Chapter 15

Navile was a little surprised when Neil told him that the day had changed. He thought he'd only slept for a few hours because his drowsiness hadn't fully worn off. But what surprised him even more was Neil's invitation to the basement after they had breakfast. But the invitation doesn't seem right. Because Neil he knew wouldn't say something over and over again.

However, while eating breakfast earlier, Neil continued to pay attention to Navile and desperately invited him to the basement. The man seemed to be holding something back and only wanted to reveal it when they were alone.

Could it be that the Whistle Device is broken?

That was all Navile could think of. He couldn't think of any other reason for Neil to invite him to the basement. Or was it because he hadn't gathered all his soul after the nightmare, so he had forgotten that there was also a combat practice arena in the basement. He forgot about that second possibility and focused on the possibility of danger around Veda after the Whistle Device incident yesterday.

Navile sighed softly and let out a cute-sounding complaint from his mouth, "just a hassle." Then, with heavy steps, he complied with Neil's request to go to the recovery pool to wash away the fatigue and tiredness he felt, as planned the night before. Thinking that he also needed to restore his weary soul. In fact, Navile had already forgotten his desire to take a dip, but the sudden discomfort that came after the nightmare was something he wanted to get rid of immediately.

He followed Neil from behind, down the stairs that connected the upper floor with the basement. The stairs were made of very sturdy metal. That could be confirmed by the sound that could be heard when the two of them stepped on it. The sound was solid. The maker must have been someone who was very good at it. And the person in question was Neil, a self-proclaimed just cake shop owner.

Navile was sure Neil and Kana had many secrets he didn't know about. How could an ordinary cake shop have a state-of-the-art laboratory that rivaled that of the Whistle Fleet itself, right? Plus the basement they were currently in utilized a scenery feature, just like the one on the dome of every Whistle ship. The blue sky scenery installed on the ceiling made the room very bright.

The basement where he was currently in was located below the cake shop, expanding to exceed the size of the cake shop above. Bigger and more sophisticated. In the left corner, Neil's private laboratory seemed to hold many secrets. It was the room Navile avoided the most. The recovery pool was in the right corner, opposite the laboratory. Luckily there was a dividing wall between the two, so Navile didn't have to endure the pressure that the cursed room exerted while he recovered his body. The rest of the practice arena encompassed the entirety of the rest of the basement.

There was nothing that stood out about the practice ground. It was just an empty field before the Virtual Reality feature was activated.

Navile took off the jinbei top he had worn last night, and just as he was about to enter the pool that was only one meter deep, the atmosphere suddenly changed.

A punch slid towards him. It was expected to be quite powerful if he failed to avoid it. Navile immediately crouched down to avoid the punch aimed at his shoulder. Then, with his right leg extended, he twisted his body backwards to target the leg of his attacker, who was none other than Neil.

"Uncle! It's dangerous if I got hit!"

"That is my goal, to put you in danger. Come face me, Navile. It's been a long time since we've had a serious fight."

Without waiting for Navile to say yes, Neil quickly launched another punch. He swung his legs to knock Navile down, who was still at a disadvantage.

Navile accepted the challenge half-ready. He jumped as high as he could, then landed with a counter punch. But his forced attack missed and nearly sent him tumbling into the recovery pool. Actually, even if he fell, there would be no problem.

Navile was half disappointed, he guessed Neil's plan wrongly. "So this is the reason uncle brought me here, huh?"

Neil did not respond to Navile's questions, which were more akin to protests from a child. A smug smile remained on his face even though he said he wanted to fight seriously. Every punch was as calculated as usual. Although Neil had never used a weapon, Navile had never won from him. Only almost winning, and even then he was exerting the power of the Soul Boa Sword. But now he didn't have his nanobot with him.

"Ah! Wretch!"

"Don't whine like a child, Navile! Come and defeat me!"

Neil's challenging speech finally managed to get Navile's whole soul into his body. He finally got serious. While continuing to parry blow after blow, Navile led Neil away from the recovery pool. That place was very troublesome if you were not careful.

While running after Navile, Neil aimed his fists in rapid succession. Right, left, then right again and left again. From a distance, his movements resembled those of a parent chasing a naughty child.

But Navile didn't think so, even though all the attacks were successfully avoided, he realized that Neil was deliberately holding back and he wouldn't win if he wasn't really serious, He didn't want to whine for Neil to stop, but defeating Neil wouldn't be as easy as imagined.

"Uncle would be stronger if he used a nanobot. But why doesn't he ever show it? Is it in a weird shape and he's embarrassed to show it?"

Navile smiled bitterly at his ridiculous thoughts. This wasn't the time for such useless thoughts, was it? He had to find a way to beat Neil this time. And that wasn't going to happen if he kept dodging. He was a master of close combat, but he wasn't so good at hand-to-hand combat. Hand-to-hand combat meant he was very close to his opponent.

Navile thought hard to remember all the practice he had done with Neil. From what he could remember, there were almost no gaps that Neil had given him. Despite his relaxed appearance and random movements, Neil did not let Navile defeat him easily.

He stopped then turned to challenge Neil. A punch went straight for his left shoulder as soon as he faced his uncle and his left hand reflexively deflected it with an equally quick movement. His reflexes were indeed good.

"Of course I won't hold back anymore. I'll do everything in my power to push you into a corner. So that you don't rely too much on the nanobot and can use the photon art at will. Right, if I keep you cornered, you will understand what I mean."

So, that was Neil's real goal. He realized that Navile was powerful, but his power came out when he used his nanobot—Soul Boa. Going forward, things wouldn't always be easy. There will be times when his favorite nanobot is not around.

As he finished the advice-like speech, Neil continued to attack Navile with his seemingly random punches. But if you looked closely, his punches had a pattern. He always started with a light punch, a strong punch, and then a normal punch.

The most powerful punch will be tucked in the center of his movement to surprise the enemy. The color of his aura coming out of the photon art is also different, although Neil's aura remains green. There is a different concentration of color in each punch he launches. The lighter the color, the stronger the power.

Navile finally understood Neil's point. Indeed, he could not always rely only on the power of weapons. He could only dodge Neil's attacks because he had good reflexes and was used to fighting. But he had not been able to counter Neil's attacks. He had finally made up his mind to defeat Neil in this practice.