Chapter 357: 308: Basel's Old Man

Chapter 357: Chapter 308: Basel’s Old Man

On the Mermaid,

The sky was clear, and the slightly salty, warm sea breeze felt exceedingly comfortable on the skin.

The recent journey had been smooth sailing, without even a hint of bad weather.

Everyone on the Mermaid, sailors and mercenaries alike, had relaxed and were enjoying the rare good times.

People lay around on the deck soaking up the sun, surrounded by a lazy atmosphere, and Loren had no intention of stopping them.

After all, these were the people who would be the main force in expanding Milne Commerce’s routes. They had even battled a pirate ship a few days ago and genuinely needed some rest and relaxation.

...

However, amidst this relaxed atmosphere, there was one figure who seemed somewhat out of place.

At the very front of the deck stood a petite and adorable figure, holding a longsword and struggling to maintain balance.

Upon closer inspection, her pale forehead was covered in sweat beads, and her slender arms trembled slightly, clearly having been holding the position for a long time.

This little figure, persevering in her basic stance, was Helen, who had recently become Mr. Lis’s disciple and was preparing to embark on the Extraordinary Path.

After Mr. Lis accepted Helen that day, he did not directly start teaching her about a warrior’s martial arts or other skills. Instead, he taught her a few postures, instructing Helen to begin with physical training.

After all, Helen’s body was still too weak. The pain and torment she had endured previously had significantly slowed her physical development compared to other children her age. Although she had made some improvements recently, there were still deficiencies.

Recklessly starting on the Warrior Body Forging Technique and martial arts learning could be detrimental to her growth.

First, polish the body, strengthen the will; other things could wait.

Sweat continuously dripped from Helen’s forehead as she did everything she could to stabilize the longsword in her hands. As time passed, the trembling of the longsword in her hands grew more intense.

At first, the sailors and mercenaries aboard the Mermaid watched Helen’s training with interest, laughing and betting on how long she could last.

But over these few days, Helen’s performance made everyone put away their smirks of amusement, feeling somewhat admiring of the cute girl’s perseverance.

Even though she followed that lord, she could endure such hardships.

Indeed, one shouldn’t underestimate the people around Mr. Lis!

Everyone consciously cleared the area at the bow of the ship for Helen and did not disturb her training.

Basel sat nearby, leaning against the ship’s rail, holding a bottle of wine in his arms and taking a sip now and then. However, his attention was constantly on Helen.

Mr. Lis assigned him to accompany Helen, so naturally, he would not venture elsewhere.

The training Helen was undergoing was simple, and Basel could take good care of it, so naturally, Mr. Lis was spared the effort.

“Rest a while,”

Basel, still grasping his treasured wine, said to Helen.

This bottle of wine was given to him by Mr. Lis to ensure he paid attention to Helen’s training.

Basel liked to drink, but as soon as he popped the cork, the aroma that hit him immediately caught his attention.

Damn, following a boss like this pays off!

A pleased Basel would naturally work well to earn better rewards from Mr. Lis.

Seeing Helen about to falter, her body swaying, Basel frowned slightly.

As a Silver-level Assassin, he too had undergone this kind of fundamental training.

But such training was incredibly tough; he had persevered only under his father’s “care.”

He thought supervising Helen would be a similar process, but he hadn’t expected Helen’s self-discipline and proactivity to be so high. She needed no prompting from him; instead, he had to make sure she didn’t overtrain and hurt herself.

Basel stood up, snatched the longsword from Helen’s hands, and said helplessly:

“How many times have I told you, training like this is very prone to injury? You’re already pushing yourself hard; there’s no need for this.”

As her longsword was taken away, Helen seemed to snap out of her intense focus and collapsed onto the deck, lifting her sweaty little face and saying apologetically:

“Sorry, Uncle Basel.”

“I just… wanted to see how far I could push myself.”

“Who are you kidding?”

Although Basel felt it was a bit too much to be called an uncle, he couldn’t bring himself to suggest that she call him brother, so he simply added:

“Who challenges their limits every day? Lord Lis must have told you, these things can’t be rushed. Only once you’ve built a solid physical foundation will challenging your limits be effective.”

“Yes, I understand!”

Helen nodded earnestly and then collapsed onto the deck with a “plop,” clearly exhausted.

Basel did not intervene; if she wanted to become a Transcendent, she couldn’t afford to be so delicate.

Of course, this was something Mr. Lis had instructed beforehand; otherwise, Basel really wouldn’t dare to do so.

Let her rest for a while, and later move her back to the cabin.

Mr. Lis would heal Helen that evening, taking care of the physical strain, so Basel didn’t need to worry.

“Uncle Basel…”

Helen’s small voice suddenly spoke up.

“What is it?”

“Uncle Basel, are you very powerful?”

Helen asked quietly.

“Why do you ask?”

Basel, still holding his bottle of wine, became a bit interested and asked back.

“Because I heard that on that pirate ship, Lord Lis only kept you.”