'So I don't have to drink murloc blood raw.'
Lance felt considerably better after seeing Fox's proposed method.
Diluting the blood with water and absorbing it through a bath was something he could tolerate. From what he had learned, murloc blood produced its truly nauseating fishy taste only when it entered the mouth. The smell itself was unpleasant but not unbearable.
That probably explained why almost no one ate murlocs. Their flesh and blood were simply too foul.
After resting for a while, Lance took his leave of Amman.
Outside Moonlight Tower, the two clay guardians still stood faithfully at their posts. Bonnie and the soldier who had escorted the murlocs were also waiting for him.
The two buckets of murloc blood were heavy, so Lance was happy to let someone else carry them. The group returned to the castle beneath the night sky.
After grabbing a quick meal, Lance carried one bucket of blood into the washroom and strictly ordered Bonnie not to follow him inside.
Under his stern warning, the girl could only remain helplessly in a corner of the room.
This was not at all what Viscountess Nancy had expected when she assigned Bonnie as Lance's maid. Nancy had ordered her to watch Lance's daily activities closely and report everything back to her, but Lance had given the girl almost no opportunity to stay near him.
Bonnie found herself trapped between two people she could not afford to offend. Lance was beyond her reach, and so was the First Madam. All she could do was adapt as best she could.
Lance shut the washroom door.
As on the previous night, Aunt Xili had already prepared a bath for him. After estimating the volume, he poured roughly a third of the small bucket of murloc blood into the hot water.
The clear bath immediately turned a frightening crimson. Steam rose from the surface, made strangely ominous by the color beneath it.
Lance stripped and climbed in without hesitation.
'That's all? I just soak here?'
Fox answered at once: [Correct. You may also use the time to rest.]
Lance closed his eyes.
Something warm seemed to be hidden within the hot water. He could feel it seeping through his skin and slowly spreading into his body.
'This actually feels pretty good...'
He relaxed, letting the strange effect of the murloc blood work through him.
...
Two hours later, Lance opened his eyes to an astonishing sight.
At some point, the originally scarlet bathwater had faded to a pale pink. A thin layer of bloody residue clung to his skin, as though his body had absorbed most of whatever useful substance the murloc blood contained.
He climbed out of the bath without feeling the slightest fatigue. If anything, he felt unusually refreshed.
'So murloc blood really does work.'
What puzzled him was that no one in the Piaoqi Kingdom seemed to have discovered the effect after all these years. Ordinary people overlooking it was understandable, but even Amman, a wizard who had lived on the western coast for around three years, appeared unaware of it.
That genuinely surprised Lance.
Still, none of that mattered much. Fox had discovered the secret, and Lance intended to make full use of it.
Over the next several days, his life settled into a strict routine.
He rose early each morning and practiced swordsmanship until noon. In the afternoon, he went to Moonlight Tower to read and train his control over mental power. At night, he soaked in the murloc-blood bath.
He repeated this schedule for six days without interruption.
Lance did not find it tedious. Whether he was practicing swordsmanship or soaking in the bath, he could feel his body steadily improving. The changes would have been too subtle for most people to notice, but with Fox constantly measuring him, every improvement was visible.
[Horizontal cut meets standard.]
[Vertical cut meets standard.]
[Upward cut meets standard.]
Fox's clear notifications sounded one after another as Lance executed the six movements of Piaoqi Kingdom Basic Military Swordsmanship with precision.
By now, all six movements had been drilled into his muscles. He could perform them correctly without hesitation.
On the broad training ground, Lance continued his practice with complete concentration.
Near the distant castle gate, a group of teenagers entered together, laughing and talking. Lance glanced at them once and then ignored them.
[Three hundred ninety-eight.]
[Three hundred ninety-nine.]
[Four hundred.]
At last, drenched in sweat, Lance completed his four-hundredth standard repetition.
The basic military swordsmanship of the Piaoqi Kingdom had become completely familiar to him.
