“I think they are more worried about you trying to enter Emelia’s room than mine,” Ash replied as he walked down the steps.
“Like that little girl fits my taste,” Zelan scoffed. “When her chest grows large enough to fit in my hands, then they should be worried.” As soon as he finished speaking, one of the maids slapped him hard enough that Ash winced, but Zelan simply laughed and acted as if nothing happened.
“Do you plan to leave so early?” A soft yet stern voice asked from the side.
Upon hearing the voice, a shiver ran down Ash’s back. Turning to face Emelia Ash swallowed. “I didn’t…You were sleeping,” Ash hastily tried to explain. Looking at the young duchess, Ash felt lost. One moment she reminded him of the standard sheltered princess from a story, then the next moment she seemed as if she had aged ten years and her eyes looked straight through him.
“I see,” Emelia said then shifted her gaze to Zelan who gave her a calm smile. “Ash, Sir Zelan if you would wait for me in the lower foyer so that I may give you a proper farewell.”
Zelan jumped to his feet and bowed his head while Ash mumbled “Ok.”
Zelan and Ash were left waiting for nearly half an hour before Emelia descended the stares. Zelan let out a low whistle while Ash was left with his mouth slightly hanging open. Emelia was wearing a black dress that clung tightly to her body, showing off every curve of her body. The dress clung tight to her small chest, showing off the snowy white skin of her shoulders while the length of the dress seemed daringly short. Ash believed that if he just leaned forward slightly, he could get a peek at the heavenly cloth underneath.
Ash felt as if his body was frozen as Emelia slowly descended the stairs and approached the young man. “Ash,” a soft voice said. Suddenly Ash found himself looking straight into Emelia’s eyes and bumbling for words. With a light laugh Emelia gave him a small hug and a light kiss on the cheek. “Make sure to stay safe.”
“Y-yes I will,” Ash mumbled.”
As Ash was ushered out of the manor by Zelan who was chuckling, he didn’t hear Emelia’s whispered words. “Idiot, you better not forget me.”
“That is one devious little lady,” Zelan said as the two walked down the small cobbled road leading out of the city.
“What do you mean?” Ash asked his mind still in a haze.
“I worry for your future boy. I can teach you the sword, but when it comes to women it is better to learn on your own.”
“Ok,” Ash replied, still not understanding.
As soon as they were outside the city, Zelan pulled Ash off the road and handed Ash a weird set of pants and shirt that looked as if they had been made by sewing together hundreds of pouches. “Put these on. You can change in the bushes…Now hurry.”
Ash did as he was told. The clothes fit tightly to his body, in fact they fit so well Ash was wondering how Zelan had them made. After putting on the new clothes, Ash couldn’t help himself from putting his fingers in each of the small pockets but they were all empty, making the clothes look odd. “Looks good, now come here,” Zelan said after Ash returned to the road.
Zelan searched through his pack again and pulled out twenty small black squares about one inch long and half an inch thick. He started placing the iron squares in the small pouches. Ash quickly began to understand. The small pouches had been made so that the metal squares fit snugly in them.
What surprised Ash was that Zelan didn’t even fill a tenth of the pockets in the clothes. After moving a bit, he found that they didn’t add much extra weight to his body and didn’t hamper him so he decided not to make a comment about the addition to the training. “Now as we walk, I want you to run ahead then do one set of the movement katas you have learned.”
Ash did as he was told and ran as fast as he could about fifty yards ahead then began going through the ten different movements.
This series continued and after the fifth time, Ash was already breathing heavily when he heard a “Tring,” in his mind.
[Do to putting forth extreme effort your stamina has been increased by +1.]
Ash was silently happy, but didn’t voice it. During the past two months of training, counting what he had just eared, Ash had received +1 strength. +4 stamina, +2 agility, +1 endurance. Ash was amazed the first time he had received a bonus from the training, but now it had become common. He had asked Zelan about it, but the swordsman had just laughed and said, “Fighting is the fastest way to increase your stats, but training is the best when you are still low in levels. The higher your stats are, the harder they are to raise so right now is the best time for you to strengthen yourself. That is why you shouldn’t be in a rush to raise your level.”
Ash never considered himself smart, but even a fool could understand the meaning behind Zelan’s words. When he mentioned that, Zelan had laughed. It seemed like almost everyone knew about the ability to raise stats through training, but few outside of guilds that trained from youth did it, such as knights and mages. Even so, results were hard to obtain until a person reached a mature age as training a child in their growth period only had minimal results. There was also a downside. While stats could be raised, they could also be lowered. If a person sat around drinking all day, then their stats would slowly lower while their level remained.
“Tired?” Zelan asked as he caught up to his student.
“I can last a bit longer,” Ash said, taking a deep drink from his canteen.
“Good, then you better get going,” Zelan said with a wicked smile.
At first Ash thought that it would take longer to reach their destination with training added, but if they kept up their current pace, even without the aid of horses, at most a day or two would be added. A horse would have easily cut their time in half, but horses were extremely expensive. A cheap horse cost at least 10 gold. While he had the gold, Ash didn’t want to waste it and Zelan also protested the idea strongly.
