Chapter 7 - Underarm Spear Training.
Soon after having dinner, the two of us fell slept, or rather Alisha fell asleep, why I am awake; well it is because I couldn't sleep no matter how hard I tried, all I could do was stare at the surroundings or play around with myself from counting sheep in my mind to planning out what we should do next; other than those, I watched the surroundings in case of any possible threat such as monsters and the likes. I technically don't have any way to defend against the threats though...
Speaking of which, there is no way for us to know what time it is on this jungle as the thick leaves, coming from the trees that surround us, pretty much covered the sky; the leaves were 32 meters long by 7 meters wide, they were far larger than the largest leaf recorded on my previous world which was 25.11 meters long by 3 meters long, as expected of another world right?
You may be wondering then, how am I able to tell what time it is... well, it is simple; the only way I can tell time is through Alisha's sleeping schedule as well as the times when she growls, the first growl signifies breakfast, the second growl signifies lunch, the third growl signifies dinner; well, that is what I thought out after a whole night though... soon, the girl who was sleeping suddenly started rubbing her eyes before yawning as she stretched her hands up in the air.
"Morning, Althea! What are we going to do today?" the brown-haired girl with pink eyes said after she finished stretching; it seems like she is energetic today, she should be though since I have plans for her today; my plan for her mostly consists of surviving on the jungle, this involves proper usage of spears which I learned after watching a video from ScribbleTube's recommended videos.
"Well, today... we will be training you the art of the spear, if you can't finish this training within a few days then you won't get to eat any food!" I said using the tone of an instructor; it does look funny from the outside perspective since my appearance right now is a dusty old book that probably came from the ancient times.
"What is a spear?" She asked as she tilted her head... what is a spear exactly, all I know is that it is a weapon that was widely used in ancient times and was more popular during the medieval times for its range...
"A spear is something similar to the weapon we used to kill the rabbit, it can be an excellent weapon for long-range combat because of its incredible range as well as the fact that you can throw it...", I explained as she tilted her head, even more, your head will break you know; after almost fifteen times of explaining, she finally nodded halfheartedly...
"Well, first and foremost, we will need a spear or rather a replica of it... which is why you have to go find a tiny branch from a tree for now...", I said before she looked around the jungle and noticed a fairly good branch laying on the ground and picked it up, most likely was broken by something... is it a coincidence?
"What should I do next?" She asked while glancing at the branch she picked up with a curious look; I can already see the large question mark that is floating inside her head... well, what do we do next again...? was it like "iyyaaaa~!" or something... that really didn't make sense... hmm, should I try using some of my fake knowledge?
"First, try placing as much force as your knee can handle before holding the branch of wood just beside your waist while actually not hitting your waist", I instructed before she tilted her head to the extreme as I explained it almost a hundred times before she finally got a gist of what I meant... haaaa, I wish I had a human body... this is annoying!
"After that, you thrust with all your might while making sure all the force on your knee is pushed towards the branch before pulling it back after!" I said before she looked at me with a "what are you talking about" face, and as usual, I had to explain it on an kindergarten level before she finally understood and pulled her knee forward before thrusting the spear as the leaves on the ground flew up in the air before scattering; somehow, my vague explanations worked... I should find a teaching job in the future...
"That's good, now keep rehearsing the movement until it is embedded inside your memory!" I said while she kept repeating her movement; she most likely didn't hear what I said... I should probably just watch from here...
Soon more time passed as the sound of sweat flying around in the air together with a shout resounded around the jungle, the sound naturally belonged to Alisha who was still rehearsing her movements... her movements have slowly started to become smooth as each thrust she does had no wasted movements though not perfect, it still works in the jungle for now; she is a real quick learner though... I would probably take a whole week to get to her level of understanding.
"Stop right there, take a break for now!" I said before she limply fell to the ground as she rushed to catch as much air as she could to the extent that her sound was slightly erotic... you could hear loud "haaaa..." every second... right now, her body is pretty much in an X form.
