“Yeah, actually.” He said.

“So which tip helped you out? I suppose it'd be better than doing nothing for the next few days until we reach that dungeon.”

“It was the one about bringing you to the brink of death.”

“...”

Lily remained silent for a few moments while monitoring his facial expressions.

“You're serious.”

“Why wouldn't I be?”

“Did this happen by accident or?”

Tibaut sighed and shook his head. “You wouldn't believe it but I told Elizabeth about it and she said she'd help me.”

“How so?” She asked. She looked completely lost and wondered how this would lead to him being sent to the brink of death.

“You know, she sparred with me without showing any mercy. There was a point in there where I genuinely believed I was going to die, so I can't say I'd recommend it.”

“She beat you up just like that?”

“Well, it's not like I said no to doing this. Besides, it worked out in the end so it was cool. (Though, I'm pretty sure I'm used to her beatings at this point.)”

Lily stared at him in amazement.

“Well, I guess it can't be that bad since I didn't hear anything about you being injured.”

“Well, that was thanks to the healing I received from it. (Now that I think about it, ki seems a bit overpowered. I don't remember shit about my fight with Albus but I do know I somehow won in the end. Like I'll be honest I was barely hanging through that whole and didn't even manage to hurt… him.)”

As he thought back to their fight he remembered the fact he did hurt him.

(“Shit I do remember something! I remember punching him and sending him flying. How the hell did I do that?”)

It seems thinking about hurting Albus rekindled a memory he didn't know he had.

As Tibaut was busy in thought, Lily kept staring at him in awe.

“(This guy's kinda hard-core.) But what would you have done if it didn't work?”

Stolen story; please report.

“Oh, I would have, uh, (Shit, I can't just tell her Elizabeth would have just healed me if it didn't work out!) dunno, honestly. Guess I would have just healed up normally. But now that I think about it, it wasn't that bad.” He tried to reason.

“Not that bad?” Tina said before giggling. “She sent you flying with some of those punches, I was wondering if you were made out of paper. I was amazed you could handle so many punches from her.” She stated.

Elizabeth looked the most shocked by these words. “Oh, you were watching us, Tina? (Considering his state at the end of that, maybe I should be thankful he healed up. I can't imagine the headache of explaining how I brought back a half-dead Tibaut with my supposedly paltry healing magic)”

“(Shit, now that I think about it I was kinda sulking when I walked away, wasn't I? Dammit I don't want her thinking I was watching them because I was left out.*) Oh I just caught a few glimpses as I was heading back to my room.” She hurriedly stated.

*She was watching because she was left out of it.

She kept staring at him in awe and Tibaut realised how ridiculous this all sounded.

(“Wait a minute, this makes it seem like I took on this advice with no hesitation. She isn't thinking-?”)

(“Wow. In my over twenty years of existence, I don't think I've met someone as hardcore as him. He took a beating that could've killed him from Elizabeth of all people without hesitation. I-I’ve been doing this for four years but, but… I'm starting to question if I even have what it takes to do this. Lord's above, what have I been doing all this time? Does it take a resolve like that to learn ki? There must be a better way right!?”)

There was a noticeable shift in Lily's mood and she sat, with a dark atmosphere forming around her, engrossed in her thoughts.

“Uh, Lily? (I hope she doesn't think I'm crazy or anything.) It was more extreme than it sounded, trust me.”

“Are you saying I'd be fine if I did it?” she responded.

“Well, uh, I mean-”

She raised her hand to cut him off.

“It's fine Tibaut. Could you give me a few moments to myself?”

“Sure, but I'm telling you, you're overthinking this.”

Unknowingly, Tibaut had crushed the hopes of a martial artist.

With Lily deciding to keep to herself for the time being, Tibaut moved closer to the back of the carriage to view the scenery.

(“Ugh, she probably thinks I'm some fearless death-defying warrior or something. Maybe I even freaked her out? Ugh, whatever, I can take care of any wrong impressions she has of me after this is all over.”)

He looked at the landscape outside, and even this early into the journey, the scenery was different compared to the last.

“This is a pretty thick forest.” He stated as he looked outside.

The forest on the sides of the road was quite lush. Both sides were so thick with trees and general greenery, that he couldn't see anything under the trees even if he wanted to. The road almost looked quite unkempt as grass was starting to take over the trodden path.

At this point on their journey to Lochdale, it had been all plains.

“I guess not many people pass through here,” Tibaut stated.

“Of course not,” Elizabeth stated. She got off Tina, who had been gassed by the experience and sat back down. “We decided on the most covert path we could come up with. It would be suspicious if a band of the parish’s most known adventurers travelled together somewhere. At least in the cultists' minds.”