DAY 8

TWO DAYS UNTIL THE FIRST EVALUATION

Seiji paced outside of the training hall, twirling his dagger in his hand with each step. It was a nervous habit he’d developed in his youth. Not a nervous habit, a party trick. Seiji dropped the dagger for the fifth time now, letting out a deep sigh as he picked it up in a trembling hand.

I must’ve gotten rusty. There’s no–

“Why do you have a dagger? You won’t need it while we’re out.”

Seiji turned to Cora with wide eyes. “It’s for the… style.”

This was the first time he’d seen Cora wear something that wasn’t at all designed for combat. She wore a low-cut sleeveless white shirt, form-fitting black pants with bronze accents, white heels, and bronze bracelets on either wrist.

Observe, Emapathize, Soothe. Observe, Empathize, Soothe. Observe–

“...Nice outfit.”

Thankfully, or perhaps unfortunately, she didn’t respond immediately. She was focused intently on Seiji’s shirt. Though the black slacks and brown boots were relatively mundane, his white shirt was a bit new for Seiji. It was white, slightly baggy, and exposed a bit of his chest. It was hot out. There was nothing wrong with dressing for the season, was there? Seiji didn’t think it looked bad. It was casual – not too ostentatious and not too formal.

“Hm?” Cora hummed, still focused on Seiji’s shirt.

“I said nice outfit.”

“Oh. Right.”

She wrenched her eyes away from Seiji’s shirt and looked into his eyes. Lavender met red as she finally spoke.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

They stared at one another for a long, silent moment. Seiji broke the stalemate.

“I hope my outfit doesn’t… offend you. I wanted to look casual–”

“I-it’s too casual! Too plain! Boring!” Cora stammered. She turned her nose up at him. “That’s why I was staring. I’m appalled you would come to me in such a boring outfit!”

That wasn’t fair. He’d put thought into this outfit. His hakama seemed a bit too foreign to not be eye-catching, and he didn’t want to take people’s attention away from Cora. When he ordered his outfits on the first day, he picked clothes specifically to be used for battle. He did have the outfit from when he met the royal family, but Seiji would rather go back to The Ardor than willingly repeat an outfit. In the same week, no less.

Cora shook her head and sighed. She raised her palms in a shrug as she said, “It’s a good thing we’re wardrobe shopping for today’s out–... training.”

“Speaking of training, what’s the plan?” Seiji tried, tucking his dagger into its sheath at his side. He hoped she wouldn't notice.

“Ah! I’m glad you asked.”

Thankfully, she didn't.

Cora revealed a folded sheet of paper from her pocket and began to list out their plans for the day. She insisted on going to the clothing store first, adding that speaking with the stylists would be an easy way to test his ability to hold a casual conversation. Next, they’d visit a new dessert boutique she’d been dying to visit. Seiji wasn’t sure how that would push the limits of his training, but he wouldn’t say no to good food. After that, they’d help local merchants near the ‘Coliseum Portal’ with whatever disputes they had going on. Though Seiji was dimly excited to see how bad these merchants were, he was far more intrigued by the ‘Coliseum Portal’. He said as much, but Cora refused to tell him what it was beyond it being a “portal to the Coliseum”. Instead, she told him about their next location, a perfumery. When Seiji asked why, Cora said it was in preparation for when they visit her favorite restaurant after sunset. He asked for more elaboration, but she’d refused again, insisting that they needed to leave that very moment to skip the lines.

***

After about six hours of shopping and walking around Haven, Seiji came to a simple conclusion: real life was far simpler than training. While clothes shopping was quite slow, he stood apart from Cora for most of it – the girl refusing to show her the outfit she picked until later in the day. Regardless, he ended up carrying all of her bags. The dessert boutique was much the same. They went in, ate a large sampler platter, then left. Seiji was a bit more nervous to meet with the merchants, but they were surprisingly pleasant to talk to. The only real issue they had to deal with was chasing down a child who’d attempted to steal a chicken skewer to impress his friends. Seiji handled it with ease, taking the stolen food back and warning the kid against doing that kind of thing again before buying the food and giving it to the kid himself. The perfumery was the hardest part of the day, though not due to anything related to conversation. He and Cora had sampled over twenty different bottles of various colognes and perfumes, and after a while he ended up ‘nose-blind’ as Cora called it. She had him sniff a tiny plate of coffee beans, but it didn’t help much. He could still smell more ‘Au Coeur de la Forêt’ than air.

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“So, do I pass?” Seiji asked, though he barely heard his own voice. His arms were draped in bags, a few laying around his neck. With every step, he heard plastic.

“Not yet,” Cora answered, arms and neck empty of bags. “Dinner at Athena’s Antichamber is the… final… test.”

Cora trailed off. Seiji turned to the girl who’d been staring off into the distance. He followed her gaze and immediately realized why she’d been taken aback. The crowds parted as a woman strolled through, a woman with golden wings.

“Hey, you two!” Endora waved. She carried a bag in one hand, a bag Seiji recognized as being from the clothing store he’d gone to with Cora.

“E-Endora!” Cora called, running up to the Valkyrie. Seiji trailed after her, nodding to the Valkyrie when he approached. Endora massaged behind Cora’s ear before patting Seiji on the shoulder. A bag nearly fell.

“Ah, I’ll take care of that.”

Endora summoned two Aqua Silhouettes who waved and prompted Seiji to give them the bags. Once he did, they ran off into the distance. Endora promised they’d be delivered within the hour, something Seiji greatly appreciated.

