For Sela, it was restful to stay somewhere safe to rest and study herbs; after all, time has no meaning for vampires.
But for Keane, it was torture.
He couldn't get over Betty's death, couldn't get over Sanchi's instructions.
Whenever he had time, he would read the clues that only he could read over and over again, afraid that he would forget the meaning of the symbols at one moment.
Hatred was growing, and he had to take out his resentment on the dummy in the room.
"Is your dagger a toy?"
A voice from the door interrupted the daggers being swung about, Keane turned back, "What?"
A man stopped there, carrying several hunting trophies in his hands.
He was stronger than the others, dressed in a blue and black rough attire, the hood on his cloak hid most of his face.
The stranger moved without a sound, and if he kept quiet, no one would have realized he was coming.
He came to the boy and pushed the hood behind his back."I'm asking you, is your dagger a toy?"
"No, it's my weapon."
The visitor is of the same kind as Sosbin.
Except for three parallel scars on his face, he was very handsome, even in human eyes.
"A weapon? Hm, Noah people always say if you don't love your weapon, you shouldn't touch it." The stranger snatched the dagger with a simple maneuver.
Seeing the black stray lines on the surface of the dagger, he showed a hint of displeasure."You put it into the fire without getting rid of the impurities that precipitated with the heat, and immediately gave it a cold bath.
Is this how you forged it?"
"No, I was trying to use it to remove the arrowhead." Keane was busy explaining.
The stranger stroked the surface of the dagger and nodded, "Good thing you polished it in time."
Thinking about how the boy had just behaved, the stranger shook his head, obviously a little disappointed.
In snatching the dagger, he deliberately slowed his movements to let the boy see his intentions and have time to think about how to handle it, and the boy actually let others take the weapon.
This showed the boy's low alertness and slow reaction."New here?"
"Yes."
"No one ever taught you how to use a dagger, did they?" The stranger crouched down and extended his arm, "My name is Veshan, Veshan Blackhand, or you can call me Veshan Janick if you feel more comfortable with that."
Keane doesn't understand why adults shake each other's fists or arms, but he's seen Sanchi and Wayne do it and follows suit."Can you teach me how to use a dagger?"
"That depends on whether you're willing to pay the tuition or not." Veshan pointed to the necklace around the other woman's neck.
"Not this one." Keane clutched Betty's necklace tightly.
"Okay.
So what are you going to pay for school with?" Veshan asked.
"I don't have any money, but I have-" Keane searched his body, trying to find items he could use in exchange.
"No, you have money." Veshan turned a money bag upside down in his hand, feeling the crash and sound inside, "You have six coppers.
You dropped your coppers on the ground."
Keane would have forgotten the coins he had on him, let alone the number of them, if the other man hadn't pulled out his money bag."Can this be used as tuition?" He asked.
Once again, Veshan was disappointed by his opponent's performance.
The boy actually believed that the money bag would fall to the ground on its own without making a sound.
Obviously, he would not think about how the money bag got into someone else's hands.
"Come with me, let's go to the training room." Veshan walked ahead."Maybe he'll do better in other areas." He muttered to himself.
----------
After watching the scene just now, Sela silently turned around and went back to the room."Don't you think that's too much of an imposition? He's still changing his teeth."
Sosbin picks up an incendiary arrow and opens his hand.
Driven by the power of the mind, the burning arrow flies towards the dummy.
The dummy was hit by the arrow and burst into flames."What about his target, Ms.
Sela? Are the carved symbols on the shaft of those arrows imposing?"
Sela was speechless.
"From your description of the young man, I agree that he has potential in certain areas.
But for humans, potential is never better than talent." Sosbin shook his head with a scowl, "About the aftereffects you mentioned.
You and I both know that mages need to memorize spells.
Summoning otherworldly creatures also requires drawing the correct runes-"
"Enough-" Sela interrupted Sosbin, "Even you can't cure him?"
Sosbin extinguished the flames with a cold mist and pinched his brow a few times, "Some wounds cannot be healed by healing or magic.
The only thing that can be determined is that Instinct Master Veshan is the most suitable mentor for this young man.
He was once a 'headhunter'.
I believe he has the ability to subliminally turn the young man into a sentient weapon."
"Headhunters? That sounds like some kind of assassin."
"Headhunters are of humble status, not even qualified to show their faces in front of others, but are the elite force that the Dark Elf clans rely on.
They are warriors and assassins who have been poured out with hundreds of lives."
"That's all that can be done.
Thank you, Master Sosbin."
"You're welcome, Ms.
Sela."
----------
"Okay, you go clean this place up.
