We continued the long journey to the next destination, which the saintess said was likely a small city. She claimed it was a three day journey, but that was according to the villagers from the previous village and we were not moving at their speed. In addition, the few attempts to bring up last night’s conversation were met with silence. Thankfully, we had a topic that bloomed into an actual discussion. Improving ourselves. The prince was complaining about how the thief used magic during the bear fight. We all could agree that he knew more about magic than the rest of us. That said, some of us didn’t want him as a teacher with his ego still being a problem. Then the thief shocked me by turning to me.

“Louis, can you help me? If we are going to get our second path in about a month, I can’t wait to improve. You would not ask of me anything for your own benefit unlike another person here; whether because you don’t feel it is something a knight would do or because you have created your own standard you hold yourself to, I can trust you. I am not good with making formal requests, but may I ask for your guidance with this issue of mine.”

I stared him down as we walked. The thief stared back with determined eyes. They were not the shifty eyes of a thief looking to bolt, but a determined stare. He didn’t try to get close to us like a charlatan nor stab us like an assassin. I looked at the friend of the wind long and hard, trying to figure out what advice to give him.

“Why don’t you want advice from me?” The prince moved closer to the thief demanding answers.

“If you don’t realize why, that is part of the problem and we will address it later.”

I continued to think of how much to tell him as we walked until I eventually decided to tell him everything that came to mind.

“Well, you aren’t built to win any blade locks with arms like that, and you move faster when using your magic. So you’ll do best with two blades. You can parry with one and attack with the second, or blade lock with one and attack with the second. You should probably aim to parry though. We don’t have enough time to make you an expert with both hands, but you should aim to be acceptable by your second path. Your blades should be single edge so they are lighter in your hands, mid-length since you will be dual-wielding. You should be using magic to quickly close distance or retreat. We should get you to a blacksmith eventually to test whether you want to focus more on stabbing or cutting as that may change what type of sword you would get. We would also need to figure out where you best want your scabbards, as you need to be able to switch from crossbow to swords quickly if you get ambushed. Ah, I would suggest slightly curved swords to you for a few reasons, but the simplest one to explain is that it would be easier to draw quickly in combat.” I pause here briefly to take a deep breath and continue. “You have learned many techniques for fighting, but I would suggest practicing some official forms and movements outside of combat to ensure you do not drift from good form and create flaws that assassins will study and attack. Don’t focus on using your magic and swords in conjunction to create some final attack that would definitely kill if certain conditions are met or that looks cool. Yes, your attack on the bear was very important to kill it, but most fights will not give you the time to focus on such an attack. We can’t rely on it as it is. The best finishers are derived from the basics, fast to execute, and practiced to perfection. They are techniques you know so well you could do them in your sleep and the opponent will never be able to hope you mess up. Nobody will be thinking about how cool your killing blow was, they should be focused on the fact they are dying. Or already dead. Preferably the second. As for your quiver location…”

The advice I was giving got a few surprised faces sent my way, I might have laughed if not for the serious topic I was discussing. I had to take another deep breath and was interrupted before I could continue.

“I wasn’t expecting to be given that much advice, thanks. I’m good with that.” He walked over to me and slapped me on the back of my metal chest armor. His face tensed up in pain for a second but he kept smiling. “I guess you’ve been thinking about how we could improve for a while now, huh.”

“Of course. I have been taught If someone deserving asks for help, I should try to help them. I think something like this definitely qualifies. You’re more than just a member of the thieves guild.” I hesitated, trying to find the right word. “You’re a… Hero. Sent out to fight and die like the rest of us.”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

The friend of the wind looked at me sheepishly, trying to hide his growing grin. We actually had a nice bonding moment, except three other people were present.

“Have you thought of ways to help the rest of us too?” The saintess looked at me excitedly. “I would love advice on how this world quickly gains muscle and stamina. I would prefer to be less…” She gave a once over of her spindly arms. “Useless without magic.”

