Chương 29: The First Twilight Manor Training Session
Compared to Yolanda, the other Guild employees and adventurers that noticed her outburst didn't have any strange reactions at all. In fact, most of them didn't even pay much attention to her. After all, they had no idea what exactly was going on and had their own troubles to deal with, so a random Guild clerk's surprise wasn't enough to attract their attention for long.
Still, there was one person who stepped in to rein in the panicking Amazoness. Actually, there would have been two, but Misha, who Isaac noticed out of the corner of his eye, retreated back to her own desk after she had noticed who had already come to help out. The relieved smile on her face clearly showcased that the one who showed up was more than qualified to resolve the problem.
"Calm down, Yolanda."
With a tranquil and comforting smile, a young woman gently pat Yolanda's shoulder. She had almost shoulder-length brown hair and green eyes akin to polished emeralds. Besides the usual Guild attire, she only wore a pair of glasses. The only thing peculiar about her were her ears. They weren't as long and pointy as an elf's, while they were still clearly a few centimeters longer than a human's and had slightly more pointed tips.
As anyone who had read even just a few pages of the DanMachi novels would know, this was Eina Tulle, Bell's dungeon advisor. She was a half elf, which was a race that was considered to be pretty rare, as interspecies relationships were, all in all, very uncommon. Especially elves tended to look down on other races and saw them as inferior. The causes for this were primarily their extremely long life spans and high magical aptitude, which other races just couldn't compare to. But although they were important, interspecies relations didn't have much of a connection with the current situation.
Even though he was successfully hiding it, Isaac was observing Eina curiously. Amongst the novels' cast, she was one of the few characters he was impressed by, mostly because of her professional yet warm and friendly attitude. It wasn't easy to keep one's amicability when working in the service industry. Seeing Eina appease her coworker by whispering a few words into her ears and showing a genuine smile elicited a small smile from Isaac as well.
After she had dealt with Yolanda's overreaction for the time being, Eina greeted Tiona and Tione, who most Guild employees were more or less familiar with, before focussing on the one who had been the cause for this slight mishap.
"Sorry about that and nice to meet you. I'm Eina Tulle, a senior dungeon advisor."
Waving his hand dismissively to try and defuse the situation, Isaac introduced himself as well.
"No problem at all. I'm Isaac Blackshaw from the Loki Familia. Nice to meet you, Eina."
As soon as he was finished, Eina moved on to the next point on the agenda, while curiously sizing up this newcomer to one of the city's most influential familias.
"As you've reported to have ranked up to Level 2, the Guild has to ask you to go through with a simple verification procedure to confirm this. Is that okay with you?"
It would have been a lot more unrealistic for the Guild to simply accept the words of adventurers without any proof. After all, many people would lie about their strength to either get attention they didn't deserve or to make others underestimate the threat they posed, often for less than admirable purposes. Because of this, Isaac had already expected the Guild to have prepared certain measures to ensure adventurers weren't lying about such basic information.
There were a few possibilities as to what kind of measures the Guild could take. First of all, they could simply use a Status Thief, an item which would display someone's familia crest without their god's permission, and have someone capable of reading the gods' language read the adventurer's status. Still, that wasn't likely to happen, as it was illegal to use items like these, although they could be easily purchased down in Rivira. A second option would be to use an item which worked similarly but only displayed the adventurer's Level. Sadly, Isaac had never heard about such a thing, therefore he doubted it existed, even though it would be extremely useful. As for the third option, one could always have a short battle against someone well versed in approximating their opponents' Levels, a simple combat test. As for the last relatively likely option that came to mind, it was a testing apparatus, built for the express purpose of measuring someone's stats.
After following Eina and the very distracted Yolanda to another room, it turned out that what the Guild had prepared was the last of the possibilities Isaac had thought of. There were five different apparatuses situated in this room, which, according to Eina, could determine whether someone had reached the bare minimum of Level 2 in a specific stat. They had been built in collaboration with many crafting-focussed familia and had cost a fortune, so their functionality was guaranteed. If someone passed the threshold, a green light would activate, whereas if someone didn't pass, a red light would flash ominously.
