Chapter 21 - #21 Father - son spar (1/2)
”Young master~? Have you called for me?” Aiko came into my room after knocking 3 times and asked me with a cheerful tone.
Why is she the only one who calls me ”Young master”?
”Yes, Aiko...Can you explain what was this doing on my pillow?” I asked while sitting on my bed and showing her the hair I found on my pillow.
”?! I-...” She opened her eyes wide with a horrified expression and started to shake.
”Calm down Aiko. Just tell me what happened and I promise you that I will forget about it.” I said with a gentler tone, I didn't want to make 8 years old girl cry, not to mention that she is so diligently working for our family.
”I-I am sorry, young master!” Aiko said aloud while deeply bowing to Akashi.
---Aiko's Flashback---
”Nanana~” Aiko was humming a certain melody while changing Akashi's blankets and pillows.
'...I wonder how comfortable the young master's bed is...He always has such a peaceful expression on his face whenever he is lying on it...' Aiko thought with an absent-minded expression while looking at Akashi's bed.
'Well, no one should come in here for some time and I am pretty tired...! Aiko thought while looking at the door for a few seconds before she jumped on Akashi's bed.
'...It really is comfortable...the young master smells really good too, hehe. However, I can't fall asle- *yawn* asleep...' Aiko thought with a peaceful smile and reminded herself not to fall asleep but she still closed her eyes.
---Aiko's Flashback END---
”...That's all?” I asked with a weird expression.
”Yes, I truly am sorry for my actions!” She said while still bowing to me.
”Stand straight...I don't mind you taking a nap in my bed but make sure that no one will see you if you plan to do it next time. You can go back to your room, it seems that you are too tired today, have some rest.” I said with a gentle smile.
”Y-yes, thank you, young master.” She replied with an absent-minded expression and left the room.
---
'Next time? Did I just get permission to sleep in the young master's bed? I mean...He was always so relaxed and he even talks to me like he is talking to his friend instead of a maid...I must work even harder for the young master!' Aiko thought with a shocked expression once she left Akashi's room but her expression quickly changed to a determined one while she also clenched her fist.
---
”That was...” Ichika muttered once Aiko left.
”weird?” I completed her sentence with a helpless smile.
”Ichika? Let's say if I wanted to buy a lot of different types of poisons, where should I go?” I asked Ichika for her opinion.
”...Oarburgh Clan is probably the best option for the best quality poison. They are a group of ȧssassins that are extremely expensive to hire. They are also extremely prideful and whenever their target manages to escape, they will hunt him down no matter what to protect their reputation.” Ichika explained with a hard expression.
”...Young lord, please don't tell me you want to get in touch with that bunch. They are extremely dangerous, they are practicing many other things, they can manipulate their muscles to the point where they can take on the danger beasts bȧrėhanded. They also have an extremely old heritage and it's said that their leader can even control Danger beasts.” Ichika explained to make me reconsider but little did she know...
?! Can control Danger beasts? I must visit them once I am stronger. 4 years should be more than enough.
I thought and resolved myself to visit them once I have heard Ichika's words.
I will make a deal with them and if they will refuse all of my offers...I will simply take it by the force!
I thought and a dangerous glint appeared in my eyes before it disappeared.
”Thank you. I want to have a little spar, will you help me, Ichika?” I asked with a smile and Ichika immediately appeared nervous when she saw my smile.
----2 years later----
I am currently practicing my swordsmanship in our garden with the wooden sword. My father already got used to this but my mother was still reluctant to let me practice swordsmanship when I was only 8 years old but even my father had to explain to her that it's perfectly normal for 8 years kid to practice. But after seeing my progress she decided to cheer on me instead of trying to stop me. Not to mention I also had a wide smile across my smile during my practices so she definitely decided also based on that.
---
Title: King of Sloth
Class: Assassin (Lv. 7; +10 Agi, +6 Int, +3 Str) 23/640 XP
Special Class: Fire Monarch (Lv. 5; +10 Cha, +7 Int, +6 Const) 18/160 BXP
Health: 230/230
Energy: 505/505
<Stats>
Strength: 15 (18)
Agility: 20 (30)
Intelligence: 18 (31)
Charisma: 12 (22)
Free Stat points: 20
Classes: Young Noble (Lv. 4; +5 Cha) 12/80 XP, Warrior (Lv. 3, +4 Str, 2 Const) 0/40 XP
Special Classes:
ACTIVE SKILLS:
[Absolute Dominance - When facing the formidable foe, show no fear, instead show your arrogance. + 35% to every stat, fire intensity, and explosiveness]
[Phantom Strike - Blink towards your enemy, the maximum distance is decided by your Agility (10 energy)]
PASSIVE SKILLS:
[Child of Fire - Flames love you as its own child. You are protected by the fire itself, whenever someone uses long-ranged attacks, flames will protect your body from projectiles even without your consciousness but you can still stop them if you want. This isn't ultimate defense!]
SILVER: 324
---
Finally, I got a new active skill and even one passive skill. I was slightly surprised that I can get skills even from normal class but I guess it's logical to get at least something from it. I already started training my body against weaker poisons but I got to know that it's much easier with this body than my previous one which definitely surprised me...After all, I already had inhuman immunity against poison in my previous word but that might only mean that there are many deadliest poisons in this world therefore even the body's resistance is much higher.
Anyway, training my stats are getting harder and harder. Good thing that I was hoarding those Free Stat points but I still think that even if I ȧssigned them, my training speed would still be the same...
Even the Danger Beasts started to give me less experience once my Class leveled up. Also, it seems that this system can be somewhat of storage, at least on my gold coins because I was starting to have a problem hiding them in my room. I also tried to store some other items but nothing was accepted, however, there was a small hint that food might get accepted but I guess I need to get stronger for it to works. I don't even know how it works so I might even be doing it in the wrong way.
Right now I am practicing my own move set I have created in those 2 years. Although it is still incomplete, I don't want to leave everything to this system. I will create my own ”skills” too. But it's much harder than I thought and I even have a feeling that I am quite talented in swordplay...Well, I can't be surprised when I am trying to create a totally new move set, most of the people simply train in the already created move set and their progress isn't as fast as mine anyway.
”Son, your swordplay is progressing at an incredible pace...it's a bit shame that you don't practice in Phoenix swordplay.” My father approached me with a wooden sword in his hand and praised me with a smile. He was no longer playing that ”cold” father to motivate me since he already saw that
”Thank you, father, but I already said it...Phoenix swordplay is not suitable for me. That swordplay is about grace. It's extremely powerful but that's not my style, I can feel it.” I said with a helpless smile.