Two days ter at noon we meet up at the guild and sit down at a table where John and Sher Aka are already waiting for us.

  “So, how have you two decided?”

  Sher Aka sighs and answers, “We are going to stay in your party for now and keep traveling with you. It’s not a final decision though, if we decide that it’s not a good idea to stay with you anymore on the way we’ll leave.”

  “I understand.”

  “So we can stay together!? Yippee!”

  “Pfft…Yippee? What are you five?” John scoffs.

  “Haha, who knows he might be.”

  “Aw come on don’t be mean to Thoma.”

  “Yes, my apologies. Let’s go to the Guild Master and tell her our decision.”

  We then walk up and sit down in Uli’s office.

  “So? What decision have you made?”

  “We’re staying together and leaving Berk.”

  “I see…Two weeks. Stay here for two more weeks and train, I will organize a wagon with some rations and beddings for you. Come with me.”

  She walks down to the veterans lounge and we follow behind. She then approaches a bunny beastkin woman, “Siril, I’m going on a two week vacation, you take over for the time being.”

  “Wh-What!? Guildmaster, you have never taken a vacation even once since you started working here, is everything okay?”

  “If I have never taken one that just makes it overdue for me to take one.”

  “I-I guess. But Guild Master, are you aware of what this implies?”

  “That I consider you a suitable successor? Yes, that’s why I asked you to take over. I can’t promise you that I’ll step down while you’re still alive but if you wish to take over a different branch you have my full support.”

  “I understand, thank you for trusting me, guildmaster. I’ll make sure to not disappoint you.”

  “Good, when they get here tell Gary and Martin to come to my mansion. I’ll hire them as trainers for the next two weeks.”

  “As you wish, guildmaster.”

  “Uhm, Uli, who are Gary and Martin?”

  “B-Ranked adventurers. They’re also known as the Tide Weed and the Rainbow Magician.”

  “Huh…Never heard of them.”

  “You really need to get more informed on these sorta things oki, they’re small celebrities in Berk. They aren’t as famous as the Five Winged Angel but they are pretty well known here.Tide Weed is a master of the Northern Ocean style and the Rainbow Magician is able to cast spells of every element using the Arcane Tradition. I’m guessing they are going to be training Sher Aka and John. Am I going to get a trainer too?”

  “You already have one.”

  “Who?”

  “Meshir Bakan.”

  “Isn’t she just a mage? What else can she teach me anyways? All the spells I’m going to learn come from spirits after all.”

  “She wouldn’t have survived this long if she was ‘Just a mage’. She’ll teach you the basics of her deadliest technique, there is not enough time to teach you more. Sher Aka, you will learn the perfect parry and John you will learn more magic theory. As for Thoma Ahad, you and I will practice the Water Ritual. Usually you would learn the light ritual next but it’s too dangerous since your body rejects the light element.”

  “Why are we practicing the Water Ritual? I’m not even done with the Fire Ritual.”

  “Because I want you to at least know the basics of half the rituals, once you start traveling I won’t be able to teach you anymore until we meet again.”

  “Oh yeah, we won’t see each other anymore…In a way I didn’t really think about that…”

  Uli gently puts her hand on my shoulder, “Don’t worry, we’ll train so much you won’t miss me anytime soon.”

  We then return to Uli’s mansion and shortly after, the pedo granny, a weak looking guy with a shield and sword and a middle aged man carrying loads of books appear and we all start training with our respective teachers.

  —---------------------------------------------------

  Sher Aka’s Training:

  In the Guild Masters garden Sher Aka and Tide Weed begin their training.

  “Yo, so what I’m gonna teach you is how to parry.”

  “I can already do that.”

  “Perfect, then I can go home right?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Well, you seem pretty confident, so who am I to teach you? I’m sure you could parry a dragon with that confidence.”

  “Is that even possible?”

  “Sure it is, as long as you have timing down and enough strength you can parry anything. How about you attack me with all you got, I will parry all your attacks. I won’t dodge either.”

  “Aren’t you a bit confident now? Even if you’re better than me, as long as I anticipate the parry I will be able to hit you at least once.”

  “You can try.”

  He pulls out a small iron buckler shield and a wooden sword. Sher Aka then starts her attacks and gets parried each time, no matter if she used her sword and shield, just her sword or her spear. Her attacks would always get diverted and leave her wide open for a counter attack. Not even her boosts would help against him despite him not using any.

  “How…huff…How are you doing this?”

  “It’s quite easy. I just read your attack movements and react accordingly. That’s what I’m going to teach you.”

  “How?”

  “Come with me.”

  Sher Aka follows him to his house and into his backyard where an ape-like creature with stone skin, shining red eyes wearing boxing gloves is standing.

  “What…What am I looking at?”

  “This here is my teacher and friend. His name is Taffy, he is an Onra.”

  “Onra? You mean the A-Ranked monster!?”

  “Yep, that would be the one.Unlike normal monsters Onra are pretty intelligent and they don’t fight to kill they fight to get stronger. He isn’t tame but he knows to stop before he kills you. Your job is to parry him once during the next two weeks. I’ll give you advice and medical treatment on the way.”

  “Aren’t Onra considered one of the best martial artist species in this world?”

