She looked at him then nodded and did so, her leg maintaining its shapely human form but skittering over with scales. Joe looked up at her until she nodded and Joe nodded back.

“I’ll hit right here,” Joe said, pointing to a place just above her knee which was covered with significant enough muscle so as to reduce the pain as much as possible.

Kilniara nodded quickly, not replying, but breathing a bit fast. Joe smiled at her and continued.

“Alright,” Joe looked at the other three taking on a scholarly teaching tone, “Watch carefully and you will see that there is really nothing to be afraid of. You have to understand that…”

Joe abruptly whipped the stick down, striking Kilniara’s thigh right where he said he would. Kilniara jumped in surprise, then looked at Joe in shock before surprise took her own shock.

“That didn’t … that didn’t hurt at all!”

Joe chuckled, “It would hurt just a tiny bit in base form without scales, but you…”

“Do it! I want to see!”

Kilniara’s legs lost their scales and Joe looked up at Kilniara.

“Are you sure?”

Kilniara quickly nodded, “Yes! Please do it aga…”

Joe interrupted her again, hoping to surprise her once more and the stick smacked down on her thigh. She winced a little bit at that but then cocked her head.

“That really hardly hurt at all!”

Joe chuckled, “Just a stick isn’t going to hurt you much at all!”

Zilnek rushed forward at this point excitedly, nodding quickly, “Can I try?”

Joe laughed and waved at Zilnek to prepare and he moved his leg forward, scales slithering up his calve and disappearing into his pants. When Zilnek appeared ready, Joe brought the stick down and Zilnek’s eye’s widened in surprise and shock.

“That… really didn’t hurt at all!”

“Acokzau really are lucky! Scales are pretty amazing natural defenses. They aren’t perfect, but they are pretty amazing.”

Zilnek stepped back and began poking at his leg, Garnedell stepping to Zilnek’s side as the two began talking with one another quickly and excitedly. Joe took a deep breath and laughed at how everyone was acting. Before Zilnek could get too far away, Joe asked him one more question.

“Do you want to try with just skin? You will feel that.”

Zilnek seemed to pause a bit, thinking carefully before cautiously agreeing. Joe waved him forward and he presented a leg bereft of scales which Joe promptly smacked with the stick. Zilnek bounced back, cursing and bouncing on his feet.

“That hurt a lot! Not just a bit!”

“It hurts, yes. But did you see any blood.”

Zilnek’s anger had him opening his mouth to reply before speaking but then he paused and thought back before shaking his head no.

“See? Even if you were at zero HP, this wouldn’t have hurt you.”

The three who had endured the smack of the stick began talking excitedly before Joe turned to Gwenvair, offering a slow questioning shrug. Gwenvair stared at him for a moment before nodding and stepping forward.

“The stick does not do much damage, true, but if any creature or opponent used mana infusion, mana plating, or mana piercing or other mana weapon enhancement.”

Joe nodded, agreeing with Gwenvair while panicking slightly and desperately hiding his paling face. Well… that royally sucks! Another thing to ask Kukurnal about and learn everything about … mana weapon things… beyond infusion! Time to wing it. And I gotta remember mana stuff too! Man… ok… Maybe… a lot more dangerous than I thought… Time to BS here…

“Yeah, very true. Remember what she said… adding in mana changes a lot! So, again… remember… we’re trying NOT to get hit,” Joe then turned to Gwenvair, “But do you see goblins with mana capabilities here?”

Gwenvair glanced around the room and shrugged, “It’s almost impossible to tell when or if they can.”

Joe’s thoughts quickly thought back on what he’d seen of the goblins but couldn’t remember a single stirring of mana from any of them, even the goblin king. He glanced back over the goblins currently fighting but saw nothing happening. Everything seemed physical only. Right… so… hopefully not.. a surprising piece of info…

“I haven’t seen any from the goblins in all the time we’ve been here…”

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Gwenvair considered that carefully before nodding, “Then… that would be good to know… these goblins do not?”

Joe nodded but with caution, “That I’ve seen. Don’t… become complacent. We don’t want to get hit…”

“Then why are you hitting them… us?”

Joe smiled and nodded, “Good question. Basically, they need to learn to be hit, and not fear it. So do you.”

Gwenvair stopped at that, looking at Joe a bit confused before asking, “Why?”

Joe paused at that before continuing, “OK. First off, you don’t want to be hit, nor am I teaching that you should be hit. Everything I’m teaching is to dodge and not be hit. But, will you ever be able to never be hit? Can you dodge everything?”

Joe paused at this, allowing Gwenvair time to think and reply. She took a bit to reply as she didn’t realize that Joe was waiting for her and she quickly replied.

“If you are fast enough?”

“You will never be hit in your entire life? Especially if you choose to lead a life of combat?”

Gwenvair then took a moment before nodding, “OK. I can see the point. You will be hit in your life… likely.”

Joe nodded, “Exactly. And if you are hit, what do you do?”

At that, Gwenvair struggled, unable to respond. The other three and returned to join the conversation when Joe and Gwenvair began their conversation, but didn’t reply either, waiting quietly.

