* * *
When Kilniara saw Gwenvair waiting at the dungeon defense wall entrance, she skipped on ahead eagerly, coming to Gwenvair’s side quickly. Gwenvair smiled brightly at her arrival and Kilnaira couldn’t keep her own joy reserved either. When she arrived, the two gripped each other’s hands excitedly, Gwenvair obviously reading Kilniara’s mood.
“What?!”
Kilniara glanced around, looking at the crowds and Gwenvair quickly turned to look as well before nodding.
“Later.”
Kilniara nodded in agreement to Gwenvair’s suggestion to speak later but couldn’t keep her excitement in.
“It’s so… truly amazing!”
Gwenvair’s eyebrow went up at that, even as she smirked a bit, “A girl in love thinks everything of her man is amazing.”
Kilniara huffed at that before smirking, “Well, he is mine. I claimed him!”
Gwenvair’s superior smirk soured quickly at that before she sighed and nodded, “Yes, yes… I hear you. You have an amazing man.”
Kilniara giggled, “I do. I truly do.”
By that time, the boys had joined them and she and Gwenvair turned to Joe to offer him greeting as was only appropriate.
“Hello, Joe.”
“Hey Gwenvair. You had a good rest yesterday?”
Kilniara stifled a giggle. Joe always seemed to be willing to push propriety and she watched as Gwenvair struggled to keep her reaction cool even as her faced tinged a hint of red.
“Ah… yes… I .. uh, thank you for your concern.”
“Excellent. I am glad you are able to rest well. Are you ready for today’s activities?”
Gwenvair bowed her head slightly, “I am more than ready, Joe.”
Joe nodded and turned back to the line, all the rest joining after. Kilniara was so excited to speak to Gwenvair but restrained herself and the two instead chatted about all the latest gossip in the area, Kilniara offering Gwenvair all the news of the locals in and around the inn they stayed at and Gwenvair revealing some shocking gossip of the local clan members and Gwenvair dropped her voice to a whisper while she spoke. She did ask for Kilniara to keep this silent but the two were giggling through it all and enjoying their day. Time went quickly and the two were soon with the others in their corner of the first floor of the dungeon, the conversation now paused while they waited for the fights to begin. Kilniara looked to her brother, flicking her eyes to Joe. Zilnek looked at Joe then back to Kilniara and she nodded to which Zilnek nodded back. He elbowed Garnedell lightly then nodded his head to Joe. Joe was currently preparing his bags and his weapons for the day so did not notice but Garnedell quickly stepped up as he took on his position as first apprentice.
“Joe. Could Zilnek and I fight with you first?”
Joe glanced over at Garnedell, then at the two girls before questioning them. Kilniara smiled, grateful that he was willing to make sure that the other party was willing to allow it and she nodded to Joe quickly. Joe quickly glanced at Gwenvair who also nodded and so Joe nodded, looking back to Garnedell.
“Sure. Sounds fine. Let’s go out and fight. Oh… just to let you all know, I’ll no longer be able to speak very clearly, so likely will not speak much. I have a good skill to use and… yeah. OK?”
Garnedell frowned, “You will remove your speaking skill?”
“Just for now. I will regain it after fighting.”
Kilniara grew confused at this, thoughtful, but simply nodded, accepting Joe’s statement. The guys headed out, Joe taking them, and Gwenvair turned to Kilniara with an expectant look and she smiled back at Gwevnaire, giggling.
“He fights the entire day without any stamina.”
Gwenvair stared at her in confusion.
Kilniara only smiled brighter, “He fights the entire day without any stamina. He is fighting now without any of his stamina.”
Gwenvair stared at her then turned to look at Joe, “Then, how is he fighting?”
Kilniara smiled, “It’s his own natural strength.”
Gwenvair turned back to Kilniara but still seemed quite confused, “But, that is his stamina?”
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It was Kilniara’s turn to seem confused, “You believe your stamina listed in the status is your stamina? Joe did not say so. He said the system stamina is a gift from the system. That is why you do not feel tired until the system stamina is emptied. It is the same for mana and health as well. That is why you do not bleed until your health is gone, then you will begin to take harm to your body.”
Gwenvair stared at Kilniara as she explained, wonder and excitement driving her to consternation and no little worry.
“What does that mean? How…” Gwenvair trailed off.
Kilniara replied, “I am uncertain what it means for health, but Joe said that stamina and mana is a system gift but if you wish to train your personal stamina or mana, you must empty your system mana and stamina. Once you have, then you can train your body to become stronger in stamina and mana. Joe fights all day here in the dungeon without any system stamina. He said it empties rather quickly at the beginning of each day as he fights against the first few monsters, then he fights on his own personal stamina. He fights with no stamina until he sits and rests again. Then he says he regains his stamina quickly so he can fight again but usually just ignores the weakness when his stamina empties.”
