“So where’s Adriana?” Matthew was hoping that at least the rogue stuck around. “Adri wanted to train with her father. If there’s something you want her to know, you can ask me and I’ll tell her.”

“Ok,” the knight raised his eyebrow, “first off, Adri?”

“No good?” Eric seemed a bit disconcerted at the question, sweating and rubbing his forehead.

“No, it’s cute, it just caught me off guard is all.” Matthew was less than thrilled with what he needed to say next. “I guess since no one feels like listening to directions, we’ll all just do our own things. I’m going to train with Johnathan. Eric, train with Sarah. Tell ‘Adri’ to meet back at the center of town by sunset.”

“Uh, Johnathan? And why me and Sarah?”

“My father. I’ve told you before. My father doesn’t understand when he goes too far, I don’t want to subject Sarah to that kind of abuse.”

“Right, it’s just I forgot, since you tend to call him dad or father. And I mean, why would you put yourself through his training if it’s that bad?”

“Because he taught me techniques I wouldn’t know otherwise, and he’s told me he wanted to teach me more. If we want any hope at beating the sins, we need, need to prepare ourselves in any and every way.”

The knight left the duo, heading back in the direction of his home.

“I guess that leaves you and me.” The Cleric nodded at the Archer, leading her in the direction of his home.”

A dark sepia skinned man had leapt to avoid bolts of lightning. The man was lean and fit, but scars on his arms told of many treacherous encounters. Facing the source of the lightning, his back was now against a shady brick wall. Without any warning, lightning had sprung from behind him, his reaction barely fast enough to avoid getting struck. “Not bad kiddo, you’ve got combining down, or at least a subset.”

“Thanks dad. I wish I thought to try this out two years ago.” Adriana sheathed her daggers before walking over to her father. “I hope I didn’t hurt you.”

“Hah, nah. I’ve taken my licks from way worse, at least physically. Can’t say my pride isn’t shot, being outpaced by my daughter.” The man let out a hearty, contagious laugh, the rogue following suit. “Glad I can still put a smile on my baby’s face! Why don’t we take a break for now?”

Taking her father up on his suggestion, the two sat down at a restaurant, the rogue able to have her favorite desert: a fudge brownie. Adriana wanted to object, but the inviting aroma and soft texture were unbearable. Indulging in every bite, paradoxically inhaling the desert while trying to preserve the experience as long as possible, she had paid no mind to her father, who seemed preoccupied with his own thoughts.

“I know it’s an odd time to ask this, but have you thought about, well…moving out?”

The girl nearly choked on her brownie, “Not yet dad! When this whole seven sins thing is done, I’ll have the queen fine or make me a new home.” The girl had recalled the queen’s promise from a week ago, but she hadn’t thought to hold to that promise.

“That’s not what I meant honey. You can stay with me as long as you need to. What I’m worried about,” the man drew close to his daughter, lowering his voice to a murmur, “is you stayin in Lumina. I don’t got a good feeling about this place recently. When this whole incident is through, I think you should move to Umbro or some other place.”

“I’ll think about it father.” The rogue laid back, focusing on finishing her food. “I’ve thought about leaving before, but I don’t know if I’m ready to leave you yet.”

“Whatever you do, know that I’ll always have your back as best I can.” Adriana could feel herself choking again, but she had already finished her brownie. As the two-headed home, the rogue tackled her father, giving her a strong hug.

Matthew watched Johnathan concentrate, metallic liquid encasing his body. More and more, the metal took form around him, shaping into armor that had covered all but his face. “You see Matthew, this is the power of metal. Like your shield or your sword, this armor will be as powerful as you are. If you are weak, it shall only weight you down. If you are strong, it will never be penetrated.”

At the man’s signal, the knight attempted to recreate his father’s technique, drawing liquid metal from the earth. As the liquid encased his legs, he felt himself grow weak, the metal falling forming a puddle as it hit the ground. “I see that I have overestimated you, but that is fine. We will keep training until you can form the armor. I won’t even concern you with its durability until then.”

Matthew began concentrating again. Forcing his body to generate more mana, the metal had managed to reach his waist. Once the liquid surrounded his torso, he could feel himself losing control again. Shutting his eyes and pushing even harder, the metal was beginning to encase his neck; at the same time, the knight felt as if the world was beginning to spin, his stomach felt weak, and his head felt foggy.

“Enough!”

His eyes shooting open, the liquid dropped again, this time forming a much larger puddle. “Matthew, I know you want to prove yourself, and you have. When I said I overestimated you, that was a mistake on my part.” His hands on the knight’s shoulder, Johnathan gave him a familiar look of pride.

Matthew was unsure why, but he had noted his father’s facial features, his red eyes and brown hair. He saw his father every day, yet something seemed off. Looking him over again, he realized his eyes must have caught a glimpse of a wrinkle in his father’s face, and gray hair’s sporadically dotted on his head.

“Son, you’ve proven to me over and over again that you deserve to be…no, that you are a prodigy. Often, I forget you can only push yourself so far. I learned this technique when I was your age, but it took me eight more years to work up the concentration and mana necessary to use it. Hell, it took me five years to get where you’re at. We will try again tomorrow; for now, rest.”

“Oof” was all Eric could muster after being slammed into a wall of earth. Large vines had secured the cleric to the wall before it launched upwards. The slab managed to life a whole foot off the ground before crashing back down and falling over. “Is this space? Did I land on another planet?”

“Sorry Eric, I just get really excited when I train. It’s not often I get a chance to try using all of my elements.” The girl walked to the cleric, helping the dizzy boy off the ground. “As you can see, it worked out better in my head.”

“It’s a great idea, just needs more lift.” Before the cleric could continue, his mother had arrived with a tray of glasses. “You know, I thought you were with that Adriana girl.”

“Mom! I don’t date every girl I meet. She’s just a friend, and we’re busy training.” Taking the glass of water, he tried to pay his mother no mind as she handed the archer another glass.

“Don’t listen to him dearie, he said that about the other girl, and now they’re soulmates. Before you know he’ll have his own harem.” Taking her glass, she watched the woman walk back in the house, all the while Eric’s left eye twitched.

“Your mom seems fun.”

Eric groaned, unable and unwilling to continue talking about the woman.

Matthew looked up at the sunset, down at his watch, up at the sunset again, then down at his watch. No matter what method he used to survey time, he drew the same conclusion: he was getting tired of waiting. After what felt like ages, he finally caught sight of the rogue. “How long have you been sitting there?”

“A few minutes. Felt like hours, but I don’t think the sun, or my watch, is lying.” The two didn’t have to wait much longer before the cleric and archer showed themselves. “Sorry about the wait, dad made cookies. Hey, what’s that in the distance?”

Eric pointed to a shambling silhouette approaching their general direction. As the figure’s details became apparent, so too did their injuries. Eric ran over to greet them, “Brian, Jessica! Good to see you could make it to this meeting. I’m guessing you met the sins?”

“You’re it.” The dragoon slapped Eric’s hand, the cleric looking toward Adriana for answers. “You heard the man. We’re going to fight some sins!”

Eric attempted to protest, but Adriana dragged him away from the group.

“Curse you Brian!”