Free Web NovelChapter 23: Step 23 to Greatness: Practice Makes Your Skills Perfect
"This should do it," Adrian mumbled.
He had walked to the mouth of the cave he had spent his first night in. He sat down there and fetched the spear skill book and began reading.
It had little explanation and stick-figure images depicting the posture and moves one should make to control the spear. He skimmed through it and picked up the spear.
The image made it look simple enough... or so he thought.
He tried to copy the first move from the book. He stepped forward and thrust the spear at a nearby tree. Instead of the impact he expected, the spear bent from the middle and sprang away, sending a jolt down his hands.
"Fuck!" he cursed, shaking his hand.
He picked up the book again and read through it. He had done all the moves as he was supposed to, yet it didn’t work like it was supposed to.
"...what went wrong?"
No ancestor came to answer his question, leaving him to figure it out himself. He picked up the spear again, but the result remained unchanged.
"Why is this so hard?" he grumbled. "I could use the dagger perfectly without any training. But now I need a book just to use a spear?"
As he said that, he realized something. He hadn’t ’used’ the dagger in the true sense. Besides, everyone knew how to stab something, so it wasn’t that big of a deal if he killed an old wolf with it.
He tossed the book away and began forcing himself to try over and over. He got so engrossed in it that he didn’t even notice someone picking up the book and going through it.
By the ninth time, he lost his grip on the spear again, and it flew out of his hands, landing on the grass.
"Damn it!" Adrian shouted in frustration. "This is stupid!"
Just as he was about to curse more, he heard someone behind him.
"Wrong."
The voice sounded familiar, and he turned around. But instead of his docile partner, he found her twin sister staring at him instead.
How did he know that? Because of Mika’s injuries. Even if she wasn’t injured, her body was covered in scars unlike Amika’s. The skill book was in her hands.
"What are you doing here?" Adrian asked, turning away to pick the spear.
Even though she had the skill book, it was written in English. Mika couldn’t understand anything on it. He went back to swinging the spear, only for Mika to interrupt him again.
"You are doing it wrong," she said, pointing at the spear.
He was already annoyed, and Mika’s interruption pushed him over the edge. Adrian tossed the spear at her feet, before pointing at the tree.
"Show me how it’s done then—"
The frustration had gotten the best of him, and he said something without realizing it.
"I’m sorry, I said something I shouldn’t—"
The rest of the apology got stuck in Adrian’s mouth as Mika picked up the spear and, even with an injured shoulder, did the move flawlessly.
The spear’s stone tip hit the tree right in the middle, sending a few splinters flying away. Adrian’s eyes widened in shock. freēwebnovel.com
"How...?" he asked, his eyes falling on the discarded skill book. "You... did it just by looking at the images?!"
[Ah, the difference between talent and unfounded overconfidence.]
Adrian ignored the ancestor’s late-arriving voice and turned to Mika.
"Mika, I want you to teach me," he requested.
She looked straight into his eyes before nodding.
"I can teach you," she agreed.
Her reasoning was simple. Without her, Adrian was the only one who could fight in the tribe. While he could use his daggers, it required getting close to the target, which might not be possible every time. He needed to be capable of defending the tribe from animals and other tribes.
Besides, the male clearly had too much energy. She remembered how Amika had walked with pain the morning after spending the night with him.
Only after walking a while did the pain subside, and she could walk and work normally. Adrian had been too hard on her sister. Mika wanted him to spend his extra energy on training instead. That way, Amika would have an easier time as his mate.
It is a good thing I didn’t offer myself to him.
Mika let out a sigh in relief. At first, she had approached him to suggest he mated with her instead. Since she was injured and stronger than Amika, she could take his ’rage’ while leaving Amika to work without limping.
However, Adrian had offered her a different approach, which made things easier for her. Now, she just had to make him tired enough to not think about mating.
"I can teach you," she repeated, tossing the spear back to him. "However, I won’t go easy on you just because you are my sister’s mate. Once we start, I won’t let you give up even if you beg me to."
"...it’s fine, I can handle it." freewebnøvel.coɱ
"Do it again," she said, pointing at the tree.
Adrian did so. He tried to do it like she had, and managed to hit the tree, but the spear still slipped out of his grip.
Mika saw it and shook her head, asking him to get in position to swing the blade without going all the way. Adrian did so, only for her to object.
"You have many problems. Your feet are not working right."
Adrian looked down and then back up at her. It was wrong, sure, but she didn’t tell him how to fix it. Instead, she just repeated her footwork for him to observe and learn.
Adrian tried again. He planted his feet like Mika showed him and swung the spear at the tree. For a moment it felt right, but then his left foot crossed over his right. His legs got tangled, and he lost his balance completely.
"Ah!" he yelped as he crashed straight into Mika.
Instead of the pain he expected, Adrian found his face enveloped in something soft. He opened his eyes and realized he was lying on top of Mika, his face on her chest.
"I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to—" he apologized.
But before he could finish, Mika placed one hand on his chest and pushed him off herself. Even with her injured shoulder, she was still very strong.
"Get up," she said sternly. "You will keep swinging the spear at that tree until it breaks in half. Do not come to me before that!"
"Wait, the whole tree? That would take forever!"
He wanted to master the spear today, not in the next life, but Mika had made up her mind. Without saying another word, she turned and walked away.
As she did that, her cheeks grew hot, and the corners of her ears turned red. Even her heart was pounding fast as it did after fighting a strong opponent or killing a big beast.
Why is this happening?
Mika did not understand the strange feeling at all and shook her head, trying to get rid of the strange warmth she felt.
