“Kat…” A little push.
“Kaa-aat.” A harder push.
And an annoying sing-song voice.
I groaned.
I pulled my blanket over my head.
“Rey, whyyyyy…” “Kat, guess what day it is.” His voice was still cheerful.
It was too early for this cheerfulness… I gave up, cracking open my eyes and peering up at his grin.
“Uuuuugh.
What is it…” He held up a small item wrapped in scrap paper.
“Happy birthday Kat.” Happy… My birthday!
My eyes shot fully open, and I sat up.
He snickered and held out his gift.
“Here, I wanted to congratulate you, first thing.” Uh… I took the paper-wrapped gift and began tearing it open.
What did he… Oh.
I uncovered the bright label of the paints and brushes.
Art supplies… and even a notebook.
With charcoal!
“H-How…” I looked up at Rey, amazed.
“Well, you used to draw all the time back when… well, before we ran away.
Since then, you haven’t really had a chance to draw or paint like you’ve always wanted to.
So… this is to change that.
I mean, we ran away so we could be happy right?
Might as well do what we want to.” He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, and I looked down at the supplies, touched.
“How much did all this cost anyway…” I shifted the dry paint.
It just needed a little bit of water, and there were three colors, a light blue, a hot pink, and a light yellow.
Plus, three different brushes that looked new, delicate hairs on the end.
Then the sketchpad and charcoal.
“Not as much as you’d think.
I got the paint and the charcoal second-hand.
Overall… it was about forty silvers… I thought it was worth it, since you like drawing so much.” He flushed a little.
Forty silver was pricy.
It was almost our entire income over the past month.
He really shouldn’t have spent all of that on me… “Thank you, Rey.
But now I feel bad.
I should have gotten you something you’d enjoy back on your birthday…” My gift might have been too practical… His eyes widened, and he waved his hands.
“No!
No, I love the armor you got me!
You got so I could be safe…” He slowed down, blushing, and I giggled.
I set my gift aside and reached my arms around him, giving him a big hug.
“I did.
But I want you to have fun and be happy too.
Is there anything you want to do for fun?” He scratched his cheek, avoiding my eyes.
“No, I don’t need anything.
I’m just happy enough that we’re becoming adventurers together.” Of course, he wouldn’t tell me honestly.
Let’s see… what did he like to do before we ran away?
Well, he liked sneaking out with me to play.
Using sticks to play pretend.
Stories about heroes, pirates, knights.
Hmmm… We had become adventurers because he wanted to be like them.
And he loves fighting with his swords, even just training with them.
He was living his dream.
But still, there had to be something else… Oh!
A memory flashed into my mind.
“You like card and board games, don’t you?
The kind we snuck into the den to play.” He reddened again.
“I-I mean… yeah.
They were pretty fun…” I smiled.
“Then we can try and get some cards, dice, maybe even a chess set!
I mean, those things can’t be too expensive, right?” “I mean… if you want to.
We don’t have to get them just for me…” He looked away, shy, and I giggled, hugging him again.
It was only fair.
We enjoyed our books, but we should have hobbies that were just for fun too.
Now that we didn’t have to worry so much about money and starving to death.
I shuffled back.
“Okay, let’s get to work.
Another day of adventuring!” “I mean, if you want to take the day off…” He suggested, but I shook my head.
“No, no.
I want to.
On our way home from the guild, we can look for some games we can pick up.” He sighed and gave me a little smile.
“Okay.
Let’s do great today too.” We shuffled out of the tent, and saw the campsite was busy, as usual.
People eating breakfast, which the Iron Maidens had cooked this morning.
We got in line for breakfast, and Lupa cooed the moment she saw us.
“Oh, kids!
I’m glad to see you.
Remember, this is the last communal meal, okay?
Now that the risk of snow is past, a lot of parties are heading out of town today.
Including us!
Perhaps we’ll see you all out there…” She was a little dejected as she gave us our eggs and oatmeal breakfast.
Mel, Akari, and Rhina all said goodbye to us too.
I hoped we’d see them out on the road.
They were nice.
And we sat down, across from the Jolly Fools.
“Are you guys heading out today too?” Rey asked as he scooped some oatmeal.
Peter chuckled.
“Nope.
We have to get this knucklehead trained up.” He gestured to Louis who had oatmeal dribbling down his chin from eating as quickly as possible.
“Jax and I can’t leave the capital until we get him to C-rank, which will take at least two more years.” Rey’s eyes widened.
“Wait.
You’re staying in the capital for that long?
But isn’t the best part of being an adventurer traveling?” Peter shrugged.
“Depends on who you ask.
There are dungeons all the way up to A-rank here in the capital, so an adventurer can have a very successful career without ever visiting another town.
Honestly, Jax and I are almost always here in the capital.
I can count the number of times we’ve left on one hand.” Huh.
I guess even an adventurer can put down roots somewhere.
That’s good to know… Rey grunted.
“I still think the best part is exploring.
You get to meet so many cool people!” Peter threw his head back and laughed.
“Yeah, ain’t that the truth.
It takes all kinds, and that goes double for adventurers.
You kids stay careful out there, okay?” I smiled.
“We will.
But we’re not going to leave for a few more weeks yet.
We’ll be leaving after the equinox.” “Then we still have a bit of time together.
I hope to see you around.
Right Jax?” He turned to his partner in crime, fully dressed in plate mail.
“Yeah, it’s always a pleasure to see you two.