In the end, Talam wasn’t that far away. It was one of the reasons Emelia couldn’t purchase the slave directly. Even with Ash going, thanks to the party a few months ago it still might cause rumors, but those could be deflected easier since he was still a relatively unknown commoner adventurer. Rich adventurers were known to buy slaves, but it was most commonly humans since those of the beast tribes were seen as unclean. However, it was not unheard of to use the as fodder during hard fights.
Shortly after midday Ash was allowed to rest in the shade provided by a small forest, but his relief was short lived. “There are signs of someone following us,” Zelan said as he appeared from the woods.
Hearing the words, Ash made a sour face. “From the looks of it, you might know who they are, or at least why they are showing such interest in us.”
Ash explained what had happened with the Earl and his son months before and why he had done it. While he was telling the story, Zelan laughed more than once. “That’s how a man should be,” Zelan said after Ash had finished his story. “Don’t worry, the guys following us are fairly skilled, but nothing we can’t handle.”
“What do you plan to do?” Ash asked as his right hand tapped on the hilt of the copper sword hung at his waist.
“They won’t attack during the day. They will wait until we make camp. They are keeping back so they won’t be detected, only staying close enough to follow behind. Tonight, when we make camp we will prepare a few surprises for them,” As Zelan spoke, a dark twinkle flickered in his eyes, making the hair on the back of Ash’s neck stand on end.
With an impending attack, Ash thought that Zelan would reduce the training, but he was quickly disappointed. Not only did Zelan tell him to continue, he added five more metal squares to his clothes. Ash cursed as he ran and when his lungs started to burn, he started to think it might not be too bad if the assassins were able to succeed.
With the knowledge that people were following him, time seemed to slow down for Ash, making the torturous training even worse. When Ash started to see the orange glow of the sun setting, he felt as if the gods
had looked down on him with pity.
Sucking in deep breaths, Ash watched as Zelan began moving around what was to be their camp. Ash didn’t know how, but Zelan’s pack seemed to hold far more than it should. “It’s a holding bad. This one has a storage space of 10 square feet. If you ever get a chance, I would suggest you invest in one, though one this size would cost about 500 gold, you can get one that can hold 2 square feet for around 15 gold.”
Hearing the prices, Ash was stunned but he kept his calm as he watched Zelan work. Ash had a vague idea how the traps worked, but that was all. Trip wires, spears, darts, one after another were produced and placed at seemingly random location. Once he was done, Zelan took a seat and started a fire and began preparing a meal. “After you eat, lay down to sleep and when the fighting starts, stay within the camp otherwise you might trip one of the traps.”
Seeing how calm Zelan was as he pulled a rabbit from the fire and started eating didn’t help settle his nerves.
3-3
Ash lay with his blanket covering his head knowing that there was no way he could feign sleeping with his face exposed. Now with his sight blocked, Ash found himself listening to every sound. Every breath of wind or noise made his heart thump so hard that he was afraid the assassins would hear it.
When Zelan finally yelled “Now,” Ash was so nervous he fumbled with his sword and dropped it in the still burning fire. As Ash reached for the sword, the steel tip of a spear flashed in front of his face forcing him back.
With the sound of surprised yells and cries of pain, Ash wanted to look around, but at the moment he was face to face with a tall man easily twice his width brandishing a wicked looking spear.
“Die brat,” the man said while thrusting his spear at Ash’s chest.
After spending months with Zelan, the spear seemed to move slowly, but Ash was tired and his muscles were fatigued, slowing his response and allowing him to dodge the spear by only a hair’s margin. Ash’s first thought was to move backward, but Zelan’s words the day before still stuck in his mind so instead he steeled his nerves and shifted to the right, bringing himself so close the other man’s right side he could smell him. Without a weapon Ash struck with his fist, hitting the man just below the ribcage. With the extra force from the movement, Ash’s blow caused the man to double over and spew the contents of his stomach onto the ground.
Ash didn’t continue the attack, instead he spun around the man and quickly picked up his sword. Even though only half the blade had been in the fire, the heat had traveled to the hilt making Ash grimace when his finger brushed the swords guard. Forgetting about the small burn, Ash turned to find that the spear wielder had already recovered and was turning to face him again.
Stepping forward, Ash brought himself in close, grabbing the shaft of the man’s spear with his left hand as he buried the blade of his sword in the man’s chest. The sound issued from the man’s mouth shocked Ash, as did the smell of burning flesh.
Retracting the blade, Ash had to forcibly hold in the contents of his stomach as he made one more quick blow, ending the man’s suffering. With his enemy dead, Ash turned to look for his next opponent, only to find that Zelan was already sitting beside the fire with his feet propped up on the dead body of one of the attackers. “Took you long enough,” Zelan said as he pulled a metal container from his pack and took a long drink before throwing it to Ash.
Without thinking, Ash took a deep drink. As soon as the harsh liquid touched his throat, Ash started coughing. “What is that?” Ash asked with an ashen face.
“Dwarven spirits,” Zelan said, taking the flask back. “Nothing better to settle the nerves after a fight. Speaking of the fight, for the first time, it wasn’t bad. Though dropping your sword isn’t advised in the future.”
