The next few days flew by for Milo.

Basic Claw Drills and some sparring with Gilad's students in the morning. Then breakfast with Larry followed by stories of Larry in Flowerland. Larry was becoming much better at telling stories, and more people were coming to listen to them. Then the engineering class he taught at the tower. Back to the mess hall for lunch with Larry and dancing afterward. Followed by a short class on mining and identifying ores which always turned into a contest to see who could squish the most spiderlings. Dinner was with Arlothe and Cremona, while the twins spent the evening meal talking with Larry. And then what he enjoyed the most, the excitement and terror of advanced fighting class with Gilad and Larry, pushing himself as hard as he could. That was followed by a bath and several hours studying arcane texts in the library. It was hard to imagine squeezing in more than that, and yet while his body slept in the comfy chair in the library, he was active again in the real world.

He was busy but happy. He monitored section E for troubles and kept track of the days until the big swap meet event he was going to with Butch and the gang. He even had time to visit Butch and play video games. Each time he went, he felt a little less nervous about being around them. That didn't extend to the rest of humanity, but it was a start, and he was finding that he was slightly more tolerant of the players in his morning class.

He had expected that he'd find doing the same thing tedious, but he could measure the improvement of each of the students and found that pleasing. Progress was being made. In the mornings he led the beginning class in stretching, exercise, and basic claw and tail drills. This was followed by a bell of sparring without his spell enhancements. Gilad routinely used him as an opponent to illustrate attacks, blocks and dodges. Then the two of them would spar with each of the students, followed by letting them fight with each other.

All of the students were progressing well. Even the troublesome players seemed to have had a breakthrough in attitude, asking for tougher fights and more instruction. Blackwhisker's group was the most aggressive and was learning at a fast pace, spurred on by watching what Milo and Gilad could do. They had given up thinking they were a match for Milo, and now were working hard to learn all of Gilad's fighting techniques.

Several of the students asked Tallsqueak the secret of his enhancements. He just said in a very serious voice that such magics were not for beginners, and recommended enrolling in classes at the Tower of Strife if they wished to pursue magic or becoming a Spell Claw. There was much discussion about the Spell Claw class and whether it was better than the Claw Wizard class. Several of them, both whelps from the Hollow and players had taken his advice and started taking classes in the Tower. They were dueling with the other first-year students nearly every day. Others were delighted to find out that the Hollow was a clan that trained the ratkin equivalents of rogues and assassins. A few had begun hanging out with either Petey or Charlotte.

The same was happening in reverse. After his day of dueling, Milo had noticed that the beginning fighting class was getting larger. Students from the Tower of Strife were showing up to learn the basics of fighting, wanting to add some physical ability to their magical skills. They were a great source of amusement to the rest of the class. They barely knew how to use their tails, and were slow to dodge and claw at their opponents. The exception was the student who showed up the fourth day after the duels, wearing old burlap practice clothing, with her hair tied into a long braid. Milo noticed her, but they only nodded at each other, as class was beginning.

Black Whisker told a joke asking, 'How many mages does it take to kill a spiderling? 4! One to get bit so they know it's a spiderling, two to argue about what type of spiderling it is, and one to run get a guard to stomp on it.' The students from the tower were used to being the butt of such jokes. The newcomer wasn't. When it came time to spar, the new student challenged Black Whisker. He accepted with a grin. His opponent was older than him, smaller, and a girl. He had no doubts about the outcome of this fight.

The two of them circled each other, and on his first claw attack, Black Whisker took a small scratch as his opponent raked one claw across his arm. His eyes got wide, then his face froze in a mask of horror, and the rest of his body froze in place before he toppled over. Gilad had been watching and slapped a palm on his forehead and shook his head from side to side. Then hands behind his back, he addressed the class. "It seems we need to state a few rules to keep things civil as you progress in power. This is a fighting class. Spells and enhancements are not used here. I do not break your bones with Quivering Claw attacks, Tallsqueak is not using his bone armor and magical claws, and from now on, Professor Cremona should refrain from showing what attacks using Poison Claw techniques can do."

