Morning training with the others was as enjoyable as usual. Adama had noticed in their earlier session that there was a good amount of downtime for the third wheel of their 1-on-1 dueling format. He had decided to rectify that by changing things up a bit:
“We’re doing 2-on-1 matches today. Aiz, get ready.”
The poor girl barely had time to get her sword up before Adama and Take drew their blades and attacked her. Mischief written all over his handsome face, Take was thinking on the same wavelength as Tim, and both fighters moved quickly to gang up on their stronger but less experienced comrade. Aiz so outclassed them physically, however, that she was able to recover from her surprise quickly and hold both of them off. Neither could really keep up with her in terms of footwork, so she was able to keep both swordsmen at bay when fighting defensively. Adama pushed himself hard physically, trying to support Take in their efforts to bring her down, but Aiz had gotten good enough that she was downright ephemeral. She danced around like the fairy of wind herself, always two steps ahead of the comparatively sloth-like men.
Until she ran out of space.
The ramparts were far from unlimited in room, and as the weather got even colder it was harder to fully clear it of debris. A small but nefarious pool of black ice was situated near the center of their little dueling area, and both men had been slowly leading her towards it this entire time. Aiz, seeking to remove Adama from the fight, switched to a move offensive tack and focused on him. Adama gave ground, allowing himself to be pushed away from Take, and she rapidly followed after him, eager to even her odds.
Her foot hit the patch of ice just as she was preparing to launch herself at Tim. Her controlled forward leap turned into an uncontrolled forward tumble, with Adama getting out of the way just in time. Her own momentum catapulted her over the ramparts and into the land outside Orario. Both Take and Tim peered over the walls at the place where her friend had landed, carving a divot in the layers of snow blanketing the grasslands beyond. She jumped out of the hole she had dug herself, shaking the freezing debris out of her hair and armor, before glaring up at the two stooges, who were watching her with perfectly neutral expressions. With the imperiousness of a firm teacher, Adama called out at her:
“Rule number 1, always be aware of your surroundings, goldilocks! I’ve told you this before-“
He was cut off as Aiz started back in their direction, leaping up and over the walls to continue the fight. Both men half-laughed/half-scrambled as they moved to deal with her approach. The following hours were filled with Take and Aiz taking turns as the “1”, fighting hard against the onslaught brought on by the opposing duo. This gave Aiz an opportunity to work on her teamwork, when she was part of the duo, and it improved her skills under pressure when fighting as the 1. Adama wasn’t quite capable enough to fight as the 1 yet, but he still gained a lot in terms of experience.
Truth be told, a lot of what held him back was muscle memory, or rather a lack of it. His old body had been molded by decades of sword practice. Even without the soul fire tempering, his swordsmanship in his old life had been instant and instinctive, honed by the fires of combat. The body of Timothy Forrester, however, had barely even held a sword in the 15 years before the kid had met his demise. Right now, Adama was still playing catchup, his mind usually working faster than his body. Not to mention, his attacks lacked the same indefinable significance that Take’s seemed to employ, but he suspected that he could approach that level with further practice and experience. He was already getting there, given that he was able to punch far above his weight and compete with Aiz when she was using her full physical abilities.
If only for a brief time, at least.
By the time their practice ended, everyone was breathing heavily, Take especially. When he saw Adama staring it him, he gasped out his explanation in between breaths:
“Not…huff…all of us…huff..have an adventurer’s endurance…huff huff…you know. I’m relegated..huff..to a mortal body! Even conserving my energy…huff huff…it’s hard to keep up.”
He looked over to Aiz, who seemed a little tired as well but more pouty than anything else:
“If I had been able to use Ariel, I would have won.” She muttered.
They had long agreed not to use any magic or active skills, since these early morning practices were meant to be all about improving pure swordsmanship. Adama didn’t know whether Ariel was magic or a skill, but he was silently glad that he had created that stipulation. He patted her on the shoulder, saying:
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“Once I catch up to you in Level, we can have a proper fight. No holds barred.”
He had expected the crack about catching up to her to rankle the young warrior, but she just smiled innocently and nodded earnestly back at him. With their training for the morning now complete, they dispersed. Adama had told Lilli that he would be late again today, but this time it was because he needed to run a few errands. He stopped off at the Guild to exchange his recently earned magic stones for cash, then he headed right for the tailor. Errands complete, he finally met up with Lilli and the fledglings and they went on their third outing together.
It was uneventful, by the standards of Dungeon outings. Takemikazuchi Famillia had clearly been continuing their training without him, and he was secretly pleased and a little surprised at how quickly they were improving. Adama chose to delay interfering longer than he usually would, allowing the party to lose two or more members before he stepped in. He would act if he saw them in mortal danger, but he was more likely to let Ouka and Chigusa try to stave off disaster for as long as they could after both Mikoto and Askua went down due to injury on the first run. More skill meant more staying power, which meant that he trusted them to hold on for longer, even with one or two party members out of commission.
