Starting With an SSS-Rank Goddess Summon!

Chapter 261: Morwenna’s Lesson [I / Bonus Chapter]

She turned on her boot, walking over to Valkyrie, while Aeli trotted over to Luna.

Vespera effortlessly swung her single-armed body up onto the silver direwolf’s broad back, while Aeli mounted Luna, holding onto the reins with her giant motorcycle helmet bouncing slightly.

"Goodbye, Lord Sky. Goodbye, Hiro," Vespera called out over her shoulder.

"Safe travels, Lord Vespera!" Sky called back, while Hiro offered a stiff, silent nod.

Vespera pressed her boots against Valkyrie’s flanks. "Let us return!"

HOWL!

GRRR-RUFF!

The two wolves exploded out of the clearing with their heavy paws tearing through the dark mud as they launched themselves into the misty purple forest at high speed, shooting back toward the Territory.

As the trees blurred past their vision and the freezing wind whipped against their faces, Vespera let out a long and deeply exhausted sigh.

Inside her disguise, Silas felt thoroughly drained from playing the charming polite female diplomat for hours on end.

Vespera turned her deep purple eyes toward Aeli, who was riding smoothly beside her on Luna’s saddle.

"So..." Vespera asked softly over the roaring wind, her voice filled with gentle affection. "How did it feel out there tonight, Aeli? Was it too overwhelming handling the stream cameras and those men?"

Inside her giant neon biker helmet, Aeli sat up straight, taking a moment to gather her thoughts before answering honestly.

"It was... remarkably stressful, My Lord," Aeli admitted softly, her muffled voice echoing from inside the visor. "Having millions of strange eyes watching my every movement was terrifying... and that blind swordsman gave me a very strange feeling."

Aeli turned her helmeted face toward Vespera, her silver eyes sparkling behind the dark visor as a sweet rosy flush touched her cheeks.

"...However," Aeli added, her voice dropping into a soft melodic purr, "I loved every single second of it... because I got to spend so much time right beside my Lord."

Vespera stared at the flustered, helmeted elven arcanist, feeling an irresistible wave of pure warmth wash over her heart.

A soft and deeply fond smile curved Vespera’s lips. She reached across the gap between their running mounts, gently patting Aeli’s helmeted head.

"Heh... you really are so cute, Aeli," Vespera praised her softly, stroking the smooth plastic of the helmet.

Aeli let out an adorable, muffled squeak of pure bliss, leaning her helmet deeply into Vespera’s hand as they rode through the night.

Ten minutes later, the two direwolves broke through the thick forest canopy, sliding to a rhythmic stop atop a small grassy ridge overlooking the domain boundary.

Standing directly before them was the towering, breathtaking regional barrier that Eluned had constructed earlier this afternoon... the [Canopy of the World Tree].

From the inside looking out, the barrier was completely invisible but looking at it from the outside world... the scene was utterly bizarre and awe-inspiring!

Spanning the entire two-mile radius of the Blessed Land was a colossal opaque dome of dense, swirling emerald spirit mist and shifting floral light.

The barrier continuously bent the surrounding ambient light and spatial geometry, making the physical landmass behind it appear like a warped undulating green mirage that completely repelled all optical focus, spyglass lenses, and reconnaissance magic.

It looked less like a standard territorial wall, and more like a sacred hidden realm belonging to an ancient nature deity.

Vespera smiled, deeply impressed by Eluned’s divine craftsmanship.

"Let’s go home," Vespera instructed softly.

FWOOSH!

Valkyrie and Luna charged straight into the swirling emerald wall.

The moment their bodies crossed the threshold of the barrier, the strange, light-warping distortion instantly vanished... The cold gloomy twilight of the Umbral Basin was replaced by the warm and energy-rich atmosphere of the Blessed Land!

Standing tall and majestic ahead were the opened Steel Weave Gates.

The guards stationed atop the battlements waved their longbows in greeting, welcoming their Lord back as Valkyrie and Luna trotted smoothly into the Keep’s central courtyard.

THUD!

Vespera and Aeli dismounted their wolves, stepping onto the cobblestones.

Vespera reached out with her single right hand, gently patting Valkyrie and Luna behind their ears.

"Thank you for the hard run, girls. Go get some rest."

GRRR-RUFF!