“And, to not tempt anyone to break these rules, I am outlawing the telling of jokes that might be directed at fellow members of this class. Be respectful of others or find out just how hard playtime can be.”

"Also, I see the need to add a special class next season where we will incorporate advanced techniques such as spells, enhancements, claw techniques, and dance moves. I'm sure the healers will love the extra experience they will get each class, putting you back together. And since she is working on her fighting style after many years, I invite Professor Cremona to attend our special advanced class held here in the arena each night."

Cremona accepted both the admonishment for disrupting the class, as well as the invitation by bowing deeply to Gilad. As the students who didn't know her realized who was standing next to them, they cleared a large space around her. The students from the tower rolled their eyes and smirked. Jokes about mages became extinct.

Milo was very curious about what techniques Cremona used. She showed up that night to the advanced class with her husband. Arlothe had no intention of fighting. He had brought a comfy pillow to sit on and a huge bag of snacks to eat while he observed the fun. From the shadows, the eyes of curious students peered out. They hadn't explicitly been told that this was a private practice, but none of them wanted to get too close.

Some of them fainted when they saw Larry lumber into the arena and begin his warm-up exercises. Larry was every nightmare they had been told about while growing up.

"Don't sneak a piece of cheese, you don't want to become a fiend!

Don't stay out past the last bell, you don't want the fiends to get you.

Wash behind your ears or they'll grow so big people will think you're a fiend!"

Larry sitting passively and eating his food was one thing. Larry flexing his muscles and doing basic claw drills with 6-inch-long claws was another thing altogether. But those who had seen Larry dancing or who had listened to his stories weren’t fearful at all and quietly cheered for him. Obviously, Larry was coming to Hero practice.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

They saw that neither Gilad nor Tallsqueak was afraid to fight with Larry. Neither was Cremona when she arrived, although the shock on her face was one that Arlothe would treasure forever. Like Gilad, she had actually seen cheese fiends fighting in the Spider Wars and knew what they could do. After her initial shock, she walked into the ring and was greeted by everyone.

Gilad spoke to them all. "This little group has grown, so let us talk a bit about the rules. Tallsqueak and I are both fighting with all of our abilities. I advise you to do the same, Cremona. Larry will push all three of us, and I think he has some surprises for you. Don't be afraid to use your Poison Claw techniques on us. I think you will find that Tallsqueak and I are quite resistant to them, and we thank you for helping us with improving Strong Poison Resistance. Larry, I assume you have some resistance to poisons?"

Larry nodded. He had gotten much better at figuring out the Blue Screens and knowing what the words meant. "Larry has Fiendish Resistance at level 1. It says that it is based on Larry's CON. Larry has a CON of 33."

Gilad paused but recovered his train of thought. "Thank you, Larry. I think your special resistance will work against many things and hopefully, you will gain some experience fighting against Professor Cremona. Now, some rules:

If anyone wishes to stop fighting, call 'HOLD!' and we stop immediately, and administer healing potions.

If Larry seems upset, or angry, we should all take a break and have a cookie.

If your opponent is stunned or off balance, please refrain from using finishing blows. They tend to be messy."

Fighting began with Larry and Tallsqueak. Tallsqueak armored himself in bone, his claws gleamed, and his long tail moved in a complex pattern, ready to strike. Larry was hopping from foot to foot, smiling.

"Begin!"

Larry hopped straight at Tallsqueak, landing where his opponent had been standing. The smaller ratkin rolled to the side and came up ready to block Larry's claws. Instead, Larry had immediately begun a spinning kick. He didn't know where his opponent was dodging, but anywhere around him was a target. Larry's large foot, adorned with a pink fuzzy baby weasel slipper caught Milo in the stomach and he went flying out of the ring to land flat on his back in front of several students from Clan Puffyfur, who helped him stand up. There was mild cheering for Larry.

