Chapter 150. Training schedule

After Voras was happy with her cuddles, I purchased another of the automatic butchers and spent the extra points to make it controllable by Madu. Voras then volunteered to go tell the Gorgon while I sorted through some of my other jobs that needed doing. I also gave her everything I'd picked up from Madu's home, as she would be seeing her first.

This had let me return to Tarakona's egg. Or our egg.Part of me still couldn't believe it even as I watched it sitting beneath the surface. It looked so vulnerable. Like I needed to hide it somehow, even though everyone on the farm I knew wouldn't do anything.Traders might, though.

Tarakona's warning that Voras had anchored it down came to mind, and I started searching around to find her strings. It wasn't hard, even if they were difficult to see, because the water wasn't completely still; as the surface was broken, I could see the telltale ripples. That alleviated some of my concerns.Idly, I brought up all the girls' quests in an effort to distract myself.

Zeldi (Centaur milk D-) • Current quest: Bring Abelha into the family (incomplete)

Tarakona (Dragon eggs F-)• Current quest: Lay 10 eggs (0/10)• Temporary freedom (1 hour)

Voras (Arachnid silk C+)• Current quest: Create clothes for Abelha (incomplete)• Temporary freedom (4 hours)

Dríade (Dryad fruit B-)• Current quest: Remove female Kobold (incomplete)

Tilty (Fawn antlers F-)• Current quest: Sell 2 antlers (0/2)

Madu (Venom F+)• Current quest: Provide venom to Clovek every day for a 3 day period (0/3)

Abelha (Honey F-)• Current quest: Sell 5 liters of honey (0/5)

And yet again, more I needed to do. My own quest was still to remove whatever was hindering the Ley lines, even though I had no idea what I was looking for.

It amused me that Zeldi's personal quest was to convert Abelha. The poor queen bee had no idea what she was in for when my Centaur got aggressive.

The rest of the girls' quests were pretty easy for the most part. None of them would require too much effort, though there were some that were a little time-consuming.

Tilty still had her first quest, as I hadn't sold her antlers at all yet. She wasn't a high priority, but she could be useful in other ways. Daxel was a smith, right? Maybe he could make use of the magic amplification her antlers provided? Teleportation would make the journey easy, so all I needed to do was find her.

Madu was the only other one I could really help with. The rest of the girls required their own way of doing things, well, except Zeldi's. Though hers might be difficult if Abelha stays persistent about training me.

"Hey, Clovek. Got a minute?" Abelha asked, doing a hop in midair and landing without any stumbling. How she did that with her curves, I will never know. I was only slightly disappointed she had put her overalls back on, but thought it was for the best... Ish. Definitely for the best, we were in public after all.

"Sure. What's up?" I said, banishing the quests tab I was reading, though and pulling myself away from my egg.

Abelha looked down at the water and cocked her head to the side when she noticed the contents. Almost like she was both curious and slightly afraid.

"I was raised to always be afraid of Dragons. They represented the destruction of everything I could be." She droned like she was speaking to someone else. "What would my mother think if she saw me living with one and staring at her child's egg and not trying to destroy it?"

"Well, I can't answer that for you, but I can definitely say that I am happy you're not trying to do anything like that." I slightly emphasized a few words to see how she would react.

Abelha shook herself, and that distant look she had vanished. Instead, she gave me a smirk. "Oh, she would be beside herself. If I had to guess, she would go mad with jealousy and probably try to attack my hive to replace me, even if I haven't started one."

"The more I hear about your species, the more I think they're all just violent for the sake of being violent. Could they not all work in unity to actually survive?" I mumbled more to myself, but Abelha still answered.

"We do what we have to, to survive. Again, it's not like we can ask for help." Abelha shrugged like describing genocide was a normal conversation to have over tea. "I'm sure somewhere out there some species is holding a Queen Bee hostage and trying to farm her honey, but how far do you think they'll get if they don't let the Queen grow a proper hive? There are a few things that workers are needed for unless flowers are just delivered to a stationary Queen and that's just unsustainable."

A good question and one I didn't have an answer to. I knew how to farm the small bees from my home world and was beginning to not like how similar these ones were. It really changed how you looked at something when it spoke back to you.

"Anyway, I was getting bored and wanted to know if you had some free time right now for a little training?" Abelha finished, again, like talking about holding one of her kind prisoner like it was the most natural thing.

"You really need to watch what you say." I shook my head at how quickly she changed topics. "But yes, I'm free, so long as you actually teach me instead of punching me like I should learn that way. I can't really teach your guards that method for each individual one."

Abelha shrugged. "I guess I can try."

She started by holding her hands up in a guard. Her left hand was slightly in front while her right hovered close to her cheek. "This is a basic guard stance. Try it."

I copied what I saw, and when I thought I had got it correct, Abelha stepped up and moved my hands ever so slightly until she was happy. She then gave a nod, happy with it.

"Now throw a punch." She declared. "And none of the wimpy crap. I want to see how you punch if someone was trying to steal your honey."

Not quite the metaphor I would have used, but fair enough.I threw my punch, feeling a little satisfied to hear the wind as my hand moved. Abelha was less impressed.

"This is going to take a while." She whispered to herself before coming up beside me and giving her own demonstration. She moved a lot faster with her own strike, but it was aided by her wings. The extra appendages both helped to stabilize her but also gave her a boost to her speed.

"I don't have wings to aid me, Abelha. I'm just a human, remember?" I tutted but still tried to emulate her to the best of my limited ability.

"My guards will, though, and I need you to be able to show them how to use their wings even if you yourself don't possess them," Abelha said back, throwing another punch into the air using her other hand.

I shook my head but copied her movements. At least this time she gave a nod. Not in satisfaction but in a 'that'll do' kind of way.A stray thought came to my mind as we repeated this process.

"Does it have to be me who teaches your guards?" I asked as Abelha pulled herself up against me and slowly forced my arms to move.

She was silent for a minute as she thought, just watching as I repeated the motion a few times. Eventually she spoke up. "No. But it's not like I'll let anyone outside of your farm have access to my hive. And they will need access to my hive. Training my guards while they are out here vulnerable will not be happening. So unless one of the other Livestock is secretly a master fighter, I doubt it would be anyone but you."

I stopped my shadow boxing as a plan started to form in my head. Sure, she was right about the girls, as Voras wouldn't be able to teach her ambush tactics to a swarm of bees, and Madu is deadly with her gaze alone. We don't even have to mention Tarakona. But there was another option. One I hadn't thought about since I realized the Dryads could just do what these were originally for.

The homunculus. The drone-like things were originally thought of as good farm hands.

*Hey Deeds. Any chance there's one of these homunculus things that's bee-like? Or can you make one? Better if it already knows how to fight.*

I waited for a response. Abelha did her head-to-the-side thing that indicated she was curious about something.

"Just so you know, I will be requesting the final say. I'm not going to let you impregnate me if I think this plan of yours won't work." She clarified, crossing her arms under her chest.She couldn't not know the effect that had.

"Don't worry, I have no intention of taking away any of your decisions. I just want to explore another option that doesn't require me to do it all. I still intend to learn how to fight, but I also don't want to have to wait a few years before you deem me good enough." I replied.

Fighting is a no-go. We lack the requirements for it to be as effective as Abelha herself is. There is, however, another option.

*Oh? You have my attention.*

We create one that learns. Whatever that one learns can be uploaded into others as they are made.

*Perfect. Does this include weapons and armour? I have a set of dragon-slaying gear that would be incredible to actually know how to use.*

Provided you find a teacher, we see no reason why not.

A smile reached across my face. Even if Abelha didn't like this idea, I would still find a use for it.