Chapter 118: 54. Combat Training
The summer sun over Saint Nali can simply be described as scorching.
On other days when it rained, countless clouds would float in the sky, shielding the people below from the blazing sunlight. However, today, when Fisher started training, there was no such relief, and the unfiltered sunlight struck directly against his already heavy skin.
Under the sun, drops of sweat twisted down the contours of his muscles. He frowned, finding it difficult to endure, gripping tightly the coarse rope made from hemp in his hands. The rope secured heavy items from the stable behind him, such as a grindstone and wooden troughs.
Fisher pulled these items in circles in the yard, the demon magic wrapped around him glowing brightly, causing his body to emit a mournful cry.
But Eil, lying on the roof of the stable, showed no sympathy, even casting a dissatisfied glance at Fisher’s condition.
“Speed, you need to pick up the speed. Otherwise, the slowing effect of the magic will be useless, right?”
Fisher remained silent, silently using all his strength to drag the items behind him, struggling forward. His well-built muscles began to form even more as he exerted himself. He maintained this speed for several laps before finally dropping the hemp rope to the ground, breathing heavily and massaging his shoulders.
As drops of sweat trickled down, Fisher felt extremely hot, a suffocating, oppressive feeling rising in his heart, making him feel very uncomfortable.
Eil stroked her chin, observing Fisher, evidently noticing his condition. However, instead of speaking up, she pointed outside and said,
“We should head over there for a bit of exercise. You should be feeling quite sore by now; next, you need to expend your stamina. The initial training volume is a bit larger because your body has been dormant for too long; it requires a good push to wake it up. Afterward, we can reduce the volume a bit, and paired with my magic, the effects will look quite good.”
“Is running okay?”
Fisher raised his arm and flexed his fingers, which were slightly trembling, an extreme soreness surging up. Although he felt uncomfortable, he was not yet exhausted. He thought for a moment and realized that running might be the best way to expend his stamina.
“Sure, go ahead, come back when you can’t run anymore.”
Eil nodded indifferently, not wanting to move after lying down. The scorching sunlight was just right for her, although it was a bit too glaring, so she used her tail as an eye mask to cover her eyes, comfortably settling in for a nap.
Fisher glanced at her, pushed open the door, took a deep breath of the fresh air outside, and then sprinted out at full speed. With every inhale and exhale, even with the burden of the demon’s magic, his speed remained incredibly fast. He was not wearing shoes, afraid of damaging his few pairs of dress shoes, so he only wore a pair of black suit pants.
As Fisher adjusted his breathing while running, sweat droplets fell rapidly from his body, splattering on the ground and causing a nearby gold beetle to flip over.
His route mostly circled around his laboratory but slightly veered toward Saint Nali University, so as not to run in the opposite direction towards the royal tombs and risk being captured as an illegal individual.
His speed was fast, and soon he spotted the white house of the “Southern Continent Subhuman Protection Association.” He looked in that direction and happened to see Xiatu, the centaur girl in a skirt, watering her vegetables outside with a watering can.
Fisher paused his run and approached the fence.
“Ah, Mr. Fisher! What are you doing here? Why aren’t you wearing any clothes?”
Xiatu greeted instinctively but then noticed the beads of sweat on his taut muscles. Her face turned slightly red, and she used the watering can to block her view but then peeked out from behind it to complain to him.
“I came to exercise. I dropped by twice before, but you weren’t here. Is it because of the New Party business?”
“Ah, yes. The mid-term elections are coming up soon, and I heard recently they’ve been busy with other things. It seems another nation of humans is about to visit, so they can’t hold seminars when that happens. That’s why the seminar activities have been scheduled quite frequently lately.”
Xiatu set down the watering can and explained to Fisher,
“Once the visit is over, voting for the elections will start. Recently, I’ve been accompanying them to other cities, and I just got back today.”
“I see. As long as you’re okay, I’ll come by again later.”
Fisher nodded, a statement that made Xiatu shyly glance at him. Then, looking suddenly at the fields outside, she proposed,
“Hey, why don’t you wait for me? I haven’t gone running in a while either. Since we’re exercising, let me join you.”
“You? What if you run too fast, and I can’t keep up?”
Fisher shot a glance at her four legs and then at his own, thinking that by number alone, he would be no match for the centaur girl.
However, she had already put down her watering can and turned to head back to her house, smiling back at Fisher.
“Don’t worry; I’ll keep pace with you. Just give me a moment to change.”
Fisher nodded as he waited outside, and it wasn’t long before Xiatu walked out of her house.