I'll be over here maintaining the weapons."
"..."
"No, don't move those dummies.
We still need them." Veshan removed a longsword from the wall and wiped the blade with an oilcloth.
"..."
"Clothe those four dummies in leather, lockjaw, scale and plate armor." Veshan put the freshly maintained battle axe back in place.
"..."
There were only two people in the training room.
The other one did not turn around and kept working, looking meticulous.
But every action he took was anticipated and instructed in advance by that person.
This surprised Keane a lot.
He picked up the heavy defense equipment and came to the dummy, his eyes flicked to the weapons hanging on the wall from time to time.
"There's no need to study weapons that you can't name.
Sooner or later you will recognize them." Veshan put the spear back in its place.
"..."
"No, you can't rest.
Set up the dummies in a row and come over to my side." Veshan took a war hammer from the weapons rack.
After another busy day, Keane came to Veshan out of breath.
Veshan counted the boy's belongings, "You have a dagger on you.
You know, daggers and hammers are my favorite."
"Why? They're short." Keane remembers most adults walking into battle with tomahawks, spears and war hammers.
And daggers and hammers were only used as everyday tools.
He had never heard of anyone willing to fight with a dagger and hammer.
"Because the dagger and the hammer are the two most primitive weapons, they are the origin of all weapons." Veshan held up the dagger and demonstrated, "If we lengthen the blade, it becomes a sword.
What if we lengthen the grip?"
"Spear."
"Exactly." Veshan picked up another hammer, "If I flatten the head side and polish it sharp-"
"Axe."
"If I put the other side--"
"Double-edged axe." Keane thought he would get the other man's approval, but he said nothing.
Veshan walked over to the weapons rack and took down a weapon with a chain and placed it in front of the boy."Tell us how this weapon evolved."
"Separate the hammer head from the grip, connect them with a chain, and knead the head--" Keane looked at the spherical hammer head not knowing what to do, he couldn't imagine anyone being able to make a sphere out of a red-hot iron ingot, "into --"
"No, no one would put their hand near a red-hot piece of iron.
That was cast in a mold.
This is a chain shackle (chain hammer).
Do not underestimate this weapon, it is probably the most dangerous weapon you can encounter.
By dodging and wandering, I have defeated enemies who use chain shackles.
But until now I can't think of any weapon that can deal with it."
"So I should practice the most primitive weapons first?"
"Yes." Veshan's face suddenly became stiff and cold."Before we begin, I want you to understand one more thing: It is not the weapon that is truly deadly, but the person who controls it.
Protection aside, whether a weapon is deadly or not depends on the user's understanding and mastery of the weapon." As he spoke, he danced the dagger with five fingers, then suddenly threw it at the dummy.
The dagger penetrated the leather armor hitting the heart."When faced with combat, prioritize the weapon you are most proficient with.
A weapon that is mastered proficiently can be more effective."
From this moment on, all Keane could do was nod his head.
Veshan retrieved the dagger and immediately threw it at the plate armor protected dummy.
The metal clashed with a "dang" sound and the dagger bounced off.
A deep dent was left in the armor.
"Secondly, choose a targeted weapon.
When facing an enemy clad in plate armor, you should choose a war hammer." Veshan swung the war hammer and smashed it into the dummy's chest to knock it down.
He then removes the plate armor.
The dummy's chest was left with a fist-sized crater."Even if this enemy's heart had not been shattered outright, a fractured sternum would have killed him.
The broken bone would have punctured the heart causing him to die from internal bleeding.
If the bone had punctured the lung, then he would have died a more painful death."
"Pain ..." For a moment, the tragic state of Betty's death flashed before Keane's eyes.
"Yes.
Simply put, it was a drowning." Noticing that the boy had wandered off a bit, Veshan immediately swung a punch and knocked him to the ground."If that doesn't get you to focus, I have a better idea."
Keane got up from the floor, spat out two lost teeth, and got ready again.
Veshan continues, "Finally, choose the weapon that is best adapted to your environment.
In a battlefield littered with arrows, you'll definitely want to be holding a shield rather than a dagger.
In a confined space, don't choose a spear.
Facing an enemy far stronger than yourself ..."
It was the first time anyone had introduced Keane to weapons and defenses in detail.
With Veshan's demonstration, the boy took in the knowledge in full.
Over time, Keane's training subjects changed from dummies to magic-powered golems.
Skeletons leaning in corners would come back to life and attack without warning; vines that tried to entangle and strangle passersby; water demons that grabbed drinkers and dragged them to the bottom of the lake; weapons with autonomous consciousness; ghosts that passed through walls ...
