Chapter 17: A Lifelong Companion and Early Morning Training

Chapter 17

Lifelong Companion.

For spirits, excluding supreme spirits and spirit kings, their existence was inextricably linked to their summoner; upon the summoner’s demise, they would return to the chaos from which they came. In this light, the notion of a contractor being a lifelong companion was not merely metaphorical.

“Sylph, Master of the Void. I request a contract once more.”

“Pyaaaak—”

Sylph let out a high-pitched cry, and at that instant, its form dissolved, unleashing a tempestuous gale. The air seemed to hum with the simultaneous chattering of countless spirits.

Branches clattered together, and the soft moonlight, filtering through the gaps in the leaves, seemed to shatter in dappled patterns across Hay’s face.

Despite the wind raging around Hay, not a single strand of his hair stirred. It was as if he stood in the eye of a storm.

Hay gazed at the tempestuous wind, completely unperturbed. Leaves were swept up, forming a swirling vortex.

The formless wind soon mimicked the shape of a massive griffin, becoming even more ferocious.

The incorporeal Sylph, still unseen, gazed down at Hay from above. With every beat of its tempestuous wings, a fierce squall erupted.

Hay stared intently at Sylph. Soon, the wind, as if intending to tear Hay to shreds, fiercely plunged towards his heart.

The wind struck Hay’s chest, then vanished into his body as if being sucked inside.

Hay drew a deep breath.

His heart throbbed, a sensation akin to plummeting downwards gripping him. Moreover, mana surged wildly within his body, as if Sylph itself were rampaging inside him.

It was mana that was both refreshing and savage. Even in summer, a biting wind seemed to howl within Hay’s body.

He slowly closed his eyes and placed a hand over his chest. Sylph was highly agitated.

It seemed to feel immense joy at having gained a contractor.

Just as a spirit summoner experienced an inexpressible ecstasy upon forging their first contract with a spirit, the spirits themselves felt the same profound elation.

Thea and Kelpie, perhaps also excited within his body, had their energies fluctuating wildly.

‘Perhaps the three spirits were holding hands and bouncing around inside him.’

“Everyone, calm down.”

Hay stroked his own chest, as if soothing them.

After a moment, his wildly thumping heartbeat gradually subsided, and the flow of mana became more tranquil.

Hay opened his eyes and looked up at the forest, where a gentle breeze now stirred.

“I look forward to our journey together, Sylph.”

With this, Sylph too would accompany him for the rest of his life.

‘To celebrate the contract, I should eat some chicken with Renki tomorrow.’

****

The next day, not long after the morning bell chimed, a knock sounded at the door.

Renki, a light sleeper, groggily rose, hastily covered his face with a turban, and opened the door. Standing before him was Rick, his face equally heavy with sleep.

He was Mr. Torres’s young nephew, who worked tirelessly as if indentured at the inn.

“Rick? What brings you here so early?”

Renki asked quietly, his voice thick with sleep, as Rick gestured with his chin towards the bed where Hay was sleeping.

“Mr. Styles asked me to wake him when the morning bell rang.”

“My master?”

Hay usually woke late in the morning, so Renki was surprised once more.

‘What’s gotten into him?’

“I did wake him, didn’t I?” Rick said, rubbing his eyes with an annoyed tone, as he turned to leave.

Still bewildered, Renki approached Hay and gently shook his shoulder.

“Master, Master? Wake up.”

Unlike Renki, Hay was a heavy sleeper and only opened his eyes after several more shakes. His face puffy with sleep, he slowly pushed himself up.

“Rick came by. He said you asked to be woken up?”

“Mmm, I don’t feel like I slept much, and it’s already morning?” Hay’s voice was laced with sleepy annoyance.

“Do you have something planned? If not, you should sleep more.”

Hay shook his head.

“No. I’m going to train in the mornings starting today.”

“In the mornings?”

“Yeah. I’m going to make you train your stamina.”

“Huh? Me?”

Renki was taken aback.

‘He’s suddenly going to make me train my stamina?’

Hay rubbed his barely open eyes with the back of his hand.

“Until I retire, you’ll have to follow me around as a mercenary anyway. To endure that, you need to have the stamina for it, right? With such a frail body, you’d just get sick following me around. Wouldn’t you?”

“That’s true.”

Renki readily admitted.

Though he tried not to show it, his first journey with Hay had been quite arduous.

If not for Hay’s healing water, he would have collapsed a hundred times over on the way to Nudan.

“Besides, you need to exercise regularly to grow taller. Just so you know, I’ll be putting you through PT from now on.”

“What’s PT?”

“It means ‘personal training’.”

Hay said dismissively as he got out of bed.

He stumbled, fumbling for clothes in the cabinet and putting them on.

Even though it was summer, the morning air was quite chilly, especially after waking up, so he also put on a hooded jacket.

Renki, too, changed his clothes and put on his cheap mask.

‘Waking up early after so long is truly a torment,’ Hay muttered to himself as he left the room.

It reminded him of his office worker days, when he’d suffer from Monday sickness after the weekend and dread going to work.

The two of them quickly washed their faces at the well in the inn’s backyard. Then, they headed to the forest where Hay usually trained.

Hay took off his staff and hood, placed them under a tree, stretched out, and warmed up his body.

The forest floor was uneven.

‘Running would be too hard on his knees.’

No other cardio exercise was needed right now. Building endurance could wait.

Renki’s body was stiff and severely lacked muscle mass.

Combining stretching with strength training seemed like the best approach.

