Elydes Chapter 91: Give and Take

Chapter 91 - Give and Take

His sword drew a crescent arc in the air, followed by a lunge. Kai didnt hold anything back, testing the new limits of his body.

Elijah sidestepped his attack, redirecting his blade with a light jab. Despite his improved attributes and Empower pushing him to new heights, the man easily parried or evaded his flurry of attacks, taunting him.

Kai hadnt expected to win, but the butler could have at least given him the illusion he was taking him more seriously. Instead, Elijah increased the speed and strength of his movents.

Sweat ran down Kais face and back. His muscles scread in protest. There wasnt anything more they could give. Elental magic was too slow to aningfully impact the fight, and Empower was already burning through his mana. Any further his body would not be able to withstand it.

Elijah never attacked, dancing around his strikes with irritating ease. Kai knew he had improved trendously, but it didnt stop him from feeling like a child swinging his fathers sword. Clumsy and without any idea of what he was doing.

Damn! With a last burst of mana, Kai dashed forward in a desperate strike, slashing in a wild horizontal arc. Instead of dodging, Elijah t him straight on. Their swords t with a loud tal ringing, the blow reverberated up his arm. The butlers blade didnt move an inch. He might as well have tried to slice a boulder for the little difference it made.

Unable to contain the blowback, Kai lost his grip on the hilt. His sword flew out of his hands. By so miracle did he manage to regain his balance before ending butt-first in the sand.

Thats not fair. Kai was fuming. How much strength did you use?

That last strike was stupid, Elijah calmly said. Youd already given up. There was no point in continuing.

What difference does it make? Its not like I can actually defeat you!

Not with that attitude. There might be a chance in a million, but when you give up, that turns to zero.

Youre just using that as an excuse to make go against impossible odds until I lose it. Usually, he kept these comnts confined to his thoughts. This ti he was too angry to care. Would it kill the man to give him so encouragent after his recent upgrade?

Elijah stared back coldly. Kais frustration rapidly drained away as he started to wonder if this was the ti the butler would actually slap him.

What if I am? Elijah smirked at him, breaking the tension.

Damn, jerk

Have you checked your Swordsmanship skill?

Curiosity won over his irritation.

...I got 2 levels. He had never gotten more than 1 level since the skill was in the single digits. His sudden attributes spike must have played a part. But without soone to push his limits, it wouldnt have mattered.

Ever heard about the word gratitude?

This was even worse than Elijah snapping at him. He was making him feel guilty.

Thank you, master. Kai forced the word out of his throat. In your inscrutable wisdom, could you not have helped achieve the sa result without losing my mind?

You cant forge a good sword without blazing heat and so battering. Both your mind and body need to be tempered to beco a great fighter.

Kai narrowed his eyes in a skeptical look. That wasnt a no, and Elijah always preferred practical examples to flowery nonsense.

Irritating you is an added bonus and paynt for my ti. He admitted without any sha. You are free to look for another teacher if you want to complain.

Kai gritted his teeth. The butler won this round.

At least, hes honest.

Id never dare look for soone else, master. But I was wondering if you could share so of your boundless knowledge with . When victory wasnt possible, he could at least minimize his losses.

Go ahead, dear disciple. Elijah looked amused. Ill try to make my words as simple as possible so even you may understand them.

Now that he had regained his cool, Kai wouldnt lose it that easily.

Are there weapon skills that encompass more than one weapon? I like Swordsmanship, but it doesnt even work with a knife.

It was the ever-present dilemma of limited skill slots. They would never be enough, so he needed to find any workaround. And make the most of the ones he had.

Yes, there are, Elijah answered. Weapon skills are one of the most studied fields. Beyond the basic red skills you learned, there are wider ones, such as Polearms or Blades. Or even further, with the lee and Ranged Weapon skills, till the legendaryWeapon Master which allows you dominion over every kind of arm.

Why did nobody tell before?

How do I get it? With a single skill, he would be able to use anything to defend himself.

You dont, Elijah said curtly. I wont have my disciple beco a legendary laughingstock.

