{One Week Later}

{Lyn Asahiro}

[Dear Rin,]

[How's it going, sweetie? I figured I'd let you settle in for a bit before I started, you know, showering you in letters. I was going over some of the things you had in your room, the presents I'd bought you for the Flower Song festivals and stuff. It just kind of hit me that you're going to be spending your first Flower Song alone. So, I got to writing. The dress I got you for the last one still looks just as beautiful today as it did back then. Maybe I'll send it to you somehow!]

[Oh! That friend of yours, Felix, has passed by the house fairly often. He brought me some food and stayed over to talk for a bit, on one occasion. He's a kind soul. A little bit too energetic for me, but I can see why you two are such good friends. It still does get a little bit lonely though now that you're not here, even if we didn't talk that much when you were here. I think that's honestly my only regret. I spent so much time being sad about what happened to your brother and your father that I didn't talk to you as much as I should have. But, I want you to know I'm proud that you're taking steps to do something great.]

[With love, your mother, who misses you greatly.]

As she finished writing the letter, Lyn took a deep breath, just in time to hear someone knock on her door.

It took her a great amount of effort to stand up, as Lyn could feel herself weakening by the day. Her sickness had come back in these last couple of weeks, stronger than ever, it seemed. She walked over to it, wearing a pair of fluffy slippers and a white bathrobe. Taking a deep breath, she tried to compose herself as she opened the door.

Behind it was Jay, standing there with a plate wrapped in plastic.

"Hey," Jay greeted her as she lifted the plate, to show it off.

"Ms. Jay, hello," Lyn replied, a natural smile coming to her portrait. "How are you?"

"I'm good. And, I told you, just 'Jay' is fine."

"My apologies," Lyn laughed weakly. "I couldn't help it."

"... No worries, ma'am," Jay replied as she walked up. Lyn chuckled at the fact that Jay apparently wanted her to be less formal, but refused to call her anything but "ma'am".

Having the owner of an entire company referring to her as that made Lyn feel funny. As she contemplated that, Lyn looked down at the plate.

"Oh, what's that?"

"I brought this for you," Jay told her, her voice softening a little. "Just wanted to make sure you were eating right. I told Rin I'd look after you, after all."

Lyn lightheartedly rolled her eyes, stepping aside so as to let Jay walk into her home.

"Between you and that friend of hers, I feel like I'm being spoiled. That kid hasn't skipped a day in coming here and making sure I haven't disappeared."

"He's got a good heart," Jay stated as she sat down on the couch at the center of the living room. "Besides, it's fun taking care of you."

"Pfft, yeah, right."

"Honestly," Jay responded, "you're a pleasure to be around, ma'am."

"... I'll be around less if you keep calling me that," Lyn meekly replied. "You're making me feel old."

"Ha! My apologies, for that. So," Jay started as she passed Lyn a plate full of eggs and bacon. "Have you heard from Rin?"

"Yes, actually," Lyn said, crossing her legs as she took a bite out of the bacon. "It would appear I have her to blame for Felix coming here as consistently as the sun rises in the morning."

"Ah, I'm glad to hear that," Jay chuckled. "That girl... I always felt like she had a strong drive inside of her. Just wish she was less stubborn."

"She wouldn't be my daughter if she was," Lyn shrugged.

"Hmph. Well, I suppose that's why the Divine put me here."

"And," Lyn reached over and placed a hand on Jay's shoulder, "believe me, am I thankful for that."

Jay raised a brow, looking back at her for a second.

"You've got bacon in your teeth," she stated nonchalantly and Lyn smacked her shoulder.

"Excuse me for wanting to be vulnerable around you," Lyn replied with a pout. Then, Jay took her hand and smirked a little.

"I'm glad you appreciate my presence, cause, hopefully, it means you'll agree to this," Jay said as she pulled a piece of paper out of her pockets.

"... Is that a marriage certificate or something?" Lyn asked with a chuckle.

"You wish," Jay replied with a snort. "It's a job offer."

"... What?" Lyn tilted her head as she took the piece of paper.

"Yeah... My assistant quit yesterday because she was moving to Libera. I guess a lot of people are doing that nowadays. Anyway," Jay leaned against the couch, "you've always been good to me and my workers... And I know you MUST be tired of being holed up in here all day, especially now that Rin's gone. So, how about it?"

"M-Ms. Jay," Lyn replied as her eyes scanned over the paper's contents, "I... I don't know... I mean, it would be so hectic."

