Diary and Rain

"How do you know where they are?" he asked, attempting to initiate another conversation.

"They sometimes tend to go to this store's training hall after completing a quest," she answered while staring ahead. "It's to help them practice their combat skills."

"I see..."

There was more he wanted to ask but he decided to stay silent for the time being.

After that, their conversation ended and they continued walking together in silence.

Along the way, Leo started contemplating on the effects gravity could have on an individual, and if there were several more applications that he didn't know about. Remembering the scene he watched back at the academy, with several knights from different countries being forcefully made to float in the air, Leo also began reminiscing his time with Austin and Jeffrey.

'I wonder how those two are doing right now?

'Well, their experiences probably shouldn't be as dangerous as mine.'

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It only took them two minutes before they arrived at the edge of the training hall. Sure enough, like Sarah said, Alex and Judy appeared to be practicing together.

In front of them lay a flat circular arena that appeared to be carved from white marble. From time to time, stone-like statues would be magically transported from beneath the smooth floor to engage in battle against the people training here.

Apparently, the training hall possessed magical golems that can be summoned for individuals to use for sparring. Of course, one had to pay a certain price for them before they can be initiated, and afterwards the golems would be kept in the store for repairs once the people finished.

The hall was incredibly spacious, no doubt as another result of spatial magic, and was large enough to contain a dozen areas for each individual to practice separately.

By the time Leo and Sarah arrived, their friends were already concluding the end of their fight.

"Oh, hey guys," Judy said while wiping sweat off her forehead. After defeating the golems, she spotted her companions standing nearby. "Didn't think you would come here so quickly."

During this practice, Judy had sparred with several golems at once without her usual wand. It seemed the lack of a magic item had drained her stamina more quickly, as she was currently taking in slow breaths.

Alex was also wiping some sweat a few feet away, apparently having practiced hand-to-hand combat with a large and bulky golem. Leo particularly noted that the golem was almost as tall as the Goblin King.

"Leo already found what he wanted to buy." Sarah indicated to the book in Leo's hands.

"Already, huh?" Alex smiled. "Is there anything else that has piqued your interest?"

"Well, this training hall for one thing," Leo replied, gesturing to the white arena. "Do most adventurers like to use this place for practice?"

He just had the thought that this location reminded him of the training area that Gerald would use to educate his students.

"Of course," Judy nodded. "Although, because there isn't that much space for people to be here at once, sometimes we aren't able to gain access to the training hall."

"That, and it can also be pretty expensive if you train here for too long." Alex added while pointing his thumb at a wooden board that told the prices for the different amounts of time a person could receive.

"Then, is there anything else you guys need here?" Leo asked. Now that he obtained a new spell to learn, he decided that he wanted to go to the other areas around this city.

His friends looked at each other before turning back to shake their heads.

"We don't really have anything we particularly need right now," Judy replied.

"Don't you want to stay here to test out the training hall?" Sarah asked out of consideration.

"It's fine. I actually need to conserve more money anyways," Leo replied, holding his pocket.

"In that case," Alex began, "why don't we keep on sightseeing."

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For the rest of the day, Leo's group forewent all other magic-related activities and based their time around making small trips in Victoria City.

When they got hungry, they would go out to get lunch in their hands as they continued travelling down various marketplaces.

"Look over there!" Alex pointed his group to a faraway street. "That shopping area sells some of the best snacks! You've really got to try them..."

Other than eating, Leo was also introduced to other vendor stores and found himself becoming interested in another book uniquely dubbed as the 'Adventurer's Diary'.

"This item was said to have been popular during the first establishment of the Adventurer's Guild," Judy introduced at a shop selling merchandise. "They say that when an adventurer dies, this diary can be left behind for their fellow guildmates to find; the point was to allow our members to inherit the knowledge and experiences that have been accumulated during various quests, and to prevent them from becoming lost forever."

"I see." Leo stared at the blank front cover of the book which had traces of enchantments within the pages.

"Are they still in use today?" he asked.

"Not anymore," Judy replied honestly. "They say that, other than the guild master, no one else is willing to use these diaries. The adventurers in the recent years would rather focus more on spending their money for equipment instead of on objects that serve no combative purpose."

"Is that so? What about you guys?"

"We're the same," Alex responded. "There are times when we can be a bit tight on money, so we often have to prioritize on the things we need."

Although Leo had his own opinions, he could understand the perspective from a practical standpoint. Not many adventurers would be able to start off with a decent amount of money to spend; some may even be relatively poor. Considering that the information people could find on the quests they plan to take won't always be reliable (as Leo and his friends have painfully learned), it would be more realistic to focus on buying artifacts and weapons that could increase their chances of survival.

On another note, Leo hasn't detected a single enchantment on the Adventurer's Diary that could protect the book from external damage. The pages and cover didn't even have a basic waterproof-type enchantment. If it ever got lost on a quest, chances are that the book would likely either be destroyed or ruined by the surrounding environment. To him, this was a fairly large oversight.

Fortunately, Leo's own abilities can make up for this apparent weakness.

"Hm, I think I would like to buy this," Leo said while taking a few silver coins out of his bag for the shopkeeper.

"You sure?" Alex asked as Leo purchased the book.

"Yeah, it's not like it can't be useful--"

"Ah, it's raining!" Sarah shouted to her friends as she raised her arm up to shield herself.

"Oh damn. Already?" Judy stared up at the darkening clouds and felt a raindrop land on her forehead. "I thought there were still a few hours left."

Leo's expression became panicked as soon as he noticed specks of water falling on top of the book cover he had just recently bought. Out of haste, he quickly conjured a spell to repel the raindrops around him.

A few seconds later, the rain started to steadily increase in frequency as the rest of the group found themselves slowly getting wet. Thankfully it was the summer season, so this sudden situation provided them the opportunity to cool off.

"Are there any more places nearby we can check out?" Alex asked, apparently still intent on helping Leo explore the city.

As he was speaking, rainwater suddenly began pouring heavily onto the street they were standing in. Eventually, Leo had to erect up a [Mage Shield] to protect all his friends from getting drenched. As for the customers and shopkeepers, they simply chose to close the shops and find cover near the surrounding buildings.

"How about that blacksmith's store?" Sarah suggested. "It should be close to here."

"Mad Beard's?!" Judy looked incredulously at Sarah. "You want to end the trip with THAT place?"

"Why not?" Sarah shrugged her shoulders. "And besides, it's not like we have to end our trip here just because the rain is pouring. We can still stick around together for dinner time."

"Um, sorry Sarah, but I don't think many restaurants will still want to remain open at a time like this," Alex interjected. It seemed that he shared Judy's opinion on the current state of their sightsee.

A few feet beside them, due to the loud noise of the rainwater hitting the ground, Leo was unable to clearly discern their entire conversation. Feeling slightly confused, he decided to tell them his stance.

"I'm okay with going anywhere you guys will take me," Leo told them. "It's fine even if it's a weird location. I'm just looking around after all."

"Uh, Leo..." Judy sounded uncertain on how to reply.

"It's not that we don't want to take you somewhere," Alex said, raising his voice above the sound of falling water. "We just aren't sure if you'll like the place we have in mind."

"I'm sure it'll be fine." Leo wasn't put off in the slightest. "What could be worse than that goblin cave?"

"See. Leo wants to go," Sarah spoke in a tone that was devoid of any concerns. "Let's not dawdle here any longer.

"The store is over there!"

Sarah pointed in a certain direction and immediately headed there herself, forcing the rest of the group to follow as they shared the protection of Leo's [Mage Shield].

Reluctantly, Judy and Alex didn't say a word as they chased after their teammate.

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