Before they went to breakfast Dave gave Lilly her new traveling clothes a cheongsam he had seen the locals wearing and a snakeskin riding cloak. Her lack of modesty as she changed made Dave flinch, it also warmed his heart as there was no fear only joy and excitement. Lilly carefully folded the nighty before delicately putting on the dress. Dave's laugh startled Lilly and confused Dong. "That dress will straight up brick a 50cal. you ain't gonna hurt it."
Both of his companions stared at him. "Lilly takes good care of master's things." "What is 50cal. master, I do not know that idiom?" Dong's question brought Dave crashing back to reality his mind running through his past lives and nearly causing a moment of existential dread. He decided to sidestep that for now. "Lilly those are yours I give them to you to keep until you outgrow them, then I'll make you new ones, and as for a 50cal. it means powerful weapons won't even scratch it." Both now looking at the dress like it was a riddle with no answer. "What, How?"
"I'll explain that once we're out of town, for now, Dong try this on." handing Dong blue mage robes. It had only now occurred to Dave the sheer size difference between him and everyone. At nearly 7 feet he stood head and shoulders over everyone. While a little long the robe fit. "Alright, let's get the hell outa Dodge." the two looked at each other and then back at Dave. Sigh "Let's eat and go."
Lilly tried her hardest to be invisible, her shyness only making her stand out like a flare. She looked like a genuine princess the ice-blue dress made her ruby-red hair seem more liquid fire and the purple highlights made her emerald eyes pop and shine. Dave placed a hand on her back. "stand straight, be proud you look beautiful."
"Ah, master Dave I hope you had a pleasant evening, breakfast for two no three." Jueyan beaming at the possibility of further reward. Dave only gestured for the man to lead on. The three ate in contemplative silence Lilly occasionally making one cute or another, but all 3 were deep in thought. Dave paid the bill and left a rather generous pouch of silver with instructions it be shared with everyone.
It took nearly an hour to get to the north gate the journey still uncomfortably quiet. The large amount of trade caravans coming and going left Dave confused. This city was at the end of the world as far as he knew why was there so much trade? Stopping dead "Dong sup with all this?" gesturing at the wagons, soldiers, merchants, and all the commotion at the gate.
"the city lord is granted his position by the Emporer so even the Lee family could only interfere so far, the wilds have many ingredients pill makers need. the journey takes 2 months so the constant steam of traders and others maintain the city." Dave simply nodded.
the well-dressed trio lined up to leave. "exit papers." The guard not paying attention simply held out a hand. Dave placed three silver coins in it and carried on. "Halt what is the meaning of this?" Dave simply glared at the man giving him a minor heart attack. "c-c-carry on." he mumbled. They received several offers to join Caraveans to which Dave passed without a second thought.
Once the gate was out of site. Dong spoke up unprompted for the first time since their meeting. "master your affairs are your own however if we are to be of any use to you we will need to know more..." gesticulating in every direction.
"ya sigh supposen' you doo." Dave walked a short way off the road and pointed at a boulder "Bench!" then a stump "Chair!" Dave sat on the 'wild throne' and indicated the stone bench. The two sat expectantly Lilly as though expecting a campfire tale and Dong imagining the secrets of the universe.
Dave started and stopped several times. "this is hard, first there are many things I cannot explain because you simply have no frame of reference for. . . second just knowing is dangerous not just for me but you as well. do you still wanna know?" Dong thought for a few moments Lilly just bounced in place.
"Lilly's life is master's, Lilly will follow master forever!" for a moment Dong looked ashamed. "She is in the right you have given us both so much how can we not follow?"
Dave was both touched and concerned by the answers. "kay fine, lemme start with what you know, I'm not from here and I don't mean the area or the empire I mean this world." they both shrugged and nodded. "Oh right, I don't mean a higher or lower realm nor one of your small worlds I think you call them." now the confusion was evident. "I come from a world where buildings made of glass and steel pierce the clouds and tools work with no one holding them the knowledge of all mankind was at your fingertips..." he described a world slightly more advanced than the earth we know but earth nonetheless. "and then I died." that simple statement caught both completely off guard.
