章 11: Bird in the sky (I)
"Move your legs!" Phil yelled as he attacked with a wooden sword.
A loud smack could be heard as my wooden sword made contact. I felt the force go through my arm and down my body, shaking me to the core.
"I'm trying," I grumbled. Phil was a tyrant when it came to practicing with the sword. What was even worse was that he wasn't lenient at all towards someone like me.
Dodging out of harm's way, the attack of Phil's sword was precise and vicious. I could feel the multiple stings still screaming on my body, telling me to slow down from the past hits.
"Do not stop blocking. We need to continue to condition your body to automatically block without you thinking. Feel the flow; don't force it."
"I am!" I called out. I ducked under a swing and rolled out of harm's way.
"That's better."
Another strike snaked into the right and struck me on the shoulder. I almost let out a squeal, but instead kept my mouth shut as best as possible. I did not want to give Phil a single glimpse of me being in pain.
"Stay on your toes. Move your whole body with little movements. Don't waste unnecessary energy. A girl's body is completely different from a man's. You need to make sure to fully understand what you are capable of."
"I know," I growled. My body felt stiff from the past week from working out. Even though I was getting better and better, Phil always seemed to know where to hit to give me extra blows to my body.
"You won't learn what it's like to fight in real life if you are pampered. Use everything to your advantage."
We continued for another thirty-minute until my hands felt like lead. I collapsed onto the ground, exhausted. Being in a human body and training, it was a difficult task.
For the next three months, we were busy with our business stocks. Somehow or another, Phil understood how to use the skill Coder without too much difficulty. The only difference was that he could only bring out one transparent screen. While I could already bring out three. I did not expect the amount of energy to bring out a single transparent screen to take such a heavy toll on him as I saw him struggle.
Phil was out cold for a whole day the first time he used the skill. He was able to slowly increase his time to be able to use it. It didn't take too long for him to get it under control in less than a month. His coding was a little sloppy at first, but eventually, he got it right.
"How many did you count in crate 1?" I asked, shuffling the crate with a large number one on its side to help differentiate the number of boxes we had.
"There are twenty of them wrapped in wheat."
"We have so far three different types of light fixtures: a bed lamp, ceiling lamp, and a watch type lamp. We have about 20 each of them." I felt pleased. It took longer than expected to make so little in only three months. I had to use my stash of gold to pay for the mold to hold the Level E light crystals. In total, I spent over six Ancient Draconian gold to make this possible. The thought of my food leaving my pocket made my heart twist in pain.
"I got the permit to sell them on the streets," Phil spoke, he was putting away the last lamp into crate twenty.
"Why didn't you ask your grandfather to get you the permit?"
"Because it was a trade-off in helping you out for the past three months, my lessons will be cut down by half. " Phil grumbled, "Grandpa is wondering what we've been doing these past months. It's not easy avoiding his gaze."
"It's fine. Today is the day anyways." I replied chirpily, looking forward to this day, excitedly.
"I called in a couple of favors with the guards that I know."
"Is that necessary?"
"Yes, this technology is revolutionary."
"Hmmm, if you say so."
"You don't understand how serious this is."
"I do. I do. It will allow people to stay up later at night, giving people more time to do things." I replied casually. My mind was wandering around with other exciting things I could make for the next couple of months to come.
"Yes, and people will go to war for this."
"Seriously?"
"It's a possibility."
"You're making me a bit worried now."
"Good. It'll keep you on edge and to be suspicious of people."
Phil picked up the box and took it outside. He placed it in the wagon with the other table. He came back to pick up the last one. "Get on. The soldiers will be waiting at the town square."
I climbed up onto the wagon that was hitched to the horse. We moved forward onto the uneven terrain and made our way towards the town square. The sun was already setting, and the festival was in full swing. It was the yearly spring festival of a new beginning. Loud sounds of music played songs that I have never heard before.
We stopped in front of a rundown looking stand. It did not matter where we were situated, we knew what we were going to advertise, and we needed the darkness for it to go into full effect.
"Sir!" A young soldier in her teens appeared with two more soldiers lightly armed. Her face was covered in freckles, and her wavy brown hair covered a bit of her face.
"Terry, I'm glad you made it."
"No, it's thanks to your help that I was able to help my family. I can not thank you enough." Terry deeply bowed. "These are my friends in arms, Sal and Sam. They are twins, and they're aiming to become scholars. Though certain family circumstances have caused them to enroll in the military."
Two young males with golden hair appeared from behind him and smiled chirpily. Their bright attitude and cheerful personality made it easy to talk too.
"Hi. I'm Sal," The male on the right spoke.
"I'm Sam. We came to help." The other male on the left side of Terry replied with a grin.
"We heard you were going to do something interesting, and we couldn't help but come by and see."
"You're the young Zemrik's heir. Aren't you?" Phil looked them over in interest.
"Hey, be more courteous. You're in front of Duke Hon's grandson." Terry hissed and pushed both their heads down into a bow.
"Cut it out. We know. Sheesh." Both of them tried to push Terry's hand aside.
"Yea, Terry, you're messing up our hair. It's a chick magnet, you know."
"Stop being idiots." Terry did not let go.
Both Sol and Sam pushed away Terry's arm. They escaped her grasp and evaded around her flailing arms.
"Oh, look here. We have a young miss." Sol stopped and smiled. He came over and crouched down face-to-face.
"That's Berry," Phil replied. "A friend."
"A friend? Oh! I see she's an elf." Sol reached over and patted my head. "So, what are you doing here?"
"I'm his business partner. Can you please move a bit so I can set up?" I asked politely. I walked towards the three boxes that were set to the side. I opened up one of the boxes and pulled out a blanket to put over the wooden table.
"Did she say, business partner?" Sol looks confused. "Someone that young?"
"She is," Phil spoke. "I would need you guys to split up and protect us from the sides. Don't let anyone go near the items in the box. If anyone of the items in the box is stolen, you will be paying 40 gold coins to compensate us."
"What?! 60 gold coins? Is that expensive?"
"It's worth it." Phil nodded. He gave them a mischievous smile. "You'll understand when you see it."
The light in Phil's eyes sparkled at the things that they were going to show tonight.
Taking out only three of each, I placed them neatly in a row.
"What is this?" Sam asked. He bends over, peering at it curiously and reaching over to tap on it.
"A lamp, a night watch, and a ceiling lamp. Don't touch, or you're going to pay for it if it breaks."
Sam pulled his hands away quickly. Some curious bystanders peered over, wondering what we were selling. I pushed one of the boxes close to the side and stood upon it.
I glanced around the crowd and looked up into the sky. It was the perfect timing, the sun was setting, and the torches were starting to be lit. It was taking out a modified magic stone that was beaded into a necklace.
"1, 2, 3. Testing. Testing." The magic stone amplified my voice. Okay, I'm all ready. With a deep breath, I calmed my nerves.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" My voice rang out like a banshee.
Everyone froze in a stupor and stopped what they were doing. Even Phil fell over with his hands covering his ears.
"Well, that did the trick." I happily smiled. I was looking over to the crowd that was closing their ears in pain.
"Are you nuts?" Phil shrieked. He got up. "My ear almost popped!"
"You're doing fine. Anyways, hello, everybody. My name is Berry." I cutely winked out to the crowd.
Oh, god, how embarrassing. I thought I saw a couple of females squeal, though there were a few older men that gave off a creepy vibe. "This is the Wonder Shop that just opened. Today we have exceptional items for sale."
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