I'm not sure how long we stayed at it but our perception stat went up by a whole six points so I'm pretty happy with the results. Nick goes to bed but I stay awake and continue meditating. I want to test if we can affect our stats while not directly in control of our body. It would be very efficient if Nick can meditate during the day while I'm working and I meditate at night while he's reading. We'd be some kind of weird mental hydra thing. I'm tired. I realize the heavy weight of sleep pressing down on me now that my thoughts are getting strange.
It worked. During my short period of meditation our perception stat went up by one. This is getting really exciting.
I tell Nick the plan during breakfast the next morning. He's pumped. I regain control of our body for the first time since yesterday as we walk out the door.
'You're really not mad?'
"No, I'm not mad; and stop asking, it's starting to piss me off."
'So, you are mad?'
"Gah!"
Nick giggles away while I make weird noises. I'm glad he's back to normal. We chat a bit as we walk, which draws a few uncomfortable stares, but I ignore them.
"You're looking better." Catherine says when she sees me.
"Oh really? How'd I look yesterday?" I ask as I lean against the receptionist desk.
"Like shit."
"Nice to see you too." I slump over to our table where Sakura is already talking Josh's ear off.
"You look better today." She smirks.
"I'm not even going to ask," I sigh. "So, we're training with Jezabel today right?"
"Training sucks." Sakura says as she lays her head down on the table. It's true. I'd probably be more accurate if I said it was torture. Whatever the process, the results are undeniable. I can literally feel myself growing stronger everyday. Sakura must feel similarly because she hasn't given up yet.
"What do you think about the training Josh?"
He looks down and watches his hand open and close a couple times before he responds.
"Kyle talked to me yesterday. He told me to sit on the ground but I didn't listen. Then he hit me. It didn't even hurt. He started yelling and left." Josh takes a moment to gather his thoughts before continuing. "My Dad said he was happy that I'm making money now and it's all because you helped me get stronger."
He looks up at me with grim determination burning in his eyes.
"I like it. It hurts, but I like it."
I'm touched, and a little relieved, that Josh is so committed to our training. I honestly don't think I could do it on my own. Having these two there as support gives me the confidence to make some of the bold choices I've made; not that they all work out for the best. It's nice to be part of a team.
"Yeah, me too." I reply. Sakura glares at me but our 'instructor' arrives before she can say anything further.
"Go outside." She says.
When we step outside, Mark is standing in the courtyard with Miguel. They stop chatting when they see us and Miguel steps off to the side.
"Oh no." I groan.
"I see you've already figured out what we're doing today." Jezabel chuckles. "First you need the stats to have the ability to escape, and then you need the skills to know when and how. Today you're going to work with Mark here to train your perception, processing power, and a lot of resilience."
She walks over to a box with wooden versions of our weapons and throws them our way.
"I don't expect you to land a hit so just last as long as you can. Oh, and try not to die. You're still useful."
"Hello, I'm Mark from Ironhead."
"Mark, we've been on like thirty patrols together." I say as I grab a wooden spear and shield. Instead of responding, he raises two short wooden poles. I've only ever seen him use a bow but this must be what he uses in close range combat. Josh, of course, grabs the wooden sword and Sakura, the bow. I thought she might be given a close range weapon as well but I guess this makes for better practice. Her bow is basically a normal bow, it just that her arrows have blunt metal cylinders instead of arrowheads. We all get in position and wait for Mark's signal. "So, how are we doing this? Are you going to give us some pointers or something?"
"Pointers?" Mark thinks for a second and then smiles. "Don't get hit."
Whap
"Ahh!" I scream as his strike connects with my calf. Josh swings at him but catches me across the jaw. The world goes black.
I awake several seconds later with the help of Miguel's healing magic.
"Sorry." Josh says while scratching the back of his head.
"Better here than in the forest." I smile and slap him on the back.
We battle, if you could call it that, with Mark for three hours before we lose the ability to continue. Miguel is only here to heal major injuries so we are all covered in scratches and bruises. I thought we'd get some training on how exactly to use our weapons but we only learned how to get hit by them.
"Goodbye." Mark says and walks back into the guild.
"He's rude." Sakura complains. Her right eye is so swollen it looks like a cantaloupe stuck to her face.
"Pfft." Despite myself, I can't help but laugh when I see her.
"Hey, what's so funny?" She feels her face until her fingers reach her swollen eye. She gasps and turns to Miguel. "Please fix my eye."
"Jezabel said I was only supposed to-"
"Do it!" She growls.
"Okay, okay." He quickly heals her eye and she's full of smiles again.
"Haha, now you look all beat up." She says as she points at me.
"I bet I am. How are you doing Josh?"
"Ow." He says without moving from his spot on the ground.
