Chapter 11: Chapter 11: Lunchtime at the Dojo
Yusha vanished inside her room. "Just wait out there for a moment. Have a seat anywhere. Make yourself comfortable!" she called out. I looked around at the floor and just picked a random spot to plop down on. Not like there was any furniture for me to sit on.
I sat crisscross and Siza came running up to me. He hopped on my lap and rubbed his snout against my chest. I couldn't resist. I started brushing back the jet-black hair on his head and smiled. Siza was just too cute.
All the while, I heard Yusha in rummaging through some dishes in her room. Then there was something that sounded like a big, wet plop. My face turned sour because I was immediately reminded of the time I dropped a rotten Halloween jack-o-lantern onto my front porch. It made the exact same sound as whatever in was in Yusha's room.
"Here you are, Adrien!" Yusha came jogging out with a small white porcelain bowl held by both of her hands. I could see a wooden spoon twirling in dish as she carefully walked towards me. "It's not the freshest meal," she said with disappointment. "But I hope it's enough to at least help you get by until tomorrow."
I took the bowl from her hands and lowered it onto my thigh. Still on my lap, Siza looked at the food, gave it a couple of sniffs and then ran off into the safety of Yusha's room. And I don't blame him.
The potatoes looked just like that rotten pumpkin from all those years ago. Mushy. Brown. And the smell was off. Not quite rancid, but just odd enough to make my nose wiggle. The water was cloudy, turned a dark shade of brown by its contents. I slowly reached for my spoon and gave the bits of potatoes a small nudge. The pieces squished against the side of the bowl with no force like they were melting.
"Thank you," I said. I tried my best to hide my discontent, but I couldn't even have pretended to want to eat that. I would have been better off munching on some tree bark back in the forest. I could see the disappointment in Yusha's eyes as I thanked her. Only being able to give a Champion some leftover potato stew from who knows how long ago must have devastated her.
"I don't have the funds at the moment to get fresh ingredients," she said with a frown. "But perhaps I could start a line of credit with Boz over at the bank. That way I can get—"
Against my will and better judgement, I plunged the spoon deep into the broth. Then I closed my eyes. Maybe if I didn't see what I was biting into it would go down easier. Wanting to get it over with quick, I lifted the spoonful, tilted my head all the way back and let it down the hatch. I tried my best to make sure as little of the food touched my tastebuds, but it was impossible.
It was cold. It was sour. The closest thing I could compare it to was runny and expired baby food. The texture made me gag a bit, but with some force by my tongue and throat, I was able to down the entire scoop. Then I took in a few deep breaths, shook my head and blinked. There was a lingering feeling that I could throw up at any moment. But after a minute or two of absolute silence, I managed to keep the food down.
"I'm sorry," Yusha said.
"No, no. Don't be. I thought it tasted... fine."
"You don't have to lie. It's not like I'm too fond of my cooking, either. If we had more options for crops, I'd be more than willing to try out different recipes."
"I just think it's how the potatoes were stored, Yusha. They must have bene sitting out for just a tad too long." I pinched my fingers together and squinted my eyes.
"Fresh ingredients are a luxury. If I had known that a Champion would be staying with me, I would have planned ahead."
"You've done more than enough for me already, Yusha." As an expression of gratefulness, I stuck my spoon into the broth again. I took one look at the scoop before plopping back into the bowl. There was no way I'd be able to down a second bite. "It's not like I'm starving. Just a bit famished is all. I'll get by just fine if I skip lunch. And dinner." Now that's completely true. As a former college student, I've missed more than my fair share of meals.
Reluctantly, Yusha picked up the bowl from in front of me and started heading to her room. "I understand. I promise, once tomorrow rolls around, I will make you the best potato stew I can!"
She only had two ingredients to work with: potatoes and water. I don't think there's much room for variety.
"I appreciate it, Yusha. I promise I'll make it up to you somehow."
Yusha darted into her room for a moment and reemerged with her hands empty. "You can pay me back by giving the Army of Order what they deserve."
I coughed. Had to put my hand over my mouth so the bite of food I just had wouldn't splatter across Yusha's floors. "I can do that. Only problem is that I don't how long that will be."
"I'm willing to wait."
I uncrossed my legs and stretched them out. I felt I should have been tired, having done all that walking. But there was eagerness in my mind that kept my adrenaline pumping. My mind went rushing back to when I took those few Entities back in the forest. I let a yawn escape as I stretched my right across my chest. "How tired are you?" I asked Yusha.
