Bab 48: Normal Inventory
Despite the sparks, the explosion generated by the misuse of the <Normal Inventory> skill was solely made up of wind and had enough force just to push Ayumi and Luke back a bit.
"Are you okay?" He asked, worried about the Matriarch.
Although she was still standing, she was not without a scratch. There was a fillet of wood on her right forearm, which on reflex she used to protect herself. She couldn't hide it from the boy and said quickly, tidying up her fluttering hair:
"I'm fine! I think you came close to making it. Where did that sword go?" Even though she knew he saw it, she tried to cover it up.
The half-wolf walked over to her. "Let me see how you are." He said with a zeal that made her blush immediately.
Reluctantly, Ayumi showed her right forearm, on which there was only a small piece of wood. "Don't worry about it, I can take it off by myself."
Luke didn't doubt this one bit, but he saw an opportunity and didn't want to let it slip away. Without saying a single word, he went over to the first aid case that was under the sword rack and picked it up.
"It's not really necessary."
"Allow me to do this for you, if I don't, I'll be left feeling guilty."
After the appeal, all the woman could do was nod. Diligently, the half-beast examined the wound and sighed in relief as he realized that it wasn't something to worry about.
"I'll pull it, all right?" He inquired, looking her in the eyes. They were both so close to each other, that they could hear their breathing.
Ayumi nodded, with the corner of her eye a little tight, showing fear, and this detail did not go unnoticed by Luke, who took advantage of it.
Close as they were, in one motion he brushed his forehead against hers, and they both blushed. The Elf's heart was as fast as his, and the boy could slowly see her face blush even more.
When their lips were so close that they were practically exchanging breaths, Luke pulled back the fillet, and the woman didn't even nod.
"There, I've removed it." He said, pulling away.
It took Ayumi a moment to understand that nothing had happened. "Th-thank you." She said, looking away.
"I'll keep trying, will you instruct me yet?"
She smiled to disguise her bewilderment and spoke: "I gotta go, if you need me, I'll be in my office."
Hearing the door close, Luke put his hand on the left side of his chest and felt it throb. Tudum! Tudum! Tudum! At the right moment he somehow controlled himself, but now he could almost feel his blood boiling.
'That was a healthy revenge for that day in the sauna.' He thinks.
Knowing that he had the whole day free, he used that afternoon to focus on acquiring the skill. However, although he got close the first time, the other times he couldn't even manifest the square.
'The mental image of a list of items written on a scroll, it's not working like it did the first time.' He thought, frustrated.
Minutes later, an idea ascended in his mind, and he realized what he was doing wrong. However, this idea came so evidently into his mind that it didn't even seem like an idea, but rather an obvious concept that he should have known all along.
'So that's what she meant by talent...' Luke judged, letting a satisfied smile escape.
At the next attempt, he already applied the idea of focusing on the feeling he had when he used the skill and, simultaneously, imagined the mental image.
Works like a charm, then the yellow square had already appeared again in front of his right palm, but it exploded once more the moment the boy tried to put a sword into it.
This was no reason for him to give up, Luke kept trying and trying, to the point where more than a dozen swords were extinguished from existence.
This was already a powerful ability, so the boy only considered for a few seconds using it that way and then gave up, because the activation time was long and unsuitable to use as an attack. For this reason, he stuck to the concept of a skill to store things.
In one such attempt, when he finally managed to put away a sword without blowing up the square, a voice rang in his ear.
[Skill <Normal Inventory> learned].
'Oh, that's very satisfying!' he thought excitedly upon hearing that. In the square, there was an icon showing a minimized version of the wooden sword. 'That's pretty cool.'
When he clicked on the icon, the sword slowly came out.
[Ten spaces available.] The voice warned. As soon as Luke put the sword in the inventory again, the voice echoed: [Nine spaces available.]
The half-wolf took advantage of the evening to practice his handling of the skill and, after dinner, went to his room in the back of the second floor, where next door was Martha's room and the pantry.
With only a small bed and a closet, the room was modest and yet the best room the half-wolf ever had.
He felt relieved when at least he could take off all his leather clothes and let his calf out a little. In just his underwear, he made sure to lock the door and began to clean himself with a clean cloth and a basin of water.
'Should I try to learn that other skill now? Nah, I have to rest, tomorrow we are gonna go back to the Dungeon.'
The mansion was very quiet at night and this is especially noticeable to the half-wolf, who could easily hear everything within a radius of five meters and, if he tried his best, he could triple this distance.
Since all the cleaning and kitchen staff had left after dinner, only the guards remained, patrolling and chatting around the house.
However, one of those footsteps passed in front of Luke's door a few times and, at one point, stopped and just kept breathing.
'Is that Shiro? No, I ran into him just before I came in. If it was him, he probably would have knocked on the door by now. Is it one of those two?'
This kind of situation had never happened before, and since Ayumi and Nathalia didn't usually leave their rooms after dinner, the boy knew it wasn't either of them.
'If it's some traitorous guard, why come after me first? That's not important now...'
Without delay, Luke stood up and picked up his curved saber from his inventory, which he placed there just before leaving the training room. Conveniently, the sword didn't even clink when it left the square.
Just as the half-wolf was about to hit the door, to attack the breath, he heard two knocks on his door. Knock! Knock!
"Luke, are you still awake? I need to talk with you." Ayumi's voice made the boy sigh in relief and then blush.
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