Kilniara smiled but said nothing and the two wandered off through the city for another half an hour before Joe finally found himself bored out of his mind. It wasn’t even noon yet and the day felt full. Man, another eight hours in a day really messes up my timing. Joe found his mind wandering back to Earth and the plethora of boredom easing activities.
“Ah… where is the internet!”
Kilniara glanced up at him, “Internet?”
Joe smiled at her and then shook his head, “It’s just something my people built… had. It was… amazing for relaxing or just playing around. Don’t worry about me. I’ll get used to things, I’m just really… Don’t worry about it. Things will get better when I get used to life here.”
“Life was… much different on your home plane?”
“Very.”
Kilniara fell silent, saying nothing for awhile before she looked back up at him, “Then, you must be bored?”
Joe smiled and glanced down at her, “Not because of you. My boredom comes from the lack of activity, not the company.”
“So you desire an activity?”
“Ha! You may be right. Many of my friends and teachers in Asia pointed out that I could never just sit and be.”
Kilniara giggled at that and nodded, “I would have to agree with them. You can never sit still.”
Joe smiled and nodded, “Yeah, you're right.”
Kilniara smirked at Joe and shook her head before she offered a solution, “Then, lets head to the dungeon together?”
Joe looked down at her and shook his head, “Nah, we don’t need to.”
“No. Let’s go. You’re going bonkers and I wouldn’t mind doing a little bit.”
Joe looked carefully at her, “You sure?”
Kilniara giggled at that and shook her head, “We would still be together, so I could care little what we do. Only where I am.”
Joe smiled at that then nodded, “I do apologize. I cannot simply rest, especially when I have a deadline.”
“Deadline…” Kilniara tasted the word before she nodded, “Yes, I can see the meaning of that word. And if there were truly a deadline, then of course you should not meaningfully rest.”
Joe chuckled at that and nodded, “I’m grateful that you can understand.”
Kilniara laughed in response then grasped his arm and dragged him after her towards the dungeons. Joe laughed and allowed himself to be reluctantly pulled along and the two soon found themselves standing in the line for the dungeon. Since they had arrived so late in the morning, they ended up in line for quite some time, but Joe was then able to relax as he now felt like he was doing something.
It was about an hour to noon by the time they made it into the dungeon and Joe led Kilniara across the floor to the corner of the floor. They both settled in, Joe setting his backpack down in the corner before the two went out and began plowing through the goblins. Kilniara really put herself into the fight at the beginning and Joe let her take the lead for a few times until she tired. Joe then offered her to take a break as he continued.
The first time, she had to go back to the corner to rest but the next few times, she simply slowed in her fighting and when she really needed to rest, she would back up a few steps but stand by his side talking while she rested. Kilniara actually relaxed for most of the day, and Joe focused on killing goblins as efficiently as possible. Kilniara mainly fought conservatively, her strikes aimed for extremities only until the goblin was down, then she would attack its head and torso. Joe worried it was a reaction to being hurt before, but when he thought back to her combat before, he realized it seemed to be a rather Acokzau way, as both her and her brother tended to aim for extremities. Huh… maybe need to add training to go for the torso? Although… it’s not a bad way to fight… slower, but definitely safer.
They fought until about an hour or so after lunch then sat down and rested. They only spent about twenty minutes resting as Joe hadn’t brought a lunch. They hadn’t planned to go dungeon diving that day, so they simply spoke softly about nothing until both were quite rested.
While they were resting, Joe was leaning against the wall and looking across the first floor when he notice a group of four fighters that seemed to draw his attention. It took him a minute to realize when it suddenly hit him. They were staring at him and Kilniara and taking quite a bit more time than most others to kill their goblins. He began to grow a bit more concerned as he looked at them and they glared ever more and more. It wasn’t until one of them deliberately fingered his bandana on his head that it suddenly hit him. All four of them were wearing blue bandanas.
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Oh! Right. Blue bandanas. Well… guess I’m lucky I came today anyway… did I forget? Sheesh… I’m an idiot. Wish I still had my calendar on my phone. Joe grimaced with the realization and sighed in frustration that he’d forgotten again. The man who’d fingered his blue bandana seemed to relax, tension flowing from his shoulders in relief. Joe turned to his backpack, digging into it until he found his red cloak, slipping it around his shoulders before looking back at the blue bandana group.
When he stood and looked back, the man would made obvious contact ripped the blue cloth off his head while deliberately staring at Joe. Well… there goes the attempt to be incognito if anybody’s looking. The man then gestured to his men who all removed their bandanas then ended their fight to head out of the dungeon. They were obviously a bit grumpy. Joe didn’t think too much of it but made a mental point to remember to offer an apology via the mob boss. Whelp, I know what we’ll be doing for the evening meal. Joe dropped the cloak back on his bag and headed out, Kilniara following behind him but obviously confused.
