BXBX NOVEL Chapter 55: Gift
After looking around for some time, he finally found three arcane-rank sword techniques. He stowed the books inside his inventory.
'Should I head to the upper floors?' Fredrinn thought for a moment. He wanted to see the techniques on the upper floors, but going there would expose his strength. In the end, he abandoned the idea and left the library.
"Those two will like those books for sure…" Fredrinn chuckled.
***
The next morning, Fredrinn handed the techniques he got from the library to Alice and Olivia.
"Study the techniques well. Learning them will be crucial to your survival. In a battle between martial practitioners, the one with stronger techniques and more fighting experience will have a higher chance of winning." Fredrinn sternly reminded them.
"Yes, my lord!" The two replied in unison.
"You may go to the training chamber. If you have any questions about the techniques, you can come to me." Fredrinn didn't mind spending his fate points to help them better understand those techniques. He believed that it was a necessary investment considering their overwhelming potential.
Hearing this, the two bowed before they eagerly headed to the secret chamber.
Looking at their excited faces, he could only shake his head. In just a few days, they had already become addicted to training and cultivation. However, he couldn't really blame them. Even he was fascinated with the process of learning how to draw the unique pattern of the spells. There was no such thing in his home world so the whole thing was magical for him.
Fredrinn went to his desk and looked at the pile of documents that he had neglected. He had nothing else to do so he went over them one by one.
Most were just trivial matters that needed his stamp. He prioritized them over the other dossiers. Soon, over half of the stack of papers have been stamped.
"Hm?" One particular document caught his attention. It was about the miners of the energy stone mine. Apparently, they are asking for a raise and their reasoning was the dangerous nature of their job.
'I'll go see those guys later. If they truly deserve the raise, then I will offer them more than what they are asking for.' The current monthly wage of the miners was 2000 star coins. This was roughly around 2000 dollars in his home world. It didn't seem a lot, but to the commoners in Star Wind Kingdom, this was already a generous amount.
While he was going through the rest of the documents, he suddenly heard knocking sounds on the door. "Come in." He said while keeping his eyes on the dossiers.
A moment later, a young teen entered his study.
"Good morning, my lord!"
Fredrinn raised his head and smiled when he realized that it was the nephew of Gunnar. "Take your seat." He pointed at the chair in front of his desk.
Paul Gabriel nodded before taking his seat.
"Give me a few minutes. I'm almost done here."
"Please take your time, my lord." Paul Gabriel answered.
He was worried about his uncle, but knowing his strength, he believed that he would be fine. 'I hope this isn't about you, Uncle.' He prayed in his heart.
Ten minutes later, Fredrinn piled the documents neatly before he turned his head to Paul Gabriel. "I'm sorry for making you wait." He smiled apologetically at the boy.
"It's fine, my lord!" He anxiously waved his hand.
Seeing him acting like this, Fredrinn chuckled. He knew that this boy was very afraid of him. "What kind of weapon do you use?" He asked as he interlocked his fingers on top of the table.
Paul Gabriel didn't expect this question, but he still responded. "My uncle trained me in using the sword and the bow, but I mainly use the sword."
Fredrinn nodded. The sword was the most commonly used weapon in the kingdom so he wasn't surprised by this. "What sword do you use?"
"This… I only use the sword provided by the household." Paul replied with an embarrassed smile.
"You mean you don't have a proper sword?"
"Most of the money from my uncle's wage goes to his training resources. I get some allowance from him, but it's only enough to buy tonics and some training resources." Paul answered truthfully.
Fredrinn sighed upon hearing this. He couldn't blame Gunnar since his training resources required a lot of money.
"Then you can have this." Fredrinn handed him the sword he bought for 5000 star coins. He didn't have much use for it so he might as well give it to the boy.
Paul was too shocked to respond.
"I bought that sword recently, but I no longer have any use for it. You can have it. Take it as a greeting gift for my subordinate's nephew." Fredrinn grinned when he saw the boy's dumbfounded expression.
"This sword looks valuable, my lord! I can't accept this!" Paul really liked the sword, but he was too embarrassed to accept it.
"You don't need to be embarrassed. Just take it. Gunnar is one of my people so it's only right for me to give a gift to his nephew."
Paul looked at the sword and pulled it out a bit, revealing the smooth blade hidden underneath the scabbard. "What a beautiful sword!"
"It's not too bad." Fredrinn agreed. It was a rare-rated sword and he only bought it for 5000 star coins which was quite the bargain.
"Can I try it?" Paul asked for his permission. He didn't dare pull out the sword completely as it might offend Fredrinn.
"Go ahead, but you have to be careful. You might destroy my books." Fredrinn replied in a teasing voice.
"Thank you, my lord." Paul stood up and bowed. He then walked in the middle, far from the bookshelves before pulling out the sword.
Shiing!
The blade made a beautiful sound the moment he took it out of the scabbard.
'It's quite heavy, but I should be used to its weight as long as I practice with it.' He thought before he swung the sword.
Whoosh!
It made a whooshing sound with every swing and it didn't feel awkward in his hands. The only issue was that he had to hold the sword using both hands since he was still not used to the weight. Other than that, he was very satisfied with its performance
"How is it?" Fredrinn suddenly asked.
Paul put the sword back in the scabbard before he responded. "It's quite heavy so I might need some time to get used to its weight."
"You only have two weeks left to prepare. Will that be enough time for you to properly wield the sword?"
"It shouldn't be an issue, my lord. I just need to increase my training time." The boy beamed.
Hearing this, Fredrinn laughed lightly. This kid was very diligent with his training. He lacked the resources and he didn't have Kristine's talent, but he still managed to reach the 8th layer of the Body Refining stage. He was the very definition of the phrase, 'hardwork beats talent'.
"Are you confident to win the competition?" For someone below the age of 15, his cultivation was already high.
If he hadn't transmigrated to Fredrinn's body, that guy would have been stuck at the 10th Layer of the Body Refining stage for quite some time. The previous Fredrinn was garbage compared to this young boy.
"I'm not too sure, my lord. There are many talented disciples in this batch and there are probably five or more people who have a higher cultivation than me. The most talented among them is Miss Elaiza. She is the granddaughter of Sir Glen who is the current finance director of the household. From what I heard, she is already a 1st Layer Qi Gathering martial practitioner."
Hearing this, Fredrinn recalled the kind-looking fat old man he met during the meeting of the elders. He didn't expect that he was hiding a talented granddaughter.
If this Elaiza was truly a 1st layer Qi Gathering martial practitioner, no one in her batch could hope to defeat her.
"Then I hope that you enter the top 10."
"I will try my best, my lord!" Paul clenched his hand with a determined look on his face.
The two chatted for a while before Fredrinn asked him to leave.
He looked at the documents on top of his desk and thought. 'I think I need a secretary. Olivia and Alice are busy with their training and I don't have much time to deal with them by myself.'
He grabbed a certain document and walked out of his study.
The energy stone mine was quite a distance away from the estate so he went there via carriage.
The path towards the energy stone mine was bumpy so he didn't enjoy the journey. If it weren't for his curiosity, he would have already asked the carriage driver to turn back and return to the estate.
It was already noon when he arrived at the mine. "We're here, my lord."
Fredrinn got down from the carriage and looked at the dreary land in front of him. To the side was a dilapidated building on the verge of collapse.
"What a dull place." He muttered.