"No! Why would you suggest that? Didn't everyone just say that would be a bad thing?" Eris snapped, now thoroughly confused.
Just now, her mother, teacher, and father all said that allowing her little brother to teach the Town Guard the Unarmed Foundations Martial Art would be dangerous for a number of reasons, so why was Lucas now saying that they should do just that?
Seeing his big sister so lost and upset, Lucas calmly explained, "I didn't say I should teach the Town Guard, but that 'we' should. I assume Uncle Charles has a plan, right?"
Nodding in approval, Charles Newton laid out his idea, "While having little Lucas teach the Town Guard wouldn't be appropriate, there's nothing stopping me, your mother, or your teacher from doing so."
"That's right! That way no one will know Lucas was the one who came up with this Martial Art!" Eris cheered, light seemingly returning to her eyes. However, in the next moment, she frowned as she turned a somewhat apologetic look towards her little brother.
Understanding what his big sister was thinking, Lucas just waved his hand casually, "It's alright, I don't care about taking credit for this. In fact, it would be for the best if our parents did that instead."
Eris still seemed a bit peeved at the idea of her little brother not receiving the praise he should, but she understood that this was the best option available. This way, the Town Guard could get stronger without putting Lucas in harms way. After some thought, though, Eris hesitantly asked, "Will Mom and Dad be in danger if they teach others Lucas' Martial Art?"
Patting her daughter's shoulder, Sasha reassured her, "There might be a bit of trouble, but nothing we can't handle, so don't worry."
In truth, there was plenty of trouble this decision could cause, but since Anna and Drake had first told Sasha and Charles about the Unarmed Foundations Martial Art, all of them realized that not taking advantage of it to strengthen themselves would be too much of a waste.
After a month of actually practicing the Art, this belief had only strengthened.
"There will always be risks when making big decisions, Eris. The question you have to ask yourself is whether or not the risks are worth the benefits," Anna didn't miss the chance to teach her student some life lessons.
Frowning slightly, Lucas made a suggestion, "Perhaps we can reduce the risks a bit."
This statement drew everyone's attention, with Anna being the one to ask, "What do you mean, Son?"
Taking a moment to organize his thoughts, Lucas proposed, "If we only want to strengthen the Town Guard a bit, there's no need to teach them the complete Unarmed Foundations Art."
"Can that be done?" Charles wondered.
"Actually, it's not an uncommon practice to hold back parts of a Martial Art," Sasha commented, further explaining, "The Balfour Family possess many formal Martial Arts and Cultivation Techniques, some for training purposes and others for actual combat. Each of them has several different versions however, and only Direct Descendants of the family with enough strength and qualifications are taught the complete Arts."
Redwood Town was a peaceful place that was far removed from war or political machinations, so it was quite rare to see people fighting one another; however, that didn't mean the entire Rockwell Kingdom was so calm and serene.
Nobles squabbled over territory and resources, the kingdom had tense relations with some of its neighbours, and there was never a lack of beast and bandits out there, so bloodshed and death weren't unusual sights.
It was because they knew this that Anna, Charles, and Sasha, together with Drake who wasn't present at the moment, all felt strongly that they had to strengthen not only themselves but the Town Guard; after all, there was no telling when danger would appear and strength would be needed to defend themselves.
"The question is how much to teach the Town Guard," Charles followed up before turning to Lucas with a wry smile, "It looks like we'll have to depend on you again, Lucas."
Nodding his head seriously, Lucas immediately agreed, "I can create a simplified version of the Martial Art for others to learn… I think."
"Just do your best, Lucas," Anna comforted her son, not wanting him to feel too stressed by this new task.
"Does that mean I also can't practice the complete Martial Art?" Eris asked nervously. This wasn't an outcome she wanted to see, as she could feel herself getting stronger the more she practiced the Unarmed Foundations Martial Art, far more so than with any other exercises she had ever tried.
"Hahaha," Charles burst out laughing as he ruffled his daughter's hair and said, "Of course not, my daughter. You can keep practicing the full Martial Art as long as your little brother agrees."
Shooting a half begging, half demanding look at Lucas, Eris made her intent clear.
For his part, Lucas just nodded his head vigorously, knowing that there was only one answer his rambunctious big sister would accept.
"Alright, all that's left then is to decide when to introduce the Unarmed Foundations Art to the Town Guard," Anna cut in, saving her son from any further pressure.
Grabbing the lifeline thrown to him, Lucas promptly declared, "I think it will take Mom another month or so to properly learn the 22 Stances, and perhaps another month after that for the 41 Figures. I can probably come up with a simplified version of the Art by then, so how about we start teaching the Town Guard after summer ends?"
Thinking about it for a moment, Charles, Sasha, and Anna nodded in agreement. It was the beginning of summer right now, so there was much work to be done in the fields, from harvesting vegetables and fodder to grazing livestock in the surrounding pastures.
It was also a good time to enter the forests to go hunting, as the tall canopy of trees offered some relief from the hot sun and the long days allowed hunters and foragers to bring home greater bounties.
In short, summer was a busy time, so it wasn't the best time to be learning a complicated Martial Art unless one didn't have to worry about putting food on their table.
While some of the Town Guard were former knights or soldiers, a few of whom served the Newton Family while the rest had simply retired from their old lives to live in Redwood Town, most were just stronger townsfolk who wanted to help out with public safety. As such, many of the Town Guard still had fields to tend to, or at least had family who needed help tending to their fields and flocks.
