The Northern Noble is a Grinder (Chapter 5)

The Northern Noble is a Grinder (Chapter 5)

…

Increasing the abilities of the body was beneath nobility. Our path was to cast great spells, change the course of battle with words, and threaten the safety of entire cities with our presence. Knighthood was for those who needed to supplement their lacking reserves with martial might, but even they enchanted their weapons instead of mere physical enhancement. That was the path of the soldiers and even conscripts for meagre bursts of strength to keep themselves alive.

To improve the body’s strength, speed, and senses was to waste power that could be otherwise used for greater deeds.

Thus, such crude techniques were taught to children should they need to retreat or defend themselves against miscreants.

How I wished such was not the case, as I my power faltered, and I was unable to kill another slime once more.

“Oi, you’re going to embarrass yourself less if you use a rock or something. It’s obvious you can’t use that anymore.” Lord Trelawney hovered over the hive, seated in midair in a throne made of his armor, and projecting lights for Alice and I to continue our work. After lunch, he took us aside, and showed us a better method. From the teaming mass of slimes, we pulled small groups by throwing rocks, and killed those who we angered away from the hive. The rate at which we dispatched the slimes increased drastically from the simple change, but unlike Alice I was lacking in the ability to keep going. “Is it really that bad to pick up a rock and just kill something with it?”

The temptation to do as he said was high. Alice long abandoned her pride and used a hunk of stone that fit well into her hand to swiftly dispatch the amalgams of magic and matter that approached us. I would’ve felt betrayed, if not for the dullness of her eyes and the mechanical nature of her movements. Behind her glassy stare, there was little else besides discipline keeping her upright and fighting.

However, I was already debasing myself enough.

I will not abandon magic completely.

“Yes, it is that bad. There are some lines I will never cross.” The mere thought of it repulsed me. All my years of tutoring, learning, and training at my family’s expense, and I turn to using a rock instead of improving my body? An heiress raised to become queen reduced to using rocks like a madwoman in the middle of a frozen forest? No. I couldn’t stoop that low. Even if I wanted to. “If you can offer some more of your teachings, I would be immensely grateful, Lord Trelawney.”

“Guess you’ve been doing a good enough job, and that you’re learning to ask for help. Alright. How about this? Speed and weight results in force. Right now, you can’t manifest enough weight covering your hand in power, so how about speed?” He raised up a hand. Two orbs formed of the metal under his command. One was larger, while the other small. He sped the larger one at one amalgam of frost and primal magic as fast as one could throw a ball. Then, the smaller one at the speed of an arrow. Both creatures he picked came apart and died in an eerily similar way. He recalled both, set them alight, and the creature’sremains burned before he re-included the metal into the floating mass. “You obviously can’t hold an edge anymore or make a spike, while your reserves aren’t enough to make a club on your hands, so you’ve got only one choice.”

“Moving at such high speed requires improving my senses. If I do that now, I may die.” Magic comes easily to those of noble birth. Countless generations of careful breeding made sure of it. We can feel magic more easily, grasp it earlier, and encourage its growth within us at an earlier age. It flowed through us more easily, and with the right mental training, education, and practice, we can cast great spells that can decide the course of conflicts when we reach our prime. The power to shatter castle walls coursing through the mind and senses? I could cripple myself or die.

Lord Trelawney shrugged at my statement.

“That’s why I told you to use a rock, princess. Now, are you going to keep complaining, or are you going to shut up and prove your worth?”

Pick up a stone and fight like a savage, spitting on all that I have endured and that has been given to me.

Or, risk everything, just to keep holding my head high?

The choice… there was no choice.

I closed my eyes and found it. The tiniest threads that coursed through the material form. The threadlike things through which all sensation traveled and where all impulse was conveyed. Tiny, delicate threads that would break permanently if mishandled… and finally where the soul was kept within the body. The wrinkled mass within the skull, where memory, instinct, and thought were made and conveyed onto mortal flesh.

