“Huu…” Nathan inhaled deeply. Just like his ‘Soul Contract,’ this ‘Deadly Claw’ didn’t have any explanation either. However, if he had to do it, he felt like he could unleash this power.
Meanwhile, Fenrir noticed that his Ena increased drastically as if the amount of Ena transferred from Nathan multiplied. It seemed that this method really worked.
Nathan saw both Fenrir’s excitement and status.
Name: Fenrir
Level: 13
Race: Celestial Wolf
Quality: Basic (Mid)
Fenrir stared at Nathan, who later confirmed. “It works.”
“It seems that we have found a unique path to get stronger.” Fenrir grinned.
“Yeah. I might have to be careful though. If I give too much Ena to the point I barely have enough Ena to use a skill, it’ll be dangerous for me.”
“I know that. It will be better if we have the tool to measure Ena accurately.”
“True. Looking at how happy my teacher is, she is probably on the verge of success.”
“We can only wait until she finishes then.” Fenrir nodded in agreement. Fenrir was the one extending his paw this time, reminding Nathan about earlier. “I’ll be counting on you. I want to fight a lot.”
He still felt a lot of things were missing in the theory of him getting summoned here, but there were a lot of things he had to do, such as finding out the content of the contract he had with the original Nathan or simply living to the fullest in this world.
Nevertheless, he knew one thing. He couldn’t achieve it alone, so he extended his hand, bumping his fist to Fenrir’s. “I’m counting on you, Fenrir.”
“Me too.”
They acted casual and believed each other previously, but they confirmed it this time.
“By the way, don’t forget to prioritize me and not focus on future women, even if you summon one in the future.”
“…” There was an awkward silence for a moment before Nathan vaguely agreed. “En.”
“Oi!” Fenrir gnashed his teeth. “You horny brat!”
“What do you mean? We don’t have a contract about that!”
“I’m going to bite yours off so that you don’t have to think about it anymore in the future.”
“I’ll pluck every fur and tooth you have before neutering you if you dare to do that, you stupid dog!”
“I’m a wolf!”
…
Nathan picked up the book to learn more about summoners. Although Fenrir didn’t admit it, he also read the book so that he could get stronger. He realized that he might be able to get even stronger if he created stronger abilities if he combined it with the knowledge of this world or from other familiars.
Hence, both of them focused on studying.
The next morning, Vivian called Nathan and Fenrir to the backyard. It was a nice and flat backyard with a big empty field in the middle. It seemed that Vivian used it for sparring from time to time.
Vivian asked, “Do you have any preferred weapons?”
Nathan looked down, falling into deep thought.
‘A weapon, huh? Should I go for the sword? Is it too cliche? Should I go for a spear or something unusual like wires? But this is my new reality. If I can’t learn it, I might die. I have Deadly Claw right now. I don’t know what I will get from my future familiars, but I do know I will be fighting with Fenrir for a while. Should I go for a glove or gauntlet that allows me to use Deadly Claw?’
After some consideration, Nathan explained, “I’m not sure. To be honest, I saw Alisha fighting with a bow yesterday. At the same time, it seemed that she could fight barehanded as well.”
“So you don’t need a weapon? Well, it’s true that manipulating Ena can give you a power similar to a good weapon, but we also have dwarven blacksmiths that can create weapons surpassing that. I guess it’s better to have a weapon. How about gloves? They are not thick, but they can be durable enough to withstand a weapon.
“However, it also means that you need good control over your Ena. The school should be teaching it, so I won’t burden you with so many tasks at once. If you have any questions, you can ask me for extra lessons. How’s that?”
“Sounds good.”
“Great. If it’s hand-to-hand combat, I guess I’ll have to change your instructor.” She contemplated for a moment before Alisha appeared next to her, asking, “How about I do it, Mistress?”
“You will do it?” Vivian looked surprised.
“I’ve taken a liking to the young master.” Alisha smiled.
“You even call him ‘young master’ now. It seems that you’ve recognized him.” Vivian scratched the back of her head.
“Oh!” Nathan’s expression brightened. Getting trained by such a gentle, bright, and mature elder sister was a reward for him.
“Alright. You can do it.” Vivian sighed. After seeing how enthusiastic Nathan became, she had no choice but to leave it to Alisha. “Wait a bit here.”
Vivian returned to the mansion and came out two minutes later, tossing a pair of black gloves. They were thin, but Nathan noticed the springiness of the material, which would absorb some impact. There seemed to be an additional metal liner that could block sharp weapons as well.
When he wore it and made a gripping motion, his movement was a bit restricted, but not something he couldn’t handle.
Alisha said, “For now, the best way to improve is to attack you until you get used to it, especially stopping you from blinking when an attack comes. It’s basically useless to teach you martial arts if you end up closing your eyes.”
“I understand.” Nathan thought he would be learning some cool martial arts, but this was the reality. He had to start with his foundation.
Alisha walked to the middle of the field while explaining, “Let’s see. For the next week, we’ll focus on your basics. You and Fenrir will be fighting me and trying to last for more than fifteen minutes.”
Nathan nodded. “I’ll be learning a lot from you, Alisha.”
Little did Nathan know that he was going to regret having Alisha as his teacher because behind that gentle and mature smile was…