His arms were visibly thicker than when he had begun. His stamina and balance had improved as well.
'Fox, scan my current physical condition.'
Lance wiped the sweat from his face.
[Understood. Scanning.]
[Physical Attributes]
Constitution: 0.5
Strength: 0.7
Agility: 0.5
[Congratulations. Your physical condition has improved significantly over the past week and is approaching the ordinary human range.]
Lance smiled at the result.
His body was improving exactly as he had hoped.
The previous night, after completing his sixth murloc-blood bath, Fox's scan had shown that each of his three physical attributes had increased by 0.1. Now, after completing four hundred proper repetitions of the basic military swordsmanship, his condition had improved again.
He was already far stronger than when he first arrived in this world.
An ordinary person's three primary physical attributes generally fell between 0.7 and 0.9. Someone who trained deliberately could naturally push those values higher.
'Fox, with my current condition, can I unlock the next subchip?'
The master chip alone had already provided enormous benefits. Lance could hardly wait to activate a second chip.
Each subchip had a narrower purpose than Fox, but within its specialty it was extremely powerful. In his previous life, Lance had sold these products for a living and knew their capabilities intimately.
Fox's answer disappointed him.
[Your current physical condition does not meet the minimum requirement for unlocking the next subchip.]
'What is the minimum requirement?'
[All three primary physical attributes must reach 0.7 simultaneously.]
Lance nodded slowly.
His Strength had reached the requirement, but Constitution and Agility were still only 0.5.
'Then I need to start training the next sword technique.'
He reviewed Fox's latest projection.
If he continued relying only on the basic military swordsmanship, he would have to perform another thousand standard repetitions merely to gain 0.1 Strength. Constitution and Agility would not improve at all.
In other words, basic swordsmanship had become an inefficient way for Lance to continue strengthening his body.
Fox had also calculated the likely effect of the next murloc-blood treatment cycle.
[Your body has developed resistance to murloc blood after the first cycle. Based on current projections, you will need approximately two weeks of continued treatment to obtain:]
Constitution: +0.1
Agility: +0.1
[Strength is not expected to increase further from this method.]
Lance felt somewhat frustrated.
Just as on Earth, the body could develop resistance to substances that altered physical condition. The first exposure might produce a strong effect, but repeated use reduced its effectiveness until eventually it could become useless.
To guarantee a supply of murloc blood, Lance had already instructed the soldiers to capture live murlocs whenever possible and keep them at the castle. Whenever he needed more blood, one could be killed, and the soldier who had captured it would receive a reward in gold.
Viscount Lane gave Lance a generous monthly allowance, so paying bounties for a few murlocs was hardly a problem.
Besides, murlocs appeared frequently along the western coast. With money as motivation, the soldiers were enthusiastic enough that Lance had little reason to worry about running out of blood.
'As long as it still works, I'll keep using the baths.'
Lance returned his wooden sword to the weapon rack.
At that moment, the group of teenagers who had entered through the castle gate abruptly changed direction and came toward the training ground.
There were more than a dozen of them, clustered around a smiling blond boy. He looked only sixteen or seventeen, but his build was exceptionally strong, taller and broader than many grown men.
Lance recognized the group. Most were the children of the castle's craftsmen or soldiers, raised from childhood to learn their families' trades or professions.
The blond boy at their center was Eric, the eldest son of Ola, captain of the castle patrol.
When they saw Lance, the youths bowed one after another, though several looked reluctant to do so. Whatever they thought of him personally, he was the son of the castle's lord. As a nobleman's child, his status stood above theirs from birth.
Eric alone remained casual.
"Young Master Lance, am I seeing this correctly? You're practicing swordsmanship?"
Lance was silent for a moment.
Then he noticed a graceful figure among the group.
Irene.
"Yes," Lance replied calmly. "I'm practicing swordsmanship. Do you have some advice for me, Eric?"