Chapter Thirty-Three: Planning & Plotting a Murder – Part One

Chapter Thirty-Three: Planning & Plotting a Murder – Part One

After dinner, I went to the backyard with Kokan to have another sparring session with him. Well, that was the plan. I foolishly believed the only way to get stronger was through a ‘trial by fire’ of getting my ass kicked. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I was an idiot. Getting battered, broken, and bruised with strikes I couldn’t hope to see was a masochist’s wet dream, and I wasn’t the biggest fan of taking pointless damage. However, I couldn’t deny it helped me become more efficient in healing my wounds via biomass, but it wasn’t enough.

"Hmm? Is there something on your mind?” Kokan asked before we started. He was stretching and preparing his muscles. I explained my thoughts and wondered if this was really the best way. “I’m glad you came to that conclusion by yourself.”

“Huh? You knew this wouldn’t help me? Why didn’t you say anything?” I asked, only slightly annoyed.

“Because I am an educator. I guide my students to the correct answer because I want them to grow. Why would I deprive them of a chance to better themselves? I’m proud of you for coming to this conclusion without any hints from me. But yes. What we did in our first session did very little to help you other than increase your proficiency in using biomass to heal your wounds. In that regard, I’d say it was a success. But in my eyes, it would be more apt to begin with the basics of the spear instead of a sword since you have the weapon skill [Spear]. First, let’s start with the Iron Tree Stance. It is said that all other spear stances trace their origins to it, hence the name. You can find its roots in any spearmen worth their weapon.”

“Okay, yeah. That sounds good. Let’s do it,” I replied, picking up a wooden spear. With something new in mind, Kokan spent an hour and a half teaching me the bare basics.

A lot went into the placement of your hands and how far away they were from the other, as well as if you held it more towards the tip rather than the bottom base. But like the name suggested, the Iron Tree was a stance with many options. It was flexible to be a jack of all trades, and you could defend, attack, and evade from any of its core movements or strikes. You could think of it like a flow chart. A quick thrust could easily flow into a backwards dodge, and that could be chained into a flourish to strike anyone standing behind you, or you can combo a second dodge and emerge back into the basic stance.

Kokan quickly assured me of something. You wouldn’t be considered a master of the spear unless you were proficient enough to add your branch to the Iron Tree—that is, nurture your own style of spearmanship and make it your own. Metaphorically speaking, of course. According to Kokan, you weren’t the one who decided if you were good enough. Instead, you were sought out. Well, hunted, more like it, by those who had added their own branches. There were rumors that the iron tree the stance was named after was a real tree made of iron. If it existed, its location would be a secret only known to those who had carved a branch into it.

I’m not one for traditions...but that sounds cool... Mastering a style and making it my own...

Eventually, my muscles started to ache from overuse. Pumping them full of biomass worked wonders at removing the pain, but I wanted to endure it since it was proof of my determination to better myself. When it was too much, I collapsed to my ass and watched Kokan, a layer of sweat staining my shirt’s collar. Even my gloves felt gross, but I kept them on.

For the next fifteen minutes, I watched Irisa’s father. He performed the stance, motions, and strikes he taught me, but he moved like molasses. Then he gradually sped it up. This was designed to train my eyes to bring out the full potential of [Eyes of the Huntress]. But at some point, he was just too fast for me to follow. Sweat glistened off his toned body, and his magnificent black horns and piercing yellow eyes were sturdy and determined.

I wanted to end this session with another sparring match, but Kokan refused. His arguments held merit, and I guess I didn’t want Tilde to suffer any more pain tonight. Instead, we ended the night by practicing with [String Shot] and [Web Bomb]. The backyard was fenced in, so we had little to worry about. But Kokan threw items in the air, and I caught them with my webs. Sure, we just spent 30 minutes, so it wasn’t a surprise the skills didn’t evolve into [Web Manipulation].

When we returned to the living room, it was late—pretty much time for bed—and we all said our goodnights. Since Kokan was back in their lives, Irisa knew her dad wanted to spend some time with her mom. And because Sekh, Tilde, and I had Irisa’s room, that just left the kitchen. There was that couch, and Irisa decided it would serve her head well. I wanted to offer my bed to her. Sure, it was a tight fit with three bodies, but I didn’t think I was ready to get ‘that’ close to someone. Eating and training was one thing, but allowing someone that wasn’t Sekh or Tilde to see me in my most vulnerable state? One could argue that I had no reason not to permit it since Irisa and her mother had seen me totally nude and in a state of near death, but I thought the opposite and wanted to wait.

Maybe Irisa looked disappointed I didn’t offer, but she didn’t vocalize her dispiritedness. Because of that, my heart had no regrets when I closed the door and placed Beccy’s shield against the door. I still did that. I just felt more comfortable that way. I trusted them with my life, but it was hard to break a habit created out of necessity when you were no longer in danger.

But maybe in the future... I’ll be confident enough to share a bed with you. Can you wait for me, Irisa?

Sekh already had the bath warmed and ready, and she jumped in first. I decided to sit between her legs and rested my head between her tits. I’d done this before, but it never got old. She wrapped her hands around my stomach and rubbed. Even wet, the fur on her arms and legs was so soft and fluffy.

“Hmm... That hits the spot,” I moaned, turning my head and kissing and licking her breasts and nipples. Her angelic touch and warmed water washed the soreness of training away.

“I’m glad you like it, my liege,” Sekh whispered. A few seconds later, Tilde, after recovering from our shared injuries, flew into the bathroom, stripped, and jumped right in. I started to apologize, but Tilde cut me off. She outright demanded that my training had better be worth the anguish she felt. On top of that, she ordered that I sew her a cute dress to her exact specifications when she felt my skill was up to it. “Whatever you want, Tilde,” I replied. Then I closed my eyes and relaxed the night away.

