Chapter 59 - An offer you can not refuse(1)

Friedrich's eyes widened as he stared at the scaly creature before them. "What the fuck is a salamander doing up here in the middle of the north?" he exclaimed, his sword already drawn.

Before John could answer, the salamander unleashed a blast of fire from its mouth, narrowly missing the two warriors. The heat scorched the air, and the flames licked at the nearby trees, sending a wave of heat towards the men. They quickly jumped back, but John, still unaccustomed to his enhanced strength, stumbled and hit a nearby tree.

As he got up, he felt the adrenaline rush through his veins. He could hear Friedrich shouting, "Dodge the tail!" but it was too late. The salamander's tail struck John with great force, sending him crashing into another tree.

"Are you alright, your Highness?" Friedrich called out, his shield raised as the salamander closed in on them.

John gritted his teeth, pushing himself back up to his feet. "I'm fine," he replied, looking at the beast with determination. "Distract it. I'll take care of the rest."

Friedrich nodded, banging his sword against his shield to create a loud noise, grabbing the beast's attention. John used the distraction to jump onto the salamander's back, using its scaly hide for support, and locked onto its neck using his legs.

The salamander tried to shake him off, but Friedrich continued to make noise and taunt the beast. John took advantage of the distraction, freeing his right hand from the salamander's horn and preparing to strike.

"Die, you beast!" he roared, delivering a powerful blow to the creature's skull with his fist. The impact was so strong that it pierced through the salamander's skull, crushing its brain instantly.

As the salamander fell to the ground, John got off it and walked towards Friedrich, who had been huffing and looking at John in awe. "Haah haaah haaah, good job keeping him distracted," John said, his chest heaving as he caught his breath.

"Hufff huff, thank you, sir," Friedrich replied, bowing his head lightly as he huffed for air.

John couldn't help but notice the look of surprise on Friedrich's face. "Is the prince really just a 10-year-old? But then again, he has been on a battlefield," Friedrich thought to himself.

As John looked down at his blood and mud-covered body, he couldn't help but curse under his breath, "Damn it all, I need to clean up again." He turned to Friedrich, who was nearby, and shouted, "I'll catch up with you in a bit, I need to clean myself off again."

Friedrich nodded and replied, "Sure thing, I'll be waiting over by the corner." He let out a loud exhale as he walked away.

As John cleaned himself up and got dressed, he realized that they needed to bring the salamander back to camp. "Oh, by the way, don't forget to bring the salamander back to camp. We'll be having salamander meat for dinner tonight," he called out to Friedrich.

Once they were both cleaned up, they started to make their way back to camp. Along the way, Friedrich couldn't help but ask, "What was a salamander doing inside a hot spring, your Highness?"

John smirked and replied, "Did you know that most hot springs are located near inactive or active volcanoes? That's where most hot springs spawn."

Friedrich's eyes widened as he stopped in his tracks. "You don't mean to say what I think you're about to say, do you?"

John's grin widened. "Yep, the duchy is on a whole system of volcanoes."

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After their little conversation, John and Friedrich returned to camp. Friedrich pulled out the dead salamander's body from his storage ring, leaving both Nicholas and Hans shocked.

Hans was the first to speak. "What's that? I thought you went for a bath?" he inquired as he turned to John.

With an awkward smile, John replied, "It's a salamander. It was inside the hot spring and jumped out at me while I was in the middle of my bath."

"What the hell was a salamander doing inside a hot spring?" Nicholas asked as he stepped forward and touched the smashed-in head of the fiery beast.

Turning to Nicholas, who was examining the dead beast's body, John explained, "Hot springs are close to volcanic activity, a place where salamanders love to live in, so this one must have come here because of that."

"There is volcanic activity here?" Nicholas inquired, momentarily turning his head towards John.

John nodded lightly. "Yep, and it is going to be our biggest bargaining chip against the dwarves."

"Wait, hold on. You knew there was volcanic activity going on in the north? Also, how did you know that?" Nicholas's eyes narrowed on John.

