The cloaked figure ran toward me, stopped, and spun around in a circle while extending his left hand. A sphere of water appeared on his palm. As the cloaked man completed his spin, he threw the sphere at me. Of course, while it was pretty quick, the speed at which it moved was nothing compared to someone who could use the Flash Step. What’s more, this technique, like the other one, was probably only a D or perhaps a C-rank Spiritual Technique at the most. Even if I did let it hit me, I doubt it would do any harm.
While I could have let it strike me, I still dodged the attack. Moving to the left, I avoided the sphere—which struck the ground behind me—bent my knees, and shot forward. I didn’t use the Flash Step for this. There was no need.
I was within this cloaked man’s guard in seconds. The man let out a startled gasp as he seemed to realize that I was no longer several meters away. He tried to move back, to gain some distance, but I wouldn’t let him.
I grabbed the sleeve of this man’s cloak, yanked on it, and pulled my enemy forward, right into my waiting knee. A whooshing sound emitted from within the cloak as all the oxygen was expelled from the man’s lungs. My knee was buried in his gut. Removing the knee, I set my foot on the ground, and then spun around and slammed my fist into his face. A loud grunt emerged from the cloak as my knuckles crashed into his cheek. He stumbled but didn’t go down.
“You’re a stubborn one,” I muttered as I took two steps forward and rabbit punched the man’s throat just as he was recovering. I think my first punch missed his neck. There was a loud crunching sound from within the hood that made me think I’d broken his nose instead. This didn’t deter me. My second punch shot forward and a loud gagging noise emerged from the hood as my opponent stumbled back, raising a hand to his neck.
Not letting up, I took several steps forward and hooked my right foot behind my opponent’s left foot. I didn’t even need to do anything. His stumbling made him walk right into it. With a quick tug, the cloaked figure fell backward, landing on his butt, and I didn’t hesitate to lift my leg and slam my heel into his face. There was a loud cracking sound that echoed across the street. The man who had attacked me twitched several times before going still.
Glancing at the man who wasn’t moving, I nodded before turning to the other cloaked individual. He was sitting up. However, from the way his body was swaying, I could tell he was groggy. My uppercut must have rattled his brains.
I walked over to the man, who didn’t notice my presence until I was right next to him. He looked up at me. His eyes widened just as I launched my foot at him. My foot struck him in the temple, the force causing his body to turn as he hit the ground, another loud cracking noise echoing around me as his head hit the road.
After waiting for a moment to see if the man would get up, I flipped him onto his back and watched as the hood fell away from his face, revealing this person’s identity. I recognized him. He was one of the two lackeys that was with Grant the other day. In which case, the other person would be his brother.
“Grant must have ordered them to attack me,” I muttered in a dark voice.
After feeling a brief surge of anger, I calmed down and thought about what I should do. I didn’t want these two informing Grant about our brief struggle. Not only would it reveal a little of my talent to him, but the news would likely spread and I’d soon become the target for several other families. After all, a peasant had just beaten up two nobles. At the same time, I couldn’t kill them specifically because they were nobles. Their deaths would invite an investigation. I wasn’t confident in my ability to remain inconspicuous if the Nevarian Spiritualists or the Imperial Royal Guard decided to actually perform a thorough investigation into the murder of two nobles.
“I guess there’s no helping it,” I sighed.
I grabbed the unconscious man by the cloak and dragged him over to his brother. After removing the hood from his brother, I knelt before them and raised a hand. Pale blue energy emitted from my index finger as I channeled Spiritual Power into it. I placed my finger against the forehead of the first one who attacked me and began writing.
Isa. Perthro. Algiz. Dagaz Merkstave.
As I wrote the runes into the man’s forehead, I pushed my Spiritual Power into him. The runes slowly sank into his skin. They disappeared when I finished. Nodding as I saw the runes vanish, I turned to the brother and did the same thing.
“Okay.” I stood up. “That should keep them from remembering this exchange. I doubt there is anyone in Nevaria who can unblock a Memory-Locking Rune, so I should be safe for now.”
I looked at the two and briefly wondered if I should do anything else to them, but then I shook my head and walked away. They wouldn’t remember this encounter anyway. There was no need for me to do anything that could incriminate me.
As I began walking toward my home once again, a strange feeling washed over me, like there were eyes staring into my back. I stopped walking and turned around. Looking at the roofs of the various buildings, I tried to search for the source of this strange feeling. However, I could not find anyone there. What’s more, the feeling had vanished.
Chapter 4
Princess Lin Wants to Take a Bath
Grant was in the training hall, a massive room that was at least the size of a well-off commoner’s house. He shuffled along the polished stone floor, moving to a rhythm only he could hear. Every time he moved, he would throw a powerful punch or unleash a swift kick. When he did, fire erupted from his limbs, shooting into the air and burning the ozone.
Even though it was late at night, he refused to stop training. He was so angry. All he saw was red.
“That damn peasant!”
An image appeared in front of him. It was of the calm, indifferent face of that girlish boy who was spending time with his Kari! She wasn’t that brat’s bitch! She was his! His! With a ferocious roar, he threw a punch that sent a plume of fire at the illusory face, causing it to evaporate.
