Less than a second later, Isaac reappeared in his tent, only to be greeted by a voice full of confusion.
“Wait… what? How did you…!?”
Lefiya had just woken up and was yawning unrestrainedly, when suddenly, out of nowhere, Isaac appeared right in the middle of their tent. Her mind was still a little bit slow and foggy, so she could only mumble to herself, trying to make sense of what had just happened.
Thinking this to be as good an opportunity as any, Isaac took this chance to reveal yet another part of his capabilities.
“I can teleport.”
Without thinking too hard about what he just said, Lefiya simply nodded her head.
“Oh, so that’s why. Now it makes sense…”
It took her a while to realize that something… was off. But when she did, her eyes suddenly widened in shock, while all that weariness evaporated instantly. She was about to follow her instincts and shout in disbelief.
But before she could do so, Isaac hastily grabbed her and sealed her mouth with his hand.
He was aware that what he just did wasn’t really appropriate, but Lefiya hadn’t given him much time to do anything else. He didn’t want her to alert the whole campsite and possibly give people some wrong impressions, that would just be an annoying bother. At the same time, he didn’t want to waste AP by teleporting himself and the panicked Elf away. So, the only thing left was to forcefully shut her up.
An awkward smile played across Isaac’s lips. He had perfectly controlled his strength, so besides some unavoidable discomfort, Lefiya shouldn’t be in any physical pain. Still, thanks to his abrupt actions, her eyes had turned unfocused and she seemed to be quivering in shock. But he couldn’t really let that bother him now.
With the same tranquil and steady voice that was normally able to calm her down, he explained himself.
“Sorry about this. I didn’t want you to alert the whole party. If you promise me that you won’t shout, I’ll release you. Okay? Nod if you agree.”
Thankfully, his words were still able to reach her, and Lefiya’s panic subsided near instantly. She had simply been taken aback by the suddenness of the situation but now that something familiar had helped her to compose herself again, she felt a lot more secure. With a now steady gaze, she nodded slightly and Isaac removed his hand, setting Lefiya down in the process. But before he could widen his distance from her, the young Elf seemed to lose all of her strength and leaned against him. Thankfully, though, she kept quiet.
As this mistreatment had been his fault, Isaac decided to not bother the timid girl about the close physical contact and give her some time to rest. It didn’t look like she was doing it on purpose and the least he could do was give her a shoulder to rest on for the trouble he caused. Had he just talked to her in a more controlled situation or planned his return more thoroughly, Lefiya wouldn’t have panicked like she did. Considering how many unbelievable sights she had been exposed to by now, Isaac hadn’t thought she would have a hard time controlling herself in the face of such a comparatively harmless revelation. Well, quite obviously, he had been wrong.
A couple of deep breaths later, a contemplative look appeared on Lefiya’s face as she thought about what he had just told her. With a serious glint in her eyes, she looked up at him, not even consciously realizing how close they were. And that she was only wearing her thin nightgown.
“Is the teleportation a part of the ability that lets you travel between worlds?”
No matter how foolishly she often behaved, Lefiya was quite the astute observer. Well, in all honesty, it wasn’t too outlandish to assume two travel-related abilities were connected in some way. Still, her deduction still earned her some praise in Isaac’s mind. Seeing no point in hiding it, he nodded.
“You could say that.”
Both teleportation and world travel were a part of the system, which was his creation, his ability. Although Lefiya’s thoughts would surely veer off into a different direction, no matter what she thought of, she couldn’t really be wrong. No matter what it was, the system would be capable of it, after all. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say that Isaac was capable of it, with the system just being a fancy limiter he forced upon himself to be able to experience an enjoyable journey.
As Isaac’s answer hadn’t been a clear and dry “Yes”, his words only caused Lefiya some more minor confusion. What exactly did his words mean? What was he implying? And most importantly… how could Isaac make use of his teleportation ability in the best, most efficient way? Was there any way she could help him?
More than a minute of being lost in thought later, Lefiya subconsciously shifted her body, which caused her to suddenly freeze up. Just now, she had accidentally buried herself into Isaac’s chest…
Lefiya hastily hid her face while her ears were quivering in shame, getting increasingly more red by the minute. Rather than naughty thoughts, what filled her mind was just simple embarrassment. How hadn’t she noticed?! For all this time, she had just been nestled up against him, totally unaware? As if anyone would believe that, even though it was the truth! Would Isaac perhaps think less of her or would he assume she had tried to take advantage of him?! Also… how was it appropriate for a noble Elf like her to be held close by a man, only covered by a thin cloth?
