“Aw, already? Let’s stay for—”
“No, we’re going. You knew you were coming back with us from the start, so don’t even try it,” Vivian said, cutting his little sister’s protest off at the roots.
Isabela started to pout, but their mother’s steady gaze left no room for argument. After a beat, she let out a sharp tsk of disappointment, realizing she wasn’t going to win this one.
“Bye, Becca. Marco,” she said at last, giving a reluctant wave. Rebecca and Marco returned it with warm smiles.
Elias snorted at the nickname—Becca—but he had to admit, it was kind of cute.
“Oh, and Elias,” Peter said casually just as they were about to leave, “before I forget—try not to show off our fighting style in front of others. Everything up to that… explosive move you pulled is fine, but anything beyond that, I want you to keep under wraps. Alright? I didn’t bring it up before because, frankly, I didn’t think you’d manage it without our usual... preparations. But now you know.”
“Sure…” Elias replied, brow creasing slightly.
There was clearly more behind the request than Peter was letting on, but Elias figured he could puzzle it out later. If his father had wanted to explain it in front of the others, he would’ve.
With that, Peter and Vivian said their goodbyes and walked off, Kitty trailing after them, and a dejected Isabela trudging behind.
A few seconds after the trio disappeared, Rebecca let out a quiet giggle and glanced at Elias with a smile.
“Your sister is cute,” she said. “I always wanted a little sister.”
“She’s cute when she wants to be,” he replied with a snort.
Rebecca only hummed in response, her gaze distant. The three of them fell into a companionable silence that lingered for a few moments—until Marco broke it.
“Anyway, let’s get back to it,” Marco said eagerly. “We paid for the full hour, and thanks to your mom, we haven’t even used our free healing yet.”
“Haven’t had enough?” Elias asked, flashing a smug grin.
“Oh, please. Your dad just banned you from using that special move of yours, and I don’t see myself losing otherwise,” Marco shot back with a smirk. “Besides, I’m a swordsman. If we were sparring with swords, I wouldn’t have lost.”
“Ha! I didn’t take you for a sore loser, Marco,” Rebecca said, bursting into laughter.
“Oh, those are fighting words, Becca. Want to join us for a round? Maybe Elias will even go easy on you,” Marco shot back with a grin.
“Oh, he will? And why’s that?” Rebecca asked, her tone suddenly clipped as her eyes narrowed dangerously at Elias.
The shift in her demeanor was so swift, Elias choked on his own saliva and dissolved into a fit of coughing. He shot Marco a glare before turning back to Rebecca—only to find her still watching him with those narrowed eyes.
“I didn’t say anything,” Elias said, confident his very logical defense would soften her glare. It didn’t. If anything, her eyes narrowed further—and now he caught a flicker of anger and hurt behind them.
“Well, I’m sorry if I’m not an amazing fighter like you two,” Rebecca snapped, her glare shifting between them.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Elias blinked, taken aback. He even shot a glance at Marco, silently checking if he was the only one who’d missed something.
Marco looked just as confused.
He was missing something, and Elias threw all his mental energy into figuring out what it was. He was sure he looked ridiculous, his expression caught somewhere between confused and constipated, but he didn’t care. This felt important.
Then it hit him.
Rebecca had mentioned she didn’t have the money to buy the potions she needed to strengthen her foundation. Understandable, since those supplements were absurdly expensive. But he’d missed the deeper implications. If she was pouring everything she had into that, she likely couldn’t afford trainers to help her sharpen her fighting skills either.
“Rebecca, we didn’t mean to offend you,” Elias said. “I’m sure Marco was only joking—he didn’t mean to belittle your fighting skills. Right, Marco?”
Marco nodded, though his expression still held a hint of confusion over why Rebecca had gotten so upset.
Her glare softened slightly, and Elias took it as a good sign. Encouraged, he pressed on.
“But how about this—we could become training partners. I’m not nearly as good a teacher as my parents, but I’m sure I could still help if we started sparring together. What do you think?”
“I’d like that,” Rebecca said softly after a long pause, her defensive posture easing. “And… I’m sorry for how I reacted. It’s kind of a sore spot for me. I guess I felt a little intimidated, seeing how well the two of you can fight.”
She looked down for a moment before continuing.
“My dad’s a Journeyman adventurer—he was the one who taught me how to fight. I’ve had a decent amount of practice in the dungeon, too, and it’s always been something I was proud of until now. But watching you two fight… I don’t think I’m anywhere near that level.”
“Hey, it’s not a problem. Marco’s not at my level either,” Elias said with a wink, earning a small smile from Rebecca.
“Hey!” Marco protested. “Why don’t we see how well you do in a match with training swords?”
“Thanks, you two,” Rebecca said quickly, cutting in before they could start bickering.
“Well, if we’re talking about becoming training partners and all,” Marco added with a grin, “does this mean we’re partying up? Because if that’s the case, you two better pick up the pace to reach the Beginner rank.”
At his friend’s words, Elias' face cycled through a rapid series of expressions as a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions battled for dominance in his mind.
Part of him wanted to agree on the spot—to leap with joy at the thought of finally forming a party with friends. But another part groaned, reminding him just how far behind he was in terms of levels.
He drew a steadying breath, forcing the noise to quiet so he could think clearly. One way or another, he’d find a way to make it work.
“I hate to be the one to say it, but I think we should stick to being sparring partners for now,” Elias said. “At least until we’re all at a similar level. You and Rebecca could party up already, but I’m still a ways off from hitting level ten in all my attributes. I wouldn’t be able to keep up.”
“I’m with Elias on this one,” Rebecca added. “I know we all just met, but you two seem like fun, so I’d be open to forming a party—if only to see where this goes.” She gave a quick wink, and Elias felt his heart skip a beat.
“But I still need to gather the rest of the funds to finish building my foundation, so I can’t quit my job as a power leveler just yet. Maybe we keep sparring, get to know each other a bit more, and party up once we’re all at Beginner rank or something?”
“Yeah, I guess that’s for the best,” Marco mumbled.
Elias couldn’t help but grin at the disappointment in his friend’s voice. It was nice to know Marco wanted this just as much as he did.
“It’s settled, then,” Elias said. “We’ll stick to being sparring partners until we all hit Beginner rank and unlock our Skills. We can revisit the idea of forming a party then, alright?”
Both Marco and Rebecca nodded in agreement.
“Alright, let’s get back to sparring,” Elias said. “Like Marco pointed out earlier, we did pay for the full hour.”
Before they could settle into proper training, Marco immediately demanded a rematch—which he won this time around.
After that, the two men took turns sparring with Rebecca, who turned out to be a far better fighter than either of them had expected. At one point, Elias even remarked that her skills were comparable to Isabela’s.
Rebecca didn’t appreciate being compared to a twelve-year-old, but Elias quickly clarified that Isabela was an unusually gifted fighter for her age. Still, he reassured Rebecca that with her experience and a bit of guidance, she’d improve quickly.
In the end, the trio parted ways with smiles on their faces, promising to meet up every other day to continue sparring and training. Rebecca headed off to meet the group she’d be power leveling, while Marco and Elias made their way into the jungle to hunt monsters and gain experience, chatting excitedly as they went.
Elias was practically skipping like a little girl as he stepped into the trees.