Why were they bothering to travel with the adventurers? To Alric, any defense they add is negligible, and the trivia they offered up is of little use. Even he seems to find them a bit of a nuisance, so why be so accepting of them? Surely they could have been turned away.

The cart jostled up and down, not meant to be traveling at such a speed, but Imira managed to wiggle into a position comfortable enough as she listened to the over-exuberant story of how they had defeated a creature that reminded her of Alric’s description of an ankheg. Like most things related to her ‘teacher’ the fine details were mismatched, but not enough to be surprising.

Similarly, their tale of baiting out the beast felt unsurprising as well, despite their rising voices. While she was sure that in person it must have been quite the encounter, hearing about it second hand felt underwhelming to say the least. There simply wasn’t enough...practicality in it. When they began reenacting the battle, she watched with more interest, but none of it was meant for use with a spear.

As they prepared to set up camp, Imira had the ill luck for Ritz to offer showing her how. On top of that, the way Alric gazed across the grassland indicated he wouldn’t be beginning their lessons at the moment. Instead, Ritz gleefully strode over, all smiles.

“Setting up for the night is one of the most important parts of any traveler’s lifestyle; but goes double for adventurers, since they travel into more dangerous areas. Though you don’t always have a choice, picking a good location to rest is the foundation of sleeping safely.” Stepping into the thick grass, it swallowed him up to below the shoulders. “While the visibility in such an area as poor, as experienced adventurers, the fact that the grass will impede others outweighs that, not to mention the noise they’d need to make to approach us.

“Another thing to note is that our location isn’t one that would attract anything around here. That’s a tip more useful in areas with higher populations of beasts; even if we did get to the river, there aren’t usually enough dangerous creatures in the area that they would chance upon us like that.”

Why immediately provide an exception to what you just said? What if you misjudged the population of the area?

“Are there really not many monsters here?” Instead of her thoughts, Imira asked a less pointed question. Considering how many times Alric pointed out creatures lurking in the distance, if that represented a small population, than her confidence in making it alone would sink.

“Haha, you must have been a bit unlucky if you’re asking that! No, I don’t mean to mock your concern. We’ve not even run into half a dozen creatures, and we’ve been out here for a little over a week. It’s not even that profitable out here, but we lost a bit of gear, so we need to work our way up to peak condition again.”

Less than six? Were they all blind? Alric pointed out at around three beasts each day before they met up. There could be a thousand and one reasons for the discrepancy, considering his strange abilities, but the least favorable of them was the adventurers simply didn’t notice the full danger of the area.

Her evaluation of the quartet dropped a bit more. Not that Ritz was going to stop his tutorial, but at least she received short respite as the grass was being cleared away to make room for the tents, though she didn’t quite understand why they didn’t just camp on the road instead of expending so much effort. Laboring hard as the sun slid lower, Alric eventually couldn’t contain his impatience and hopped down from the wagon to help.

Imira shuddered slightly, for some reason it felt like he should have sat back and watched with boundless patience. Despite being manic at times, he rarely pushed anything faster than its natural pace, acting quickly only in his own actions. Then again, it also grew close to the time for her own training.

Perhaps whatever felt off about him was due to training being pushed back— even if he emitted an unsettling feeling because of it, Imira felt relaxed at the same time. Prioritizing her to even that degree made her confident. She still treasured every bit of reassurance that the journey wasn’t a whim to be discarded.

As Imira also desired to get on with her training, she stepped up to help the quiet adventurer with setting up the tents. He remained blessedly silent, only slightly slowing down as he tied the hitches to anchor the posts. Most were things she’d seen once or twice before, learned and forgotten, resurfacing as she watched and helped hold the tent.

“You're quick. Though without a tent, I question how helpful this will be.” Lukas commented dryly, almost to the point of sarcasm. “Does Kazuma tend to teach you these sorts of camping skills as well? You seem to travel fairly comfortably in your cart, most of these routines are...well, I shouldn't say pointless.”

“His lessons focus on tasks that require knowledge or physical training. I'm not sure what he envisioned me learning by doing this either.”

“Physical training? Well, learning is good, but enjoy your youth while you have it. I don't think Kazuma would mind if you want some respite.”

“Hmp.” Lukas was slightly taken aback by her scoff. Pursing his lips, he took his time absentmindedly setting up the tent while searching for words.

“Being able to take care of yourself and those around you is something to strive for; but take care when pushing yourself. Time lost can't be regained.” Uncomfortable with how he phrased things, Imira was thankful that at least he wasn't further pressing an issue he knew nothing about.