Everything around him could threaten his life at any moment.
Fighting, hiding, escape has become the whole of his life.
----------
Veshan scours the forest.
He is as light on his feet as a feline, leaving no trace where he passes.
And like a raptor as keen.
Every movement of the wind and grass, insects and birds are hard to escape his senses.
Soon, this instinctive master found the trail of prey, which was a set of footprints left on the mud."You have passed by here.
These footprints are not deep, and the distance between them is small.
You walked past them, not ran past them.
You were thinking or hesitating." He lifted his head and looked ahead.
There was a patch of overgrown grass, and walked over.
"Trampled weeds.
The blades of grass had dirt from the soles of shoes left on them.
It seems logical, but you can't fool me.
We don't shed this much mud on the soles of our shoes.
You are trying to use this to lead me astray.
I should have searched in the other direction." Veshan looked around and spotted the gravel bank bordering the grass."The grass is blocking the gravel beach, and the gravel beach doesn't leave footprints.
You're asking me to make a choice, to chase higher or lower."
In front of a few berry trees, Veshan paused."Yes, the decision to chase towards the lower areas was the right one.
Because there is water in the lower area, and wild fruits.
You are in desperate need of refreshment after a fierce battle." He tugged a branch and observed the berries growing in clusters."To cover your tracks, you picked some fruit on a different branch.
You wanted me to think it was made by birds.
Yes, they do do that.
But you're ignoring the habits of birds.
They are usually attracted to the sweetness and aroma of the fruit, so they don't go near the unripe clusters.
it's a shame Ms.
Sela didn't tell you that."
Soon, Veshan and Sosbin gathered on a piece of high ground to exchange their views.
"I think we're pretty close to him.
He must be hiding somewhere right now, resting." Veshan said."There are no swamps or lakes around here.
That means if you summon the hounds now, he'll have nothing to hide."
"I tried.
The Voidhound didn't find him.
He must have used something to eliminate his scent.
After all, last time he 'died' in the pursuit of the Void Hounds.
That's a deep enough lesson for anyone."
"So there's nothing you can do about it?"
"As a matter of fact, I have found him.
But I must admit that I used Life Perception to discover his hiding place.
It consumed a lot of my mana." Sosbin squeezed his forehead to soothe the fatigue from the long spell casting."I'm sure Lady Sela will find him in a similar way."
The bat flew low and swept over the two, taking human form in a puff of smoke."Yes, vampire vision." Sela's hand held a freshly picked herb and looked a little eager.
Veshan recognizes the plant.
Compared to other poisonous plants, its role is largely ignored.
Many apothecaries don't even know it exists.
Seeing this, coupled with Sela's troubled, deep expression, he guessed Keane's hiding place."Curly tongue herb, it can paralyze the digestive system.
So he's hiding in the cannibalistic flower's big mouth."
Sela no longer hid the worry in her heart, "Since he fooled all of us, let's end this training."
"He walked into the death trap himself, and hopefully he's figured out a way to escape as well.
What do you think, Master Sosbin?"
"We'll see about that." Sosbin scattered a handful of magic dust.
The spell drove the dust to form a space-time boundary that enveloped the trio.
As the spell rested, they disappeared along with the boundary.
----------
Keane came to the three men and set down the sour-smelling buckskin."I applied diluted Hawkgirl gastric juice to the buckskin.
That way when the man-eater swallowed me, it would think the food was already in the digestion process, so it didn't secrete digestive juices."
"It reminded me of Master Veshan hiding in the sewers.
He soaked in the bathtub for days after that." Sosbin nodded to the boy."Sometimes the more unlikely a place is, the easier it is to miss it.
That's the true meaning of concealment."
"The truth is true.
But did you have to bring that up?" Veshan grumbled.
He turned to the boy, "I prefer what you did today as opposed to chopping off Hawkgirl's wings and delivering the killing blow.
With the weapon off your hands, grab it by the paws and drop it to the ground, then snap the neck.
Simple and efficient."
"Don't be complacent about it, young man.
Never forget that the golems I create with my magic are tailor-made to shrink for you." Sosbin reminded.
Thinking of his own powerlessness, Keane slumped his shoulders and lost his words for a moment.
"You are a Noah man.
Your loved ones tell you to fight bravely and die with honor in battle.
That's not very smart." Veshan lowered his head and looked Keane straight in the eye, "Your death has no meaning until the last man on the list is dead.
The enemy will take your body and it will be thrown to the hounds.
No one will shed a tear for you."
Despite the advice being as sharp as a dagger, Sela nodded her head in agreement and didn't say much.