Peaceful Mornings Don't Come Easy

Instead of commencing the fight right away, she scrolls through her list of achievements, deciding to complete sub-goals for more coins instead of aimlessly fighting around and getting herself hurt. There's one for completing thirty battles in total and some on heating the weak spots of certain enemies. Mizuki shuffles through the tabs, clicking on one with a collection of information on the enemies.

[Cultists]

[Boblins]

[Slimes]

[Murinus]

[Sisters of Chaos - Valkyrie]

Clicking on [Cultists], she notes how they're corrupted sub-humans created by the Sisters of Chaos. Supposedly, they're weakest to the enchantments or magic but for physical weapons, their weakest point is a gem at the left side of their chest, closer to their collarbone rather than the heart. Closing the interface, she presses her palm against the activation circle. It rotates and then vanishes. Mizuki stretches her limbs, "Oh, this is going to be a long ride."

Fights would be much easier if only she knew what she's about to go against. Fighting against randomised monsters and having to learn how to vary her attacks based on the situation is helpful, that's for sure, but way too difficult to do for hours at a time. Perhaps Mizuki should take it easy on herself, except keeping herself busy is the only easy distraction to keep her mind off things she can't afford to dwell on.

"Ah! Thank you so much, Mizuki!" Sebastian jumps, thanking her profusely. A second heart appears above his head. Mizuki closes the door behind her, shaking her head as she wonders why she gave in to his request. Tugging her trusty satchel over her shoulder, she stalks out of the door, quickening her pace in the direction of Sebastian's pub.

The next time Mizuki returns to her senses, her limbs are stained a purplish-pink and her clothes are unkempt. She stumbles to her feet in a slovenly manner, combing her fringe back with her fingers. She blinks, head beginning to ache from consuming too much energy.

[Training Mode cleared!]

Mizuki huffs, except when she looks up again, she sees herself to an unexpected surprise.

[Peasant → Rogue]

[EXP 2500 → EXP 5000]

Her face lights up in joy, clenching her fist in celebration at the achievement. She lets out a laugh of joy, clutching her chest in relief. She blanked out completely while fighting and though she didn't unlock any more achievements, she finally ranked up. If she counted days, she would realise that it's almost been an entire month since she arrived here. It's almost too hard to believe she's finally progressing.

[Skill Map Unlocked]

A new function notification pops up in front of Mizuki when she's back in the training room at the Wanderer's Union. She lets out a yawn of exhaustion, deciding to crash at her own apartment.

The skill map is similar to a typical ability chart in the shape of a pentagon. At the end of the shape, there are five skills: Strength, Agility, Deception, Recovery and Defence. Based on her current character statistics, her strongest suit is her Recovery and her weakest skill is her Deception. Mizuki furrows her eyebrows at this. In fact, her strongest skill isn't much better than the rest of her abilities. She closes the interface, writing it off as a worry for another day.

In her daze, as she strolls back up to her room upstairs, she finds her mind returning to thoughts of Hinata. Did he really leave just like that? Is he sleeping properly? Can he find the pieces on his own if he's not even a mage? Mizuki fidgets. Did he find a better adventurer to accompany him?

Mizuki pushes the door to her apartment, hobbling with tired steps before finally crashing against her mattress. She turns her gaze to the open windows, stars twinkling brightly in the night sky. The moon is somewhere at its peak and the light in most of the houses have gone dark. It's probably somewhere long past midnight. If it was yesterday, she would've been running to save her life with Hinata.

If she didn't say the wrong words, would still be with her?

Mizuki hates living off 'What if's.

[Mizuki has succumbed to a deep slumber]

Bam! Bam! Bam! Mizuki snaps awake to the abrupt noise of knocking on her door. She rubs the back of her head as she sits up, stifling a groan. It's become a common occurrence to wake up to someone snapping their fingers in her face (Hinata) or incessant knocking from Heavens know where. She wonders if she'll simply stay asleep if there's no noise to wake her. Sliding off her bed, she trudges to the door and flashes an awkward smile in greeting.

"Ah, Mizuki! Was it a bad time?" an adolescent's voice greets her ears. Mizuki looks up, her eyes met by Sebastian's frantic ones. He looks a lot more awkward than he does on most occasions, his knuckles red from the rough knocking.

For someone who looks as gentle as Sebastian, nobody would guess he could knock a door hard enough to wake someone. "U-Uh, no, no, what do you need?" Mizuki yawns behind her palm, her voice sluggish and slurred.

"Someone was calling for you at the bar! I think it might be urgent so could you please check on her when you're free?" Sebastian pleads, hands cupped behind his back. Mizuki deadpans, trying her hardest not to show her reluctance. 'Ah, so early in the morning?' It's only a matter of time before her muscle aches hit her badly.

"I'll check it out, thank you for telling me," Mizuki flashes a close-lipped smile, about to close the door when she realises that Sebastian doesn't show any signs of moving. She cocks her head in confusion, blinking at him as he does the same.

"You aren't free right now?" Sebastian probes.

"Er… Well…" Mizuki hesitates. For one, she hasn't taken a shower. Second of all, she hasn't had her breakfast so she's probably extremely low on energy even with the long rest (which she can't predict how long it's been). In the midst of her deliberation, he watches her with pleading eyes, awaiting her response.

Mizuki sighs, very well knowing she has a weak spot for silent stares. Rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly, she averts her gaze, "Yeah, nevermind, I'll drop by the pub. Let me gather my things and I'll follow you."

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