The two Blessed wolves let out happy rumbling barks, turning and trotting off toward the Beast Pavilion where the wolf pack resided.

Aeli reached up with both hands, unlatching her massive, neon-yellow motorcycle helmet and pulling it off her head.

Her long luxurious silver hair cascaded over her white robes with her pale face flushed with fresh air.

She turned to Vespera, bowing politely.

"I am going to head over to the Foundry immediately, My Lord," Aeli reported eagerly. "Thora and I are going to work on weaving a proper full-body spatial camouflage disguise for me before war day!"

Vespera smiled warmly, nodding her black-haired head. "Good idea, Aeli. Don’t stay up too late."

"Goodnight, My Lord!" Aeli beamed, clutching her helmet under her arm as she turned and sprinted enthusiastically across the moonlit courtyard toward the glowing forge of the Foundry.

With Aeli gone, Vespera was left standing entirely alone in the quiet center of the courtyard.

She let out a long slow breath, stretching her single right arm as her deep purple eyes looked up at the grand stone architecture of the Keep.

’Finally...’ Silas thought inside his female disguise with a wave of relief washing over his mind. ’Finally, I can go inside, take off this disguise ring, get my male body back, and rest...’

Vespera turned, stepping up the wide stone stairs of the Keep’s front porch.

She reached out her single right hand, pushing open the heavy double doors, stepping into the warm, torch-lit entry hall.

However—

WHOOSH!

The second Vespera crossed the threshold into the hall, a sudden high-speed displacement of air whistled straight toward her face.

ZIP!

Vespera’s Gold Core combat instincts flared instantly.

Without even looking, her single right hand shot upward like a striking viper, her fingers snapping shut around a heavy, solid wooden object floating inches away from her nose.

CLACK!

Vespera blinked her violet eyes, looking down at her hand.

She was holding a heavy unsharpened wooden training longsword.

Standing in the center of the grand entry hall, leaning casually against a carved stone pillar with her long, leather-clad legs crossed, was Morwenna.

The feral Pirate Queen wore her Corsair strapped to her hip, her stormy gray eyes burning with a fierce amused light as a wide toothy smirk spread across her gorgeous face.

Morwenna pushed off the stone pillar, taking two slow deliberate steps toward Vespera, her hips swaying with natural grace.

"Come on, Captain," Morwenna spoke, her husky voice echoing through the quiet hall. "Tonight... you’re mine."

She tilted her head, her gray eyes locking onto Vespera’s single-armed female form with absolute, uncompromising determination.

"I promised I’d teach you," Morwenna reminded him, her smirk widening. "I’m going to force you to master the footwork of the Tidal-Blade Sub-Style and the high-velocity redirection of the Tidal-Blade Second Style tonight before I even think about letting you go to sleep."

Vespera stood in the doorway holding the wooden practice sword, staring at the predatory Pirate Queen in deadpan silence.

Inside her mind, Silas let out a long exasperated mental sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose.

’Couldn’t I at least get a thirty-minute rest first...?’ Silas complained in his own internal thoughts, feeling his aching muscles.

And yet... as Silas looked at Morwenna’s fierce confident smirk and felt the wooden sword in his palm, a slow eager smile slowly spread across Vespera’s lips.

He followed Morwenna down the stone corridor toward the lower training vaults.

Because truth be told... Silas wouldn’t have it any other way.

...

The air inside the training vault was cool and damp, scented with the familiar, earthy musk of granite bedrock.

Torch fire flickered softly along the perimeter wall sconces, casting long, dancing shadows across the expansive stone floor.

Morwenna stood near the center of the training floor with her corsair resting sheathed against her left hip.

Her stormy gray eyes narrowed as she closed them halfway, staring intently at the single-armed black-haired female form that her Lord was currently inhabiting.

A long, thoughtful moment passed before the Dread Queen let out a quiet exhale through her nose.

"Switch back to your original body, Captain," Morwenna instructed, her voice dropping into its natural, husky rasp.

Silas blinked his deep purple eyes, tilting his head slightly. "Oh? You don’t want me practicing the footwork inside Vespera’s vessel first?"

Morwenna shook her head, running a hand through her messy, sea-swept hair.

