Chương 10: A Mother’s Anger

"My son, it is good to see you doing well," my mother greeted me as she returned to the estate. It had been ten days since the evacuation. This time, there were a lot fewer servants kneeling, and the only other family member present was my father.

"Mother!" I ran over and hugged her. She smiled and patted me on the back as I felt a sense of nervousness.

"You are getting stronger. I will review your status with my Squires tomorrow morning," she said, and then frowned slightly as I let go of the hug. Looking around more closely.

"Darren, did something happen? The staff numbers seem low, and your children and other wife are not here," she replied while casually placing her hand on her sword.

"Your Squire will explain it to you in full. I will be retiring to the guest house for the night," he replied. Slowly turning, my mother looked at the unflinching Squire Jessica. My father and the staff fled as fast as possible without resorting to an outright sprint. Mother's grip on her sword hilt tightened, and I felt a pressure in the air.

"What. Happened."

"I taught your son using the same methods I learned. There was an incident on the last day where I let him face a champion monster of the 1 st layer," she explained while looking at my mother.

"Son, did your healing points bottom out?" she asked calmly while keeping her eyes on Squire Jessica.

"Um, yes, but my injuries healed up, and Squire Jessica made sure I was okay," I replied nervously.

"What were my instructions, Squire?"

"To train your son and ensure his reserves don't dip below half," she replied with a touch of nervousness now.

"I know the training you are talking about. Near-death training. My son is nine. You were almost twice his age when you did such brutal training. Don't you dare mention stats or skills. The younger adventurers who undergo such training break; they give up. Only one in four continues. You know this. You risked my son's mental health and future with your little stunt."

"Supreme Warlady, I ensured his full recovery," she replied quickly. Even I could hear the slight tremor of fear in her voice.

"With the weakness of your relaxation method, which is even worse. My son is unharmed, which is why you are still alive. But I suppose such lessons have their merits. Let us test this theory together. Squires, protect my son," she said calmly. Her other two Squires immediately moved to my side so quickly I didn't see them cross the distance to me. My mother took a step forward towards Squire Jessica, who brought up her fists. My mother brought up her fists as well.

"Peace for peace. Fists for fists. We shall settle this the adventurer way," my mother declared. I didn't see what happened. One moment, Squire Jessica was standing there. The next moment, the wall of the mansion exploded inwards, and a portion of the building collapsed. A small trench in the stonework outside had been dug out between Squire Jessica's former position and her new position, implanted into the outer wall of the mansion.

One of the Squires protecting me brought up a magical shield, deflecting pieces of debris that rained down on us. My mother, who was standing with an outstretched fist where Squire Jessica had been standing, vanished once more. The ground shook, and I felt afraid as a sense of bloodlust entered the air as fear gripped my heart. My mother was scary. Very scary. There were more explosions and ground tremors as Mother beat her Squire across the estate, leaving ruin and devastation in her wake.

After ten minutes of relentless beating, the bloody and barely breathing form of Squire Jessica was tossed back onto the position where she had been standing previously. My mother stood over the barely breathing body of Squire Jessica.

"If I wanted my son to have a near-death experience, then I would give it to him." Squire Jessica tried to respond, but only spat up blood.

"It is one thing to push my child, but another to try and break him at such a young age…" My mother flicked her bare hands, and the blood on them flew off, hitting the ground beside her Squire.

"If you can live through the night, you might improve some of your skills since you value this type of training so much."

"Mother," I said in a worried tone. I might be upset with Squire Jessica, but I didn't want her to die. My mother looked at me and smiled. But behind that smile and love directed at me was a monster in human form. I had only been told before, but now I knew the truth after seeing it with my own eyes.

"I am just teaching my Squire a lesson in respect and following my orders. But I suppose I shouldn't let her die. Cure." My mother waved her right hand, and Jessica's breathing got easier as a green light moved over her. She was still beaten bloody and looked absolutely miserable.

"Justin, go tell my husband that the tutoring of my Squire is over. I am going to retire for the night. We shall speak in the morning. Squires attend me," my mother declared and stomped off. I looked at Squire Jessica and then went to get my father to clean up the mess and to tell him what happened. When I glanced back, Squire Jessica was still on the ground, and only her chest was moving. I felt bad for her, but she shouldn't have disobeyed my mother and crossed her.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I made my way to my father, who was hanging out at the guest mansion with the few remaining servants.

