--------///----Reina's POV----\\\--------

After mom and everyone had left, i was still mulling over whether this party would be ok or not. Auntie was still healing my wounds but after another minute or two, she was done. When i felt she was finished i got up and was about to walk over to Endis, before she said.

(Aria) " Your all fixed up now but can you try not to get so banged up again so soon? "

(Reina) " S-sorry auntie... "

(Aria) " Ahhh. It's fine, just stay as safe as you can ok. " 

(Endis) " I'll be careful, there's nothing to worry about Aria. "

Endis tried to soothe auntie but it looked like she wasn't buying it. Auntie gave him a deadpan look and looked over to Mina and said.

(Aria) " Make sure she stays safe ok. "

(Mina) " I'll make sure she's safe. "

(Aria) " Thank you. I have to head over to report to Arg for a bit so until i'm back i'll be trusting you. "

(Mina) " Yes ma'am. "

(Aria) " *Chuckle* you don't have to ma'am me Mina. Anyway i'll be right back. "

And with that, auntie left to fill daddy in on something. I didn't know what it was but my guess would've been something along the lines of an update on her household. With everything that's been going on, daddy has been flooded with reports and dispensing aid to the most affected. I know that he's said he'll be training more but i don't know how he's going to balance it without uncle Adrius here... Auntie can help but her and her families services are probably going to be in high demand for a bit.

~ No point in wondering about it, i can always just ask daddy later. For now i have to make the most of this training session. ~ 

Endis was ready for me to walk over to him and seemed to get ready to fight again, but instead of fighting he asked me a question.

(Endis) " Do you want to go at the same speed as last round or do you want to go slower? "

(Reina) " Same speed. I want to go as far as i can go until i'm out of steam. "

(Endis) " Alrighty. Then let's do best of three for this one. That way you'll get some more experience against a serious assassin, and we'll have a time limit so Aria won't wring my neck out. " 

(Mina) " I'd still do it. "

(Endis) " ... Please don't. "

(Mina) " Mhm. Don't go overboard please. "

(Endis) " I know what i'm doing! "

(Mina) " Mhm. Ok. "

(Reina) " Umm. Can we start now? "

(Endis) " Yup. Let's get started. "

And just like before, the relaxing and friendly mood was gone. Back in it's place was the serious and dangerous mood from the first spar. While i got into my stance, i thought about something and asked Endis about it before we started. 

(Reina) " What counts as a win? "

(Endis) " If you catch, seriously wound, or fully pin me down then that's a win for you. If i get you then i win. "

(Reina) " Ok. "

Looking over to Mina, me and Endis nodded to her.

(Mina) " 3...2...1... BEGIN! "

And with that Endis disappeared. As soon as he did, i started to try to feel for him but it wasn't easy. I had to keep my guard ready incase he caught me off guard, which he would have done if i hadn't heard the voice in my head. Endis said the voice was my instinct, so i had to trust it. The sudden scream to dodge left was something i was waiting for, so i did it as fast as i could. When i rolled left i made sure to swipe with my right Siella, which i imbued with fire to make sure to try to get a burn on him from the burning claws.

My claws met some resistance and ended up being parried by one of the daggers Endis was wielding. But before he dashed off again, i noticed a small burn on his face which showed me i got atleast some damage off on him. After that was when i lost sight of Endis, but instead of just waiting him out i was going to try to bring the fight to him again. Running in the direction that Endis ran i tried to radiate my darkness like daddy does but it's hard to try to sense someone else with darkness magic, especially somewith with more experience with it then me, but i had to try. 

I kept radiating my darkness in hopes i would catch a glimpse of Endis, but i still couldn't find him. Suddenly my instincts shouted at me to roll forward, so i did. I rolled forward and tried to shoot out a few spikes of darkness but i couldn't do it, i've never tried using my elements from behind me or somewhere out of my vision so i failed and got a shallow slash on my back. I got up as fast as i could and did a wide slash with my right Siella's to try to get a hit on Endis or get him to parry and give away where he was. But that didn't work either. After i did that, i heard my instincts shouting at me to jump so i jumped and used my left Siella's to slash down with darkness to try to get something on him.