The device to test one's strength looked just like a punching bag. It worked just the way one would expect it to as well. If one punched it, the force of the impact would be measured. Once it surpassed a certain point, one would be recognized as a Level 2.
It was significantly harder to test one's endurance, therefore the apparatus to do so looked akin to a torture device. It would deal a certain amount of damage to an adventurer and if it was able to deal damage to them, they would fail.
For dexterity, one had to solve a certain puzzle as quickly as possible, with no mistakes, whereas to test one's agility, one had to be able to run on a treadmill-like device at a certain minimum speed. The magic stat was a lot easier to measure, as one only had to insert a little bit of one's mana into a specialized and repurposed magic stone, until, yet again, a certain threshold was surpassed. Well, if someone couldn't control their own mana, this test would be a problem.
Thankfully, one didn't have to go through all of these. To pass one of these tests was more than enough to prove one had ranked up. After all, one only had to reach a certain standard in a single stat to be eligible to do so. Still, because of the nature of the testing devices, if one didn't focus on their endurance, one would pretty much never interact with that nightmare-inducing device, if one could help it.
Still, this system was heavily flawed. After all, if one only had to reach the minimum amount of stats to be considered a certain Level, Isaac would surpass his peers by at least a Level very quickly, which would make the tests inaccurate. But to be honest, besides having a look at one's Status, there wasn't really any way to make one hundred percent sure, so Isaac didn't fault them too much in his mind. What he did fault them for was the way they tested an adventurer's dexterity. Solving a puzzle quickly and without mistakes might be a worthy test if one had already solved it in the past, but if one hadn't, it was more of a test for the mind than the body.
Without wasting any more time after all these explanations, Isaac walked up to the punching bag and gave it a casual swing. Just in case the devices could be damaged if he used too much strength, he only used the equivalent of 1500 stats in his punch, which would be the very maximum someone would be able to have if one ranked up after reaching the perceived stat 'limit'. The guild would have accounted for some adventurers being able to accomplish this, so their machines should be able to take it.
Just as expected, Isaac easily passed the test, while the apparatus didn't get damaged. While this might have been a cause for celebration for most dungeon advisors, Yolanda had a very conflicted expression on her face when Isaac's claims were confirmed. The incongruity of the situation still left her baffled. She had been sure about his strength when they first met. How could someone grow that quickly?
When Isaac, Tiona and Tione left the Pantheon a minute or two later, Eina could be seen taking Yolanda aside again, possibly to reprimand her a little for her unprofessional behaviour and to make sure she was okay. The last thing Isaac saw before they left was the slightly exasperated look on Yolanda's face, which caused him to shake his head and sigh a little. If he had enough time to waste, he should have a nice and long talk with that advisor of his someday.
While the group of three was waiting for the imminent arrival of his students, Isaac got teased by the Amazoness sisters about what had just happened. Normally, one didn't attract that much attention at the Guild, so to actually cause a scene would certainly make him a little well-known there. Still, it wouldn't make him famous or anything like that. Cases of people ranking up shortly after registering as adventurers weren't exactly rare, as many people often already had some foundations before going into this kind of life. The more annoying part was that the two teased him about making a beauty lose her cool.
As Isaac didn't really want to listen to this anymore, he was glad when he saw his roommate's bunny ears appear within the crowd. With a smile, he lead the twins towards his students, happy to be able to dodge having to talk about annoying topics any longer. He really wasn't interested in his dungeon advisor, or any other girl besides AIs, for that matter.
Jakk was a bit startled when he saw Isaac already here, waiting for them out in the open. His surprise became even bigger when he saw that he was accompanied by two of their familia's executives. The original plan was to simply meet within the Guild's training area, just like yesterday - but that had obviously changed.