Well, I wanted to do that, but I couldn’t because I had to plan a murder. Sekh took my sigh as something to worry about, but I calmed her heart. “Everything’s fine. I’m just trying to figure out how to kill Noelia.”

“Where are they at now?” Tilde asked.

I expanded my map and said they were in the dungeon. Satellite mode told me they were camping out in front of the boss’s chambers in the mines. It was Noelia and her four attendants. Their names weren’t important because they were going to die. The five of them surrounded a campfire and ate dinner. After Noelia ate her piece, she reached into the fire to grab a second helping of meat with her bare hands. Quickly, I moved the map to Niva—the half-breed Cyclops and Lizardfolk—and saw her hand burn. She was placed away from the others. She wasn’t naked, but the torn brown shirt exposed her sensitive bits. With a dull eye, Niva just sat there and waited for death to claim her. It probably wouldn’t be long, though, since her HP was about 10%. Death’s scythe was probably going to swing any day now.

I relayed what I saw but stopped because Noelia and her four attendants stood up, talked a bit, and walked into the boss’s chambers. Over the next few minutes, new wounds appeared to corrupt Niva’s skin as it sizzled and smoked. I peeked inside the boss’s arena and saw Noelia walk through a field of fire and lighting coming from her hammer.

Back to Niva, her limping wrist grasped the bag of potions next to her, but she didn’t have the strength to pop the cork. Her other arm was strangely sharpened at the shoulder. The cyclops struggled to open her mouth, bit into the vial, and swallowed both liquid and glass.

How odd... That potion did nothing.

Irisa and Sekh were cheering me on from the sidelines. After nodding to Kokan, he rushed forward and stopped, bringing his hulking, sweaty body to an immediate standstill. He held the spear with both hands and alternated between tensing and relaxing his muscles and taking stances I didn’t know about. A twitch of the eye or nose followed, but those were feints designed to make me move.

I responded with one of my own, jerking to the left while reversing the grip on my spear. I shot a web out from my left elbow. Kokan’s sharp, yellow eyes followed the strand and slammed his spear down where it touched the ground, yet his attack thrashed thin air because I did not follow through.

The opportunity was there, and I was going to take it. I turned my body and held my spear as if I was readying a quick thrust. Kokan recovered quickly and swung his spear in a wide arc, fully intending on cracking my jaw when the impossible happened.

His strike was no longer instantaneous.

I saw it...

I saw it...

I saw it!!!

It was perceivable for less than I would have liked, but I saw his arm mid-swing. Instinctively, I shot a web from my elbow directly to the ground, dragging me down and dirtying my cheeks with bloody mud as his swing completely missed me. Meanwhile, I shot web from where the spear touched my hand, launching it right at his unprotected chin. The wooden tip grazed him, inflicting the tiniest cut that didn’t even bleed...

But even if it was minor, it was a wound.

An injury.

A strike...

It might not have been clean, but it was proof I was improving!

I had nothing! I started from nothing! I did this! I! Did! This! My hard work was paying off!

“My liege!” Sekh rushed forward and almost threw herself on top of me. “You did it! You did it!” She cheered her heart out and gave me a congratulatory kiss. Irisa hugged me when she lifted me up with one hand, and Tilde flew around my head and approvingly stared, clapping her hands as a show of affection.

“Do you know what happened?” Kokan asked me while Sekh dusted me off.

“Yeah. I’m finally adjusting to [Eyes of the Huntress].”

“That’s right. If you can see that, then I feel more confident doing these full-contact sparring matches more often. But this will be the last one for today. Now that you’ve seen it, you need to focus on what you felt during that moment. Let’s head back to the Iron Tree Stance’s basics. I’m going to go at full speed, so mirror me the best you can. And don’t try to predict what I’m going to do.”

"Got it,” I said, lifting my spear while assuming the core stance. Kokan took it as well, and we were off. This was another exercise I liked because it taught me to split my attention between focusing on my instructor and my body, something I had trouble with. Kokan always had a different way to chain the stance’s movements, strikes, and dodges together. Then once that was done, he helped me add my web dodges to the mix and refined them even more.

Before long, Sekh went inside the house with Irisa. She returned wearing her armor, and Irisa held the matching set she promised to make me. Like she said, a few alterations came with it. The backside had small holes for my spider legs. And even though it was short notice, she had modified the elbows to have small holes for my webs to shoot from. They matched perfectly with the gaps in my shirt. Potentially being exposed sounded bad, but everything was situated in a manner where accidentally revealing my secret was not something I needed to be concerned with.

I quickly ran inside to change, then hustled back outside to move around to get used to the weight it added to my body.

When my training ended, and Kokan had to excuse himself for a few hours, Sekh approached me. I didn’t give her a chance to speak before throwing Kokan’s wooden spear towards her. She grabbed it out of the air, smiled, and we each took a combat stance.

She had multiple lifetimes to master the art of killing, and she was a far more technical fighter than me. I was knocked on my ass a dozen times, and Sekh was always there with a hundred different apologies. Really, there was no need for hard feelings since I always healed the damage. Besides, I told her it was an honor to fight against someone like her because I could always learn something from her. Whenever we fought in the dungeon, I was inspired by her brutality. She was like an angel of death, and I was watching someone I had all my faith in wipe out my enemies in her black flames of purifying destruction.

After exhausting ourselves, we took a small break before spending the next few hours going through the motions of the Iron Tree Stance until it was time to wash up for dinner.