《The World Inside a Dream》Chapter 7
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The beast-man that approached Lucius was not hostile at all; in fact, he was helpful. He was teaching Lucius how to use the blade.
"This is how you swing a sword," he said and demonstrated. He swung the blade with light speed and demolished a tree with a single slash. Then he lifted the sword up to the light and inspected it.
"Hm... good sharpness, good durability, good sword," he mumbled to himself.
"Uh..." Lucius tapped him on the shoulder. "Who are you?"
He seemed shocked for a second, then he apologized.
"Oh, forgive my rudeness," he said. "I am Balos Wolfblood, a wandering swordsman. I just saw you doing swordplay, so I felt the urge to teach you."
Hm... this guy seems cool, Lucius thought.
Balos taught the basics of swordplay to Lucius and he caught on fast. Soon, his body was drenched in sweat and his arms felt like they weighed a million pounds.
As they were taking a break, Lucius wondered something.
Why hasn't my conscious in the other world awakened yet? He questioned. Then he remembered what happened. Oh yeah, I got knocked out from that guy. Man, that sucks, Lucius thought.
Then Balos gave Lucius a progress report.
"Your physical structure isn't strong, but that will improve over time. Your dominate hand has already adapted to your blade, which is faster than what normal people can do. Hmm... what else..." Balos tapped his sword against his chin like it was no big deal.
Lucius cleared his throat.
"Can you demonstrate your own sword skill?" Lucius asked. Balos flashed a grin.
"Sure," He said and stood up. He lifted his massive sword up with one hand like it weighed nothing. He brought it down on a tree, and with an earsplitting crack! the tree blew apart and flew ten feet away.
"Whoa..." Lucius said in amazement. Balos then did a whirlwind of slashes so fast, Lucius was only able to see the after-images of the blade. When Balos stopped and returned back to Lucius, there wasn't a hint of fatigue on his face.
"You're amazing!" Lucius exclaimed. "Are there really people that are stronger than you?"
Balos nodded. "There are people that can take me down in one hit. To many, I'm just a fly."
Lucius shuddered at the thought of that.
Then, there was a rustling. Balos and Lucius looked in the direction and Lucius saw Luna emerge from the forest.
Balos seemed shocked for a moment, then recovered and stood up. He yanked his sword up and pointed it at Luna.
"You are of the dragon race. What are you doing here?" he demanded.
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"'Scuse me?" Luna asked, confused. "Lucius, who is this man?"
Lucius got up, despite his screaming limbs, and stood between Luna and Balos.
"Whoa whoa, there is a misunderstanding," he said.
"No, you don't understand. She's an evil person, a schemer. Do you not know of the hate between the trickery of the dragon race?" Balos locked his eyes with Luna and took up a stance.
"Hey whoa whoa whoa, hold it," Lucius said, trying to make his voice as firm as possible, which wasn't easy when you're between two powerhouses that could demolish Lucius in a second.
"What are you doing?" they both simultaneously said.
"Balos, Luna isn't a bad person. She's the reason why I'm alive right now and she helps me with everything. Luna, this is Balo. He's been teaching me how to use the sword you gave me," Lucius reasoned. Both sides seemed to grow a little less hostile.
Still, the air felt like the molecules were ripping apart into its individual protons, neutrons, and electrons. It was so tense that it seemed like the wind didn't want to go near.
Then, Balos sighed and lowered his sword. "I admit that I didn't think that Luna would be a bad person. A dragon in human form has to be different."
Lucius exhaled in relief. He wasn't sure if he could prevent the two from fighting.
Luna beamed and walked over. She shook hands with Balos and exchanged pleasantries. Lucius flopped back down to his chair and gazed out at the endless ocean.
He took out his katana and detached the top part. He swung it into the water and when it returned, he managed to not kill himself. He then practiced returning the blade after he launching it.
He got the technique down. Lucius would launch it out, maybe swing it a few times, then as its returning, he would press the button to attach the top part of the blade back to the hilt. No matter where the blade was, as soon as he pressed the button, it would come flying back to him and cleanly reattach to the sword.
This is some first class engineering, Lucius thought. He examined the blade. I got my hands on a really overpowered weapon.
Then, there was a loud sound of a sword clashing against something. Lucius jerked his head and saw Balos pressing his sword against Luna, who was gripping the sword with her bare hands and forcing Balos back.