"Nah, you'd be working out in the front, away from all the music and the whoring," Jay replied.

Lyn sighed.

"I... I don't know what to say."

"I can give you a few suggestions," Jay shrugged. "You could say, 'I'll try it', you could say, 'sure', you could say, "no, Jay, get the fuck out of my house'. That last one would be pretty hot, I've got to admit."

Shaking her head, Lyn laughed. Jay certainly was never too shy to express herself.

"... Can I think about this? Just for today?"

"Of course, ma'am," Jay replied. "Just let me know."

---

{Rin}

The rookie adventurer was currently alone in her room, as Elisa was outside training somewhere. Ideally, Rin knew she should be doing the same thing, but she had wanted to send out a couple of letters first before she properly started her day.

The first, the one she'd sent before, was directed at her mother. This next one was directed at Felix.

[Hey, dork. Hope you're doing well.]

[I've decided I'm not completely in over my head. Well, after training for a bit, this whole adventurer thing feels a little more doable than it did when I first got here, which I guess is a victory in and of itself. You wouldn't believe it though! You know that super hot girl I met way back when? She's here! She's actually here! I'm not joking, I nearly passed the hell out when I saw her, she's actually here.]

Rin smiled as she wrote that, Elisa's image creeping into her thoughts.

[Besides that though, one of my worries, not one of the biggest, but one of them, when I came in here was that I'd pretty much be completely alone throughout this whole thing. But, I've actually met a few cool people. There's this fairy called Eve, I think you'd like her. I met a healer named Lisa too, and she's really nice.]

[Are you still dating your clients? Please don't get yourself into any trouble. Stay safe!]

---

Rin could feel herself becoming stronger. After every Essence exercise, her body still remained in excruciating pain, but not to the same extent as before. Besides that, her cardio was better. Walking up the stairs to her room and to the classes stopped tiring her out a while ago. In fact, this morning as she went to take a shower, she noticed her abs had started to show a little.

She was currently doing the Physical Conditioning routine in class, while Eli watched them.

"Keep going you maggots!" He yelled at the students from afar. "You got one week! Anyone who doesn't want to put in the work better be ready to have a kobold stick their swords up your ass!"

[Fuck, by the Divine.] Rin breathed heavily as she kept going. Of course, some were progressing faster than others. Seth, Elisa, and Dylan were taking this all in stride, as everyone else had expected.

Right behind them were Sara, John Ates, Carla, Varyn, and Rin herself. Rin smirked a little as she cleared the wall in her fastest time yet. She felt good physically, better than ever before.

Well, the pain she was about to feel did suck, but it was worth it.

However, some were still having trouble. Lisa, Eve, and Alea were not seeing the same results.

"Fuck this." Alea dry-heaved as Rin ran past her. "I didn't want to be a mage so I could run all day."

[Yeah? Well, good luck out there.] Rin thought but, she slowed down as she neared Eve.

"How's it going?" She jogged with her. The fairy was breathing so hard it was comical.

"I'm... So... Glad... I... Won't... Be... Using... My... Legs out there."

Rin laughed.

"Come on," Rin said, "after this, how about we get something to eat outside." [I should have some silver lying around. Can't imagine food is that expensive.]

Thanks to Maria, who had bought some equipment for her, Rin was able to dedicate all of the money she had saved up to food. However, she'd still need to find a way to make more, but she could put that in the back of her mind for now.

Eve looked up at her, shocked.

"R-Really?"

"Yeah," Rin replied with as kind a smile as she could make.

"Okay!"

She gained a little burst of energy off of that and started running faster. Rin giggled at the sight.

"What did you do that for?" A voice asked curiously and Rin found Elisa jogging next to her, confused. It was a look Rin didn't see on her often.

"Uh, Eve is a pretty nice person. I want to support her." Rin stated.

"Yeah, but she's just a fairy."

Rin's eyes widened. Elisa had just said that as casually as saying "the sky is blue".

"So?" Rin asked, confused.

"So she's not worth your time." Once again, Elisa said that with no hesitation. [Are you serious?] Rin was almost impressed by how normally she'd said that. Then she remembered Eve's words from earlier days. Apparently, this kind of treatment was normal.

"Are you serious?" Rin asked.

"Of course," Elisa replied, raising a brow like she didn't understand why Rin was shocked.

