It was late in the afternoon as Virtuoso sat in Allen’s cramped apartment room. His various figures lining all the desks and tables in the area filled their view. There were hand-drawn posters and pages taped on the wall displaying anything from his proudest works to indefinite works-in-progress. In a pristine corner of the abode, stood a glass case that held all his prized gunpla figures.
Allen and Iyo were seated at one table playing a card game with cheaply produced pieces of cardboard with a thin film over them. Meanwhile, Xalia was sitting on a solitary couch thoughtlessly switching between food and crime channels.
“I manifest Adamantine Tiger and arm it with Cliff Divider then strike your Phoenix of Brilliant Flame,” Allen stated monotonously as he slid two cards of his own design across the table with his left hand. His other hand was lying motionless on the hardwood surface. Xalia had given him two potions to accelerate the healing and ease the pain respectively but they could only do so much. The spectral corruption did not retract and it would still take another full day or two before his right hand was in full working condition.
Iyo responded calmly. “I use my Phoenix’s ability to discard a Skill Card in order to avoid destruction.” The young man with sleek black hair who wore yellow goggles around his neck placed a card from his hand into a perfectly neat stack next to his deck. Allen grunted as he tapped his finger on the table anxiously.
“Is this game making you that upset?”
“Nah, it’s not that. Just ready to go ahead and start learning how to get better at magic. We don’t know when another insanely strong threat will show up. It’s not like they punch a clock or are nocturnal monsters that can’t survive the light of daytime.”
“We are better off not encountering any Atelier City vampires, actually, They’re animated corpses that could siphon all of a human’s blood content with a brush of skin,” Iyo confirmed the existence of that nightmarish threat without even batting an eye as he proceeded with his turn.
Allen’s eyes widened. “Okay, I’m morbidly curious. Do they have to drink blood or are they just compelled by an uncontrollable urge for-”
“Where the mega fuck am I?!” A loud, feminine voice interrupted Allen. It came from the same couch on which Xalia was seated. The girl with monochrome hair who was lying on the sofa behind Xalia sat up with a start as everyone’s eyes turned toward her.
“Glad to see you full of energy after your long 14-hour nap. We all ended up crashing at my place since it was the closest.” Allen said with a crooked smile. Nera’s battered state from just earlier that day was still very fresh in his mind.
“I’m not talking about that,” Nera replied as she stretched her sore body. “I could tell this was your dump from the tacky drawings all over. I meant why am I sharing a couch with Xalia when there’s a semi-decent bed over there.”
She glared at Allen but Xalia slid her face in between their gazes. “I would be the one to blame for that. I had to make sure you wouldn’t toss and turn around much while the heavy dosages I gave you circulated through your body. Wouldn’t want to vomit all over Allen’s sheets, don'tcha think?” The self-proclaimed witch explained with a wry grin. Allen still could not tell how much her mischievous persona was an act. Being outside of the dream realm that forced her to keep it to just stretching the truth did not help.
“Huh, you injected a bunch of potions into me? I guess that explains why I don’t feel like total garbage right now after getting shocked for so long,” Nera examined her hand where Soothsayer had sent strong voltage streaming into her body. Only a tinge of pain could be felt as she opened and closed it but there was still a faint red mark left on her skin.
“Yeah, but your body heals quite fast anyway. The recovery rate of your metabolism must be wicked efficient,” Xalia postulated.
“Well, all that’s neat to hear. I just need to know if you’re ready to lead us to where I can get the training I need.” Allen said, addressing Nera directly.
Before speaking, she spontaneously threw her body off the couch and flipped into a skillful landing.
“Of course, I hope you’re ready for a long series of grueling lessons.”
***
Nera led the other three through the streets of Atelier City. The city was bright and bustling as hundreds of people passed by on foot and in high-end vehicles. The sleek skyscrapers that stood parallel to each other for as far as the eye could see rose high into the clouds. Occasionally, they could spot canals running along their path that ultimately lead to the nearby ocean and provided green energy in conjunction with hydropower generators.
“What is the place even supposed to be?” Allen asked after they had already spent twenty minutes walking.
“It’s a gym,” Nera told him.
“What? I don’t think getting ripped is going to help much against people who can pulverize me with a thought.”
“If you think Craft is that straightforward then you need to go to one,” Nera responded matter-of-factly while still looking straight.
Allen looked to Iyo for backup but he simply shrugged. “She has a point. I know firsthand from my mentor how much physical wellness counts toward being a great artisan, mystical or not.”
“Alright, even if that is true, I already go for a four-mile run every other day in the morning. I may be a bit of a shut-in aside from that, but I feel like I’m in pretty good shape as is,” Allen rotated his shoulder in its socket while affirming his stance.
“Tch, so do you think you could beat me in an arm-wrestling contest without magic?” Nera looked back with a knowing grin and Allen flinched.
“As much as I hate to cut a good roasting short, how far away are we from this gym? Wasn’t this supposed to be a shortcut?” Xalia butted in.
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“We’re almost there. We just need to take a right before Chrysanthemum Park and we’ll enter the Luminaire District from a gateway.”
“When did you find another way to the Underworld?” Allen asked.
“She probably always knew about it. There are dozens and dozens of them scattered around the city which is why you two have never bumped into anyone while using your go-to one.” Xalia explained while Nera agreed. Allen proceeded to ask more questions about the layout of the gateways.
From a distance, a young woman with long black hair wearing a beige blouse overheard a familiar voice. She hurriedly turned in the direction it came from.
