Ri had awoken on the floor that morning, with a loud yell. He looked around, and seeing himself in his room, and not in a forest, fighting some giant monster, he sighed in relief. After running a hand through his hair, he stood, and gave the chamber a good look. Last night's clothes were on the ground, along with the bed's covers, somehow, entangled with his boots.

Another sigh escaped him, as the mage stood, and headed for the bathroom, starting his daily routine. He took a shower, brushed his teeth, and dressed in his usual clothes.

He yawned while he exited the bathroom, humming to himself as he thought what exactly he'd do that day. A piece of paper, left on the table from last night captured his attention, and with a raised eyebrow, he grabbed it, sat down on his bed, and began reading. His eyes widened. He dropped the piece of paper, and began to panic. The clock next to his bed read 11:48, and he figured, he'd have to talk to the man before actually going to the children.

"Aaaaah!" He yelled, as he rushed around the room, looking for his remaining clothes. Mainly his green jacket, and his boots, which were still hidden underneath the bed covers. "There!" He shouted, angrily, as he dragged his boots from under the cover's mighty grip, put them on, and headed outside, his hair still a mess from both the shower and from his lack of care for it.

The sun shone down on him as he ran, a nice addition to the awful morning he seemed to have had. "I need an alarm." He would've thought, before reaching the sick man's house. He knocked, and entered, soon announcing his presence. When he wasn't met by an angry owner, he thanked his lucky star that he'd gotten the right house. After staying there for another five minutes, as he chatted with the man, and told him his intentions, the man couldn't help but throw a few stray coughs along Ri's way.

As soon as he got the mission's details right, he'd head out, leaving the him to get some well-earned sleep. He figured this'll be an easy job. After all, he's got the mind of a child, so he might get along well with them. Well, he thought that, but he still had small doubts, given that he never really tried to work with kids until now.

Not more than ten minutes passed, before he arrived in the park. It didn't take a genius to figure out which kids he'll need to train, for two of the group of five seemed to have picked up wooden sticks, and have started to spar with them. As his light jog stopped, Ri couldn't help but chuckle at what he was seeing. In all honesty, he saw himself in them, in his younger days.

"Hey!" He called, before approaching, "I heard you were supposed to be trained by someone." He spoke, with his usual cheery and friendly tone. The two children would have stopped sparring by now, both looking in Ri's direction, "I thought mister Bartholomew was supposed to train us." One of them would reply, crossing his arms.

Ri's smile never faded as he reached for his jacket, took it off, and threw it near a tree's base. "Well, mister Bartholomew is sick, and he's asked me to be your teacher." His tattoos would have been visible to them by now, but none seemed to have dared ask any questions about them.

"Now." His smile dropped, and he brought his hands together, cracking his fingers. His neck soon followed, along with his back. "He also asked me to do some simple fitness with you, and that's what I'm going to do."

Most of the children only stared at Ri, as if he was talking in another language. A whistle snapped them back to reality, though. "Right. We're going to start with two laps around this park. And I'll be doing them with you." His smile had returned by now, a light chuckle escaping him as he started running, in front of them. But, once he turned his head to look behind him, he would see that none of them followed. Irritation wrote itself across the mage's face, as he made his way back, and looked at the group. "What's the problem?" He asked, after stopping. He panted for a few seconds, and then righted himself.

"We thought you meant to do them after you." One of them said. He was clearly the oldest one of the group- Or, he was just the tallest. Ri could be wrong, after all he was tall himself when he was younger. "No, I meant now. Come on." He turned back, and beckoned them to follow him.

This time, the group nodded, and followed the mage as they made their laps around the park. Some older women looked in their direction, gossiping with each other about the man with the children army.

It didn't take long to tire the kids, it seemed. Two laps were all that he needed, but, they still had plenty to go through before Ri was finished.

"Now, I want you to pick a partner. Stay in front of each other. One of you will hold their hands up, and the other will punch them. Their palms, I mean. Right- At my mark, you can start." He raised an eyebrow as he saw that, while his orders were followed, they weren't that excited. His smile turned into grin, "Whatever team is the fastest, I'll reward them with ice-cream." That seemed to get their attention. They copied the mage's grin, before getting down to business.

Ri looked at the boys, proudly. The day continued on, and the mage would have put the boys through some of his, but also their, favorite exercises. When the sun began to set, that's when the one-day tutor stopped the training. The children, having forgotten about Ri's promise all went home, a tad sad that it was over this fast, leaving Ri to gather up his jacket, and head to their real teacher's house, to get his reward.

With a sigh, Ri walked back to the inn, his gaze set on the orange sun, while he thought of distant days, from the past. He smiled, softly.