‘Should I just teach him stretching today?’

Hay rolled up his sleeves and looked at Renki, who was standing idly by.

“From now on, we’re going to do something called stretching.”

“Yes.”

Renki blinked innocently, not understanding what it was.

“It’s not difficult. Just follow what I do.”

Hay demonstrated first. Renki awkwardly mimicked Hay’s movements, and Hay corrected any incorrect postures.

Though Renki followed along quite well, his body was severely stiff, surprisingly so for a twelve-year-old.

Even with a slight push, he would scream in agony.

Hay knew his body was stiff, but it was worse than he expected. Even so, he didn’t go easy on him.

He had Renki sit on the ground and stretch both hands forward.

He told Renki to bend at the waist and touch his toes, but Renki’s fingers couldn’t even reach them.

‘To not even be able to do this basic movement… what pathetic flexibility.’

Hay clicked his tongue inwardly.

He grabbed Renki’s shoulder and pressed down firmly as Renki struggled, trying to grasp even one toe.

“Ah, w-wait, Master, just a moment!”

“Don’t bend your knees. Hey! Straighten your legs! That’s right. Bend your waist more. More, more, more…”

“Cough! Argh! I can’t, s-stop, Master, save me!”

“Save you from what? Am I killing you? You can do it, my dear student.”

“I feel like I’m going to die! Ugh! It hurts! Ah! Aaagh!”

The first time is always the hardest.

****

After a long session of stretching, Renki collapsed from exhaustion, so Hay gave him healing water to recover.

‘If we keep this up, his stamina will surely improve.’

“Tomorrow, I’ll teach you squats and lunges too.”

“What are those?”

Renki asked, his face blank. It seemed his body was so overworked that his mental fortitude had also been depleted.

“Oh, just some fun stuff.”

Renki’s eyes were filled with disbelief.

‘If I feed him well and make him exercise diligently, he’ll grow big and strong, won’t he?’

‘Today, should I buy a few chickens and make some fried chicken with Mr. Torres’s family?’

‘Ah, suddenly I want Samgyetang. For a summer health food, Samgyetang is the best.’

“Haaah…”

Sweat-drenched, Renki let out a heavy, hot sigh, his face a picture of misery. Hay, however, paid him no mind.

He tilted his head back, gauging the sun’s position. Without a clock, it was quite inconvenient to tell the time.

“Ah, Renki. We should go now.”

“To the inn?”

“No. Get up quickly.”

Renki, looking as if he might cry, wanting to rest longer, slowly staggered to his feet.

‘It seems I need to train not only his physical strength but also his mental fortitude.’

‘His tenacity seemed weaker than expected.’

Hay formulated a plan for Renki in his mind as they headed towards the city gates together.

It was almost time for the Pilsman Mercenary Group to depart from Nudan.

Sure enough, as they approached, they saw a procession already exiting the city gates.

Fortunately, Briana was at the rear with Captain Alan.

“Ms. Lamperche, Captain Alan.”

Hay approached them, greeted them, and bowed respectfully.

Briana opened her mouth to speak, but Captain Alan, beside her, immediately began to fuss.

“Oh! Mr. Styles! Have you come to see us off? Or perhaps have you changed your mind? An excellent decision! Hey there! Prepare a contract for him right away—Kyaak!”

Briana slapped Alan’s blabbering mouth with the back of her hand, silencing his nonsense.

“Go.”

Alan pouted, his mouth stinging from the blow, shot a glare at Briana, and waved at Hay.

“Mr. Styles! Next time we meet, we’re definitely signing a contract! Got it?!”

“Goodbye.”

Hay waved dismissively in farewell.

Alan, for some reason incredibly cheerful, burst into hearty laughter and rode ahead.

Whether he had a good personality or was simply strange, Hay could never quite get used to him.

‘He reminded me of that damn boss who got Han Tae-hyun into that awful company, which made me feel uncomfortable.’

‘A boss with a good personality, but utterly incompetent.’

“You’re here. Good. I had something to give you.”

Briana said, dismounting from her horse.

“Huh? For me?”

Hay looked at her, puzzled.

Briana took something from the saddlebag. It was a book.

“I packed the book I used for dictation, and a few others. They contain several topics Mr. Styles might find interesting. This particular book, for example, has a sub-chapter called ‘Kings of Spirits’; you should definitely read it. It’s quite engaging. And this one is a history book about the Three Continents. Renki might find some parts enjoyable as well.”

Hay was surprised that she was giving him those books.

Even if they were old, books were valuable possessions in this land.

He felt flustered, wondering if he should accept them.

“Wait, Ms. Lamperche. I can’t accept these.”

“Don’t decline. I’ve read them so many times that I’ve memorized all the contents anyway.”

Briana thrust the books into Hay’s arms, as if foisting them upon him.

Hay was bewildered, but he couldn’t simply refuse a gift that had been offered so thoughtfully.

“I’ll gratefully accept them, but I apologize that we have nothing to offer in return.”

‘If I had known, I would have prepared at least a small something.’

“Don’t worry about it. I’m fine.”

Briana chuckled softly.

“If I may offer a word of caution, I think it would be best if you left Nudan as soon as possible. As Mr. Styles may have noticed, the frequency of monster appearances in the vicinity has been quite unusual lately.”

Briana spoke solemnly, her face instantly serious. Hay shrugged dismissively.

“Oh, what could possibly happen? Ah, you said the Pilsman Mercenary Group is heading to Peschul, right?”

“Yes. Though our final destination is the Western Continent.”