With careful training, fine soldiers could ascend to higher ranks and even knighthood by learning to improve their senses and ability to react. Even those with the tiniest amount of magic could train to move so swiftly and precisely with enhanced bodies that they could threaten any mage or knight when properly armed. But they are all typically base born, commoners, and they only had to tame a spring while I had to control a torrent.  

Carefully, with all the precision I could muster, I allowed magic to seep into my brain and nerves.

My vision immediately ran red, my senses became too keen, and nausea built up.

But I pulled back the amount I pressed into those tiny threads and managed to stay standing.

“Good job. Just a few popped blood vessels in your eyes and a nosebleed.” Lord Trelawney spoke, and I turned his way. With magic permeating my senses, I could no longer see the boy. Instead, in a throne of metals aglow with ancient enchantments, there was a barely constrained being of pure power in his shape. Beneath the gaunt flame, there was a being that was almost there. Almost on the final step to divinity, before he would have to leave the mortal plane and become divine. “Now, go on and start killing. You have three hours to kill three hundred more slimes. Chop-chop.”

The scent of blood permeated my nose, my vision was tinted red and blurred, but with my senses improved… I could do as he asked.

With greater speed to make up for my lack of force, I strode forward with blood marring my features, as I strode forward to kill once more.

Then, I learned that improving my senses made the fear and terror of the things I killed all the clearer, and that puking while my sense of taste was improved was horrific.

…

Upon our return, we were treated like royalty. Baths were drawn from us with tinctures added to soothe our weary bodies and encourage increased vitality. After the bath, a veritable feast of roasted meats, breads, and fresh fruit were given to us, and both Alice and myself consumed it all without blinking. After the meal, we received more alchemical concoctions, and imbibed them to speed up our healing and rest.

Then, after a morning and afternoon of hard practice, it was time for theory.

Thankfully, Lord Trelawney allowed us to take our classes reclining on leisure chairs, so that we could both rest our bodies after enduring the harsh day. Rather than a luxury, of course, it was a requirement. We were set to repeat our performance tomorrow with hardier creatures.

“This is the Frost Worm. It is one of the most common monsters in these lands. They consume bark by spitting acid on it, then consume it.” Chalkboards on wheels were brought into the guest wing and situated before the fireplace, around which all the chairs and furnishing were settled around. Maps floated in the air in easy view for both myself and Alice. We were both in nightgowns, but covered in coats, as even with the fire the night in Lord Trelawney’s fief was cold. The windows looking outside were alive with swirling snows. “They are at the very bottom of the predator and prey structure on this land. Everything eats them. They protect themselves by moving in packs under the snow, and when threatened, they spit acid on their foes, and try to swarm and bite them.”

He pointed at the maps.

“They move through the forests, and underneath snow. To facilitate your hunt, I’ll be melting most of it to make them easier to find.” He was casual regarding his ability. Though Alice raised an eyebrow, after seeing his true strength, I was sure he was capable of the feat. “Do the same as today, pull them in small packs, kill them fast, rest, and find another pod. In these territories, they know better than to try anything, but if something happens… just use magic to dig straight down and wait until the screaming stops.”

“Shouldn’t we run, instead of hunkering down in a place we don’t know?” Alice asked, perturbed by the suggestion.

“You might be plenty fast, but the tribals can run as fast as the winter winds in blizzards. Some sort of primal magic. Concealment is your best bet, especially since they’ll try to hold you hostage in exchange for their lives.”

“I thought you swore to protect us and that we’re guests, my lord?” Alice played coy, earning a rolling of the eyes from the young lordling. He was also in linen pajamas. The fact that he had a night cap on accentuated his youth. If he carried a teddy bear, it’d be easy to think that he was younger than he was. “If you can’t save us, perhaps it’d be best to choose a different creature to hunt?”

