Chapter 17: Training the Cat

Chapter 17: Training the Cat

For the next few days, Bran’s range of movement was strictly limited. Although Bran could use his mana to penetrate and sense the weapon s Danny carried on her at any time, he did not do so. Who knew what kind of effect that would have on the weapons? Although Bran himself had many flaws in his character, he still had some personal principles.

And Danny, because of Bran’s previous deception, had gone from being an attendant to a jailer. She wore a cold face every day. So, bored to death, Bran started to tease Huahua, who was nearby. He trained based on the attitude that abilities needed to be used often to become proficient. “Come on, Huahua, time for a bath.” Bran shouted as he carried the cat to the basin, and then “poof,” Huahua flashed away and ran off. Time and again, this happened, until the black cat Huahua was panting with its tongue out, its belly rapidly rising and falling. Only then did Bran let Huahua go.

Getting interested, Bran started to make things: cages, sealed boxes, and so on. He needed to test Huahua’s abilities in brand new ways.

He put Huahua into a cage and held it over the basin. Poof, she transmitted out and ran away…

He put her in a box and fastened the lid. He tapped the lid twice. Poof, Huahua appeared on top of the lid, looking eager and ready as she met Bran’s gaze, and then poof, she disappeared again. Bran picked up the box and shook it. An unhappy meow came from inside…

Over these past few days, Danny had watched with great interest as Bran trained the cat. Finally, she couldn’t help but speak up. “What you need is a partner, a helper, not a pet for amusement.”

Bran smiled, wearing an expression that said “none of your business”.

Danny looked at Bran, who seemed completely indifferent, and sighed. “This is the Northlands. You can’t stay in the castle forever. And this lynx will follow you out of the castle. What will happen then?”

Saying this, Danny picked up a wooden ball and tossed it above Huahua’s head. Huahua made a beautiful flip and jump, catching the ball in her arms. “I’ve observed. Every day when you undergo training, this black cat follows along. This has given her pretty good physical condition, but it’s far from enough. Have you ever seen her tease a mouse, or raid a bird’s nest?”

“Before I came here, I had heard about you…” Here Danny paused, her lips opening and closing several times, hesitating over how to phrase it.

Bran shrugged and snorted. “Idiot. Hah! The Winchehil family’s idiot. It doesn’t matter. Just say it directly. I don’t care.”

“So, your family doesn’t have great expectations for you. They just hope you can live a relaxed and easy life. Have you ever noticed how your brothers and sister receive their training?” Danny raised her eyes to look at the confused Bran and continued, “It seems you haven’t paid any attention to this at all. Don’t you find it strange? You train alone. You study alone.”

“Even though for over a year now, you’ve acted relatively normal, no one knows if this normalcy can last. Even after you awakened and became a Wizard, seemingly gaining some potential.” Danny pointed to her own head. “But your behavior is still odd many times. You always seem out of place with your surroundings.”

Bran gave a bitter smile and had nothing to say.

“No one dares to really push you to do anything. They are always worried you can’t handle it. Even your sister spends most of her time accommodating you.”

Hearing this, Bran’s face couldn’t hide his feelings. He said resentfully, “I really wish you would accommodate me right now, and say a little less.”

“You’re just odd, not actually sick.” Saying this, Danny relaxed and let out a breath. “I’ve observed you. You are very clean, very neat. An idiot wouldn’t be like this. You just ignore your surroundings. You are avoiding us.”

“Um, can I ask you a question?” Bran didn’t want to passively listen to a lecture like this.

“What? Go ahead.”

“You do know that saying all this probably isn’t very useful, right?”

When Danny heard this reply, she almost choked on her breath. She got up and left.

Watching the closed door, Bran leapt up like a nimble cat. While in the air, his body spun 360 degrees before he landed lightly, sitting cross-legged naturally upon landing. He sighed softly and said to himself, “I know this World is not safe. Even if it were safe, I have nothing. The only thing I can control and possess is my own body, my own consciousness. How could I not train my body?”

“When other children were holding their feet and chewing on their toes, I was holding my feet too.” Bran thought. “But the difference here is huge. I was purposely exercising my body’s flexibility. This is a basic skill that must be cultivated during early childhood. It’s just that in my previous life, at this age, I had no self-will. It was all done with my parents’ help. Now, everything depends on myself. I have never stopped training. But how could I possibly say this out loud? How could it see the light of day? On the contrary, your arrival has really affected me.”

Slowly recalling the martial arts manuals he had transcribed in his previous life, it all boiled down to this: train correctly, progress step by step, practice makes perfect. ‘Train correctly’ meant two things: first, the lessons and experiences continuously summarized by predecessors over thousands of years; second, relying on the development of modern technology for a clearer understanding of the human body’s structure. But what about in this life? The exterior felt not so different, but what about the internal structure? Thinking about the plump servant women and the savage Knights in the Castle, he really wanted to find someone to cut open and take a look…

Thinking about it, it was also funny. In his previous life, he had always thought, if I had decades of experience, plus a young body, I would definitely do this and that. When everything truly started over, he found himself confused and at a loss. What could such a young, small body even do? It was like a child thinking about growing up, and when grown up, thinking about how good it would have been if they had done such and such in their youth…

Bran signaled to the black cat Huahua, telling Huahua to keep watch by the door. He stood up and slowly moved about the room. As he grew older, Bran’s control over his body became more and more proficient, more and more precise, but it was still not enough. Not enough to reach Microscopic Perception.

After exercising, Bran sat down quietly, adjusting his breathing, trying to enter a meditative state. “Movement nurtures strength, stillness nurtures Qi.” In his previous life, he had trained step by step like this, until after starting work, he gradually abandoned it all. Danny’s words had made Bran’s thoughts messy today. Every movement, every emotion made him think too much, as if countless phantoms swirled before his eyes…

Sensing Huahua’s warning signal, Bran couldn’t be bothered to care. He suddenly felt very, very tired. A sense of loneliness from deep within spread throughout his body, making him too lazy to care, too lazy to hide.

When Danny returned and entered the room, she immediately noticed Bran. Bran at this moment seemed full of gloom, sitting there cross-legged like a moss-covered stone weathered by countless storms. If not for the slow rise and fall of his chest and belly, one could hardly sense much vitality.

Worried, Danny crouched in front of Bran and reached out to touch his forehead. Bran looked up, the corner of his mouth twitching. He said, “You’re right. This is the Northlands.”

Then, after a pause, he repeated, “This is the Northlands…”

“Huahua and I should both see the outside world.”

From this sentence, Danny heard many unclear, chaotic emotions, like the sigh Scholar Sean often made when mentioning his inability to return to the Holy City.