Could that be why Grant Leucht and his family had decided to kill her? And what about that guy in the cloak that Kari spoke of?
I dispelled these thoughts upon entering the Merchant’s District, which was as busy today as it had been the last time I’d been there.
Thirty days had passed since I visited the seamstress. She had requested thirty days to make my clothes. That was the reason I had come today.
With my destination in mind, I walked to the seamstress’s store and entered. There were a few people wandering around, but most of them were looking at the clothing and fabrics. As I walked further in, I found the seamstress measuring a young boy several years my junior. He seemed slightly enamored with the older woman. He hadn’t taken his eyes off her, and he was blushing to the roots of his hair.
I waited until she was done. When the young boy hopped off the stool, I walked over and greeted her. She seemed to have been expecting me because a wry smile caused her lips to hold an appealing curve.
“I was expecting you to arrive sometime today. I have the outfit you requested,” she said. “Wait right here, and I’ll get it.”
“I won’t go anywhere.” I spread my arms wide as if to indicate I’d remain right there.
The seamstress walked to a room in the back, then came out about a minute or so later with an outfit in her hands. It consisted of several dark black articles. She handed me the largest article of clothing, which were black pants.
“Try them on one by one,” she instructed. “I need to see how they fit.”
Nodding, I slid off my pants and revealed my underwear underneath. I was mindful of the fact that several other ladies were present and watching me. Their giggling made me feel self-conscious, but I shoved those feelings aside as I slid the pants up my hips, and then tightened the cord located near the waist.
“The vest next.” The seamstress handed me the vest, which I put on over my shirt. “Now the vambraces.” Though they were called vambraces, they were actually just pieces of fabric that slipped around my forearms and could be tied in place with a durable chord. “Hmm… it looks a bit odd.”
I ignored the seamstress’s words as I looked down. The vest was made of black leather, same as the vambraces, though the pants were made of a thick wool. Located in tightly packed bunches were small pockets that literally covered every part of the vest. The vambraces and pants also had such pockets. However, the pockets in the pants had to accommodate the joint at the knees, so they were only located around the thighs and calves.
“I must admit, this was a really odd request.” The seamstress placed her hands on her hips and thrust out her chest in pride. “However, I do believe the clothing I made meets your specifications.”
“They do,” I agreed. “This is exactly what I was looking for.”
My words caused the woman to smile.
I paid her the last 2,500 valis I owed her, which meant I only had 10,000 left. There were two more stops that I needed to make. The first was the apothecary, where I bought 1,000 grams of red flame grass, 1,500 mL of spirit essence, 1 nirnroot, and 1 D-rank monster core with a fire element. That cost me 5,500 valis, which further decreased my funds down to 4,500 valis.
This might be cutting it closer than I thought. It would have been easier if I could grab the ingredients I needed myself, but a lot of them could only be found within the Demon Beast Mountain Range. Not only did I not have special permission to enter, but with my current strength, I wouldn’t survive in there.
My last stop was a smithy. A sweltering heat that blasted me in the face caused me to break out in sweat the moment I entered. The fire from the forge in the back of the smithy roared with life. All different types of weapons and armor hung from racks and sat against walls. Chest plates, chainmail, swords, staves, staffs, sickles… I even saw a morning star, which was a weapon few people knew how to wield.
In the back of the room, over by the forge, a giant of a man pounded away at a hunk of molten iron with a gigantic hammer. He had a full head of hair, though it was tied into a ponytail at the back. His broad shoulders and massive chest made me think of a hairless Werebeast.
Since he was busy, I didn’t interrupt him and went over to the weapons. There were quite a few. However, while all of them looked decently made, none of them were the type I would use.
The pounding eventually stopped. I turned to see the man dunk the molten iron into a barrel of water. Steam hissed for several seconds before settling down, and then the man retracted the iron and studied it. From the double-edged shape and general length, I could tell that he was forging a normal broadsword.
Finally, the man noticed my presence.
“You here to buy something?” he asked.
I shook my head. “I’m here to request you make something for me.”
“A custom job, is it?” Setting his newly forged sword onto a table with several other freshly made swords, he left the back and wandered over to me. Given my height, he wasn’t that much taller, but he was so much more solidly built than I was that I still felt smaller than him. “What sort of job is it?”
In response to his question, I showed him the vest, pants, and vambraces I got from the seamstress. He looked at them with a curious gleam. His befuddled expression made me smile.
“I need you to create metal cylinders that can fit inside of these pockets. There are a total of seventy-eight pockets. How much will that cost?”
“For just metal cylinders?” The man looked a bit put out, but he quickly calculated the cost. “Judging by the price of the metal and the time it would take to make them… 4,000 valis.”
I almost sighed in relief. “That will be fine. Do you take payments up front or wait until after you’ve finished? Also, how long will it take to make these?”
“Up front,” the man grunted. Then he scrunched up his eyes as the frown on his face grew. “As for the length of time, I’d wager it won’t take more than two days for a job this easy.”
“That’ll be fine.”
I paid the man 4,000 valis and left the smithy. Two more days. I only had to wait two more days before I could begin training in earnest.
