Phantasia: The Princess Knight

Chapter 14: Training From Hell

After breakfast and her study session. Alicia found herself standing in a squat position, her arms stretched out with two metal buckets in each hand that were enchanted with gravity magic, and a small little flame in front of her face. To top it all off she had to nourish her Magi Sack all at the same time.

Sweat poured down Alicia's face. Her golden blonde hair soaked to her head. Even her training clothes were soaked in sweat. For the past two hours, she had been in this same position. Any time the flame went out in front of her Berlin would make the buckets in her hands heavier. Her only thought was that the damn old man was a demon! He had to be! This was her second day and she was already being pushed this hard in her training!

Although Alicia was cursing Berlin in her mind she knew this was also very beneficial for her. She did not speak a single word of complaint as the drops of water dropped from her chin one after the other. There was already a decent sized wet spot by her feet as she continued to hold on.

Berlin was actually very surprised at the little girl's ability to cope. This type of training was only given to his Dragon Knights Squad. They were the elite of the elite within all of the Alastine Kingdom. But here a seven year old girl was actually able to undertake this hellish training. Berlin was also watching Alicia's intake of Magicules very closely. If she took in too much at a time he would raise the weight of the buckets in her hands. He would do the same if it was too little as well. This was to give her a good feel and understanding of how to control her intake of Magicules.

The buckets themselves were to build up Alicia's physical body. Magic Sack boost can only go too far. Alicia still needed to build her strength up to allow the boost from the Magic Sack to really show its worth. Then there was the little flame floating in front of her face. This was a method of controlling her mana and magic. If she could control her mana and magic while doing all these things then she would be able to use more powerful magic faster as time went on.

Alicia had no idea any of this was going to happen to her the day before. So she did not get much sleep the night before. She had spent half the night trying her best to cast her first bit of magic. Although she was able to do it quickly, she was entranced by the fact that she could actually cast magic causing her to stay up way too late!

But now as Alicia stood there undergoing this hellish training she realized that anything that disturbed the Magicules in the air her Master would know about it right away. So he already knew she could create a small candle flame. When they came out to the training field, before she could even say anything, Berlin said: "Since you learned to cast a bit of magic last night we will add that on to your training this morning!"

Alicia did not think that Berlin would make the buckets heavier every time the flame went out though! So she was now suffering very much. It was hard to concentrate on so many things at once.

"Okay! Stop there. Very good. The flame only went out six times. Take a five-minute break to rest and drink some water. After we will go have lunch before swordsmanship training in the afternoon. At night after dinner you will continue to nourish your Magi Sack for four hours before going to sleep. " Berlin finished speaking and disappeared on the spot.

Alicia was used to Berlin coming and going in an instant. She sat down on the ground and pulled a towel out of her space pouch to wipe the sweat away. She then took out her water flask and slowly quenched her thirst. Four hours of standing in the same position was very very hard.

After lunch Alicia thought she would have a bit of an easier training session but she was completely wrong. Berlin walked out to the training area and dropped a bunch of metal in front of her. "Put these on. They have all been enchanted with Gravity magic. After you put them on I want you to run around the training area and cottage for the next hour. After that, you will practice your swings."

Alicia looked down at the ground and realized that that bunch of metal was body weights! Her arms that were already killing her and felt like dead weight could barely pick the weights up. Each piece weighed as much as the buckets she was holding earlier! "Demon! Monster! King of Evil!" Alicia was calling Berlin all kinds of names in her heart. In her mind right now Berlin became a demon lord.

Alicia's training continued like this day in and day out. Each day the weight of things got heavier and heavier. Alicia at first thought she was going to turn into some macho muscle woman but to her surprise, her muscles were all staying tightly compact.

Like this Alicia continued to train. A year passed since the day she arrived in this new world and took over the body she was in now. She now knew how to read and write this world's language. Her mastery over magic and sword was being praised every day by Berlin. It was on this day that she woke up and walked out to the main room of the cottage to find a table set up with many dishes and the whole place looked festive.

"Master Berlin, what's the occasion?" Alicia asked as she saw Berlin walking in with another plate of food.

"Haha today my dear disciple you will be going out into the deepest part of the forest in search of an item I have hidden away. This forest covers a great portion of land between all the kings in the area. It could be considered a kind of neutral zone that separates the kingdoms and is very vast. This forest is called the Demonic Forest. The reason it is called this is that the further you get to the center the stronger the demonic beasts are as well as the frequency in which you will encounter them will grow as well. I just so happened to have accidentally dropped an important item in the middle of this forest. The journey there on foot without anything stopping you will take three months. But you will not be this lucky because demonic beasts like to attack in hordes! Haha, are you up to it my dear disciple!?" Berlin asked with a huge smile on his face.

Alicia rolled her eyes at the old man who 'Accidentally' dropped an important item in the middle of one of the most dangerous forests around. "Master Berlin, it is not like I have any choice in the matter!"

"Mmm! You are right but you have trained well! So I am expecting a lot of good things from you! Now come eat before it gets cold. Think of this as your last good meal for a while!"