"Master has reincarnated!" Lilly looked like she was being told a story by Super Jesus. Dong on the other hand looked like he wanted to hide, on the other side of the planet, in the deepest cave he could find, under a rock.
"ok ok ok, calm down, that is where things get interesting" The summation of his reincarnation and 'hero summoning' and re-reincarnation took over three hours. "Well, that's the long and short of it, any questions?" Dong now pale and green simply dove to the side to throw up. "Lilly is shocked! Lilly wants to know, please master tell Lilly everything!"
Dave smiled lovingly at Lilly then looked at Dong. "sup dude, look like you ain't hav'en a good day" Dong tried his utmost to compose himself before trying to speak then diving again to vomit once more. "master, what you have described has left everything this world holds sacred moot, nothing in the empire maybe even the whole of the grate dao can touch you...Please teach me!" Dong now kowtowing to Dave. With Lilly quick to follow.
Dave tried his hardest to parce all the information and its implications 'Intelligence' is nothing more than the speed at which one thinks and retains information, wisdom the ability to take known variables and apply them to unrelated situations, but Dave was still not 'smart' a relatively unquantifiable characteristic that implemented creativity as well as int. and wis. to achieve truly unique ideas. No even with int. and wis. At 9,999 Dave was still an idiot. "HUH?"
Dave decided that the easiest thing to teach was his CQC it was Brutal and devoid of any 'art' or 'style' it was designed to incapacitate or kill in less than 3 blows. As they walked during the day Dave tried his best to convey his past lives and experiences while the two marched under load. At sunset, he summoned Training Dummies and instructed both in his fighting method. Lilly took to it like a chick learning to fly while Dong incorporated it into what he already knew. For a month and a half, they traveled only the odd beast and rare desperate bandit bothered them. Until.
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"hand over your valuables and we'll let you leave" None of the trio was impressed. "Hey Lilly wanna show what you learned?" Dave sounding almost bored, began counting. "wait let Lilly start before you start timing Lilly!" in less than 30 sec. all the bandits were unconscious. 7 were dead. "master is mean! Lilly would have done better if Master had said start like in training!" her pout was so adorable Dave had little choice but to apologize. LOL "Sorry sweetness, but you gotta react to trouble without bein told too."
Dong was stunned. Academically he understood the techniques Master Dave taught were superior in violence to anything he had ever seen, but this was 'evil' even those that had lived would NEVER even walk right again. "Master, do you even consider the damage you are causing just by being?" panting in pure exasperation. Lilly could only smile sheepishly "Lilliy is sorry it took so long master." Dave held out his hands for a hug.
Dong was still horrified, and could not be 'unburdened by what had been'. It was just disgusting so repulsive no sentient being could accept the world as is. Dave opened a new path, one favoring real people...All people. "worth can be measured, only when all peoples are weighed and measured and those left are well, leftover to be discarded."
Dave cared nothing for any that refused to show their worth. Lilly stood out as nothing short of the ideal. "You show real promise, I truly wish I could teach you more of my way" Dave knowing the world would not allow the full extent of his absolute power to shine through. Yet he did teach the two would-be apprentices all he was allowed. "Lilly I want you to try to break this." Dave held out a block of diammonium. Without even a flash of thought Lilly was just happy a standard shin strike to shatter it. Dave held his pride in check. Dong had no idea what he had just witnessed, Lilly was just happy to obey.
"ok Lilly, you just broke the hardest thing any 'normal' person could ever break." Dave was full of pride and uncertainty. "so what am I to teach you now?" again not smart, but his hyper-intelligence and near unlimited wisdom, provided a fue extra paths for the young girl to follow.
Lilly was true and relentless, "Lilly Loves master and will follow anywhere..." This was hard for Dave to follow, in the cents that many of the so-called 'heroes' he had known were worthless sub-humans held up high only by the rainbow with no individual worth. Dave had no idea what to do with the now-evident prodigy. "All right Lilly there is something I know that will make you strong fast but it will hurt so it's up to you." the technique was one Dave had used on himself it is not something one does to a child. . .
