CHAPTER 8 (PART 1): KILL MY PATIENCE

"Hey, stupid, wake up!"

Arth snapped his eyes awake, hearing Alice's high-pitched voice inside his room. She stood right beside his bed with both fists on her hips.

Arth looked at her, his eyes squinted. The morning light through the glass window kissed her long white hair and her light skin, making her glow even brighter. With that level of beauty, if only she hadn’t had this annoying attitude, she would’ve been perfect. Indeed, God had made no perfect human.

"What do you want, Alice?" Arth said in a tired voice, then he rolled on his warm bed. "The sun hasn't risen yet. Why so early all the sudden?"

"Get up, now. You're my subordinate for today."

Arth covered himself with his blanket, trying to get back to his sleep. "Can’t you give me a few more minutes? The training yesterday really drained the hell out of me. I didn't even get enough rest yesterday."

"Stop complaining and …” Alice pulled the blanket down to wake him up. But then her eyes spread wide open, seeing Arth without wearing any upper garments. His well-built chest and abdomen had caught Alice’s eyes for a long time.

“What are you staring at?” Arth immediately covered his body with the thick, cotton blanket. Then he closed his eyes to get back to sleep, saying, “If you want it so bad, you can just tell me.”

Then they all came again; Alice’s squealing rants and curses, all firing at him. It was supposed to be a serene, cold morning, but her mouth just destroyed it, like a huge boulder splashing down in the middle of a peaceful lake.

“Shut up and just go. I’ll catch up to you later.”

“Who do you think you are to give me such orders? You’re coming with me, stupid head!”

“Stop shouting, please.”

“I’ll never stop if you won’t get up. You think I’m stupid? I’m telling the boss about this."

Arth's eyes snapped open. "Okay … okay … I'm up already!"

Alice scowled at him, before she turned around and then stormed out of his room. Arth slowly sat up and yawned. His entire body was still aching from the intense training they had yesterday. He had missed a ton of rest last night, as he still had to finish chopping the woods before he finally came to bed. He muttered a curse under his breath, rubbing his messy hair.

"Hurry up!" Alice's loud voice outside had forced Arth to jump off his bed and start dressing up.

Rubbing his sleepy eyes, he stepped out of his room where Alice had stood, waiting impatiently for him. He just smiled apologetically, scratching his head.

"Because you’re very late, you'll clean the whole house today," Alice said, handing him a bucket of rags and a mop.

“Huh?” Arth blinked many times until he understood what she’d meant. “Did you just say the whole house?!”

With no reply, Alice walked her way towards the hall, so Arth followed her. He yawned again, covering his mouth with one hand.

"So you're assigned to the cleaning chores?" he asked as they climbed down the stairs.

"Cleaning, dishwashing, laundry, and housekeeping."

The sides of Arth's lips fell. That was a lot of work indeed.

They first went to the kitchen where they found Robert, cooking for breakfast.

"Morning, love birds!" Robert teased with his wicked grin.

Arth and Alice exchanged glances, both faces showed disgust.

Alice cursed, scowling at Robert like an angry squirrel.

Robert pointed at her face and laughed.

“Stupid big-head,” she whispered as she went towards the sink.

"Go easy on him, Alice," Robert winked at her, "My brother’s still a virgin."

Arth mouthed a cursing word, which made Robert burst more into laughter. Alice just rolled her eyes, washing her hands on the sink.

"So, what are my tasks?" Arth asked Alice.

"You'll start here in the kitchen. Make sure you clean every single corner before you move on to the living room," Alice replied.

Arth parted his lips to complain, but he didn’t have the chance.

"You'll wash the dishes also," she added. “Don’t forget the laundry. Wash all the curtains, carpets—“

"Woah … hold on a minute. Isn't that a bit too much?" Arth said carefully, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Why?” Alice took a step closer, lifting an eyebrow. “You're just gonna let a lady do all the work? Not man enough to be a gentleman?"

“Oooh,” Robert said, preventing himself from bursting into laughter.

Arth gave a sigh. "Fine, I'll do all of it." And so his task began.

When Alice stepped out of the kitchen, Arth caught Robert’s eyes. "Seriously, what's her problem?" he said in a hushed voice.

"Well, she hates you … obviously," Robert replied with a grin as he continued cooking.

Arth wiped the kitchen counter, then he cleaned the sink, then he mopped the floor, then he washed the pots and other kitchen wares, all things Robert had used for cooking.

It was a ton of work. But cleaning was not new to Arth, as he’d been the one who always took care of the house, living with the Chief back in Frostwood Village. It was all to return the favor for feeding and raising him ever since he was a kid.

After two hours in the kitchen, he moved to the living room and started cleaning. Alice was there, sitting on the long couch while reading some kind of a spell book.

"Not doing any chores today?" Arth made himself ask as he wiped the glass windows. “Not even considering a bit of help?”

Alice shrugged. "It's my day off … which is a very rare time I should be maximizing."

"What are you reading?"

"It's a book called ‘how-to-mind-your-own-business,’" Alice answered, not taking her eyes away from her book.

Arth stifled a laugh.

"Is there something funny?" Alice put down her book, seemingly pissed now.

"So you're reading that book, because you don't know how to mind your own business?"

Alice closed her book and then took a deep breath to calm her nerves down. "Can't you just shut your mouth while cleaning?" she said. "For hell’s sake, Arth you’re ruining my one in a lifetime day-off!"