She shrugged her shoulders. "Not very."
"How would you feel about getting some more training done?"
"As in fighting?"
I nodded. "Yeah. Think there would be anymore Entities out in the forest? I'm close to getting enough [Attribute Points] to level up. I'd like to at least hit Level Two before getting some rest."
"I'd enjoy that very much!" Yusha walked over and picked Siza up by his stomach and hugged him tight. The dog stared at me with his big eyes and his tongue drooping out of his open jaw. "Would you mind if Siza came along? He's been alone in this place all morning. And he gets anxious if he's without company for too long."
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How could I say no to a grinning pup like Siza? "I'd be happy if he tagged along with us! He's not going to put himself in danger though, is he? I don't want your dog getting hurt because I wanted to get a few more [Attribute Points]."
"Oh, no. Not at all. It's just that he always wants to play. It might get distracting if we're out searching for Entities and then Siza is jumping up and down trying to grab our attention."
I smiled and let a small chuckle get away. "A proper Champion needs to remain focused. I think having Siza around will help me develop my concentration." I walked up and ruffled the fur on his head again. "If I can manage to ignore his adorable advances, then I can persevere through the toughest distraction."
"That was a clever answer!" She winked at me and then headed to the back of the dojo. She slid open the window that I entered from and gave the sill a tap with the palm of her hand. "If you're willing to take the back route, I'll meet you on the other side."
I walked up to the window and put one arm on it while propping my leg on the wall. Before I put my entire body through, I looked at Yusha who was going through the front door. "You're not going this way?"
She turned around shook her head. "No. I'm going through the front door like a normal person."
Fair enough. I hopped on through the window, this time landing on my feet. I quickly turned my head to my left and then to my right. No one was in sight. I made a mad dash over the fence and sprinted into the tall grass just outside of the village. Plopped myself on the ground and waited a minute for Yusha to show up. She walked through the tall grass that went up to her knees. Beside her, I could see the grass part to the side. I assumed it was Siza prancing along beside her even though I couldn't see him.
"You ready, Adrien?" she called out once we were in talking distance. I stood up and turned around to face the forest.
"Whenever you are."
"Good. I'm glad you had this idea. I wanted to get some more training done anyway, but it seems like I had other priorities to take care of." Yusha looked at me and eyed my body from top to bottom. Felt bad for interrupting her training regimen. At least now she can make up for the lost time from having to "feed" me.
"You know where to find Entities?"
She shook her head. "That's the hard part. They're not too common. Some places are infested with them. Other places, like Tuanha, only see them sparingly. It's mostly just patience and luck."
It's not like I had class the next morning. And I was pretty sure Yusha didn't have much planned for the rest of the day. Or week. Or her lifetime. That would give us plenty of time to go hunting and get some [Attribute Points]. I looked down at Siza and he seemed eager, too. Couldn't keep still. The little guy was bouncing up and down and pacing around in a small circle.
"Could Siza help us out in finding some Entities?"
Yusha put her hands on her hips and looked down at Siza. "Maybe. I never trained to do anything like that."
"Now's a good time to start."
I saw Yusha lean forward and rub the back of Siza's neck. "You'll help us out, won't you Siza?"
The dong panted. I figured that was a 'yes.' Whether or not he would actually prove to be helpful remained to be seen.
"I had a question I wanted to ask you, Yusha," I said quickly.
"What is it?"
I paused for a moment and rubbed the side of my neck out of nervousness. "I don't know much about Sianka, so I'm not sure if this coming off as rude or invasive... but... would you be all right if I checked your stats?"
"That's not a weird question at all, Adrien."
"Oh, okay. Back on Earth, there are some questions that you don't want to ask someone you just met. Just making sure that this wasn't one of them."
"Would you like to practice casting [Analyze]?" she asked. "I know it costs [Mana] and you're running low right now, but it's not like Entities require much spellpower to take down. And you'll most likely regain that [Mana] point by the time we come across one."
That made sense. I nodded my head to show that I agreed with her suggestion. I had no clue how to cast it, but I assumed it was like looking at my own stats. I squinted my eyes and stared at Yusha. She had this calm, placid look while I probably had a face like I was about to throw up. I put my fingers to my temples again, still staring at Yusha. After a while, it looked like she was trying to suppress her laughter.
"Feel... anything?" I grunted.
"Yeah... I think you're doing it right." She scratched the back of her head. Then a table showed up.
