NT veRse - Bad End Guide 14 - Train With Milk (Patreon)

“I think I want to learn from my friend, actually.” You told the Master as respectfully as you could. You were still a bit worried about the woman being jilted by your refusal, however she was instead very understanding. Saedi bowed her head and observed Milk hitting on her Disciples.

“I think... That it may be a good thing for both of you. That woman is quite strong and will do well with her attention occupied. You are not a typical student.” She reveals. You look at her, trying to measure your reaction. Saedi smiled gently.
“It's okay. Your secret is safe with me. I do not know your circumstances but I feel already that you have some foundation in Martial Arts, even if you do not have the teaching. I do not know your reasoning, but I trust you based on how you helped my people so far.” It was probably the best case scenario. Most of it was out in the open with the Master, except the true background. She accepted you. You began to relax.

“We're going to prepare so that I can be of some help when the Centaurs attack! I promise.” You mimicked the salute that she and Cai performed with your fist pushed into your palm.

She seemed pleased. “I thank you. Deeply.” She bowed. You understood that it was wise to be gentle with you and Milk, but also sensed that she was just genuinely the kind of person that would have offered you safe harbor even if you had very little to offer. It was touching.

You left the Master and moved to get between Milk and the girls she was shamelessly wooing. “H-hey.” You greeted. As soon as you showed up she immediately tore her attention from the others and focused on you. The girls reluctantly retreated, their blushing faces painted with defeat at the instant shift.

“Hey! Are you gonna learn from that Master?” she pointed to Saedi.

“No, I wan tot learn from this Master.” You pointed to her. She turned her pointer onto herself and looked quite shocked.

“Me?”

“Yes, you! You're very strong.”

Milk cocked her head to one side and looked at you. She crossed her arms under her massive tits and hummed to herself as she considered the offer.
“I dunno if I can, though.” She explained.

“What? But-”

Cai stepped in. “I think what she's trying to say is, even if someone is strong, teaching is also a strength.”

“That.” Milk nodded.

“So... You are not 'strong' at teaching?”

Milk sighed and glanced away awkwardly. “I've never taught anyone before. My Sons were naturally very capable because I breast fed them since they were small. I'm strong, but I also only know that I'm like this. I've never actually taught anyone my skills since I became Queen.”

Cai gulped. You could see her staring at Milk's jugs hungrily. “Y-your milk is actually quite powerful, no?”

“Yep.” She nodded curtly.

Before she could offer to feed Cai from her teat so casually as you assumed she would, you stepped in and explained.
“If it's something that's now, we can both learn. I don't really care if the things you teach me are perfect,  Milk. Keep in mind that I'm not exactly a normal student, either.” You winked.

“Ah!” She grinned in recognition of that.
“True. Alright, then. Where do we start?”

Cai rubbed her chin. “The Master was ready to teach you Soft-Step. Do you have any techniques, Milk?”

“Techniques? No.” Milk admitted.
“I don't really have anything like that.”

“I see.” Cai looked at you apologetically.
“Eve, there's still time to-”

“But-” Milk lifted a finger. She seemed to have an idea. You stared at her inquisitively.
“If I think about that Soft-Step thing, isn't it just focusing power into the ends of your feet and expelling it?”

Cai tried not to sound as annoyed as she was. You could tell. “It's not 'just'-”

Milk tilted her head back and forth in thought. “Yeah, it's not 'just' gonna be that. What I gotta consider is that there's an equal amount of power that needs to go into keeping the body from flying off from the force.”

“That's... True. Sort of.” Cai nodded. She was looking less annoyed and more just curious at the Minotaur's thought process.

“But if I think about it clearly, it's actually a huge amount of wasted energy.” Milk explained, uncrossing her arms. She stared down at her hooves and squared up.

“What do you mean?” Cai asked.

“Your body doesn't get any lighter, so what I think is happening is you are hitting something so hard that it makes a solid platform out of it.” As she explained, Milk began tapping the white tile of the courtyard with her hoof, testing it.

“That... Is actually pretty close.” Cai complimented.
“There's actually levels to the mastery of it. We begin by practicing on weaker and weaker surfaces. Eventually, the highest Mastery of the skill is walking on air as Master showed you.”

“Well, I can't do that.” Milk stated.

“Of course not.” Cai nodded.
“It's our Sect's signature-”

“All I can really do is focus power into my hoof and-” She stomped. With your modern sensibilities you felt and heard it like a bomb going off. Your hair blew back from the blast, but when the dust cleared all that had happened was a small crater being created under Milk's hoof. You gulped and glanced over to see Cai staring at her with a stunned look on her face. Her teeth were fully clenched.
“Oops. I wasn't really trying that hard.”