“Now that that’s out of the way,” Endora began. Her face looked mischievous as she leaned closer to Seiji and Cora. “How’d your date go?”

“I… this… we didn’t…” Cora stammered. She turned to Seiji, her eyes pleading.

What am I supposed to say?

“This wasn’t a date,” Seiji said flatly. “It was training. I’m not great at talking to people in casual settings, and I’m not always great at controlling my emotions. The idea behind today’s training was to meet with people in various settings so that I may experience dealing with various types of conversations. I need to be well-spoken and level-headed in order to pass the First Evaluation.”

“That you do, that you do…” Endora nodded absently. “Anyway, I want to make sure we’re on the same page. What did you two do today?”

Seiji recounted the day’s events.

“So, you two went shopping for clothes, had lunch together, got a kid on the straight-and-narrow, and went to a perfumery.”

“It wasn't lunch, it was a dessert sampl–”

“It was lunch. Anyway, I’m guessing you two are going to a restaurant or a club or something of the sort later tonight?”

Seiji nodded cautiously.

“I see,” Endora mused, pointing a weak finger at Seiji. “So she dolled you up to get you ready for tonight's date, then threw in the merchant stuff to hide that from you?”

He… hadn’t thought of it like that. The thought flattered him, but he truly had nothing to say in response. Seiji didn’t trust his own words. He looked down at Cora for some sort of confirmation, but the girl was beet red, her tail lashing furiously beneath drooped pearlescent ears.

“Stop making it weird, Endora...” Cora tried, though it came out like a whisper.

Seiji recalled King Vassilis’ words. The king wanted him to have faith in Cora. Well, Seiji had faith that Cora could handle this conversation. He really did want to change the topic, though.

“I’m not!” Endora laughed. “In fact, I encourage it!”

This isn’t a fight, and I don’t think the king is going to come and stop Endora from making things more awkward.

“You know, dating is the fastest way to adv–”

“That's a nice outfit you have on. Did you get it from Keres’ Clothes? They have a wide selection.” Seiji interrupted.

Observe, Empathize, Soothe. This is what we trained for.

Endora wore a long white coat with the bottom left side exposed, revealing white pants and white heels. Unlike most other outfits in Haven, it was accented in red rather than gold. He’d seen many such outfits in Keres’ Clothes earlier, but they were quite expensive even for Cora.

“Ah, I see,” Endora muttered. With a smile, she continued. “My Servant Akio will be returning from a work trip pretty soon.” She raised her bag a bit higher. “I got this from Keres’ Clothes, but not my current outfit. Those guys don’t make good battle clothes, and I need something good if I’m going to fight you two with Akio.”

Training with Endora was invaluable. Each time they fought, Seiji could feel the results immediately – better aura control, better combos, better applications for his techniques. Training with a Valkyrie and her Servant? Haven may as well get the champagne ready. As excited as the thought made him, this friendly chat was still training. It was unbecoming to talk about combat during a formal conversation.

“I… see,” Seiji managed to say. “I’m sure the lines were quite long.”

“Yeah,” Endora sighed. “They are, but that’s what you get when you have the best service! Battle-ready clothes in under an hour. They’re the only place that sells clothes that can handle Akio’s Shadow Aspect. Everything else breaks!”

Shadow Aspect? Didn’t Cora say that I’d most likely develop a Shadow Aspect?

“T-that must be quite… difficult for him!” Seiji managed to say.

Endora narrowed her eyes and smirked. “He reached Tier 40 during our last mission together.”

“Tier 40?!” Cora cried, drawing a few gazes from the people around them. “When does he come back? We need to train together!”

Endora gave Seiji a smile that radiated smug pride before turning to Cora. Her smile slowly turned from victorious to eager.

“I called him yesterday. He said he should be back around the First Exhibition!” Cora’s face fell, and Endora immediately placed a hand on the girl’s head. “I know, but we’ll make it worth the wait, I promise! We’ll give you both our full attention.” She gathered Cora and Seiji by their shoulders. “We’re gonna make you two the scariest duo in Haven! I hope you guys can hold out!”

“We’ll be ready!” Cora said with certainty.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Seiji agreed. He really meant it, too. Training with currently undefeatable opponents may be just what he needed to unlock his Aspect. If those two from the Botanist’s Bond Event could do it, surely he could.

Endora nodded at Seiji and Cora, matching their enthusiasm. After exchanging a few words about her actual plans for the day, she left to finish her day’s shopping, leaving Seiji alone with Cora once again.

“Thanks for trying to talk to Endora for me,” Cora said, her tone remorseful. A bit more softly, she added, “Though it hardly worked.”

Seiji turned to her, and Cora raised her hands in a placating gesture.

“You did nothing wrong!” Cora assured. “Endora is just… the exception to most rules.”

“Like a Valkyrie...” Seiji mused aloud.

He recalled Eir’s words to them in the gazebo. She told them that Valkyries made their own rules, and faced the consequences of those decisions on their own. Cora nodded her agreement, her face resolute.

After about ten minutes of walking, Seiji stood beside Cora, both in front of the alleyway leading to their training hall.

“As soon as the sun sets, come to the training hall.”

Seiji looked up into the mid-day sun.

“That’ll be a while, won’t it?” Seiji responded doubtfully.

Cora grinned. “I want to arrive in style!”