"Yeah, that about says it."
I check my status and again boggle at the results. My Perception, Processing Power, and Resilience have all gone up dramatically. Jezabel's draconian methods again show their effectiveness.
The next day I ask Nick about the Dragon Core that Jezabel mentioned because it sounded relevant to the fairies.
'I think I read about it once but I don't really remember anything.'
"Okay, I'll ask around I guess."
Amazingly, we're all fully healed by the next day. I've said it before but the functionality of the system is unbelievable.
We walk into the woods and soon meet up with Woohee and Hai, though a third fairy is here as well.
"This is Foof!" Hai says as she introduces the newcomer. He stands out a lot as he has black wings, which stand out against the pure white feathers of his compatriot, and forest green hair. He's noticeably bigger than the others as well.
He doesn't say anything and instead, perches himself a top Josh's head.
"That's Foof." Hai explains, though I don't really understand any better.
"By the way, do you know anything about Dragon Cores?" I ask. Hai and Foof both whip there heads around at me. "I'll take that as a yes."
"Why are you asking about something so terrible?" Hai asks in a low voice.
"Jezabel, our Guild Master, said there's a guy, like a Noble or something, who's planning on invading the forest and that he has a Dragon Core." I fumble through the explanation.
Hai and Foof exchange a glance and fly off into the woods, leaving a very confused Woohee behind.
"What do you think that means?" Sakura asks.
"Nothing good." I grimace. The rest of the patrol is uneventful. I give Woohee a smaller piece of the cookie this time and split the rest between the three of us. The little fairy flutters this way and that as she gulps it down.
"Alright, Woohee, bye."
"Bye, bye!" She waves back with both arms over her head, then suddenly ducks away. I turn around and come face to face with the large fairy with gold and red armor.
"Hello, I don't believe I've properly introduced myself. I'm Inari." She says in a sultry voice.
"I'm Nick. This is Josh and Sakura." Sakura smiles and waves but Josh just looks at her with a serious expression.
"Charmed. Now, I heard you mentioned something about a Dragon Core?"
I explain again what I heard from Jezabel.
"I'm guessing that's bad news, huh?" I add at the end.
"It's certainly nothing to celebrate. Thank you for the information. It's been about a hundred years since the last time you humans tried to invade the forest so I'm not surprised that they are ready to try again. You creatures have such terribly short memories."
"Hey, don't look at me. I'm not invading anything." I say as I throw my hands up. I have the same feeling around her as I did the first time I met Jezabel. She's strong.
"Oh? But, aren't you invading right now? You're walking around as if the should praise you for stepping on it."
"Ah, um..." Her comment catches me off guard and I don't really know how to respond. She's obviously toying with me but I can't really argue that we were invited.
"You come in and take whatever you want; how are you any different?"
Maybe she isn't toying with me. This vast forest suddenly feels very narrow.
"I'm joking of course," she chuckles through her fingers. "I appreciate you letting me know about the Noble's plans."
She flies away and I finally feel like I can breath again.
"Sorry," Woohee says from her position on the nape of my neck. "Leader's a meanie."
"I'm sure she only wants what's best for you and the other fairies." I reply absentmindedly. My heart beat fills my ears. Should we be worried?
Our schedule falls into another routine as the days steadily grow colder. We alternate between patrolling the forest with Woohee and training with Mark. Sometimes other fairies show up as well. Hai comes along the most with the silent Foof. Every time he shows up he perches a top Josh's head for the entire journey and then leaves without even acknowledging us. The patrols are a nice change of pace from getting our asses kicked repeatedly and Nick has even started meditating during the day which has been steadily adding to our gains.
"Are we supposed to be learning some type of fighting technique or something?" I ask Jezabel one day before our training with Mark.
"You are a Noble so that would make sense for you but that knowledge isn't provided to those of lower station."
"How did you learn to fight?"
"Don't you already know? You use whatever means you have available to destroy the target; what else is there?"
"I don't know, I just thought there'd be some kind of manual or something at least."
"The system is the best guide for that. Learn to chain your skills together; that's what matters most."
"Okay, but it really consumes a lot of stamina."
"That's just because you are weak and your skill level is low. As you improve not only will your pool of stamina grow but you will also begin using your skills more efficiently. As for technique, figure it out on your own. Try different approaches and see what works. Mark is currently your most valuable resource."
"I understand. Thank you."
"You're acting unusually polite. Are you about to ask me for something?" Jezabel says as she crosses her arms.
"No, I just had an odd encounter yesterday and I guess it's still throwing me off."
"Forget about it for now and focus on your training."
"Yes, ma'm... Hey, are you saying I'm impolite?" I yell after the Guild Master but she's already gone. Her words continue to rattle around in my head though. I think I have an idea.