Arth pouted as he continued wiping the windows. That after, he took his broomstick and cleaned the floor, then he started mopping. Cleaning the whole house slowly took all of his patience out, but he had no other choice.

He was washing the dishes when Luna came into the kitchen. She carried two dead birds, put them on the kitchen counter, and washed her hands in the sink.

"Hmm … seems like we have a new housekeeper," Luna said, grinning while she surveyed Arth wearing white apron.

"I can't believe her. She just let me do all the work without even helping," Arth grumbled, rubbing the dishes as hard as he could he almost broke it.

Luna chuckled. "She’s a stubborn lady, so just bear with her."

Arth rolled his eyes, wishing Alice would somehow consider being like Luna, as their personalities had completely differed from each other. Luna was calm, kind, and quiet—while that brat was violent, hot-headed and rude.

"By the way, where's the boss?" Arth asked, remembering he had not seen Lucas today.

"He went out with Janshai, I think. But he said they'll be back at sundown.”

"Is it just me or are those two very close to each other?"

"More than that, actually. They're like father and son. You see, Lucas raised Janshai when he was still an infant.”

"Why? Where are his parents?" Arth said, wondering where Janshai got his red eyes from. He must’ve been a half-blood too like Luna.

She was about to answer, but then, Alice's high-pitched voice thundered from the living room. "Arth! You missed a spot in here, you stupid pet!"

Luna tapped his shoulder, giving the best encouraging smile she could give. "Good luck.”

Arth stormed out of the kitchen, mumbling curses, and then entered the living room. Alice stood there, waiting for him with her arms crossed over her chest.

"You really like ordering me around, don't you? For heaven’s sake, I’m not your dog," Arth said as he went to clean the spot on the floor. ‘It's just a tiny speck! Is she crazy?!’

"This is to test your patience, if you don’t know."

"Well, if you also don’t know, I'm almost running out of it," Arth uttered in a grumpy manner.

“And what’re you gonna do after you ran out of it? Give up?”

“Like hell I would.” 

Alice sighed. "Fine, if you can finish that, then I'll reward you.”

Arth's face brightened. "Reward?" he asked with his blue eyes blinking in excitement.

"Stupid kid," Alice whispered, shaking her head. "Meet me outside when you're done."

When Alice left the living room, Arth finished the rest of the cleaning as soon as he could.

***

After an hour, he stepped out of the house, then climbed down the wooden staircase. Alice was reading a book, seated on the wooden bench beside the small stables.

"I'm done. Where's my reward?"

Alice dug her hand inside her pocket, pulling out a small blue ring, then she placed it on his palm.

Arth’s eyes widened in shock. What the hell … was she proposing to him?

"Alice..." he said, his mouth froze as he couldn’t form out the words. He swallowed hard on his throat, cheeks getting warmer. "I'm not yet prepared for this ... do you really want me so bad already?"

Alice slapped Arth in the back of his head.

"Ah!” he cried, wincing in pain.

"What in the world is your stupid brain made of? It was the boss who told me to give you that!" Alice said.

"What? I don't understand."

"It's an arcane ring, you ignorant fool. Since you have very low magic circuits, this one will give you temporary alar, so that you can cast extra spells during battles," Alice said. "But it will eventually break once it's already depleted. So only use it in case of emergency."

"Cool," Arth said as he put the ring on his finger. It fitted perfectly.

"Let's go." Alice turned his back to him and started walking.

"Where are we going?"

"Hunting. It’s my turn to train you today.”

"But … wait! I'll just get my sword."

"No swords for this training, stupid."

Arth turned at her, confused. "What? How am I supposed to hunt?!"

"That's why you’re coming with me now," Alice said, heading through the depths of the vast forest. Arth had no choice but to follow her. Would she make him kill beasts using his bare hands, without any weapons at all? His Blackwinter had already been a part of him, so he couldn’t properly fight without it.

A few minutes later, Alice suddenly raised her hand as a signal to stop.

"You have to learn how to fight without a sword for several purposes," Alice said as she turned around to face him. "Yes, you're a knight and you definitely need one. But what if your sword is blown away or stolen by your opponent? Can you still win? Of course not. That's when magic comes into use."

"So, what do you want me to do? Flick my fingers and then all of a sudden a giant ice ball appears in the sky to smash down my opponent?"

"Stupid!" Alice said incredulously. "As what the boss has tasked me, I'm teaching you an ancient magic, practiced by the first Glacian northerners during the Age of the Empyreal Gods. This is the original spell they learned, after Glaceus blessed them with alar … Glacies Materia … or Ice Materialization Spell.”

"Ice Materia … what?”

All of a sudden, a white wolf jumped out of nowhere, attacking Alice right from the air.

Arth's eyes snapped wide open. "Look out!" he shouted.

It all happened in seconds. Alice raised her hand in the air, where a bright light shone, creating a frozen spear. She grabbed it, then drove its sharp point through the wolf’s mouth.

The beast hit the snowy ground, dying instantly with its eyes open.

Arth's jaws dropped, staring at Alice in amazement. What the hell just happened? He thought mages would need a longer time to cast spells … but that was ... incredibly fast! 

"You see?” Alice tucked her long hair confidently, “No weapons needed.”

"How did you do that?!"

"Glacies Materia …" Alice said. "Ice Materialization. Want me to teach you now?"

"Hell yeah!" Arth replied, jumping in excitement.