“Th-these grounds graded for-”

Milk nodded. “I thought they could handle a bit more stress, sorry. But building off that... Walking on air is good for mobility but this is good for hitting things until they stop moving. Also... I guess if I build off it a little...” She hopped up and stomped down on the air. As she did another small crater appeared beneath her, along with a loud boom for each progressive step up she took. Milk climbed up into the sky a few meters, creating craters every step of the way, then landed back in front of you.
“I mean... I don't really know techniques but that ugly thing... Wouldn't that be called 'Hard-Step?'” She chuckled heartily.

“Ha-hard-Step.” Cai repeated. You looked and saw the girl was shaking. Then you took a look around and saw the disciples staring at you and Milk like they had seen a ghost, or worse. But as you inspected their expressions more closely it was not 'fear' or 'anger' but amazement. They were turned to stone for a few full seconds by the casual display. You realized the source of their stunned looks when Cai spoke again.
“You just casually created a technique!” She pointed accusingly at Milk.
“How can you say you don't know anything!?” She uttered in frustration.

Milk huffed. “Well... I don't. Why does everything I can do need a name? We'll run out of ways to name things in general if I put a word to each one.”

“Ah... I think I'm going crazy!” Cai groaned. Her lips curled up shakily. Her head swiveled jerkily to look in your direction.
“Eve you are in good hands, I think.”

“Is that so...” You wondered something, so you returned to Saedi. A bead of sweat had formed on her brow. She still maintained a poised and gentle demeanor, so you guessed that she must actually be quite shaken for that single bead to form on her forehead.

“Yes?” She asked you as you approached.

You whispered. “What do... People in the Sects think about Cultivators?”

“Well... Cultivation is a movement founded by the Heavenly Great Master. The people following that person are better spoken of in the same breath as a Tsunami or a Hurricane than as someone like myself.” You suddenly got a scary mental image of a Cat standing amidst a barren wasteland as a natural disaster rather than a person. Something that felt very real based off what you already heard and knew.

“Why are they so terrifying?”

“Well...” She stared at you academically. You could tell that she was wondering why you would ask such a thing.
“In this world of Murim there are Masters such as myself. We take on disciples and learn to utilize different techniques and there is a vast breadth of knowledge within this hierarchy that can not be summarized easily. In the West, there would be some denomination before you reach my level and those people would either be sorted as 'Mages', 'Knights', or 'Holy' and other such explanations.” She rested a hand on your back.
“In the West, I would likely be sorted as a 'Knight' or something similar, for my physical training. Here, we do not differentiate until after we rise above Mastery.”

“What do you mean?”

“For me, I have been training my entire life to reach the level of  'Great Master.' For those who would be called 'Mages' the term is instead 'Heavenly Master.' For those who seek to ascend, those Masters instead become a 'Great Saint.'” She stared at you searchingly.
“That person would best be called the 'Heavenly Great Saint.' Cultivation is not a movement for sane individuals because inherently, it involves a restlessness with ones position on the planet among mortals. Those people who follow that person are already among Great Masters, Heavenly Masters and Great Saints and they want to reach even higher.” She paused and stared roughly in the direction of the mount.
“To answer your question... I think a Cultivator to people in a Sect like myself are better considered like Gods among bugs.”

You gulped. Not 'Humans to bugs' as you've heard the saying said before, but 'Gods to Bugs.' As if the hopelessness between a Cultivator and a Master was like an Ant staring up into the sky past the one holding the spyglass to curse at the Sun itself. It was terrifying and humbling...

'I... Eve was among those people?'

“Sometimes...” Saedi spoke carefully. As she spoke she stared at you very deferentially.
“Cultivators will come down posing as mortals to test the behavior of those in Sects.” You watched another bead of sweat form on her brow. It was obvious what she suspected, and perhaps even knew about you.
“For that reason we must be respectful and show hospitality, as you never know when a beggar will turn out to someone who is actually quite powerful and influential.” She stopped herself.
“Not- Not that I am saying that it is the only reason we show hospitality and deference to the needy.”

“Master it's fine! I understand what you meant. You're a good person.”

“I appreciate that. Eve?” She asked.

“Yes?”

“It would benefit you to not ask mortals about Cultivators.”

“I see...” You suddenly felt quite bad for shaking her to such an extent. If you think about it it was likely your question that did it.
“I apologize.” You bowed and returned to Milk.

-

Rather than being a bad teacher, you found Milk's way of explaining things intuitively and asking you to learn through doing was actually perfect for you. To begin with, though your body had the 'foundation' for martial arts, your mind did not. To learn from someone else who also had a body for martial arts and not a 'mind' for it like Milk was actually perfect. The two of you were so compatible you wondered if it was actually intentional.

“Go again!” Milk demanded.

“Alright, alright!”
You panted heavily and stared at the field of dummies. The two of you had moved out into the woods so as to not destroy the grounds or disturb the training of others. Saedi actually extended the offer to stay, and she promised it would not be an issue, but you made the call to only remain close and not actually within the Sect's little town.
“Hard-Step!” You shouted, jumping up into the air.

“Remember what we talked about!” She called.