"Althea is too harsh!" She said after she finally caught as much air as she could, with her forehead full of sweat, as well as her clothes, being fully dipped in sweat before glancing at me with her crystal pink eyes glowing as her mouth smiled; it was as if she went jogging for the first time, well not that I jog... don't ask okay!
"But I don't dislike it since I know it is for my protection... food..." She muttered which made me smile inside; well, let's just pretend we didn't hear that last part but yeah...
"Of course, it is for your own good. Later, we will start with overarm grip for throwing spears next!" I said before she looked at me with wide eyes as her crystal pink eyes were about to cry... I could already hear the "please no" cries coming from her but well, who cares!!
"What is the use of overarm anyways, aren't they all the same just differently positioned?" She muttered as her cheeks puffed like a pufferfish, as she frowned her eyebrows while looking at me.
"Overarm is best for throwing, in case you are fighting a monster at long range or fighting a fast creature." I replied before she looked at me like "are you serious, can't you just throw them normally?".
I am willing to take suggestions for plots when they exit the forest if you have any, please tell me
If i was the girl i'd go check on my "family", and or seek civilisation.
Well, do they find a hunter inside the forest from the village (since food is scarce right now for them), or do they possibly run into one from a neighboring village, if there is one?
As the person below asks, does she want to go see her family? Since she felt so lost and was filled with such longing earlier on in the abandonment, but perhaps she has wanderlust or is advised away by her companion. Does she still visit the town anyways? Or a neighboring one?
Why does the village exist (simple farmland? Forest hunters? For some political purpose, or nearby terrain feature, etc.)
Do they decide to try and find out where her companion came from? Would that make them hunt someone more versed in either magic or simply knowledge/history, is there one in any location the little girl knows?
I do find it disappointing that we don't get any story arc or anything about the girl regaining eyesight. Alisha in fact is pretty ok for being so close to death's door. I was expecting something more about how her parents left her to die and the mental toll that'd take on a child. In fact, with so much stuff happening to her, I'd expect her to have a mental breakdown.
I really did had plans for that but somehow diverged, I might try to find a way to bring the story back to it's original path once I start a full rewrite.
@KokoCrunch The story was originally planned to have a bit more of the tragedy part early on, but yeah.
@Mihou tragic
I wish to see a natural branches that are completely right without curves that can be used as spears. Those curves affect the equilibrium and is not recommended. Unless your sense of equilibrium is perfect because you can walk in irregular terrain with closed eyes.
Also with natural sharp points.
Is Aisha going to become a priest, a mage or a warrior? I mean, she has a Magical Grimmoire that she named in base of a Goddess, and she is starting to practice with weapons.
What you said does make sense, I might use that detail once I start a full rewrite. Thank you!
For the question, that will be revealed later on.
I wonder if Alisha's going to become a spear master?
She is very talented, the possibility is there.
Excuse my ignorance, but I was having the impression that wielding a spear and thrusting would take little to no practice at all, the only thing you need to practice would be having the right posture and stance which is still not much since the only thing you do with a spear is thrusting.
Now, I'm not saying spear aren't effective or popular, I'm just saying that it doesn't really require training that much or talent to use it.
Is Alisha going to learn magic?
I bet.
おれでぃい
?
the first growl signifies breakfast, the second growl signifies lunch, the third lunch signifies dinner;
The third lunch?
I think the author meant "growl"?
@LordSnek Yes, that was my mistake! Sorry!
@Mihou You must be hungry.
Note to self : This chapter has been rewritten from scratch and is now at 1187 words.
Interesting, was it from 500 to 1,187?
@KakeruOnna Should be
Very short.
Sorry!
@Mihou It's fine, the story is enjoyable for me!
@Kruka True, the story is really enjoyable.
@KakeruOnna Not going to lie, I came for slice of life—stayed for yuri