Lecture

While they were talking and joking around, time flew by and it was soon time for the lecture to start.

Exactly on time, an elderly man ascended the podium. After introducing himself as Elder Ming he directly started the lecture.

He provided lots of interesting information regarding fighting with combat slaves. Such as how to properly design a group of them or how to train them.

But what Ivan found the most interesting was his insights into the importance of the relationship between slave and master. According to the elder, it was especially important to have a good understanding of the slave's feelings towards oneself. This was the case in normal situations but especially so in combat, where a wrong decision could determine survival or death.

Based on the understanding one could then determine the kind of orders one had to give.

He was of the opinion that orders would always create a framework for the slave to act in. It would be next to impossible to directly control the slave. Just imagine that you had to tell the slave every single movement during combat.

And the way the slave interpreted the framework it had been given not only depended on the personality of it, but also on the feelings towards the master. For example, a slave that hated it's master and wants nothing more than kill him, then it just may interpret orders in such a way that it would kill the master. Or it wouldn't react to a threat it recognized but for which it hadn't been given a direct order.

A slave who got along or even felt loved by the master might just react on its own initiative to diffuse the threat, thus lightening the load of the master.

Elder Ming was of the opinion that treating slaves in a way that would make them feel goodwill towards the master was always the best way. But if it didn't work, then it was especially important to know it and plan for it. If it was in giving more detailed commands or just knowing that it wasn't possible to rely on it.

Ivan liked his insights and found them useful. Currently, he only had Vlada and in a way Celine and he got along well with both of them. He understood that if his relationship with Celine was bad then she would never have taken the initiative to help him train or to teach him. And he himself didn't have a good enough understanding of her and her knowledge to make the best use of her. Thus giving her a lot of freedom could enable her to make the decisions that in the end were the best outcome for him.

Of course, this required a certain amount of trust. Something he didn't find hard to do.

After the three-hour lecture ended, it was time for him to leave and visit Carl.

"I have to go.", he informed the girls.

"Really? Don't you have some more time to chat?", Beth asked. It seemed like she had truly enjoyed chatting with him.

"I promised my mentor to meet him today and if I don't go now, it will be so late, that it would be kind of impolite.", he answered.

"Oh, you are going to visit Carl? Then we can go together." when Lin heard him talking about meeting his mentor, she instantly knew who he meant.

"Great. Let's go then. We haven't met him in a while.", Gala readily agreed with Lin's proposal.

Ivan wasn't surprised that they knew Carl. After all, he and Lin were related. And with them being good friends for a long time it would be more surprising if they didn't know each other.

He wasn't given the chance to refuse, not that he had planned to, since they simply followed him.

They took the transport back to Carl's villa. Because both Ivan and Lin had been granted access to the villa by Carl's wife Jenny, they could directly enter the villa. They still opted to ring the bell first, since they felt that it would be impolite to just enter.

They didn't have to wait long for Carl to open the door.

"Hey, you are here.", he first greeted Ivan and then turned towards Lin and the other two girls, "Hey, everyone. Didn't expect you all to come here together."

"Hey, uncle.", the girls greeted him back and then Lin explained, "We met at today's lecture."

"Oh. You went to a lecture?", Carl asked Ivan in surprise. He knew that this guy hadn't gone to one before.

"Yes. It seemed interesting."

"Well. Come on in. And excuse the slight mess.", Carl told them and then went back inside.

The others followed him and were shocked. How was this a slight mess? This was clearly a big mess.

"Don't tell me you once again didn't clean up since Jenny and Trisha are away?", Lin's question answered Ivan's question before he could even put them out there.

It seemed like one of Carl's wives was responsible for cleaning. Or they forced him to keep it clean? Anyway, it should be something like this. And now that the two of them were away, together with Lara, Carl clearly didn't invest any effort in keeping his home clean.

"Urgh. I will clean it up before they come back.", Carl hurriedly promised.

"You better. You know how Jenny gets when she has something to nag about.", she had been the target of one of Jenny's seemingly endless nagging sessions before and she knew clearly that it was something she wouldn't want to stand through again.

"Wow, uncle. We didn't expect you to be this messy.", now that the important things were out of the way, the two sisters chimed in as well.

"Couldn't you leave them behind?", Carl asked Lin. Those two girls were to mischievious. They would most likely tell everyone about how messy his home had gotten as soon as his wives were out.

Lin grinned at him. She clearly enjoyed his plight, making one wonder what he had done to her, to enjoy revenge like this. "They are my friends, so why shouldn't I meet up with them?", she asked innocently.

"Damn you know how they annoy me every time.", he cursed. "Don't tell me you are still angry because I didn't help you against Jenny? You know that I can't do anything to her."

"I know but that doesn't mean that I forgive you for not even trying."

While they chatted they had sat down on the couches in the living room. That was after they had pushed off some things that were lying on them.

"So what did all of you come here for?", Carl asked with his focus on Ivan.

"Well, first of all, I wanted to invite you to a party. We are planning to hold a party when Lara and the rest are coming back this weekend.", Ivan first mentioned one of the reasons he had wanted to meet with Carl. "Right, if you want to you can come as well.", this sentence was directed towards Lin and the sisters.

"A party? Great! We are always up for a party.", Gala exclaimed in excitement. Beth too looked excited.

Meanwhile, a short flash of happiness appeared on Lin's face. It was so short that nobody else was able to realize it.

"Of course I will come. Especially since Jenny and Trisha will be there too.", Carl too agreed readily to the invitation.

Ivan then gave them the details and declined the girl's offer to help, stating that there were already more than enough helpers.

"So now that I know Ivan's reason, why are you here?", Carl then asked the girls.

"We just came with Lin.", Beth answered for both her and Gala.

"Since Ivan was coming here, I thought I would visit you as well.", Lin told him with a smile. "Besides that, my grandfather told me to tell you that you should go visit him sometimes this week."

"Can't he just tell me this himself? And can't you just send a message?"

"Of course. But then where would be the fun? By visiting together with my good friends here I can bring some spice into your life."

"Thank you very much.", although the words were that of a thank you. His forceful tone made it clear, that in no way was he thanking her. He clearly could do without her type of spice in his life.

Seeing his reaction, the girls laughed out loudly. Ivan too wanted to laugh but found it wrong to laugh about his mentors plight like this.

Carl could still determine his reaction and glared at him. "Just laugh. When you get to know those two better you won't laugh like this anymore."

"Wow, he really fears you. What did you do to him?", not being able to constrain his curiosity anymore, Ivan had to ask the sisters this question.