"Lilly knows her master doesn't hurt Lilly to be mean, so Lilly is ready, Lilly wants to be strong." it was obvious she could see Dave's trepidation but her enthusiasm was unshaken. The sorrow filling Dave almost made him give up the line between training, torture, and abuse is only in who benefits. As the sun began to set they set up camp only the training dummy for Dong was pulled out. "ok Lilly take off your clothes." which she did without even pausing to think. He handed her a small jar similar to a sugar bole with a lid. "cover your body in this and rub it in until your skin is blue don't miss any part."
"it's cold and makes Lilly all tingly can master get Lillys back?" Dave wanted nothing to do with this process but he complied and rubbed her back "Face and top of your head too" It took 5 minutes to cover her every inch and rub it in. Then it started to smoke and sizzle Lilly did her best to not scream "Sleep!" Dave knocked her out still she lay on an animal's skin screaming and crying even while unconscious.
Dong was equal parts fascinated and repulsed, watching her skin smoke, blister peel off, and regrow over and over again. "master what is that salve?" Dave was nearly in tears "It's called dragon peeler, it melts dragon scales and helps the new ones harden, makes shedding easier and faster." that was the intended purpose, the off-label use made humans more solid doubling or tripling density. over the course of an hour, Lilly lost all the muscle and fat she had gained in the last 6 weeks looking more skeletal than when they met.
Dave readied a large meal she would need a lot of food and time to recover. "Lilly doesn't feel very good." her body would ache for days she took a moment looking over herself "Where did Lilly go, Lilly is just bones." naturally she was upset. "You're all there just squished, harder and stronger. Eat." he moved her to the table set up for her. She was weak and shaking, as she ate she started to feel better. "Lilly is full but Lilly is still hungry too" Dave just smiled and handed her a vile of bitter green liquid. "drink this and keep eating."
Lilly ate her fill 5 times each time drinking the potion, it made her shudder and gag a little. "master, Lilly is tired." Dave put her to bed already sound asleep before being tucked in. "master what happened to her?" Dong was somewhat concerned but mostly curious.
"do you know how a diamond is made? heat pressure and time crushes coal into a diamond. it shrinks but it weighs the same just more dense. same thing." Dave nodded in Lilly's direction. "to look like she did before she will need to eat 3 times as much for months. when all is said and done she'll have the same strength as a rather large bear." Dong just shook his head resigned to the new reality.
in the morning Lilly ate another huge meal and drank the potion again. "master what is Lilly drinking?" she managed between the gag and shudder. "Wy own brue, part regen potion part metabolizer with a small pinch of antidote so the Arked venom doesn't kill you. now eat up." Lilly just shrugged and ate as instructed. Dong obviously wanting more information moved closer. "it accelerates weight gain like 100 times better than protein powder. She needs to pack on 80 kilos asap just to look normal again."
"master that's more than I weigh! how can she even gain that much weight." Dave just gave him a look of think about it for a second. Dong understood the increase in density only in the vaguest sents... it's ongoing! "will she need to eat like so for life?" watching as Lilly began her 4th full-course meal. "Nah, after she looks healthy again upkeep is just one serving." Dong again stunned by the implications hung his head and sighed.
"Lilly you wanna see what happened to you?" the small girl still looked skeletal Dave could touch a finger to thumb around her thigh. cocking her head and wiping her mouth she gave an affirmative "MN!" he gestured for her to stand to the side before she could take any stance Dave slashed her with a sword. Lilly was knocked back but the sword had shattered. "Master you scared Lilly, Lilly thought she died...Lilly only hurt her butt when she fell." Dave showed her the broken sword. "ya normal weapons won't hurt you anymore but things like this will." Dave showed a blood obsidian dagger and made a small cut on her fingertip then gave it to her and ruffled her hair.
over the last 2 weeks to the next town, Lilly had repeated the process and kept up her training now only as slim as their first meeting Dave had his 'students' spar. Dong's cultivation made him clearly superior but Lilly's raw strength and resistance were astonishing anyway. they arrived and entered the smaller town with no further trouble.
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