I don’t think any of you can understand the multitude of reactions and emotions Daniel showed when I told him that what he had just done was just the warmup.

It was actually pretty cute.

He was on the ground on his knees, looking at me with eyes full of tears, and the cutest pout on his face.

I had never seen what Daniel described as ’puppy dog eyes’, but I imagine that he had given me a clear picture of them there.

I couldn’t help but smile softly at him.

Was I pissed off before?

Definitely.

Had I forgiven him after that session of apologising?

Of course.

Show me a woman who wouldn’t have after he said all of that.

"Don’t worry I’m not going to make you run around anymore." I said, hoping that might settle him down a bit.

"Why do I need to do all of this?"

"It’s not like I’m ever going to be front and centre on a battlefield."

Now naturally I couldn’t tell him about all of the schemes me and Worick had cooked up for him.

I couldn’t tell him that a leader needs to be able to protect himself and his people.

And I also knew that although he said this, the idiot would find some way to put himself in danger trying to save someone else.

I mean, although he didn’t know my exact combat abilities, he still knew that I was pretty strong, and yet he chose to step between me and the tiger.

Idiotic maybe, but that was just who he was.

Which is why I decided that he would definitely need some training.

"That doesn’t matter, you still need to be able to protect yourself." I answered.

"You still chose to train in your magic, even though you’re not planning to go into battle, so what’s the difference between that and this?" I asked, expecting realisation to dawn on him, and for him to agree with me immediately.

Instead—

"That may be true, but magic is cool... and a lot less work." He said, that last part he muttered.

Astounding.

The man might have been the only person in our world who would say that magic training was a lot less work than physical training.

"That’s only in your case." I said.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that magic training, and progress only comes that easy to you, for other people it’s actually a lot more work than physical training."

"Now enough blabbering, get up so we can get your actual training started."

With a massive sigh of surrender Daniel stood.

Seriously sometimes the man can act like an absolute child.

"I’ve thought of a way to improve your physical strength, along with your combat skills." I said, showing him my most charming smile.

Yet for some reason my smile made him shiver in fear.

"That doesn’t sound pleasant at all." He muttered.

"Stop moaning about everything, and just get to it." I reprimanded him.

And so Daniel’s actual combat training started.

Now some of you might think that I only made him run around as a punishment, and even though that is slightly true, it wasn’t entirely.

The man was in horrible shape, he couldn’t even walk around at a quick pace without starting to breathe hard, which we obviously needed to work on.

So I had developed a pretty strict workout plan for him.

I was going to whip him into shape, and make him a combat machine, even if he didn’t like it very much.

A couple of hours after we had started Daniel was swinging a heavy branch at a tree, using the blade technique I had taught him.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The rhythmic wood on wood sound drifted through the empty field toward the village.

I could see some elves standing a distance away just looking at us with wide eyes.

You might be wondering why they were looking at us with wide eyes, but if you had seen the scene at that moment you would understand.

Though I said Daniel’s fitness levels were a problem, he definitely didn’t have any problem with physical strength.

Or the rapid progress he made with his physical strength.

At that moment I’d had to find him a heavier branch three times, each time he would only be using it for a little while before I could see that he had clearly adapted to its weight, and I had to find something even heavier. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

The branch he had been using at that point couldn’t really be called a branch anymore, it would be a lot more fitting to call it a small log.

And still, even with the weight of his ’weapon’ his technique was still pretty good.

Now as everyone of you already knows, I’m not a woman who would often say this... but the man looked extremely sexy to me at that moment.

Behind me, along with the racket Daniel was making, I hear footsteps approaching us.

I turned to find Worick approaching us.

"Worick," I greeted him when he came to stand next to me.

"You two are making one hell of an impression on the villagers." He said.

I could only smile when he said this.

Obviously this was the plan, but he didn’t need to know that.

"How can we help you?" I asked.

"I would like to ask Daniel some advice." Worick answered.

The smile on my face turned into a full on grin.

Because if Worick was here to ask Daniel for ’advice’, it meant that our plan had been set into motion.

Which meant that Daniel’s first steps into leadership were about to be taken.

And he didn’t even know that it was happening.

"Honey! You have a visitor!" I yelled over the massive racket he was making.

He had just kept on swinging his log, completely ignoring my voice.

With a frown I walked over to him.

When I was close enough to see his face, I was shocked again.

He had achieved something that most people could never do.

And those who actually achieved it, had been training their whole lives.

Daniel had been training for less than five hours, and he had already done it.

"Battle state," I whispered.