When Nick and YunYun caught up to the caravan, no one bothered much about the duo and only their friends received them with relief.
“She is amazing!” Was the only thing YunYun whispered and the case was closed until they could discuss the recent meeting under the better circumstances.
Nick decided against using their own seven steeds as presents since they had at least to pretend someone was carrying their supplies. Thus his wish to buy few horses caused a certain displeasure, but they did save the caravan few times and in the end he managed to persuade Rushdi, promising to buy double the amount in the next town as a compensation.
Although horses were expensive commodity in the reclusive parts of the continent like here, his own wealth was the least problem Nick was worried about. In addition, it looked like they would leave the Dark road and arrive at the next town in three days, so it was not that big of a problem for the caravan.
The problem was that it started to rain right after noon on the next day. It felt like the heaven and earth were mixing together as the thick wall of water came down with no intention to stop. Within minutes the road turned into a puddle of mud and the speed of the caravan immediately halved. They had only a couple of days left to reach the next town, but now that was obviously impossible, even if the rain stopped. The worst thing was that within next hours the rain intensified even more and the temperature started to fall.
After leaving the tropical jungle, people in caravan could enjoy a pleasant cool weather, but this rain managed to soak everyone to their last seam even if they had long raincoats. In addition, the large amount of cold rain water was cooling down the tired bodies and weaker servants were already shivering like autumn leaves.
Learning from their experience in the Heaven mountain range, Nick had previously prepared a special medicine he called ‘chili snacks’. Those were dark colored pills which left a very hot taste in mouth, but had the effect of keeping the body warm. Actually it was too much to call these things pills – they were rolled up pieces of medicinal paste, only edible in this case.
In Beliz he prepared large amount of these after learning that they will have to cross some mountain paths on their way. There was no reason to risk anyone catching a cold, therefore Nick quickly distributed ‘pills’ around their group and made them have another every two hours.
At first there was some grumbling and displeasure, but soon the girls realized that while people around them shivered from the cold rain, they felt quite warm despite being thoroughly wet. Steven and Clayton didn’t even need any explanations or persuasion – they had seen how the almost half naked Nick ran along them in a freezing cold and snow, so now they could enjoy similar pleasure and thus the proud ‘Southern mercenary group’ stood out again.
In the afternoon Nick got another bright training idea, but this time for the whole squad. Seeing how merchants, servants and even horses had hard time to walk in the mud, he called everyone over, explained the concept of Qi release while walking on the water, sand or snow and made everyone practice it. Of course, the amount of the Qi the girls had was minuscule, therefore he quickly stuffed their pockets with the beast cores and told to constantly absorb Qi from those while still concentrating on the technique itself.
No one besides him saw any logic in doing this, because, while Steven and YunYun from time to time managed to step on the surface of puddles, the feet of the girls were continuously sticking deep in the mud. They were complete rookies and it was not about to change anytime soon.
But Nick had few reasons. First, the almost infinite Qi flow in their pathways will help to clear and strengthen them, and second, even if they have missed the best period in their lives to practice and it was unlikely for them to ever become Qi masters, it didn’t mean they couldn’t learn how to manipulate the pitiful amount of Qi they had!
Nick was certain that when he started to learn how to stand on the water, his little body housed less Qi than these three girls currently had, because, even if they haven’t really practiced in their lives that much, the bodies of all living beings kept absorbing some Qi involuntary and during the years they have accumulated a reasonable amount that just had to be applied properly.
The new ‘training program’ was was not well received by the Hyena brothers, but that was until the next day when one of Kate’s feet suddenly didn’t sink in the mud. Even if she was shocked, she didn’t raise any alarm, but wanted to confirm if this was not a coincidence. A quarter of an hour later she managed to repeat the feat and excitedly called Nick over to share. The latter was pleasantly surprised at her fast progress, but then slyly told about it to the Maxwell sisters and expressed his confusion since he, in fact, was expecting them to show the first results and perform better than Kate. The competitive spirit was immediately lit and all three ‘flowers of Aurora’ approached the training with new inspiration and energy.
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Miracles didn’t happen and the girls suddenly didn’t propel to Nick’s level, but they did manage an occasional ‘safe step’ and their confidence in themselves grew more and more and if was actually really needed. Even Clayton praised them and the girls excitedly continued to claim ‘their share’ of the beast cores and continued to train.
