As Chad knocked Hati down, Zaleria walked out to the garden stretching her arms. “How is he?” Chad asked immediately.

“As expected, the operation was a success and he has been administered to the recovery room he prepared with Alice,” Zaleria replied.

“Don’t give me that, I want details.” Chad walked toward her.

“We didn’t have any complications besides Mei losing focus due to Cain’s magic. I did inspect the shrinking spell and it seemed fine so she didn’t mess up. Bela made sure to preserve his removed heart in indirect ice. I don’t what Cain told Alice to do in the recovery room but I did tell her to keep supplying him with a constant flow of healing magic to hasten his recovery..” Zaleria took about half an hour to fill Chad with all details he wanted.

“So he is doing fine?” Chad asked with a confused face.

“You’re the one who asked me for details and now you’re confused, yes he is fine, healthy, and will be running and kicking soon.” Zaleria was a bit angry as she has spent half an hour explaining everything to Chad while she was exhausted just for him to not listen well.

“No, I was just thinking you didn’t tell me about the small problems but there doesn’t seem to be any. Isn’t it rare to have a procedure without complication?” Chad asked.

“You’re right, they are rare.” Zaleria sighed, “His body acted weird, there wasn’t much bleeding the bones were soft to cut. The heart started beating the moment we sew it in and Cain’s breath never got disturbed. It was as if his body was expecting the operation and got ready for it.” Zaleria scratched her head.

“He is Lord Cain after all, he could have used some magic to get ready.” Mei flew in from the window with a smile on her face.

“You’re sure your spell is strong.” Chad stared at her.

The little pixie pouted, “Humph, don’t underestimate my magic. Even I can’t untie that knot now.”

“Lady Zaleria, Master Chad, Lady Mei, the tea is ready inside.” Elise approached them with a smile.

“You go without me, I still have some work to do.” Chad looked at the corner of the garden, Katherine was there in her maid uniform swinging a sword with a massive smile on her face.

She is going to train with Chad, Cain’s father whom she heard has crushed the capital’s guild. Her excitement for learning under such a master couldn’t be underestimated.

Chad picked up his sword and approached Katherine as Zaleria and Mei went inside for a much-deserved rest.

“Should we use wooden swords?” Chad asked, she might get scared of steel swords if she wasn’t used to them.

“Whatever you think is best,” Katherine yelled as if she was on fire.

..Chad stared at her, she is oddly energetic. “You should speak your mind, this is an important choice that you need to make,” Chad told her.

“Then I want to use wooden swords, it will be bad if I got injured or my uniform got damaged.” She replied with a big smile.

“Then take the uniform off and wear armor.” Chad stared at her, it’s not like Cain can’t afford her basic armor.

“I do want to be able to fight in my uniform like the Headmaid. It’s more practical since I will be wearing it most of the time.” Katherine replied holding her sword in front of her. Her short brown waved in the wind as a faint glimmer appeared in her blue eyes. The sun behind her back made her slightly tanned skin look like honey.

———————————–

<Name: Katherine Powell><Race: Human><Level: 1/20><Exp: 0/300>

<HP: 15><MP: 7><SP: 15 >

<Strength: 16><Dexterity: 17><Constitution: 14>

<Intelligence: 12><Wisdom: 12><Charisma: 11>

Skills

[Dueling]: Allow the user to concentrate fully on a single target to maximize efficiency.

[Acrobatics]: Increased dexterity due to constant training, this skill will be lost if the training was abandoned for a long time.

[Athletics]: Increased strength due to constant training, this skill will be lost if the training was abandoned for a long time.

———————————–

It was then that Chad realized, she chose to stand in that place to have the sun behind her back. That was a sign of good spatial awareness which is rare even among swordsmen.

Chad pulled his sword and declared a sparring match, he wanted to see what she could do first. Unlike Cain or Hati who risked their lives, she was but a maid.

Katherine took the initiative swinging at Chad with an excessively big downward swing.

Chad looked at the attack, it was too obvious so it seems he need to teach her the basics. ‘From her speed, I say 10 strength. I need her to start muscle training first’

Chad held his blade up and deflected her strike to the side with a passive face, this was as much as he expected. Thud! Katherine’s blade suddenly took a turn after being deflected and was heading directly toward Chad’s life at a higher speed.

‘She was not swinging at full force, the first attack was a feint. From her current speed, I say 14 strengths. She is talented, this is the first time I saw an amateur do such a move’ Chad was surprised that she faked her strength to try and get a hit in. She should have realized that Chad was testing her since he didn’t expect much so she used that to get an advantage by acting weaker than she is.

Chad smiled, this was a talent. He happily swung his blade to block her attack.

THUD! ‘What?’ Chad couldn’t believe it, she did it again. Her blade changed direction at the last moment and with a much higher speed. This time she was aiming at Chad’s neck. It wasn’t just her speed, the flexibility needed to perform such a move was rare, her wrists must be screaming if she had dexterity lower than 14.

‘Strength is 16 and dexterity is at least 14. Chad assessed her ability, she was a gem.’ With a big smile on his face, Chad caught her blade with his bare hand. This way she shouldn’t be able to pull any other trick.

BAM! The moment Chad grabbed her sword, she let go of the handle and went in with a straight punch to the face. “Why did you punch me?” Chad asked, even though the punch was too weak he almost didn’t feel it.

“In a fight, losing your blade doesn’t mean you lost. Since you grabbed mine, the fastest way to get someone to drop what is in their hands is to punch them in the nose.” Katherine replied, that she was going all out with all she had.

“That is amazing, what do you do in your spare time?” Chad asked.historical

“Muscles training, stretching, swinging the sword, and dreaming of the fights I saw before and how will I do in them,” Katherine replied, she sounded a bit sad since Chad wasn’t fazed by any of her carefully crafted plans.

Chad had a big smile on his face with shiny teeth glowing, “An unpolished gem that has a stunning glow. Considering the lack of experience, you’re probably the most talented swordsman I saw in years.”

“Thank you, what should we do next?” Katherine replied with a big smile.

“First I will teach you a set of moves that I want you to get down to muscle memory, after that we will get to the second stage.” Chad put a foot ahead, and with his back straight, he swung his blade at a 45-degree angle.

Katherine copied his stance and started repeating the same swing over and over, her training under Chad has just started and she is going to make the most of it.