“What was that?”
“Ah. Remember your brother and I went out to meet a local mob boss for some information?”
“Yes?”
“That was a group of the mob boss. They came to let us know that she’s ready to meet for tonight. We’ll eat at the adventuring guild for a good meal. Huh… I wonder how I’m going to find Garnedell and your brother?”
Kilniara quickly shook her head, “You wouldn’t need to do that. They’ll likely be happy to do their own thing. They would probably be annoyed if you took them from their evening activities.”
“Yeah?”
Kilniara nodded, “I think so. They wouldn’t like just having another meal where you talk a lot,” Kilniara ended with a giggle.
“Oh. It won’t be fun?”
“Not for them.”
“Then you don’t want to come?”
“To a free meal at the guild!? Of course I’m coming.”
“And you will, of course, rub it in your brother’s and Garnedell’s faces.”
“Of course!” Kilniara stated with a hint of smug aloofness.
“Right,” Joe replied with sarcastic disbelief.
Kilniara shrugged and turned away from him, heading back out to the goblins. As she headed out, she glanced back over her shoulder at him and smirked before flipping her head and hair back. She picked up some detritus laying on the floor and flung it at the dungeon, smacking the nearest goblin in the head. It screeched in disapproval and charged towards Kiliniara.
Joe laughed at Kilniara’s antics before he stood up and sauntered over before dropping the butt of his spear on the ground, leaning against it while watching Kilniara fight. He affected a nonchalant attitude, wishing to show his trust in her, but had to hide his tense focus on her fight, making sure she stayed safe. She ended the fight well enough, and Joe laid a hand on her shoulder.
“Nice job.”
She smiled up at him, panting heavily with a bit of sweat but incredibly satisfied, “Thanks!”
Joe smiled at her, squeezing her shoulder and nodding before picking up a spear laying on the ground. Joe picked it up and threw it at the nearest goblin, piercing it through its abdomen. Huh… well, that’s a first.
If there were any thoughts that these creatures were somehow alive or actual creatures, the way the goblin charged at Joe without caring about the spear in its gut or how it ultimately chose the spear as its weapon by ripping it out of its own body proved it was not a living feeling creature. The goblin ran at him, blood dripping from his gut staining his groin and legs brilliant vermillion. It’s even redder than a humans… a burnt red? The blood dripped across the floor behind the goblin in red rivulets as it rushed across the floor at him without concern.
The goblin came at him and thrust his spear at Joe and he took it on his shield before returning the thrust, aiming for the chest of the goblin. Well, crap… forgot how short these things are! My teachers would be so pissed at me right now. Despite his poor target choice, his strike proved true and he drove his spear into the throat of the goblin, dropping it instantly. Joe kicked the corpse off his spear and it faded as soon as it hit the floor, the vermillion blood it had dropped on its raging charge fading with it. Joe picked another object and threw it, pulling another goblin.
Joe and Kilniara settled into their normal combat habits, fighting together well when Kilniara was rested or fighting alone when she needed a break. They took another break during their dungeon dive but then called it a day as soon as Joe hit level thirty.
“Let’s finish for today. We have a meeting tonight, so I want to go to the bath before we meet. Is that OK?” And… I’m in… a lot of pain… need a hot bath!
She nodded, smiling softly as exhaustion had ground her down a bit. Joe smiled and packed things up as they headed out.
“Don’t worry. We’ll have time to rest and relax. We can rest in the bath until it’s time to go. I’ll have one of the workers warn me when it’s dinner time.”
“Thanks,” she replied with some relief, clearly tired.
They left the floor and dungeon slowly, ambling out slowly to allow rest. Joe placed and arm on her shoulder and she didn’t respond, but when Joe pulled her into his side, she sighed in relief and took the opportunity to lean against him.
“Is it OK?” she asked.
“It’s fine. Relax. I’m still pretty strong.”
She didn’t say anything for a while but then asked, “If you could tell me… how?”
Joe looked down at her, “How I’m not tired?”
Kilniara looked up at him and nodded, too tired to speak.
Joe laughed and looked back ahead as they passed out of the dungeon entrance into the inner courtyard and gate, “It’s no secret. Just exercise.”
“Exercise?”
“What we do in the mornings would help a bit. Our fights in the dungeon will, too. You will only grow stronger and gain endurance as you do it more. But if you really want meaningful endurance, cardio would be the best.”
“Cardio?”
“Ah, right. Cardio means …” Joe trailed off when the magic bubble erupted around them then he continued, “Now you know what it means… hah! But you would want cardiovascular exercise. Exercise that causes you to burn… uh… need lots of breathing. When you run out of breath, you are now exercising your heart and lungs. That’s what you need if you want more endurance.”
She looked up at him before nodding slightly, “Then I should take your exercises in the morning more seriously.”