Seeing her change in behaviour, Isaac judged her mental state to have recovered enough and his debt to be repaid. With a somewhat forced smile, he gently pushed her away a little, until they were about an arm’s length apart. To help her snap out of her distracting thoughts, he grabbed her shoulders somewhat tightly and looked at her with a stern look on his face.
“Like always, please keep the teleportation a secret.”
The very slight pain in her shoulders jolted Lefiya ‘awake’ and she hastily nodded, although she was still trying to dodge Isaac’s gaze a little. After all, she had behaved quite inappropriately. It would take her a while to regain her bearing.
A heavy sigh later, Isaac stood back up and looked towards Ais, who had been observing the whole situation with an amused smile on her face. She was very well aware that Lefiya had no romantic feelings towards Isaac. After all, she didn’t give Ais the same gut feeling that Tiona did. Thanks to that, she didn’t even feel the slightest discomfort when seeing the young Elf so close to her beloved. Hadn’t Lefiya cuddled up to her in her sleep a few times before as well? And hadn’t Lefiya fallen asleep while resting on her shoulder when they were relaxing on a bench after shopping for new equipment? So wouldn’t it be weird for her to complain when Lefiya did the same or something similar with Isaac?
While such close physical contact between a man and a woman would in the vast majority of cases not be looked upon in an innocent light, Ais knew that there was absolutely no danger of anything of that kind happening with Isaac involved. Especially because she was sure that he thought of the cute, young Elf as more of a ‘pet’, just like with Mina. And she couldn’t blame him for that. After all, even she thought that Lefiya was adorable.
Ais showed a small smile, then walked up to Isaac and gave him a quick peck on the lips. Although it was still a bit early, it wouldn’t hurt to assemble in the command tent a little prematurely and maybe talk to Riveria for a bit.
With that in mind, she took one of Lefiya’s hands and helped her up, then dragged her along outside of the tent after waving at Isaac.
“See you later.”
Taking a moment to relish the aftertaste of the kiss, Isaac only left the tent a couple of moments later. By that time, the two girls had already disappeared into the command tent.
Because there wasn’t anything else he could do for now, Isaac made his way towards his supporter team’s tents, trying to see if any of them were awake already. Line would, most likely, not have left for the meeting yet and everyone else always liked to sleep in when they could, so he wasn’t too confident in encountering anyone.
Still, he did. The always somewhat awkwardly cold Aselina was already clad in her full gear and busying herself against an imaginary opponent. Just because the supporters hadn’t had a chance to fight during the expedition didn’t mean that they could neglect their training. With quite a bit of force, she swung her two-handed blade, creating moderately strong gusts of wind in the process. While trying not to disturb her, Isaac silently observed her.
Although her mindset was admirable, seeing how she was the only one who was training this early in the morning, very quickly, Isaac couldn’t help to shake his head disapprovingly. The way she used her sword was just too painfully amateurish. She lost more than two thirds of the power of her attacks due to improper handling. She also committed way too much to each slash, making it near impossible to change course or react to sudden changes. Basically, she was betting her life on every strike. Such an approach might work on weaker monsters who wouldn’t have a chance to resist. But what if she encountered stronger, smarter monsters or even opponents of the sentient races? The Raccoon girl would all too easily be played to death, falling for traps she wouldn’t be able to escape from.
When he thought about this, Isaac couldn’t help but imagine what Ais would feel if such a thing came to pass. Most likely, even if they weren’t particularly close, she would be saddened by the death of one of her familia members. And that was definitely something he wanted to avoid.
While pulling a couple of two-handed, wooden training swords out of his inventory, Isaac showed a reluctant smile before walking up to Aselina. Thankfully, he had long ago stocked up on training weapons of all kinds. They were remarkably inexpensive and to be prepared to teach his students at any time, he had put a shocking number and variety of them into his inventory. Thanks to the particular kinds of wood used in their production, the training weapons would even have about the same weight as a normal weapon, making them quite the effective training tool.
“I’m sorry to interrupt you like this. But here, take this. Then watch and learn.”