“What’s your fighting experience?”

“My memories from my home country are hazy, but I was athletic. I primarily sprinted, jumped, and threw javelins. I was good at it, even among my peers. I didn’t really fight as the country wasn’t at war.” The saintess seemed lost in thought for a bit before muttering “I wish I could remember specifics”.

I nodded, mentally comparing different ideas that could work with what she was once skilled at doing, would still help us, and I would have the advice to work towards said path. I decided to just give her some full body exercises she could do while walking, as she needed a base strength to work with.

“I wish I could give you more information to form a plan with, but apparently memory problems are a thing when creating saintesses. They have only one ritual and never bothered to look into altering it to improve anything. I’m just looking forward to going back when this is all over.”

The prince looked away when the saintess said the final line, but the monk put a hand on her shoulder and said “We’ll make sure you get back safely”.

The monk then looks at me expectantly. “Well?” She continues to look at me in silence, a large smile across her face. “Aren’t you going to tell me what I can improve?”

“I would like for you to tell me you aren’t going to get angry at my advice.” As soon as she opens her mouth I realize my mistake. “Don’t! Actually, just listen to my advice and do what you will. You’ll likely get angry and make the previous statement a lie. You’ll probably also want to punch me for supposedly making you a liar.”

“Just give me my advice already!”

“Your honesty will hold you back against other people. You have to think about how that tenet applies to combat. Feints, misdirection, bluffs, and so many techniques edge on dishonesty. At some point, you need to sit down and have a serious discussion about how you will fight. There’s a lot more to talk about, but that’s probably first.”

An icy glare is leveled at me from the monk. “No thanks. I wanted advice on how to help fight with the party within my path.”

The saintess raises her hand. “Um, I feel armor would help. You could wear something that would allow you to better survive getting hit by the bear. Or get a ranged weapon. That would work too.”

The fierce look in her eyes subsides as she turns towards the saintess, but not fast enough to prevent the saintess from recoiling slightly. “No, unnatural things like weapons and armor are not part of my path. That is unacceptable.”

“What if they were natural?” Logan knocked on my makeshift cast. Pain ran through my arm as I did my best not to flinch. “You could use water as gloves and boots so you won’t bruise your hands, and a coat of water could weaken many attacks before they hit.”

“That kind of magic control sounds almost impossibly difficult to focus on during a fight. I won’t be able to do it on instinct in combat. I’ll look into getting a magic tutor in the city.” The monk shook her head and quickened her pace, going ahead of the party. The prince ran up to her, panting from the extra effort.

“Is the monastery brat unwilling to put in the effort I put in to use magic? Is your ego so big you won’t treat me like my station for even a minute for the opportunity to better yourself?” A cold fury bubbled behind her eyes, yet the prince stopped her by blowing some literal embers from his mouth at her face. “I have practiced with royal mages for years. Guess what happens when you don’t form a spell properly and it takes off your eyebrows? You continue practicing! They tell you to stop crying and to act with dignity. You suck it up and accept the help you are given, or you wallow in pity and die. There is no third option. I was never allowed to get fighting experience, at least I have an excuse for why I failed in combat. You ran headfirst into a bear’s attack and almost died.” The arrogant prince looked at me. “I’m last, right? Just shorten it to what you think would help me most. I already have a lot of my growth planned out.”

I was going to give him quite a few tips, but if he wanted it shortened, I would shorten it. “Shield.” He waited for me to continue, only for it to become apparent I shortened it. I waited a few more moments before continuing. “Even a small shield can protect you from many things. A wall of fire can deter enemies, but any projectiles will still go through and hit you. It should also help buy you an extra few seconds if the enemy gets too close.”

He nodded and looked away. I wasn’t quite sure if he would actually take the advice.

It was only when we stopped to set up camp for the night that I had a realization. I needed to ask the others for their advice to help me. I would also need to ask the prince politely to do so. I wasn’t looking forward to that.