(Endis) " Not this time. "

When i heard that, it was right in my ear as Endis had somehow jumped with me and and grabbed the back of my head, slamming me down to the ground after gravity brought us back. But when we landed there was a cushion of water where my head met the ground so i didn't have to worry about a concussion. 

(Endis) " My point. "

(Reina) " Ugggh. How'd you do that? "

(Endis) " I tricked your instincts. "

(Reina) " Huh? How? "

(Endis) " It's intent. Whenever i'm about to slash i end up releasing some killing intent, which i thought was what triggered your instincts. And going by what just happened i'd say i was right. Right before i got behind you i flashed some and just like i thought, you jumped. After that all i had to do was jump with you and you know the rest. "

(Reina) " Wow... I still have another chance. "  

(Endis) " Yea yea. Lets go get your back wound healed up.

After Endis said that, we started walking back over to Mina. Though before we got there Endis said.

(Endis) " But still, you're instincts are definetly insane. "

(Reina) " Huh? What's that supposed to mean. "

(Endis) " It's how fast you reacted to my intent. I ended up releasing it a second before the hit and yet you still managed to hear and react to your instinct. As long as an assassin doesn't know about your instincts and reaction time before hand, then their definetly going to be in for a world of hurt. And this is just at the start, if you can get more in tune with it then i don't think i'll have to worry about you being a weak link. "

(Reina) " But you still managed to trick it. "

When i said that, Endis flicked my head and snorted.

(Endis) " I just said "As long as an assassin doesn't know before hand." I obviously knew before hand. That and i AM an amazing and famous assassin so it was easy for me. "

At the end of that Endis started acting all dramatic again, which was nice to see after a round. At this point we were back infront of Mina so she was able to start butting in.

(Mina) " Suuuure. How many times have you lost your daggers? Mr.Famous assassin. "

Endis flinched at that and looked a little flusterd before saying.

(Endis) " S-shaddup! "

(Mina) " Hmmm how about no. "

Endis let out some weird groan and drooped his shoulders.

(Mina) " Anyway come here and let me see your back. "

(Reina) " What about Endis? "

(Endis) " What about me? "

(Reina) " I burned a bit of your face, aren't you going to heal that? "

(Endis) " I can't get every little thing healed. If i did that i'd end up losing my edge. "

(Reina) " How does that work? "

(Endis) " If i thought i would always have someone to heal me then i would end up getting sloppy. If you manage to give me a deep or actual wound theeen i'll get it healed. But knicks like this aren't bad enough to need healing. "

(Mina) " You two done now? "

(Reina) " Oops, coming. "

When i sat down next to Mina, she got started on looking at my back. I felt the water move over to my wound and start coating it. After about half a minute i didn't feel any discomfort and got up ready to go. Walking out i heard Mina shout out. 

(Mina) " Do your best Reina! You can do it! "

Having someone encourage me like that felt really good. It made me want to not let her down. When me and Endis got in position Mina started her countdown again.

(Mina) " 3...2...1... BEGIN! "

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As soon as Mina shouted, i ran towards Endis again but this time he did the same. He kept his daggers in reverse grip just like he did before. Right before we clashed, Endis slid past me and slashed at my right leg and left a deep gash in it. I wasn't expecting it so i didn't have anything ready to hit back against it. Before i hit the ground, i could hear Endis rushing me so i made a small burst of fire radiate out to try to give me a few more seconds to move, which seemed to work. When i rolled away i used my darkness on my Siellas and tried to launch some claw swipes at him but he managed to dodge them by jumping away a few feet without breaking a sweat.

Trying to move with my damaged leg was hard but i decided to keep doing my best until the end of the round. I used my darkness on it to keep myself from bleeding but i would have to drop it at some point to attack or defend. Endis started to rush me again but instead of trying to stop him, i had a thought.

