Free Web NovelChapter 25: Hunting praying mantises with a scythe [1]
Even after a few more hours, Yves still wasn’t able to trigger Story Manifestation again, so Ezio assumed there were certain conditions Yves had to meet before he could use it once more.
After supposedly helping Yves fix some flaws in his swordsmanship, Yves went to sleep inside the futon he had brought along in his spatial ring.
The boy had flatly refused to sleep on the bare ground.
Ezio stared at Yves’s sleeping figure and recalled what had happened hours earlier, when Yves had attacked him with that quick draw.
"I couldn’t see him...how is that possible?"
When Yves had executed the move, Ezio hadn’t been able to see or sense him for that split second, which should have been impossible.
No, it wasn’t about speed. It was about presence. His presence had simply vanished for a moment from Ezio’s senses, and Ezio was a veteran assassin.
That shouldn’t have happened at all.
’There’s something strange about his power too. Something unsettling. I’ve encountered other people with darkness powers before, but Yves’s is just...
different. A bit creepy, even.’
He couldn’t explain why, but that power of his sent a chill down Ezio’s spine, despite Ezio being ranks above him in strength.
Ezio sighed and looked up at the moon.
"He’s growing fast. Too fast." Ezio hadn’t expected Yves to close half the gap with the other children so quickly.
He would have been lying if he said he didn’t still think coming to this forest had been insane. But at the same time, it had been a smart move, since real combat experience would always trump training inside the mansion.
This would help him adapt to the dangers of the real world far faster.
"Well, time for me to sleep too."
Ezio kicked sand over the fire to smother it, climbed into his own futon, closed his eyes, and drifted off.
Both men slept quietly beneath the moonlight.
...
Morning came.
The chirping of birds pulled me out of sleep.
I opened my eyes and looked up at the sky. The sun was already out.
I climbed out of my futon and stretched, my bones cracking as I yawned.
"Beautiful morning." I said.
I looked over to where Ezio lay sleeping soundly in his futon.
This bastard, instead of standing guard through the night, had just been sleeping carelessly the whole time.
What kind of guardian does that? fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
A thought crossed my mind and I smiled.
I crept toward him, careful to make no sound. I raised my hand, ready to smack him on the forehead, but his eyes snapped open right then, nearly making me flinch.
I yanked my hand behind my back, looked up at the sky, and started whistling.
"Damn, such a beautiful morning." I said, turning away and continuing to whistle.
Then I heard Ezio’s voice. "You...were you just about to smack my face?"
I stopped walking, turned around, and pointed at my own chest in mock offense.
"Me? Smack you? I think you’re seeing things. You know how it is when you’re half-asleep and all that—"
"I wasn’t sleeping."
I looked at him for a moment, and the smile dropped from my face.
"Tsk, whatever." I waved a hand. "I want breakfast. After the beating you gave me yesterday, I’m starving." free𝑤ebnovel.com
"Then eat." Ezio said as he climbed out of his futon and stowed it inside his spatial ring.
"You’re not cooking?" I asked.
"What, am I your maid now?" Ezio raised an eyebrow.
This fucker really enjoyed getting on my nerves.
"Tsk, I figured you’d whip up some hot soup or something with that...meat."
"Oh, so you did like the meat after all?" Ezio smiled.
"Hey, I still don’t like it! But we didn’t bring any other meat, so we work with what we’ve got."
"Yeah, sure, buddy." His tone made it clear he didn’t believe me.
Ezio pulled a pot out of his spatial ring while I grabbed vegetables and ingredients, tomatoes, onions, potatoes, salt, pepper, along with some water bottles.
Ezio built the fire back up, filled the pot with water, mixed in all the ingredients along with a portion of the beast’s meat, and put the lid on to let it boil.
And fah, it smelled amazing. It’s funny, because I had written every assassin in the Schattern family to be skilled cooks, especially the guardians, so it made sense that Ezio would be a good chef.
After 40 minutes the food was ready. I pulled bowls out of my spatial ring for both of us and served us each a portion. The soup was so good I went back for about six servings before I was finally full.
"Burp!" I let it out loudly, rubbing my full stomach. "That was good."
"Tsk, why don’t you have any manners like a proper noble?" Ezio said, clearly unimpressed by the burp.
"We’re literally in the middle of nowhere, who cares about manners?" I shrugged.
Ezio didn’t respond, just muttered something under his breath about a white-haired monkey. For some reason that felt vaguely insulting, but I let it go.
Ezio finished his bowl and let out his own loud burp.
"Why are you burping too if you were just complaining about me doing it?" I frowned.
"I guess spending too much time around you is rubbing your bad manners off on me."
I was starting to regret not smacking him earlier.
"Anyway," I stood up. "I’m taking a shower."
Even though Ezio had cleaned me up and changed my clothes the night before, I could still smell the blood on me. I needed to get rid of it.
"With what water? The river’s pretty far from here."
I scratched at my arm, feeling itchy all over. "With the drinking water."
"Hey, you—!"
Before he could stop me, I had already conjured a cocoon of darkness around myself.
"You bastard, why are you using our drinking water to shower?" Ezio asked, exasperated.
"Don’t worry, I have plenty." I called out from inside the cocoon.
The water was cold and I really missed my mansion’s hot bath, but I made do. Soon enough I was finished, feeling refreshed, the smell of blood gone.
The cocoon of darkness dissolved and I stepped out, tying my white hair back into a ponytail.
"Now that was refreshing." I said as I came to a stop in front of Ezio, who was crouched nearby.
"I don’t get why you’re showering when you’re just going to get dirty again." Ezio said.
I shrugged. "It’s just basic hygiene. You’re not going to shower?"
He shook his head.
"Nah, I’m not dirty."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
"Is that so?"
"Yes! You motherf—" Ezio cut himself off mid-curse and sighed. "So, what monsters are we hunting today? I’m guessing you already have something in mind."
"Oh, yeah, I do." I said, picking up my katana and strapping it to my waist. "We’re going to hunt giant praying mantises."