Don’t just leave without a word, okay?
Give us a proper goodbye when it’s time for you to go.” Louis nodded.
“The next time you’ll see me after leaving is as a fully mature necromancer!
If you two stop by wanting a curse, I’ll give a discount.
Uh… a small discount.” They picked up their dishes and took them back up and I sighed.
“Do you think we’ll see them again?” “Yeah, of course!
Both them and the Iron Maidens.
You know, fateful encounters are very common on adventures.” He nodded, utterly confident.
I snickered at his childish assumption, but it did make me feel better.
Hellos and goodbyes were the way of the adventurer… We’re sure to meet more people too.
My mind wandered as I ate, wondering what other kinds of people we’ll meet in the future too… Once breakfast was finished, we hugged Lupa goodbye and saw the Iron Maidens off.
And we went on our regular circuit, hunting slimes, completing quests.
But when we arrived at the training field, we got a surprise.
At the entrance was a rough looking guy.
His clothes were tattered and worn, and he wore a peculiar straw hat, it was a very wide cone basically, worn thin as well.
He lackadaisically leaned against the fence, the guards giving him sour looks.
As we passed by where he laid, he yawned and stretched.
He tilted his straw hat up to look at us.
“Are you two Honeysilver?” Huh?
Rey and I glanced at each other, and Rey crossed his arms.
“That depends on who’s asking.” The man quit leaning against the fence, and I caught the flash of well-worn sheaths underneath his weathered cloak.
“The name’s Yarrow.
I’m just an old swordsman from a small island in the Far East.
I’m here about a quest to teach a budding swordsman?” Rey frowned, looking up at his scruffy beard and worn clothing.
“You’re an A-rank adventurer?” “Oh!
Right.” He shuffled in his clothing and pulled out a guild card.
He showed it to us.
It… did confirm his identity.
And the fact he was an A-rank swordsman.
Rey still seemed a little skeptical.
“And you dual wield rapiers?” “Among other sword styles, yes.
So, uh… I don’t exactly have many coins on me…” Rey snorted but shuffled into his purse.
“You don’t have two coppers?” “Eh, I’ve never been really good with money…” He scratched his scruffy chin as we paid for his way in.
Once inside, we went to a dummy, and got set up.
I had my magic practice, but I stuck around to see how this lesson would go.
Yarrow didn’t inspire a lot of confidence… “Okay, so, how do you want to do this?” Rey palmed his rapiers, spinning them, ready to get started.
“Hm?
Oh, we’re starting.
Eh, go ahead and come at me.
That should give me a good idea of your skill level.” Yarrow was as relaxed as ever, even as Rey froze.
“You want me to… attack you?” “I want you to try.
Have you never dueled before?” Rey shook his head, even as he stanced up.
Yarrow tutted.
“You really are a beginner.
Hmm… your stance isn’t bad.
Relaxed… okay, just pretend I’m a dummy.
Do what you’d normally do.” “Okay…” Rey paused a moment before lunging forward in a thrust.
Yarrow easily sidestepped out of the way.
“Good.
Keep going.” Rey reset, and went into a slash, followed by a parry, and finally a few double sword moves.
After working through his whole repertoire, Yarrow grunted.
“Okay kid, I see a lot of good.
It’s obvious you’ve practiced these moves to the moon and back.
They’re very fluid, which is what you want.
Only impatient people chase speed in swordplay.
Your goal is to become fluid.
Graceful.
Haste makes waste.
Chasing haste means you’ll always be one step behind your opening.
Being fluid means your sword will always be where it needs to be, when it needs to be.
I see no problems in your foundation and swordplay.
However…” He leaned forward and twanged Rey’s rapier.
“You clearly have no experience in real combat.
Have you only hunted slimes?” Rey slowly nodded.
“Yeah… is that a problem?” “Not necessarily.
It just means you’re ready for the next step.
Your moves are disjointed, but they are meant to flow into each other.
Swordplay is an intricate dance.
You know the steps, now you just need to put it all together.
Uh, let me show you.” He turned towards the tree and reached under his cloak.
He pulled out two swords.
They were thin, and only sharpened on one side.
He abruptly rushed forward, like a shot.
His steps were flawless, and he was always moving as he cut into the dummy effortlessly.
He used the moves Rey had showed him, but they seemed completely different as he linked them together in a deadly dance that left the dummy eviscerated.
He stopped as suddenly as he started, back in front of Rey.
“There.
You got the basics, but it’s time to start putting it all together.” Rey gaped at the dummy with straw falling out.
“How, how, how do I do that!?
Show me!” Yarrow chuckled.
“Sure thing, that’s what you’re paying me for.
Oh, and you should probably start sparring… Over there.
You see that ring?” He pointed to a dusty patch of dirt marked off by a circle of rope.
We’ve seen adventurers spar each other there before, though we’ve never used it.
“If you see any swordsmen here, try challenging them to a friendly spar.
Most will be happy to practice and exchange pointers.
It’s time for you to start getting some experience, even if it’s still training in a safe setting.
As for your practice, keep practicing those fundamentals, but those should be your warm-up.
Then you move into more complicated moves by linking those moves together…” I backed away as Yarrow continued and Rey listened rapturously.
It seemed Rey was getting our money’s worth out of this lesson.
I had my homework from Countess Brighton to work through.
I reached into my bag and pulled out my five rocks.
And added a sixth.
Okay.
Let’s get up to six objects at once with telekinesis today.