Arriving at the training grounds, Phainon and Mydei were already waiting for them.
"Are we late?" Seeing them waiting, Derick asked somewhat embarrassedly.
"Hmph, it has nothing to do with you; you arrived right on time." Mydei crossed his arms and looked at Phainon. "It's just that a certain someone wanted to be the first one here at the training ground. I certainly wouldn't lose to him."
Derick and Castorice both looked towards Phainon.
Phainon shrugged, hands spread wide, showing no sign of embarrassment.
"Lord Phainon and Lord Mydei really have a good relationship," Castorice remarked. Then she turned to Derick and said, "Derick, you train techniques with these two here first. I have some work to attend to. I'll come pick you up after the training ends."
"Okay."
Derick nodded.
Besides the Flamechase Journey, Castorice also had funerary matters to handle in Okhema. With the Black Tide constantly encroaching, people died in Okhema every day, keeping Castorice busy with her daily tasks.
After Castorice left, Phainon patted Derick's shoulder.
"Brother, let's start training."
Mydei, however, looked Derick up and down.
"Before training begins, I need to check your physical fitness first. Come, there are barbells over there. Try lifting them to see your strength."
"Got it." Derick walked over to the barbells Mydei indicated, preparing to lift them and test his strength.
He had just controlled his avatar to take down a Condemnation Hunter and a Condemnation Gladiator consecutively, absorbing part of their power. Derick wanted to see how strong he was now.
Seeing four barbells here, Derick started with the smallest one, easily lifting it with one hand.
Phainon and Mydei remained expressionless. If he couldn't lift this weight, he might as well not bother learning martial arts.
Derick moved to the second smallest barbell, lifting it with equal ease.
Phainon smiled. This strength was already comparable to an ordinary Okhema warrior. Considering Derick was only fourteen, his innate talent was quite good.
"The first two were quite easy. As for the remaining ones, I don't know if I can lift them."
Walking to the second largest barbell, Derick took a deep breath and gripped the bar with both hands.
"Up!"
He gritted his teeth and lifted the barbell.
This time, Mydei also showed a satisfied expression. The strength required to lift this barbell was equivalent to that of a Kremnos clan warrior. For Derick, at fourteen, to lift it, his talent was considered quite good even among the Kremnos people.
Worth training.
Glancing at the last barbell, Derick shook his head.
"That last one, I can't lift it."
"Mm, knowing your limits and not overexerting yourself to get injured, you did very well." Mydei was even more pleased with Derick's performance. After saying this, he didn't forget to glance at Phainon. "Unlike some people, who are stubborn and refuse to admit defeat even when they're about to die in a competition."
Phainon pretended not to hear, walked over to the largest barbell, and playfully lifted it with one hand.
"TSK!"
Mydei cursed at Phainon.
He asked Derick, "We have a rough idea of your strength now. What weapon do you want to use? With your strength, you can use most weapons. It just depends on your preference."
Preference? What weapon?
Derick's first thought was the same scythe his avatar used. But after thinking about it, worried that the avatar might cause too much trouble in the future and arouse suspicion, he decided to use a different weapon for now.
"Mydei, I want to use a bow and arrow."
He planned to attack from a distance for now, for safety.
Besides, he had acquired archery skills from the Condemnation Hunter, making learning archery much easier for him.
"Bow and arrow? Take one and try shooting." Seeing Derick wanted to use a bow, Mydei pointed to the weapon rack nearby and told Derick.
Derick walked over to the weapon rack and picked up a stiff bow. Following the experience gained from the Condemnation Hunter, he plucked the bowstring with his finger, testing its stiffness and draw weight. Feeling it was suitable, he casually slung the bow diagonally across his thigh, arrows pointing down.
Seeing Derick's movements, Mydei and Phainon looked somewhat surprised.
"Come, shoot one," Mydei said to Derick.
"Okay."
Derick drew the bow, nocked an arrow, aimed at a target over a hundred meters away on the training ground, and shot.
Swish—the arrow flew out, accurately hitting the target. After hitting with the first arrow, he quickly picked up two more arrows and shot them at the target in succession.
Three shots, all hits.
A pleased expression appeared on Derick's face. He turned to Mydei and Phainon and asked, "How's my archery?"
Phainon walked over, squeezed Derick's shoulder, and said to him, "If I wasn't sure you were human, I'd really think you were a Condemnation Hunter in disguise."
"Nikador's minions don't have that kind of disguise ability," Mydei looked at Derick. "Where did you learn this archery? This is the standard Condemnation Hunter attack posture."
"Yesterday, when I was being chased by that Condemnation Hunter and shot a few times, I observed and learned its archery skills."
"Learned archery just like that?"
Phainon and Mydei exchanged glances, somewhat incredulous.
Mydei then casually picked up a spear and tossed another spear to Derick.
"Come, try imitating my spear technique."
Mydei demonstrated a set of spear techniques for Derick.
After finishing, he looked at Derick.
"Come, try performing this spear technique."
"I..."
Mydei's spear set looked simple, but it was too fast; Derick could only remember the general outline.
So Derick, based on his memory, imitated Mydei's spear movements.
Watching him finish the spear set, Mydei and Phainon both shook their heads.
"No good. Your memory of this spear set is completely lacking the excellence of your previous archery skills." Mydei walked up to Derick. "I think there are roughly two possibilities."
"What possibilities?"
Derick asked Mydei curiously.
Mydei raised the spear in his hand.
"The first possibility is that you don't have the same deep memory for this spear technique as you do for the Condemnation Hunter's archery. The hunter's arrows caused you harm, so you remember it clearly. If you want to remember this spear technique deeply, we can use the same method."
As Mydei spoke, he was about to thrust the spear towards Derick.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, that's too dangerous!"
Derick quickly dodged.
Mydei stepped forward with the spear.
"Don't you have immortality? Just take two hits, and we can test my hypothesis."
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