Normally, if one was talked to in such a rude manner, one would feel a bit of discontent. Still, Aselina didn’t. She was way too socially inept to even recognize that Isaac hadn’t been especially polite right now. Still, even if she had realized it, it wouldn’t matter - she wasn’t one for useless sophistry. So after hearing Isaac’s words, she only showed a somewhat confused expression while laying down her weapon and catching the wooden one Isaac had tossed her.
“First, let me show you how you moved just now.”
Without waiting for another word from her - she wouldn’t say anything anyway - Isaac replayed her previous attacks in slow motion.
“Did you notice it? If you put a little bit less weight on your right foot and grip the sword’s handle one and a half centimeters further apart…”
Yet again, he performed Aselina’s previous actions. This time, however, they were a lot more steady. By minutely shifting his weight, he could quite easily dodge any attacks as well. Having showcased this, he performed the same slashes again and again, getting faster each time, before even eclipsing Aselina’s maximum speed. Not once did he make any kind of mistake.
Due to teaching Mina, Jakk and Quinn, Isaac had plenty of experience in including someone’s majorly differing physical features into his calculations and still performing in a way which they could perfectly replicate. If he went out of his way to change his body into perfect replicas of theirs - which wouldn’t be an impossibility - he would be able to show them even more efficient ways to move their bodies and stabilize themselves. Still, he could let them reach a similar level of proficiency by letting them rely on their instincts and pointing out the flaws he observed. There was no need to go that much over the top.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“Now it’s your turn. Try it. Don’t worry if you don’t get it right immediately.”
With a small nod, Aselina tried her best to imitate what she had just seen, although she was quite clumsy at it. No matter how clearly Isaac had just shown her her flaws, she still had a major hurdle to overcome. After all, just like most others in this world, she had never been taught combat skills. She was entirely self-taught. And after fighting in a specific way for quite a few years, it was difficult to change one’s ways. Even more so if one wasn’t even entirely aware of what one was doing in the first place.
That was exactly where Isaac’s pointers came into play. After each attempt, he helped her to slowly adjust her grip, shift her stance and iron out any perceptible flaws. Step by step, he brought her closer to the ideal he had shown her.
While the two were immersed in their training, Bryce peeked his head out of his tent and watched them with interest. At first, he had thought Isaac was just taking advantage of Aselina, as that was what he would have done. Very quickly, however, he noticed how sophisticatedly Isaac showcased all of these different movements. It was truly breathtaking and baffling. For a moment, an excited but serious expression showed on his face, before quickly getting replaced by his usual mischievous one.
After changing into some proper attire, he jogged towards the two and waved happily.
“Good morning! Mind if I join you?”
A calculative smile flashed across Isaac’s lips, before he replied with a simple nod. He had long since expected this development. After all, even an idiot would be able to recognize his competence in teaching others and combat itself. His bodily control was at a seemingly inhumane level, after all. Now that he was teaching someone out in the open, rather close to the center of the expedition party’s campsite, others were bound to take notice. And he planned to give pointers to all who approached him.
The more likely they were to survive, the better. Ais wouldn’t have to be sad and the only force in this world that he could truly rely on - besides the one he was building himself - would be empowered. Although most of them would never be able to reach the heights he was aiming for unless he dragged them up there himself, they would still be able to deal with some of the minor rabble they would come across. Overall, he couldn’t devote much time to these people compared to his actual students. But while he was here and had nothing better to do, he would help them out a bit.
-----
“Alright, that’s all for today. You all know what to do.”
At about 11 a.m., the meeting finally ended. They had been talking non-stop for around five hours, so when they heard Finn’s closing words, everyone in attendance orderly made their way out of the command tent.
The moment they left, however, their faces changed completely and they became rooted to the spot. They had just seen something incredible.
“Hey, quit blocking the way you idiots!”
Annoyed at having the others stop right in front of the exit, Bete pushed his way through before having a look at what had impacted them so much. Although he had wanted to complain, he quickly fell silent, before a somewhat angry but fearful look appeared on his face. Without any further comment, he hurried off into the distance, deciding that he would rather patrol the area. Out of sight, out of mind, after all.
Finn, who - together with Riveria and Gareth - was one of the last three to leave the tent, was confused by this. What could have made the unruly werewolf react in such a manner? And even more than that, why was everyone just distractedly staring ahead?
