Sasha's fierce aura immediately faded away as she rushed into the crater to help Lucas up. Grabbing his arm, Sasha pulled Lucas up. Watching him dust himself off while his back let out audible cracks, Sasha' brows furrowed as her ears dropped,

"Are you okay, sir Lucas?"

The craters formed on the training mended themselves as Lucas stood. With a bright smile, he responded,

"I'm better than okay, I am actually stronger than before."

Evélyne walked towards them as she added on.

"Yes. How is that possible?"

Lucas' joy mellowed out slightly as he said,

"During our battle, I was injured. My Physique was crippled to four points at the time… Not that it would have mattered though."

Evélyne and Sasha looked at Lucas in amazement, the latter's expression far more pronounced as Evélyne asked,

"Then why did you attack me with such a handicap?"

Lucas' tendrils whipped around lazily as he said,

"I knew we were bound to fight. Maybe it was due to Pike or my natural intuition… I just knew our clash was inevitable. So, I decided to strike first. Running and hiding is not our—I mean, my style…"

Lucas' gaze became a little lost at this point. Evélyne fell into thought while Sasha quietly asked,

"Sir Lucas?"

Lucas snapped back to focus,

"Yeah?"

"Who is Pike?"

"Oh, it's just the Domain core I was linked to. For some reason when I woke up here, I couldn't sense it anymore."

An awkward silence formed between the trio once more. Lucas tried to move away from the topic as he asked,

"So, can I get more formal training now?"

Evélyne snapped out of her musings, her voice neutral as she spoke,

"Not really? There's no official training regiment I or Sasha followed. We just sparred with much stronger opponents until we came up with our own styles."

Lucas tendrils froze mid motion,

"Seriously? Isn't that's dangerous?"

Evélyne just nodded faintly as she continued,

"It is. That's why we train here in the manor. Our knowledge of the healing arts is rather flawless. Not to mention mother's expertise."

Lucas nodded in understanding. If everyone was already superhuman and had magical doctors around, the training regiments here should be very different. Evélyne continued,

"That being said, we can still point out some flaws in your martial arts foundation. Right now your biggest one is seeking formlessness without mastery of a proper form to begin with."

"Huh?"

Seeing Lucas' confused look, Evélyne summoned three big cushions. Two were placed closer together with the last one placed opposite to them. The three of them took their seats. Evélyne began petting Sasha as she explained,

"What you are attempting to do is build a house without any foundation. At a glance, it is obvious you have never practiced any form of martial arts in depth. But you try to adapt to and overwhelm your opponents with a flurry of blows, banking on a lucky hit to finish the fight. Or simply overpower them with raw speed and power. That doesn't work against an opponent who out-skills you by a large margin, hence you're always at the losing end against us."

Lucas easily grasped what she was saying but there was still one problem,

"So… how do I acquire a form?"

Evélyne's hand paused on Sasha's hair. With a calm smile, she said,

"That's simple, it has to be beaten into you through sparring.

Undeterred, Lucas smiled as his eyes blazed with fighting spirit.

"Bring it on!"

Since he wanted to get stronger, what better teacher could he ask for than these two? He thrived off combat, this, he was confident in. It was all a matter of time.

The trio stood up and Evélyne left the field once more, taking her cushions with her. Acting as a referee, she began the next match.

What followed was hours of sparring and corrections. Each sparring session between them was a treasure trove of knowledge for Lucas as it enabled him to rapidly comprehend the ways of the fist. After about four hours, Lucas called for a time out.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Deeply satisfied with the day's training, Lucas left for the library after saying his goodbyes. Instead of "reading" up on things related to his status screen, he tried to apply the same mentality as his martial arts training.

"Let's build a solid foundation first. Let's see… geography…"

After a few hours of studying, Lucas headed for his room and immediately passed out. Completely drained mentally.

———

Three days later…

Lucas awoke to a bright morning. With a satisfied yawn, he stretched as he stood up. His bones popped as he extended his limbs, standing a full head taller. Speaking of limbs, he no longer had his four tendrils on his back, leaving him with a broad but normal back.

As he went to his bathroom, his long bushy tail swung behind him. After a quick brush and freshening up, he winked at his reflection. His canines sparkled as he smiled at himself. His expression dimmed slightly as his large, wolfish ears dropped.

"Am I taking this 'proper form' thing a little too far… nah. I have a clear goal, learning martial arts. And this helps me fit in more."

After reminding himself of his goals, he left the bathroom. He got into the dressing room and swapped his pajamas for his trusty tunic. With the nudge of his will, it morphed into a modified karate gi. It had a white belt but multiple red stripes raced from his shoulders to wrists and from his waist to ankles.

His tail swished behind him as he analyzed clothes. With a nod, he left his dressing room as he said to himself.

"Today's the day. I can feel it. Today's the day I finally land a hit. Then maybe I can—Arrgh!"

He clutched his heart in pain. An intangible force gripped on his core like a vice, the burst of pain reminding him of current standing.

"Intercourse—faeces! Ahh! Dang it!… I keep forgetting about the [Pact]."

Forcefully closing his eyes, he exhaled a deep breath while retracting his aura. When he opened, his eyes were focused but his curved lips betrayed his good mood.

