Chapter 32: Discoloration
[Edited By: Arthur300000 and ArchmageNaoki]
From: Antonio Marcus <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: How is my order?
Date: 94754.9 5:22 AM
To: Kuro Velvori <[email protected]>
Dear Ms. Kuro,
Sorry, we have a bit of problem figuring out how to process the material we just bought. I never thought it would be this difficult. However, it should be finished this afternoon. You can get them at my team’s workshop at 2:00 PM today.
Antonio Marcus
I read the reply from Marcus while I rolled on my bed. My new PC is super easy to use, all I need is to touch it, and I could operate it effortlessly. It's only a bit bigger than a basketball, though I wish it were soft like a pillow. Maybe when I pick up my combat device accessory from Marcus I'll ask him to make a pillowcase for it. Then I can roll around and work on my spells all day.
I decided to stay home today because there weren't any interesting courses at school today. The second course of basic spell casting theory is schedule on Thursday and Friday which is sadly a holiday. I don't want to study history, math, politics or religion... If I attended those class, I'd just sleep through it. And if I'm going to sleep anyway, why don't I just sleep on my bed?
Yesterday my sister was cruel to me. She just smiled and watched me embarrassingly teach her without the props (that she ate). But in the end, I found out that she already knew all of that, and she even made a video of my embarrassing teaching! Thankfully she relented and deleted the video when I got angry, but I still plan not to talk to her for a day.
I rolled around a bit more and finished my morning exercise with yoga corpse pose. I heard it's the most important pose of yoga, so it's the only pose I do. Mind and the breathing thing are too complicated, so I only do the posture. The birds chirping outside made me wonder why don't they migrate to somewhere warmer. While it's not windy, it is cold and snowing outside. I wonder if they are adapted to the cold season?
After a prolonged stretch, I jumped out of my bed and followed a delicious scent downstairs. It took less and less time every day to finish my morning business. I'm scared at how fast I'm adapting to my new body. It feels almost natural now.
"Huh?" My bra felt tight... did it shrink? I removed and inspected it and found it's not the case. So I turned to ask for my sister’s opinion. I know, I'm not supposed to talk to her today, but this is an emergency.
"Umm, how should I say it... Kuro, you've gained some weight." ... oh. I just gained some weight- huh? Wait what!?
"I-It's not that bad Kuro. Actually, I think you look cuter." My sister continued when I panicked. I-I thought my new body would stay like this forever. However, I'm wrong again. I learned from yesterday's class that magical energy isn't generated or affected by the body's metabolism, it's more like psychic energy. That's means using magical energy won't reduce my weight! Damn it! My all nighter spell improvement with a lot of midnight snack has backfired. I thought I could go on a few more night without sleep, but let’s not do it again...
I need to exercise. Otherwise, I'll become fat. However, push ups, jogging, or gym workouts are too boring. So I took my PC from the storage device and flipped through the available courses for today again.
Expert close combat
Real practice with a close combat expert to improve your close combat techniques.
Duration: 1/2 day.
Schedule: Every morning.
Prerequisite: [Advanced close combat]
Note:
1. Admission is limited to only ten people. Participants must register before the class starts.
2. This class is taught by an external close combat expert, so a 50 credits/class admission fee will be collected upon registration.
3. Practical class, a student can repeat multiple times.
I quickly open the registration page of the course, and there was still one slot available, so I put my name on it. Yup, sparring is also a form of exercise. I quickly change my clothes to something easy to move in and go to the dining table.
"..." Damn, breakfast looks delicious again.
I arrived at school with my stomach filled with delicious food. I hope the combat practice today will give me a decent workout. If not then I'm doomed to get fat.
"See ya!" I told my siblings. My brother walked to his class, but my sister followed me.
"I took advanced close combat today, so we're going to the same building." She told me.
"Huh? Did the class I choose too advanced for me?" I'm a bit worried, but my sister said it's ok. She also said that my skill supposedly surpassed even the instructor, but I think it's her trying to befriend me again.
On the way I met Sophia, she was smiling creepily and drawing something while looking at two male seniors talking. So I decided to walk away and pretend not to notice her. We arrived at my sister’s class first. Inside, about two dozen students are sparring energetically but I don't see the instructor anywhere. I looked at my phone and see there's still five minutes until class starts. When I was going to say "Have fun" to my sister, she hugged me tightly and whispered "Have fun" to me instead, so I whisper "You too."
