Lillie thought she had misheard. Bai Chen had clearly rejected her before. She asked him again, needing to be absolutely sure.
"You mean... You want me to follow you back to your hometown?"
"Yes. Do you regret it now and don't want to go?"
"No! I'm going!" Lillie grabbed Bai Chen's sleeve with her small hands, agreeing repeatedly out of fear he might take it back.
But once she had committed, Lillie found it strange. Why the sudden change of heart? "Mr. Bai, why did you suddenly agree? I... I'll likely just be a burden."
Bai Chen replied nonchalantly, "No one is powerful from the start. People need to grow. I decided I shouldn't suppress your desire for that growth."
He had thought it through. Lillie currently couldn't help him, and going to the Monster Hunter world would indeed make her a "burden" in the short term.
But so what? As long as she had the heart to get stronger, he could handle the rest with his Golden Finger. With a little help from him, her growth rate would exceed anyone's expectations.
As for his true motive, Serena's words had resonated with him. When he finally stood at the summit and looked upon the world's most spectacular sights, it would be a lonely existence if no one was there to share the joy.
Furthermore, if Olympia's prophecy couldn't be changed and he truly lost his life one day, he needed Lillie to have the strength to protect herself.
Lillie was overjoyed, a gleam of delight crossing her face. However, Bai Chen quickly doused her excitement with a splash of cold water.
"But I am very strict. If you can't meet the goals I set before we leave, I won't take you. I don't want you losing your life over there."
"I will definitely complete any goal you set!" Lillie promised.
"Don't get ahead of yourself. Talk to me once you've finished the training."
After a short wait, they were rescued by Officer Jenny, who had been alerted to the situation. Back at the hotel, after cleaning off the residual foam, Bai Chen and Lillie met at the hotel's battle arena.
Bai Chen was dressed in a light green long-sleeved tracksuit. After a moment, Lillie came down wearing an identical outfit. Her pale blonde hair was tied up high.
As she ran toward him, even without his Super Perception, Bai Chen could smell a faint, clean scent of soap. Lillie was naturally beautiful; even a plain, somewhat "dull" tracksuit couldn't hide her elegant aura.
Approaching him, Lillie said enthusiastically, "Mr. Bai, are we starting the training now?"
Bai Chen nodded. "Time is short. I will train you as much as possible so you have a baseline of self-defense." He produced a meticulously drafted document. "This is your training plan for the next week."
Lillie took it, scanned the lines, and froze. "Is this... a daily task?"
10km long-distance run, 100 push-ups, 100 squats, 100 sit-ups.
To a seasoned athlete, this might seem easy. But for Lillie, it was a mountain. Truthfully, a one-kilometer run was her current limit, and she couldn't even perform a single standard push-up.
"Correct. A strong body is the foundation for everything—it even provides a boost to mental strength."
"But..." Lillie felt a surge of doubt. She was self-aware enough to know that even if she worked herself to death, this plan seemed impossible.
"No 'buts.' This is the most basic level of training. In my world, Hunters and Riders fight in armor weighing nearly a hundred pounds while wielding weapons even heavier than that. Compared to their daily regimen, this is just a warm-up."
Lillie understood. She bit her lip and psyching herself up internally. Since I've made up my mind, I have to give it my all. Her expression hardened. "I understand. I will work hard!"
Bai Chen nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Since you're determined, I will support you fully."
He pulled a fresh bottle of mineral water from his pocket, opened it, and handed it to her. Lillie thought he wanted her to hydrate before starting, but as she reached for it, he stopped her. He took out a small scalpel and pricked his right index finger.
Drip.
A single drop of blood, glowing with a brilliant golden light, fell into the bottle. The thick blood oddly remained condensed in the water without dispersing until Bai Chen capped the bottle and shook it vigorously for thirty seconds.
"Drink it," Bai Chen said, handing the "golden tea" back to her.
Lillie hesitated. She had bandaged his wounds before and knew his blood was golden, but she hadn't expected it to be so potent. A single drop had turned 500ml of clear water into a deep golden hue.
"Don't hesitate. My blood will develop your physical potential and might even awaken special abilities."
This was partially a lie. Awakening special abilities would be handled by the System, not his blood. However, it wasn't a total fabrication. After obtaining the [Legendary Proof], Bai Chen's Elder Dragon blood had evolved into Legendary Elder Dragon Blood.
In terms of vitality, that single drop contained an immense amount of life energy. Furthermore, since his body was currently saturated with energy from the Giant Rock and the Sundial, his blood carried the "Mega Evolution" catalyst.
He was, quite literally, a walking treasure. If someone could withstand the energy intensity, drinking his blood could truly trigger massive physical changes.
