Chapter 57
The next morning was sunny and Jay looked out his window to see the sun just crest the horizon throwing streaks of red and orange across the dawn sky. Jay stretched and got dressed. He wore his normal dungeon wear as he'd be going to weapons practice after breakfast.
Jay thought about what Aiden had said the night before. He needed to talk to M'redith – that morning if possible. The last thing Jay wanted was for her to think he wasn't interested in her.
The now familiar knock sounded at the front door. M'redith. Jay could tell by her knock. Oddly enough her knock was louder than Aiden's, not quieter. Jay opened the door and found M'redith standing alone, no Aiden. She was smiling brightly and her hair was done up in a tight bun. She looked beautiful Jay thought.
“Ready for breakfast?” she asked as Jay closed the door behind him as he joined her outside.
Jay put an arm around her waist and nodded, “I am, but we don't have to rush.”
M'redith glanced at his arm around her waist and then up at him oddly, “Well, we have to rush a little or we'll miss it.”
Jay nodded awkwardly as they began to walk, “So I wanted to talk to you.” he stated but stopped as he forgot what he was going to say. He had it all mapped out in his head but the moment he went to talk to her he couldn't remember anything.
M'redith smiled but didn't interrupt him as it was obvious he was struggling.
“I like you. A lot.” he began. This got a big smile from M'redith.
“But I think you probably have noticed by now that I've been holding back.” Jay finally got out. M'redith nodded as they kept walking towards the dining hall.
“I'm just trying to do the right thing. Wait until we graduate.” Jay said as if wracking his brain for the right words. “I'm not seeing anyone else, just you, and that's the way I want it. I'd just like it if we could take things slow until we graduate. I honestly don't know how we'd fit a serious relationship in with everything else we have to do.”
M'redith did not look entirely pleased.
“But I want to!” Jay said with a grin. M'redith laughed and leaned on him for a moment. “Look,” Jay said as he sighed, “I feel like we're already seeing each other. Let's keep doing what we're doing. I just wanted you to know why I haven't chased you down and swooped you up in my arms or anything.”
M'redith grinned widely showing her top row of teeth, “That sounds like fun.”
“After we graduate I am SO going to swoop you up.” Jay said playfully. “Until then though, let's not worry about it, ok?”
M'redith nodded but didn't say anything. They reached the dining hall and got in line.
“Are we good?” Jay asked as they stood next to each other holding hands.
M'redith nodded. Jay hadn't said exactly what she wanted to hear but she felt like she could still work with it. “We're good,” she said smiling up at him.
Jay got the feeling that there was a much better way to handle what he had just done but he couldn't figure out what that might have been considering his limited free time. He'd done his best even if he had fumbled about a bit. It would have to do for now.
M'redith noticed Aiden before Jay did and she was already waving to him by the time Jay even noticed he was there. Jay was a bit preoccupied with his thoughts.
“Why aren't you waving?” whispered M'redith with a puzzled expression.
Jay startled and waved with a slight embarrassed look. “Sorry,” he muttered to M'redith, “I was thinking.”
M'redith grinned and laughed , “I'm sure you were.”
Breakfast was a peach milkshake served next to a dish of tiny tater tots which were little fried barrels the size of a fingernail made up of chopped potatoes pressed in to the barrel shape and a stack of cinnamon french toast. Jay refused to butter his french toast which M'redith found to be an incomprehensible act of barbarism. Who didn't like butter? She let it go when Jay put an extra serving of maple syrup on his french toast. It all evened out apparently.
They joined Aiden who had pushed out two chairs for them already. After they had both sat down and began to eat Aiden tried to surreptitiously raise an eyebrow at M'redith questioningly. M'redith's eyes darted to Jay before they returned to Aiden's and she grinned almost triumphantly and nodded happily.
“So glad to see you two getting along.” Aiden said with a silly grin.
M'redith had been swallowing and his comment made her cough for a moment. “We are doing just great, aren't we Jay?” she finally got out.
Although Jay was often oblivious this time he had caught the byplay. “So you two teamed up to get me to talk to M'redith, huh?”
M'redith looked completely innocent as Aiden laughed. “Surprised? Someone had to tell you!” Aiden said as he popped a crispy hot tater tot in to his mouth after dusting it with pink sea salt. “Good Gaia these things are delicious.”
