The Cursed Knight (Blue Triangle Series #1)

Chapter 8: Kill My Patience

“Hey, dumbass, wake up!”

Arth slowly opened his eyes when he heard Alice’s high pitched voice in his room. He realized that she was already standing beside his bed with her hands on her hips. Her short white-colored hair was in a ponytail and she’s not wearing her glasses now.

“What do you want, Alice?” Arth groaned as he rolled on his bed. “The sun hasn’t risen yet, why so early? Damn it.”

“Get your a*s up already! You’re my subordinate today,” Alice pulled Arth’s blanket to wake him up.

Arth tried to get back to his sleep. “Few more minutes, please? The training yesterday really drained the s**t out of me. I didn’t even get enough rest yesterday.”

“Stop complaining and get up now. Or else I’ll tell the boss!”

Arth’s eyes suddenly opened after hearing what Alice said. “Okay, I’m up already! Geez.”

Alice shook her head and stormed out of his room. Arth slowly sat up and yawned. He tried to move his shoulders and arms around.

“Oh man, my body’s still aching from our training yesterday,” he told himself as he rubbed his messed hair.

“Hurry up!” Alice’s loud voice from the outside made Arth jump off the bed and start dressing up. He immediately went out of his room while still raking his fingers on his hair.

Arth saw Alice outside already waiting impatiently for him. He smiled apologetically at her. Alice rolled her eyes and gave him the bucket of rags she was carrying.

“You’ll clean the house today,” Alice told him. She walked now towards the hall and Arth followed her.

Arth looked through the windows and noticed that the sun wasn’t out yet. He yawned again while covering his mouth using his one hand.

“So you’re assigned to the cleaning chores?” Arth asked.

“Cleaning, dishwashing, and housekeeping,”

The sides of Arth’s lips went down as he nodded. That’s a lot of work.

They first went to the kitchen where Arth saw Robert inside cooking.

“Morning, love birds!” Robert teased them.

Arth and Alice suddenly turned at each other with furrowed brows. They immediately looked away in disgust. 

“Love birds, my a*s!” Alice leered. Robert just laughed at her face.

“Go easy on him, Alice,” Robert winked at her. “He’s still a virgin.”

Arth gave Robert a middle finger which made him laugh more. Alice just rolled her eyes while walking towards the sink.

“So, what’s my task?” Arth asked Alice.

“You’ll clean the kitchen first, then the whole house,” Alice replied.

Arth’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“You’ll wash the dishes also,” she added.

“Woah, wait a sec, isn’t that too much?” Arth complained while rubbing the back of his neck.

“Why? You’re just gonna let a lady do all the work? Not man enough to be a gentleman?” Alice raised a brow.

Robert’s mouth formed an ‘o’ and then he turned to Arth.

“Fine, I’ll do all of it,” Arth sighed and started cleaning.

When Alice went out of the kitchen, Arth suddenly looked at Robert. “Seriously, what’s her problem?” he whispered.

“Well, she hates you obviously,” Robert replied with a smirk.

Arth wiped the kitchen counter and cleaned the floor. Then he washed the pots and the kitchen wares that Robert used while cooking.

He went to the living room next and started cleaning. Alice was also there, reading some kind of spell book while sitting on the couch.

“You’re not doing any chores today?” Arth suddenly asked her.

Alice stared at him for a moment raising a brow and then looked back to her book. “It’s my day off.”

“What are you reading?”

“It’s a book called how to mind your own business,” Alice answered while not taking her eyes away from her book.

Arth bit his lip to stop himself from laughing. Alice noticed it so she looked at him.

“Is there something funny?” she seemed to be pissed now.

“So you’re reading that book because you don’t know how to mind your own business?”

Alice closed her book and breathed heavily to calm herself down. “Can’t you just shut your damn mouth while cleaning?” she said. “For heaven’s sake, Arth you’re disturbing me.”

Arth pouted and continued wiping the windows. Then he took his broomstick and cleaned the floor. After cleaning the whole house, he began washing the dishes. He suddenly noticed Luna entering the kitchen. She placed a dead bird on the kitchen counter.

“Oh, seems like we have a new housekeeper,” Luna smirked while surveying Arth wearing an apron.

“I can’t believe her. She just let me do all the work without helping,” Arth shook his head.

Luna chuckled. “She’s always stubborn so just bear with her.”

“Where’s the boss?” Arth asked because he hasn’t seen him today.

“He went somewhere with Janshai, but he said they’ll be back at sunset,” Luna said.

“Is it just me or are those two like very close to each other?” Arth asked while wondering.

“Actually, they’re like father and son. You see, Lucas raised Janshai when he was still kid,” Luna replied.

“Well where are his parents?” Arth asked. He also wondered where did Janshai get his red eyes from. He seemed to be a half-blood too like Luna.

Luna was about to answer but then they suddenly heard Alice’s high pitched voice from the living room.

“Arth! You missed a spot in here!”  

“Good luck,” Luna told him as she tapped his shoulder.

