Chapter 81 Are You Sure You Want To Do This?
With Nardor, the construction was in good hands. Ikaris then went to see Danchun and found that as he had presumed she had no trouble dissecting the boar. She had to take frequent breaks, but she was making good progress.
"Can you continue?" He flatly asked behind her back while watching her dripping with sweat, her soaked tunic clinging to her skin.
"What do you think?" She snorted aggressively as she wrapped up yet another piece of meat.
"You seem to be doing fine." Ikaris teased her. "You don't need my help."
He pretended to whistle away with his hands in his pockets and as expected he heard a,
"Wait!"
The boy turned around and saw Danchun begging him with a wry smile.
"Please my Lord, give me a break."
Ikaris stared at her from head to toe, lingering on her long legs and sweaty face, then chuckled,
"This was the plan all along so why so angry?"
Danchun bit her lip to restrain herself from pouncing on him but instead exhaled deeply as she gracefully smoothed the folds of her tunic with her dainty hands.
"Follow me." The teenager then commanded seriously.
Confused, she did not falter and walked after him in silence. Ikaris then went to look for Malia and asked her if she was available. Idly pacing back and forth, chatting with Ellie from time to time, the Vampire-Kitsune was getting restless and frustrated at not being able to help. When the boy sought her assistance she jumped at the chance.
"Where are we going?" The two women asked with confusion as they noticed they were leaving the village, the boy dragging several large branches from the chestnut tree Malia and her squad had cut down the day before.
"Not very far."
Indeed, after walking away from Last Saint Village a mere 200 meters or so to get a little more peace and quiet, Ikaris stopped and began whittling at the branches with Anaphiel's knife that he had retrieved from Danchun. Within minutes, the two women identified what he was trying to carve.
"Wooden swords?" Malia mumbled in slight bewilderment.
"That's right." Ikaris smiled. "You may have noticed, but as good as I am at magic, I had never fought in my life before coming to this world. My only fighting experience amounted to a bit of karate when I was 10 years old."
"Karate?" Danchun repeated quizzically, not recognizing the term. "A Cultivation technique?"
"Nothing that advanced." Ikaris held back a laugh. "Just an ordinary mortal martial art."
"I see..." The dancer retorted, failing to hide her contempt.
She had already lost interest. In her home world, this kind of minor art she wouldn't even want even if they were freely gifted to her.
"So if I understand correctly..." Malia concluded as she slammed her fist against her palm in realization. "You want me to teach you how to fight? You can count on me. I'm mostly self-taught but my mother drilled me in the basics before... Hah... And Grallu taught me how to hunt and defend myself back when she could still move properly."
Ikaris did not respond right away and stealing a peek at Danchun, he said,
"To tell you the truth, that's what I was thinking of doing at first, but Danchun's presence has changed everything. She's the one who's going to train both of us."
The masterful flair with which she had rectified his movements the day before and the way she had been cutting up the boar's carcass had made him realize that in her former life she had undoubtedly reached an unfathomable level of technique. To use the example of karate, if Ikaris was a white belt and Malia a yellow belt, Danchun was probably a 200th Dan black belt.
"Umm. You asked the right person." Danchun beamed, "But what's in it for me? I could spend this time training or practicing my magic."
The teenager had anticipated this answer and pulled the wrapped meat out of his bag.
"This."
Malia nodded with approval. It was a good deal. Danchun, however, was less convinced. To her, the fact that Anaphiel could kill such a beast so easily meant that it probably wasn't very valuable. Sensing her dissatisfaction, Ikaris elaborated,
"Rank 4 Magical Beast meat is not as easy to acquire as you think. Anaphiel is not part of my village and is in fact my superior. We won't get meat of this quality for a long time. So it's a finite resource. Beyond that, Last Saint Village will continue to grow by attracting new Otherworlders like you and me. Once the economy and currency are in place, unless you want to get everything yourself, you will need a salary, or at least a source of income. I assure you that by then, even Rank 2 Demonic Beast Meat will be a commodity that not everyone can afford.
"As an ambitious and benevolent Lord, I will do my best to raise the standard of living for my citizens, but in the meantime I will have to prioritize. Even if my kingdom becomes prosperous, the social and financial position of the Lord's swordmaster will certainly be an enviable status. Whatever you choose to do in the future, you will not regret it by serving me now."
Perhaps because of the loyalty compelled by the Elsisn Stele, Danchun stopped resisting and accepted his offer willingly.
"When do we start?" She gave him a teasing look as she picked up one of the wooden swords Ikaris had just whittled.
"Right away, but what kind of Lord would I be if I didn't give you a foretaste of your compensation." The boy grinned as he cut a piece of meat for Danchun and Malia, adjusting their portions.
The Kitsune had already tasted it last night but for the dancer, it was a first. In her former life, like any other high-realm Cultivator, she subsisted solely on Spirit Qi and when the craving took her, Spiritual Fruits, Life Water, and other Immortal Nectars, and Pills. That was why she wrinkled with disgust when she received the bloody piece of meat. The musky stench of game sickened her.
Knowing it was for her own good, she forced herself to eat, and her eyes suddenly widened in amazement as the meaty flavor exploded in her mouth. While the taste was pretty much as she imagined, the rush of energy and the boost to her Vitality was completely unexpected. With food like this, she could ramp up her training by a factor of 10 at least.
"Thanks, my Lord." She bowed with gratitude, wholeheartedly this time.
"You don't have to thank me, it is I who should thank you in advance." Ikaris lifted her up, "From now on you can call me Ikaris like Malia and Ellie."
He also ate some food, then the training began. Danchun was currently much weaker physically than them, so the first spar would be between Ikaris and Malia to assess their level.
Actually, the teenager was really excited. He had always wanted to measure himself against the airhead young woman who lacked common sense and the most elementary education but sometimes surprised him by knowing things she should have ignored. For example, from the bit he had seen when she had fought those Glenrings, her footwork was very good.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Malia looked at him with a mixture of concern and pity.
Her curling lips said just the opposite. She couldn't wait for the duel to begin. Seeing this, Ikaris began to regret his decision.
"N-no magic." He chortled nervously, then figuring that he was planning to practice his Enhanced Strength Spell, he clarified, "Besides Body Magic."
Malia licked the blade of her sword excitedly and chuckled roguishly,
"Just as I hoped."
Without warning, she lunged forward at a speed he could barely follow with his eyes, but like in their first scuffle he managed to scramble to guard in time. She bent her legs slightly and slashed upward. Ikaris drew a cold breath and reflexively parried, but just before impact she reversed the grip of her blade and punched his solar plexus with the pommel.
A valiant Lord met his first defeat.
'Fuck...' Ikaris cursed in his head, curled up on the floor like a shrimp thrown into a fryer.
Upon impact, a foreign wave of energy had swept through his body like a ripple and if his Constitution and Vitality had not drastically increased after becoming a Crawling-Thrall he would probably have died, or in any case, died of asphyxiation a few minutes later as he could no longer breathe.
"I-I'm sorry!" Malia apologized with an aghast expression as she patted his back like one would to aid someone choking on a peanut. This only made things worse.
"Move over." Danchun pushed her aside unceremoniously.
With a knotted brow, she pressed a few acupoints with her finger, and almost instantly after Ikaris gasped, drawing a sharp breath of fresh air. Indifferent to her Lord's plight, his savior turned to Malia with a glint of hope in her eyes and asked,
"Was it Internal Force?"