"It's fine. All this is temporary."

Loosening up, he stepped outside, strolling through the vast manor with silent steps. His bare feet felt comfortable on the cool floor. Moving forward with a decent stride, Lucas greeted the staff he came across.

"Hey, Laendo. How are you doing?"

The Beastkin guard who stood nearest to Lucas tapped his chest twice as he saluted, his white fur and ever paler eyes quite unique.

"I'm doing quite well, master Lucas. On to your daily training?"

Lucas flashed teeth as he said,

"You know it. I have to move ahead now. Catch you Later, Laendo."

Laendo nodded with a slight smile as he said,

"May the queen guide your fists, master Lucas."

Lucas resumed his trek. On his way, he greeted quite a few more attendants he had gotten to know over his stay. Even though their interactions over these past few days had been very sparse, Lucas still enjoyed them more than he thought possible.

'Well, everyone is super nice here. I thought the queen censored me when she thought me Urashai, but it turns out they just don't have curse words and a bunch of other words...'

He chuckled to himself at the thought as he added,

'I should make up some and teach Sasha. Or I could teach her PG curses? If Evélyne figures out I taught her curses, I might get into serious trouble with her… well that would be the case if she knew what curses are….'

As he contemplated this very important matter, he kept walking. A few minutes, Lucas was at the training field. At the center of the field, Evélyne and Sasha sat quietly on their cushions. Sasha's tail was wrapped around Evélyne's waist as they held hands. Seeing Lucas coming into the training yard, they both stood up and the cushions vanished with a crimson light.

"Good morning you two."

"Good morning, sir Lucas."

"Good morning, Lucas. You seem excited today."

Lucas' right ear twitched, his tail swinging slightly faster as he said,

"Yeah. Today is the day I beat Sasha in a spar."

"Oh.

Evélyne turned to Sasha while the Beastkin looked up at her mistress, her gaze unflinching. Evélyne let go of her hand and pet her twice before moving off the field.

"You ready Sasha?"

Lucas asked, full of anticipation. Sasha took a deep breath and closed her eyes, her maid gown morphed into her martial robes. When she re-opened her eyes, a wild aura was released from her neutral form. Lucas grinned, his canines gleaming as gusts of wind erupted around them.

'Even though she isn't using the vast majority of her power, her aura is almost as terrifying as the first phase of the Yggorin Domain lord.'

Watching them both wrap their tails around their waists and enter an identical basic stance—clawed left hand forward, clenched right fist at their waist. left foot forward, right foot planted—Evélyne's calm voice cut through the charged silence.

"…Begin!

Boom!

Both combatants raced forward and clashed fists before jumping back, a blast of air exploding through out the field. Undeterred, they rushed forward and unleashed a series of deadly strikes against each other. Their clashes picked up in both speed and power as they blasted out powerful gushes of wind and shockwaves.

After three days of sparring, Lucas could perfectly replicate Sasha's style. If it had to describe it in one word, it would be—ferocious. Each move she made went for the kill or set up the killing blow.

90% of her strikes went for the eyes, ears, and heart. Her sharp claws ripped up Lucas' face, neck, and limbs with each exchange. Lucas wasn't left behind however as Sasha was equally battered.

'Seems Lucas wasn't joking. This should be fun to watch.

Evélyne watched on with razor sharp focus. She had to make sure no one got hurt in this spar.

Bang!

Sasha feinted with her right claw, retracted it, then swept Lucas with a blistering left low kick. Lucas lost his footing and fell forward slightly. Sasha capitalized with a blistering claw strike to the throat, aiming to end the match.

To her surprise, Lucas caught her strike with both hands at the last moment. Before she could react, he corrected his stance and pulled her forward, performing a sharp knee strike to her gut. Sasha rose a leg to block before Lucas smirked as he retracted his leg.

'Gotcha.'

With a powerful twist of his waist, he pulled Sasha even more and spun her into a powerful throw. The wind howled as he swung her like a whip into the training field.

Boom!

With a powerful explosion of dust and debris, Sasha was planted into the training field. Lucas didn't let up as he immediately stomped at her head. Sasha rose an arm to block but Evélyne's voice caused both of them to freeze.

"Stop. Lucas wins"

Lucas' retracted his leg and helped Sasha up while Evélyne approached.

"Are you okay, Sasha?"

Lucas asked after letting go of Sasha's arm. Sasha tailed wagged as she said,

"I'm fine, sir Lucas. That was a great feint. In pure martial arts, I'm not ahead of you by much anymore and its just be three days of sparring."

Evélyne added,

"Yes Lucas, your progress is quite remarkable."

Lucas smiled,

"Yes, it has if I do say so myself. So what now? I feel like I understand forms now."

Sasha moved over to her mistress while Evélyne said,

"You now have to integrate your Spirit manipulation and your Skills into the fighting style you create. As I said before, your style is your own. How you proceed from here is your decision. I do recommend you read up on focused meditation however, it shall be of great help to you."

Lucas nodded with a serious expression as he considered this. He then turned to Sasha,

"Wanna spar some more?"

She nodded immediately and stepped forward. Evélyne smiled at this and moved back to referee once more.

"…Begin!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.