That was what I told myself as I left the Merchant’s District.
I didn’t hesitate to set up my alchemy set upon returning home. I got everything ready, and then began refining the ingredients I would need to create the last pill necessary for my training—or at least, the last one I needed for right now.
I glanced at the ingredients I would need to refine. 1,000 grams of red flame grass to strengthen my body, 1,500 mL of spirit essence to help refine my strength, 1 nirnroot to help heal my body after my muscles were torn, and 1 D-rank monster core with a fire element to enhance the pills effects.
After crushing the red flame grass into a fine paste using the mortar and pestle, I put it inside of a 100 mL beaker, then added nirnroot shavings into it. I created a flame underneath the beaker and used a metal sheet to keep it from burning the floor. Steam rose from the red flame grass as it hissed and sizzled. I could see the nirnroot shavings catch fire, turning into a strangely liquid form that seeped into the red paste.
While the nirnroot was mixing into the red flame grass, I placed the monster core onto the mortar. I took the pestle to the monster core and began cracking it. Chips fell away, releasing smoke each time. Flames licked at the pestle as I worked when the monster core shards ignited from the friction. I ignored that and continued pounding until the monster core was turned into many flakey-looking chips, and then I ground it further until it turned into a red powder.
The nirnroot had completely mixed with the red flame grass paste. I blew out the fire and let the mixture sit. Grabbing the spirit essence, I poured all of it into the cauldron, added the monster core powder, and then stirred. Before too long, the spirit essence was glowing a bright red.
I nodded once, grabbed the beaker, scooped the nirnroot/red flame grass mixture into it, and then began stirring even more. Lightning crackled as I channel
ed my Spiritual Power into the liquid as I continued mixing. The medicinal ingredients began bubbling like lava, and a heavy fragrance that contained a sort of fiery spiciness permeated the room. It was ready.
“Time for the last step,” I mumbled.
Keeping my eyes open, I stared into the cauldron as I placed my hands on it and began channeling my Spiritual Power. The bubbling liquid undulated underneath my will, breaking apart, separating into bubbles, and taking a new form, or rather, a bunch of forms.
Mass pill refinement generally wasn’t considered a very smart thing to do, but like with the Three-Way Spiritual Widening Pill, I was in a hurry.
The pills were soon formed. Each one was about the size of my pinky nail. Their vibrant red color made them look like a fire was contained inside of them just waiting to be released. As if to emphasize this, they radiated an intense heat despite the shell actually being quite cool to the touch.
I put them into a bag, cleaned out the cauldron, beaker, mortar, and pestle, and then I put everything away and sat cross-legged on my bed, where I meditated.
Just two more days before I could begin training my body.
Chapter 11
Training to the Max!
Kari was like a completely different person while she was training me. The always kind, soft demeanor she possessed, the gentle smile she would wear, evaporated the moment we started.
“Forty-five… forty-six… forty-seven…”
Within the quiet forest hundreds of kilometers from Nevaria, my voice rang out as I grunted, struggled, and sweat. I was doing pushups. However, these were not normal pushups. Kari had found a boulder that must have weighed a couple of kilos to put on my back. Now I was struggling under the weight of what felt like a two hundred-ton mountain.
“F-forty-eight…”
“Keep going,” Kari urged me with a cold voice. “Don’t stop until you reach fifty!”
She was standing off to the side, watching me. Since we had fled with only the clothes on our backs, she was wearing the same outfit today that she had every day. Her breast plate, shoulder pads, grieves, and vambraces had been removed, revealing the simple white tunic and pants she’d been wearing underneath. It was looking a little dirty and ragged these days. Even if we washed our clothing in the nearby streams and rivers, some things just couldn’t be helped.
I wondered if Kari had always possessed this “strict trainer” side of her, or if the years of being married to Grant Leucht were the reason she had cultivated this cold personality. Being married to a man you didn’t love, especially one who seemed to define the word “evil,” would have forced anyone to shed their kindness. Then again, the destruction of her home, the loss of her mother, fathers, and brothers, and everything else could have also been reasons for this as well.
“F-forty… forty… nine…!!”
My body was shaking. My arms felt like they were going to fall off. My back groaned in protest at the weight sitting on it. Sweat poured down my face, chest, shoulders, legs, and arms in rivulets that stained my clothes. If this kept up, I was sure I would die!
“Come on!” Kari pushed. “You only have one more to do!”
I gritted my teeth as I lowered my body until my nose was almost touching the grass. My muscles spasmed as I tried to push myself up. Just one more. I only had to do this one. Come on. Come oooooon!
“Fif… fif… fifty!”
I did it. The last pushup of the morning. However, even as I congratulated myself, my body was giving out. The weight of the boulder was too much for me to handle after straining my body so much.
That was when Kari rushed over and kicked the boulder off me, sending it racing across the forest like it was a glass ball. The rock smashed into a tree, shattered the trunk, and continued moving for nearly another two meters before striking the ground with a thunderous “BOOM!” that shook the earth.
Having already seen her perform similar feats, I didn’t gawk, but damn, Kari was strong.