He didn’t need to wait long for an answer, though, because as soon as he saw what had the others so spooked, he understood. A wry smile played across his lips while Riveria just shook her head and released a relieved sigh. Gareth’s eyes opened wide in surprise, before he released a loud and bellowing laugh.
“That kid ain’t bad!”
While they had heard some noises coming from outside during their meeting, they just sounded like part of some regular training exercises. They didn’t let themselves get distracted. Now, they finally saw the full extent of what had been going on all this time.
Every single expedition party member that was available was gathered in one of the larger open areas of the campsite. The only ones missing were the ones currently on guard duty, the ones who had been on guard duty last night and were currently sleeping, and them - the ones who had been in the command tent.
Depending on which kind of weapon they used, be it a one-handed sword, daggers, an axe, a bow, et cetera, all of the assembled members were teamed up and lined up in an orderly fashion. Showing only complete focus on their faces, they were repeating specific movements time and time again, trying to iron out the few still apparent flaws.
In the midst of all of this, Isaac was hurrying around, giving some general advice to each group and then giving some more personal pointers as well. Occasionally, he would spar with some of them for a few moves, helping them to sharpen their skills and trying to make them use their improved skills subconsciously. He didn’t spend much time on each of them, but even this was still a lot of help.
Even the mages were taking part in the training, getting taught hand-to-hand combat skills…
The entire situation had grown far beyond what Isaac had expected. Originally, he had thought that maybe only a few supporter teams would want his advice. But surprisingly, even the main force members had joined in. Even all of the ones who had openly been somewhat hostile towards him before due to their jealousy had asked him for help. It was truly astonishing. After all, it was really hard to admit one’s mistakes and gather the courage to ask others for support. Oftentimes, people would be too stuck in their own ways to do so. And even more than that, couldn’t they just have observed from the sidelines and still picked up a few things? Such thoughts would make it all too easy for them to escape making a real decision.
It had all started with one main force member asking to join and then it snowballed until all of them were involved. Some of them might not have even wanted to do so, but their friends dragged them along. In any case, now it was too late to back out and they were improving comparatively rapidly, so there was no real reason to leave.
No matter how strong they were or what they thought about him as a person, they were all able to appreciate Isaac’s skill. Even more than that, they knew that if they improved their combat standards, they would be able to live longer. There was no need to feel ashamed about asking for help, especially because they were part of the same familia - there was no need to stand on ceremony. In the end, their lives were more important than some petty squabbles. People with such mindsets were surprisingly not that common, showcasing yet again how only the elite of the elite could join the Loki Familia. Or, well, anyone Loki fancied.
“Captain, can I go as well?”
With an excited smile on her face, Tiona turned to Finn, who nodded in response.
“Go ahead. But remember that we’ll set off in an hour.”
Finn’s words seemed to have opened a floodgate, with nearly everyone surrounding him swarming towards Isaac’s training group, leaving only the three Top Executives behind.
“I didn’t expect him to be this skillful. How is this even possible?”
With the level his eyesight had reached, it was exceedingly easy for Finn to follow each one of Isaac’s movements, which just caused him to become progressively more shocked. How could a person possibly have such fine-tuned control over their own body? He couldn’t detect any flaws at all, even with his wealth of experience. Was such a degree of perfection even achievable? It just didn’t make sense.
Now that Finn was aware of this, he had to admit that it was no wonder that Isaac could raise his Level so quickly. In all honesty, it would be hard to not rise through the ranks like a shooting star.
Yet again, Riveria released a relieved sigh. A small part of her burden seemed to have just disappeared.
“I don’t know. But with him helping out, the kids will surely improve by leaps and bounds.”
Both Gareth and Finn couldn’t help but nod. Then, the stocky Dwarf suddenly showed a somewhat teasing smile while looking at his old Pallum friend.
“Maybe he’ll be able to give our rusty bones a few pointers as well, eh?”
Not even bothering to hide his excitement, Finn nodded. With such an opportunity for improvement dangling in front of him, it was hard not to be moved. For too many years, he had been stuck at Level 6. Maybe, with a little higher combat standards, he would be able to finally take a step forward again...
“It’s quite likely. But there are already so many people surrounding him. Let’s find another opportunity to exchange some pointers with him later.”
Looking at these two veterans of many wars, who were reduced to little more than excited children now, Riveria showed a small smile.
