Chapter 90: Worse than a child
"Can you see the Banshee\'s Bane Owls?" Xavier asked while pointing to the cloud of fluff, stingers, and beaks that were flying inside the cage.
"The what of what owl?" Damien asked while looking at the cage warily.
"Do not worry," Xavier said to him. "The Banshee Bane owls are not harmful to beastmen. Our skins are thick and strong enough to provide protection against the stinger and the beaks of these birds."
"And you want me to do what with them?" Damien asked with a look of suspicion on his face; he had a feeling that Xavier was going to ask him to the impossible. Discover what\'s next at m,vl-em,py-r
"You are going to use the wooden sword to knock them down," Xavier told him in a calm voice.
"Have you lost your mind?" Damien asked him. "I cannot even hit you when you are standing in place, and you want me to knock these birds down?"
"They are the lowest ranking beasts in the world of beast men," remarked Xavier. He rolled his shoulder, and his muscles rippled in his uniform. "And there is no need to cry, Lord Damien. This is something that a beastman\'s child learns to do when he or she is six years old. I am sure that you will do just fine."
Damien could feel pressure build in the back of his neck as he looked at the screeching owls, which didn\'t resemble an owl from any angle. In fact, if the owls could see these things being called by the same name as them, they might rally to have their names changed.
"All I need to do is knock them down, right?" Damien asked. He had a feeling that there was a catch because there was always a catch when it came to Xavier.
"That\'s right," the man replied before twisting the latch and letting the Banshee\'s Bane owls on him. "Don\'t worry, it won\'t be bad."
Indeed, it was not bad, it was sheer pandemonium.
As soon as those owls were unleashed, they charged at Damien as if they had been starving for days. They pecked, nipped, and used their stingers to sting him.
And all of this happened so soon that Damien didn\'t even have the time to raise his sword and aim at the birds as he was too busy trying to protect his eyes from their sharp claws.
Xavier, who was watching the man run around the training ground, released a sigh before walking over. He raised the wooden sword in his hand and then aimed the tip of the sword at the birds that were pecking Damien.
He closed his eyes and then lunged at the birds that were crowding around Damien. With the tip of the sword, Xavier hit the soft part of the cartilage of the birds until they fell to the ground.
"Lord Damien," Xavier called him with a soft voice. "I may be a bit rude here, but —were you ever paying attention to your swordsmanship classes when you were young? I have never seen anyone as lame as you when it comes to swordsmanship."
Damien flinched upon hearing those words. Honestly, he had no idea whether this body\'s owner had paid attention to his swordsmanship training or not.
However, Damien looked down at his frail arms, which looked so weak that they might snap like a twig. It was clear that this man was never serious about training; in the beginning, he must have been complacent as he was crowned as the crown prince.
And later on, he must have been desperate to get out of this abyss in which he was pushed.
So instead of focusing on something that he was not good at from the beginning, he decided to pay attention to something that he was good at.
"Do you think that I can never learn swordsmanship?" Damien asked straightforwardly. Just now, when he was pecked by those owls, he realised how helpless he was to fend himself against any kind of danger.
If this went on, then he would lose his life before Damien could even think of a counterattack to save his life.
"Do you really have to learn it?" Xavier asked.
"Yes," Damien answered without missing a heartbeat.
Seeing the determined look on his face, Xavier stared at Damien with an appraising look on his face.
He sighed before saying to him, "Very well."
Turning on his feet, Xavier said to Damien, "Get up on your feet, Lord Damien. I have thought of a way to teach you how to swing your sword."
Damien got to his feet and followed Xavier, who was crouching in front of a large, gnarled tree. However, a second later, he straightened up and tied a fist-size rock from the branch of the tree.
"Here, try to stab it with your sword," said Xavier while pointing at the stone that was hanging by a thin rope.
"...Okay?" Damien blinked before stepping close to the stone that he was supposed to stab. It seemed like Xavier had given up on him; if not, why would he ask him to do such a simple thing ?
"What are you doing, Lord Damien?" Xavier asked from behind, and Damien turned to look at the man behind him with a frown on his face.
"What ? Did you not say that I need to practise by swinging my sword at this rock?"
Xavier raised his hand and placed it on his forehead. He raised his sword and lowered it such that he could draw a line on the ground.
"Anyone can swing their sword at that rock at that distance; you need to do it from here."
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