Land of Mirriam

Another day in the Creek Village, Jedilyn was starting to get well accustomed to the 2, the old man was a strict instructor, he would use a stick to hit her if she went off stance and the boy that was being trained along with her was a glutton, it seemed that all his motivations came from food.

In the morning the 3 of them ran around the town at full speed, it totally took away Jedi’s drowsiness but Simon was taking it good not even sweating, ‘is he human?’ Jedi thought. The old man then would highlight to her what were they going to do while he just threw Simon on sparring and battles.

Jedilyn was quickly grasping the idea behind the spear usage. Not only is more longer than a sword, but it's actually much better at attacking in exchange for its flexibility.

“It seems that you actually understand how a spear works… outstanding… we will now proceed to the next part,” the old man said, Jedi was just on 451 thrusts of her daily 1000. “Footwork,” the old man said.

On the other hand, Simon was in the middle of 8 adventurers dodging his way out. He was always not allowed to counterattack. He could only dodge.

“Watch the boy… look at his feet,” the old man said “Don’t stop thrusting, 1000 thrusts is your friend continue practicing while watching the boy” The old man then went to the side and he was eyeing the 2 of them.

Following the old man’s instructions she kept her eyes on Simon.

“Don’t lose focus on your thrust, feel every fiber of your muscle as you do it… be on point” It seemed that the old man was asking something very hard but Jedi complied.

She continued to watch Simon.

Unlike yesterday the boy was struggling; with 4 adventurers surrounding him, there were bound to be gaps on either side but 8 adventurers could plug his surroundings.

“5 Silver!!!” an adventurer said as he managed to land a clean hit on Simon’s shoulders.

Although it was a wooden sword it hurt a bit.

“Boy!! Looking around is not enough… rather than look for gaps create them… or you won’t have any dinner tonight,” the old man fiercely smiled, this was the best way to train the boy.

Of course, Simon didn’t understand it, how the hell was he supposed to create gaps from 8 directions that were currently sealed in by the adventurers? What was different and what was the correct action? Then he remembered something about the dodgeball training. (CH 57)

Unlike in the dodgeball, the space was clearly smaller… for them to keep him on his toe the 8 adventurers would need to maintain spaces and be aware of each one. The only reason they were hitting was because of their coordinated attacks… the old man didn’t say that he couldn’t move around, rather he just told the adventurers to hit him for silvers.

Simon started moving, he was not allowed to counter-attack but touching and grabbing were probably allowed.

“Oh you're using some brains now aren’t you?” the old man smirked waiting for what the boy would be showing him.

Simon’s dinner was riding on this. He jumped over one side and the adventurers started chasing him.

“Wait!! Wait!!! STOP!!!” the plea of the adventurers as he began swiftly running around.

Why didn’t he do that earlier? He didn’t even need his footwork, he could just outrun them.

The old man scratched his head, it seemed that the boy found a loophole in the training.

“STOP!!!” he screamed and the 5 boys running around stopped. “Simon, you are not allowed to get your feet out of their circle,” the old man menacingly smiled.

“Unfair…” Simon complained in a low voice.

“What the fuck did you say?” the old man pretended that he heard it.

“Nothing,” the boy said and they went back to their original positions. The 8 adventurers were laughing.

Simon was starting to get annoyed… but he had another solution on his mind.

“Let’s get more money!!” the adventurer on his 6 o clock began the attack.

Simon dodged left, a faint but right, it drew out the attacker on his 9 o'clock and it instantly missed, but the adventurer on his 3 o'clock didn’t miss the opportunity. Simon using his hands swiped the sword strike.

“The heck!!” the adventurer was shocked by the boy's reaction time, and the others attacked again, using the adventurer at his 6 o'clock he used his shoulders to elevate himself.

The attack missed and Simon didn’t break out of the circle. By tapping his feet back in the circle of the 8 he was not breaking the rules.

“Hmm… fair enough,” the old man was satisfied although it was not the solution he intended. “Did you see that girl?” the old man asked Jedi.

“Yes but I can’t do that!!” she said still thrusting her spear.

“Of course, but the first 3 moves were the 3 basic foot works, what number are you on now?” he asked Jedi as he walked closer.

“632, 633” she was speaking as she counted.

“We will do something different tomorrow, it's time for footwork basics,” the old man fiercely smiled.

<--->

The next day, Jedi rose from her sleep automatically, the boy and the old man were already awake by the time so the old man decided to make the run earlier, Jedi’s body was feeling lighter than before.

“Let’s run… Jedi… try to keep up okay?” the old man said and the 3 started running around again. From the adventurer’s guild to the fishing port, market, and gates.

Before Jedi struggled but Jedi was starting to get accustomed to the training.

“We will do something different today, Simon, Jedi, you will do the footwork in front of each other, try reading what the boy is going to do and copy it,” they were back in the adventurer’s guild. Jedi unlike yesterday was still on her feet.

The old man left them be.

“No problems, I’m going to do Shift, Pivot, Side Step left, right then step back!! Just remember!” Simon instantly gave her the script she had to follow, Jedi nodded and smiled.

