Chapter 9 (1/2)

Ch. 9 The Beginning of Kurotan’s Training

“s.h.i.+t, how long was I asleep?”

Luke stretched after waking up.

His face paled the moment he saw Kurotan.

“Sh-s.h.i.+t.”

Kurotan was still running. But it seemed that Luke had been asleep for quite a while.

“Heeuu, Huuhh.”

Kurotan’s complexion was as pale as a white piece of paper and the sound of his breathing almost sounded like moans of the dying.

His legs were spasming, likely from cramping.

Though, Kurotan did not stop running even now.

Luke hurriedly hopped off the horse.

“Hey, Kurotan. You all right?”

Kurotan glanced at Luke with pale, out of focus eyes.

“To-Too hard to keep running. C-Can I stop now?”

“Stop running and walk slowly. It’ll be better in your current state.”

“All right.”

Kurotan stopped running and began walking. Luke walked over to Kurotan with a flask of water, untying the rope from the reins on the horse.

White traces of salt that were formed from a ma.s.sive amount of dried sweat covered Kurotan’s face.

“Drink only a bit, you’ll get sick if you chug down a lot of water at once.”

Kurotan followed Luke’s advice after refraining himself from pouring the whole flask down his throat.

Kurotan’s face showed signs of recovery after he drank a bit of water.

“Enough. You can sit and rest.”

With Luke’s permission, Kurotan collapsed his a.s.s onto the floor.

“Keuu, the training methods of humans are pretty d.a.m.n painful as well. I wasn’t aware that running could be this painful when I was an Orc.”

Luke made an apologetic expression at Kurotan’s complaint. If Luke hadn’t fallen asleep, he would have stopped Kurotan from running a long time ago. Judging by the position of the sun, Kurotan had probably been running for two hours.

‘I have to give it to him, he’s got both stubbornness and perseverance.’

Luke clucked his tongue and headed towards the supply bag on the horse’s saddle.

“It’s time for a meal, are you hungry?”

As soon as the words left Luke’s mouth, Kurotan’s stomach rumbled as if to agree.

“Kurotan, hungry.”

“All right, just give me a minute.”

Luke had taken out some dried jerky and bread. Kurotan’s eyes shone as soon as he saw the jerky. However, when he reached for it, Luke didn’t give it to him that easily.

“You remember having a stomachache after the last meal?”

“I-I remember.”

“If you don’t want another one, chew well.”

“Ok.”

Kurotan took the jerky and followed Luke’s orders to chew thoroughly. After Kurotan had finished a piece of jerky, Luke held out the bread.

“You have to get used to bread from now on. Just bear it and eat.”

Kurotan looked as if he was about to cry as he took the bread. His complexion turned brighter immediately after he took a bite.

“It’s better than I thought. Tastes sweet.”

“Is that so?”

“When I tried bread as an Orc, it tasted disgusting. Why does it taste better now?”

“It’s probably because you are a human now, I guess your sense of taste has changed as well.”

Kurotan finished off the rest of the jerky and bread in the blink of an eye.

Even after he had finished, Kurotan turned to stare at the piece of bread that Luke was eating. Luke smiled and handed him another piece of bread.

“The human body will get sick if you eat too much. I will give you another piece because you trained hard today.”

“Thank you.”

Luke watched as Kurotan proceeded to take large bites out of the bread and asked.

“Do all Orcs eat as fast as you do?”

“If you don’t eat fast, others will take.”

Luke clucked his tongue in disbelief.

“I’m just warning you now, do not steal food from other people. That is not a humane behavior.”

“Humane behavior?”

“Yes, people will definitely swear at you. Call you an Orc-like b.a.s.t.a.r.d.”

Kurotan was puzzled.

“What about that is swearing?”

“I suppose that wouldn’t be that insulting from your perspective.”

After they had digested their meal, Luke grabbed his sword and stood up.

“For exercise, I will teach you swordsmans.h.i.+p.”

Kurotan did not seem very enthusiastic.

“I use the axe. I do not wish to hold such a weak weapon in my hand.”

“Listen well. The sword is the foundation of all weapons. With a sword, you can chop, stab, or smash. Axemans.h.i.+p can be considered an extension of swordsmans.h.i.+p.”

Luke pointed at Kurotan’s arms.

“Surely you’ve experienced that your arms can’t bear the weight of a battleaxe?”