"My mother is finished. Squire Jessica is alive, but she was left there to contemplate her actions that night." My father let out a sigh of relief.

"Alright, let's get back together and try to set things in order." I followed my father back to the main mansion of the estate. Mother damaged the grounds, and the exterior of the mansion showed significant damage. In addition, several windows were broken. The servants moved forward and got to work. No one dared to look at Squire Jessica. Dinner was an individual affair. After an uneasy slumber, someone also brought me breakfast. There will be no family breakfast this morning.

After I ate and changed, a servant told me to go to my mother's study. All three of her Squires were present, and even Squire Jessica, who had a heavily bruised eye swollen shut, stood at attention.

"My son, I am sorry you had to see me discipline one of my Squires yesterday, but it is important that some lessons sink in so there are no misunderstandings," my mother said. The Squires didn't dare breathe loudly.

"Um, yes, mother," I replied and quickly nodded.

"Good. I prefer moving forward to dwelling on the past. Have you checked your status in the last three months?"

"No, Squire Jessica told me not to as one of her rules," I explained, and my mother nodded.

"I recommend checking once every three months. Checking constantly will only hinder and distract you. Now, check your status and tell me everything line by line." I noted that Tutor Damian, Healer Castelle, and my father were also present, listening in. Lower-tier skills, below tier 3, were okay to share publicly. Tier 4 and higher were private, only to be shared with those who were trusted, since they were more unique and revealed one's combat ability.

For a craftsperson, they might advertise having a high-tier skill, but wouldn't say exactly what it was, or only give a vague description. For an adventurer, they would only share with those to whom they were passing their legacy.

Level: 1 Experience: BLOCKED Healing: 160/160 Stamina: 120/120 Mana: 40/40 Class: Tier 0, Child (Green) Effect: Increased Skill Acquisition (+8%), Increased Learning Speed (+8%), Increased Stat Gain (+8%) Vitality: 16 (+4) Endurance: 12 (+5) Strength: 12 (+3) Agility: 14 (+3) Perception: 6 (+2) Mind: 35 (+2) Magic: 4 (+1) Focus: 16 (+1) Free Points: 0 Tier 1 (25): Eldarin Language (99 +24), Writing Skills (85+26), Running (73+23), Mathematics (71+15), Breathing (64+14), Eldarin History (61+9), Eldarin Etiquette (42+4), Meditation (42+17), Drawing Skills (30+5), Sword Skills (30+12), Dancing Skills (25 +3), Toughness (25 +6), Shield Skills (25 +10), Light Armor (25 +25), Dodge (24+12), Spear Skills (20+8), Monster Processing Skills (19+19), Cooking Skills (15+12), Bow Skills (13+3), Cleaning Skills (12+11), Axe Skills (9+2), Dagger Skills (8+2), Pugilist Skills (7+3), Wrestling Skills (4+1), Speech (3+3) Tier 2 (12): Danger Sense (21+18), Mana Sense (11+7), Darkness Vision (8+8), Monster Analysis (3+3), Trap Detection (1+1), Depth Sense (1+1) Tier 3 (3): Fear Resistance (1+1) Tier 6 (-): Experience Siphon (C) Equipment Gloves: Gloves of Processing (T2) (Blocks Mana T2 and Below) Amulet/Bracelet: Experience Blocker (T4) (Prevents all experience gain for primary level) I had actual equipment now.

My status only displayed the magical equipment I owned and used. The weapons I used were tier 1, and they didn't appear. That was the benefit of having a System Priest adjust what was shown to me. The system also highlighted new skills, listed my improvements since I last checked, and showed the weight of my skills per tier.

"Too many skills. The pressure on your soul is concerning," my mother said with a frown after I listed everything off.

"Do you feel any discomfort?"

"Um, no. At least I don't think so," I replied hesitantly, and my mother nodded.

"It appears the soul fruit did a good job with increasing your class color. Tell me why this is important?"