This also meant that they were working harder and sustaining more injuries than ever before. By the time he was satisfied with their work that day, the entire party was lying in the grass, breathing heavily and staring at the ceiling. Minute shivers of pain and exhaustion ran through their bodies, their clothes perforated with sweat and dried blood. They had collapsed in relief when Adama had told them they were done with fighting the hordes for the day. However, Take Familia had misunderstood. He had never said they could rest:
“On your feet, you idiot students!” He commanded harshly, green eyes sparkling with the cold expectation of obedience, “Have you learned nothing? We still need to go back.”
With a chorus or groans and more than a little twitching, Take Familia was on their feet and moving again. The walk back was a brutal slog for them, to the point that they failed to wipe out a gang of Killer ants on the 7th floor. Reinforcements steadily poured into the room, slowly overwhelming the gang of 4 who could barely lift their weapons anymore. Adama was eventually forced to bail them out. Standing on the pile of ant bodies, Adama surveyed the Level 1 adventurers. They quailed under the pressure of his gaze, and when he saw that, he bit back any biting remarks that he had initially prepared. When he did speak, he spoke in a gruff, serious tone:
“You need to work on staying calm and focused when you’re tired.”
Without elaborating further, he strolled over to an open corner of a room and dropped down into a meditative position. The fledglings just stood and gaped at him, tired brains still processing the fact that they hadn’t been yelled at. Adama opened one eye and used it to glare at them, saying:
“What are you staring at? Start harvesting these corpses. We’ll get moving once you’re done with that, and I finish my meditation.”
He deliberately meditated for a while after they finished their task, giving them more time to rest. By the time they left the Dungeon, the fledglings were still tired, but in good spirits now. They even invited Adama out to drink, which he declined, citing his prior appointment.
Speaking of that appointment, Adama quickly showered up and started home. He donned the formal wear that Hestia had picked out for him, a forest green button-down shirt, black sportscoat, and khaki pants. He emerged from his room and went to wait by the door. Eventually, Hestia emerged from her room in her favorite black-and-saffron dress. Smiling radiantly at him, she descended the stairs with all the grace of well-bred nobility. Tim held his stoic expression and held out his arm, only making Hestia smile even more widely as she took it.
As they walked to the restaurant, they chatted about how things were going and what they did on a regular basis. In addition to being an avid reader and painter, Hestia was also a capable knitter, woodcarver, cook, cleaner, and writer. She had plenty to keep her busy in terms of keeping the house and making/selling the products of her hobbies. She chattered happily about how wool socks and sweaters were in special demand this time of year, indicating that she was keeping a fund in reserve in case their Familia needed it. Adama was just happy to hear that she wasn’t bored with so much time on her hands. She asked him questions about his own exploits in the Dungeon, which he mostly dodged or answered in a vague and euphemistic way.
By the time they got to the restaurant and got their seats, though, Hestia was looking a little irate:
“Come now, Tim, you can’t shield me from what you’re doing every day. I know it’s dangerous, and I know you’re worried about upsetting me, but stonewalling me makes me even more concerned. I see you’re working hard to pay off our debt, and I won’t try to stop you.”
Tim opened his mouth, then closed it again. He had wanted to brush her off again, fearing that she would try to hold him back like she did before. But when he looked into Hestia’s gemlike orange eyes, he found himself wanting to confide in her. So, he told her nearly everything. About the quests, his battles against the monster mobs and his strategy to lure Crystal Mantises. He didn't tell her about the details of his strategy, or his encounter with the intelligent Almiraj, but that wasn’t him keeping secrets from her. He hinted that he had even more interesting stories, but that he couldn’t share them in public, a fact which she agreed to. Hestia listened with wide eyes, before finally sitting back when he finished:
“Wow.” Was all that she could say in the moment. He nodded sagely:
“I’ve definitely been staying busy. With any luck, as I grow stronger, I’ll be able to pay off that sword loan early. And I don’t intend to slow down. Sound good?”
She nodded mutely, just as they were getting their food. The pasta, like last time, was excellent, and Tim steered the conversation back to easier topics while they ate. He told her all about his new students and their progress, as well as the different developments in his morning training sessions. Hestia seemed to enjoy learning about these much more, and she laughed when he talked about the nickname his students had given him and some of the antics that he and Take had pulled that morning. As the evening wound down, however, Hestia began to turn serious:
“As fun as this is, Tim, I did have something important I wanted to talk to you about.”
When she saw she had his full attention, she continued:
“It’s about Lilli.”
...