The bath house that we are in isn't the largest, but it is nice and warm. I think about trying to join the conversation but felt that I would intrude on the time they are spending together talking about their past glories and battles. I wasn't there, so I truly have nothing to add.
Eventually Alice and Cat finished talking and showering and we head back to the Paws and Claws. We gave small greetings on the way to Cat's room but didn't stop to chat as we usually did. I was just a little... way too worn out. When we get into Cat's room, I collapse not on the bed but allow myself to collapse onto the floor
"Umm, Ami? Is there something wrong with my bed?" Cat asks, looking down at me.
"I have to take make extra movements to get onto it." I say.
"That is unfortunate as I need you to handle these weapons." Cat says and points to the side of his room where there are all of the different weapons that I tested with when did my proficiency testing.
"Is there a reason I am testing on all of these? I do not have proficiency in many of them."
"Humor me. I want to see if the mana shards gave you new proficiencies."
"There isn't enough room in your room." I tell him, concerned that I would end up breaking things.
"No worries, you don't have to fully use them just move them around a bit." he assured me.
I stand up and use the weapons that he directs me to use even though my body is sore and worn out. I felt as though as though the weapons may have been doing more wielding than I was. I think of a great sword somehow picking me up and swinging me around. I laugh lightly to myself at the image.
Once I am done I collapse back onto the floor. "Can't I receive my printout from down here?" I ask longingly. It was a shame that before this occurrence I had never realized how cozy the floor indeed is. The carpet was so plushy, if I closed my eyes it felt just like a blanket. I felt myself start to drift off.
"Nope, you have to sit up in order to get your printout. Now come on." Cat directs.
I arise up off of the floor, making an improper noise and clamber up onto the bed. As soon as I prick my finger I feel a wave of energy enter the room. It wasn't enough for it to take only one drop of blood like the other machines had taken. It takes five drops before the machine seems to have gotten enough.
"Greedy little machine. Cat, why is it taking more of my blood. Is this an older one? Does it need a little extra to work, or has it simply gotten more of a taste for blood then such a machine should have? Is it a vampiric monster masquerading as a machine, I’m on to you." I ask him, seeming to amuse him greatly as evidenced by his laughter.
Kay enters the room curious about Cat's laughter as well as to hear his response to mine question. Indeed, he seems to wish to hear the answer more than he wanted to talk, which was rather impressive and out of character. I cannot help but to wonder if he is wishing to know why the machine is requiring more blood, or if the machine had gained sentience and with it a taste for blood.
I have not seen much that will keep him from talking immediately. Not even food, as half the time he still tries to talk while pouching the food in his cheeks like a hamster. I recognize further how tired I am as the image of an adorable hamster Kay pops into my head.
"Good guesses, but no. This one is a guild talent scanner. It does a read out for even more than the ones used for testing and your courses. Guilds have their secrets such as classes and class evolution. As you and Kay are official members of our guild you will be getting printouts here as well."
"Oh! Are they more accurate? And are we official members and not just potentials that you have taken an interest in? I mean, I thought that you couldn't be officially inducted into a guild until you were done with at least six months of courses? Not to mention knowing you I thought there would be some manner of cruel humiliating initiation, like pin the tail on the Kay?" Kay asked, clearly surprised to be learning information that he had not previously known.
"That's what we like to keep people thinking. It helps them focus on learning and becoming a good adventurer instead of on impressing a guild. Being impressive won't keep you from being dead." Cat says.
"Ohhh. But wouldn't it make people work harder if they were trying to impress a guild?" Kay asks.
"No. They only learn what will get them attention and will neglect the rest, thinking that it isn't as important, which is just dumb." Cat said and yawned.
"You most assuredly did say that it took a while to print these out, did you not?" I ask.
"It takes about thirty minutes. So, let's get Kay's going as well." Cat said, and directed Kay to prick his finger as well after cleaning off the needle.
