Joe roused himself, sitting up, his exhaustion not necessarily forgotten, but easily overwhelmed by the joy of a good party to celebrate the end of an overwhelming job. He found himself still fully clothed in this days clothing, so grabbed a spare change and slipped to the bathroom where he basked in a wonderfully warm bath for a few moments. OK… a bit longer… but ooh I needed that!
After a bit longer than he planned, Joe stood out dripping wet and prepared to head to the party. He dried off, clothed in new clean clothing, then headed out to the party, depositing his old clothing and wet towel in the laundry basket inside the door. So… let’s see what is going on!
Joe stepped out into the empty hallway once again and headed towards the noise. Instinctually, he sent out another monster sense then grimaced, realizing what he was doing before sighing and letting it go. The noise swelled, growing greater and greater until Joe came out of the private hallways of their rooms and into the open air agora where dozens were enjoying the time of their life. Stars blazed overhead with one side heavily overshadowed by the reflected light of the gas giant. Kilniara and Gwenvair were enjoying their time amongst a group of other girls. Gwenvair was reserved, maintaining her image as First in Line for Matriarch while Kilniara enjoyed her time with her new friends innocently. Around the whole room were a crowd of others, including some who he knew, such as Allanar and some of the fighters he’d replaced and been replaced by during the monster tide.
Garnedell and Zilnek were also in a similar group of new friends, several guys that were obviously from the clan as they were all ulvan. The two boys excitedly interacted with the others, but Joe easily noticed the arrogance and slight mockery of the other boys. Joe watched them carefully for several moments until a cry rose in the room and everyone in the room turned to see him, clapping and cheering for him. The Matriarch turned to him and clapped politely while walking towards him regally. She arrived at his side and took his hand before raising it up slightly.
“The man of the hour. Raise a glass to Eccentric Joe,” the Matriarch called out to the room.
Joe glanced at the Matriarch, raising an eyebrow before glancing back towards the crowd. He raised his other hand and waved to the crowd and the cheers continued for a bit until the Matriarch draped her arm into his and led him into the crowd. They walked through the room for about twenty minutes or so where she introduced him to several of the individuals there until they’d made the rounds. With that done, she took him to the corner near Kilniara and Gwenvair but did not join their group, keeping themselves private.
“I must thank you, eccentric.”
“Matriarch, please, call me Joe.”
The Matriarch stared at him, cautiously thoughtful, “Then please, call me Toulnaria.”
“I am grateful for the honor. I will be certain to use your name in private only. That is to be expected, correct?”
She stared up at him and smiled, nodding softly, “I’m grateful. It would save my honor.”
“Well, you do not have to be concerned with such things with me. Please, just call me Joe. And, you are welcome.”
The two fell silent for a few moments until she restarted the conversation, “I am grateful as well for your willingness to teach Gwenvair.”
Joe smiled, “She works hard. I’m always willing to help those willing to work hard.”
The Matriarch smiled at him and nodded. She paused and Joe noticed that she appeared to be struggling with something. Joe noticed, but wasn’t certain how to empower her to ask. She struggled for several moments before finally choosing a topic that Joe realized wasn’t what she really wanted to ask.
“I wish to also offer you thanks also for revealing your Dao to my clan. It was… a wonderful opportunity to learn from you.”
Joe smiled, “I wasn’t really trying to hide anything, though.”
“And for that, we are grateful. Many have spoken of breakthroughs having seen you.”
Just watching me? Really? That’s… Joe came back to awareness when he heard the Matriarch continued speaking.
“… others come to offer you their payment or thanks? Or is there an apolo…”
“No, no, no, no. I’m OK. I apologize. I’m just surprised. I’m completely fine.”
She stared at him carefully, “You … are certain?”
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“Sure! Of course.”
Her stare continued and she seemed cautious, “Your clan will not … be angered at revealing its secrets?”
He stared at her, then began to laugh, “I revealed no secrets that my clan or masters would care for. Any can learn what I showed today, as long as they are willing to take on my masters as theirs. I also have the ability to train and teach others, to some extent. I am able to show what I have learned to others.”
Her sigh was soft, half question half statement, “These are not clan secrets.”
“No. They are not.”
“You are willing to teach them?”
Joe paused at that then shrugged, “To some extent, sure. I’m not going to become a teacher and put my own training and dungeon diving on hold, but in some moments of free time, I’m willing to help.”
“Our clan elites?”
Joe cocked his head, “What do you mean?”
“Our clan elites; would you be willing to offer them training.”
Joe smiled and dropped his head, a bit shyly, “I’m… not certain that I would be able to offer much to your elites. My skills are not magical in nature.”