"Maybe I want to decide that for myself," Rin replied and, feeling thoroughly disappointed, resumed running at her regular speed.

"Huh? What just happened?" She heard Elisa say behind her.

Rin got progressively angrier as she ran, with that interaction circling in her thoughts, but the class was over before long.

As everyone walked back into the academy, on multiple occasions Elisa looked like she wanted to talk to Rin, every time though, Rin avoided her. Either starting a conversation with Eve or outright walking away. She was legitimately mad.

[Why would you judge someone like that?] Rin asked herself. [Before you've even met them! It doesn't make sense.]

Combat Tactics and Dueling was up next though, so Rin pushed this issue to the back of her mind as she and the others walked up to Maria's classroom. This time, Maria had something else for them to do.

"Alright, I've set up a few duos. I want you to train with each other. Come up, see who your partner is, and get to work."

The students each looked for their respective pair. A few of them were less than thrilled.

"Huh? Why the fuck do I have to work with this chick?" Seth asked as Sara walked up to him.

"I've designed these pairs based on each of your strengths and weaknesses. Trust me, I'm fairly certain beating her will be more difficult than you think." Maria responded. Seth clicked his tongue and grabbed a wooden sword.

"Fine, come on then." Sara grabbed one for herself and got into a stance. "But don't blame me if I-" Before Seth could finish his sentence, Sara slammed her wooden sword into his gut. "Agh!"

Seth got on one knee.

"You fucking... Alright, that's how you want to play it?" He got up and charged at Sara, who spun and tripped him with her weapon. "F-FUCK! My leg!" Seth clutched his right leg as Sara got into her stance again.

"You see, my boy," Maria told him as he got up, "the worst enemy of a slow, powerful fighter, like you are, is speed. Have fun."

Damn. Rin looked down at the paper she'd taken. [So I have to work with... Huh?]

"Oh, it seems we'll be working together." Her chosen partner was Lisa Styre. Rin tilted her head at that.

[Hm. Why did she match us up?] Rin wondered though she failed to pick a better pair for herself in her mind.

"Yeah, uh, let me know when you're ready."

"Alright." Lisa nodded. Rin got into position. "Um... Are you not using a weapon?"

"No." Rin shook her head. "Ready?"

"Y-Yes, but I don't want to hurt you."

"I think that's the point, Lisa," Rin said, as she laughed lightly. "Let's give it a shot."

Rin managed to land a few hits. Neither Lisa nor Rin were particularly good at fighting yet, but Rin could feel that she had slightly better instincts, even though she'd been training for so little. Still, every time one of them hit the other, they would have to wait a few seconds to get their air back.

[Hm. Is that why she put us together? Two girls who can't take more than one hit at a time training together. I guess it makes sense,] Rin thought.

By the time this class ended, Lisa and Rin both had their shirts drenched.

"Good, oh shit, good job," Rin told Lisa, hyperventilating.

"You too. I, oh goodness, by the way," Lisa smiled at her, "I think it's very novel that you're trying to learn unarmed combat."

"Yeah? Thanks."

"I saw a play about it once."

"Seriously?" Rin asked.

"Yes, at Cradle," Lisa said and Rin was surprised. [Another outsider?] "See, I come from a family of traveling doctors."

"Traveling doctors?"

"Yes, exactly." Lisa nodded as everyone around them started walking out of the room. "My family would take the Railroad from Cradle all the way to Dren and back, treating the sick and wounded for small fees. We never really stopped to do much, but any time there was a play in town, we would book a night at a hotel and stay to watch it. One of them was about some sort of hand-to-hand grandmaster. You reminded me of him during our training." Lisa smiled and Rin chuckled.

"Nah, I'm not that impressive, but thanks."

And, with that, the two parted ways. Rin exited the room a little later than Lisa had, as she'd stayed to let Maria know that she would be eating something, before coming back later to train. At the cafeteria, Rin shared a table with Eve and Sara, who just quietly ate away at the sandwiches that had been passed around by the lunch lady.

Once she was done, she walked back up to the Meditation Center, a few hours later, after resting back in her room. And now, she'd resume her private lessons. However, as she was coming up, she saw that the Center's door was closed, and she could hear muffled voices coming from within.

"... saying, if she goes with you, there's no guarantee you won't be biased in your assessment. It's better if she goes with me," Rin heard what sounded like Cara, arguing behind the door.

"Of course."

[Maria?]