"So it shall take an hour before we are able to get our sheets?" I inquire. An hour sounded like an awfully long time at the moment. I suppose I could simply fall asleep on Cat's bed and request firmly that he carry me upstairs and deposit me upon my bed.
"It shouldn't." Hillie said as she saw all of us in Cat's room. "Once I knew that we were getting inductees I came and fine-tuned it." Hillie said. "It should have made it much faster and more efficient."
I did not know that Hillie was good with technology and fixing things. It was always a great amount of fun to learn things about friends. Or, well, anyone for that matter. Knowledge is a great thing to have.
"How did you know that we were testing them right now though. You almost never drop by." Cat asks, narrowing his eyes in curiosity.
"Who knows, I just had a feeling about it. Or George made too many snacks, wanted me to share them with you, and anyone can hear you all the way down the hall." Hillie shrugs her shoulders, which makes her wings ripple a bit from the movement. It was a very pretty effect.
"Were you wanting to see their print outs?" Cat asks, wondering if Hillie had any other intention aside from delivering sweets unto us.
"No. I do not want to get pulled back into that life. I know that Emmie and Vita are dancing around the thought of being a little more than reserve members and might enter the dungeon on more occasions than when they are truly needed."
"That's news to me." Cat says, and stifles another yawn, causing me to yawn as well.
"You two look really tired. Why are you so tired? I have been up longer than either of you and I can still be up for another couple of hours. I could read, or study, or go for a run to help increase my agility." Kay said, the words pouring out of him. I don't know if he was speaking faster than usual or if I was so tired that his normal rate of speech just sounded faster.
"I'm a Cat. I am allowed to be tired as often as I want." Cat says with a straight face.
"You have no idea what it is like to play with Vita. If you knew you would not be asking such questions." I tell Kay earnestly. I liked playing with Vita and... "Cat, am I training with Vita this weekend as well? She did not say that we were going to, but she did not say that our training was cancelled either."
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
"If she didn't cancel it then I suppose that you still have your weekend training, but it will be at its regular time instead of night training." Cat tells me, and I can't help but wonder if that was going to make training easier or more difficult
Viiip... Viippppp... Vip vip vip veeeeeeep.
I look over at the talent scanner and wonder if those sounds meant that it was close to being completed already. It seemed that it was not quite done yet.
"So, what is it about playing with Vita that counts as training? And how does playing games help you learn how to survive in the dungeon? Do you play a dangerous game of tag? How can you turn tag into a dangerous game? Is she having you run over pit traps, or are you tagging each other with daggers?"
"If we ever have night training and you are able to join in, I would not be opposed to you coming along and watching out matches."
"Matches?" he asks.
I remove my cloak and show him my exposed skin. A great amount of exposed skin to be completely honest. It seems as though my clothing style is not greatly popular here. He looks confused at first until I point out the red marks and bruising. We did try not to hurt each other, but she was training me to fight. Bumps, cuts and bruises simply seemed to go along with that.
"Oh wow, did you fall down a lot of something? You aren't so weak that you are falling down a lot during training are you?" Kay asks, concern rising in his voice.
I let out a little bit of a laugh. "I suppose you can say that I fall down a lot. Or you can say that I am pounced and tackled, knocking me over into the dirt and mud. But worry not as I also pounce."
"Umm... I don't really know how that would happen. Are you practicing pouncing upon enemies or something like that? That almost sounds like fun. I would ask to learn but I don't think that there is any time where a mage would need to pounce upon someone. I am much more likely to boom! Pow! Fire, ice lightning, bwahahahahaha!" Kay says and his laughter is infectious, especially since I was envisioning Kay engaging in pouncing practice.
"That isn't quite right, but I suppose it isn't completely wrong either." I tell Kay. "What is your training like?"
"You know, blasting off spell after spell at the elemental magic stones." Kay explained to me. "Crestin was also testing me to see how fast I was able to switch to a different element and target. It's actually a lot of fun. One time after practice he took me to get crepes! Crepes! It makes me love learning to cast spells even more than I already did, which I honestly did not think was possible. Has Alice ever taken you to get a treat after practice for working so hard?"