Gwenvair’s response was quiet and an enigma as Kilniara was unable to read the emotions flitting across Gwenvair’s face. She stared for a while, her breathing under control but still scattered and fluttering before she finally looked at Kilniara. This time, Kilnaira recognized the flicker of envy for what it was and she quickly hid the pity she felt rising in her. She recognized her great luck in finding Joe and gaining not only his favor as his apprentice but even freed to his love and willingness to accept her and claim her. She sighed deeply and pulled Gwenvair into a hug and Gwenvair resisted for some moments before finally collapsing into the embrace. There were no tears or emotional outbursts, but Kilniara could feel Gwenvair’s exhaustion at attempting to hold her emotions in reserve finally break through that reserve and Gwenvair melted into her arms, allowing the sadness to finally shine through. Gwenvair pulled back after a few moments and stared up at Kilniara, eyes searching for a moment before she finally pulled back and took a deep sigh before standing.
“Let’s fight. The others may begin to question our laziness.”
Kilniara looked up at Gwenvair, a sad smile on her face before she also stood and followed her out to fight. The excited joy of meeting had wilted beneath Gwenvair’s envious despair and Kilnaira allowed her the moment to wallow in it, not wishing to force the issue. They fought in silence for almost half the morning before Gwenvair sighed once again, much more deeply before looking to Kilniara again, this time with a much more genuine smile of happiness for Kilniara that was also honest enough to reveal the subtle pain hidden beneath her happiness.
Kilniara looked back, her own smile a reply of encouragement to Gwenvair’s raw display of emotion. Gwenvair nodded, her sadness fading quickly and the two were soon again in their gossip, focused more on giggling conversation than any of the actual fights.
* * *
When he had the first fight of the day with the girls, he quickly noticed their unusual quiet and was concerned. They fought well enough as they both focused on the fight. Joe watched carefully, still offering training and tips as necessary but waffled on the idea of whether to delve into their uncomfortable silence. After a bit, he decided to let it go but as the day continued on, the mood did not improve and when he was just thinking he would need to talk with the two girls on the issue after lunch when he had his language skill back, they returned to fight with him once again giggling in whispered conversation with one another and Joe stifled the sigh of relief. His smile on their return was one of genuine happiness and he remained silent once more, simply allowing the two to renew their friendship and only interacted to train them.
Soon, the worry about the girl’s relationship faded and Joe returned to his own pursuits and delved back into rapidly leveling up his new job. The day went quickly, if rather lonely and silently for him without the ability to speak easily, the joy of seeing Garnedell leveling almost to sixteen in a single day more than made up for it.
Joe grinned each time Garnedell yelled, and only grew ever more excited, allowing a small smirk to begin to show as Garnedell continued to blast ever upward. Watching as Kilniara and Zilnek grew more and more shocked, even Gwenvair, only made his smirk grow a bit more. When shock began to set in, Joe grew a bit concerned and decided that it might be a good idea to downplay this just that tiny bit. It did make him curious, however, seeing how quickly Garnedell was leveling so he began to wonder just how much his teaching skill was adding. He had Garnedell slow down and show him his status during one of their times fighting together.
Joe, of course, didn’t have his polyglot skill equipped at the time, so had to resort to mime, gestures, and short three to four word sentences. Garnedell easily understood, both having long gotten used to this way of communicating. Zilnek found their communication rather surprising and quite humorous, laughing a bit and Joe only felt relief that Zilnek seemed to be enjoying it and not jealous.
Garnedell popped open his status and flipped to his log screen and Joe began scrolling up through the list. It was frustrating, so many entries about whatever change in the environment occurred around him cluttering it up, including long lists of his and Kilniara’s actions, which confused Joe at first until he understood that they were group members. Huh… good to know… in the group, can see them … whatever they’re doing.
After some time, Joe had to call out to Kilniara and Gwenvair to stop fighting as the list kept populating and messed up his scrolling. They paused for a bit and he was able to finally find it. Joe grinned, then frowned, then grinned again. Huh! He got a hundred thirty nine experience from that… and… he’s got thirteen point eight plus ten from commoner since he’s ten now… so… about one fifteen? Something around that… yeah. Hundred and fifteen extra learning or experience somehow. Wow… nice. … how is it do… where is it getting that from?
Joe grew lost in his thoughts, and the other four allowed him his thoughts before drifting back and taking an impromptu break against the wall. Joe didn’t even notice, his mind trying to parse where the number came from. It didn't seem to be related to his own learning at all, despite his efforts to understand the math behind it. He tried both his base learning and his total learning, but couldn’t figure it out as there didn’t seem to be any relationship between the bonus Garnedell was getting and Joe's learning. After wrestling with it a good chunk of time, he gave up with a sigh and turned to find himself alone while the other four were back at the wall chatting.
“Ah… sorry… wait… shoot, English,” Joe struggled a bit and shifted his thoughts to the new language, speaking Common poorly.
“Sorry. I thinking quite too long.”
Gwenvair boggled at him and Joe grinned, laughing, “My Common still poorly speaking.”
Garnedell turned to her and spoke quickly, a bit too fast for Joe to understand, but his skill was enough to catch it as an explanation for his struggle.