Chapter 110

Glimmerhide Group did not fight again during weapons practice that day, not as a group anyway. T'lly and Warren split them off in to other groups to fight. They each had plenty still to learn and taking them out of their group was an easy way to find their weaknesses.

Jay's weaknesses were easy to find. He seemed to get hit in the head a lot. Also, he was still quite bad at combat with the staff. If he was just backing someone else up or trying to defend himself for a moment before help arrived he did just fine. By himself however he still needed quite a bit of improvement.

Norri's weakness was her lack of defense against magical attacks. She was a dangerous opponent when fighting against melee weapons using her staff but once magic entered the fight she was dangerously unprotected.

Aiden was unskilled and needed more practice but was doing a good job of learning how to fight with skill. His main weakness as a staff fighter was lack of practice. His main weakness as a healer came from his lack of a ranged heal. Once he got a Class Ability that did not require him to touch someone to heal them Aiden would be far more useful in a group.

M'redith's weakness was her reliance on her Class Ability, Giant Frame, to muscle her way through a fight. She needed to work more on building skill rather than relying on brute force all the time.

T'lly however would have said that M'redith's weakness was Jay.

By the end of class everyone was hot, sweaty, hungry, and exhausted.

“No new fights! When you finish your fight head to the water table in back and take a cup. Everyone take a cup, no exceptions. No you do not use less water than other people Gary, go take a cup.” Warren said kindly but loud enough to be heard over the fights.

There was one every class, one student who believed that somehow they did not require as much water as everyone else. It took time for the training staff to teach the students that you should drink before you're thirsty and not wait until thirst popped up. Some students still hadn't internalized that lesson.

As the last fight wound down everyone headed over to the table and took a cup of water. Jay met up with the rest of his group and smiled tiredly.

“Well done. You ended much better than you began thank the Goddess.” T'lly said only half-encouragingly. “Break for lunch and we'll see everyone in Dungeon Room this afternoon.”

A susurration rose among the crowd as everyone began talking at once with their friends. The mass of students slowly trickled out of the building as everyone made their way to lunch.

Jay stood still and wrapped one arm around M'redith's waist and turned on his aura. Instantly the two of them could feel the aura go to work as all of their accumulated sweat was magically washed away. Even their clothing and armor gradually improved in appearance. Thirty seconds later and they were immaculately clean.

Jay did the same for Aiden and Norri until they were all as clean as he was.

They stuck out like a sore thumb. Everyone else smelled..sour, would be the best word for it. Like body odor and sour milk, the morning long workout in armor had left the students with an unpleasant scent.

It didn't feel good, either, at least for the other students who were all slick with sweat still, their clothes and armor damp and stuck to their bodies. The sweat made their skin itch after it dried and the armor continued to rub against it too which was unpleasant.

They would eat lunch like that and then go to their afternoon classes still stinking from morning practice. The fact that it occurred every single day only made other students and faculty more aware of students who always appeared freshly bathed and cleaned. Such as Jay and his friends.

They arrived at lunch in their matching armor and smelled like they had just come off of the beach. Other people tried to stand closer to them just to smell something other than other people's odor.

Lunch was barbecue chicken bread bowls with a side of carrots and ranch dip. Everyone filled up their trays and Norri found them an unoccupied table.

As they sat down Jay had barely time to adjust in his seat before someone approached the group. A red headed woman dressed in a sweat stained but finely sewn green mages robe stood next to the table with a hand on one hip and the hip cocked to one side. A large man stood behind her in brown prayer robes cinched tight with a rope belt. Somehow the man seemed to come off as if he were wearing formal wear rather than a brown robe, perhaps it was the way he held himself, his back ramrod straight, his chin tucked in.

M'redith noticed them first. “Afternoon Carly. Chenowith. What brings you here?” she asked them as she skipped right over the small talk.

Carly and Chenowith stood off to Jay's left between him and Norri. Carly had been careful not to place herself between Jay and M'redith. It wasn't smart to upset someone when you needed a favor.

Carly spoke before Chenowith could answer. “Not here to stir up trouble. We were just hoping Jay might be willing to share his aura for a minute?”

Chenowith continued as she stopped speaking, “An actual minute. Thirty seconds each.”

Jay chuckled. It was only one minute. “I can spare a minute for you two. Pull up some chairs.”

Norri moved across to Aiden's side of the table and Carly sat in a chair that Chenowith dragged over for her. His other hand held a second chair that he placed next to her before sitting down himself.

“Can I eat first though?” Jay asked with a smile. M'redith's eyes had flashed dangerously as Carly had sat down but seemed mollified when she had behaved herself next to Jay.

Carly nodded and smiled pleasantly. “So how was your adventure? I'm assuming it wasn't secret?” She sat back in her chair and seemed relaxed. Chenowith sat straight in his chair, shoulders back.

M'redith shook her head, “No, not secret. It was long. I'm glad we're back.” she answered simply but the rest of her party all agreed wholeheartedly with her.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Chenowith tilted his head to the side slightly while Jay ate. “Warren and T'lly seemed sure of themselves when they suggested everyone speak with you. Rather then ask you to recount your entire trip, if you could go back to before you left for your adventure, what advice would you give yourself?”