Did I miss sothing? Im not sure I follow.

Seeing his confusion, the butler continued. Tell , kid, how do you train a skill?

By practicing it

Does your dim mind see the problem with having a skill that encompasses every weapon type?

Oh

Cant I then learn lee Weapon and train with swords, spears and knives?

Elijah gave him a serious are truly dense look.

Im not sure you understand how many different types of short-range weapons exist. Even rocks like your head can be considered as such in the right circumstance.

It would be like training Mana Manipulation by only moving the mana in your pinky, or Runes by drawing a single rune. You technically can do it. But I hope I wont have to tell you why that would be a bad idea.

Kai blushed. I get it. When sothing sounded too good to be true, it usually was. He had just wanted to believe so hard that he found a loophole.

What about Blades then? Id gain more flexibility without having to practice too many weapons.

Kai. How many weapons do you think fall under Blades?

Knives and swords?

And sabers, axes, saws, razors. Just to na a few. Any weapon that uses a sharp edge as a primary ans of attack. It might not be as bad as the other, and its not impossible to level, but unless you plan to make use of such a variety of weapons daily, it isnt worth it.

Swordsmanship is already wide enough with dozens of different subtypes of swords. In fact, most people prefer to narrow down its scope when they evolve the skill, choosing to specialize in Longsword, Rapier or Claymore. You lose flexibility, but if youll only ever use that weapon, youll improve faster that way.

So, I should look to specialize further rather than expand my scope? Kai asked.

That depends on you. Each weapon your skill encompasses that you dont use will drag you down. However, being able to switch between different arms will make you more unpredictable and harder to counter. There is no universal right choice, only what works best for you.

Kai nodded, thoughtful. Naturally, the Guide offered no loopholes, only trades. Then if I want to use a knife or spear, I need to take a second skill.

And sacrifice another of my limited skill slots. Damn, that sucks.

That or choosing a specialization at a milestone. You wont be able to shoot a bow with a Swordsmanship skill, but you can gain so leeway for sothing closer.

A myriad of thoughts swirled inside Kais head, Elijah had proven surprisingly helpful and detailed with his explanation.

There is a first ti for everything.

Thank you, master, Kai said, honestly.

Elijah turned away. At least you wont embarrass too much if soone discovers you were my student.

Ill do my best.

Do better. Also, you can go ahead and discard Steady Runner. Weve gotten as much as we could out of it.

I had almost forgotten. I can finally learn Water Magic!

Do I do it now?

Elijah shrugged. No mont like the present.

*Ding*

Do you wish to discard Steady Runner (lv7)? Be aware this choice is irreversible.

Kai prepared for the blowback and gave the ntal command. That was the last thing he rembered before the world turned black.

~~~

Elijah watched his disciple casually discard an orange skill like the fool he was. The highest skill he had ever abandoned was red and more than 50 levels lower, but the brat didnt stop to think what that ant.

His determination was above average, hed give him that. The kid knew what had to be done and didnt hesitate. However, sotis he was too careless, not thinking about the consequences. As his master, it was his duty to teach him.

Like a puppet whose strings had been cut, Kai flopped to the ground, starting to drool on the sand.

His excitent and naive expression right till he gave the go-ahead almost made him break a laugh. A chuckle escaped his lips.

Since Kai had reached Orange , there would be no lasting consequences, apart from fainting and remaining unconscious for a while. There were too many factors to say exactly how long. Nothing quite like first-hand experience to rember a lesson.

There was only one problem: now he had a fainted kid drooling on the sand. And no servants to take care of it. Worse yet, Theodora had just started to cook for him again.

Damn.

~~~

A throbbing headache welcod him. Kai wished to go back to sleep. His mind was muddled, and he was not exactly sure of what was going on, or where.

Massaging his temples, he opened his eyes. White sheets, fluffy bed. This was his room. No one had kidnapped him.

What the hell did I do?

Slowly standing up, he leaned against the wall to maintain the balance. He was awake, but it sohow felt like moving through a fever dream.