Ash lowered his head, but Zelan laughed before he could make a reply. “A calm mind during battle isn’t something that can be trained easily. It is something that you will gain over time…No need to rush it. That said, we better get some sleep. We have an early start tomorrow.”
“What should we do about them?” Ash asked, pointing at the bodies lying around.
“Nothing, they won’t start to smell that quickly. Well except the one you decided to cook,” Zelan said before crawling back under his cover.
Looking at the man he had killed, Ash’s stomach churned slightly, but he forced the thoughts from his mind. As he covered himself, he thought it would be a long night, but because of the tension from the pending attack and his harsh training, Ash quickly fell asleep only to be woken by Zelan after what felt like only a few moments.
Clearing his mind from his sleepy haze, Ash noticed that the sky was still dark. “Time to get going,” Zelan said, giving Ash another soft kick.
“It’s still dark,” Ash protested.
“Do you really want to be around when people start traveling and have to explain why we are sleeping surrounded by bodies?” Zelan asked, making Ash remember what had happened the night before. Without another complaint, Ash gathered up his few belongings.
After they had left their camp behind, Zelan stopped Ash to put in another five iron plates. “You seem to be doing good, so might as well push it,” He said with devilish smile.
Each piece of iron only weighed about three pounds, but when you add all twenty together it was sixty extra pounds Ash was forced to carry. That wasn’t all, they had been distributed over his arms and legs mostly, with only a few on his shoulder and chest.
On the second day, Ash was made to run even farther and made to add in the sword katas as well. After the first few times, he didn’t know if it was a blessing or a curse. The longer run was tiring, and it also gave him a bit more of a breather, but it forced him to work his arms more.
This continued for five straight days without any more weights being added. Earning Ash another +1 in both strength and stamina. Ash was surprised at the quick rate of growth, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Before he had only done katas to learn proper stance and attacks. It was tiring, but nothing compared to what he was doing now.
Thanks to passing travelers, Ash knew that they would arrive in Talam in about three days. The farm they were headed to was only a few hours outside the city. As they neared the town, though his stamina had not increased much, Ash had found it easier to run. Due to Zelan’s teaching, Ash had learned there were ways to limit stamina use, even while in constant movement by regulating breathing. It sounded easy to simply keep a steady breathing pattern, but if you didn’t force it, your breath would unintentionally get more shallow and quicker when you began to run. Other than just breathing, Ash had to watch how he ran and the movement of his arms. There were dozens of small things, but added together they reduced his stamina consumption by almost fifteen percent.
“You are a quick learner,” Zelan said as they began making camp a few hours before sunset.
“Then why does it feel like I am being punished,” Ash replied as Zelan started pulling out more iron squares.
“Unless you are forced to push yourself past your limit, you won’t grow,” Zelan said with a dark laugh. “Now, I suggest that you rest right now. This area is known for the tuskers that come out at night.”
Seeing the light sparkle in the corner of Zelan’s eye, Ash couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh. Three nights before, Ash had seen that same look and had been forced to fight for over an hour against rock hounds.
Just as he feared, once the sky was fully enclosed in darkness, Zelan drug Ash deeper into the woods.
Tuskers looked like large pigs with large tusks protruding from their mouths. In his previous world, he would have called them hogs, but their size was a little too big, standing almost six feet tall. “Don’t just stand there, if they get you on the ground it is over,” Zelan said, sitting on a tree limb overlooking his student.
Ash slid his feet and changed his angle while one of the tuskers rushed past him. Ash’s sword was nearly ripped from his hands as it tore through the tusk
er’s tough hide and steel muscles.
Having missed its target, the tusker tried to stop, but with the tendons cut in its front leg it couldn’t hold its own weight and crashed into the ground. Moving forward, Ash buried his sword in the tusker’s throat, ending its life. Before he had a chance enjoy his win, another tusker charged at him.
The tuskers were large and strong and it took a lot of force to break through their tough hide. They were also fast, but it within the confines of the woods it was hard for them to switch directions. Fighting them face to face was a death sentence. The only way to win was to attack from the side or back, but they didn’t travel alone and moved in packs of ten or more.
Ash was forced to stay on the move, dodging the tusker’s charges while striking while he could. Each time he was nearly hit, Zelan would laugh and taunt him. A few times Ash stood in front of the tree Zelan was resting on, causing the tusker to hit it. The trees in the woods were thick, but one or two strikes from the tuskers were enough to make the stoutest tree snap like dry kindling. Zelan never seemed bothered by his resting place being destroyed as he simply jumped to the next tree as if he could walk in the air.
“Don’t let them get behind you,” Zelan yelled as two tuskers split from the group and started to move to his side. Ash had already killed three tuskers, but eight still remained and with his fatigued state, he was finding it harder and harder to move. Ash wanted nothing more than to sit down and rest, but every moment he stood still drew him closer to death.
After more than three hours of fighting, Ash was sitting on the ground with his back propped up against one of the dead tuskers, his breath coming in deep gasps. Zelan jumped from his hiding place while clapping his hands. “A lot of wasted movements, but not bad. It would have went better if you could have used their movements against them, but I will give you a passing grade, though it is a barely passing grade.”
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