While most other young men would have blushed and become excited when seeing the scantily clad Amazoness sisters, Kalin didn't show much of a reaction at all. For many years, he had entered the dungeon and came across vast numbers of Amazonesses on the way there and in the city. At some point, he simply got used to the sight and grew numb to it. As the two seemed to be somewhat close to his teacher, however, he paid a little bit more attention to them than he would a random passerby.
Right next to him, there was someone who was blushing madly, however: Mina. Although she had been in Orario for a few days, she hadn't encountered many Amazonesses yet, besides Yolanda, who was still appropriately dressed. Now that she saw Tiona and Tione, who wore little more than underwear, she couldn't help but be baffled by their raunchy clothing choice. If Mina had ever dressed like that in public, her parents would have probably cried themselves to sleep…
But after she saw Tiona wave at her and give her a wide grin, paired with Tione's mature aura, Mina's embarrassment lessened a little and she warmed up to the two, as they seemed to be nice people. She decided to not judge books by their cover and interact with them more first, before finalizing an opinion.
It didn't take long for everyone to finish their introductions, so Isaac finally had some time to explain the change in plans. He told his students about Riveria giving him 'bodyguards', that they would train in one of the Twilight Manor's courtyards today and about someone else, a young elf with the name Lefiya, henceforth joining them in their training. While he was talking, he also observed their surroundings a little and soon found Lulune paying attention to them, just as he expected. But as she wasn't a threat, he promptly ignored her. If things continued like this, at least it would be pretty easy to get in contact with Hermes, should it ever be necessary.
Being able to train in the Twilight Manor, the home of the prestigious Loki Familia, was something that made Kalin and Mina very excited. To have such an exceptional opportunity was cause for celebration, so their mood rose by a huge margin. A happy and relaxed smile could be seen on Kalin's face, while Mina tried to keep her facial expression under control, so as to not embarrass herself in front of her lord. Still, her happily wagging tail betrayed her. As it was quite the amusing sight, it caused the corners of Isaac's mouth to rise slightly.
When the group of six arrived at the Twilight Manor, the two new faces earned a few intrigued looks from some Loki Familia members, who were currently passing through the area around the main entrance. As they had other things they had to deal with right now, though, they mostly just went on their way. There was one person who didn't do so, however.
A cute elf was nervously grasping her flowery staff, patiently waiting for Isaac's return. Lefiya had been waiting here for about ten minutes already, as she had come to the entrance a little earlier, just to make sure to not miss him. When the group finally arrived, Lefiya showed a happy smile and quickly jogged closer to them. Before she could even welcome them back, however, a Tiona-shaped projectile had already collided with her and the bubbly Amazoness was happily hugging her and rubbing her cheek against Lefiya's.
"Awww~ You couldn't wait for us to come back, could you? I missed you too!"
The sudden intimate contact made Lefiya blush madly, even though it wasn't exactly a rare occurrence. When she finally saw the two new faces, who she assumed to be Kalin and Mina, staring at her curiously, her head almost started producing steam. While she hid her face in a vain attempt to make the current situation less embarrassing, she 'suffered' a little more under Tiona's skinship, until Tione finally dragged her sister away from the short-circuited little elf.
To try and get everything on the right track again, Isaac gave Lefiya a small smile, before addressing her.
"I see you've been waiting for us, Lefiya. Thanks for going out of your way."
This simultaneously introduced their new fellow student to Kalin and Mina, while making the adorable elf's face radiate with a proud and happy smile. It was really easy to brighten up Lefiya's day, as she was extremely receptive to praise.
Once she had calmed down a little again, Lefiya finally had a chance to explain what she was doing here, although her purpose was pretty easy to guess.
"I'm here to bring you, Jakk, Kalin and Mina to the courtyard reserved for our training. Because you haven't been there yet, I'll lead the way."
