Author’s corner: HELLO HELLO! Here we have the (potential) last chapter of this side story!

ANYWAY, as promised today’s side story chapter, where we finally see how Yuu actually felt when she started to call Wargon by Shishou and why she kept that up, and I even give slight hint about something here… *wink wink*

ALSO, there is nothing to add to the also, so yeah…

Have a good read!

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Yuu was ashamed from having called the golem in front of her the same way she called her grandfather back in the dojo. It wasn’t that she did intentionally, her body simply moved first before she could react.

But while she was regretting her reaction, the golem seemed happy with the way she had called him, because he had a large smile in his face while he asked.

“Then, let us start with skills, since their meanings is a lot more literal the rests. So tell me, apprentice, what would you think that is a skill?” As he said that, he slowly started to walk away, but since he made her a quick signal with his hand, she ended up following him.

Meanwhile she hacked her brain in though, as she tried to understand what he meant with those words. In the end, she chose the obvious answer that came to her.

“I… I am not sure, Shishou…” She accidently called him Shishou again, and paled when he looked at her. Was he angry that she wasn’t calling him by his name? “Ah… Is… is it… Skills are things you earn when you train a lot!” Her voice stammered as she tried to give meaning to her words.

But to her surprise he actually smiled this time. So he wasn’t angry about the shishou thing? She felt relieved by this.

“Very good! But here in the game, skills are a little more inside this game. They are abilities used to improve yourself, be it temporarily or permanently. And these abilities are your bread and butter of fighting, because a strong skill, can easily overpower your enemies.”

He started explaining the meaning of skills for her, patiently answering her questions whenever they rose. Yuu started to feel glad that she had met this man, and she had a couple of reasons for that. First was that he was patiently explaining her everything she needed. Second was that he was the second person she met that didn’t actually treated her any different from how they treated the others, the first one being her friend, Mary.

She had noticed that second fact after sometime while walking with him. Although it took her some time, she had noticed that his whole master atmosphere he had around him was actually just an act. A good, but funny act. Before she knew it, she was just going with the flow when calling him by his accidental title.

Another thing about him that also caught her eyes… Or rather, her ears, was how silent he was while walking. When she had seen his scale and chain mail armor, she expected it to be a rather loud when moving, but the way he walked completely absorbed the impact of the steps, making so the rings and scales wouldn’t shake too much.

She wondered for a moment whether he was actually a master in martial arts, but seeing him almost trip in a root changed her mind. Maybe he is just a natural at it.

After some time, they arrived at the clearing where the wild dogs were, and Wargon suddenly said:

“Apprentice, now we will put everything you learned in practice, are you ready?”

“Yes, Shishou, I won’t disappoint you!” By now she was already completely immersed in his game, and she also couldn’t help but be thankful for him teaching so many things, so the title of Shishou was already stuck on him inside her mind.

“Good. Now, I will keep the dog’s attention on me, meanwhile I want you to attack it, understood?”

“Yes, Shishou!”

She took her staff to a more comfortable position and readied herself, then she saw Wargon dashing towards a nearby dog and deal a series of stabs and slashes with his two weapons, and the dog’s HP dropped by almost a half with only that.

She couldn’t help but gasp in admiration. Could it be that Wargon was actually really strong?

She quickly recovered her focus and shook her head before turning to the dog. Her Shishou had said that to use a skill, you only needed to focus on the skill, but when she had tried it earlier while walking, she was unable to use it normally, so she had resorted to saying the skill name out loud.

“Invoke element!”

She felt the energy gathering at the staff and then being released in a form of a ball made of icy fog, before blasting forwards toward the dog, but the damage it dealt was far too small.

And the skill just… Felt wrong…

Still, she kept attacking while the dog ignored her and tried to defeat the golem, who was just dodging it skillfully while, for some reason, keeping his hands on his back.

It was a long and tedious fight, but the dog finally died, and with it, came another one of these strange windows, saying something about reclaiming the body. She looked at it with some curiosity, and then to Wargon, asking confirmation on what she had to do, as he nodded she proceeded to kneel beside the dog and reclaim it.

In it’s place was a dog fang and a small pouch that converted to money when she took it in.

“Now, apprentice, is there a flashing window near the border of your vision?” She nodded. “Good. Focus on it!”

As she did, some Windows appeared before her, and while giving them a quick read, she widened her eyes in surprise.

“Shishou! It is written here that I have earned a new skill and two new subskills!”

“Good, student, now tell me, what are these skills?”

After that she quickly explained him about the Ice mastery skill, frost emission and frost ball skills that she had received. The golem nodded in accordance and then told her to test the skills in another dog, as he wasn’t an expert on magic.

And so he once again did his combo in one of these dogs.

She started with the frost ball skill. But this time, the energy she felt didn’t go through the staff, and used it more like a catalyst than an emitted, and it felt much more natural than the invoke element skill.

And it did more damage too! The snow ball attack was clearly superior when compared to the other skill.

But she didn’t have time to be impressed, so she tested the other skill.

“Frost emission!”

A sudden feeling of the energy leaving her body came to her, but instead of simply dispersing like it did with the other skills, she could feel it lingering in the air around her, waiting to be controlled.

It felt so… Familiar…

She quickly concentrated once again, and started to manipulate the energy around her into something she could use to attack.

An icicle was the first thing that came to her mind, so she quickly gathered the energy around her and made it take the form of a cone. As soon as it was done, she threw it at the dog, which was pierced.

The previous damage she had dealt were nothing compared to this! Even the frost ball felt weak.

But she didn’t stop there. She once again used that skill, and this time she manipulated it differently, she gathered it around the dog, making many different small needles of ice, and pierced the dog with them.

The dog was left almost dead after that. She only needed one more spear before defeating it.

And she did that.

Wargon approached her, and she looked at him with expectancy. She was proud of herself for having used such a powerful skill, all by herself.

“Student!”

“Yes, Shishou!”

“How much mana do you have left, student?” She wasn’t even wary of his strange question, so with a quick glance at the numbers she had her answer.

“Thirteen, Shishou!” Her eyes were shining with expectations.

But what greeted her was the sheath of a sword to her head. The pain and the surprise made her crouch while holding her head that throbbed slightly.

“Ouch!” She said while looking back at him, confusion filling her eyes. “Why… Why would you do that, Shishou?”

“You fool! What if you were alone and the enemy hadn’t been defeated?” She widened her eyes in surprise. “From now on, you are to never again drop below half your mana when we are together, unless under dire circumstances, do you understand?”

“Y-Yes Shishou… Sorry…”

Ahh... Now she had done it. She had been so absorbed on testing her new skill and showing off to her Shishou that she messed up badly… She looked down, angry at herself for having made such a common mistake.

But a suddenly she felt something touching her gently on her head, as she looked up she saw Wargon gently patting her. She was surprised for a moment.

“Still, you did well. But be careful next time, ok?”

She nodded slightly at him while he kept gently petting her head. A feeling of peace and bliss passed through her, as she went completely oblivious to her surroundings.

Maybe… Being his apprentice isn’t so bad after all…

She couldn’t help but think so.