Jay ate his french toast in its entirety first before he moved on to his tater tots. He'd saved the best for last and they were delicious. Jay thought about his friends and how he really needed to pay better attention to his relationships with people. There was just so much to keep track of sometimes.
Some people felt that emotional displays of affection, or even worse - physical displays of affection, should be relegated to private moments and only private moments. M'redith was not one of those people and held Jay's hand the moment he finished his breakfast. He looked over at her but she just stared back with a grin. She had gotten exactly what she had wanted it seemed like.
Jay took a turn bringing up the trays. As he put the trays on to the counter a woman wearing a white and green dress spoke to him from off to his left, “You two seem to be really enjoying each other's company.” Carly said with a sly smile as Jay looked over at her.
“Ya, Aiden is a pretty great guy. Good to have as a friend. How've you been Carly?” Jay responded a little flippantly, purposely misunderstanding her greeting.
Jay's comment momentarily confused Carly and she took a second and blinked once before she realized that Jay was playing with her.
“Not at all what I meant but then again you already know that. I'm doing well, thank you. Since you're here feel like giving me a quick cleaning?” she said. While her words could have been construed sexually her tone made it clear she was just being friendly.
Jay tilted his head to one side and pursed his lips before replying, “Isn't that sort of thing a bit rude? Asking for that during meal time I mean?”
Carly blinked again and appeared honestly surprised, “Since you're a Traveler I thought you might not find it off putting.”
Jay shook his head, “Some things are universal. Besides, I have a feeling M'redith wouldn't be too thrilled to learn I cleaned you at all.”
Carly looked up at Jay with a straight face, her smile gone, “And do you always do whatever M'redith wants?”
Jay took a moment to think about it. “Usually. Because she's usually right. Good seeing you Carly.” Jay said ending the conversation and leaving her with her mouth open but no one to listen to her as Jay walked back to his table.
“Let's head out guys,” Jay said as he offered a hand to M'redith and the three left the dining hall. Outside things had warmed up and the sun bore down with an intense heat. “I just thought of something. What season is it here anyway? You guys do have seasons, right? Summer, Fall, and so on?”
Aiden looked at Jay as if he had a head injury. “Of course we have seasons. We're at the tail end of summer right now. Why?”
Jay laughed, “It was just another small detail I had no idea about. I didn't even know what season it was and I've been here for a couple of weeks and never thought to ask.”
M'redith patted him on the back before holding his hand once again. “It's ok. We understand. We're still going to tease you for it, but we understand.” she said consolingly but with a playful grin.
Aiden laughed, “It's a miracle you two found each other.”
They arrived at the training hall and everyone filed inside and got in to their weapons groups. There were other classes present as well which gave everyone a wide selection of people to practice with.
T'lly was there but appeared to be sulking and stood with her arms crossed over her chest. She stood next to Warren at the front of the room. Warren was wearing some brown leather armor with red highlights. He wore his curly hair short but with long sideburns. He had a beard that had been cut short almost to stubble.
“Good morning class.” Warren said. The class needed no prompting and said good morning. “Today we're going to have you fighting against some other classes to give you a more rounded practice experience.”
The class all looked at each other in confusion.
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“That is just a fancy way of saying you have all grown too familiar with your opponents. This will force you to pay more attention to the fights and make it more difficult to get by doing the bare minimum at practice.” Warren said with a smile.
The class all groaned.
“What?” Warren asked playfully, “You don't like my training? I can always hand it off to T'lly.” he threatened with a smile. T'lly actually perked up for a moment before realizing Warren was all talk and she returned to sulking. The class all made it clear that Warren was perfectly acceptable, no need to hand things off to T'lly.
T'lly glared at the class who quickly settled down and went quiet. Once things were quiet again T'lly went in to the crowd and began pairing people up. Jay was paired with a woman that was barely 5 feet tall even wearing shoes. She had short curly hair that formed a sort of halo off the sides of her face, the short curls piling atop one another.
“Hi, I'm Jay,” Jay said politely with a smile. The woman merely nodded and prepared her staff. Jay inwardly let out a groan. This woman was going to be a problem.
He was right. As soon as Warren told the class to begin the small woman shot forward with a vicious overhead strike. Jay dodged to the side and the staff made a sharp cracking noise as it struck the floor where Jay had just been standing.
