When Anna and Drake mentioned using firewood ash, something seemed to spark in Lucas' mind, but the next moment, it was gone. For now, it seemed he wouldn't be learning anything more about the mysterious bathing item he was searching for.
Letting out a sigh, the young boy shook his head to clear it of distracting thoughts before thanking his parents for indulging his curiosity.
After enjoying breakfast, Drake went to his smithy to mend some farm-tools while Anna and Lucas set off for the Town Lord's Manor.
Although Charles Newton was technically a Baron and Lord of Redwood Town, it wasn't like he lived in a grand towering castle or was waited upon by a legion of servants.
As countryside nobles who lived on the Rockwell Kingdom's literal western frontier, the Newton Family was by no means wealthy. What's more, Charles' father and mother only had 3 children in their lifetime, a rather low number for a noble family.
There were also no aunts or uncles to worry about, as all of Charles' father's siblings had given up their claim to the barony in exchange for some small monetary compensation and the freedom to pursue their own lives.
Charles' older brother had passed away tragically, and his younger sister had married a traveling merchant and was living in a distant town in another province of the kingdom.
All this was to say that Charles, his wife Sasha, and their daughter Eris were the only members of the Newton Family in Redwood Town.
As the Newton Family was small to begin with, and even smaller now in Charles' generation, naturally there were only a few servants living in the Town Lord's Manor, despite the complex itself being quite large thanks to land being abundant in and around Redwood Town.
Being the centre of the local government, there were naturally many people who worked in the Manor, but, similar to Anna, most had their own homes in town and simply 'commuted' to work.
The Manor was located roughly in the centre of town, but there was no defensive stone wall or anything of the sort, just a simple wooden fence.
This fence was basically for demarcation only as it served no defensive purpose, not that there was a need for such things in this peaceful town far from any foreign borders.
There were, of course, some threats around; Wild Beasts that lived in the Great Western Forest for example. But, if a Wild Beast was strong enough to make it past the entire town and reach the Town Lord's Manor, there was no way a wooden palisade or short stone wall would be able to stop it anyways.
Such a beast would require a real castle wall to block, but building such a structure would be immensely expensive, so the Newton Family never even considered it. As far as they were concerned, the tall wooden fence was good enough, and it seemed they were right as it had been more than 100 years since the town was first established, and there had been no issues so far.
The man on duty at the main front gates saluted Anna as she was technically his boss, the Captain of the Guard. Anna returned the gesture before striding inside without any kind of fanfare. As for Lucas, who was accompanying his mother, the guard simply smiled at him and welcomed him inside.
It was well known that the young son of Drake the blacksmith and Anna the Guard Captain was like a son to Town Lord Newton and his wife. What's more, for the past month or so, Lucas had been accompanying his mother to work almost every day.
The publicly released reason for this was that Lucas had been given permission to attend the private lessons of Young Lady Eris who was being taught cultivation and swordsmanship by Anna, Charles, and Sasha.
While this arrangement garnered a bit of envy from some, most just took it as a natural thing as Eris and Lucas were around the same age, so them learning and training together wasn't strange to begin with, especially given how close their parents were.
The truth, however, was that while a lesson was indeed being given, Lucas was the one teaching it while Eris, Anna, Sasha, and even Charles were the students.
A 42-year-old First Step Core Formation Practitioner being instructed in a Martial Art by a 9-year-old boy was naturally quite a shocking situation, and one that if made public would probably be taken as a bad joke. Still, that was the reality as Lucas carefully corrected his Uncle Charles' posture.
Tapping the middle-aged man's knees from his side, Lucas slowly explained, "You're still leaning too far forward, Uncle Charles. The Mountain Stance's focus is about assuming a naturally balanced and immovable position, if you lean too far forward, your knees will have to bear extra pressure and you won't be able to maintain the Stance as easily or for as long."
The first few times Charles had his form corrected by his little nephew Lucas, he was quite embarrassed and maybe even a bit offended, but after receiving the boy's clear and precise explanations, and discovering that after making the adjustments he really was gaining more out of the exercises, the Baron quickly set aside his preconceptions and diligently absorbed this new knowledge.
Of course, another major motivating factor was that of all the 'students' Lucas was teaching, it quickly became apparent that Charles was the slowest learner among them, despite having the highest cultivation of all those present.
Nothing needed to be said about Anna; after all, she had a head start with Lucas having taught her for a dozen or so days before she began bringing him with her to the Town Lord's Manor to teach the others.
As for Sasha, she once again had her better background to thank for picking up the Unarmed Foundations Martial Art faster than her husband. Having been raised in one of only two Marquess Houses in the Rockwell Kingdom, she had better fundamentals and had been exposed to a wider range of Martial Arts in general, so she was able to absorb this new technique without as much difficulty as the mostly self-taught Charles.
The real surprise, though, was Eris.
Perhaps it was because she was having more fun with her little brother being her teacher, or perhaps it was because she was just innately gifted in all things related to physical activity, but in the month or so she had been learning, Eris had gained an even greater grasp of the Unarmed Foundations Art than her mother and father and had all but caught up to Anna's level, despite having half a month less experience and practice.