Continuing the moderate physical labor for a short while longer, the tent quickly formed as Lukas did his best to explain the trivial reasons. Reaching the end of the task, they ended up standing around. It looked like he was still trying to think of some subject to engage her in, but ended up too reluctant to start on a topic she would find meaningful. Such a half-hearted attempt to avoid hypocrisy.

“How about we talk about the Frennec Group? It’ll provide some context for Ritz, and they are quite influential in this region. They're one of the primary lumber distributors, and I’m sure you know how integral it is to this region. One reason for this is their presence on the waterway—” Lukas began to monologue, but abruptly cut himself off with a panicked look.

Instinctively Imira threw herself to the side, swinging her arm out. A burning sensation spread across her hand from the friction of the spear, but she was lucky enough to have even gotten that close to catching it. No, it wasn’t luck. From the outside it only seemed to be a fluke, however this was a result of her own effort.

Picking up the spear, Imira noticed Lukas keeping an eye on her. She spared no more than a glance; Alric would chastise her for being distracted in an obviously combative situation. Then training would be appropriately scaled back.

“What was that?” Their leader called out, rushing over with his weapon drawn. Despite his readiness to spring into action, Imira found his composure lacking. Bouncing around on the balls of his feet, he kept looking around incapable of figuring out what was happening.

Stumbling into the tall grass, green mass impacted the ground. Imira didn’t have time to shudder, but a chill ran up her spine. Contrary to its appearance as a MacGyvered ball of plants, the fact that it affected the environment more than chunks of stone had her gritting her teeth. The next shot could be mitigated at best.

“Hik!” Escaping into the brush may have been a good strategy, but struggling to push through left her open. Since the two heavy warning shots landed at her side, she noticed. She noticed, but the course of things was already set.

Torquing from the impact, she twisted into the ground. Ignoring the pain in her arm, Imira pushed on, encouraged to take shelter by a relatively mild followup. The misses were almost as discouraging as being hit. That almost felt worse than being hit.

Only a glutton for pain would ever want to be hit by the full force of Alric’s attacks, but with things so perfectly tailored, it felt as though her efforts were in vain. A terrifyingly forceful opening, getting the adrenaline pumping; a hit just hard enough for lasting pain, but left a minor bruise at worst; and a final attack to keep her moving, but not so much as to overwhelm her.

Uncontestable progress— it just happened that Imira moved along the lowest rungs of capability.

Even so, she fought on, taking each minor advantage. Staying in the village would have left her as a nobody nowhere. Discouraging it may be to compare her abilities to his, it was something to struggle against.

“What’s going on?” It took a few moments, but the adventurers responded, approaching with weapons drawn. They didn’t seem to have the philosophy of ‘CONSTANT VIGILANCE!’ that Alric shouted for. A moment in an ambush is life and death, surprise and hesitation were second only to a lack of technique in regards to failure. Only those truly strong could afford to enter battle so leisurely, and even then it remained a mark of arrogance.

Imira wondered if Alric thought himself arrogant, or was unaware of the irony.

Despite the adventurers’ armed approach, Alric barely glanced their way. Instead, he simply went on announcing her task.

“Alrighty then, good work! It looks like Intro to Projectiles is almost complete. Your final will start with 15 minutes. Every time you’re hit, I’ll add more time to the clock. I won’t be giving it all I’ve got, but of course you are allowed any means to pass.” Alric smiled, juggling as he gave the objective. Though his shoulder slumped slightly with an easygoing presence, Imira knew it was just patience. He always gave time for her to start with a mistake. Against another it might be time to act proactively, but she could almost feel the impact that would come from trying to bolt now. The balls of vegetation rose and fell for several cycles before the circle broke.

Snapping her spear to the side, compacted grass exploded away from her as she turned to dodge another. No room to relax, at least space could be found as Alric did not use his storage magic in front of strangers. Only so many projectiles could be prepared at once, and they were unstable and took time to make.

Released in bursts, Imira turned out of the way when possible Every swipe of the spear jolted her wrists, pushing her joints to their limits to move the spear in time. Blocking attacks pushed her back, inviting further punishment. Passing at abnormal speeds, steadily growing closer, Imira’s breath became heavier.

It should be impossible to not get hit once amongst such a storm, but Alric worked very carefully to match her capabilities. Only in her most perfect state could Imira keep up, so she learned to not make mistakes. Again Imira recognized what Alric wanted her to do, but she could only spit at the unfairness of it all. Never make a mistake? No matter how much that pushed limits and honed skills, wasn’t it just delaying inevitable failure?