“How dare he challenge me!”
Spinning around on the ball of his left foot, Grant threw a reverse heel kick. His heel caught fire, creating a wide arc of bright red flames that didn’t dissipate until well after he had stomped his foot on the floor. More flames erupted from the bottom of his foot. The stone floor turned a blistering red, but it didn’t melt or combust. This floor was made from a special ore that could absorb Spiritual Power to a certain degree.
With a growl surging in the back of his throat, Grant knelt on the ground and pressed his hands against the floor, which immediately began glowing red as heat surged from his fingertips. He moved them in circular patterns that directed Spiritual Power to his palms. A second later, the heat exploded. Hot air and flames spewed from underneath his hands and feet. Grant was launched into the air, spinning around like an acrobat. His movements generated more fire as he twisted. His body was like a corkscrew that caused innumerable amounts of flame to spew from all over his body, creating a tornado of fire.
Grant landed on the ground with a fierce stomp. Steam rose from his body. However, he wasn’t injured in the least. His body felt like it was on fire, but it was an energizing flame. He let out a deep breath and smoke poured from his lungs. After settling down, he stood back up and resumed his stance.
“It seems young Master Grant is still practicing even this late at night. Ke ke. How admirable.”
At the sound of the grating old voice, Grant ceased training and turned around. “How long are you going to keep hiding in the shadows? Come out.”
“Ke ke. I am only remaining unobtrusive because I do not wish to disturb you.”
A cloaked figure walked out from the shadow of a massive column, his body seeming to emerge from within the shadow itself. Very little could be seen of this person. The cloak covered most of his body. Despite the sound of his wizened voice, the cloaked individual stood with his back straight and walked with a vitality found in someone at their physical peak. Even so, Grant could still see the wrinkled green flesh peeking out from the sleeves when the man
moved his arms.
“Skygge,” Grant said. “Did you do as I asked?”
“I did indeed follow Alf and Arvid as you requested,” the old man named Skygge said. “Just as you asked, they confronted the one called Eryk and proceeded to fight him.”
“And?” asked Grant.
“Ke ke. Both of them were beaten to a bloody pulp.” Even though Grant could not see his face, the amusement seeping out of Skygge’s voice was undeniable. “Not only did he beat them with complete ease, he didn’t use a single Spiritual Technique, so I could not get a truly accurate estimation of his abilities.”
“Tch!” Grant bit his thumb in anger. “I knew those two would be useless!”
“That might not be completely true. Ke ke. While they failed to force Eryk into revealing any of his abilities, we can still use their defeat to our advantage.”
Grant removed his thumb from between his teeth and stared at the cloaked man. He tried to peer past that hood of his, but he couldn’t. The space within the hood was pitch black. It was as though the light feared going near this man’s face.
“What do you mean?” Grant asked.
Skygge spread his arms out. “We will inform the Himmel Family about the fate of those two. While Alf and Arvid aren’t heirs, they are still members of the Himmel Family, and their humiliation at Eryk’s hands will not be taken lying down, especially if you tell that friend of yours. In fact, you could probably convince Albert to attack him for you. When he does, we can get a measure of the young man’s abilities.”
Grant crossed his arms and tapped his left index finger against his forearm. He narrowed his eyes in thought. After several seconds of pondering the suggestion, he nodded.
“I doubt that peasant would be able to defeat Albert, but it’s a good idea. We can use Albert to get rid of that pest for us. Very well. We will do that.”
“Ke ke. Young Master Grant always makes very sensible choices.” Skygge cackled as he slowly backed away. “I will send one of my puppets to observe him further. Unfortunately, my abilities rely on the darkness, so I will not have much luck spying on him during the day. That boy’s senses are quite sharp. He sensed my presence even though I was using Shadow Walking. I recommend using your family to spy on him when the sun is out.”
“Fine. I’ll have my Leucht Family keep an eye on him during the day.” Grant frowned at the man. “But you make sure you are also doing your part. My family has aided you for many centuries. I expect you to do as you’re told.”
“Of course. Of course. Ke ke. Young Master Grant has no need to worry about a thing. My master and I are quite grateful to your family, so we will continue to aid you.”
Walking back into the shadow of the column he’d emerged from, the man slowly sank into the darkness and disappeared soon after. The only thing that remained was the sound of his laughter.
* * *
I returned home to find Lin lying on my bed. She was on her back, staring at the ceiling with an expression that seemed the very definition of bored. Because her tail was so long, it hung off the bed and curled around on the floor. I was once again reminded that she needed clothes when I saw her bare breasts rise and fall with each breath she took.
“I’m home,” I called out.
Lin sat up, her eyes brightening a little. “Welcome home, Darling.”
“You didn’t go out at all, did you?” I slipped out of my boots and wandered into the room.
“Of course, this princess did not go outside.” Lin appeared put out that I would even have to ask such a question. “She knows better than to randomly wander outside after you told her not to. However, it has been terribly boring being stuck inside of this place. There is nothing to do here.”
I sent her an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry about that.” I paused for a moment, considering something, and then asked, “Is there something I can do to make up for you being forced to remain inside all day?”