~ Maybe i can try to get him when he gets into my range. ~

So acting on that thought i decided to try it, i had nothing else to lose. Endis kept coming and seemed to have a smile on his face but i couldn't tell why. When he got atleast a foot away from me i got ready to send a wave of fire at him but i had to make sure the timing was perfect. Just a few seconds. That was all i needed. And as soon as those seconds passed and he was close enough for me, i sent out a small wave of fire to hit him. But he must've been expecting it since he coated his daggers and arms in earth and cut through it. De-materializing and putting his dagger to my neck, Endis said.

(Endis) " Checkmate. "

(Reina) " Was i close at all? "

(Endis) " Not really. But for a beginner you did pretty good. "

Endis took his dagger away from my neck and offered me a piggyback ride because of the gash on my leg. At first i was a little shy about that but i took his offer. After i got on he started to walk over to Mina again. I was a little sad that i didn't manage to get a point, but thinking about who i was up against it would be silly to think i could actually get one over on him.

(Reina) " Why'd you smile before i attacked? "

(Endis) " Because i knew what you had in mind. "

(Reina) " How'd you know that? "

(Endis) " Well, when someones cornerd they tend to do predictable things. But you did nail the timing, so nice one with that. "

(Reina) " Ughhh. I'll get you next time. "

Endis laughed at that and shook his head.

(Endis) " The day you beat me will be the day my mom gives up her sword. "

I didn't get what that meant right away... But when i remembered what he said about his mom and how she loved that sword like a child was when i said.

(Reina) " Heyyy! I'll beat you and tell her you said that! "

By that time though we were already back to where Mina was. When she heard me say that Mina asked.

(Mina) " Said what? "

(Endis) " Endis said the day i beat him would be the day his mom gives up her sword. "

Mina snorted at that and looked at Endis, who just looked away and started whisteling. Mina shook her head and said.

(Mina) " Anyway. Are you going to get down or do i have to pry you off his back? "

Realizing i was still on Endis' back, i got off with Mina's help and went to the bench where she started healing the gash that Endis gave me. It wasn't that deep of a wound but it still stung when she was working. Endis went back to put away the daggers so it was just me and Mina on the bench.

(Mina) " Until Ms.Aria comes back make sure to stay off the leg ok. "

(Reina) " Ok. What do we do until then? "

(Mina) " Not sure. If you want we can work on a party plan. "

(Reina) " Party plan? What's that? "

(Mina) " Haaah. What should we focus on as a party Reina. Who should lead, What type of requests should we try first, do we want to keep a three man party and if not when shoould we recruit and who. Those are the type of things that are involved in a party plan. "

(Reina) " Ohhhh... I don't think i'd make a great leader. I'm inexperienced and i'm not that good at interacting people. I wouldn't mind if you were the leader though. "

Suddenly Endis was back and instantly butted into the conversation.

(Endis) " What about me? I think i'd make a great leader. "

When Endis said that, me and Mina looked to each other, back at him, and then back to each other. 

(Mina) " I'll gladly take on the role. But what about recruitment and request type? What're you ok with for now? "

(Reina) " First i think we should focus on the minor ones. I've never been outside of the walls so i don't know the area, but if we handle some minor requests we'll be able to build some rappor and get some information from the requesters at the same time. And i don't mind recruiting more people into the party. "

(Mina) " Got it. I haven't been to that area before so i'll have to check out the guard and blacksmiths as soon as we get there... We'll have to get you some light armor and a secondary weapon while we're there. 

Endis kept looking between us and deflated like a kid who got his toy taken away. Seeing this, me and Mina just laughed at him and started talking to him about what he might want to add.

(Endis) " If it's information then i can handle that easily. "

After Endis said that, i couldn't help but look over to Mina but she didn't seem to know since she just shrugged.Endis easily saw our confusion and decided to elaborate.

(Endis) " I'll just ask the local assassin's guild branch. I can just walk in and get anything we might need to know. "

(Reina) " How do you know there'll be one there? "

(Endis) " Easy. There's atleast one branch locations in every city. "

When Endis said that i couldn't help but think that if this was a normal situation that kind of information would probably be important. Mina took that information a little differently though.

