I racked my brain to think of how they lost. I wasn’t paying enough attention because I was assured of their victory, but the next thing I knew was that they were lying on the ground. Maybe I’m just a crappy teacher. Nah, that can’t be it.

“You’re a crappy teacher.” Exidium interrupted my train of thought. “First of all, your training methods are quite subpar. Second, neither of them are using the weapon that they should be. They should switch to something different immediately, to something that better suites the fighting style that they’ll have once they can tap into the full power of their contract.”

Well then. What do you suppose I do about the weapons and the training?

“First, Lion Boy should be using a gauntlet of some sort. Hand to hand combat would suite him much better than that of the sword, do to the overbearing nature of the Nemean Lion. If he can punch and pick more efficiently, he can throw his power around easier than if he relies on the sword.”

“Hydra boy should use a two handed weapon, something that has more reach than a short spear. If he has the magic of the hydra, then he doesn’t even need the shield. A scythe could be used better. His main point of strength comes from the unpredictableness of the hydra’s movements, which can be brought out better by the scythe.”

“As far as your training goes, you shouldn’t only just spar and make them do the same type of physical training, over and over again. You of all people should know the importance of life and death combat. Sparring lacks an element of urgency. Even though they know they can’t hurt you, they hold back subconsciously because they think of you as their friend and can’t seriously attack you. It’s different from when I trained you in the Starless world, because you knew that no matter how hard you tried, you would never be able to hurt me. They CAN hurt you if you get careless.”

“I’d suggest bringing them into the labyrinth, so they can get real combat experience. Even if it’s an orc, all you have to do is cut in once the situation gets hairy.”

I had to admit, Exidium knew what he was talking about. I wasn’t exactly sure how, because he’s a dragon and spent a lot of his life outside this realm. But once I conceded to his ways of training them, I dragged the two who were still on the ground back to the field that we were training at.

“How much money do you two have on you?” I asked them as soon as they were coherent again.

“A few gold, why?” Maximus looked at me with a perplexed expression.

“Go to town and buy some new weapons. Maximus get a pair of gauntlets, and Virgil grab a Scythe. Starting tomorrow, those are the weapons you’re going to use. After a few rounds of sparring tomorrow, we’ll go to the labyrinth so you can practice getting used to those weapons.”

“But we’ve been using these for years!” Maximus was unwilling to change when he had invested a lot into becoming somewhat skilled with the sword.

“And it’s been a waste of time. If you can’t hit anything with your sword, it doesn’t matter how much power you have with it. If you get gauntlets and practice hand to hand combat, your speed will improve and it will be easier to lock down opponents. Virgil do you have any questions?

“No. I trust your judgment.” He trusted me fully, but the bitter Maximus still had a sad look on his face.

I went back to the guild by myself. They had the rest of the day to themselves other than going to buy their new weapons. If they tried them out, like they probably would, it would have to be because they wanted to.

If I said I wasn’t bitter that they lost, I would be lying. It wasn’t because of their incompetence, it was mine. I had completely wasted two of their weeks, while Lux had brought the twins to another level.

“Bitter. Bitter. Bitter.”

I instinctively knew I was being mocked. With a sour look on my face I look to see Lux, who had come up next to me. Her smile lit up the room. She was happy that she was able to best me this time. I’ll show her!

“Don’t be so upset, it’s just a friendly competition, after all.” She gave me a peck on the cheek and I couldn’t help but be happier. Maybe that’s okay for now!

“Come on, we have to get to B rank, so maybe we can just hand in a few quests today.” It didn’t matter how fast or slow we showed up. The old man who ran the reception couldn’t care less either way. He simply said the same thing every time. ‘Good, you’re safe.’

There were different people in the guild every time we left and came back anyway, nobody would just wait around. The labyrinth here was quite vast, so it was possible for us to not run into anyone, other than on the paths that led down. But even then, the likelihood of them coming back during the time frame that we did was slim to none.

This time I grabbed a mission to kill 10 hellhounds. Hell hounds were giant wolf-like creatures that were on fire. They weren’t as strong as a minotaur alone, but usually they were in packs of 4 or 5. But even 4 or 5 of them would get slaughtered if they encountered an orc.

