"No! No!! No!!! you need to put your heart into it. Your sword is merely an extension of your body, flow with it!"
Aleen guided and Corrected Nora's form, and stance as she practiced her sword drills.
It was already late at night. In fact, many might simply say that it was already morning. But Aleen was relentless in his training with his daughter. In his eyes, she was his pride and joy.
As father and daughter practiced, Nora noticed the approach of mounted Core beasts in the distance.
"Father! are we expecting guests?" She asked.
Aleen looked into the distance and he too was surprised.
There were five red-horned horse core beasts in total.
One look at them and Aleen knew that who so ever it was that was coming, was a very important guest.
After all, it was one thing to kill cored Beasts and another thing to tame them.
Taming Core beasts took far more time, resources, and most especially dominance to achieve.
Beasts by nature were wild, willful, and arrogant. What's more, the higher the rank of the cored beasts, the more problematic they were.
In fact, even nearly cored beasts were a problem, not to talk about cored beasts. There had been many scenarios of Cored beasts killing their owners just out of pride.
If they felt like their owners were not worthy of them, they would stoop on them or rebel.
In this cultivation world, even the beasts, were not pushovers.
Because of this reason, they were not at all easy to afford or maintain. Most people including cultivators preferred movement to be done by walking or running.
So, it was easy to imagine Aleen's surprise when not one or two but five red-horned horse-cored beasts with people on top raised towards his home.
Aleen pushed Nora behind him, "stay back!" he was not sure what was going on, but he was not going to let his pride and joy get into harm's way.
The Beasts approached and stopped right in front of the father and daughter pair.
In the forefront, was Elder Ellen. Aleen recognized her at first sight.
Her reputation was irrefutable within the clan.
"Elder Ellen!," Aleen called in surprise, "Welcome! To what do I owe this prestigious visit!?"
However, Elder Ellen could not even bother to look at his face. She turned to Emma who was riding with one of her maids.
"Is this him!?"
"No!" Emma replied, "This is Elder Aleen! his father."
"Oh!" Ellen was shocked. She was not expecting the person's father she was coming to meet to be so young. On top of that, She could feel the spirit energy that came from his body. She could instantly tell his cultivation rank.
"Then, where is he?" She asked.
Emma alighted from the cored beast and walked towards the house.
Aleen saw this but did not stop her. He knew Emma. She was the servant his son had just acquired.
Immediately Emma moved, Elder Ellen, followed behind her and so did her maids.
Aleen's presence and words were both ignored as they passed by him.
Aleen still had something to say, but his words were now stuck in his throat. All he could do was follow along with the women.
Emma reached Chiron's room, and knocked on the door gently, "Master Chiron! I have arrived."
After a few seconds of waiting, She heard a reply from within, and she entered.
As she did, so did Elder Ellen.
The sight before her eyes shocked her. It was a young boy. Except for his face, he was totally wrapped in bandages.
Ellen was speechless for words, however, before she could say anything, Chiron looked at her and spoke in the Elven tongue, "Welcome!"
It was just one word, but the shock it sent to her mind, nearly made her legs go weak. She bite hard at her lower lips as she tried her best to hold in her curiosity and surprise.
However, Chiron could see her feelings from the look in her eyes.
Chiron waved his hand to Emma, "Leave us!"
She bowed and exited the room.
The moment Emma left, Elder Ellen could not hold it in any longer, "how can you speak the Elven tongue!?"
However, to her surprise, Chiron did not answer her question. Instead, he slowly took a bowl of warm water from his side and gently drank some.
And then, he looked at her, "Elder Ellen! Please sit. Can I offer you anything to eat or drink!?" Chiron pointed to a chair not so far away from his bed.
"Eat or Drink!?" Elder Ellen thought angrily in her head. She wanted to rush and grab Chiron by the neck and squeeze it until she had the answers to the Questions she needed. However, she didn't. No! she couldn't. regardless of the fact that she was older or stronger, she couldn't, and Chiron knew this.
This was once again another psychological trick. Being calm and seeming carefree made him seem more in charge and gave him a better standing even against this old and powerful cultivator in front of him.
Whether Ellen wanted to admit it or not, Chiron a boy of merely eight years old, was in charge of this meeting.
And he took the reigns of the meeting from the moment she became the person that rushed to meet up with him, and again when she entered.
He had used one word to keep her attention on him.
She did not know that Chiron was currently drinking warm water because of the intense pain that his throat was currently undergoing.
It was only just a word, but it had taken a lot from him. It was entirely different from Rune speaking.
It is said that the vocal cords of elves were like that of singing birds. Even Chiron with his abundance of knowledge of this world would need to practice a lot more before he could attain such a height.
He had to be careful with his words, so, he choose the easiest word he could pronounce.
He knew that she needed to be certain that he claimed to be who he said he was. And this was the most effective way to truly capture her attention.
"Elder Ellen!" Chiron spoke softly and slowly, but he could see as her nearly-Elven ears moved a little to the sound of his voice.
At the moment, there was no movement, not even the slight movement of her sighting position that was not under his sensitive radar.
This world was still backward when it came to psychology and Philosophy. These were the strengths that a man with no strength could use in a conversation with a powerful man.
"You need my help, don't you!?" Elder Ellen asked. She could see that he was bandaged and knew he needed healing.
However, to her surprise, Chiron shook his head, "No! it is you who needs my help!"
These words made Elder Ellen raise a brow in surprise. "What do you mean!? You are obviously injured, and I'm a Healer. Is it not you that needs my help!?"
She relaxed into her chair and folded one leg unto the other. Her head rested on her arm that rested o the armrest, and a smirk stained a corner of her mouth.
In her opinion, Chiron had done what he had done so far, just so that he could get her to work.
However, Chiron's next words broke her composure.
"Blood-fire Yang essence!"
She sat upright and looked at him with a frown and fierce look in her eyes. Her elemental energy slowly made the room hotter.
However, Chiron could care less about her Fumes. At least, that was what he displayed on the surface as he drank more from his bowl of water.
But in truth, cold sweat had started to run down his back. If he did not do this right, he knew he was going to be done for. Elder Ellen was more than capable of burning him to nothing, and in truth, not even Aleen or Chief Dona would be able to hold her accountable for it.
"I know the technique you are practicing. I also know why you are practicing it, and how you are doing it, but more than anything else, I know it has left you injured, and unlike you expected at the start, Your cultivation is not increasing. Rather, it is regressing."
Those words instantly made the temperature in the room get hotter. And at this point, Chiron could feel that his bandages were getting soaked in sweat, but in his mind, he begged himself to persevere. There was no choice. He had come this far, he had to.
Chiron dropped the bowl of warm water and looked at Elder Ellen in her eyes, " Of course, I also know how to solve your problem!"
Instantly, the temperature in the room stopped climbing and slowly settled down.
Chiron smiled and continued, "After all, is that not the true reason you have been in the Chikitsa clan for this many years? Being the person in charge of all the circumcision ceremonies for hundreds of years. Just so you can cultivate fresh Blood-yang essence..."
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l