Chapter 13: Chapter 13: Spirit Swordsmanship
Duane spent the better part of the morning resting and sparring.
His Basic Swordsmanship Skill Level climbed to (Skilled 256/300).
Although the Skill Level gained from sparring diminished over time, the overall increase was still significant.
Duane estimated that he would have a breakthrough in his Basic Swordsmanship Skill Level by tomorrow at the latest.
"Although my father left behind a few Combat Techniques, I need to master Fighting Qi before I can learn them. That’s clearly not suitable for me right now."
He looked at Kaelon and asked, "Do you have any Combat Techniques that would be suitable for me to practice?"
Kaelon nodded to himself. The Baron’s Basic Swordsmanship had already reached quite a high level; he was indeed ready to learn other Combat Techniques.
"My lord, I have a copy of Spirit Swordsmanship that should be suitable for you."
Duane’s eyes lit up. "Excellent. Please, give me the manual so I can take a look. Of course, I won’t take it for free. You can name your price."
Kaelon shook his head with a good-natured smile. "You can just take it, my lord. There’s no need for money! Besides, speaking of which, I only obtained this Spirit Swordsmanship with Lord Carter’s help!"
"Oh?" Duane was a little surprised.
Combat Techniques and Magic were largely monopolized in this world. ’Could Kaelon’s words mean Carter lent him the money to buy the Spirit Swordsmanship manual?’
Kaelon explained, "Back when I first started following your father, Lord Carter took me into a ’ruin-type’ Secret Realm. That’s where I obtained this Combat Technique."
He recalled with some emotion that during that trip into the Secret Realm, they were attacked by an Exotic Beast, and Carter had saved his life yet again.
"Lord Carter was brilliant and very talented with Combat Techniques. He created Swift Step himself after mastering Spirit Swordsmanship."
Duane was startled. He hadn’t expected that Swift Step, which he had seen yesterday, was actually Carter’s own creation.
He couldn’t help but recall that tall figure.
Carter truly was a genius in all aspects of his training. No wonder he was able to rise from a commoner to a Knight at such a young age and take command of the Kingdom’s Third Legion.
Next, Duane asked for more details about the Spirit Swordsmanship Combat Technique, and Kaelon told him everything he knew.
Although Kaelon firmly refused his offer of payment, Duane insisted.
For now, his status was merely that of the lord of the insignificant Little Black Island, a position others looked down upon. But deep down, he still harbored the ambition to become great and powerful.
That being the case, there were certain things he had to be careful about, like avoiding taking things from his subordinates for free whenever possible.
Those who knew the situation would think he and Kaelon had a good relationship, but those who didn’t would just assume he was taking it by force, which would damage his reputation and authority.
Therefore, Duane ultimately decided to have Ralph give Kaelon an extra three Gold Coins with his pay this month.
Three Gold Coins was nearly one-seventh of Kaelon’s annual salary.
This was both payment for the right to learn Spirit Swordsmanship and compensation for Kaelon’s time as a sparring and training partner.
Seeing his lord’s insistence, Kaelon could only agree.
Not only did he not feel like he was getting the short end of the stick, he actually felt that he was taking huge advantage of his lord and was quite embarrassed about it.
After settling the matter, Duane left the training grounds.
It was nearly eleven in the morning. Duane returned to his room, changed his clothes, and then dove straight into the kitchen.
The Fire Source Beast Bone Soup had to continue simmering. At the same time, he was no longer content with just cooking potato dishes for the day.
Buttered peas, almond carrots, and lamb chops stewed with onions were all on the menu.
Roasting, stewing, boiling, and frying were the popular cooking methods in this world.
To be honest, Duane wasn’t a big fan. Sometimes it felt like everything was just thrown into a pan together.
He much preferred methods like steaming and stir-frying.
Moreover, he wasn’t accustomed to the local style of seasoning, which involved heavy sauces and the addition of acidic ingredients like wine and lemon juice.
Duane planned to properly adjust his diet once he got to Black Forest Island, having Mara cook the dishes he liked according to his own preferences.
Nearly two hours later, he successfully concluded his cooking for the day.
By then, his Basic Cooking and Fire Source Beast Bone Soup skills had increased by 52 and 33 points, reaching (Entry 173/200) and (Entry 111/200), respectively.
This proved that new recipes did indeed increase his Basic Cooking Skill Level more quickly.
"Let’s eat."
Duane said, "Mara, Jasmine, I’ll be back this evening. Remember to have the ingredients ready."
"As you wish, my lord!"
Previously, Mara had advised the lord against coming down to the kitchen, but now she didn’t say a word against it.
On the contrary, cooking with the lord in the kitchen brought a bit of novelty to her otherwise monotonous and dull life.
As for Jasmine, she simply felt that the young lord was humble and eager to learn, willing to listen to a servant’s suggestions, and very diligent. He also didn’t seem to have a penchant for hitting people at the slightest provocation.
In the dining room.
Duane downed the Fire Source Beast Bone Soup in one go, his empty stomach instantly feeling a bit full.
Thanks to the extra ingredients he had added to the soup at noon, his attribute points increased by exactly 0.1 after he finished it.
’The diminishing returns are obvious.’
Duane patted his slightly bulging stomach. He couldn’t drink another drop.
It was probably something like building a tolerance; the more he drank, the weaker the effect became.
He allocated the attribute points to Strength, then after a short nap, he began his afternoon training.
First up was his Riding Skill.
After his Basic Riding Skill reached the Skilled level, he felt confident enough to attempt some complex equestrian maneuvers.
For example, jumps of standard difficulty, crossing complex terrain, and so on.
And after more than two hours of training, his Basic Riding Skill Level saw a considerable increase, reaching (Skilled 158/300).
Next was learning Spirit Swordsmanship.
Since Kaelon had to prepare for the arrival of the new soldiers tomorrow, Duane could only start by reading the Sword Manual on his own.
This style of swordsmanship emphasized lightness and flexibility. Compared to Basic Swordsmanship, its offensive moves were far more varied, focusing primarily on aggression.
At times, it even advocated sacrificing some defense, risking injury to carry out a relentless, storm-like assault.
When Duane closed the Sword Manual, a series of sword movements flashing through his mind, another entry appeared on his attribute panel: Combat Techniques.
[Strength]: 4.8
[Spirit]: 1.8
[Basic]: Basic Swordsmanship (Skilled 256/300), Basic Cooking (Entry 173/200), Basic Riding Skill (Skilled 159/300), Basic Brewing (Initial 49/100)
[Combat Techniques]: Spirit Swordsmanship (Initial 23/100)
[Cooking]: Fire Source Beast Bone Soup (Entry 111/200)
Looking at all the unfilled skill bars, Duane, who had a bit of a completionist streak, suddenly felt a wave of pressure.
’When will I ever be able to max them all out?’
That was the first question that popped into his head.
He didn’t know the answer to that question, but he did know that if he didn’t grind, those progress bars would never be filled.
Case in point: by the time he finished studying the Spirit Swordsmanship manual, it was nearly evening—time to cook dinner again.
Duane dove into the kitchen.