Jay was not quite prepared for the blizzard of strikes she rained down upon Jay but by giving up on any attempt to attack her he was able to focus on his defense. Jay was good at defense – he blocked, parried, dodged, and sidestepped as many attacks as he could. He couldn't defend against all of them however and Jay was constantly pressed to his limit as he tried to avoid being hit.
When the small woman did hit Jay it hurt far more than it should have considering the small size of his opponent. The woman was obviously skilled with her weapon even beyond what the class could teach.
Of course, Jay thought to himself as he took a poke to his side that momentarily took his breath away, forcing him to pull back from the fight and try to clear his breathing.
She was relentless and pursued him until Jay finally saw an opening. Stepping to the side Jay avoided another overhead strike, they seemed to be her favorite move. Twirling the staff to reposition it Jay brought the end forward like he was thrusting a spear and guided the tip straight towards his opponent's forward ankle.
She went to move at the last second but Jay was prepared for that and neatly hooked her ankle with the staff so she could not use it to support her weight. She had already started to transition her weight to the trapped ankle and with a mumbled curse she went down in a heap.
Jay didn't stop but took the opportunity to deliver a shattering strike to her now fully exposed ankle. She gritted her teeth in pain and conceded the match as she could no longer stand. Jay thought she might be able to beat him even on just one leg but kept that to himself.
As the other matches finished healers went through the room and healed any injuries, one of which was his opponent's ankle.
Everyone fought their opponent three times before moving on. The next two fights she beat Jay handily and he was bleeding from multiple places and was sporting a few new bruises by the time the healers passed through again. Jay received no healing as none of his injuries prevented him from fighting.
Jay fought more people than he could count that morning but none of them were as brutal as that short curly haired combatant. They all beat Jay easily and by the time the paired fights were over Jay was feeling a bit depressed over his fighting ability.
Before the class was dismissed Warren went over a few of the fights he had seen and pointed out where students had done an especially good job during their match. Jay was listening when he heard his name mentioned and immediately froze up. He had lost almost every match that day with only one single exception. What good could Warren possibly have found in his fights?
“Jay, there he is. Good.” Warren said as he found Jay in the crowd. “Not everyone here is born a fighter – but everyone here will find themselves forced to fight if you choose to stay in the Guild. There will come a time when you are outmatched, where you have found a fight you can't win. When that happens you have two options.”
T'lly went over and stood next to two students that had been talking and not listening. They instantly went quiet with wide eyes as T'lly joined them.
“You can give up and be defeated or you can look for that one chance at success. When it comes you have to be ready for it. Jay here is not a fighter yet he was able to beat an opponent far more skilled than him.”
Warren motioned towards Jay's original opponent, “She attacked him relentlessly leaving no opportunity for him to strike. So he focused on defense until that moment appeared and then he struck. He broke her ankle and took her out of the fight. It was his one and only opening as his opponent was too skilled to leave herself open outside of that single moment she erred.”
T'lly spoke up as Warren looked at her, “Don't give up and don't just fight – look for those moments where you can end the fight. I want everyone to start treating this like you are fighting for your life and not just practicing. If anyone finds that too difficult I am more than happy to provide some motivation.”
The class went silent at that. No one wanted T'lly to provide motivation.
Warren spoke up taking control over the class once again. “You all should know the basics at this point in training. The next step is not learning new moves but learning how to use the moves you already know in a lethal manner. From now on practice is over – every match is a fight for your life.”
The crowd of students stood quietly and looked at each other as they absorbed what Warren and T'lly had just told them. Up until then the atmosphere in class was almost festive as everyone was excited to learn how to be a Guild Member and all that it entailed. They had just been reminded that being a Guild Member also sometimes included fighting for your life.
“That is all for today. Decent job everyone. Start mentally preparing yourself now for how weapons training is about to change come tomorrow. Be ready to fight, not practice. Ok, lunch time. See you all at Dungeon Room.” Warren said in a kind voice as he dismissed the students and went to pull a few of them aside to speak with.
T'lly was the opposite and helped herd the group of students out of the building.
As Jay was leaving Warren approached him with a half smile, “Jay. Upset I called on you?”
Jay laughed, “Not at all. I think it is pretty common knowledge at this point that I'm not a natural or even skilled fighter. Just a little embarrassed is all.” he said not unkindly.
