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Quests of the Wanderer
Chapter 35. Training With The Bandit Master

Chapter 35. Training With The Bandit Master

"Come here, kiddo," Urmas roared, extending his arm. "Let me show you the ways of a true warrior!"

Without much nonsense Ash who was sweating buckets in nervousness lunged forward, and like before attempted to strike Urmas with a clumsy swipe.

Urmas, with an almost comical ease, sidestepped the attack, his movements fluid and precise, and let out a hearty laugh that echoed through the silent forest.

"Aye, good spirit! Just lack the real guidance," Urmas chuckled his voice gravelly with age, placing a meaty hand on Ash's shoulder. The weight of his hand sent a jolt through Ash's body but before he could react or make a bit of distance Emma's playful voice sounded in his ear again.

"Look kiddo, fighting ain't just about rushing in blindly and waving a pointy stick around. It's about being like water, flowing around the blows."

With a surprisingly swift motion, Urmas knocked Ash's dagger out from his grasp with the shaft of his axe, demonstrating a series of fluid motions, the blade tracing circles in the air and in the watchful eyes of Ash, it fell to the ground.

"You are an interesting fellow, kiddo. Let's try again," Urmas who was enjoying being a teacher or had nothing better to kill time just playing with Ash, said with a smile while handing the dagger back.

"This time, with some focus. Watch your opponent, anticipate his moves"

With full of doubt about life, Ash nodded, his cheeks burning with embarrassment as he took his dagger from Urmas. Never in his wildest dreams had he expected the dwarf bandit to be so skilled in combat. Although he didn't understand what "being like water, and flowing around the blows" meant, it didn't discourage him.

He circled cautiously, clutching his dagger tightly, his eyes fixed on Urmas as he searched for any opening. However, if finding an opening was so easy, why would he even need to learn from a bandit? In the end, even after circling around Urmas three times, except for seeing Urmas little body more seriously, he found nothing.

Not wanting to be further embarrassed and with no other options, Ash recalled Urmas's not-so-sensible words. He pictured himself as water, flowing past obstacles. He forcibly shut down his unnecessary thoughts for a few seconds and, with full focus, lunged again, this time with a semblance of control.

Urmas, who was yawning boredly and losing his patience, suddenly snapped to attention and deflected the attack with the flat of his axe, sending the dagger clattering to the ground once more.

"There you go," Urmas said approvingly. "See? Much better than the previous one, right? Now, remember, it's not just about the attack, it's about the defence... Well, judging by your expression, it seems you're not quite convinced by my words. Why not try again? Let me demonstrate the meaning of my words to you."

Ash didn't speak as he knew what kind of situation he was in. One wrong word could ruin such a perfect opportunity to learn fighting from a professional. Urmas wasn't his teacher or coach, and he wouldn't tolerate nonsense. He was showing generosity by teaching him a few tricks, which is already considered a miracle. So it was better for him to shut his mouth tightly and do what he was told while throwing his pitiful ego or arrogance aside. Those two most useless emotions were not going to bring him improvement.

Nodding respectfully, Ash quickly retrieved his dagger, took a deep breath, and focused on Urmas again as he circled him. Suddenly, he saw what he thought was an opening, and with a burst of energy, darted forward, aiming for Urmas' exposed flank. However, as always, Urmas was quicker still, spinning on his heel to face the attack head-on.

With a deft twist of his wrist, Urmas disarmed Ash once more, his axe coming to rest against his throat in a gentle but firm warning.

"See how defenseless you are?" Urmas sneered, his voice filled with disdain as he gazed upon Ash's young and naive face. "You have no patience at all. Only God knows what you're trying to provoke, kiddo. You're too eager to strike. A good fighter knows when to wait for the right moment, especially when they know they're no match for their opponent. You clearly underestimated me when you attacked my flank. Why didn't you consider that maybe I let it exposed Intentionally?

While rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, Ash simply nodded, swallowing hard as he absorbed Urmas's words of wisdom. After all, he couldn't say that he was trying to copy various anime fighting scenes from his memory, right? He took a step back, breathing deeply as he tried to steady his nerves.

After losing continuously three times with such ease, Ash began to doubt his very existence. How could someone be so bad at fighting? His already thin confidence was clearly now touching the bottom, which was understandable considering this was his first-ever practical training. In his previous life, under the name "Sport," the only thing he'd ever tried was a chess game with his class monitor, on whom he had a crush. After losing miserably to her within a few minutes, he never touched anything related to the sport again.