(Mina) " HUUUH!? What's that supposed to mean! How come you never told me that? "

Mina ended up jumping to her feet and started shaking Endis by the shoulders.

(Endis) " It's not supposed to be common knowledge and you never asked! "

Mina kept shaking him for a while until she ran out of energy. Auntie was back by then and just looked at me and asked with her eyes about what was going on. I just let out a sigh and motioned for her to come over. They hadn't noticed that auntie was was back until Mina had stopped and noticed i was being healed.

(Aria) " Now that you two are done does anyone want to explain what i missed. "

Mina and Endis looked to each other and then back to me with some sort of familial synergy and practically signed me up for the job. So i started to tell auntie about what happened and after more then a few glares at Endis, auntie just sighed and started rubbing her eyes before she said.

(Aria) " We've known about the branches but just not that they were in every city. Arg will probably ask you to help him with something relating... "

(Endis) " I'll have to stop you there. When we're brought in as assassins we sign a blood spell contract that stops us from doing anything that could damage the assassin's guild as a whole. And i'm pretty sure leading the king to a branch or two counts as that. "

(Mina) " Is that why you never told me? "

(Endis) " Huh? No... I mean YES. Totally! A hundred percent why i never told you!.. Please don't hurt me. "

Mina had started waving her fist in a comical yet threatning way near Endis' face which made him change what he was saying in an instant.

(Aria) " Anyway. If that's true then forget what i said. We'll have to find a loophole later but we'll bring it up when things have calmed down. So let's think about where you'll go from here. Arg's told me about where you'll be sent to register so i'll give you some information about Cindal. "

After auntie said that, Endis seemed to deflate a bit, I could tell Mina saw it too but we decided not to mention it.

(Aria) " Cindal's essentially the agricultural and fishing capital of the kingdom. Cindal's flourishing with culture from the various races that call it home, and it's where Ganton lives. Ganton is the guildmaster of the branch in Cindal, and he's also the test administrator for upstarting adventurers. "

(Mina) " Is that fair? How can adventurers go up against the guildmaster as their test? "

(Aria) " Oh believe me, it's fair. The man has a knack for appraising a persons talents and skill level after just a look. He's capable of restraining himself to the point you'd think he was someone of your rank. When you get there you'll understand what i mean. But i'll warn you, just because he's old don't go easy on him. The man has mastered various types of martial arts, magical counters, and has a "tattoo" of a chimera on his body. If we were talking about him before all of this happened i wouldn't have mentioned that part since aside from Arg and Amari we didn't know what they were... But now. "

(Mina) " And why is that? I mean, why isn't the fact that beasts can give emblems to people common knowledge? It's always been a myth that's only included dragons doing it. "

(Aria) " We'll if you were given power exceeding the strongest of strong, would you openly share how you got it? " 

(Mina) " ... No. "

(Aria) " Exactly. But after Arg's announcement, that myth may end up being acknowledged as fact. After saying he'll be taught by Losine, people are bound to have noticed it. "

~ Auntie has a point. Even though mom told me how she got her emblem, people would never have seen it because it's on her back and she hasn't told anyone that she doesn't trust about it. I don't even think it's in books. ~ 

(Aria) " Anyway back to Cindal. Aside from agriculture and food, they have thier own types of architecture to go along with the diverse culture. The last time i was there the buildings were made of living wood which elves and beastmen used to give the place a relaxing natural feel. "

(Endis) " Wait. If the buildings are made of wood, even if it's living wood, what's stopping it from being burned down? " 

(Aria) " Good question, for you. "

(Endis) " Hey! "

(Aria) " Anyway, yes fire would be a big concern were it not living wood that elves reinforce day by day. Those buildings can probably take dragon fire for a few minutes before finally burning down. Unless something's changed and the elves haven't reinforced the wood for years, then i can confidently say that those buildings are the most durable on the whole continent. "

