Do ratmen dream of the sacred tree of spirits?

Chapter 45 The Garden

"Fafner! Good morning."

Joelle used her thumbs, index fingers, and middle fingers to simultaneously pinch the edges of both sides of her skirt and gently spread them open.

Her left foot stepped back slightly, and her knees bent slightly.

Fafnir quickly bowed to her in response to the curtsy.

Oh, little Joelle is so polite, even to him, her former servant, who is now far inferior to her, she shows him only superficial courtesy.

"Hello, Joelle! Hello, Ms. Cecilia!"

"I received a letter from Treasurer Clint yesterday. He said you want to practice magic at the manor?" Cecilia asked.

"Yes," Fafnir replied, "I hope so, but I dare not practice magic rashly, and I do not know what regulations the manor has regarding this."

"You're right, the manor has strict regulations regarding the application of magic," Cecilia nodded.

"Fafner, Miss Joelle has something to say to you."

"Fafner, I was with Cecilia yesterday when I learned about that letter."

"You can train at my usual training grounds; there's a training area specially set up for me in the castle gardens," Joël said generously.

"Hmm...is this disturbing you too much...?" To be honest, although Fafnir and Joël had become fairly familiar with each other this semester, he felt that this situation might not be appropriate.

"Of course I won't bother you. Why do you say that? Aren't you practicing magic somewhere you don't know where?" Joël was puzzled by Fafnir's answer.

"Furthermore, in principle, no one other than knights and their children is allowed to cast spells near the manor."

Especially... if you secretly cast a fireball spell, it'll be loud and destructive, and nearby knights might notice, perhaps thinking you're deliberately causing trouble.

Fafnir thought for a moment and then agreed:

"Thank you, Joelle."

Praise be to the polite and generous Miss Joelle, thank you!

"Usually only Cecilia teaches me, and I get bored sometimes. 'Teaching Assistant,' maybe you can give me some pointers," Joelle said happily.

"Fafner, are you going now? I'll show you around."

……

Fafnir followed Joël and Cecilia across the square and into the castle through a side gate.

The first-floor corridor was very long, and Fafnir had lost count of how many times he had wiped it.

When he knelt here to wipe the floor more than a year ago, he never imagined that one day he would walk through this corridor in this way.

"This way." Joël stopped in front of a door.

The moment the door was pushed open, sunlight flooded in.

This was a small garden attached to the first floor, which Fafnir had never been to before.

Surrounded by neatly trimmed hedges, the central area was an open space with several iron targets and a few wooden swords and shields for practice on a shelf against the wall.

"Is this your training ground?" Fafnir looked around.

"Yes, Cecilia helped me set it up," Joelle walked to the center of the open space, turned around, and asked, "What do you think?"

"fine."

Cecilia stood at the entrance to the small garden: "You guys practice, I'll watch from here."

Joel took a wooden sword from the shelf, weighed it in his hand, and then put it back.

"Fafner, what are you planning to practice today?"

"According to the method in 'Spiritual Training Manual,' I first increased my total spiritual amount. Mr. Victor said that my total spiritual amount was not enough."

Then, I practiced the Fireball spell.

"The Spiritual Training Manual? I know, that's a textbook for older students. Fafnir, you're amazing."

Joelle said seriously, "By the way, do you know how much spiritual energy you have right now?"

"Twenty-five standard units."

How do you know how many you have?

Fafner paused for a moment,

"It was probably..." he mumbled. "Once, I deliberately cast the fireball spell twenty-five times in a row and found that my spiritual energy was just exhausted."

“I only have ten,” Joelle said. “Cecilia measured it for me. We have professional equipment. The feeling of spiritual depletion is not pleasant.”

Fafnir didn't exchange any more pleasantries with her; he immediately entered a meditative state and began his spiritual training.

Fafnir's spiritual threads, scattered throughout his body, slowly converged... guiding the torn spiritual threads to re-coagulate...

After a while, Fafnir stopped training, opened his eyes, and found that Joël had changed into a set of light riding breeches and a shirt.

She was wielding a wooden sword under Cecilia's guidance.

"Fafner, are you finished meditating? I think practicing first-order elemental magic might disturb your meditation, so I'll practice swordsmanship first."

"Thank you, of course it's alright, Joel, you can continue practicing. The spell training won't disturb my meditation," Fafnir replied.

Skilled meditation cannot be easily disturbed by external magical training.

"Fafner, do you know swordsmanship?"

Fafnir shook his head.

"Of course I haven't learned it. I used to mop the floors at the castle, so I never had the chance to learn it. There weren't any suitable opportunities at school either."

Joel switched the wooden sword to his left hand, and with his right hand pulled another one from the shelf and handed it to him.

"Want to give it a try?"

Fafnir looked at the wooden sword and hesitated for a moment.

He took the sword hilt; the wooden sword was heavier than he had imagined, and it felt a little strange holding it.

He tried to swing it, but the movement was stiff.

Joelle looked at him, a slight smile playing on her lips.

"You're holding the sword incorrectly."

She walked over, took his wrist, and gently bent his fingers back onto the hilt of the sword.

"Place your thumb here, and clench the other fingers together, but don't grip too tightly."

Fafnir adjusted his grip, but it still felt awkward.

"Your posture is wrong too," Joelle took two steps back and looked him up and down. "Spread your feet apart, don't put them together. Take half a step back with your right foot and turn your body to the side, don't face me directly."

Fafner did as instructed.

"and then?"

Joel raised the wooden sword in his hand, the tip pointing at him.

"Then I'll attack and you'll defend, we'll see how many hits you can block."

Before he could answer, the sword had already thrust forward.

Fafnir instinctively raised his wooden sword to block, but he was too slow. Before the sword was even in position, Joël's sword tip had already touched his right shoulder and then retracted.

"Haha, Fafnir, sorry, I won! I'll let Cecilia teach you, haha."

Cecilia, could you please teach Fafnir? I'm about to start practicing Wind Blade.

……

"Fafner, are you leaving now?"

"Yes, I'm going home for dinner now."

"Hmm...you can stay and have dinner with me at the restaurant..."

"No, thank you very much, Joël, but it won't do." Fafnir shook his head firmly.

He had not forgotten his identity as a ratman and a former servant; it was impolite to dine with the Viscount's daughter.

Fafnir did not want to cause unnecessary trouble for Joël, given the large number of people watching from the castle.

"Fafner is right, Miss, this is not a good idea," Cecilia said.