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For what seemed like an eternity, the two opponents circled each other in the bright light of the afternoon sun. The only sound was the soft rustle of leaves beneath their feet.

Then, without warning, Ash surged forward once more, his movements more controlled this time, heeding Urmas's advice. With a series of feints and slashes, he attempted to overwhelm his opponent with sheer determination. Though the idea sounded cool, the reality was cruel.

Urmas remained unfazed by Ash's empty and useless determination, parrying each blow effortlessly as he countered with his own strikes. If someone observed their fight, they would think Urmas was bullying Ash.

Though Urmas could have ended the fight in an instant, he chose instead to offer guidance and encouragement to the young boy, whom he had a good impression of and saw all the qualifications to be a good bandit, gently correcting his stance and technique as they sparred.

Urmas spent the next few moments guiding Ash through basic blocks and parries. But maybe he was finally getting bored and gave up being serious with Ash, thinking that he was going to be sold to the slave market anyway. His poisonous mouth was like a machine gun of insults, bombarding Ash and causing him a lot of mental damage. Finally, with a last kick to Ash's private parts, which could be considered the payment for the training, Urmas, with a wide ear-to-ear grin on his face, ended the battle.

"Sigh, while you didn't disappoint me, kiddo, there wasn't anything exceptional about you either. If you turned out to be a rare genius, one in a thousand, then maybe I'd consider making you my personal slave before taking you as a student. But, well, forget it. Fighting isn't your cup of tea. You might as well become someone's boy toy and bring happiness into her life."

Urmas, in high spirits after his workout, shattered the positive image he'd built in Ash's mind instantly, about which he clearly didn't care. Laughing, he poked Ash's stomach, who was lying on the ground like a dead dog, moaning in pain while holding his crotch area.

"Did I hit too hard? I didn't break your balls, did I? Can you walk, Kiddo?" Urmas asked, a hint of concern on his face. He was really worried that he might hit it too hard and Ash might pass out in the middle of the forest, forcing him to drag him back to the bandit base, a difficult task for someone of his short stature.

However, while Urmas continued poking Ash's stomach to elicit a response, Ash, half-acting while endured the unimaginable pain coming from his groin without making any sound. Like a snake, with lightning speed, he thrust his dagger towards Urmas's face, his eyes filled with murderous intent.

To Ash's surprise, where he thought he would see a bit of fear or surprise on Urmas's face at death coming at him, the other party remained perfectly calm, as if he'd anticipated this kind of sneak attack. With a casual movement, he grabbed Ash's wrist and delivered a powerful punch to his face.

"AHHH!!!"

Where before, after getting a kick in the crotch, Ash didn't make a single sound and endured everything silently, making Urmas momentarily dissatisfied and doubting his own strength, thinking that he trained Ash too seriously. But after the punch, when Ash finally screamed like a pig, Urmas breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed it wasn't his strength that was lacking, but the previous attack was just too deadly for Ash to even make a sound.

"Alright, kiddo, we've had enough playing. Time to send you to your new home. Now, no more new tricks, and be honest. Don't forget your promise. I'm tying you up now. Remember, no more nonsense, otherwise, I'll be very angry, and believe me, you wouldn't want to experience what happens when I get angry..."

While Urmas was still talking, Ash, who already had something in mind, while trying his best to ignore the pain, raised his dagger and skillfully cut off his own throat, ending his pitiful life, showing his unique talent in taking his own life to Urmas, leaving him utterly dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events.

"F*ck! Bastard, why did you kill yourself?! I even wasted my time training you! Is this how you're thanking me?!" Urmas's eyes turned bloodshot, as if the person who had taken his life wasn't a stranger he'd just met and intended to sell in the slave market, but his own son. He rushed towards Ash and took him in his arms.

But sadly, Ash, who was already very familiar with cutting his throat to take his own life as quickly as possible without experiencing much pain, clearly had already left his own body and was now playfully looking at Urmas, making all kinds of drama in his soul form.

[ *Ding!:- Warning: Please select a saved file within the next 05 seconds to revive; otherwise, the Host's soul will be erased from existence by the defensive rule of this world, and the Host will die permanently. ]

"Tsk, what a shame. I wanted to see his ugly face a bit more... Well, it's not like I have to wait too long," Ash said with an evil smile on his face while selecting the newest file he had saved.