With a lucid thought, he used a burst of Empower. A trick he recently discovered to wake himself up in the morning and stave off tiredness. Mana surged through his body, rousing his muscles and mind.

His mories trickled back, the details still fuzzy. The conversation with Elijah, choosing to discard Steady Runner, and then nothing. Blank.

Skills:

ditation (lv80>85)Herbology (lv78>84)Awareness (lv74>80)Acting (lv58>67)Swordsmanship (lv56>68

Mana Sense (lv56>59)Mana Manipulation (lv32>37)Inspect (lv22>26)Alchemy (lv21>24)Empower (lv20>27)Runes (lv10>14)Nature Magic (lv6>11)Blessed Swimr (lv1>6)

Yep, I have an empty slot.

He underestimated the toll of abandoning an orange-grade skill by quite a margin.

Well, at least it wasnt for nothing.

*Ding*

New skill learned! Water Magic (lv1) Mold the ever-flowing Water mana to your desires and attune yourself with the fluid water.

That made him feel better. Outside, the sun blinded him montarily. He couldnt exactly rember how much ti had passed, but it looked like it was late morning.

Took you long enough. The butler welcod him with a somber look.

Kai glared back. Why didnt you tell this would happen?

What difference would that have made? Would you truly have preferred knowing how bad it was going to be?

Mhmm maybe? Probably. Still an asshole move.

With the headache pulsing in his head, Kai didnt have the ntal capacity to ponder the question or argue back. How long was I out for?

About three days.

What!?

What?

Trust , Elijah said. I wished it had been shorter too.

The butler left him there as his brain struggled to make sense of the situation. Three whole days were gone just like that. Kai had imagined puking his guts out or losing all sense of balance and falling to the ground. He had not considered fainting, and certainly not for three days.

Eyes closed, he inhaled and exhaled deeply, sitting down on the spot to ditate and regain his bearings. Grounded in reality once more, he paid attention to his condition. He was famished, but otherwise fine, probably thanks to his grade. After a quick visit to the bathroom, he followed his stomach desires and headed to Doras place.

The alchemist hurried out of the garden when he ca closer. Oh dear, you should have told you were planning to discard the skill. Co.

With so food in his tummy, Kai started to feel better. He wasnt full yet, but Dora told him he shouldnt gorge himself after fasting for three days.

Are there going to be other side effects? Kai asked worried.

No. You are through the worst of it. Dora reassured him. Your mind couldnt handle the shock of losing such a large part of itself, so it shut down to protect you. Just rember to never discard skills higher than your grade.

Yeah, I wont be able to forget that even if I try.

They moved to lighter topics. Dora kept him company till lunch, then they went to work in the garden, taking care of mana plants always helped. Kai still felt weird. It was impossible to describe the visceral sense of emptiness and aning. Like unbalanced, but not in a physical sense.

Youll feel as good as new in a few days. The first ti is always the worst. If you had co to , I could have brewed sothing to lessen the blowback.

Damn, butler.

Im sorry, Aunty. I was so excited to finally get Water Magic that I acted impulsively.

Be more careful next ti.

I will, Kai promised. Speaking of which. When I was in Sylspring I saw soone cast a spell using a strange language. What's that about?

Oh, that, Dora shuffled nervously, the rose bush in front of her suddenly blooming. I think you should ask Virya about that.

Okay, seeing her unease, Kai didnt press.

He didnt have to wait for long. That evening Dora inford him that Virya had invited him to dine with her.

Kai, rember not to insist if Lady Virya evades your questions. A slight nervousness in her tone.

I promise to behave.

Not like I would have done any differently if you hadnt told . Im not suicidal.

Passing by his house to shower and wear his best set of clothes, Kai headed to the main mansion with so trepidation.

What the hell is going on?

The door was open, like usual. He knocked anyway before stepping inside. The large table had been set for three people, laden with plates of steaming food. The fla of several crimson candles gave the normally beautiful hall an unsettling vibe.

Virya and Elijah sat there.

Co sit, child. The mage commanded.