Joe nodded and continued, “OK. No problem. Let’s think about it this way. What if you are in a fight with your enemy. You fight each other and find you are very close to equal to one another. Neither is truly better than the other, but through a lucky moment, you are able to stab them in the leg. The wound hurts them so much they fall to the ground in pain, rolling back and forth. What do you do?”

All looked at Joe blankly for a few moments, uncertain how to respond but Gwenvair only thinks for a moment before replying quickly with a nod, “I would aim for a fatal strike and kill them.”

Joe nodded, “Exactly. If pain cripples you in a fight, you are dead. If you know and are aware of the pain then hopefully you will have that small moment in time to respond, react, or defend yourself. Even, possibly, use it as a feint to strike them fatally.”

Gwenvair began nodding at that and Joe smiled as he continued, “I have no intention of putting you through many painful exercises, although I have gone through many most of my life. My teachers are a bit old school, to be honest. But, you need personal motivation to push yourself through it, so there’s no point in offering it unless you are willing to do so. That said, experiencing it once is very useful for knowing what happens next. If Zilnek had done in a fight what he did right now… hopping back, holding, and looking at his leg, he probably would be dead. His weapon is not in any way defending him.”

Gwenvair nodded quickly at that then set her leg forward, “Then, please.”

Joe nodded but cocked and eyebrow, “I will not be arrested or killed for striking nobility?”

Gwenvair stared at Joe for a bit before giggling and shaking her head, “You know, normally, yes you would, but I will give you permission to do so.”

Joe actually paused at that, concerned as … It’s going to be my word against hers! That realization brought him up, and he stared up into her eyes. She stared back, and in that moment, both realized the others thoughts in cascade of realizations and counter realizations. Joe’s pause revealed his concern, a concern Gwenvair quickly realized and a subtle pain and sadness passed across her face. Her pain, recognized by Joe, was the equivalent of an emotional slap as he realized he’d hurt Gwenvair. It took a moment to grasp how, but in so doing, the realization was an explosion. She’s not a friend anymore… I’m not seeing her as a friend, but nobility… a rejection of friendship in favor of connections or a relationship… Joe sighed at that and shook his head and Gwenvair’s response was a sad smile and drooping of shoulders. Joe saw this and looked back up at her, eyes piercing, mind deeply in thought, and face blank. Finally, Joe smiled, nodding. It’s… all an honest … she’s lonely… she’s lonely.

Joe then nodded and waved at her leg, his smile now a more deliberate meaningful acceptance of trust and stepping the relationship beyond. Gwenvair saw this and her eye’s widened in shock before her face lit to brilliant happiness as her smile broke like the sun through storm clouds. Joe chuckled at that and Gwenvair replied with almost manic giggling, her glee almost uncontainable despite her incredible emotional control engrained into her from birth. Her leg quickly stepped forward and Joe smiled before swinging the stick down hard, firmly slapping a line across her mid-thigh.

Her eyes widened in shock, then pain, then she howled as she leaped back and began rubbing her leg and hopping on her other foot for a few moments before stopping and looking at Joe. She fluctuated between anger, gratefulness, and shock. Joe was happy to see that her anger was minor and he chuckled.

“You OK?”

“You hit me harder than the others!”

“You have two… They only have one.”

Gwenvair glanced back and forth between herself and the apprentices before understanding came but Joe continued.

“If I had hit you lighter, would you have appreciated it or would you have been angry that I treated you differently and lighter than others?”

Gwenvair took a moment to consider that before she began nodding slowly, a hint of acceptance in her nod.

“I’m not sure.”

Joe thought himself before replying, “I’m pretty sure you would have been a bit angry as you wish to be treated the same, do you not? And, you are… pretty mature and wise compared to most nobility that I’m aware or know of.” Or… at least the depictions I’ve seen in stories! Maybe I made a mistake?

Gwenvair took a moment before she began nodding, “Thank you for your trust.”

“You are worthy of trust.”

Gwenvair smiled brightly at that, nodding her head before returning to looking at her leg, “I don’t remember, but I don’t think I saw any blood?”

“No… no blood.”

Gwenvair nodded, but remained silent. Joe watched her for a bit, then continued.

“Do you want to try a hit on me?”

Gwenvair looked up at him, eyes wide. Joe simply stared at her with a subtle smile, allowing her time to evaluate and she did so before beginning to smile, then laugh.

“No… no. But thank you for honoring and trusting me.”

“Like I said, you trusted me. How could I not return that same trust? Although, if I judged you wrongly, I apologize. I did not intend insult but to give you what you honestly sought… or what I believe you honestly sought.”

Gwenvair nodded quickly, “It’s OK. You were right. The pain was… a bit more shocking than I expected. If I were in combat, such a strike would have left me quite vulnerable.”

“Yeah… you jumped around quite a bit.”

Gwenvair looked at him, then noticed his smirk and growled in reply, “You find this humorous!”

“Well, revenge is sweet. I was hit by that goblin a good dozen or two times while I protected you!”

Gwenvair’s eyes opened wide at that before she looked away embarrassed, “I’m… sorry for that.”

“Woah… woah… I didn’t mean to embarrass or hurt you. I was just attempting to offer some humor.”

She looked back up at him at that, eye’s once again searching his and found the truth of his statement and offered a belated chuckle.

“I’m sorry I took too long to catch that.”

Joe shrugged, “You’ll have a lot more time. Don’t worry!”