Chapter 28 Housekeepers
We spent the next few days mostly resting and recovering from the fight. Sure, none of us had life-threatening injuries, but that didn't mean we weren't injured. I had cuts all across my body, from my arms up to my torso, with a giant gash on my chest. There was now a large scar.
It healed pretty well.
I was also running Minor Simulation day after day, with all the focus on Mila, my farmer. I wanted to gain the Swordsmanship Skill as soon as possible. Samuel and I already had a plan for it.
After running my Simulations ten more times, I looked at how far along my Skill Shards were.
Skill Shards:
Swordsmanship [Common] - 89/100
Unarmed Combat [Common] - 32/100
Hiding [Common] - 3/100
Just one more day was all it took. I nodded and got out of bed. I, of course, also tried to use Life Simulation, but the Skill was still on cooldown. However, I could feel that this time the cooldown would be shorter.
Unfortunately, I was not able to tell whether or not these were Skill shenanigans or if the cooldown decreased because of my increase in Rank. Usually, it would definitely be the latter, but there was nothing usual about my Class.
It was Unique after all.
I went down to eat breakfast; of course, all three cleaners were already present. Honestly, it was wrong to call them cleaners at this point. They were more like maids? Housekeepers? Yeah, I liked the latter more. Maids sounded too...medieval.
Yeah, the three keepers of the Blackstone Mansion sounded much better.
Breakfast went as usual. The three gossiped, and I listened. Another cheating scandal. Another grand revelation from Magret. More gasps and heated discussions. It was real fun, and honestly, my favorite part of the day.
Hey, don't blame me—I was a sucker for gossip.
I stirred my porridge and bit down on some meat.
I didn’t know what kind of meat that was, and I didn't want to find out.
By now, the people around the town had more energy and began building a few small traps around the Town, catching wild hares, rats, and other mammals that were eating the poisonous weed and washing it down with clay.
As a thanks for giving out food for free, the town decided to give us a small amount of meat in return.
I dearly hoped I wasn't eating rat meat but rabbit instead. Oh, god, how I hoped I wasn't eating rat ass.
After deciding I wasn't eating rat ass, the housekeepers started playing their board game, and I left them alone. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to join them today. I went up, changed my clothes to some training gear, and went back out of the mansion.
Today was a beautiful day. The sun was shining brightly, with not one cloud in sight. The sky looked like a blue ocean with a giant orange dot glowing in the corner of my vision. Accompanied by the late spring heat was a strong breeze that rustled my hair.
In the courtyard, the guards, conscripts, and Gerald were training.
I watched as they ran around doing laps.
Afterwards, they did push-ups, pull-ups, and sit-ups, all one after another.
Gerald said it was mostly to exhaust their muscles so they were able to fight while tired.
In secret, he told me he hoped that this might increase their stats by one or two.
We really needed to get that Body Forging Manual to work—I would need to check on Julie later today. Maybe she had too much on her plate, I realized.
I joined them running even if I was late to the party. I decided to go extra hard. I basically sprinted the laps, did the push-ups with Gerald sitting on top of me with his full plated armor and giant sword in hand, and pull-ups I did with him hanging on my legs with none of the extra fancy gear.
It fucking sucked.
I gasped for breath at the end of it all. Beads of sweat dropped down my wet hair, and I looked like a soaked, blonde raccoon. The others weren't in much better shape.
"Alright everyone!" Gerald yelled. "Gather your weapons.
Today we will change things a little. What if you are in a situation where you can't use your main weapon?
Do you guys know how to use a dagger? No, let me ask you, can you even fight with your main weapon comfortably while having a dagger attached to your waistband?
Don't look at me confused. Have you tried?
I know Ren has. Ren, tell me what's the difference. "
Ren's chest heaved up and down, "The difference...is minimal...but...it feels a little different. Like a stick brushing against you here and there."
Gerald nodded. "Exactly. It feels different.
That's the point. In your mind, it might not seem like a distraction, but what about your subconsciousness?
It will have to process the slight touch, then remember you have a new dagger attached to your waistband, next categorize that as a non-threat.
The process is instantaneous. But losing even a little bit of your mind's processing power during a fight may mean death. "
Ben raised his hand. Gerald nodded at him, and the young man spoke, in an unsure tone.
"What's up with this talk about the subconsciousness? I know what it means more or less. But, does it really matter in a fight? You have mentioned it a couple of times already."
"Good question, lad." Gerald said. "Yes, it does.
In fact, it's that which will keep you alive.
Your instincts? Yeah, that's just your mind processing information so fast, skipping your brain and making your body move...
say it with me...on instinct. Whether or not that is you dodging an attack you hadn't expected or your body following a movement pattern you have drilled over the years.
All of it is the same. You don't think. You act.
That's your subconsciousness. Understood? "
All of the guards and conscripts nodded, and even I did.
So, with that, we began sparring. People who used weapons other than the dagger had one attached to their waistband and another in their hand. This would get them used to fighting with a dagger and having a dagger on hand. Ben, and another man who used daggers, were forced to fight unarmed.