Taking this as their cue to leave, Tiona and Tione said their goodbyes and walked to the direction of the women's baths. This behaviour of not wanting to intrude on their training earned them an appreciative nod from Isaac, as he wasn't too fond of uninvited guests sticking around during his training sessions.
While Lefiya was leading the way through the vast grounds of the Twilight Manor, Kalin and Mina were more than a little stunned by the sights. The sheer extravagance of the place was impressive, as there were many beautiful buildings that they couldn't even guess the purpose of. The gardens were impeccably maintained, with a few fountains sprinkled in between whenever the various small paths intersected. Even more than that, the high towers of the main buildings of the manor were simply breathtaking.
Because Lefiya wasn't treating her own home like a tourist attraction and simply led the group towards one of the many courtyards, this only gave the two stunned bumpkins a little over five minutes to sate their curiosity, at least for now.
The courtyard they arrived at was pretty similar in layout to the training areas the Guild provided. Still, there were a few differences, which Lefiya happily elaborated on. Apparently, there were a few smaller magical formations responsible for sound-proofing and strengthening the structure. The sound-proofing was simply so other people wouldn't get annoyed if someone produced very loud noises during their training. As for the strengthening, that was to deal with someone accidentally losing control over their attack and destroying the entire building. Especially during training, where people polished skills they hadn't yet mastered, such things were prone to happen.
Isaac had to admit that he was pretty interested in magical formations as well and would like to study them later, but for now, he had his students settle in and get themselves their respective wooden training weapons. He explained that he would only be gone for a few minutes to get Averin from his room, so the lazy bird could get integrated into the group and observe them again.
A few minutes later, when Isaac came back with the rooster on his shoulder, he could already see Jakk and Kalin do practice swings in the back, trying to get some warm-ups in before their daily training. As for the two girls, Mina and Lefiya were sitting down, both blushing a little and shyly talking to each other. As both of them were rather bad at approaching others on their own, their amusing attempts at conversation were actually quite impressive.
This little conversation came to a halt, however, when Isaac entered the courtyard with Averin. Immediately, Mina's eyes fixated on the previously relaxed rooster, who couldn't help but tense up. Then, way faster than one would have expected, the frail chienthrope girl grabbed her 'hug pillow' and snuggled Averin happily, enjoying the fluffy sensation she had missed so much yesterday.
Although he could have easily escaped such a fate, Averin was well aware that it wasn't actually that bad to be held by the girl, so even though he wasn't the biggest fan of it, he tolerated the situation. He made sure to complain a little under his breath, though.
"If this is the fate of 'cute' beings, I don't want to be cute…"
Now that everyone was gathered, Isaac had them all sit down in a circle again, while he explained that in two days, they would take a break from their usual dungeon delving and training sessions, as regular rest was a very important part of increasing one's strength. Well, this didn't apply to Isaac, as he didn't build up sequelae in his muscles over time, but for normal people rest and recovery were paramount.
He proceeded to tell them that on that day, his plans related to Mina and Kalin would come to fruition, which caused both of them to show a very excited expression, whereas Lefiya was just simply… confused. She hadn't been told anything about his plans, so she didn't know what exactly he was talking about. As to where the group would meet up in two days, Isaac informed them that he would tell them tomorrow, after he had dealt with a few matters.
Although Isaac had to get some sleep tonight, as his body would suffer a little if he didn't, he had more than enough time to grind the last AP he needed for the ichor upgrade tomorrow night. When thinking about this, an excited smile played about his lips.
Once the pre-training discussion was dealt with, the session began as usual. As it was her first time participating, Isaac focussed a lot on Lefiya, as his other students all already had a certain foundation they could build on. He only needed to show them a certain movement and attack and have them repeat it many, many times while regularly giving them tips and correcting their mistakes in execution. All in all, they could be left to their own devices for short periods of time, at least during the first half of the training.