"It’s better to learn new physical techniques when you are at your absolute full, native strength," Morwenna explained logically with her sharp eyes meeting his. "Your original frame has your true reach, your true muscle density, and your natural center of gravity. If you try to learn the foundational mechanics of a new sword style inside a lightweight single-armed body first, your brain will adapt to a shorter reach and a shifted axis. Learn it in your real form until the muscle memory is burned into your soul... then translating it to the lady’s body will be child’s play."

Silas listened quietly, the sheer pragmatic wisdom behind her words settling instantly in his mind.

’She’s completely right,’ Silas thought, impressed by her natural martial intellect. ’Building the neural pathways in my true body makes way more sense than trying to hack it together inside a disguise.’

Without another word, Silas reached up with his single right hand and pulled the black disguise ring off his left ring finger.

BOOM!

A brief brilliant wave of golden Gold Core mana erupted from his chest, wrapping around his frame in a warm swirling vortex.

In a fraction of a second, the single-armed female Lord dissolved completely.

Standing on the stone training floor was Silas Graves... restored to his imposing six-foot-two height, his broad, muscular shoulders, his short dark hair, his glowing golden-ringed eyes, and both of his powerful calloused hands.

Silas flexed his left fingers, rolling his shoulders with a satisfied grunt. "Alright. Back in the main driver’s seat."

Morwenna folded her arms over her leather-clad chest, a faint, approving smirk touching her lips as she looked up at his true form.

"Now then," Morwenna began, her tone shifting into that of a seasoned swordmaster. "Do you still remember the First Style of the Tidal-Blade Arts?"

Silas let out a short confident laugh, resting his right hand casually on the pommel of his wooden practice sword.

"How could I possibly forget?" Silas answered smoothly. "I literally executed it yesterday during our spar."

Morwenna remembered it clearly.

Not only had Silas executed the First Style but he had managed to weave the directional mana vector while suspended mid-air!

For a man who had only learned this a short time ago, executing advanced water-blade mechanics while airborne was a staggering feat of spatial awareness...

It was one of the primary reasons her pride as a Dread Queen swelled whenever she looked at him.

He wasn’t just some lucky person sitting behind a desk... he was a natural martial sponge who absorbed combat techniques at a terrifying speed.

"Good," Morwenna acknowledged, a rare glint of genuine pride shining in her gray eyes. "Your execution of the First Style proved to me that your core control is ready for the next level. But before I teach you the Second Style... we need to cover the Sub-Style."

Silas paused, his eyebrows pulling together. "The Sub-Style?"

He recalled her words from earlier tonight when they had met in the Keep’s entry hall.

She had explicitly mentioned wanting to teach him the Tidal-Blade Sub-Style alongside the Second Style.

"That’s right," Morwenna nodded, taking a slow step forward.

Her boots made a crisp echoing tap against the granite floor.

She stopped five paces away, looking into his golden eyes. "Tell me, Captain... do you know what makes a blade a blade?"

Silas stared at her, entering deep thought.

He was a guy from Earth who had spent years studying combat theory, physics, and weapon mechanics back at the academy.

He figured she was asking a deep philosophical question about the essence of martial arts.

"Well," Silas began, clearing his throat as he delivered a structured analytical answer, "fundamentally speaking, a blade is an instrument designed for kinetic force concentration. By tapering metal down to a microscopic wedge, you minimize the surface area of impact. When you swing the hilt, the energy produced by your hips, shoulders, and core is concentrated entirely along that razor-thin edge, allowing the shear stress applied to a target’s material structure to exceed its ultimate tensile strength. Combined with proper edge alignment and fluid mass distribution—"

"Stop. Just stop," Morwenna interrupted flatly, raising her hand to cut him off mid-sentence.

She rubbed her forehead with a heavy, exasperated sigh, looking at him like he was an alien speaking gibberish.

"What?" Silas blinked, completely thrown off. "Was my explanation incorrect?"

"You’re saying far too much," Morwenna grumbled, shaking her head.

She held up a single finger, delivering her answer in the most blunt simple terms possible.

"What makes a blade a blade... is its ability to cut."

Silas froze completely.

He stood there in the vault, staring at the Pirate Queen in utter deadpan silence for three solid seconds.

It wasn’t because her words were so profoundly philosophical that they shattered his entire perspective on life...

No. It was the exact opposite.

"Isn’t that literally what I’ve been saying this whole time?!" Silas complained out loud, gesturing with his hands in disbelief. "I just explained the physics of cutting! You just summarized my entire explanation into seven words!"

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