You nodded. It almost felt like the two of you were learning together. 'If I kick off at an angle, Hard-Step is a movement ability AND an attack!' You focused all of the power you had into your feet and kicked off near the neck of the Dummy. You felt yourself pushed off towards the next.

“Good! Again! Keep it going, Meekling!” She called out.

“Keep it going...” You muttered, sweating heavily from just one kick. You at least wanted to make it through the field of dummies to the end. You used your other leg to kick off from the next. Then the next. There were no craters and the dummies seemed barely harmed, but you were doing it. You saw the end.

'Last one!' Your muscles were aching and refused to move, but you forced them. In doing so you felt a surge of adrenaline. With the last dummy you felt the energy rocket from your foot. The shock wave sent a deep crack around the wooden dummy. You landed behind it and heard clapping.

“Good job.” Milk complimented.

“What was that?” You wheezed.
“Where's that power when I'm not exhausted?”

“Before? It wasn't there. Now? You'll be able to access it readily. That-” She grinned widely.
“Is what we call 'breakthrough!'”

“Breakthrough?”

“It's a fancy way of saying you're getting stronger.” She slapped you on the back hard.

“Ow!” You groaned and fell forward.

“Oops. Are you hurt?” She asked curiously.

“Is that something to ask now after a month of pushing me like this? Of course I'm hurt.”

She stared at you gently and pulled your aching body up into her strong arms. “Honestly, you're such a baby. But! You also worked pretty hard. How about some milk?”

“Yes!” You gasped.
“I-I mean...” Your cheeks flushed.
“If you don't mind.”

“If I offered, it obviously means I don't mind, Meekling.” She remarked, pulling her tight robes around her boobs.

You stared at her. “S-seriously? Right from the nipple?” She rolled her eyes at you. You could see her cheeks were a bit flushed as well. 'Wait... Does she get off from this, too?'

“How else? It's just gonna go to waste if you don't so drink up.” She did not have to ask you twice. You closed your lips around her perky nipples and sucked. Rejuvenating Warmth flooded your mouth. You were never one to enjoy milk, especially warm milk but there was something primal and appetizing about what you were drinking. It was delicious in the same way a drug was 'delicious' to the body. A substance that had such a positive effect that all other factors were ignored. Taste, texture. You felt as if it had been horrible tasting you could still happily chug it from the teat. As you drank deeply she held you tightly. It was a comfortable embrace that reminded you very quickly that Milk had been a mother, among the other things she was.
“That's it.” She cooed.
“As much as you like.”

Even though she said that, you lost yourself a bit in the feel and the 'taste.' She had to pull you off of her. You gasped and had to be held at arms length.
“Hey... Calm down.” She warned.  

“Sorry.” You stopped, licking the white from around your lips.
“I got carried away. If it's that good then why did the others ever want to let you go?” It was a good question. The milk was like a drug. Even now you felt yourself wanting more.

“Hm?” Milk looked up in thought as she stuffed her milkers back into her robe.
“Well... I guess now that I think about it there's a difference between drinking it straight from the breast and 'milking' it to drink from a glass.”

“Really?”

Milk smiled at you. Her expression was heavenly. You blushed deeply just from that, though the feeling had never really crossed you before when she looked at you the exact same way. It was like thee was an invisible light around her.
“Isn't there, like, a bond when someone is fed directly versus when they take it?” She remarked.
“At least, that's how it feels.”

You looked down, away from her to ask. “Milk?”

“Yes?”

“Do... Any of your Sons. Did they ever give you any trouble? Minotaurs got to be difficult children to handle.”

She shrugged and offered innocently. “Actually, they doted on me constantly. They were great boys when it came to their Mother! They never lifted a hand to me ever and would always think of me when they conquered a territory, so my 'Palace' was full of prizes from all over the land.” She bragged.

“Th-they sound really great.” You bit your lip.
'In reality, they were probably terrifying, no? Minotaur Kings? Princes? How does it make sense for them to treat their mother like a princess?' You checked your notes from staying with Moona. Your observations. It struck you. You stared at Milk and found yourself close to infatuation with her.

'She doesn't even know... At least, I think she doesn't know? There's no way she's that crafty.' You added something tentative to your passages on Minotaurs then.

'It seems, through observations and personal experience, that Minotaur Milk has a bonding effect that occurs when one is being fed from breast to mouth. I am not sure if the effects are increased the longer and more consistently a person is fed, however it may bear experimentation. To my knowledge, breastfeeding is not something Minotaur women know to use offensively. It seems like it may just be a compulsion of theirs. I will need to collect more Data.'
“Milk... Do you think it's okay for me to drink from you more often while we are training?”

“Of course! It's up to you.” She offered evenly.

“It- It is, isn't it?” You felt strange. There was definitely a subtle, vindictiveness to it that drew you to drinking more. If it was only to the same extent as you felt now the entire way, it would be idea. It would be ideal to have another drink to confirm the effects, then stop. That would be the idea.

'I can do that, right? It feels like something I can do.' You promised yourself.