"No, we end up going to the bath house together after our practice matches and training. We are a bit too muddy to do much aside from bathing."
"I suppose that can be a treat. I mean, you really like showers don't you Ami?" Kay asks, clearly trying to put a positive spin on things. He really did not need to do that though as I enjoy the way we practice and train. Doing the same thing over and over just sounds boring. I don't know if I would learn as well in that manner either.
"I do indeed. But it seems as though she is using the bath house itself as a form of training."
"Oh, yeah that would make… wait, what… how?" Kay asks as he slowly starts to turn red.
"Because I am being exposed to Dungeon rules early." I say, chuckling to myself. It is rather cute that they believe that this is something that I need to acclimate to. Hmm, actually will things be different if I develop a romantic inclination towards anyone?
"Dungeon rules?" Kay asks, sounding slightly confused.
"Co-ed showers." I say and shrug my shoulders. I suppose that I do currently have one concern about them, and that is that co-ed means more people. More people means that it would indeed be a much more difficult a challenge to keep my secret a secret.
"Why are they having you do that already! I mean, doesn't that make you too embarrassed to get properly clean? And holy rabbit feet, you just said I should go with you which means… which means." Kay descends into a series of mumbles.
"Cat please do tell me the machine is done as I appear to have broken the Kay."
Viip. Viiiip. Viiiiiiiippppppp DING!
That loud ding brought our attention back to our print outs. As I was looking over at it, it spits my paper out at me.
"Wait! Don't look at it yet! We should look at them together!" Kay says having recovered from his earlier comment quite easily. It was not a challenging request, so I agreed to it readily.
"Do you think that any of your numbers changed?" Kay asks me. "I mean, you did have training right before you fell over from poison, so it's possible right? Oh! And we can see what the mana crystals did for you. Maybe they made you so good that you don't even need to go to the courses. I mean, that's possible right?" Kay asks.
"I don't think that shall happen Kay. And even if anything like that were to occur I would still go to our courses. There are a great many things that I do not know. I suppose you could say that I grew up rather sheltered in a few ways. I know very little about the dungeons. Everything that we have been learning is fresh and new to me."
"Oh I suppose that does make sense. It would be strange if you grew up in a library as well. Did you grow up in a library?" Kay asks.
"No. I grew up next to a hot spring." I tell him. "If you are willing to wait to ask me questions about home until I take you to visit I would appreciate it."
"You have a lot of secrets don't you? But that's okay, it gives you a fun air of mystery. With your mysterious background and your unknown race. You are always in that cloak so that people can't find out what you are, a mysterious creature they have never seen the likes of. I mean, I bet having your hair and tail colored the way it is helps to keep some people from noticing but I suppose there are some people out there that are too curious for their own good. Or, well, I suppose it would be for their own good but it wouldn't be for your own good, and you are my friend so you are the one that I care about. I don't want any creepy snoopers sniffing around you trying to find out all of your mysteries. I will do my best to not become a creepy snooper as well, okay?" Kay asks. How was he able to speak with such run on sentences? Didn't he run out of air halfway through speaking?
"Don't worry about it Kay, I would never call you a creepy snooper. I trust the both of you very much. I just want my home to be a fun surprise to you both, if that is something that you are okay with?" I ask the two of them.
Viiiipp... Vipppp... VIIIPPPP DING!
Kay gets his paper spat back at him. He barely managed to catch it before it hits the floor. It was impressive how quickly he moved to grab it. It seems that his training really has benefitted him greatly.
"Now that we both have our papers let's lay them down on the bed so we can look at them both together?" Kay requests, possibly reminding me that he requested this earlier and I had already agreed to it.
"Yes, I like that idea." I say and lay my paper down on the bed. Kay lays his down next to me.