‘I haven’t seen them this thrilled in many years. Isaac… you’re really a marvel…’
The three of them calmly continued to observe the ongoing training. All the while, Finn had a somewhat contemplative look on his face. Finally, he nodded to himself, seemingly having made a decision.
“Maybe we should change our campsite-related plans a bit. We can ask Isaac to regularly train everyone who has to stay here. That would be a lot more effective than having them train by themselves as usual. I wonder if he’ll agree to it.”
Riveria’s reply was almost immediate. By now, she had quite the good understanding of the young man.
“He surely will. He wouldn’t have made such a huge scene on a whim. Even our reactions are quite likely part of his plan as well.”
For a bit, Finn raised his eyebrows in surprise, then he nodded. Riveria was right. He had forgotten again. That young man wasn’t ordinary in the slightest. The more he got to know about him, the more it felt like they were all just playing on the top of his palm, with everything under his control. But if he compared this feeling to the foreboding one that had been haunting him for a while, it was quite different. The danger he felt caused his thumb to tingle painfully, while what Isaac made him feel was a comfortable safety. It felt like everything would be taken care of if he just followed along mindlessly.
Thankfully, Finn was experienced and smart enough to not fully rely on either of these feelings to make his decisions. They may be able to give him an indication of what would most likely happen in the future, still, that didn’t mean he could stop doing his best and trying his hardest. After all, even if his safety was to be guaranteed, he still had to grasp his dream with his own two hands. One should never be too comfortable if one wants to achieve their goal.
-----
All but one of the main forces had left for the 51st floor to take care of some preliminary scouting. If everything went according to plan, they would return in the late evening.
It was around 3 p.m. now and Isaac was leisurely eating some bread while sitting next to Auroch and Claire. They had eaten some lunch and been watching Line and Cedar have a chess match after everyone at camp had gotten too exhausted to continue training.
“Checkmate.”
A smug and confident smile played across Cedar’s lips, while Line’s shoulders slumped in disappointment. It had seemed like a very close match to her, but in the end, she had still not been able to deal with his strategy…
Now that he had just won a game, Cedar was in an exceptionally good mood and looked at Isaac in a confrontational manner.
“Want to give it a try as well? Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you.”
Seemingly distraught, Isaac released a pained sigh and shook his head. This convinced Cedar even more of his hypothesis that Isaac wasn’t good at chess. After all, during the game, he hadn’t seemed interested in the slightest. He was surely only feigning disinterest to avoid embarrassing himself. After all, Isaac couldn’t be good at everything, right?
Cedar didn’t mind lowering his head and asking for help during the earlier training, because Isaac was truly more skilled than him in that regard. It would be unbecoming of him to be petty about it. But chess? That was his true forte!
“What? Are you afraid?”
When Isaac nodded, Cedar’s smile widened, but after he heard his actual reply, his expression darkened by several degrees.
“I’m afraid of beating you too badly, making you lose all hope and your will to live.”
Furious at having been ‘underestimated’ to such a degree, Cedar irritatedly grumbled.
“That won’t happen! Now, let’s have a match!”
Yet again, a sigh escaped Isaac’s lips, before he shook his head and walked forward, sitting down next to the chess board. He looked at the arrogant Elf in front of him with only pity in his eyes.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you…”
Instead of reacting to his words, Cedar had already fully focused on the chess board, choosing to ignore what he judged to be a provocation.
-----
Ten games later, Cedar was staring at Isaac with a pale face, his lips quivering in disbelief and fear. But still, he managed to mutter one - by now - all too familiar word.
“A-Again…”
Meanwhile, Isaac was drinking so water, ignoring the struggling Elf and smiling while immersing himself in conversation with the others. All this time, he had been casually moving his pieces while seemingly not paying any attention to the board at all. Yet, no matter what Cedar did, he couldn’t even get close to winning a single time…
To be honest, Isaac was feeling a little apologetic. After all, it felt like he was bullying a newborn. No matter how complex chess might seem to others, the realm of prediction he entered casually every time he was in combat was infinitely more so. The two honestly couldn’t even be compared to each other. For Isaac, chess was too easy. A specific word to describe the sheer ease of it didn’t even exist yet.
While outwardly laughing at one of Bryce’s jokes, in his mind, Isaac released a pent-up sigh.
‘So boring… it sucks that I can’t leave here during the day…’