Warren nodded, “I've been watching you and I can see you getting frustrated with your staff techniques.”
Jay sighed, “I don't understand how everyone else is doing so much better than me. It's like I'm cursed or something.”
Warren looked at him with a raised eyebrow, “Maybe you are, maybe you aren't. You get what you get and you don't get upset. Be happy with your best Jay, not everyone is meant to be good in a fight you know. The same people you fight would kill to have your abilities. Everyone wants what they don't have.”
“Sure,” Jay replied, “that's easy to say but every time I've been in a dungeon I've wished I was better with a staff.”
Warren nodded and paused before he spoke again letting the silence draw out. “I'm going to say something to you and I want you to understand it comes from a helpful place. I'm not criticizing you, just offering an observation, ok?”
Jay nodded feeling a little confused but now very much interested in what he had to say. “Um, ok.”
Warren looked at the other students for a moment before he looked up at Jay. “How do you spend your time outside of class? I know you don't get a lot of free time but what do you do with the time you're given?”
Jay's face clouded over. He knew exactly what Warren was getting at. “If I were to tell you the truth you wouldn't believe me.”
Warren chuckled, “Try me.”
Jay felt tired and tried to list them, “I do research for a Goddess given quest, I run dungeons, I buy properties, and I go out with my friends.”
Warren smiled a little oddly, “Ok..sure. Odd list but let's run with it. You're not practicing. How do you expect to become skilled wielding a weapon that you only use in class? Gaining a skill isn't easy but you don't make it any easier by going out with your friends. The dungeon runs are probably helpful for your overall skills. The Goddess stuff I'm not going to even touch, that's between you and Her.” Warren said jokingly, not knowing how right he was.
“Class Abilities are great the way you just know how to do them but the way they are just suddenly awarded can blind us to the fact that you still have to work for your other skills. Are you putting in the work?”
Jay sighed, “No.”
Warren nodded in satisfaction. “You should fix that. Also, get some leather armor. That strike to your side earlier that left you unable to breathe wouldn't have even been a problem if you had been wearing armor.”
Jay shook his head, “I've no idea how to wear leather armor. No skills for armor and no Class Abilities for armor.”
Warren nodded, “We'll cover it in class eventually but that won't help you now. If you have someone to ask I'd seriously consider getting some out of class help to get you armored up ahead of time.”
Warren smiled and gave Jay a thump on the back signaling the conversation was over. Jay thanked him for his time and dodged T'lly as he left the building and rejoined his friends.
“Nothing like being called out in front of entire classes,” Aiden said with a teasing grin as Jay joined him and M'redith under a tree nearby the building's entrance.
“What was that about?” M'redith asked as she held his hand and the three walked off towards lunch.
“That,” Jay said as he sighed, “was Warren telling me to pull myself together and focus on what is important. I spend too much time doing things other than practicing.”
M'redith thought about that as they walked before answering. “Maybe we do all spend too much time together.”
Aiden shrugged, “Or maybe we need to just change how we spend our time when we're together. What, trying to get rid of us already M'redith?”
M'redith smiled as her serious looking face disappeared. “That sounds like something we can work on. I'm guessing Warren specifically mentioned weapons practice and your lack thereof?”
Jay nodded. “I'm going to start getting up early and put in some staff practice. You guys are welcome to join me.”
His friends both nodded. “Sure,” Aiden said, “why not? A little more practice wouldn't hurt me.”
M'redith smiled, “I hate getting up even earlier but if it'll help you improve I'm happy to join you.”
Jay nodded, “Thanks guys. That is one problem I can set aside for now. I feel like I need to start making progress on some of this stuff or I tend to forget.”
M'redith looked up at him, “Maybe you should be writing the things you still need to do down in your Mighty Book. You take the thing with you everywhere you go already so you wouldn't have to worry about losing the list.”
“Ok, that is my goal for today then – figure out all of my unfinished tasks and figure out what I can do about them.” Jay said as the three friends arrived at the dining hall. There was a long line to get inside, it was a good thing they had walked directly to the dining hall.
When they finally got in to the building Jay discovered the reason everyone was so excited. Apparently lunch was going to be something the Guild only occasionally served but was a Guild favorite. Members from across the Guild grounds had appeared just for that one meal.
Pizza!