Under his gaze, Lillie summoned her courage and drank half the bottle.
"Don't drink it all at once; I'm afraid your body can't handle the intensity." Bai Chen wasn't being stingy—he could lose 800ml of blood and regenerate it almost instantly—but he feared Lillie's mortal frame would collapse under the power.
He estimated that until her body was modified, three drops a day was her absolute limit.
As soon as she finished the half-bottle, Lillie felt it. A warmth bloomed in her abdomen, spreading through her meridians to every corner of her body.
"It's... sweet?" Lillie looked at the remaining water in disbelief. She had expected a metallic, rusty taste, but it was like drinking sugar water. "Mr. Bai, do you have high blood sugar?"
Bai Chen gave her a light knock on the head.
"Ow! >_<~"
"I don't have high blood sugar. It's likely your brain 'tricking' you so that you develop a craving for the energy in my blood."
This life-rich blood was instinctively attractive to any living organism. Bai Chen suspected that if he ever bled in the wild now, he'd attract every monster and Pokémon for miles.
Lillie murmured, "Amazing blood. I feel like I'm full of energy." She hadn't noticed yet, but her porcelain skin was now glowing with a faint, healthy pink hue.
"You should start burning that energy off now, or your body might actually burst," Bai Chen warned.
Urged on, Lillie finally began her training. Bai Chen ran alongside her for the 10km stretch. As they ran, he pondered her growth path.
Should I give her the physical stats of a Hunter? He had checked—she couldn't learn the Rarity 8 body fortification skills.
Even Banbaro's Rarity 4 fortification was too much. She could likely only handle the Rarity 3 fortification common among standard Hunters.
Besides, he couldn't picture Lillie turning into a "gorilla" of muscle; it didn't fit her image, and she likely wouldn't want it.
"If physical paths are limited, we go with Psychokinesis."
He targeted Lillie and tried to give her his Rarity 8 [Ultimate Mind]. But since she lacked an Aura talent, she couldn't learn it. He lowered the difficulty to Indeedee's Rarity 7 psychic skills—still a no-go.
"Do I need even lower-level psychic skills?"
He left Lillie to run laps while he went out to find common Psychic Pokémon. After thirty minutes, he returned with Rarity 3 and Rarity 4 psychic talents. The system showed Lillie could only learn the Rarity 3 talent.
Bai Chen wasn't disappointed; this was the limit of an ordinary human. He only learned high-level skills instantly because he had an Elder Dragon's constitution as a foundation.
"A Rarity 3 skill is fine. I can use Skill Refinement Stones to boost it later." With a few stones, he could push it to Rarity 5, giving her talent on par with average Psychic-type Pokémon.
"Psychic talent is just the entry point. To improve her survival, she needs defensive moves like [Reflect] and [Light Screen] to mitigate physical and special damage."
He tried giving her [Protect], his favorite move, but Lillie couldn't learn it due to lack of an internal energy source to drive it.
"Reflect, Light Screen, and her psychic talent should be enough for survival unless she meets an Elder Dragon.
Next is offense." Usually, combat would be left to her Pokémon and monsters, but in an emergency, she needed a way to fight back. "After her training, I'll take her to Tinkatuff's armory to pick a weapon she's comfortable with."
As he mapped out her future, Bai Chen checked her Ability. Abilities cannot be copied and are the most defining trait of a being. When Bai Chen trained monsters, he always built around their Abilities.
Bai Chen's own Ability was [Adaptability], shared by 95% of humans, including Serena and Bonnie. Clemont and Ash were gifted with unique ones: Ash had [World's Protection], allowing him to create miracles, and Clemont had [Scientific Inspiration].
Lillie's was very unique: [Golden Fortune].
[Golden Fortune]: Possesses incredible financial luck and brings extraordinary "Golden Luck" to those nearby.
This wasn't an ability her mother, Lusamine, possessed. It was unique to Lillie. This little heiress is a literal money magnet.
Even without her mother, she'd be wealthy in no time. This is a true gift from the heavens.
Bai Chen searched his mental skill library. What skills can utilize Lillie's Ability? He found two money-related moves.
One was the Meowth-exclusive [Pay Day] (Normal-type). The other was the newly introduced move from Paldea: [Make It Rain] (Steel-type).
She likely couldn't learn the Steel-type move yet, but [Pay Day]?
"Lillie might... just maybe... actually be able to learn that move."
Bai Chen felt a surge of anticipation. If Lillie learned the move that Team Rocket's Meowth never could, it would be incredibly ironic.
He could already imagine Meowth's face. Of course, [Pay Day] was a truly rare skill—perhaps as rare as the signature moves of Legendary Pokémon. Finding it would take a lot of effort.
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