Wreath of Lilies, Cauldron of Poison

Chapter 189

One with The Spear

Connie brought the old Hunter to an empty piece of land, a few meters beside a place the locals called Eagle’s Beak Cliff. Named for the sheer cliff overlooking a lake, into which, pristine water from the high mountains pooled.

There were sparse vegetation there, buried under a feet of snow. Sabrac’s bare feet sunk in it, yet he did not feel the cold. And neither did Connie, who was positively burning with anticipation.

Sabrac placed his spear on a dead tree nearby and put on two bangles that looked as old as he was. When he noticed Connie looking at it, he explained. “These are called Bangles of Diminution. One of these will reduce my power by half. And wearing two will reduce it again by half. It’s not very durable so I have to be careful with it.”

He then took out two staffs from his Item Ring.

“I won’t be using my spear for the spar; it would be overkill. So, which one do you want? The wood or the iron? I’d have to lower my strength if I don’t want to break the wood one.”

Connie smirked at the taunting smile the man was sporting. “The iron,” she answered, as she took out a blunt iron sword from her Item Ring. “I thought you are known for your spear, Guild Master. Am I not worthy enough to face your spear?”

“All Monks in Rokudo temple have to master either the fist or the staff,” Sabrac said, discarding the wood one and spinning the iron staff expertly in his hand. “As for why I use a staff to fight you, the only difference between the them is that one has a pointy end and the other doesn’t. Why should they be exclusive to one another? Everything can be a spear to me. An iron staff, a spear, that thing you hang curtains on, same thing.”

“Thank you for your explanation,” Connie nodded.

“Enough chitchat then,” Sabrac said, as he stabbed the staff into the ground and clasped both palms together in a salute. “Sabrac, High Monk of Rokudo Temple. I ask for your guidance.”

Is that…an orthodox greeting? Does Rokudo Temple have connections to the old world?

In response, Connie clasped her hand together and bowed slightly.

“Cornelia Asterium Steelheart. I ask for your guidance.”

The two then took a few steps back for optimal distance. They assumed their stances; white fog came out from their noses as they settled their hearts. For a few moments, only the sound of wind could be heard.

Sabrac took the first move, launching himself into a powerful thrust. Connie deflected the attack using her sword and tried to move closer, but the old Hunter retreated a step back, keeping their distance. He threw a few attacks towards Connie’s head, chest, and shoulders in quick successions, which she dodged with minimal movements.

“Watch the head!”

A final, powerful thrust was unleashed at her head but she parried the staff by holding the sword with both hands, the right hand on the handle and the left holding the flat side on the opposite side.

She pushed forward, sliding the sword against the staff overhead, causing Sabrac to flinch.

“My turn!”

Connie used this chance to unleash a series of thrust, sweep, and slash, which the old Hunter had to deflect with the middle of his staff.

Seeing him on the back wind, Connie pushed the attack, aiming at his neck. However, Sabrac saw this and guarded with the staff. The impact pushed Connie back, but what she did not expect was Sabrac did not need to recover, instead using the guarding move as a start to a devastating attack.

He dashed sideways towards her and used the staff that was leaning against his neck, spinning it with his neck as a fulcrum, and slammed the staff against her.

“Gagh!” Connie had the air pushed out of her and fell on the ground. The snow acted as a blanket that soften the impact, but it did not do well against the emotional blow.

“One with the Spear,” Connie said in admiration as she laid still on the snow. “This is the first time I’ve fought with someone as accomplished in the spear as you, Guild Master. Your movements are very similar to Kaihaku. Yet you’re able to do more with normal moves than he could do with his Skills.”

A few of the opponents that she had fought were strong, sure. Some could even give her a run for her money if she was not careful. But their strength was either mystical or simply because they were big enough that Skills and Technique did not matter. The mustachioed Sergio Bonaulti Dornez too, relied more on brute strength than technique.

“You’re not so bad yourself, girl,” he said with a laugh. “I intended to take it easy on you, but you’ve made some moves that would’ve taken me down if I was not prepared. I’ve concluded that you’re strong enough to defeat that Demon. We can finish here.”

“That’d be a shame,” Connie kicked on the ground and sprung into position. “To stop when I’m just getting warmed up!”