“Nah, that’d be even more dangerous. Everything after these are a lot more lethal, especially if you haven’t maxed out on the Worms.” Lord Trelawney shook his head and yawned. “Guess I’ll go ahead and wipe out a few villages on the border, while I’m melting away the snow. Keep those guys off our backs.”

Alice promptly paled.

She had inadvertently given Lord Trelawney ample reason to kill hundreds of tribal peoples.

Her pallor was a sign for me to make a move.

“I would rather you be ready to defend us at a moment’s notice, rather than be tired and trying to repel survivors of such an attack, Lord Trelawney.” I smiled at him as charmingly as I could. He blinked at me with gloomy eyes uncaring for my charm. Not even the slightest blush.

“I’ve seen you puke your guts out, princess. You’re not charming me.” He scoffed and I felt my face burn, while Alice suddenly glances away. That may as well have been her laughing heartily with how conspicuous the move was. I’ll have words with her later. “And, there wouldn’t be survivors. Those guys on the border are living on borrowed time already.”

I cleared my throat to get the topic away from the destruction of multiple villages for the sake of our safe hunt.

“Regardless, I prefer not to be involved in your war, Lord Trelawney. Please, let us return to the earlier plan for us entrusting you with our protection as we hunt. No need for… aggressive defensive measures.” I held my hands up at him and waved them, as if to try and shoo him away from the idea. The simple move somehow had him grunt in displeasure, which was a sure sign that he took my words seriously. “I will send my father a letter regarding your grand hospitality, as thanks. I am sure that he can send more supplies and traders, our way.”

“…Fine, fine. I’ll keep things clean where the two of you are concerned. But if they start targeting the two of you, the retribution needs to be brutal.”

“I hold no issue with that. Reprisal is fine. They must know better than to try to raise their hand against myself or Alice.”

Lord Trelawney dipped his head to acquiesce, before turning back to his chalkboard. He began to erase the contents upon it, then presented a new subject.

Farming.

Such was what he called the mass killing of monsters.

“Alright, moving on. The two of you learned a lot today. Mostly because I let you both make lots of mistakes. You went out there ready for war, instead of farming. That changes today. So, first, tell me what you’ll do differently tomorrow.”

Like a senior teacher, he questioned both me and Alice to better understand us both.

Alice raised her hand first.

“We went in there without a plan, instead of asking you how we should do it. You have far more experience in the matter.” Alice spoke, and Lord Trelawney nodded. He placed ‘information gathering and utilization’ on the board, then underlined it. Behind all the coarseness and lack of decorum, I was reminded of the fact that this child was incredibly bright. He condensed Alice’s words into a single phrase. “We need to ask before we set out, so that we can be best prepared for the task on hand.”

“Great start. If you’d done that, your armor and weapons wouldn’t be with the smiths right now, and you’d have had an easier time fighting.” I grimaced. He was correct. If I brought along weighed club, wore a padded gambeson and some armored breeches, I would’ve been able to fight against the amalgams of frost without any issue. Not merely my arms and armor, but my effort would’ve been saved. “Now, how about you, Princess?”

I looked at the board, searching for something that didn’t fall under information, before sighing and swallowing my pride.

“I should have used the rock, instead of risking my life.” Lord Trelawney seemed surprised by my admittance of wrongdoing, while Alice looked at me with quiet pride. I bowed my head and acknowledged my mistake. “I risked too much for far too little.”

“…Well said, princess.” He nodded before placing another simple phrase on the board. ‘Cost against reward.’ Another succinct phrase with enormous depth. He underlined both, then wrote something himself. “Now, here’s what I think you two are lacking the most in.”

A single word ‘efficiency’ was writ on the board with chalk and my brow furrowed.

We’d both killed a thousand slimes each within the day, but we were still lacking in terms of speed?

How could that be?

My question must’ve been obvious as Lord Trelawney smiled at me, and I felt a chill go down my spine.

It was the same chill that I felt before he grabbed me by the neck and held me off the side of a ship.

His explanation cannot be good.