“I swear to god!” Arth stormed out of the kitchen and walked in the living room. He saw Alice waiting for him with her arms crossed over her chest.

“You really like ordering me around, don’t you?” Arth told Alice while cleaning the floor. It’s just a small dirt! Is she crazy?!

Alice just sighed and then shook her head. “This is a test of your patience, Arth.”

“Well I want you to know that I’m almost running out of it,” Arth uttered in a grumpy manner.

“Fine, if you can finish that, then I’ll reward you,” Alice said with a smirk.

Arth’s face suddenly changed. “A reward?” he excitedly asked with his blue eyes blinking.

“What a kid,” Alice whispered as she shook her head. “Meet me outside when you’re done.”

When Alice left the living room, Arth quickly did the rest of the cleaning. He mopped the floor in the hall when Robert suddenly stepped on it as he went out of his room.

“Robert!” Arth slapped his forehead.

“Oh, sorry!” Robert chuckled as he quickly walked out leaving more dirt on the floor.

Arth sighed heavily and continued cleaning. After an hour, he finally finished his task and quickly went out of the house. He went down the wooden staircase and there he saw Alice reading a book while sitting on the wooden bench.

“I’m done. Where’s my reward?” Arth opened his palms facing upward.

Alice took something from her pocket and placed a small blue ring in Arth’s palm.

His eyes widened in shock. What’s this? A marriage proposal?

“Alice…” Arth couldn’t form the words. “I’m not yet ready… do you really want me so bad already?”

Alice suddenly hit Arth’s head.

“Ow!” he grunted as he rubbed his head.

“What kind of s**t are you thinking again huh?! It was the boss who told me to give you that!” Alice pointed at the ring he was holding.

“What? I don’t understand,”

“It’s a magic ring, dumbass. It can give you temporary mana so you can cast extra spells during battles,” Alice shook her head. “It will break when it’s already depleted so use it in case of emergency.”

“Cool,” Arth said as he put on the ring on his finger and it fitted perfectly.

“Let’s go,” Alice turned his back to him and started walking.

“Where are we going?”

“We’ll hunt beasts. I’ll train you,” Alice replied.

“Huh? Oh wait! I’ll just get my sword,”

“No swords for this training, Arth,”

Arth faced her again looking confused. “What?! How am I supposed to hunt?!”

“That’s why I’m training you now,” Alice sighed. “Come on!”

She walked now towards the vast white forest. Arth had no choice but to follow her. He wondered if she would order him to kill beasts barehanded, having no sword. It’s part of him so he couldn’t actually fight properly without it. A few minutes later, Alice raised her hand as a signal to stop. Arth also sensed a beast ahead.

“You have to learn how to fight without a sword for several purposes,” Alice said as she faced him. “Yes, you’re a knight and you definitely need one. But what if your sword was thrown away or stolen? Can you still win? Of course not. That’s where magic comes into place.”

“So, what do you want me to do? Flick my fingers and then a big giant ice ball will suddenly appear and smash my opponent?”

“Stupid!” Alice smirked. “I’m teaching you ice materialization, Arth.”

“Ice materiazinition what?!”

Suddenly, a white wolf beast jumped out of nowhere and was about to attack Alice. Arth’s eyes widened, “Look out!” he shouted.

Alice was quick enough to raise her hand in the air. A bright light shone that created a frozen spear. She grabbed it and swiftly pierced through the wolf’s open mouth.

The wolf’s blue eyes were still open as it fell down to the snowy ground and died instantly.

What speed! I thought mages would take time to cast a spell, but this is… this is incredible! Arth’s jaws were still dropped while staring at Alice in amazement.

“You see? No weapons needed,” Alice put her hands on her hips.

“How the hell did you do that?!”

“Uh… magic, hello?” Alice rolled her eyes. “Want me to teach you?”

“Hell yeah!” Arth jumped in excitement.

Alice sighed and shook her head. “Okay. This is a common technique for everyone but only a few could master it. It will take so much time and patience to finally be able to create a perfect copy of a weapon with matching strength and durability.”

So that’s what this is about. She’s testing my patience if I am fit to learn the technique.

“Uhuh,” Arth nodded as he paid attention to her.

“Now, give me your hand with your palms open upwards.”

Arth followed her and gave his hand to her. He suddenly felt a little uncomfortable as Alice touched his hands. He bit his lower lip and looked away. 

“Let’s start with the basics,” Alice said. “I want you to create a small ice cube on your palm.”

“Uh… how exactly?” Arth asked with an apologetic smile.

“Close your eyes. Can you feel your mana flowing through your body?”

Arth slowly closed his eyes and felt the magical energy circling around through his veins.

“Yes,” he whispered.

“Control it going towards your hand as you visualize your desired material,” Alice instructed.

Arth took a deep breath while his eyes still closed.

A few seconds later, a bright light shone on his hand. When it faded, an ice cube was already seen on his palm.

“How’s that?”

Alice took the ice cube and pressed it between her fingers. It immediately broke like a fragile glass.

“It’s too weak!” Alice shook her head. “You need to strengthen its material, Arth. Or else it won’t rival the strong weapons of your opponents.”