“HAHA!” Sabrac laughed gleefully as he was now put into defensive position, as Connie launched a rain of attackss that came at him with blinding speed as he took a few steps back. Her attacks were crueller now, as they sought for the joints and the limbs. Sparks flew as the iron weapons met again and again.

Sabrac saw an opening and swept his staff, aiming at Connie’s head. Then he saw a smirk on her face.

“Not good!”

Using the power of Sabrac’s attack, Connie spun mid-air, the sword becoming an unpredictable wheel of pain which Sabrac barely dodged by jumping back. But he could feel the cold steel grazing his abdomen. It would have spilled his guts if he was a normal person.

“That’s one for me, Guild Master.”

The skinny old man touched his stomach and laughed heartily.

“HAHAHAH!! Yes! It’s been long since I met someone with as much promise as you!” the old Hunter laughed. “And one who had mastered the sword to such a high degree! Amazing! The only thing lacking from you is power! But that can be mitigated. Fight, fight, and fight some more! You can’t be satisfied with only this!”

“If we sparred any harder, we’d truly destroy the environment,” Connie said. And indeed, although it was just a spar, the holes and slash marks that gouged the frozen ground like butter had destroyed the natural environment.

“That’s what it means to reach the state of Unrestrained Candidate. You should have seen me back when I was one. I could destroy a fortress if I put my mind into it!” He boasted. “And is that going to stop you? I know your type, youngster. You want to push forward in the pursuit of your art.”

“Haha, you got me, Guild Master,” Connie said. “This time, let’s go a bit harder.”

“Just what I wanted!”

And on that day, the place called the Eagle’s Beak Cliff was no more. Locals who went there only said that they saw that the cliff had fallen into the lake, and that a good chunk of the once serene landscape had disappeared.

Just before dinner, Connie and Sabrac arrived at the mansion, where Martell was preparing a small, but sumptuous banquet. To everyone’s surprise, the old Hunter was treating Connie like an old friend.

“Mistress. Welcome back.”

“How have you been, Martell? Well, I hope?” Connie said, a thin smile upon her lips. However, there was no trace of amusement in her eyes. Her eyes fell onto the cast on Martell’s arm.

“Mistress, this is -”

“I’ve heard the gist of it from Sabrac. I will hear the detail from you…in a more private condition,” Connie said. Though her face was stoic, there was a chill in her voice.

“I…understand,” Martell bowed, his furry ears fell as he continued. “I’ve told the servants to prepare you hot bath and clean clothes. I will call you when the food is ready. I prepared a small banquet with some friends and acquaintances.”

“Mmm…” Connie answered without much thought.

The boy, who was bewildered by the callousness, looked at Nick. The middle-aged man shrugged.

“Ah, one question. Who will be in attendance?”

“Lord Sabrac, of course. And Caelin’s party members. There is also…the Hero of Calendia’s people.”

“Mm…Make sure that Akira’s people are well catered for. I have some things I need to discuss with him.”

Martell did not know why, but he felt a chill when he heard her say the Hero’s name.

The dinner was a sumptuous feast that started with a delicious soup of light fish. Then continued with roasted pig on a spit, onion and garlic with potatoes basted in pork fat, and baked capons stuffed with raisins and tubers and marinated in wine.

In attendance were the party members of the Hero of Calendia. Along with Caelin, Rhoddes, and Dhani. Sabrac, of course, was seated at the honoured place beside Connie. Though the event was informal, because there were outsiders present, Martell insisted that a minimum of etiquette needed to be observed to show respect.

While Akira’s party – who were mostly learned in the ways of Noble Etiquette – ate with good manners, the same could not be said about Sabrac, who ate like he had not eaten for weeks. He devoured the offerings like a wild animal, eschewing fork and spoon, and used his hands to dissect a capon.

The strange thing was, the host sitting at the head of the table was eerily quiet. Giving the supposed light-hearted banquet a stifling feeling. Only the sound of knives scraping against plates and Sabrac’s ravenous feeding frenzy could be heard.

“So, Hero. I’ve heard that you’ve had quite the adventure?” Connie suddenly broke the awkward silence. “Was it fruitful?”

“A-ah. You must’ve heard from Guild Master Sabrac? Er, yes. We’ve practically saved the kingdom, all said and done.”

“Is that why you deem it proper to steal my people from their posts without my permission and fucked off to Grunewald?” she said coldly.

Color drained from Martell’s face as the thing that he had dreaded finally came to pass. Martell slowly put down his fork. Suddenly, he found the roasted piece of meat in front of him no longer appetizing.