M'redith stopped chewing and gave the question some thought. Norri looked thoughtful as well.

Aiden didn't need to think about it and blurted something right out. “Oh Goddess the food. Travel food is awful. Pack some good food. Travel wafers will keep you alive but they're demoralizing to eat.”

“Demoralizing?” Chenowith asked with a slight smile.

Jay and his friends all nodded seriously in agreement. “I missed the food here so much.” Norri admitted.

Carly looked confused. “You didn't pack food?”

“We were rushed out and were given very little time to prepare. That'd be my advice. Prepare before you need to be prepared.” M'redith said after dabbing at her mouth with a napkin.

Chenowith looked confused, “How so?”

M'redith sat back and waved one hand for emphasis, “We had one hour. It's not enough. You need to know how much food to buy, what food travels well, and where to get it all from at short notice. You need to pack clothes. Soap. Toiletries. Towels. You need a camping pack already packed and set by the front door ahead of time just in case you need to go somewhere at short notice.”

Carly looked thoughtful at the idea.

Jay raised one finger in the air and M'redith gave him a wide grin and called on him. “Yes, Jay?”

“Back home we'd call them bug-out-bags.” Jay said with a smile.

Norri shook her head at him. “You know how sometimes you tell us about an Earth saying and it sounds all wise or interesting?”

Jay nodded.

“Well that last one sounded ridiculous. Bug-out bag?” Norri asked with a smile.

Aiden tried to hide a laugh but failed.

“I'm just saying prepare beforehand. We were rushed and forgot things. Thank Goddess for Glenda or we would have been in some serious trouble.” M'redith admitted.

“Glenda helped you guys out a lot?” asked Carly and M'redith raised an eyebrow before she relaxed her face back in to a more neutral appearance.

“She helped but she let M'redith take the lead once we got to the building. We may have been unprepared but Glenda had thought of everything. She had tree sleeping gear for Goddess sakes.” Aiden said, not reading the room, as he ate with his eyes closed. He was savoring every last bite.

Carly shook her head, “I wasn't trying to imply anything.”

Aiden looked up confused and mid-chew. “Huh?” he said.

M'redith shook her head at Aiden. “Shush. Go back to eating.” Something about Carly always seemed to rub M'redith the wrong way and M'redith was acting a little bit prickly.

No one likes being shushed but Aiden wouldn't argue over being told to just eat. So he returned to eating with a smile.

“How about you, Jay?” Carly asked as she turned to face him directly.

Jay shrugged, “I'm still coming to terms with being back. I haven't thought about it that much. I feel like we've been gone forever. I guess I'd say I learned that small distances can take a long time to cross when the forest is thick or the marsh muddy. Traveling off road comes with its drawbacks. It's dangerous out there, we saw a number of deadly looking monsters. Oh, also, wear a helmet. I forgot to wear mine and I ended up with a head injury.”

Chenowith nodded and grinned, “I don't have a helmet but I understand.”

Norri seemed to wither in her seat as everyone turned their attention towards her.

“How about you Norri?” Carly asked kindly.

Norri blushed red at the attention but managed to almost squeak out, “Earplugs. Aiden snores!”

That started a heated argument between Aiden and Norri that only settled down when the neighboring tables turned to figure out what the commotion was all about. M'redith helped quiet the two down. It had been friendly arguing but perhaps just a little too loud for the dining hall.

Carly nodded with a wide grin as she looked over at a blushing Chenowith. “Chenowith snores too. I've learned to sleep through it.”

Jay finished eating at that moment and moved his chair closer to Carly without warning. Carly reacted with wide eyes and leaned back.

“Peace! I'm just going to use my aura on you. Remember?” Jay asked.

Carly chuckled and returned to an upright position. “Right, sorry!”

Chenowith laughed and shook his head. Carly made a sound that she quickly covered over with a lady like cough as Jay activated his aura. Thirty seconds later she rose from the table and her fiery red curls bounced as she did so. A wave of tropical island scent washed over the people nearby as her standing up moved the air about her.

She switched chairs with Chenowith and Jay repeated the process with him. Chenowith furrowed his brow when Jay turned on the aura for him but did not make any sound. Again, thirty seconds later and they were finished.

People at the nearby tables were beginning to talk. Carly noticed right away and stood, almost dragging Chenowith to his feet before he understood what she was doing and stood up on his own.

“Thank you all for the talk and the aura,” Carly said with a nod towards first M'redith and then Jay. “We'll see you soon.”

Chenowith nodded his head in thanks and left two silver on the table as they left. “Worth every copper.” he said with a thankful smile.

People were beginning to catch on to Jay's aura and Norri quickly took their trays up so that they could all leave before Jay became swamped with requests.

“Can we leave as soon as Norri gets back? Otherwise I'm not sure the other students will let me out of here once they remember my aura.”

M'redith nodded and a few moments later Norri returned and the group left the dining hall a bit hurriedly for afternoon class.