34 Ouch.

"Gah—ack!"

Surprisingly, Dare was being flipped over in the air by Jörmungandr, before falling flat on his back painfully. The breath left his body in a painful manner that made him instinctively want to gasp, but the shock of the impact had left his body too stunned, and his diaphragm too shocked to properly function.

After what felt to be 30 seconds of silent suffocation, he finally managed to suck in a single breath, his watery eyes stinging as he coughed and sputtered like a drowned man.

The quiet groan of pain from the immobilized person was as such, late, and joined by the rest of the original trio who'd suffered the same fate; the kid whom they'd picked up sat at the sidelines instead, quietly analyzing the spectacle.

Fenrir snorted at the display.

"Brother, you really ought to control your strength a bit more, and you need to teach these idiots hand-to-hand combat before you start throwing them around. Speak of which, when did you learn combat?"

Jörmungandr straightened up, swiping the air and bringing up his inventory before he pulled out a manual. He quietly handed the book to Fenrir, and walked away to sit on a log that surrounded the training ring, his blank expression matching that of the dark child who sat next to him.

The child was actually analyzing the golem that Hela had given Jörmungandr, but neither of the brothers knew exactly where or how she had procured the object. Then Fenrir recalled how the System had basically slobbered at the sight of Hela.

'Oh. That's how, huh? Typical of Hela but... seriously?'

"She's just like father, I swear..." Fenrir mumbled out loud before opening up the manual. Within it where pictures of various motions, positions, exercises and stances that all correlated with certain fighting styles. Suddenly, a notification popped up in front of his eyes.

*briing!

[Patron Fenrir had opened the "Beginners Guide for Animalistic Patrons in Human Combat"!]

[Patron Fenrir may choose one style of combat from the book!]

Slowly, Fenrir faced his brother and incredulously questioned, "...Jörmungandr, where did you get this book?"

"...System..."

"Why? This is a precious book y'know; Patrons like us can learn human martial arts suited to us without even trying that hard! It establishes a basis in which we can improve our physical prowess! Do you realize how vital this book it? Why in all of Yggdrasil would the System give you this..."

Abruptly, the groans of pain and small conversations from Jörmungandr's little group halted, and the anxious expression of the trio and the specter turned towards the quiet monster; only the ignorant child who knew nothing about the situation appeared as confused as Fenrir was.

'Who's this "'System'" they're talking about? They talk as if the system is alive...' her thoughts were soon interrupted by the gentle rumble of her Patron.

A blank expression remained on his face... but... it was his eyes.

His eyes glowed with an unnaturally sickly yellow light.

"...Why...?"

He tilted his head, his pale, shoulder length white hair spilling over his shoulder and his face remained eerily devoid of emotion, despite the unique hatred and rage that were characteristic of him shining in his narrow and serpentine eyes.

"...Cause I'd have killed her otherwise..."