Of course, autumn wasn't exactly a period of free time either, but as long as it was before the big fall harvest, people generally had a bit more leisure time. The cooler fall temperatures also made working outdoors less draining. It was probably the best time for the Town Guard to start learning the Unarmed Foundations Art.
"Good, then we'll plan to start teaching the Town Guard in the fall. As for who will be the one instructing everyone… We'll see who is best for that when the time comes," Charles finalized the decision.
"En, since that's taken care of, all that's left is for us to master this Martial Art to the best of our abilities before then," Sasha agreed.
"I'll do my best!" Eris enthusiastically chanted, drawing a slightly chuckle from the adults in the room.
As for Lucas, his mind was already working on what he could cut from the Unarmed Foundations Martial Art while still retaining its core essence. The simplest solution would be to just not teach all 22 Stances, 41 Figures, 94 Motions, and 284 Forms, but which ones to teach and which ones to remove was a difficult question.
If, for instance, he removed the Mountain Stance, it would make teaching 10 of the Motions difficult, and nearly 60 of the Forms impossible. On the other hand, removing the Cloud Stance would only affect 6 of the Motions and 25 of the Forms.
That was not to say that Mountain Stance was more important than Cloud Stance, just that it served a different function and focused on different aspects of the physique.
It didn't take Lucas long to realize that he was in for more of a headache than he originally thought. Practicing and even teaching a complete Martial Art he was familiar with was clearly much easier than taking apart and modifying one, no matter how well versed in it he was.
Seeing her son's scrunched up brow, Anna simply slapped his shoulder encouragingly, "There's no rush, Lucas. Just take your time."
Taking a deep breath, Lucas calmed down and nodded, setting the matter aside for now.
*Sniff sniff*
"Daddy, you smell funny. You should go wash yourself…" Eris suddenly commented, prompting the noble Town Lord's face to twitch while his wife tried her best to contain her laughter.
Upon hearing the word 'wash', however, Lucas was suddenly reminded of the conversation he had with his parents earlier today and couldn't help turning a pleading look to his mother.
Anna and Drake had made Lucas promise he wouldn't mention things from his newfound knowledge without consulting with them first, so he didn't immediately ask his Uncle Charles and Aunt Sasha about the strange product which helped people clean themselves. It was difficult for one to hold back their curiosity, especially when it was quite possible the answer was right in front of them, so Anna was proud of her son for following their agreement despite that.
Still, seeing the look on Lucas' face, Anna decided that it wouldn't be a problem to ask a few questions on his behalf.
Turning to the one she felt would most likely have the answer, she began weaving a small tale, "Speaking of bathing, there was one time when I was growing up that my mother bought some kind of white cream from a big city merchant that was supposed to help wash off sweat and smells. I was even allowed to try it once and found it quite pleasant. Do you happen to know anything about that, Sasha?"
"You mean Bathing Cream?" Sasha tilted her head and asked back, apparently familiar with the product Anna was asking about.
Shaking her head, Anna replied, "I don't know what it was called as I only ever used it once."
Nodding lightly, a somewhat nostalgic look appeared on Sasha's face as she recalled, "If I'm not mistaken, what you use was indeed Bathing Cream. Was it a thick white liquid in a small jar?"
"That's it," Anna nodded.
"En, it's a luxury good that is produced exclusively by Earl Dalton's Family. Its full name is 'Euphoric Body Cleansing Bathing Cream', but everyone just calls it Bathing Cream," Sasha explained.
Lucas' eyes lit up as he could no longer hold himself back and called out, "Do you have some, Aunty Sasha?"
A little stunned by Lucas' burst of enthusiasm, Sasha took a moment to recover before she let out a peal of laughter and shook her head, "Sorry, Lucas, I don't have any with me."
Not getting discouraged, Lucas continued his press, "Then, do you know how I can get some? Or how it is made?"
"Goodness, what's with the sudden curiosity about keeping clean, little nephew? Don't you usually just jump into the river shallows to scrub yourself up when you're feeling dirty?" Sasha asked.
"En en, that's right, the river is nice and cool, and we can swim in it too!" Eris chimed in with her father nodding in agreement, earning both of them a knock on their heads from Sasha who scolded, "Young lady, you should learn to take better care of yourself! Who will want to marry a girl who can't even keep herself clean? And you, you big oaf! Stop encouraging her bad habits!"
Holding their heads, both Eris and Charles kept their mouths shut, though both of them stole a glance at Lucas, pleading for him to stop. Unfortunately, the young boy seemed completely focused on his Aunty Sasha's words and was utterly unwilling to let the Bathing Cream matter just drop.
Sighing, Sasha found herself in a slightly awkward position. She wanted to answer Lucas' question, but she knew doing so would only lead to more disappointment.
Still, recalling how mature Lucas had been acting recently and figuring it was best to make him see the reality of his situation, Sasha ultimately decided to be honest with him, "It's generally not possible to purchase Bathing Cream outside of big cities closer to the capital, and even if you could travel there, the supply is quite limited and expensive. As for how it's made … all I know is the rumour that it was the result of a failed Alchemy experiment. The only ones who would know the specific recipe would be the Dalton Family and their workers."