Failure painfully shot into her left arm, hardly even a mistake, just the result of dodging every other attack. Imira didn’t have time to consider how things could have gone better; in ‘fairness’ Alric’s challenges could always be done perfectly, however awkwardly rolling away from the followup kept her occupied. Hardier shoots and shrubs jabbed, while loose plant matter caught in her hair.

“What’s going on?” Ritz shouted. Imira winced as he blocked her view of Alric’s hands. Hesitantly, she began slinking away, watching Alric’s head which remained visible above the adventurer. Waving her on, he confirmed that the argument was fair play. Imira redoubled her speed through the thicket. Fair it may be, but he would want to make up for lost time.

Putting them in the distance behind her, Imira had no second thoughts about eavesdropping. What Alric thought of her intrigued her, but since leaving the village his speech turned ethereal. Whatever he told Ritz would be a strange phrasing of truths from outright lies. Having a real conversation with him seemed impossible, Alric either listened or told you something, otherwise he was talking aloud to himself.

In the end Imira relied on herself to get through each day. Alric merely provided an opposing force that warded away any danger. Disappearing into the dense grasses and around yotta bushes, soon rustling wind drowned out the sound of others. With the spherical bushes blocking the view, she moved in a straight path before finding an open area to stand her ground.

Impatiently adjusting her stance and hands, Imira idled uncomfortably, unsure of how to best ready herself. She’d become acquainted with the spear, but at over five feet in length and made of dense hardwood, no matter how familiar, she didn’t have the body strength to wield it indefinitely.

Trying to scan the surrounding landscape for Alric’s approach, she couldn’t sense anything out of place. Several minutes passed, so he must have started coming after her. It could just be a ploy to catch her. Or he could be herding an animal in her direction. That wasn’t the point of the exercise, but Imira wouldn’t put it past him.

Straining her eyes for too long, they began to water. Cursing in her head, Imira almost wiped her eyes, but heard a sound slightly deeper into the grasses. What was he waiting for? Did he want her to clear her vision, taking an upfront risk, or to learn to deal with debuffs? An infinite number of possibilities and Alric wanted her prepared for all of them.

Unable to suppress blinking any longer, Imira jumped to one side, using the spear to alter course midway before wiping her eyes.

As nothing happened in response it seemed a silly sight, but Imira only grew more worried. What was Alric doing? He should have at least—

“Ah!” In her hunched posture, something came down from the sky, hitting her square between the shoulderblades. A hearty chuckle came from the brush to her front.

“An excellent show of mitigating risk. But remember, that’s why it’s important to expect the unexpected. If an opponent is experienced and making nonsensical moves, it is probably meant to catch you off guard. Especially older warriors— if they made foolish decisions they wouldn’t have lived that long.”

Imira silently accepted the advice, contorting herself to dodge three more throws, using her spear to deflect and block two after. With the sixth whistling by her ear, Imira’s heart pounded. If instead the first attack had been deflected, there would have been an opportunity to dodge the entire volley. As usual, she hadn’t been able to notice fast enough. How could it be possible for anyone was a mystery.

“Don’t look so worried, you never would have even seen that last week. Just practice, practice, practice.”

Reaching to his side, Alric’s hands tore up the grass as if it were wisps of cotton candy, instead of a resilient, fibrous plant. Crouching down, twisting and tying it with other plant matter, a new pile of projectiles quickly formed to be sent flying soon after.

Aggressively stepping forward as green confetti spread through the air, Imira pushed herself for a moments rest on her own terms. However it only gained enough time for two deep breaths. The onslaught started in earnest, with the time between volleys rapidly decreasing. Despite the constant stream of attacks, Imira kept in time with the rhythm.

Before long, she was pushed to where even her bones ached. Muscles struggling to keep up, eventually fatigue led to sloppy movements, and painfully sore limbs made concentration difficult. After managing to hold out for so long, Imira was struck due to her clouded judgement.

“Five more minutes.” Alric reported in a robotic fashion. There were no hints at this stage, Imira was giving her all just to stay focused, unable to process anything else.

Before the challenge had been a test of skill, but it devolved.

Each movement leaden, no longer could she knock down or avoid every attack even if she knew how to. And whenever the grass so much as grazed her, Alric called out a time extension. There wasn’t really any point to it anymore, she couldn’t keep dodging.

Imira attempted to continue in spite of that. Moving through ingrained habit, she found herself persevering through the pain. Alric hadn’t let up, so neither would she.

With solid impacts her vision grew hazy...