(Reina) " Wouldn't there be some kind of cultural disputes though? Elves and beastmen are, culturaly at least, polar opposits. Shouldn't there be some kind of tension between them? " 

(Aria) " Ehhh. Your not wrong per sae. But, That's the textbook versions of them. In reality beastmen, depending on the species, can be quite the fun company. Most are competitive, some can be funny in their own way, and then there are those who are heavy culture fanatics. The same is said for elves. Just because a race has a general description that doesn't mean that description decribes the people. I know little Reina here hasn't met any other race but what about you two? "

(Endis) " I've met a few elves and beastmen on contracts before. Though i haven't been able to make "Friends" with em due to my line of work. "

(Mina) " Lucky. I've met a dwarf once but that's it. We haven't been in areas that have other races in them. "

(Aria) " Well you'll be in for a good time when you get to Cindal. Anyway what will you three be doing now? "

When auntie asked that we all kind of looked at each other, visably confused. I thought about more combat training but Mina brought something up first.

(Mina) " Well i want to get some sparring in but i think Reina should focus on training her magics more. We can swap between combat and magic training until we set off for Cindal... Actually how are we going to get there again? "

(Aria) " Arg floated the idea of using carrages but Amari shot it down. She insisted on setting up the teleportation artifacts and Arg eventually agreed. "

(Reina) " We have a teleportation atrifact? "

(Aria) " Yes. Normally we wouldn't use it for something like this but you should get registered and get as much experience as fast as possible. Arg should be able to get Cindal informed before the end of the day. "

(Mina) " Weren't we going to leave in weeks though? Why is that being moved up? "

(Aria) " Well it'll still take a week but the main reason is that Amari pestered Arg about it for a night or two until he gave in. If he hadn't i don't doubt that she would've carried you on her back and flown you all there herself. "

Hearing auntie say that i was suddenly a little disappointed. Endis and Mina seemed to be too since Mina clicked her tongue, and Endis said.

(Endis) " Wha! I could've ridden a dragon! I could've bragged to my family about that for YEARS! Ughhhh. "

(Mina) " You'll get over it. "

(Endis) " I heard you click your tongue, you want to do it too. "

(Mina) " ... Shut up. "

(Endis) " Hmmm, what was that thing you said? "No"? Yea. so no. " 

Mina shot a quick glare at Endis and that shut him up instantly.

(Mina) " Anyway. I'll be sparring with Endis for a bit. Aria are there any places Reina can go train her elements at nearby? "

Auntie started thinking about it and after a few seconds she said.

(Aria) " For her Darkness, no. For her fire yes, Amari has a little hidey hole she scampers off too when she doesn't have anything to do. And for earth Arg has a sanctum she can use. "

(Mina) " Perfect. Reina which element do you want to work on first? "

When Mina asked me that i almost said fire first, but thinking about it i've hardly used my earth.

(Reina) " I want to focus on my earth for a bit. So i'll go to daddys sanctum. "

(Aria) " Alright. Lets get going then ok. "

With that, auntie led me by the hand out of the training room. But i did hear Mina and Endis say bye before i was gone. Auntie and i made some small talk before she led me into a part of the castle i've never been in. All around i could see boulders and plantlife in the room, there was even a tree in the center of the room.

(Reina) " Has this always been here? "

(Aria) " Yup. "

(Reina) " Wow. "

(Aria) " Anyway get to work little lady, i'll remind them pick you up for dinner ok. "

(Reina) " Ok auntie. Bye. "

(Aria) " Bye Reina. Do your best! "

And with that Auntie left the room. I looked around the room, which seemed like a big box of nature was taken out of the wild and just put in a room. I looked around for a place to sit but i decided that the tree was definetly the place for me. When i did that i started focusing on my earth and started trying to get a better handle of it.

And just like that, i trained in my magic and my combat skills and i got visibly better. It was with this kind of schedule and training with two good party members that i didn't notice a week had passed and we would soon be going to Cindal.