Two weeks passed after the incident at the duke's garden.
Nothing major happened during that time.
Every day, I went to visit Rusty. Thankfully, he was recovering well.
My own body had mostly healed too.
The wooden splint on my right arm had been removed, and the bandages were gone as well. However, pain still lingered whenever I moved it too much.
Baneat had already warned me about this.
"It's normal," he said. "Your body healed naturally without the help of a healer. Natural healing takes longer, and some pain will remain for a few more days."
He estimated that the pain would fade in another two or three days.
For now, I focused on training.
Since my right arm still hurt, I couldn't swing my weapons properly. When I looked at my sword and spear lying nearby, I sighed.
If Duracal saw the condition of my weapons, he would probably shout at me for neglecting them.
I tried swinging the sword once.
Pain shot through my arm immediately.
I stopped.
Instead, I shifted my focus to movement training.
My legs were perfectly fine, so I concentrated on my beast footwork technique—dodging, accelerating, and changing direction quickly.
Agility was just as important as strength.
Sometimes I also practiced the hand-to-hand techniques taught by Siena.
Rather than using punches, I focused more on kicks. By combining those movements with the beast footwork technique, I tried to create my own style.
My daily routine had become simple.
I woke up before sunrise—a habit I developed while training with Duracal.
Then I practiced my beast footwork technique by running around the courtyard near the servants' quarters.
It wasn't an official training ground, but it was quiet enough for practice.
As my condition improved, the room I stayed in was changed to a smaller one. Vanire still checked on me, but she no longer watched over me the entire day.
One technique I was experimenting with involved rushing toward an opponent using beast footwork.
When the enemy entered my range, I would spin my body in a fast three-hundred-sixty-degree rotation and strike with a sudden kick.
I had never tried using kicks like that before, so the movement still felt awkward.
But I believed it could become useful.
I also continued practicing the beast breathing technique, slowly gathering aura inside my body.
However, the surrounding Miasma in this region was very thin.
Even when I tried combining it with the beast absorption technique, the results were limited.
Still, I continued my routine.
Morning training.
Lunch.
A short nap.
Then evening training again.
One evening, Khaun suddenly entered my room.
As usual, he carried his beer pouch.
"You asked me before, didn't you?" he said while taking a long drink. "About dark magic."
I nodded.
"I did."
"Well," he said, sitting heavily on the floor, "since you're a knight, I don't know how useful this will be to you. But I'll teach you two magic techniques."
"Only the theory for now."
He slapped the floor beside him.
"Sit."
I sat down across from him.
He sniffed and took another drink.
"The first technique is called Black Hand," he began.
"It's a dark magic technique that most people don't know about. Only a few high-level mages are aware of it."
He drew a rough circle on the floor with his finger.
"You create a magic circle. From that circle, several dark hands appear."
"They can grab objects, push enemies, or even throw things."
"How you use them depends entirely on the caster."
As he continued explaining, I listened carefully.
But the more he talked, the more confused I became.
The theory was far beyond my understanding.
Eventually, Khaun noticed my expression.
He sighed.
"That's enough for today."
I blinked in surprise.
"Did I do something wrong?"
"No," he replied simply. "You didn't understand anything."
He rubbed his forehead.
"That's my mistake. I jumped straight into theory without teaching the basics."
He stood up and stretched.
"From tomorrow, I'll start from the foundation."
Then he added casually,
"Oh, and the agreement has changed."
I frowned.
"What agreement?"
"Seventy percent of your pay will now belong to me."
Before I could even respond, he walked out of the room while drinking from his pouch.
I remained sitting on the floor, staring at the door in disbelief.