Chapter 107 Special Skills of Armor
Gines cast a Mending Charm, restoring the pockmarked ground to its original state, then put away the severely damaged silver armor.
"Young Master, we can continue.
There's still a little time left before the first lesson ends, so we can have another round."
"Roar!" Abey let out a dissatisfied growl.
Continue? Didn't you see I almost hurt my master just now?
Aaron understood the meaning of the growl, smiled as he rubbed its dragon head, and reluctantly placed Abey on the ground.
"Be good, but this is my lesson, so you shouldn't interfere from now on.
Don't feel bad; just as Gines said, suffering a little more now means suffering a little less later."
Abey froze for a moment, a hint of confusion in its dragon eyes, but it still silently turned and left, leaving Aaron with a somewhat lonely figure.
"Continue!"
"Yes, Young Master."
Gines waved his wand again, and a brand-new set of armor stepped down from the rack.
Aaron took a deep breath and initiated the attack.
He quickly rushed to the front of the armor, making a direct thrusting motion, the silver-glowing sword tip unflinchingly pointing towards the chest plate of the armor.
Since his opponent was not human, he naturally didn't need to consider holding back; in short, hitting it counted as a win.
Screech!
A piercing sound mixed with tiny sparks was particularly clear in the Chamber of Secrets.
A moment later, Aaron's eyes widened slightly, and the corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.
As expected, his attack was blocked, and he couldn't even pull out his weapon.
The armor had clasped its hands together, gripping the two-inch-wide sword blade, and the sword tip had stopped a few centimeters from its chest plate.
Aaron was stunned; before he could react, he took a heavy kick to the abdomen and was sent flying backward uncontrollably.
Abey, who was watching from a distance, couldn't hold back again and roared as it charged towards the armor.
But before it had run two steps, the entire dragon was picked up by Gines, its four limbs flapping frantically in mid-air.
"That's why being a teacher is more agonizing than being a student!" Gines looked at Abey speechlessly. "Don't worry, Young Master is fine. If anything happened, I'd be more anxious than you.
Besides, you've already destroyed one set of armor. If you keep being so willful, even if the Gaius Family has a vast enterprise, it won't withstand your extravagance."
Abey snorted, and despite being held up, he defiantly crossed his arms and turned his face away in displeasure.
"Cough, cough!" Aaron got up, clutching his stomach awkwardly.
The Shield Charm's effect was quite good; he wasn't seriously injured, but it hurt quite a bit.
Gines placed Abey on the ground, took out a small notebook, and recorded seriously: "First, insufficient strength.
Method of improvement: fifty push-ups every day from now on, gradually increasing the number.
Second, insufficient adaptability.
Method of improvement: increase practical combat training."
"Hold on." Aaron said, somewhat unconvinced, "I'll admit the first point, but the second point..."
"When his weapon was immobilized, Young Master should have retreated instead of foolishly standing there waiting for the enemy to attack."
"I admit what you said makes a lot of sense.
But is this armor legitimate?" Aaron pointed at the armor with a look of indignation, his finger trembling unconsciously. "Who the hell can tell me which family's armor would catch a blade barehanded?"
"Ah, this..."
"Didn't you say the armor's attack skills were mediocre, and its movements weren't as flexible as a human's?
Gines, I'm young, but that doesn't mean I'm ignorant. Ninety-nine percent of people probably couldn't do that!
You'd better give me a perfect explanation, or my fragile mind will be hurt."
"Uh..." Gines hesitated for a moment, then explained awkwardly but seriously, "The previous set of armor was indeed like that, but this is the second set.
A slight upgrade, not too much, right!"
Aaron:...I'm impressed by you, you sly old fox.
Noticing his Young Master's unfriendly gaze, Gines cleared his throat and chuckled awkwardly, "There's a reason for doing this; it's also for your sake, Young Master.
Taking this loss now will make you more cautious when fighting others in the future."
"You continue." Aaron waved his hand dismissively, "Let's see what other excuses you can come up with."
"Actually, when the Family Head trained before, he also encountered similar situations, but his way of handling it was excellent!"
"Oh, what did Vico do?"
"After the Family Head's weapon was disarmed, he didn't hesitate to draw his wand and cast three consecutive Diffindo spells, forcibly disassembling the armor.
At that time, your grandfather praised him a lot, directly saying that the Gaius Family had a worthy successor."