To the ones passing by the 2 kids looked like they were dancing in front of the adventurer’s guild.

“Shift, Pivot… side step, back step, oh!!!” it seemed that she couldn’t keep up with Simon.

“The trick is keeping your feet alive, don’t rest it” Simon advised Jedi.

“He means to keep your feet springy,” the old man suddenly muttered, he was carrying a pouch of water.

The 2 started going at it again. Following the old man's advice instantly made her improve with her training.

“Stop… let’s rest for a while and have some breakfast.” the old man concluded, satisfied with their effort.

<--->

After breakfast, they had a bit of training, as soon as she completed the 1000 thrust their training stopped.

“It is already past noon, we will be going to the market, you need things to travel,” the old man says, passing the water pouch to her.

She drank on it. It's really so good to drink water after a hard training.

“Simon!! Training’s over, we will be going to the market!!” the old man called up the boy. he could hear the disappointing sighs of the adventurers the old man paid for the training, and he smiled proudly.

“Old man, why are you smiling?” Simon asked.

“I don’t know… let’s go!!!” the old man said smiling fiercely, though it seemed that only Jedilyn understood the reason behind the old man’s smile.

<--->

The market was still busy even if it was getting hot. Summer on this part of the eastern continent was very hot but it would cool down when going a bit north. The large cluster of trees of the Dark Forest was in a play of lowering the temperature on a wide part of the north.

The trio began going around. To the old man’s surprise after buying some food the girl asked him with a scorned face.

“You eat this?” she said. With disgust.

“Little girl… what do you mean?” the old man asked.

“There is a much better choice of food for travel… the dried meat and pickles are not a good way to go, you’ve got too much salt on your body,” she complained.

“I like strong flavors that’s why,” the old man answered.

“No… let me handle the food,” she suddenly burst in with a decisive tone.

“Hmm… well let's see what you got,” the old man smiled fiercely.

Rather than buying the already preserved food she started buying fresh ones which were more cheaper… the old man was damn impressed. She used the same amount of money they spent while increasing the food she brought.

“I will process this in the guild’s kitchen, look forward to it!!” she said with confidence.

“Are you going to make the spaghetti?” Simon excitedly asked.

“Sorry… I can’t find good flour for it," She answered Simon and then looked at the old man.

“Hey! Old man give me more money, I need to buy some cooking pot!!!” she demanded, the old man sighed and gave her some silver.

“Nice!!!” she smiled.

The old man could see her future. Imagining it;

‘A decade or more later Jedi becomes a famous chef in the central continent. Even the kings and Imperial subjects would need to line up to get her cooking.’

“That would be far-fetched” the old man muttered as he thought of a headline. He watched the confident back of the girl as she strutted on the market.

…

That night Jedi spent some time marinating and preparing the meat and fruits. What she generally brought were condiments and spices that would prolong the shelf life of food. Along with the pot she brought 5 pieces of glass bottle which was a bit expensive, but it had a resealable lid that she was quite fond of.

<--->

The next morning, Jedi showcased her work, having poured her heart into it to make a good impression on the old man. She knew the boy, Simon, would be impressed by anything that tasted delicious. Sitting at a table in the cafeteria, Jedi watched intently as the old man and Simon began to eat.

“Kid… did you really cook this?” the old man asked.

“Yes… how’s it taste?” she asked for the old man’s impression.

“It's excellent… makes the other food I’ve been munching so far pale,” that was the old man’s honest reaction.

Simon was silently gnawing his food, the egg and ham combo was just too good to be true, there was no need for Jedi to ask Simon’s impression of her food, it was written all over his face.

“I could eat this every day!!” Simon still paused just to say that.

“Balanced meal is a need for everyone… I will manage the food we eat!!!” and like landing the final blow she put on the table a piece of the glass bottle.

The old man took the glass bottle and checked it out “What’s these?” the old man asked.

“Jam!!! Oops!!!-” she said confidently tapping the lid to stop the old man from opening it “-Not yet!!! You will know the taste of heaven once you’ve tasted this.”

“Pretentious brat… I will look forward to it… but if it's not good, I will increase your daily thrust to 2000” the old man threatened her.

“Hmm… understood!!” but she knew that the old man was kind… kind enough to look after a stranger like her.

“We will leave after a few hours get ready!!” the old man declared.

…

After breakfast, they were already ready to leave, only that since Jedi brought too much food and condiments along with her pot, her bag that they brought yesterday was too heavy for her to lift.

“Give me some of that… Simon take half of it… be careful it's food,” the old man noticed this and took some from her bag.

“Wait… I brought this, it's too heavy for Simon,” she said.

“You are a child too, and Simon is not normal, you’ve seen his eyes right?” the old man answered her query.

“I will be careful, really careful” Simon then approached her and turned his backpack to her.

She placed some of the glass bottles and a pack of already marinated meat.

“See… he is not even bending,” the old man said.

“I see… Simon thank you” she said to the boy and the boy just smiled. “It's okay… it's not that heavy!!” Simon said so.

“Then let’s go… girl we will be not traveling on the main road just so you know” the old man warned her and she gratefully nodded.

“I understand,” she said smiling and they were off to go.