Chapter 4: Levi and Murdoch, Part 2

“Make yourself at home…” trailed off Murdoch as he realized I had not given him my name yet. He raised an eyebrow to signal me to introduce myself formally for the first time. 

 

“Ah, my name’s Levi,” I stated, it is the first thing to pop into my head. I decided to use it from there on out, to save any complications in the future. Murdoch nodded as he repeated it under his breath to remember it. 

 

“Take a seat, the soup should be ready,” he ordered, pointing to a small, round wooden table with stools surrounding it. I followed his order as the large man threw his fur coat onto a nearby pile, and kicked his hefty boots alongside them. 

 

After a few seconds of sitting at the table, scraping lightly against the table in front of me with my perfectly pointed obsidian nails, a wooden bowl was set down in front of me. The smell of meat and what seemed to be Aerth’s version of vegetables entered my nose. 

 

All sense of rationality left me as I devoured it, using the small ladle that had come alongside the bowl. I slurped with no care for public appearance. I tasted the broth drown my tastebuds, and the juices flow from the chunks of meat as I bit down. 

 

“You been out there long, Levi?” Inquired Murdoch, eating his meal at about the same speed, albeit with a lot more class. I shook my head, not wanting to waste any droplet of the meal. He chuckled as he took a large spoonful of the soup. 

 

“I just…” I trailed off, realizing that hunger nor dehydration had occurred to me, and I furrowed my brows at the realization. I shook my head and smiled lightly, “I just haven’t had anything this delicious in a long time.” 

 

‘Why wasn’t I hungry?’ 

 

[As a Leviathan, the host does not need to eat nor drink.] 

 

I grunted at the revelation, and sat my ladle into the now-empty bowl, savoring the soup as I now knew I didn’t need to fill my stomach. I savored the flavors which swished around in my mouth before swallowing them with a satisfied sigh. 

 

“Glad you enjoyed it, but we’re not here for you to eat my soup.” Murdoch snatched up my empty bowl along with his and placed them in a basket full of water. “I’ll get them later, let’s go start your training, eh?” 

 

I nodded, standing from the stool and following the man to a singular door on the far side of his house. He opened it to reveal a small court-sized room void of any decoration. I realized it was the inside of the semi-dome I had seen, made using the same method as the house’s general structure. 

 

As I scanned the room more, I saw a rack of wooden sticks at the left-most side. My new mentor made a bee-line to it, and I followed close behind. He picked up a few sticks doing short, sharp swings with them before finally nodding at one he was satisfied with. 

 

“There you go,” he nodded, “now fight me.” His demeanor had completely changed from outside the house, as the man now emitted an authoritative aura. I gulped and nodded, walking into the center before taking a makeshift offensive stance. 

 

“Forget whatever that is. Do this,” Murdoch ordered, taking a stance in which he stood with his sword hanging loosely in his hand by his side, with his free hand slightly out. I followed suit and he nodded, satisfied with my rough attempt. “I’ll beat that stance into your memory, Levi.” 

 

I shuddered at his last statement, second-guessing what I had gotten myself into. I waited for Murdoch to gesture for me to attack him before charging forward and swinging the stick up in a diagonal manner. He brought his wooden sword up, allowing my attack to slide across the flat of his blade before kicking my shins. 

 

I fell face-first onto the floor, and when I turned around to get up, he had pointed his practice blade to my neck. He smiled, a chuckle escaping him once more as the aura receded. He took his blade away and extended a hand to me, which I took as help to stand up. 

 

“Practice makes perfect.” He stated, a sly smirk replacing his radiant smile. I sighed and shook my head before returning to the center of the room. Murdoch took the same stance as before, and I took the loose-hanging offensive stance. 

 

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“Come on then, not got all day.” Murdoch teased, and I once again lunged to him, swinging diagonally. He blocked it the same way, but I stepped back in time to see him kick the air. I attacked once more with a horizontal strike from across my chest, cutting at him from my left. 

 

Murdoch stepped back, causing me to trip at the force in my swing. The large man kicked a stomp at my side. I went skidding across the floor, bringing back memories of the car accident which brought me here. I shuddered on the ground, a cold sweat bursting out all over my body.  

 

My breathing became hard and shaky, and I felt paralyzed as tears began forming in my eyes. I felt a heavy hand on my shoulder, another triggering action that Murdoch committed out of ignorance. I slithered away from his touch, dipping from the man’s grip. 

 

“Are you okay, Levi? I’m sorry if I hit you too hard,” he apologized, approaching me slowly and cautiously. He placed his hand on my back instead. I felt myself calming down as the moments passed.  

 

“I’m fine, just couldn’t catch my breath,” I lied, “let’s continue.” I opted, finding my way onto my feet using the wooden sword as a crutch to do so. Murdoch shook his head and reached for the stick in my hand. 

 

“Let’s just forget about traini-“ 

 

“I said let’s continue,” I stated, my words coming out more hostile than I meant for them to be. My stint of trauma had made me recognize the extent of my weakness. I was weak physically, mentally, and level-wise too. 

 

“Well, well!” The bearded man bellowed, simply laughing off my tone. He nodded and returned to his position for the third time. “I don’t know who lit a fire under your arse, but I can’t say I don’t like it.” 

 

“Come on then, old man,” I jeered, a smirk plastered on my face as I spoke. I saw Murdoch nod to me, and I took off once more. I swung an overhead slash, which he blocked by raising his blade and holding it steady with both hands. 

 

I recognized the opening and threw a punch to his side. The larger man coughed as my punch collided, a proud smile on his face as he nodded.  

 

I ignored the praise and brought my blade away from the attack, swinging it to his legs. Despite the large and bulky build of Murdoch, he brought his two legs to his chest, avoiding the swing completely. The force, once again, threw me off-balance. A hard fist collided with my face, and I was sent flying once more. 

 

“Looked a sore one there, Levi boy!” Murdoch laughed, and I got back to my feet once more, rubbing the stinging patch on the side of my face which was going to bruise. 

 

“Again,” I ordered, taking my stance. As I stood there, sword in hand, I realized. I was enjoying fighting. It was fun. An exhilaration that I had never felt in my past life. I never had the strength to go up against even a scrawny little bookworm. Now I was learning swordsmanship from a bear-like man and managed to get a blow in. 

 

Fighting was the thrill I had been chasing. Showing your overwhelming power to an opponent, an undebatable measure of one’s strength. I never thought I would’ve cared for something I once deemed meaningless, but here I was practically foaming over the thought of duelling Murdoch for two years. 

 

[Name: Envy (Levi) 

Species: Leviathan.           

Level: 3 

Magic Skills: Devour, Electric Discharge, Electricity Resistance. 

Physical Skills: Transform 

Innate Skills: Mountain-Splitter Style Swordsmanship (Beginner)] 

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