This was not to say that Charles was unteachable, as he indeed managed to pick up the essence of Lucas' lessons, it was just that of the people present, he had the most ingrained habits which needed to be broken down and fixed before he could adapt to this new Body Tempering Art.
Lucas found these lessons to be quite enjoyable as well, and was always enthusiastic about teaching the Unarmed Foundations Art whenever he came to the Town Lord's Manor. He particularly liked it when he was able to help his Big Sister Eris and she would smile happily and thank him in return.
After just over an hour of practice, the training session for today came to an end and as the students and teacher were cooling off, Charles asked, "What do you think about having the Town Guard learn this Martial Art as well?"
Eris tilted her head slightly, seemingly not understanding why her father was even asking such a question.
To her, this Martial Art was simply the best gift her Little Brother Lucas could ever give her! It was so wonderful that she could even feel a noticeable increase in her strength, flexibility, and balance after just a month of practicing it.
As far as she was concerned, everyone should learn it!
Lucas, on the other hand, furrowed his brow at this suggestion; not because he was against it, but rather because he wasn't sure whether he should be teaching this Martial Art to others outside of his family.
The Town Guard worked for his Uncle Charles and Aunty Sasha, and were led by his mother, but that didn't mean that they should be trusted unconditionally. Thanks to his recently acquired knowledge and memories, Lucas' mentality had matured far beyond what his current age would suggest, and even though he wasn't a worldly and experienced individual yet, he at least knew that the Unarmed Foundations Art was very valuable and shouldn't be publicized without careful consideration.
Anna and Sasha had similar concerns, so they too frowned as they turned their eyes towards Charles, not explicitly saying no, but clearly not saying yes either.
Charles, quickly picking up on the mood in the training hall, couldn't help chuckling as he shook his head and explained, "I don't mean right now, but in the future."
Eris tilted her head to the other side and asked, "Why not? I think Lucas is a very good teacher."
Letting out a light, Sasha gently knocked her daughters head with her knuckles and scolded, "Do you want to put Lucas in danger?"
"Of course not!" Eris immediately shouted in a shocked and somewhat offended tone, "I'd never put Lucas in danger!"
When those words were so passionately spoken, memories of narrowly dodging wooden sword strikes, almost drowning in the Belton River, and running away from the angry shop owners after stealing fruits from their carts under his Big Sister's lead came to Lucas' mind, but he wisely stared down at his toes and kept his mouth shut.
While Lucas was searching for the meaning of life in the floorboards under his feet, Anna asked her student, "Eris, do you remember the first lesson I taught you about sword fighting?"
Nodding firmly, Eris stopped rubbing her head where her mother just hit her and declared, "The sword is a weapon, so never point it at someone you don't intend to hurt."
"Good," Anna nodded in approval before continuing, "When one picks up a weapon, one must be prepared for the consequences of wielding it, and the same is true for the Martial Art Lucas is teaching us. In the wrong hands, it could be dangerous."
Pursing her lips, Eris tried to make sense of what her swordsmanship instructor was trying to tell her, but in the end, she just couldn't understand, "Why is it a bad thing for Lucas to teach it to the Town Guard, though? Isn't the Town Guard on our side? Wouldn't them being stronger make us safer?"
Rubbing his adorable daughter's head, Charles asked, "How well do you know everyone in the Town Guard, Eris?"
Taking a moment to think, Eris eventually answered, "I know all of their names and faces."
"How about their personalities, their families, and their situations at home?" Charles continued to question, and this time Eris fell silent.
Even though Redwood Town was a small countryside place, there were still about 100 members of the Town Guard. The fact that Eris clearly knew all of their names and faces was already quite remarkable, but there was no way she knew about all about their backgrounds and life circumstances as well.
Charles didn't want to teach such harsh life lessons to his daughter at such a young age, but he knew that the world they lived in wasn't nearly as kind and forgiving as this peaceful town would suggest, so he forced himself to continue, "While I don't think anyone in the Town Guard would try to hurt or betray us, it is always better to be careful, especially when it comes to valuable or dangerous things. The Martial Art little Lucas possesses is both valuable and dangerous."
Eris looked a little taken aback as she had never had to worry about such complicated matters before. In Redwood Town, she was basically a little princess that everyone doted on, so she didn't have to concern herself with the darker aspects of society.
"Right now, only Lucas can teach the Unarmed Foundations Martial Art as none of us has a high enough mastery of it to instruct others," Anna spoke up in a frank manner, "But if others were to learn that a young boy possesses something valuable that could make them stronger, they might be tempted to try to take it from him, and he might get hurt in the process."
"Then we shouldn't share it with anyone!" Eris paled and shouted, clearly averse to the idea that her precious little brother might get hurt.
This time however, it was Lucas who shook his head and spoke up, "I agree with Uncle Charles' suggestion, we should teach the Town Guard the Unarmed Foundations Art."