"It impacts the overall effect of one's class by bestowing higher percentage boosts from future classes."

"Then there shouldn't be a problem. The soul fruit is likely helping. Your class has improved. And a tier three skill…" My mother looked at Jessica.

"The champion monster had a fear shout skill, which your son overcame. That is likely what granted the skill," Squire Jessica explained. My mother nodded.

"What? Really?" I asked, and my mother nodded.

"Champion monsters in the early levels of the dungeon have active skills. That is why they are not to be underestimated. I have reviewed the tutoring Squire Jessica has given you, and mostly, there are no issues or areas of concern," my mother said. I felt a sense of relief at that.

"But the weight of your skills is 40, and your Mind stat is 35. That is slightly concerning. If the difference grows larger, it could impact your health," my mother said while gazing at me.

"Um, what should I do?"

"Anyone else, I would tell them to put some stats in Mind, but that isn't possible, since you should stay at level one for the most optimal skill and stat growth for as long as possible. Suggestions?" She looked at her Squires, but none of them spoke up.

"Useless," my mother muttered and then looked back at me.

"Your current training regime will do for now. But no new skills." She looked at her Squires, who all nodded in agreement.

"Um, what about when I reach level 100 in Eldarin Language? It is also taking a while. Is that normal?"

"Reaching level 100 is always the most difficult breakthrough since a skill can then be merged or upgraded to the next tier. After that, there would be Eldarin Script and then Eldarin Runes. Once you reach level 100 in Eldarin Language, upgrade the skill, but you will only focus on tier 1 skills for now."

"When can I learn magic?" I wanted to make light, use fire blades, and instantly clean myself.

"Now that is a foolish question. Magic spells are high-tier skills. Once we have gone through all the necessary tier 1 skills, then magic can become a focus. However, if you want to become a spellblade like me, your interest is warranted, I suppose. Include focused training for Mana Sensing," she ordered her Squires, who all nodded without daring to speak.

"Thank you, Mother. Um, what about equipment?" She smiled.

"Having powerful equipment would slow down your skill growth. That is the most important thing, skill levels. So, while I would love to give you a powerful sword and armor, it would ultimately hurt you. Now, on to other matters. Healer Castelle, any lasting damage to my son?"

"No. I checked him completely. However, I strongly disagree with your plan. Mixing such powerful items is incredibly dangerous, especially with Alchemical items. There could be side effects. I strongly insist that you consult with my seniors at the Five Star Institute of Healing."

"I have taken your words into consideration, but ultimately it will be my son who decides what is best for his future." She turned to look at me, and I felt the intensity of her full attention once more.

"That you are still determined after your brush with death warms my heart, my child. I have located a small treasure from the dungeon for you and had an Alchemist I am friends with prepare the treasure properly," she said and pulled out a small wooden container. She set it on the table between us and opened it up.

"Elder Wyvern's heart that had fused with its core. It has body-enhancing properties. Never try to eat something like this raw. Becoming inhuman is a fate worse than death." There was a single small cube of meat, about the size of the tip of my finger. A small fork also rested in the box.

"It is small," I said as my mother pushed the open box towards me.

"It is, but that is after an Alchemist has refined the entire heart. Use the fork, and chew as much as possible before swallowing. It will help you absorb its power better," my mother explained. I carefully picked up the silver fork in the box and stabbed the piece of cubed meat. The fork slid in easily. It was probably enchanted. I brought the meat up to my mouth and put it in.

"Good. Your body stats should be easier to increase during the next training session. Push him physically; that is what you are best at. Since Healer Castelle is here, don't hold back, Squire," my mother said to her largest and most muscular Squire.

"Yes, Supreme Warlady," one of the two male Squires responded as I chewed on the meat cube. It was tough, incredibly tough, but I didn't stop chewing.

"Keep chewing for as long as you have to. If you swallow it whole, it will just pass through you with limited impact," my mother explained, and I nodded. Then she frowned.

"The person who has cursed you has eluded me. I have increased the bounty to 200 platinum, and just for information, leading to the culprit. Unfortunately, this legend specializes in stealth, poisons, and hiding. Time will reveal them, and then they will die."