Toulnaria let a small whisper escape as she shook her head, “Your skills just in physical combat are extreme. You could teach so much in simply that, let alone in your defenses against Manifest Presence or mana strikes! You…” she paused and took a deep breath before continuing, “You know so much!”
Joe looked at her and then laughed, hiding his thoughts on her observations and shook his head, “I know only what I was able to discover recently. Maybe, I do know some of physical combat, but… that is … I guess I can do something with that, maybe…”
She looked at him and stared for a bit, a tinge of hope shining through, “Would I be able to learn from you?”
Joe laughed, “Do you seek that?”
“If you are willing,” she replied with utter sincerity.
His laughter ended and he turned serious, “You’re serious.”
She nodded, “If you are willing.”
He paused, sighing slowly, “I’ll… have to consider this carefully.”
Her look of lost hope had him quickly speak up, “I’m not saying this to delay or cut you off. I would love to, but I also must still train the others and your daughter. It will … I am able to train them while I am also grinding in the dungeons. I am able to train them as I train myself. But if I have to come here to offer training, it would be taking quite a bit from my time.”
Her lost hope came back as she heard him, “Then, you seek to maintain your time within the dungeons?”
Joe nodded, “I cannot give up on my training. I do not wish to end my training when I am so young.”
She grew thoughtful, “Then, if those who wish to have training with you should seek you out in the dungeons?”
Joe paused at that before nodding slowly, “If they wish to learn with me as I fight in the dungeons, I could see how that is possible for a few times. I still need to make sure I spend time with my students. I can’t handle too much more.”
“Could we join you … once per ten-day?”
“Once a week? Uh… I think that could handle that?”
She smiled softly, but bits of excitement shone through, “It would be… I would truly be honored to learn from you, even just once a ten-day.”
Joe paused at that, “Let me make sure with the others, but I think it could be OK? Maybe another group of five or six would be OK?”
“A single group?”
Joe nodded, “I would be… it would be a struggle to have more than one.”
Toulnaria nodded, “Please speak with your apprentices, first.”
Joe smiled, “I would be honored to offer it as well, but allow me to be certain of my previous promises.”
She nodded, “I think… you misunderstand the honor you offer me.”
Joe chuckled and shook his head, “But this form of relationship is much more enjoyable for both, is it not?”
She paused at that, spending quite a bit of time considering that before she looked back up at him with a smile, “I can… see how it is much easier to interact with you.”
Joe nodded, “Respect for life given purely because it is deserved to be given.”
“That… is a strange … choice for life.”
Joe looked at her before replying rather seriously, “For my people, to not do so is strange, even rude, and it ultimately leads to an incredibly poor culture and lifestyle for those who live there.”
She froze, staring at Joe. He smiled and shook his head, “I’m not angry or upset with you and your people.”
Her stiff posture softened and she looked at him, “You often critique your hosts?”
This time, Joe froze and he stared at her closely, “I… apologize. That was quite rude!”
Toulnaria smiled, “It seems we have both been rude.”
Joe shrugged, “I did not allow it to offend me or harm our relationship.”
Toulnaria stared at him, “It… truly is considered rude amongst your people.”
Joe smiled, “It is, but … yes.”
She looked on, “Then, such things are truly harmful?”
“In many ways, yes. There are benefits to it.”
“Would you be willing to explain?”
Joe smiled and began speaking on several concepts of his own society. There discussion continued for almost thirty minutes, the two truly enjoyed one another in their conversation until it reached a natural conclusion. The conversation did not end, however, turning to small talk and finally to some questions about his fight with the tide master.
“So, may I ask on your fight with the tide master?”
“Sure? What do you want to know?”
“How… you fought the tide master so… slo… well. How did you do so?”
Joe shrugged, “Years and years of training.”
“But, its attacks struck you so fast and you… you were never injured in any way.”
“As I said, a lot of training. And… the … well, the tide master wasn’t fighting very well. It was attacking wildly without any thought nor much planning. So, it wasn’t too hard to block it.”
“But its strikes…”
Joe thought for a bit before continuing, “It could only strike in specific ways. Its arms and legs can only bend and move in certain directions and ranges. Where it can strike is pretty limited.”
“You… knew… you defended based on probabilities?”
“Of course. You always attempt to defend based on where the attack is striking, but you also want to prepare for an attack based on where the next strike likely will be. The tide master acted like a wild beast, striking left, then right, then left, even with it wielding a weapon.” He shrugged, “So I knew when he hit with his left hand, the next strike was likely his right.”
“So you could predict it.”
“To some extent. Predicting wild attacks is very dangerous, but wild poorly planned out attacks also tend to lead to regular rhythms and patterns.”