I was lying on my stomach as Kari stood over me. I’ll admit, I didn’t think I cut a very masculine figure. I probably looked like a worm, but I had long since shed any sense of masculine pride I may have had… if I’d ever had any to begin with.
“Can you stand up?” Kari asked as she held out her hand, her stern demeanor completely gone. Replacing that cold personality was an innate kindness that warmed my soul. Her lips were turned into a gentle smile and her eyes were like gems as they stared at me with compassion.
I couldn’t help but think of a carrot and a stick.
“Yeah…” I pushed myself onto my hands and knees, and then reached out and placed my hand in Kari’s. She pulled me to my feet.
“You did a really good job.” Kari smiled at me as she tucked a stray strand of golden hair behind her right ear. “I honestly wasn’t expecting you to complete all fifty pushups.”
“Then why have me do all fifty?” I asked. I wasn’t complaining. This was what I had asked for, after all, but I was curious.
Nodding as if she expected me to ask this question at some point, Kari answered me. “To give you a goal to work toward. If you have a clear goal, you can push yourself harder.”
“I guess that makes sense,” I groaned as I stretched my arms behind my back. Uuuu… that did not feel good. My chest hurt so much.
“Since you were able to complete all fifty pushups, I think this means we can increase the number of pushups you’re currently doing,” Kari added. “From now on, your new goal will be 100 pushups.”
While some part of me wanted to cry at her words, I didn’t do any such thing. Kari was training me because I had asked her to. I was training because I wanted to become useful to her. If I complained or cried about how cruel or painful the training was, it would invalidate her good intentions and my determination.
“Okay!” Kari clapped her hands. “Time to begin the rest of your exercises.”
I nodded, even as I mentally prepared myself for a lot of pain.
My training consisted of three parts: Mornings were for physical exercises, afternoons were lectures on Spiritualism, and evenings involved putting those lectures into practice.
Morning training consisted of basic exercises such as running, pushups, sit ups, pull ups, squats, and dodging practice. Each day Kari would set a goal for me to complete. An example of this would be today. She had me do a ten kilometer run, fifty pushups with a boulder on my back, two hundred sit ups, thirty pull ups, five hundred squats, and made me try to dodge her attacks for an hour. I was able to meet all of her goals except the last one.
I only lasted half an hour.
To be fair to me, I was exhausted by the time we began that last training exercise, but I understood that the difference in ability between Kari and myself was like heaven and earth. Our strength was incomparable.
One month had passed since I had asked her to train me. We stayed by that mountain cave for those sixty-three days, coming down to the forest and training before returning to the cave at night. There were surprisingly few Demon Beasts around this area. We didn’t have to worry about being randomly attacked too much. Kari had theorized that most of the Demon Beasts had likely gone back to the Demon Beast Mountain Range after destroying Nevaria, but neither of us knew whether that was true.
After the day of exercise was complete, the two of us went down to a stream and took a bath. We took one separately. While we had both confessed our feelings to each other, I didn’t think either of us was comfortable seeing the other person naked yet.
Kari had lived with Grant Leucht, but they only had sex once. She had refused to even sleep in the same bed as him after that first night. I was told that her “husband” had tried to take advantage of her only once, but Kari had beaten him so badly that he didn’t dare come near her after that. Her retelling of that moment was one of the few times I had seen such a vicious smile on her face… not that I couldn’t understand why.
Once both of us were clean, or as clean as could be, we caught
some trout from the stream and grilled them over an open fire.
It was fortunate that both of us were knowledgeable about our surroundings. Thanks to our love for reading, we had read plenty of books on plant biology for the regions around Nevaria. We were able to gather herbs, fruits, and nuts to enhance the flavor of the fish. While we ate, Kari lectured me.
“Now that you’re able to manifest your Spiritual Aura, we can begin learning how to enhance your physical abilities,” she said as she held a stick of fish in one hand. “Manifesting a Spiritual Aura is considered the First State of Spiritualism. When you’re surrounded by your aura, the aura acts as a shield to protect you from both physical and spiritual attacks. Of course, this shield can be broken if someone hits you with a physical attack or a Spiritual Technique that is stronger than your Spiritual Aura. It can also break if your aura takes too much damage. On top of being able to manifest a Spiritual Aura, you can also use Spiritual Pressure now.”
“And what is Spiritual Pressure?” I asked as I took a bite of my second fish. I was ravenous.
“Simply put, Spiritual Pressure is the pressure that other people feel when a Spiritualist releases his or her Spiritual Power. It is the manifestation of power.” Kari paused to take a bite of her own fish, then picked at some nuts, which she tossed into her mouth. Even while eating simple fare like this, she chewed with her mouth closed, daintily hid her mouth with her hand, and only continued after swallowing. “In most cases, releasing your Spiritual Pressure will only make people feel uneasy. However, there are some incredibly powerful individuals who can make people lose all their strength or experience extreme terror.” She paused again, though not to eat. Her face had taken on a slight look of pain. “My mother’s Spiritual Pressure was so overwhelming that people who felt it often described it as an incredible force crushing their bodies.”
WIEDERGEBURT: Legend of the Reincarnated Warrior: Volume 1 Page 16