Arth nodded and tried it again many times.

“Remember, Arth, the more you create a stronger material, the more mana you’ll consume. So be careful,” Alice reminded Arth as he created another ice cube that was actually bigger than before.

He gave it to Alice for it to be checked.

“This is fine,” Alice nodded.

“Now this time, try creating an ice sword.”

Arth closed his eyes again and took a deep breath. He visualized his own sword and tried to copy its form.

A few seconds later, he was now already holding the sword made of ice.

“Heads up!” Alice said as she suddenly swung her own frozen weapon to Arth.

Arth immediately blocked it using his sword but it just broke easily as Alice’s weapon struck it.

“What?! It didn’t even hold on longer?” Arth sighed.

“I told you, Arth! Don’t just copy the outside. Visualize its interior parts to create more density and strength,” Alice told him. “Try again!”

Arth did so and made another sword.

“More strength!”

Arth created another one.

“The edge and the point are not sharp enough! This can’t even scratch me!”

And another one…

He tried a few more times but it’s just not strong enough for her. Arth sighed as he finally raised his point finger to ask for a time out. “It’s so hard, Alice. I’m running out of mana.”

“It’s fine if you can’t do it, Arth,” Alice replied. “Only few could actually master ice materialization. I’m only teaching you this because maybe it would help you in your future battles soon. It’s up to you if you want to practice and master it.”

It was already getting dark as they went back to their hide out.

“How exactly did you learn that, Alice?” Arth asked her while they were walking. “I mean, did you just learn all of that on your own?”

“I studied in the Standard Mage Academy in the capital, Arth. And every mage there was taught how to materialize ice for the purpose of self-defense,” Alice replied. “We’re not just trained in spells and magic, but also in close combat. We need it to survive.”

“I was a prodigy in magic and sorcery so I stood out in the academy while my brother took the path of knighthood in the capital,” she continued.

Arth nodded slowly. “So how did you get into this guild?”

Alice sighed before answering. “I was born from the Vellantif family, one of the nobles living in the capital.”

“So your family’s rich?” Arth gazed at Alice from head to toe. Yeah she does look like a noble and a spoiled girl.

“Yes. But I ran away from home,” Alice replied. 

“Why?”

“When I was young, my mother died because she was assassinated. She wasn’t really like that close with my father because they were only married because of an arrangement, business kind of stuff,” Alice shrugged. “That time, even I never knew about my father’s business, until the guild came into our mansion and assassinated my father.”

“I’m sorry,”

“Don’t say sorry. He deserved it. I found out about my father’s evil doings, drugs, human trafficking, s*****y… I also knew that he was the one who ordered to kill my mother because she found out about it and was about to report to the authorities,”

“Your father… killed your mother?” Arth’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“He’s a monster and every noble in the kingdom are. In the end, I was the one who killed him. Then I joined the guild,” Alice said. “My brother replaced him after that and took on my father’s establishments. Now he’s defending the business from any filed cases just because he’s also a high ranking knight in the kingdom.”

“What if you’ll meet each other soon?”

“Then I’m gonna kill him,” Alice told him with determination. “I’m just waiting for the mission to have him as our target.”

Arth just looked down and didn’t say anything while walking. I don’t understand. Can she really do that? I mean, it’s her brother that she’s gonna kill. I’m worried.

When they arrived in their hideout, it was already dark. They went up to the tree house and stopped at the door.

“Thank you,” Arth told Alice while scratching his head. “For training me.”

He saw Alice who immediately looked away. “Don’t thank me. It’s my job to you as my subordinate.”

“And also for this ring,” Arth raised his hand and showed his blue ring to Alice.

The door suddenly opened and Arth saw Robert who was about to go out. Robert’s eyes widened as he saw the two. His gaze went to Arth’s ring and then repeatedly looked at the two of them. He slowly covered his mouth with his hand.

“It’s not what you think it is-“

“Bossssss!” Robert shouted as he stormed towards the dining.

“Damn it,” Arth followed Robert and gave a big sigh.

He suddenly heard Robert’s annoying voice speaking loudly in the dining. When he entered, he saw Lucas, Luna and Janshai on the table. Robert was still standing and pointing at Arth. Janshai just kept on eating his raw meat again ignoring the talk.

“Just let them be, they’re teenagers, Robert,” Luna said as she shook her head. “You’re just jealous.”

“What?! No, I’m not!” Robert crossed his arms over his chest.

“Shut up, all of you,” Arth heard Alice’s high pitched voice behind him.

She went towards the table and sat beside Janshai. “Robert just misunderstood.”

Arth sighed as he went on his chair between Luna and Robert.

“Well, I hope you two had good time training,” Lucas spoke up. “Because Arth, you’ll have your next mission with Robert tomorrow.”

Already?

Arth nodded. “Where, boss?”

Robert suddenly tapped his shoulder. “We’re going to Ice Crown Citadel, Arth!”

Arth’s eyes widened in excitement.

I’m finally going to the capital?!