"I'm sure you care deeply about fair judgment and you're not just trying to find a way to get back at me, are you?"

"It's not about that!"

"Ugh, stop. I will not be having this discussion with you right now. If you feel so strongly about this, ask Mannon about it. I'm done."

A second later, Rin heard footsteps coming up to the door and she pulled away, trying to pretend as though she hadn't been listening intently as it swung open and Cara walked out.

She only gave Rin a passing glance as she walked away, clearly frustrated.

[Uh... Okay.]

Rin walked in hesitantly.

"Did I come in at a bad time?" Rin asked.

"O-Oh, Rin, I apologize, no," Maria stood up from where she'd been sitting. "Cara and I simply... had a disagreement, is all. Do not worry. Are you ready to begin?"

"Yeah," Rin nodded. "If you're not busy or something."

"No, no. I assure you, everything's alright. Well, now it is time for you to spar against what you will actually be facing out there. Weapons."

"Uh," Rin looked around, "so, you're going to use one of those wooden swords?"

"Oh no." Maria shook her head. "I will be using actual steel for this."

"What?"

"I will take things very slowly, Rin. But you need to understand not just how it feels to fight real weapons, but also what you need to do. In your position Rin, when the time comes, one mistake could be the difference between life and death. So, come here." As Maria unsheathed a blade from a nearby rack, Rin stood at the center of the room.

"I will tell you where I'm going to strike, all you have to do is dodge," Maria stated.

"Sure..."

"Get in the stance."

"Okay," Rin nodded, adjusting her position and putting her fists in front of her.

"Remember, just dodge. Don't think about counter-attacking. Just avoid my hits."

"Alright." [Seems simple enough.]

"Head!" Maria called out and moved forward to stab. Rin just barely avoided it. "Good, see? That simple. Stomach!" Rin sidestepped. "Feet! Thigh! Head! Feet!"

"Agh!" Rin moved too slowly on that last one, and Maria scratched her with the tip of her blade.

Rin fell to the ground, as the stinging sensation threw her off balance. Maria quickly crouched by her side and drew a circle in the air, pouring her Essence out, and healing the wound she'd made.

"Again," Maria said.

"R-Right..."

Maria attacked almost thirty times, calling her strikes out for Rin to dodge. The pain from the exercising earlier and the session with Lisa was making things all the more tough for her, but Rin was slowly getting the hang of it.

"Good! Now, I'm going to do the same and I want you to counter with the attacks I tell you."

"Okay."

"Let's start off with a simple jab and straight. Remember, twist your hips and lean into each hit. I want you to focus on technique, not speed or strength."

"Mhm." Rin breathed in, prepared herself, and...

"Head, then a jab and straight!" Rin dodged and when she tried to punch Maria, the woman didn't dodge. Rin hit her abs and it truly felt like she'd just punched concrete.

"Ow, shit!" Her first punch left her holding her right hand in pain. Maria laughed.

"That's how it feels to punch someone for real, Rin. Outside of practice, it's entirely different. You need to get used to it because when it comes time to hit your enemies, this pain will be there. Every single step of the way, it will be there."

Rin sighed, nodding.

"Got it."

"Now, do it again."

---

And so, Rin practiced several combinations, integrating hooks, jabs, kicks, elbows, and knees into different patterns that Maria laid out for her, all while she dodged quick jab-like strikes from Maria's sword. By the end of the session, almost every part of her body was on fire and had been scratched in some way.

"Good job!" Maria clapped by the sides. "You're getting better."

"Am I ready for next week?"

"Not yet. But, you're getting there. I'll let you go, for now. Get some rest. Tomorrow, we will simulate how it feels to be hit."

"Oh, no. Why do I feel like it's just going to be you hitting me repeatedly?"

"Because it literally will be." Maria cackled and Rin rolled her eyes. "But for now, go. Dinner should be ready."

"Alright," Rin sighed. "Can't believe I signed up to get my butt kicked."

Rin chuckled, as she'd meant for the comment to be light, and obviously nothing personal.

Maria, however, stood frozen, looking back at Rin when she heard that. Or, rather, even though her eyes were on Rin, the raven-haired girl could tell her mind was somewhere else.

"Uhm, Maria?" Rin asked. "Are you okay?"

At that, the Rank S adventurer shook her head, snapping out of it and throwing on that same smile she usually had.

"Sorry, you... reminded me of someone, just now. Goodbye, though. Have a pleasant day, Rin."