Chapter 31 - Training arc
After failing their first quest as adventurers, Marc and Rofta couldn't let it be, so they immediately took another the next morning.
[Gold-ranked: Kill and bring one Flying Fox-
Reward: 38.000 Jewels (380$)]
A Flying Fox is essentially just a fox with eagle wings, and it was fairly easy for the duo to kill it and bring it back.
The hardest part was to force the Flying Fox to the ground. Marc managed to do it by damaging its wing with a *Pressure Shot*, but he also managed to get his ass filled with hair needles when it landed on the ground. The Flying Fox had numerous abilities like firing hair needles and sharp feathers coupled with Wind Magic to make them more deadly.
Marc found it easy to counter the feathers, but hundreds of needles were too much for him.
On the other hand, Rofta had it much more difficult as the fox was pretty clever and always stood outside his range and fired feathers at him.
As the fight dragged on, Marc had enough a used a little *Ursus Shock* in the poor fox's face.
It totally ruined the feathers and fur that was worth the most, as to say they didn't get the full reward once again.
The two nearly went mad with bloodshot eyes scaring the shit out of the receptionist. Marc complained that the quests should mention those important things, and the answer he got made him shut up.
"It's an adventure's job to know what can or can't be sold on a Magic Beast. If you can't do that, then you should find another profession or find out before going on the quest."
As to say Marc and Rofta began grinding quests after quest, making them the talk amongst similarly ranked adventures.
…
6 months later Marc and Rofta had turned 16-years old.
"Hey Rofta," Marc called out to Rofta
"What is it?" Rofta asked after hearing Marc.
"I'm thinking of doing a training arc," Marc said.
"You what?" Sometimes Rofta doesn't understand what Marc's saying.
"I'm thinking of going on a training journey. I want to work on my Paw Magic."
"…I was actually thinking the same thing," Rofta confessed.
"Then I'm going to tomorrow. How about meeting at Wonsu Village after 6 months?" Marc wanted to meet up again after 6 months so he can show off his progress.
"…Can you even find your way to that village? And are you going to be there on time? I'm telling you this, I'm not waiting for you for too long!" Rofta warned him and agreed in a roundabout way.
"Don't sweat the small stuff," Marc said while waving his hand.
"Then let's go use the rest of the money we have. Let's eat!" Marc wanted a meal with him before parting tomorrow.
Rofta dug his hand into his pocket to check how much money they have left. They didn't earn much as they rarely completed the quests without doing something wrong. Nevertheless, they still earned some pocket money.
"…" Rofta's lips twitched with annoyance when he saw the meager amount of money they have left. Rofta took it upon himself to hold the money as Marc tended to drop it, or waste it. The same thing.
"How much do we have?" Marc asked while holding his stomach that just growled.
"Less than 200 Jewels (2$)…" Rofta revealed how broke they were.
"…Nothing we can do then. Let's leach of Lisa!" Marc said shamelessly.
"Ugh, then you have to get my back. Don't abandon me like last time. I felt less than a dog. Make sure to put food on my plate regularly!" Rofta looked and said seriously to Marc. They have pulled this stunt before and Rofta got the short end of the stick. He got one little plate and when it was empty, he wanted to refill it but Lisa glared daggers at him, making him back off. Only Marc was allowed to eat until he was stuffed.
"Don't worry, I got you your back," Marc said while he hit Rofta's back.
In the end, Rofta got two small plates before Marc forgot about him. He got brave once and tried to steal a piece of meat, but a fork flew by his hand, into the table, scaring the shit out of him. Lisa's smile was very beautiful in Marc's eyes but in Rofta's it wasn't at all. It was a warning.
…
The day after, Marc and Rofta had parted from each other. Marc intended to find a cliff and do a bird's first flight like he has seen on Discovery Channel once. Slow and safe training wasn't for him. To surpass one's limits over and over, the danger has to be met.
But alas, he couldn't follow the directions on the map he got from Lisa after telling her he will be leaving for half a year. It made her sad and she wanted to follow, but her sister and mother stopped her as she has duties as the guild master to fulfill. She will just use these 6 months to make her boobs bigger with the help of her dear Celestial Spirit.
Right now, Marc was looking at the beautiful view of the ocean with no civilization for hundreds of kilometers, and no cliffs that were his objective.
The sun was high in the air and the weather was great. There are a few clouds, but they never overshadowed the sun. The beach was filled with fine sand and the ocean was fairly still.
"Should I turn around? No, it would be such a waste to leave, but how do I train here?" Marc sat on the beach and went into deep thought about how he should train here.
His train of thought was broken when he could hear something in the direction of the ocean. It was some kind of water strider that ran on the ocean like it was nothing while some seals with horns were trying to catch it and eat it. It reminded Marc of the Water-Walk Technique from Naruto.
"That's it!!" Marc hit his palm with an idea in mind.
.
.
.
.
A blonde short boy can be seen running with everything he got from the beach into the ocean. He has been doing the same thing for weeks now without stop, other than eating and emptying the stomach.
If you look closer at his feet, very unclear, almost unnoticeable pads can be seen under them. When he reached the ocean, he ran on the water for 7 steps before he fell under, and a seal tried to impale him with its horn.
Marc quickly swam into the shore again where the seal stopped follow him, but it still kept an eye on him. The seal was part of his training so he didn't bother scaring it away or kill it.
His training was simple. Run as long as he can on the ocean, and if he falls in the seal attacks. It's some type of punishment he made up for himself. The seal has been close to impaling him a few times as it's very maneuverable in the ocean compared to Marc.
For 5 months Marc did this training with some minor things changing, like the seal getting help from other seals.
….
Rofta traveled to the forest west of the Capital where he wanted to train his swordsmanship. He wanted it to be quick and swift, so his enemies will lose before they even know it when he uses his Inverted Magic.
As for his magic, he wanted to be able to invert the sense of smell. He got this idea after seeing Marc being able to repel pain. Most Magic Beasts have a very keen sense of smell, so messing with their sense of smell would be a good advantage. Marc gave him other ridiculous ideas on how to improve his magic, but he has some small doubt if they are possible.
Rofta was astonished when Marc wouldn't shut up with the possibilities of his Inverted World Magic and wanted to destroy his narrow thought process that Marc pointed out.
"You shouldn't limit yourself thinking what magic can or can't do. Magic has endless possibilities so don't limit your imagination on how to use your magic!" Marc preached like a Magic Sage while touching his imaginary beard on one of their previous quests.
Back to Rofta, he was fighting a mantis-looking Magic Beast that has two sharp scythed-like arms. It easily cut through trees, and Rofta had a very hard time fighting it without using his Inverted World Magic as he wanted. His sword was simply too low quality, and when he finally managed to cut it, it escaped.
His sword was damaged badly and couldn't be used anymore, so he had to leave the forest to find a new sword without a Jewel in his possession.
***
(A/N: The little training arc stops here. I just wanted to make one chapter that shows how they train to remove their shortcomings. Hope it was decent. )
(Words: 1518)
(A/N: Read 1 chapter ahead on -> bit.ly/2MZTn3p )