My class is only a few big rooms away from my sister. It is quite spacious like a gymnasium. However, inside of it is different than my sister’s class. The wall was filled with multiple types of close combat weapons, and the people here are more... mature, I think. They just sat there quietly and observed me.
"Uhh, Hello?" I said, but none of them answered me. Some good natured looking guys nodded at me, but that's it.
"The beginners’ class is that way." Some old looking guys point me to continue further down the hallway. Oh, so they think I'm in the wrong class.
"No, I'm here for expert close combat course." I heard a guy on the left chuckle, but I ignored him. If I knew it would be this difficult, I would've just applied for the same course as my sister.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
"Are you Ms. Kuro Velvori?" The old looking guys asked me after he browsed his device.
"Yes." I'm already too tired to explain. If he rejects me, then I'll just go out for some shopping.
"Pick your weapon." He pointed at weapons on the wall. Well, at least he doesn't judge me by my looks, so I walk around to pick up a sword my size. I wonder why I need to use them. Can't I just apply my weapon with a sticky white liquid thing like what my brother did when we were sparring? Maybe, these weapo-. I felt the sudden change of air pressure behind me, and I reflexively dodge. If I moved even a bit slower, the back of my head would've been hit by... the instructor's hand chop?
"You pass. Grab any weapon you want from that wall, or did you already prepared your own?" Oh, it's a test, huh? I had almost counter punched him.
"I have my sword." It's the blue sword that I got from the bandits. I chose it because it's the heaviest one that I could swing quickly without breaking my form from its centrifugal force.
"Is that an SX-801? That's a nice sword." Mr. Instructor complemented. Well, the number on the specification look nice because it's a military grade weapon. It also said that this sword could absorb magic on touch with the mithril coated adamantium it's made of. Anyway, let's cover the edge with the sticky white liquid I bought from the convenience store yesterday.
"STOP! What are you doing!?" Mr. Instructor grabbed my hand quickly pulled it away from the sword.
"Trying to coat the edge-" I tried to explain.
"You will ruin the blade with that! It's commercial grade. Don't you know? Don't use that for mithril, use this instead." He gave me another bottle.
"Uh, thank you." I never thought it would be this complicated. Maybe I should have read the label first...
Cushioning liquid
For covering up the edge and the blunt of a weapon.
Indication: This liquid will form a cushion-like layer on the material it's applied to after exposed to the air for 3 minutes.
READ THIS LABEL CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS PRODUCT
Ingredients: Slime Extract, Giant Snail Sperm, Corn Starch, Naga Blood, and Sodium Benzoate.
Warning:
This product will discolor following materials: Mithril, Silver, Stone, and Wood.
This product will lose its effectiveness when exposed to the following: Interference field density higher than 180 dP, Crimson Steel, Mithril, and extreme temperature (-200 or 1000 Celsius)
Content is harmful if swallowed. Prolonged skin contact can result in dermatitis.
Do not store above 30°C. Do not freeze.
KEEP OUT OF SIGHT AND REACH OF CHILDREN
He's right, but thankfully he stopped me just in time. Next time I use this, I should wear a pair of gloves.
The bottle Mr. instructor gave me has the same ingredients, but there are no warnings about discoloration and loss of effectiveness. Maybe it's because they're produced differently or have a different component ratio.
"A rich girl playing with a sword, huh?" I heard a student mumbling behind my back but I just acted like I didn't hear him.
After applying the new cushioning liquid, I was paired up with the only other girl in the class. She is tall and slender, but she looked grumpy. Maybe it was because she was unanimously nominated to be my sparring partner. I don't know her name because no one here seems to bother with introducing themselves.
"May we begin your Majesty?" The girl was sarcastically mocking me. Hmm, two can play at this game.
"Ohh~ I'm ready anytime, my dear princess." I replied back. I heard some chuckles from the other sparring couples, and someone said something about a landmine. It might be related to my girl partner because right now her face is ugly to behold and she was violently stabbing her large spear at me. Or is it a halberd? Anyways, she was quicker, and her posture is more refined than my sister’s. If this happened during my first few days in this world, I might've had a problem. But right now I'm familiar with my body and combat. It's a piece of cake not to get hit, close in on her, lightly tap my snail sper- I mean cushioning liquid coated blade on the nape of her neck.