Gilad calmly announced, "The next round will be Professor Cremona and Larry. I urge everyone to remember how quick Larry has become and to use distance as a way to avoid his attacks. I thank Tallsqueak for giving us such a fine example of what happens when you don't."

Cremona entered the ring with some hesitation but then threw away any concern. She was used to dueling with Arlothe and being electrocuted on a daily basis. Some bruises and cuts were a price she would have to pay to get back into shape for claw fighting. The chance to improve her dueling ability was too good of a chance to pass up. The chance to fight against a cheese fiend was a gift she should be thankful for.

"Begin."

This time, Larry spun in place, then hopped to the left, followed by three quick steps towards Cremona. She was astonished. He wasn't moving like a fiend! He was staying on two legs and it looked like he was dancing! Cremona quickly moved away and began dodging as fast as she could, not knowing what she was facing. Eventually, she saw an opening and exhaled a stinking cloud of toxic gas at Larry's head.

"Larry can't see! Go away stinky cloud!" He waved his claws through the air, trying to disperse it.

Cremona raced forward and slashed at Larry's arm, leaving long cuts that bubbled a green ichor. Simultaneously she took a very hard blow to her head from Larry's tail and was knocked unconscious. She came back to her senses a moment later. Arlothe had her head tilted back and was pouring a health potion down her throat. She held her head as it throbbed. "Oh, that hurts."

Tallsqueak and Larry were seated in the ring having cookies. Gilad was observing them. Larry's wound had quit expelling the poison from the slash and had scabbed over already, half-healed.

"That was an interesting bout. Larry, what did you learn?"

Larry finished his cookie first, before talking. It wasn't polite to talk with food in your mouth. "Larry learned that green girl has stinky clouds that make you not see. Larry needs to remember to move Larry's head out of a cloud, and not wave and yell. "Shoo cloud, go away."

He took another cookie and then looked at Cremona. "Larry learned green girl makes lots of noise when she moves. Larry's ears told his tail to slap her. Now we have cookies. Larry likes cookies."

“Oh, and Blue Boxes say that Larry is now at Rank 2 in Fiendish Resistance.”

Arlothe laughed and Cremona was silent, wishing her stealth score was better. Mages didn't need to be sneaky, did they? Against a fiend, it seemed they did. That meant shouting out spells was right out, and she'd need to find a way to increase her skulking skills. Did Old Healer still have that huge maze in his basement? Maybe she and Arlothe should start having duels in it? The first hit wins and playing in the dark? Oh, that would be fun!

Gilad took a round with Larry, and Tallsqueak yelled, "Begin!" This round went much longer than the earlier two. Gilad danced in and out of Larry's reach, throwing punches and slashing at his opponent. Larry advanced with hops, spins, and quick steps, forcing his smaller opponent to constantly dodge around him. Larry landed several hits with his tail and claws, but Gilad always seemed to be blocking his blows and deflected most of the damage. After nearly ten minutes, Larry spun and missed; Gilad appeared directly in front of him and thrust out with a hard punch to Larry's jaw, knocking him down.

Larry slowly got up, holding his head. He smiled and crawled over to the plate of cookies. "Larry needs a cookie break." Gilad looked at his hand, noting he had broken two bones in it. "Tallsqueak? Please pass me a potion and I would appreciate you setting my bones and healing the breaks. Then I think it's time for you and Cremona to take a turn while I have a cookie break."

The bouts went on until halfway through the 11th bell. They ended early because they were out of healing potions and cookies. All four opponents were battered and bruised. Larry the least hurt, his Fiendish Regeneration fixing all but the most lethal of attacks in only a few minutes. Cremona was worst off, bruised from head to toe, limping and leaning on her husband. But she was smiling and planning revenge in the future.

They all sat in the mess hall as Bleusnout happily cooked them plate after plate of food, while he listened to them talk about the techniques each used and how to counter them. Larry ate the equivalent of three of his normal dinners, stretched, and declared he was sleepy. Gilad also proclaimed himself ready for bed. Tallsqueak walked with the Professors to the Tower of Strife before going off to bathe and then retiring to the library for his late-night studies.