I had a few options but chose the hardest one—fighting with my limbs restricted. One arm behind my back. Switch. Next arm. Hop on one leg to simulate a missing limb. It was an interesting exercise.
But mostly a humbling one.
I could at least fight with one hand, somewhat. Sure, I was heavily restricted. But my stats were still there. I was still capable of using mana, twisting my hips properly, and all that.
But fucking hell, one leg? Yeah, that was basically a death sentence. The only reason why I could barely do anything was because of my Skills and in turn, Mana. Later, Gerald, of course, decided to force me to only rely on my stats and not my Skills.
Yeah, getting beaten by a Wood Rank is not fun at all as a Stone Rank, even if you had to hop on one leg and were not allowed to use your Skills.
I promised myself to never lose a leg.
"Good work!" Gerald shouted, and the sparring stopped. I swear I was going to have bruises. That Ren fucker kept targeting the shin of my leg I was hopping on.
"Get some rest. Drink some water, and breathe. Through your stomach, remember. Force yourself to breathe that way, until, and say it with me... it becomes—"
"Instinct." We said in unison.
Then we did as he said.
Gerald nodded proudly.
I downed a liter of water. And then breathed just as Gerald had said.
Through my stomach, not through my chest. It was hard considering my lungs were burning like they were the 9th layer of hell.
However, I had done this already often enough.
I trained with the guards every morning, even if I was busy.
You have gained [Meditation - Common]. The Skill will be placed into Limbo State until you decide to learn it.
Fucking hell. This class. I knew it. It looked like a feature of my Class was that General Skills came much, much easier to me. I also knew for a fact that none of the others had gained the skill and they were 'meditating' three times a day.
Instinctively, I knew about the skill, just enough to know whether it would be worth it to learn it or not. And honestly, it sounded awesome. Meditating sped up the regeneration of...everything. My health, my stamina, and lastly, even my mana.
The last part sold me the most.
I chose to learn the skill—with that, all my five slots for Stone Rank were full.
You have learned [Meditation - Common].
I used the skill, and immediately I felt the difference. My breathing slowed down. My heartbeat calmed a little, and I could have sworn the swelling on my shin reduced by a tiny bit. I opened my eyes a few minutes later. While the others were still breathing heavily, I was calm.
Meditation [Common] has reached level 2.
Yay.
Gerald put us through hell for another hour. I tried to use the skill while working out, but it didn't work. Still, afterward, the recovery progress was much easier and more comfortable. While the others had to lie down to rest, I simply stood there, Meditated, and then went back to the mansion.
"Good job, guys," I said as I left.
"You too, my Lord!"
"Happy to work with you, my Lord!"
"Keep up the hard work!"
I couldn't help but smile. Gerald's and my gazes met, and we both nodded at each other. They were turning into a bunch of people I really, really liked.
I took a shower, changed into a new pair of clothes, and ate some food Magret and the others prepared for me. This time I stayed to play one round of the board game after realizing that Magret was next.
I won and fled before the other keepers could destroy me.
Magret shot me a glare that could freeze the hell Gerald put us through. Wow, she was fierce when she wanted to be. There was something about old women that made them really, really scary.
"Have fun, my Lord," Jen called out from below.
"Don't overwork yourself, Lord," Emily said, and Magret nodded.
I entered Julie's, well, my office, without knocking.
I didn't want to disturb her. She was sitting at the desk scribbling things down, as always.
To her right, a large pile of different kinds of herbs lay.
Even with Mila's memories, I didn't recognize most of them.
To her left, some kind of equipment lay.
I could make out a pestle and mortar set, and some pipettes, but nothing more.
"How is your progress coming along?" I asked after five minutes of waiting.
"Ahh!" Julie yelped before breaking into a smile.
"My Lord! It's going great. The Skill you gave me is awesome!
And my new Class is even better. Anyway, the Locusts' plan is going just as planned.
No delays. I should be done within two, maybe three days.
Then we can test our theory. Although we should probably delay until after the Beast Wave...
As for the Body Forging Manual, I have exactly one set of herbs for one round.
Man, this Manual is awesome! Where did you—never mind.
Don't tell me. Either way, let me be there when you do the Body Forging.
I could increase the potency of the effects with my Class, if I create the herb mixtures. "
"Do I want an increase in potency?" I asked. I had skimmed the Manual. It was going to hurt.
"Yup," Julie said, with full confidence. "It will just hurt more, and in turn, more impurities will be cleansed out of your body. No real risk there."
I nodded, "Then I will call you when I am ready. Also, good stuff on the Locusts. Maybe we will be able to start planting some crops this spring. Where are the herbs for the Body Forging?"
Julie nodded along at my words, before pointing towards one of the potato bags leaning against the wall. It was stuffed full.
"I will call you later this evening," I said. I didn't want to dilly-dally. Seeing the woman just nod, I took my leave and didn't want to disturb her further.
I promised to kick her out later.
It was my office.