“Wait, is that…” Charlotte caught a glimpse of Allen from across the street, through a crowd of people. She was about to call out to him but suddenly got nervous when she noticed three other people walking with him.
“I don’t want to intrude, but maybe it’ll be alright. I could even meet some new people for once…or I could just end up with an awkward conversation and no one remembering I exist afterward.”
Before she could make up her mind, the four already disappeared around a corner. Noticing this with alarm, she frantically rushed over as fast as traffic would allow. By the time she turned the corner as well, she was only met with a wall mural of a garden filled with bright, pink flowers.
She was left there to stand in solitude. She reached out her hand to the mural. Her arm moved weakly through the air.
“I was only a few seconds too late. How many times is that now?” Her hand pressed against the solid, impermeable wall as she leaned against it with a sigh.
***
“Here it is. Knight Arms Gym.” Nera proclaimed as her, Allen, Iyo, and Xalia stood in front of a three-story steel building with a purple and orange exterior. There were many large windows but they were tinted in a way that they were only see-through from the inside.
They had entered from a different gateway than normal which dropped them off only a block away from the establishment when it would have been all halfway across the entire district otherwise. Allen looked it over disinterestedly before walking in with everyone else.
When they walked there were around two dozen people inside that were either training alone with gym equipment or sparring against each other using non-metallic weapons and wearing silver earpieces.
‘Wow, a whole place dedicated to training magical warriors…” Allen said out loud in awe before thinking more about it. “...But, what are they training for?”
“To either join the Paladin Order and become knights or become a member of the Traversers’ League. This is a collection of hopefuls looking to become shields to the wider society of Crafters.” Xalia explained.
“So that’s why she brought us here,” Allen said while Nera approached a lean man with light brown hair wielding a long staff.
“Hey Monocle, tell us where Lady Dreadnought is,” Nera commanded offhandedly.
‘She must come around here often if she’s acting that familiar with them.’
“Who the hell are you? I have no idea who you’re referring to either.” The man of about twenty stopped his training and looked back at Nera with irritation. Allen could now see that he had heterochromia, one green eye and one blue one.
“Fine…” Nera sighed and snapped her fingers to cause her metal gauntlets to form over her hands. “Tell the owner to show up if she wants to get her old gauntlets back.”
A look of recognition swept over the gym member’s multi-colored eyes and he grinned sardonically. “Oh, so you’re the one she complains about from time to time. She’ll definitely want to hear from you again.”
Declan pulled out an electronic prism and quickly typed a message on a holographic display that it projected. Immediately, it chimed with a short response.
“The head instructor, Helena Murray, will be here soon. She’s in one of the specially designed training rooms right now but will finish soon…” Before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by a metal door falling out from a lower level and an imposing figure descending shortly after it.
“What?!” Allen exclaimed as he held up his arms to shield himself. What touched down was a statuesque woman wearing a black tank-top and tights with tan skin and graying blonde hair. Her purple eyes locked on to Nera who backed away in surprise
With a single bound, she closed the gap between her and Nera then picked her up by the head in one fell swoop.
“Nera, you would be more reckless than even I anticipated if you came here after so long with nothing to show for it,” Helena spoke sternly. She commanded all of the respect and fear that someone of her position as a knight of the Paladin Order famously known as a one-woman army would. The amount of specters she had slain easily surpassed the number of bugs the average person would squash in their lifetime.
“Hehe, it hasn’t been that long and I brought your gauntlets back.”
“You snuck in and stole them half a year ago!” Helena yelled before turning around with the younger woman still in her clutches. “You’re gonna pay me back by scrubbing the entire gym every day for a month.”
‘This is starting to get out of hand. Whatever history those two have, it’s not a pleasant one.’
Allen walked into the giantess’ path. “Hey, that’s a bit extreme. Why don’t we just talk thi-” Allen’s speech was stopped by a knee being lodged into his stomach with excessive force. After falling to his own knees, he struggled to contain the scorching bile that was rising in his throat.
Helena marched forward unimpeded until Nera began to speak up. “That’s not all I’m here for Lady Dreadnought, I-I want to train with you again!”
That succeeded in making Helena come to a standstill and raise Nera to her eye level. “Come again?”
“I said that I want to train with you again. The amount of strength I have now isn’t enough and I’ve become a liability to those around me. ...I don’t care what hell you have to put me through as long as I come out the other side as overwhelmingly terrifying as you are.”
Helena grinned and dropped Nera to her feet. “Fine, but don’t expect me to go easy on you and you’re still scrubbing the gym for a week.”
“Ugh, alright. It’s not just me, these three need your help as well,” Nera said while wiping away cold sweat from her. She was grateful that things did not escalate more than she anticipated.
“Speak for yourself, I’ve already had me fill of this type of training. I don’t think there’s more I could learn from here.” Xalia followed while leaning against a piece of workout equipment.
“I’ve also had thorough instruction from a capable teacher, but I am willing to see how I can grow from this.” Iyo had a more optimistic outlook despite being fairly skilled himself.
“...Yeah, I’m the one who’s lacking in experience.” Allen got back to his feet while still sore from earlier.
“Oh, you’re the pebble that got in my just now.” Helena bluntly remarked before turning back to Nera. “This gym is for anyone who’s in the pursuit of honing their mind and body, so I’ll train your pals here too with the worst nightmares I can dream up just like everyone else.”
Allen’s face lit up with anticipation. “That’s metal! When is the first lesson?”
Helena bared her teeth with a wide smile. “Right now.”