To start things off, Isaac had Lefiya attack him to properly gauge her current close combat skill. It turned out to be a little worse than expected, though, as she simply didn't know what to do and threw very clumsy punches at him, reminding him of a young child. Even though Lefiya had many capable adventurers around her, she had never tried to observe and learn their skills, as it had never been expected of her.
While the adorable elf was blushing heavily in shame with drooping ears and expected to be chided, Isaac didn't mind her inexperience and simply decided to start from the very basics. One by one, he had her repeat a few simple punches, strikes and guard positions, hundreds of times. He was very patient and helped her to slowly perfect her execution, praising her whenever she got better and telling her whenever she made a mistake. This always kept the nervous elf motivated and enabled her make slow but steady progress.
During the second half of the training, as usual, Isaac had all of his students spar with him, so he could pressure them into overcoming their limits. Also, this helped them to use their techniques in actual combat, which was a lot more helpful than just exchanging blows with an imaginary opponent and perfecting their form.
Isaac didn't show any noticeable leniency when attacking Lefiya, as he wanted to make her subconsciously respond with the correct guard position to deal with his attacks. Admittedly, it took her many, many tries until she finally even managed to pull off a single successful guard, but it was a step in the right direction. Lefiya was still very far away from actually being able to use her newly acquired basics in a true, potentially deadly combat scenario, but over time and after taking short breaks while watching her fellow students' spars, she at least got proficient enough with the two guard positions she had learned today to respond to all of Isaac's attacks correctly. The vast majority of people would have given up before then, as people usually hated to confront their own weaknesses.
At around 4:30 p.m., today's training session ended. As Lefiya had relatively horrible stamina, she was lying down on the ground, heavily breathing and drenched in sweat. She had a lot of bruises all over her body, although they weren't anything too bad, as Isaac had only given her a slightly painful reminder every time her hit her, so as to make her learn from the pain. He didn't ever hit her hard enough to actually reduce her combat power or to make her keep these slight bruises for longer than a day or two.
Mina had proven that her potential was extraordinary again today, as she had shown an impressive increase in skill. While she was also very exhausted by the end, she only sat down for a moment and didn't completely let go of herself, like Lefiya. As for Kalin, although he was a lot more experienced than Mina, his talent for combat simply wasn't on her level. Still, by training with Isaac, he would be able to increase his combat skill seemingly without a limit as well.
As for Jakk… well, he was the biggest 'monster' out of Isaac's students. He did have a lot of experience and his learning speed was extremely quick. Coupling that with his edgy and originally antisocial behaviour and the dense, pathetic behaviour when it came to his love interest, Isaac couldn't help but think that the young hume bunny was somewhat reminiscent of a 'protagonist'. Although that might have been a slight exaggeration, Isaac was sure the boy would turn into someone influential later, if he didn't get snuffed out too early. Still, it would take Jakk a long time to polish his combat capabilities to a level where he could steamroll opponents of slightly higher stats.
All in all, it was yet another productive day. Shortly after the training finished, Kalin and Mina left the Twilight Manor for the respective inns they were staying at. Tomorrow morning, they would meet up with Jakk as usual. Still, the situation was anything but ideal. While they were living far away, they were in quite a bit of danger. To deal with this problem, Isaac had already planned to talk to Riveria about a few things during their scheduled meeting in a couple of minutes.
As Lefiya and Jakk had already gone to their respective bathrooms, Isaac decided to take a quick shower and clean his equipment before he met up with Riveria.
Exactly at 5 p.m., he knocked on the door to her study.
"Enter."
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Shiro_the_Hero
Shiro_the_Hero Still about 2 hours and 52 minutes until the day ends, not even close ( ¬‿¬)
I hope you enjoy the chapter, everyone \o/ Also, it's almost 2020, eh? Happy New Year, everyone!
I decided to restructure my life a little bit, so I can focus just a tiny smidgen of more time on writing in the coming year. Oh well, let's see how that goes xD
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