We flew there and then went to the 6th floor. When the hellhounds appeared, they were in a group of 7. Dark Lightning. Before any of them could move to attack us, they were all dead. The Dark Lightning shot out in whatever direction I wanted it to. A single shock was enough kill them by frying their brain. After collecting their front right paws, we left to look for more. Even if we left the corpses here, they would just be cleaned up by other monsters. They weren’t too picky when it came to food.

We encountered another 4 more. This time Lux just cut them apart with Excalibur. We were done with the mission within 20 minutes, and were almost on our way back to the guild. When we got back, we handed in the mission in without a problem and took another. With the rate of efficiency that we currently had. We were already B ranked within the end of the day.

The next day, I met with Maximus and Virgil, who were currently both holding new weapons, with no sign of their old ones. Virgil’s scythe was taller than him, and the shaft was thin so that one hand would have no trouble fitting two of it around. Even though it was that thin, it seemed strangely sturdy. The blade was long and curved, it looked like the sharpness was incomparable to regular steel, and could split it in half like butter.

Maximus was already wearing his gauntlet’s that appeared to be made out of top quality material. As for what that material was, I truly had no idea. I had little knowledge of anything outside of fighting. It’s metallic color had a slight green tint to it. They had had been specialized for fighting, so there were minor features that differed them from normal gauntlets. These were slightly bigger than normal, in order to give room for some impact control, since they were used for punching. They also had some small spikes on the knuckles. The spikes were blunt instead of sharp, so they were meant to hurt not to pierce.

When I got closer, I ordered them to fight one another. They looked at me with a blank stare before realizing what I had said. It took them a moment to get ready and begin to spar. Maximus charged in faster than he had ever been before to try to close the distance between him and Virgil. Virgil on the other hand, stayed back and used the range to his advantage. Whenever Maximus came into range, he would simply hit him with the blunt part of the scythe to stop his advance. It went on like this for 10 minutes, there was no way for him to close the distance, because his movements were easy for Virgil to predict.

After being thrashed around because he couldn’t even get close, Maximus was frustrated with the change that he was forced to make. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust me. But it looked that he was quite attached to the way he fought with his sword. His movements were faster, but they lacked something important. He still acted like he was fighting with the large, clunky sword and wouldn’t completely use his body to move in the ways he now could.

As a demonstration I spar with Virgil and make Maximus watch. I try to use the same amount of speed that Maximus used to show him what he was capable of. I ran at him and when he went to push me away to keep distance, I continued to move forward and twisted my torso in a way that would be impossible with a giant sword. I keep advancing and stop my fist as soon as it’s directly in front of Virgil’s face.

Once I proved my point I took them to the labyrinth with me, so that they could train themselves with the daemons. I had no experience with how to wield a scythe so Virgil would have to rely on himself, but I tried to give Maximus what few pointers that I could about hand to hand combat.

They continued to kill daemons while trying to make their movements with their new weapons more natural over the next two weeks. Nothing dangerous really happened, they didn’t need help so I didn’t bother chaperoning them around. If they were in any real danger they could activate their magic and would have each other. Lux and I completed around 40 B ranked tasks over those 2 weeks and were almost A ranked like the groups.

When it came time for the 1 on 1s, I thought for sure this time my boys would have it. First was Ruby and Virgil. Ruby brandished her two daggers and moved in. She aimed to end it quickly, but was shocked to see Virgil holding a scythe. When she came into his range he simple hit her with the blunt parts of the scythe, denying her engage. It was the same way he dealt with Maximus, but this time it was much more refined. Whenever she got barely into his range, she was met with a blow to the arm, leg, stomach, or shoulder. It was an overwhelming victory since she just couldn’t land a hit on him.

Maximus and Amethyst were now up. She was wondering where the sword was, when she looked at his shiny new greenish gauntlets. She also wielded her daggers, and was in a stance that was ready for combat. When she took that ready stance, Maximus moved to close the distance. She welcomed him and went to slash at him once he was in range, but missed somehow. Maximus had pivoted to the left and sent a single punch to her gut, making her drop her daggers. That was the end of the second round of duels.

After the group was sent home for the day, I met up with Lux at home. “Don’t look so grim, it’s just a friendly competition.” I said that was a large grin on my face. Lux, who was not in a good mood, simply had a frown on her face. I gave her a kiss on the cheek and her face brightened up.