Kay's sheet looks like:
Strength: 8 | Dexterity: 8 | Wisdom: 26 (+5) | Intelligence: 27 (+7) | Cunning:10
Stamina: 14 | Endurance: 9 | Agility: 21 (+7) | Charisma: 10 (+3) | Health: 100 (+10) | Mana: 250 (+50)
Talents: Speed Reading: F, Fleet Retreat: F, Grimoire Mind: F
Traits: Bonus to lightning, bonus to armor class
Weapons: Bows: G73, Wands: E5, Orbments: F78, Staff: F87
Growth Towards Recommended Classes: Green Mage:5 (+5), Yellow Mage:5 (+5), Red Mage:5 (+5), Blue Mage:5 (+5), White Mage:5 (+5), Black Mage:5 (+5) Dark Mage:5 (+5)
My sheet looks like:
Strength: 18 (+2) | Dexterity: 29 (+7) | Wisdom: 21 (+2) | Intelligence: 18 (+2) | Cunning: 32 (+7)
Stamina: 27 (+5) | Endurance: 22 (+3) | Agility: 29 (+9) | Charisma: 24(+4) | Health: 200 (+50) | Mana: 165 (+15)
Talents: Fox Fire: D(F), Pinpoint Accuracy: F+(F), Elemental Weapons: F+(F)
Traits: Bonus to stealth, talent for rhythmic kinesthetics
Weapons: Short Sword: H35 (H35), Throwing Knives: H75 (H75), Fans: E93 (F93), Orbments: G3 (G3),
Daggers: E2 (F2), Lute/Flute/Drums and Strum!: G81(H81) Bows H27 (H1)
Growth Towards Recommended Classes: Dual Wielder:7 (+7), Fan Dancer:7 (+7), Bard:9 (+9), Enchantress:2 (+2) Shadow Wielder:9 (+9)
"Wow Ami, look at how much I grew! I had no idea that I could improve so much so fast!" he says after quickly scanning over his. He then looked over at mine and giving me a startled look.
"Is something wrong?" I ask and look over both of our sheets. It didn't look like any of my numbers fell, so I don't know what that look is for.
"You were poisoned! How were you able to grow so much. This is witchcraft. Witchcraft! If someone can grow this much from being poisoned and sleeping, then I would like to do the same thing. Some poison in here please!" Kay says, opening his mouth up wide. I truly had no idea of what I should say in response.
Cat saves me from having to respond to such an absurd request by smacking Kay lightly on the back of his head.
I glance over my paper once more.
"I grew that much?" I ask. I didn't know what normal growth looked like.
Kay lifts his paper up and shook it a little bit. "This is what normal growth looks like. Or actually, it looks as though I am growing faster than the average if the books I have been reading are accurate. But look! You had some stats improve as well as your proficiencies. Some of them went up an entire letter! That doesn't happen!" Kay leans over and grabs my shoulders shaking me. "That isn't normal!"
"Is that not supposed to happen? I was practicing with them whenever I was able." I say, still confused. "I mean, I have been using my fans to dance when my body has been amenable and I have been playing the lute a rather great amount.”
"An entire letter!" Cat shouts and grabs the paper out of Kay's hands so fast that I was worried that he was going to get a paper cut. I grab his hands and quickly look them over for one. I drop them when I see they are paper-cut free.
"They really did go up an entire letter! I mean, yes good job Ami, keep up the good work." Cat says.
"How do the both of you remember what it was before this current print out?" I ask them, confused as to their memories.
"I have a copy of all of your print outs, as I am your guild leader." Cat tells us.
"Okay, that makes sense for Cat. What about you Kay?"
"I made sure to remember your weapon proficiencies as we are partners. It is good to know what your partner in crime is strong at. I mean, we are going into the dungeon together so it really is important that I know this and not at all a sign that I am overly obsessed."
"Oh. I am sorry then, I did not remember your letter and numbers, only what the weapons were." I tell Kay, suddenly feeling very embarrassed, "However, there is something that I noticed."