...")