"He could do that?!" Aaron's mouth twitched violently; he felt his understanding of things was somewhat subverted.
Vico had always given him the impression of being approachable, humble, polite, capable, and a little afraid of his wife, but now it seemed he was an old hand, too deep in hiding.
"That's right." Gines spread his hands. "Although it's training, and the opponent is just a puppet armor without any consciousness.
But it's still an enemy, and you must never be merciful to an enemy.
As long as you can win, you can disregard any rules, abandon any face, and be more despicable than the enemy, because you cannot bear the consequences of losing.
The Family Head understood this principle during his first training session and applied it very well in actual combat.
To tell you something you might not want to hear, besides his magical talent, the Family Head is much stronger than you in all other aspects."
Aaron swallowed, and it took him a long time to react.
"As expected of my father!
But what does that matter? He was three years older than me during his first training session.
If his performance after three years was still worse than mine, that would be truly pathetic."
Gines chuckled, giving Aaron a thumbs up. "Young Master sees things clearly, and it's not wrong to say that."
"Hmph! I'll remember this today.
When I get powerful, I'll definitely arrange a squad of armored soldiers to beat you up."
"I'm waiting; I look forward to that day." Gines said with a smile, then checked his watch. "Time is almost up; today's first lesson ends here!"
"Phew!" Aaron breathed a sigh of relief. "What about the second lesson then? What will I learn?"
Gines took out a light gray key and placed the second set of armor back on the rack.
"There are many options.
Swordsmanship is a compulsory course, and you need to choose three elective courses yourself, Young Master."
"Well, you might as well tell me what I can choose!"
"Young Master, please follow me."
Gines led Aaron to the end of the armory, where a familiar keyhole slowly emerged from the wall.
"Beautiful." Aaron gritted his teeth. "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, no one would have guessed that there was another Chamber of Secrets hidden inside the Chamber of Secrets."
"A correction.
That statement isn't entirely precise; in fact, there are many Chambers of Secrets hidden.
Only the bloodline of the Gaius Family combined with the key can make the Chamber of Secrets appear; there is no other way."
"Open it! I'm ready."
Gines nodded slightly and inserted the light gray key into the keyhole.
Creak!
The door didn't open, but the wall shook continuously.
Soon, the wall was covered with dense keyholes, arranged in over a dozen rows, at least a hundred of them.
"Oh my goodness!"
In that instant, Aaron felt he had developed trypophobia.
Merlin played a huge joke on him; he had to choose three out of a hundred elective courses, which was utterly absurd.
"Uh, uh, we're not going to look at every single one, are we?"
"Young Master, you don't need to worry.
There are a total of one hundred and ninety-seven Chambers of Secrets here, big and small, simple and complex." Gines explained, "However... the Family Head has already eliminated a large portion for you.
For example, the one hundred and third, which connects to a lake where you can learn fishing.
The one hundred and fifth, that's a card room with all the gambling tools from thousands of years, where you can practice gambling skills.
And..."
"No need to say more." Aaron said with a dark expression, "These retirement-style ones aren't suitable for a young person like me, right?"
Gines nodded solemnly, "That's right."
"Just tell me, how many options did he arrange for me?"
"Thirty types, all of them are top-ranked Chambers of Secrets.
That works out to one in ten, which is more convenient.
Oh, and before the Family Head left, he specifically instructed me that you must choose at least three; fewer is not allowed, but more is unlimited."
"Understood." Aaron gave a wry smile. "I've never been to these Chambers of Secrets. Do you have any good recommendations?"
"Yes, of course!" Gines pointed excitedly at the keyhole numbered thirty. "This one is my favorite, and the Family Head's favorite too, though the Madam doesn't like it much."
"This..." Aaron frowned, thought for a moment, and then said with a strange expression, "This wouldn't be a wine cellar, would it!"
"Clever!
This is one of the family's industries. Both Wizards and Muggles cannot do without good wine, and the wines produced by Gaius Winery are consistently well-received in all circles.
Most importantly, it's practically a mandatory choice for every heir."
"Heh heh! Excluded, definitely excluded.
I'm only twelve; you're encouraging me to drink alcohol. Aren't you worried about corrupting a child?"
Gines's expression fell. "Young Master, I don't agree with that.
You must know that Gaius Winery will also be yours in the future. You may not like to drink, but you must know how to."