"Iris! You're too hasty, and your posture leaves you wide open!" Mr. Instructor yelled at her. Iris, the halberd princess, bowed to the instructor and glared at me.
On her second attempt, she seemed to be more careful and tried to use the length of her weapon and her height to push me away from her while trying to slip past my defense from different angles. It's a good workout I admitted. I could feel my stamina drain a bit, but I also felt like I was bullied by tall guys. So, I flicked her halberd away, broke her stance and poke her stomach with my sperm- I mean my sword.
"You overextend your reach, princess." I mocked her. Her face reddened like a tomato and her eyes looked like she was on the verge of tearing. Hey, I'm not the bad guy here, she started it first alright!?
She straightens up and comes at me again. Her attack was more brutal than before. Some students stopped their sparring and watched our "practice". There were some techniques I'd never seen before like changing her blades direction midflight. There were multiple quick stab combos that looked like they were from a fighting game. The most disturbing thing is I saw a glint of killing intent in her eyes. Does this girl have some sort of hate for the word princess or something? Nevertheless, it starts to get fun and I don't want to end it too quickly, so I just keep parrying and dodging her blade. I felt my body start to get warmed up. If I was to compare this fight to my previous body exercises, it used as much energy as light jogging, I think. Well, I didn't run much in my last life...
It went on like that for about half an hour before she gave up with a ragged breath. I was tempted to poke her again with my coated blade, but I held back. It's not polite to do that to a downed opponent. I looked around to find another toy- I mean sparring partner. However, everyone just avoided looking at me.
"Ren, go practice with Kuro." Mr. Instructor told a neat looking blue haired guy. His weapons are a bit strange. He held a mace in his right hand and a short sword on his left. While Ms. Halberd Princess was still collapsed on the ground, we bowed and began to fight.
This man is harder to handle. I felt like I was fighting two experts at the same time. Is this what they call ambidextrous? His sword is fast and unpredictable while his mace is hard hitting and came at me at angles I least expected. Moreover, he could switch between attack and defend moves seamlessly like flowing water. To make matters worse, he also sent some kicks at me from time to time. This forced me to focus all my attention on him. In the beginning, I thought this was the limit of my close combat abilities without the assistance of magic or dragon shouts. But as the sparring went on, I found out that it was not the case. There were some patterns in his attacks. It was like he executed series of combo consecutively. That might be the reason why his attacks are so quick. I think he remembers set patterns of attacks with his body. Then he executes it through muscle memory. His attack patterns are very complicated, but I don't need to learn his entire sequence. Just a tiny part of it is enough to let me break through his defense and tap my sword on his forehead.
The room went silent.
"Oi! Mr. Invincible was just defeated!"
"Are you kidding me? Isn't he the junior national champion?"
"Shh, he can hear you."
"Is that girl for real?"
"So, the princess doesn't lose her form, huh?" *SMACK*
Yup, that girl has an issue with the people saying "Princess". Also Mr.Ren the "Invincible" eyebrow was twitching, but we still bow to each other to signify the end of the sparring match.
"Ren. You lost because your technique is still too rigid. I've already told you this many times before. The fast sword is good, but to use a very complex sets of movements is still not enough, you need to improvise from time to time as well." Mr. Instructor lectured.
"And Ms. Kuro-" "One more time... please, let me fight one more time." Ren cut off Mr. Instructor, what a rude guy. Mr. Instructor looked at me, and I just shrugged. I came here to exercise anyway, the more action, the better.
The second fight's result is the same. He executed a more complex technique than before, but when I caught on the part of his pattern it was checkmate.
"One more time." He said. This guy never gives up. The third time he slipped up by executing a technique too fast and left him wide open.
"I told you so." Mr. Sadistic Instructor smirked at him.
It goes on like this ten more times. He became faster, and his technique got harder to read. The result, however, is still the same. It was a fun fight. It's like solving a puzzle. I also learned some things from Mr. Instructors commenting from time to time. He also has a lot more stamina than the Princess because he just down for a count at the end of the period.
"Phew, what a good workout. Uhmm, Mr... Instructor? Do you want to have a match with me?" I want to know how good he is. But he held his hand up.
"Call me Gin. If I were still young, I would gladly accept. But this old man is useless now. Even Ren is stronger than me. That's why I retired from adventuring and became a part-time coach." Oh, I see. It was disappointing, but at least I a got a decent workout, and I felt my bra tightness was back to normal. Let's see where should I go for lunch~