Nera led the other three through the streets of Atelier City. The city was bright and bustling as hundreds passed by on foot and in high-end vehicles. The sleek skyscrapers that stood parallel to each other for as far as the eye could see rose high into the clouds. Occasionally, they could spot canals running along their path that ultimately lead to the nearby ocean and provide green energy in conjunction with hydropower generators.

  “What is the place even supposed to be?” Allen asked after they had already spent twenty minutes walking.

  “It’s a gym,” Nera told him.

  “What? I don’t think getting ripped will help much against people who can pulverize me with a thought.”

  “If you think Craft is that straightforward then you need to go to one,” Nera responded matter-of-factly while still looking straight.

  Allen looked to Iyo for backup but he simply shrugged. “She has a point. I know firsthand from my mentor how much physical wellness counts toward being a great artisan, mystical or not.”

  “Alright, even if that is true, I already go for a four-mile run every other day in the morning. I may be a bit of a shut-in aside from that, but I feel like I’m in pretty good shape as is,” Allen rotated his shoulder in its socket while affirming his stance.

  “Tch, so do you think you could beat me in an arm-wrestling contest without magic?” Nera looked back with a knowing grin and Allen flinched.

  “As much as I hate to cut a good roasting short, how far away are we from this gym? Wasn’t this supposed to be a shortcut?” Xalia butted in.

  “We’re almost there. We just need to take a right before Chrysanthemum Park and we’ll enter the Luminaire District from a gateway.”

  “When did you find another way to the Underworld?” Allen asked.

  “She probably always knew about it. There are dozens and dozens of them scattered around the city which is why you two have never bumped into anyone while using your go-to one.” Xalia explained while Nera agreed. Allen proceeded to ask more questions about the layout of the gateways.

  From a distance, a young woman with long black hair wearing a beige blouse overheard a familiar voice. She hurriedly turned in the direction it came from.

  “Wait, is that…” Charlotte caught a glimpse of Allen from across the street, through a crowd of people. She was about to call out to him but suddenly got nervous when she noticed three other people walking with him.

  “I don’t want to intrude, but maybe it’ll be alright. I could even meet some new people for once…or I could just end up with an awkward conversation and no one remembering I exist afterward.”

  Before she could make up her mind, the four already disappeared around a corner. Noticing this with alarm, she frantically rushed over as fast as traffic would allow. By the time she turned the corner as well, she was only met with a mural of a garden filled with bright, pink flowers.

  She was left there to stand in solitude. She reached out her hand to the mural. Her arm moved weakly through the air.

  “I was only a few seconds too late. How many times is that now?” Her hand pressed against the solid, impermeable wall as she leaned against it with a sigh.

  ***

  “Here it is. Knight Arms Gym.” Nera proclaimed as she, Allen, Iyo, and Xalia stood in front of a three-story steel building with a purple and orange exterior. There were many large windows but they were tinted in a way that they were only see-through from the inside.

  They had entered from a different gateway than normal which dropped them off only a block away from the establishment when it would have been all halfway across the entire district otherwise. Allen looked it over disinterestedly before walking in with everyone else.

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  When they walked there were around two dozen people inside that were either training alone with gym equipment or sparring against each other using non-metallic weapons and wearing silver earpieces.

  ‘Wow, a whole place dedicated to training magical warriors…” Allen said out loud in awe before thinking more about it. “...But, what are they training for?”

  “To either join the Paladin Order and become knights or become a member of the Traversers’ League. This is a collection of hopefuls looking to become shields to the wider society of Crafters.” Xalia explained.

  “So that’s why she brought us here,” Allen said while Nera approached a lean man with light brown hair wielding a long staff.

  “Hey Monocle, tell us where Lady Dreadnought is,” Nera commanded offhandedly.

  ‘She must come around here often if she’s acting that familiar with them.’

  “Who the hell are you? I have no idea who you’re referring to either.” The man of about twenty stopped his training and looked back at Nera with irritation. Allen could now see that he had heterochromia, one green eye and one blue one.

  “Fine…” Nera sighed and snapped her fingers to cause her metal gauntlets to form over her hands. “Tell the owner to show up if she wants to get her old gauntlets back.”

  A look of recognition swept over the gym member’s multi-colored eyes and he grinned sardonically. “Oh, so you’re the one she complains about from time to time. She’ll definitely want to hear from you again.”

  Declan pulled out an electronic prism and quickly typed a message on a holographic display that it projected. Immediately, it chimed with a short response.

  “The head instructor, Helena Murray, will be here soon. She’s in one of the specially designed training rooms right now but will finish soon…” Before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by a metal door falling out from a lower level and an imposing figure descending shortly after it.

  “What?!” Allen exclaimed as he held up his arms to shield himself. What touched down was a statuesque woman wearing a black tank top and tights with tan skin and graying blonde hair. Her purple eyes locked on to Nera who backed away in surprise.

  With a single bound, she closed the gap between her and Nera then picked her up by the head in one fell swoop.

  “Nera, you would be more reckless than even I anticipated if you came here after so long with nothing to show for it,” Helena spoke sternly. She commanded all of the respect and fear that someone of her position as a knight of the Paladin Order famously known as a one-woman army would. The number of specters she had slain easily surpassed the number of bugs the average person would squash in their lifetime.

  “Hehe, it hasn’t been that long and I brought your gauntlets back.”

  “You snuck in and stole them half a year ago!” Helena yelled before turning around with the younger woman still in her clutches. “You’re gonna pay me back by scrubbing the entire gym every day for a month.”

  ‘This is starting to get out of hand. Whatever history those two have, it’s not a pleasant one.’

  Allen walked into the giantess’ path. “Hey, that’s a bit extreme. Why don’t we just talk thi-” Allen’s speech was stopped by a knee being lodged into his stomach with excessive force. After falling to his knees, he struggled to contain the scorching bile that was rising in his throat.

  Helena marched forward unimpeded until Nera began to speak up. “That’s not all I’m here for Lady Dreadnought, I-I want to train with you again!”

  That succeeded in making Helena come to a standstill and raise Nera to her eye level. “Come again?”

  “I said that I want to train with you again. The amount of strength I have now isn’t enough and I’ve become a liability to those around me. ...I don’t care what hell you have to put me through as long as I come out the other side as overwhelmingly terrifying as you are.”

  Helena grinned and dropped Nera to her feet. “Fine, but don’t expect me to go easy on you and you’re still scrubbing the gym for a week.”

  “Ugh, alright. It’s not just me, these three need your help as well,” Nera said while wiping away cold sweat from her. She was grateful that things did not escalate more than she anticipated.

  “Speak for yourself, I’ve already had my fill of this type of training. I don’t think there’s more I could learn from here.” Xalia followed while leaning against a piece of workout equipment.

  “I’ve also had thorough instruction from a capable teacher, but I am willing to see how I can grow from this.” Iyo had a more optimistic outlook despite being fairly skilled himself.

  “...Yeah, I’m the one who’s lacking in experience.” Allen got back to his feet while still sore from earlier.

  “Oh, you’re the pebble that got in my just now.” Helena bluntly remarked before turning back to Nera. “This gym is for anyone who’s in the pursuit of honing their mind and body, so I’ll train your pals here too with the worst nightmares I can dream up just like everyone else.”

  Allen’s face lit up with anticipation. “That’s metal! When is the first lesson?”

  Helena bared her teeth with a wide smile. “Right now.”