"Hey hey! Stop fighting," Lucius yelled, running over while waving his arms. They stopped and faced Lucius.
"Kid, don't worry," Balos said. "This is just a mock fight."
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"Yeah, we aren't fighting for real," Luna said.
"Oh," Lucius said. He walked inside since he wasn't interested into being turned into pulp. He saw the carcass of the Eloon and got an idea. He threw a fire crystal into the fire pit, dropped a few pieces of wood in, then quickly made a wooden skewer. He threaded the meat on it and held it over the fire.
I wonder what food tastes like in this world, Lucius thought with his mouth watering. He still hasn't awoken yet in the other world, so he couldn't get food. He was starting to get hungry too.
He patiently waited for the meat to blacken on the outside. Lucius knew how to cook pretty well since his mother worked full time and his sister was too young.
Once the meat was cooked, he blew on it and waited for it to cool. Meanwhile, he made a small suspended cooking split and cooked another large piece of meat.
Lucius gingerly touched the piece of meat, blew on it, then took a bite.
The flavor spread in his mouth extremely fast. It had no need for salt or pepper; it seemed to be seasoned already. It had a firm yet soft taste and never grew tough in his mouth. Lucius closed his eyes and indulged in the flavor.
This is delicious! Lucius thought and continued to eat.
Just as he finished, there was a loud crack! in the wood wall behind him. He leapt away and yanked his sword out of his belt.
Then, another crack! sounded, louder than the previous one, and the wall exploded in a hailstorm of splinters as Balos flew through and crashed to the floor, right next to the fire.
Lucius was miraculously not hit with any chips of wood, but he was left stunned.
"What--"
Luna stepped through. She looked at the hole and simply said, "Oops."
Balos got up and dusted himself off. "Well, I guess that's the end of our fight," he said and put his sword back on his back. He generally didn't look harmed. Lucius wondered how much vitality this guy had.
"That is one big hole you guys put in my house," Lucius said. He still wasn't sure if he should be surprised, mad, or confused. Maybe all three.
"Don't worry! I will quickly patch it up," Balos said and started to walk toward the forest. As he watched Balos break a tree, a thought crossed Lucius's mind.
"Balos!" Lucius said and jogged out to him.
"Hm?"
"Why don't you live here?" Lucius suggested. Balos dropped the log he was carrying.
"What?" He asked, unsure.
"Yeah! You said you were wandering, right? So come and stay here!" Lucius reasoned, suddenly enthusiastic.
Balos thought for a moment, then said, "I would be happy to, but where would I stay?" He gestured around him, where the only building in sight was the house.
Lucius had a simple answer.
"It's simple! We could just build you one!"
Balos shook his head. "It would take far too long and too much time to build a house. I think it's better off that I--" He couldn't finish his sentence. Luna and Lucius both sprang into action, cutting down trees and building.
This time, Lucius was able to help the cutting. He would work at a tree until it collapsed, then dragging it over. Still, he was no match for Luna. She would just rip a tree out of the ground in a second, whereas it took Lucius several long minutes to take a single tree down.
They build an extension to the house, making it longer from the side. Then, they build a room that was about the same size as Lucius's and while Luna laid down the foundations, Lucius brought wood over and carved it, making the furniture even better than his own. He used heat from his katana to flame harden the wood, then used the ice side to make the sap connecting the legs to the table much stronger. When he finished, they looked like legit furniture.
It took them about five hours to complete it, faster than ever. Balos was shocked.
"Welcome home," Lucius said while wiping the sweat off his forehead.
"Amazing... I've never seen something like this build so fast!" Balos exclaimed.
Lucius smiled and walked back to his side of the house. He connected the hallway to his room by using the same door mechanism he used for his front entry and did the same for Balos's room
"Well, you convinced me," Balos said. "I will live here from now on."
As they were walking around. Lucius saw another room that he didn't build.
"Uh..." he slid open the door and saw Luna in it.
"Did you build this?" Lucius asked. Luna nodded.
"Yup."
"Who is it for?" Lucius asked.
Luna grinned. "Me, of course. I can't let you have all the fun."
"Hm? Okay," Lucius said, not really registering what Luna said. As he shut the door, he paused for a moment.
"Wait whattttttttttttt!?"
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