“I would like to have se—”
“Anything else?” I interrupted the girl before she could finish that sentence.
There was silence for several seconds as the Lamia narrowed her eyes in thought. She looked at me, then glanced around the room before, finally, her eyes alighted on the tub.
“This princess would like to take a bath,” she said at last.
“I can do that.” I nodded.
“However, it must be a hot bath,” she continued. “We Lamia are cold-blooded. A cold bath will cause this princess to freeze.”
Her words made me frown for a moment, but I eventually agreed to letting her have a warm bath. There were methods of heating up bathwater. I would normally use my own Spiritual Power to simply create warm water, but I currently lacked the control for that. It was also possible to heat water using runes, but I didn’t know the rune array for that. Fortunately, there was one method I could use right now. It wouldn’t even be very hard.
“Wait here while I fill up the bathwater.” I grabbed a large pail, slipped my boots back on, and walked to the door.
Lin spread her hands in a helpless gesture. “What else is this princess going to do?”
I traveled down the stairs, which led into a hallway, and then turned and walked toward the back. Emerging from a door, I wandered down the path a short distance to the stream.
The stream didn’t look like much. A person would more accurately call it a babbling brook. The tranquil water from the stream flowed past the large building I lived in along with several others. It was peaceful. I might have even called it idyllic—at least during the night when no one else was around. Most of the people living in this building were older ladies who had a tendency to gossip while they washed clothes.
I went back inside after filling up the bucket, dumped it into the tub, and then walked back outside again. I repeated this process numerous times under the watchful eyes of Lin, until the tub was full.
“Now to heat it,” I murmured.
I went over to my bookshelf. There was a large drawer that stood next to it. This was a new piece of furniture. Opening the first drawer revealed several different types of monster cores. All of them varied in color from bright red to pale blue, letting me know which element these monster cores were aligned with. I grabbed a red one.
Going back to the tub, I paused for a moment, sighed, and then channeled my Spiritual Power into the monster core. The D-rank monster core lit up with a bright glow. Heat seeped from between my fingers, steam wafting into the air as the monster core was activated. I dropped the monster core into the bath immediately after activation. It sank to the bottom of the tub, waves of heat emitting from it, causing the bathwater to ripple. Only a few seconds had passed before steam began rising from the water’s surface.
“That should do it.” I turned to Lin. “The bath is ready for you.”
Lin could barely contain her excitement. Her body shivered as though she wanted to rush over, but she physically held herself back, and instead slowly slithered up to the bath and myself. She paused before entering to look me in the eye. Her golden orbs contained gratitude, and the elegant smile that blossomed from her lips was something even I had trouble resisting.
“This princess thanks you, Darling,” she said before climbing it. Because she didn’t have legs, her method of getting in was a bit odd. She first turned around at the edge of the tub, grabbed either side, and then slowly lowered herself into the water until she was resting on her back.
Because her snake lower half was so large, quite a bit of water seeped over the edge, causing me to release a sigh. I grabbed one of the towels I had just washed the other day and used it to dry the wet floor. I didn’t want the water seeping into the wood panels.
“This is nice,” Lin sighed as she leaned back and stretched her arms above her head. “It has been so long since this princess has been able to take an actual bath.”
More than half of her tail was lying on the floor. This tub was only about 1.5 meters long. Lin was over 6 meters long. Her snake half was a
t the very least 6 meters by itself, so she was probably about 6.4 meters total. There was simply no way for all of her to fit inside, but at least she was able to soak her human torso and her hips in the tub.
“The fire monster core should last for at least an hour,” I informed her. “Its effects will expire soon after, so don’t stay in too long after that, okay?”
“Mmm… this princess will get out once the bathwater begins to cool,” Lin murmured, her eyes fluttering closed as she sank into the water until it was up to her nose.
I ignored Lin for the moment as I went back over to my drawer and gathered several different alchemy ingredients: water snake bone marrow, ten petal sakura blossom, aged water reeds, earthen seven-year roots, and matured underground milk. With all these ingredients in hand, I went over to a small section beside my bed, set them down, and then brought out my alchemy set.
Despite being offered an advanced alchemy set, I still only used the beginner’s set. My home consisted of a single room that already had very little space. I wasn’t even sure I possessed enough room to set up an advanced alchemy set, which possessed nearly two times more devices than the beginner one.
The first thing I did was place the ten petal sakura blossom into the mortar. Most sakura blossoms had only five petals. This one had ten, and all of the petals were a good deal larger than the ones found on a normal sakura tree. I mashed up the ten petal sakura blossom into a fine paste, and then added the aged water reeds and mashed those up too. The sakura blossoms were pink, while the reeds were green. The end result was a mushy, light brown paste.
“What are you doing, Darling?” Lin finally took notice of my activities and called out to me.
“I’m creating a Bone Strengthening Pill.” I used a stir rod to scrape the paste into the 500 mL beaker, and then I added matured underground milk until it reached the 300 mL mark. I continued speaking as I worked. “It is an alchemy pill that is used in conjunction with a bath. By adding the pill into the water and soaking the nutrients into my body, my bones will become refined and strengthen to many times what they are now.”
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