  “Yep, He’s about five times as fast and strong as your average B-Ranked adventurer and he has tons of experience training against me so he is quite wary of parries. You have no chance of beating him, if he wanted to he could kill you right here on the spot which is why your goal is to parry him only once. When you can do that you will have gained the basic understanding that will make it possible to find the perfect parry timing in any attack.”

  “Is it even legal to have it in a city like this?”

  “Nope. Now then, go ahead and start. Taffy is getting restless.”

  Sher Aka begins her training spending most of the first week getting beaten close to death and then being repeatedly healed by Tide Weed. Then in the second week she begins to be able to anticipate and block most attacks but she isn’t able to parry them yet.

  “You’re doing it wrong. Remember you’re like water not like a mountain. Go with his attacks, use his force and gently guide it away, then attack when he’s off bance.”

  “I’m fucking trying, okay!?”

  “Oooh~ Looks like we’re getting closer to your real personality, that’s a good sign, we gotta break you down to build you back up again.”

  “Shut up! I need to concentrate!”

  “Sure, sure.”

  Over the rest of the week Sher Aka unlocks major boost defense, moderate boost endurance and minor boost speed and two days before the deadline becomes eerily close to parrying the Onra.

  I can see it now…No matter how fast or powerful the attack, there are always signs and the earlier I’m able to see these signs the less fast I need to be to react. It’s all about predictive movement. Feints also become a lot clearer to see the more I concentrate, now I only need to keep up with it. Just once, I only need to parry and hit it once. Now!

  Sher Aka then moves her shield to a point the Onra hasn’t even moved yet but when its attack happens, it’s so fast that if she hadn’t predicted it she would have been too slow. Her shield then connects, guiding the giant stone fist to the side and causing the Onra to lean forward right into her bde. His skin is too tough to pierce but she did successfully parry and counter attack it, completing her training.

  John’s Training:

  “Hello there! You must be a fellow seeker of knowledge!”

  “I guess…”

  “Perfect, now follow me to the library, you’re going to learn by helping me with my thesis!”

  “Thesis? What thesis?”

  “I’m trying to prove that the creation of a unified magical theory for all elements is a possibility!”

  “So you’re not even trying to create one, you're just trying to prove it’s possible?”

  “Correct! We’re going to do foundation research together isn’t that exciting!?”

  “No? How is that going to help me at all? I’m supposed to be training.”

  “Ohoho, such a brazen young man!”

  “I’m older than you.”

  “Perhaps in age but not in mind! Come on let me use that youthful vigor to add to my research and teach you the basics you need to understand advanced arcane theory!”

  John then spends the rest of the two weeks cooped up in the library reading books on arcane theories, solving magic equations and listening to the theoretical ramblings of the Rainbow Wizard.

  Ray’s Training:

  “Tsk. Great, I get to train the other brat today.”

  “Look, obviously the Guild Master trusts you, meaning you’re extremely capable. Let’s keep this amicable and please teach me right.”

  “Oh? Quite sensible are you? How surprising. Fine, I’ll teach you right.”

  “Thank you. So what are you going to teach me?”

  “I’m going to teach you how to move without making a sound.”

  “That’s it?”

  “Yes.”

  “How is that useful? Most monsters have a keen smell and so do all Beastkin.”

  “That’s actually an advantage not a disadvantage. Here let me show you. Close your eyes. When you think you know where I am, point in the direction and open them.”

  “Alright…”

  Ray then closes her eyes and when she smells Meshir Bakans smell right next to her points to the right and opens her eyes only to see a knife on her neck pointed from the opposite direction.

  “How did you…”

  “Simple misdirection. The wind is blowing in my direction causing my scent to travel away from you and I used a small scent bag that I threw to the other side to make you think I was there. If you want to make this more sophisticated you could use wind magic for a simir effect and even add sounds to make it seem like you were breathing or walking there. Usually more subtle sounds tend to work better due to the enemy assuming that you’re trying to deceive them.”

  “Hmm…I see. Is this only useful for first or surprise attacks?”

  “Not at all, it’s especially useful in fights with multiple people since they will be constantly distracted by other potential threats. Your fighting style already hinges on trying to take cheap shots at distracted opponents, if you learn how to erase your sound as well then with practice you will become a formidable fighter and assassin.”

  “I understand, so the goal is for me to not make any sound by the end of these two weeks?”

  “Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous, it will take years before you can properly use it. Your goal will be to be a lot more quiet and to give you the tools to further develop yourself until you are able to move without sound.”

  “Gotcha, so what should I do?”

  “For starters stop breathing like that. If your breathing can be heard you’re already doing it wrong. We’ll start with breathing during meditation then work ourselves up to doing it while exercising. Additionally, I’ll teach you how to walk properly.”

  Over the next two weeks Ray had to face training that was a lot more mentally taxing than physically. Meshir Bakan would constantly provoke or trick her into making sound. Sometimes she’d even just hit her randomly or do inappropriate things like sp her butt or pinch her breasts to make Ray snap at her. She’d also occasionally bring spiders to crawl on her and force her to stay completely silent despite her phobia. In a sense it was constant torture designed to make her make noise so she would learn to stay silent in all situations.

  At the end of the two weeks Ray is now able to not express any sound as long as she’s concentrating and moves a lot more silently than before.

  —----------------------------------------------------------------