With a sly smile, John replied, "Well, I have my ways." Meanwhile, he had other thoughts going on in his head. "The news was all over the empire when a goddamn volcano erupted in the middle of the north 20 years later, how would I not know?"

Ignoring John's reply, Nicholas pried further. "Also, how is this going to be a useful bargaining tool against the dwarves?"

Shaking his head, John gave another vague reply. "You'll see. We should reach there in close to two days now, right?"

Letting off a small sigh, Nicholas spoke. "Yeah, if the region you approximated to is correct, then yeah, it should only take about two days."

"Great, now changing the topic a little, I want to test out how strong I have gotten after all that I went through. So why don't we spar for a bit?" John snapped his fingers.

"Ye--" However, just as Nicholas was about to agree,

*GRUUUUUUMBBBLEEEEE*

"I should eat something first, I think," John said with a straight face, nodding his head with his eyes closed.

"That would be wise, yes," Nicholas agreed, trying to hold in his laughter.

Not more than a second later, Nicholas shouted, "Hans, get the kid some food. Also, cook some of that salamander meat. I am sure it will have a lot of proteins in it."

"On it, sir," Hans said, as he and Friedrich started to cut the salamander scales.

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Thirty minutes later, John let out a small burp to signal the end of his meal and made his way towards Nicholas, who was sitting on a wood stump carving something out of wood with his trusty knife.

"Ready to start, John? What weapons should we use?" Nicholas asked.

John approached him and caught a wooden falchion that Nicholas tossed towards him. He then took out a wooden spear from his storage ring and put away the sculpture he was making.

"This is well-made. How did you learn to make things like this?" John asked, admiring the wooden falchion.

Nicholas replied with a weary expression, "War can be a time-consuming beast, so having a few hobbies to take your mind off things can be good for your mental health."

"Alright then, let's get to it," John said, changing the subject.

Nicholas led them to an area he had cleared nearby and showed it off like it was a grand project. "Come over here, I cleared this area knowing you would want to fight."

Without further ado, they stood in the clearing, facing each other with their wooden weapons in hand.

Nicholas launched forward with a lightning-fast thrust of his spear, catching John off guard. But John was quick to react, deflecting the spear with his falchion and counterattacking with a swift slash aimed at Nicholas's torso. However, Nicholas easily blocked the attack with his spear shaft, using its length to keep John at bay.

The two fighters circled each other, searching for an opening in each other's defense. Nicholas feinted with his spear, causing John to momentarily drop his guard. In that split second, Nicholas landed a solid strike to John's right shoulder with the butt of his spear.

John grunted in pain but continued to press the attack, using his speed and agility to dodge Nicholas's thrusts and slashes. Despite his injury, John managed to land a glancing blow on Nicholas's arm with his falchion.

As the fight wore on, both fighters grew tired. Sweat dripped down their faces, and their breathing grew labored.

In a final flurry of blows, Nicholas and John clashed in a ferocious exchange of wooden weapons. The sound of wood striking wood echoed across the sparring ground as the two fighters battled with all their might.

In the end, Nicholas emerged as the victor, landing a decisive blow to John's liver with the butt of his spear.

Once the spar was over John and Nicholas sat down on the grassy patch beside where they just sparred, and Nicholas pulled out a flask of water.

Nicholas watched as John gulped down the water, almost choking on it. "You've gotten better, much better," he said, "but since you can't use your left hand anymore, your balance is off. Also, you were way too offensive. Your entire midsection was open for half the battle, but for now, this will suffice."

After coughing for a bit, John let out a sigh and replied, "Huffffffff, yeah… I still need more practice."

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As John made his way to the high dwarves' domain, an unannounced visitor arrived at the Grand Duke's office. The visitor was a young blond boy, probably only a little older than John. He had deep green eyes and a sly grin on his face. The boy leaned forward and spoke, "So what do you say? Do we have a deal?"