Chapter 4: Training
Zombie groaned and tried to stand up, but as he was trying to support himself with the broken arm, he simply fell on his face.
"Argh! Seriously?! You almost had it! Why did you flail your useless arm around?!"
Cranberry kicked the ground and started messing her hair in anger.
"Grao... Graough...?! (What the... AH! My arm! My whole forearm is missing?!"
Zombie groaned in disbelief as he was staring at his arm.
From the shoulder down to the elbow, it was there.
The rest was missing...
The wound had rugged edges and the bone and blue flesh were clearly visible, but there was no blood spilling at all.
Actually, Zombie didn't even feel that much different.
If not for the system message clearly stating that the wound was serious, he would just shrug it off and go search around for the missing part.
"Tsk...! If this is going to drain my whole mana I'm going to kick your ass!"
Cranberry clicked her tongue and scoffed at him.
"System, just heal him!"
She added while shaking her head.
/Request granted
Recovery mode disengaged
Commencing healing...
Cranberry's body released murky a red light that gravitated towards Zombie and got absorbed into his blue flesh.
/Healing complete
"Graough... (Umm...? My arm is still missing...)"
The only change that occurred was that the edges of the wound became smooth.
"..."
Cranberry raised her brows and blinked a few times, this clearly wasn't the outcome she expected.
"Graough... (M-master...?)"
Zombie groaned quietly.
"...Ekhm...! System, I want my servant to recover!"
The girl managed to shake off the initial confusion and demanded after clearing her throat.
/Recovery impossible
No damage detected
"..."
"..."
The master-servant duo looked at each other in silence.
"What do you mean, no damage detected?! His arm is missing! Recover it!"
Cranberry growled and smacked the ground with the sword.
/Recovery impossible
No damage detected
The same announcement flashed before their eyes.
"Oh, come on...!"
The wooden sword smacked the ground once more.
"Gra-graough...? (Eh...? Now that I look at it, she holds the sword by the blade?) Graugh...! (Oh! So that's why she got the blunt weapon proficiency and not the sword proficiency!)"
Now that he had the time, Zombie looked carefully at his master and noticed her mistake.
Cranberry, who up until then was looking around with a cloudy expression, flinched.
And since she couldn't understand him, Zombie went ahead and started groaning about it.
"Graough... (Heh... Way to go, my talented master! Seriously, what a clumsy girl...)"
Cranberry sighed, or rather slowly breathed out and raised the wooden sword, still holding it by the blade.
"Graough... (M-maybe if we find my missing arm and put it back it will reattach...?) Graough... (Master, I'll go search for it, okay?)"
Zombie stepped to the side, reached his left hand towards the direction where he thought that his arm flew, and groaned hopefully.
"Who told you that the training is over...?"
Cranberry's low voice sent chills down Zombie's spine even though he shouldn't be even able to feel cold.
The girl tightened her grip on the blade and her whole body started faintly glowing.
"Graough...! (M-master...?!)"
Zombie took a step back and groaned in shock.
"I told you that the training will end if you dodge my attack. You rotten brain! Since when getting your arm blown off is considered dodging?! Are you trying to disobey me?!"
She growled furiously while showing teeth when her face twisted from anger.
"Graough...! (I...! I would never...! I-I swear...!)"
"Shut up."
The mere suspicion of insubordination was enough to bring out the ire of the young noble lady.
Zombie could only try his best now.
Cranberry's body was already glowing, but when her eyes started glowing too, Zombie started getting cold feet.
(T-two skills at once...?!)
He clenched his teeth while feeling truly grateful that he doesn't have to blink.
He was terrified, but now he had a chance!
He had the skill!
Cranberry lunched ahead and thanks to the charge skill she closed the distance between them in an instant.
The sword ripped through the air!
And only the air!
Right before it could connect with the blue boy, his body shone dimly and Zombie ducked out of the way!
"Tsk!"
Instead of being satisfied with her servant completing the task she gave him, Cranberry clicked her tongue and frowned.
The force of her skill threw her off balance, but instead of falling down she dug in her heels and spun around her axis...
And ended up in a perfect position for another strike!
Her eyes started glowing and she delivered a devastating blow!
...and Zombie managed to dodge this one too with the help of the skill!
Cranberry didn't even make a sound this time, she twisted her body and, while her eyes started glowing again, put all her strength into her arms and turned the downward smash into an upward one aimed right at Zombie's head!
"Graough! (Screw you!)"
Zombie growled and used the emergency dodge to save himself again and flung his body to the side.
And Cranberry took that personally.
"You dare to growl at your master?!"
She growled on her own and took a step forward to keep her balance and her eyes glowed as she performed a swing that would place her amongst the professional baseball players in Zombie's previous world.
Zombie shone and his body bent backward as the sword flew by his face close enough to shave off a bit of the skin off of his nose.
The boy managed to stand up straight just in time to see Cranberry's glowing eyes for the fifth time.
"Graough! (Bring it on!)"
He groaned and activated his skill the moment that Cranberry started swinging.
/Insufficient mana
A simple message flashed before his eyes and his skill didn't activate and his body didn't move.
But Cranberry's sword certainly did, and it hit the boy square in the stomach.
Zombie's body momentarily took shape of the letter V and then he crashed hard against the ground.
If he was actually using his lungs, this hit would certainly force all the air out of them.
/Warning
Servant became damaged
Servant has insufficient mana to heal
Permission to use Master's mana required
/Proficiency level reached
Servant's skill upgrade
Toughness (level 2)
/Proficiency level reached
Master receives a skill
Thrash (level 1)
Three messages popped up one after the other as Zombie was trying to stand up but with each move, he felt something sloshing freely inside him.
The sound of footsteps alarmed him about the approaching Cranberry.
He raised his head and saw a broken wooden sword pointing at his face.
"Never groan back at me."
Cranberry's low voice was far more threatening than it had any right to.
"Understood?"
She asked and pressed the splintered end of the sword against Zombie's forehead.
"Graough... (Y-yes, master!)"
Zombie wasn't stupid so he quickly agreed and nodded his head to make sure he won't be misunderstood.
"Good. Permission granted."
She nodded and then looked back at the sky.
/Permission received
Commencing healing...
Healing complete
A red murky glow left Cranberry's body and got enveloped and absorbed by Zombie, and the boy felt his insides rearranging and returning to their correct position.
Cranberry glared coldly at her servant.
"You can go search for your stupid arm, but whether you find it or not, you have to return to the mansion before dusk."
She declared and frowned.
"If you don't and daddy will scold me for not properly taking care of you, I won't allow healing after tomorrow's training."
She said while turning her back on Zombie and walking away.
"Graough?! (Tomorrow's training? Don't tell me...?! You mean the same thing as just now?!) Graough?! (We're repeating this?!)"
Cranberry stopped and glared back at him.
"Should I take that growl as you trying to argue with your master...?"
She asked coldly.
"Graough...! (N-no! Of course not!)"
Zombie shook his head from side to side as fast as he could.
"Graough...! (I will definitely be back before it gets dark!)"
He groaned hoping that his promise will come through.
"Good."
Cranberry nodded.
"While you're at it, throw this away, and put back the other one in the shed."
She added and dropped the broken sword.