He saw that she had tied her long hair into a high ponytail, which looked somewhat strange from a human perspective. Fisher hadn’t seen such a hairstyle in the Western Continent. Her skirt had also changed to a simpler and more modest design, resembling her tribe’s attire.
The focus of this outfit was on her equine parts; although it lacked the intricate beauty of Nali style, it was well-suited to her subhuman aspects. The light fabric clung to her, covering certain areas while not hindering her running movements, clearly made for those of the centaur race who love to run.
“Let’s go.”
She easily leaped over the fence, landing beside Fisher, raising her hooves slightly as if preparing for a pre-run warm-up.
Fisher nodded, adjusted his breathing, but suddenly seemed to remember something and asked,
“Is it okay for you to go out with me?”
“What’s the problem? They only care about me when they need something.”
Xiatu shrugged indifferently and then focused her gaze ahead. After hearing her response, Fisher stopped worrying and ran alongside her from the white house.
Compared to centaurs, human running speed was indeed nothing noteworthy. Even with the demon’s burden magic, this speed could only be described as a jog by centaur standards. When Xiatu picked up her pace a little, Fisher found it very difficult to keep up.
She gracefully placed her hands at her sides, and her upper body leaned slightly forward, seemingly fitting more in line with their running rhythm.
After running several laps with her, once Fisher was utterly exhausted, he leaned against the shade of a tree to rest for a moment.
“Mr. Fisher, I’ve been wanting to ask since earlier, what is that bright glow on your body?”
“It’s a magic for weight training.”
Seeing Fisher drenched in sweat and resting in the shade, Xiatu darted into the house and brought him a towel, claiming it was a gift from the New Party. She had never used it, so this one was for Fisher.
After thanking her, Fisher wiped the perspiration from his body with the towel and explained that he was training with the weight magic.
Upon hearing this, she gasped, covered her mouth, and said,
“Oh, if you can run so fast with the burden, then without it, wouldn’t you run even faster? You’re truly human, not some dragon race hiding amongst humans, right?”
Well, it seemed that among the clans in the Southern Continent, the high physical abilities of the dragon race were well-known.
Fisher laughed and shook his head, standing up with the towel in his arms.
“Alright, I think I’m done training for today. I need to go wash myself. We can train together next time if you have time.”
Xiatu smiled and nodded in agreement,
“I’ll be free after the mid-term elections, so you can come by anytime then.”
Clutching the towel Xiatu gave him, Fisher slowly made his way back to his laboratory. He had just exhausted all his strength and was quite sore all over.
Fisher removed the glowing emblem on his body, and immediately, a refreshing sensation washed over him. He sighed in relief and soon returned to his laboratory. In the stable, Eil was still sleeping, although her drooping tail was still glowing with flames.
When Fisher walked in, she peeked her head up to see him enter through the front door.
“Oh, you’re back?”
Fisher nodded, glancing at the small creek flowing outside the stable. Not looking at her, he simply draped the towel over his back and said,
“I’m going to wash myself in the creek outside. You should wash up too; my room reeks of sulfur, it’s stifling.”
“Hey, that’s just the normal smell of demons. Even though I’m quite lazy, I still care about personal hygiene. I have three lava flows and hot springs in the dynasty—I love baths!”
“Alright, so hurry up and wash up.”
Eil sat up a little annoyed, watching as he removed his clothes and entered the creek to clean himself. She leaped down from the stable’s roof, ran to the creek’s edge, and dipped her tail into the water, the flames flickering in the water, showing no signs of extinguishing.
Feeling Eil’s proximity, Fisher was not shy at all; he just sat in the water washing himself, ignoring that demon’s intentions.
This made the demon behind him lick her lips, her gaze unabashedly fixed on him.
For a moment, there was no movement behind him. When he turned around again, Eil had already sprinted far away and was also cleaning herself.
This washing took quite some time. By the time Fisher changed out of the water and opened the door to the laboratory, the scene inside made him pause briefly.
Eil had her back to Fisher, seemingly fastening her chest wrap, and upon seeing Fisher return, she didn’t get angry. Instead, she suddenly remembered something and reminded him,
“Oh yes, I told you before, you should release your inventory quickly; otherwise, training after this will yield diminishing returns.”
She turned her head to look at Fisher but unexpectedly caught sight of his gaze, darkened significantly by her current appearance.
In an instant, her smile turned extremely wicked. Noticing his patience had reached its limit, she had just intended to use her tail to playfully invoke his desire when she saw Fisher closing the distance between them, abruptly tugging at the tail hanging behind her, and then leaned in.
“Hey, wait! You jerk!”
He indeed needed to release some inventory.
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(End of Chapter)