While Steven and YunYun still had some way to go until they could stand above the muddy ground confidently, Nick and Clayton worked on reducing the amount of Qi that was spent on walking like this. It was another training for Qi manipulation and, since there was nothing else to do, both of them could fully concentrate on it.
While the rain continued to fall, the caravan continued on its way, albeit very slowly. On some mountain paths even the guards had to help servants and horses to move the carriages through the mud, but no one complained and besides some people who fell sick and few horses that broke their legs, there were no incidents to further slow down the advancement.
Unfortunately, when there was only one day left till the next town, the caravan stopped during the middle of the day. It was an alarming event, because normally, even if there were fallen trees or rocks on the road, caravan had a special squad which was clearing those obstacles in advance.
When Nick quickly ran to the front to check out the reasons for the delay, he saw a disturbing sight of a large scale landslide covering the road. Some rocks that were bigger than Scarlet blocked the caravan’s way and it was obvious they would be stuck here for some time. The heavy rain still fell while a squad of servants with shovels were already clearing the way and Rushdi with a troubled expression was trying to figure out how to move the larger rocks.
“At least three, maybe even four days.” He said when Nick approached.
Nick jumped around the disaster spot for few minutes and then asked while scratching his head, “Can’t Qi masters help with the big rocks?”
“They have to be in their best condition in case something unexpected happens.” Rushdi shook his head.
“Nonsense!” Nick snorted.
There was no way someone would attack the caravan in the current weather. All beasts were hiding in caves while bandits drank in taverns. It was obvious that the Qi masters considered such job beneath them, “Alright, it’s not my call anyway. Do you have any objections if few from our squad train here a bit and help out at the same time?”
“Be my guest.” The vice caravan leader was annoyed, but mostly from the bad weather and the fact that they were behind the schedule. He did, in fact, respect the skills of these seven mercenaries, but his caravan has operated within certain rules through the years and the old Qi masters were their main force and the last line of defense at the same time. No one was willing to see them tiring themselves out while moving rocks or even insult by asking to do such menial job.
Nick quickly ran back to his friends.
“New training! Brothers, watch our spot! You – stay with them! Continue to do what you were doing until now!” He gave out few loud formal orders, but the others understood the hidden meaning and at whom each order was addressed to. And, of course, no one had any objections or further questions.
Before departing, Nick bought around twenty simple swords from one of the merchants they were protecting and with a bundle of weapons on his back, accompanied by YunYun and Clayton, ran to the spot where the landslide was blocking the road.
Meanwhile vice caravan leader had organized more servants to assist, but it was obvious they would still spend a few days here.
“We’ll go and help out on the other side.” Nick said to him while passing by, “Call us if there are bigger rocks you need to move.”
When they came to the other side, Nick explained his idea.
“At the time when we fought against the rank four wolf our biggest flaw was revealed. Even though we are quite strong, we’re not capable of cutting through strong defenses and that includes me. I only could do it because of my Wakizashi, but that’s not a feat. All of us have to improve the ability to infuse Qi in weapons and increase their sharpness and durability.” He put down the weapons he earlier bought on the ground.
“Grab one and let’s learn together. There is no one around, so don’t be shy and share with others if you gain some kind of enlightenment. If we run out of weapons, I’ll buy more. Just don’t break one with every hit.” Nick grinned at the end.
“Why can’t I use my Katana? It’ll never break.” YunYun pouted.
“Exactly because of that reason. We have to learn properly and high level equipment will only hinder us.” Nick shook his head, “I saw how an expert Qi master transformed a wooden sword into a frightening weapon that maybe even wouldn’t loose out to your Katana. Imagine if you infuse it with Qi of that level? Your beloved sword would become a godly weapon!”
YunYun didn’t have to think twice to agree and Clayton understood Nick’s intention from the beginning. Although he could be considered a Qi sword master, he himself wasn’t as good with weapons and his best skills lie in the seafaring. Thus this training style was what he currently needed the most.
Unfortunately things were much worse than any of the trio could imagine. After ten minutes Nick already was running to the closest merchant and purchased a large amount of the simplest swords the merchant had. The news of his actions quickly spread between the bored people in caravan, but, even after gossiping about it for a while, people couldn’t understand the behavior of these weirdos.