“Lady Steelheart, I can explain,” Donovan cut in before Akira could answer.

“Ah, yes.” Connie dabbed her lips that were slick with oil using her napkin and threw it onto the table. “Please, explain to me why you had to endanger their life, having them confront an eldritch power beyond human ken?” she turned to look at Akira. “Isn’t that supposed to be your job, Hero?!”

“I didn’t know it’d escalate so fast! How am I supposed to know that we’d face something like that?”

“Then why are you not using your True Clairvoyance?”

“There is a limit to my power. It’s not like I can do it whenever! If I did it too many times, I won’t be able to function properly!”

“Cornelia, calm down,” Klein tried to appeal to her.

“Don’t try to interject for him, Captain. What he did undermined my authority and power. Is it not common courtesy to request permission before borrowing people to his employer? Or am I not informed with the current employment law in Calendia?”

Klein bit his lips. It was indeed a breach of propriety. And she was right. “It was…an emergency, Cornelia. I hope you can understand.”

“Emergency, you say,” Connie smiled angrily. “Yet I see that they’ve paid worse price for your emergency. One had broken his arm and the other…”

“I’m just fii…,” Nick was about to say fine, but when he saw Connie’s gaze, he changed his mind.

Hannah stood up angrily. “We also had to fight for our lives! You think they’re the only ones having to fight those monsters?!”

“It’s not a matter of whether you joined the fight or not. It’s a matter of responsibility. What you made my people do, made them abandon their jobs and caused Martell to break his arm. It’s only right that I ask for recompense on his behalf.”

“What do you want, then…Cornelia?” Akira asked, finally.

“I want to break your arm,” Connie said calmly. “And then I want you to pay the damage that you have done to Nick and Martell. Along with what’s owed for Rhoddes’s service. And then, reimburse me for the disrespect that you’ve done me.”

“I really don’t need – “ Rhoddes started.

“You are a Hunter, Rhoddes. And, payment for your service is due,” Connie stood up and walked towards the Hero.

The Hero quickly drew back, almost falling from his chair. And the other members of the Hero’s party placed their hands on their waists, only to realize that they had left their weapons at the door before entering the dining room. Except for the young Mage Eleanora, who looked at her with worship in her eyes. So, this is how a self-made woman is. Even in anger, she exuded such brilliance!

“Stop it, don’t embarrass yourself,” Sabrac advised, as he pulled on a piece of pork leg, cutting it with a knife. “You aren’t going to win.”

“Guild Master?”

“That Beastfolk boy there, had risen up to be an Unrestrained Candidate. And the Dark Elf is one too,” he said while chewing his food. “As for our host here? If she’s not an Unrestrained Candidate, she wouldn’t be able to even walk after a spar with me.”

“That’s two less Unrestrained Candidate in your party. Won’t even be a fair fight,” he noticed the hopeful look on Donovan and Klein’s eyes. “No, don’t look at me. This is your bed. Sleep on it.”

“Wait. Wait. Please. Can we talk this out privately?” Akira said, realizing that there was no way out of it.

“Lady Steelheart. Please wait. He is still under the Kingdom’s protection!” Donovan desperately warned her.

“Try and protect him then.”

Connie grasped thin air and a jolt of excruciating pain assaulted Akira’s innard. He doubled down onto the floor. It was the effect of the seed planted by Connie on their first meeting.

Connie knelt beside him. No one dared to stop her as Illumca and Akula were staring at them dangerously. The Centaur was, after all, a believer of an eye for an eye. The deed was done, and the debt was due.

Connie whispered to him. “That’s just a reminder that I have your life in my hand. A fact that I think you’re starting to forget.”

“Agh…I’m sorry!”

“Do not mistake this mercy to be a sign of friendship. We are neither enemy or ally, so if you want to keep me from being the former, do not fuck around with me. Is that understood?”

Akira could only nod desperately.

“Good. Now grit your teeth. It’s gonna be a clean break. Will take you about two weeks to heal with my Pills.”

“Wha – AAGH!!”

CRACK!

The generous young lady then patted his shoulder and spoke. “When you get up, straighten up and hide your pain. Feign cordiality and smile. Smile, smile.”

Needless to say, the small banquet finished early that Evening.

As for Martell, what would happen after that banquet would change him forever.