"This lowly one greets the Clan Head."
"Aw come on, we’ve known eachother for ages, why do you still insist on doing that stupid shit in front of me. Just speak plainly. And get up!"
"No can do, Senior. This one owes Clan Head his life, and will always respect Clan Head as his Saviour till his last breath."
"Whatever...silly man...Take a seat. Tell me about the weird girl, the so-called “niece” of Elder Lingfeng that suddenly sprung up from the ground with zero background and zero family ties. How is Fung doing in her company? He visits her daily. Is he in love? I know that he is at that age, but we cannot just let him get together with whomever he pleases."
"Erm...while the boy might like her somewhat, I have not seen any traces of an amorous affair between the two at all. If anything, they act more like a married couple, or friends that have known eachother for years. There’s no “romance” factor there that I could detect. And Young Master Fung does not seem to be pushing their relation into that direction either. If I had not seen it with my eyes, I would not have believed it either."
"Are you sure that she is a FEMALE in the first place? There have been precedents of girly men that you could very much mistake for the opposite sex."
"Positive. She was forced to go see the Healers at the hall of medicine because her menses started a few months ago. Definitely a girl in body. Not so sure about the mind though."
"Elaborate."
"The way she walks? Talks? Bad jokes that you would hear only told by soldiers? The complete lack of girly manners or female self awareness? It’s like she is an old rude mercenary dude that got transformed into a little girl. I assume that she is from a military background and has been raised around a lot of male soldiers, for her to behave like that. That might also be the reason why she is being sheltered by Elder Lingfeng in the first place, some sort of hidden clan affairs? I have not been able to find any trace of her though. It's like she sprouted from thin air. I have a suspicion that she might have been passed off as a male heir to a clan until recently, it would explain her behaviour."
"Yes, there have been precedents like that. Foolish. Even if they could fool everybody with the presentation, it would only last for a few years, until people would see that no new generation is being produced."
"Still, there is a positive side, at least in this humble one’s opinion. Young Master Fung has been receiving constant lessons in humility over the past few weeks. The girl is very sharp tongued and quite merciless with her critiques. But this one thinks that she is mostly right in her approach. Her methods may be crude, but they have served to open the Young Master's mind and made him think more profoundly about the consequences of his own actions. She has served as a good tempering agent against the brashness of his youth so far. It's just that…"
"Come on, why do you hesitate? Out with it!"
"Well, calling her a slave driver would be putting it mildly. She has been using the Young Master Fung as her load bearer and as her guinea pig constantly. They would go into the forest together and harvest cart-loads of plants each and every day before the Forest Ban was instituted, then they would head back to her home and use the gathered plants as ingredients for making pills and potions using the new Pill Forge Elder Lingfeng recently ordered from us. Young Master has been advancing his skills in the apothecary's way at an astounding rate as far as I can tell. Besides that, he has advanced a whole cultivation level ever since he has met her. He has also learned and perfected a series of bow techniques that would put even this lowly servant to shame when it comes to rapid shooting. I have to admit that I have also been learning from the girl. Her methods are unorthodox but rather efficient. May this lowly one demonstrate?"
"Sure, what could be so revolutionary? Use that armor display over there. It’s getting old anyway."
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
*ThunkThunkThunkThunkThud!*
"Then we resummon vertical arrows from the spatial ring and grab them like this!"
*ThunkThunkThunkThunkThud!*
"Again!"
*ThunkThunkThunkThunkThud!*
"Ugh...ok...I have to admit it too...that’s fucking fast…"
"Yes, and the Young Master does it so much better than this lowly one.
The girl and Young Master recently ran into a Monster that was level 20 or more a few days ago, a Monster which had been lured to their position by another stupid panicked student, but they had kept their calm and then took it down through good team work."
"Astounding! Fung did that? Level 20? Are you certain it was that high?"
"Yes, my eyes never deceive me when it comes to that sort of stuff. I was almost ready to jump in and save the boy when the Dire-Wolf had grabbed onto a piece of the Young Master’s clothing, but he retaliated swiftly and the girl made a pincushion out of the beast before I even had the time to jump out and do something. In the end, it was not necessary for me to reveal myself, so I just let them have their victory. Even the Guard Captain, who is an “acquaintance”, confirmed the Level of the beast after seeing Young Master Fung produce the corpse as evidence."
"Hah! That reminds me of my youthful days! Oh how I loved the thrill of a good hunt back then! The adrenaline, you or the beast staring down at eachother, with only one making it out alive. Good memories. ALSO FOOLISH! BRASH! IMPETUOUS! DOES FUNG NOT REALIZE HIS POSITION YET? If the Imperials find out about this shit, they will skin us alive!"
"Master, calm down, you are breaking the table. I have not seen any trace of them in years, Master. They have forgotten that the boy even exists. He is too young and too low on the totem pole for them to bother. Having him learn REAL survival skills and going through the blood-baptism of a REAL Monster hunt can only serve to toughen him up for what may come in the future. Young Master Fung has been working very hard, but apparently, he is never good enough in her eyes. It was only a few days ago that I caught her beating the Young Master over the head with a wooden spoon and admonishing him that he had only managed to create Emerald Jade Soothing Pills of a “high” quality level. Apparently she expected for the batch to come out at the “flawless” level of pill quality, and he wasn't pulling his weight hard enough, so they had come out only as “high” quality, so she was berating him for wasting her medicinal essences."
"Pfft! (The elder spills his tea.) He did WHAT!?"
"He forged Emerald Jade Soothing Pills only at “high” level?"
"Are you sure you heard the name of the pills right?"
"Very certain, I even wrote it down. Why, what is wrong, Master? You are paling at the face! I am sorry, but this lonely one has never dabbled into the arts of apothecaries, so he does not know if the pills are good or bad. Is there something that the young master has done wrong?"
"Wrong? No, fuck, on the contrary! You would not know about this, but Emerald Jade Soothing Pills are very difficult pills to create. The pill is an anesthetic/painkiller, so the dangerous part about crafting the pill is the delicate balance of the ingredients, because too little strength would affect the utility, rendering it moot, and too much strength could become a danger for the imbiber's life. By having the pills reach the “high” level of purity, which is over 75% medicinal essence, means that the good effect is almost guaranteed, with nearly zero bad side effects on the other side. Sometimes even master apothecaries have trouble creating them! Can you tell me what they used for ingredients? How did he do it?"
"Erm...Sungrass, Cattle's Foot, Screaming Root, some sort of green jagged leaves that I could not identify and...ugh...tomato sauce."
"WHAT? Tomato sauce? Are you sure they actually added THAT to the composition? All of the other ingredients sound just about right for the Emerald Jade Soothing Pill, but the tomato sauce makes absolutely no fucking sense! Unless...hmm…"
"Unless what, master?"
"Unless the girl has found another way to cook up the pill, by using a secondary ingredient that nobody would have thought about…"
"Like the tomato sauce…"
"Exactly, now you get it!"
"So, should we step in and stop master Fung from continuing or…"
"Hell no! If the lad can finally learn something properly and actually become good at it, then there is no reason for us to intervene. Each apprenticeship requires its own sacrifices, so him having to put up with his "Boss's" brutal demands will only serve to toughen him up. Only intervene if it seems like his life is in danger. Otherwise, continue monitoring from the shadows just as you have done so far. And inform me immediately if you see even a smidgen of Imperial presence. I want the boy to enjoy his youth, not become another pawn in their backstabbing games of politics."
"Yes master, this one shall comply."