“I’m sure that’s not concern or pity I’m seeing in your eyes, girl.” Standing tall at the far end of the clearing, the ex-commander of the forest deftly tossed his spear from hand to hand. His voice held firm despite the many infirmities of his body. “Because I’ll be dead and buried before I need either of those from someone who still can’t land a solid hit on me.”

Nadja had the decency to look minorly abashed before snapping herself out of it. While the brute of a man could stand to be a touch less abrasive, he wasn’t entirely wrong in this case: Whatever his condition was, he was seeing Elphaea about it, and Nadja strongly doubted there was anything she could do for Rock that a dryad couldn’t.

It wouldn’t stop her from worrying, though.

Apparently still seeing something he didn’t like, Rock let out a gravely grumble. “Why don’t I reassure you, then.” He drew himself up, and even in his weakened state, his towering figure seemed to fill the entire clearing. His grip tightened on the haft of his spear, his sunken eyes grew steely, and he barked out a single word. “Begin.”

Rock darted forward, and before Nadja could even move into a ready stance, he was there. His spear shot out, and it was only through reflex that Nadja escaped the blow, knocking it to the side with her club as she jumped away.

“Good!” Rock roared. “I’m glad to see that not all of your training is going to waste. Show me what you’ve learned!”

Despite his command, Rock didn’t seem overly intent on letting her show him anything, save for her dodging skills. He pressed forward, the tip of his spear weaving about in a dizzying, almost artistic display. He poked, he prodded, he thrusted, he jabbed. On occasion, he even swiped, batting at her legs in an effort to sweep her off her feet.

Without the benefit of heightened physical stats, Nadja rapidly found herself panting as she weathered the relentless battery. Her arms ached from the oversized club she bore, and her legs wanted to cramp up from the erratic bursts she kept demanding of them. Somehow, though, she held.

Somehow my ass, she reflected. He’s holding back. Even now, after months and months of sparring, the ex-commander could still make her look like a child when it came to fighting.

Clubs has reached level 12!

The notification came as she once again barely managed to avoid an attack with a well-timed deflection, and she allowed herself a momentary feeling of victory. That quickly proved to be a mistake as Rock’s spear lashed out, delivering a stinging puncture wound to her shoulder.

“Focus!” he shouted. “We don’t let ourselves get distracted by notifications during battle.” His assault intensified for a time as if to drive the point home, and Nadja cursed both him and herself.

All those training sessions to get me up to Initiate rank, and it’s still this easy for him.

She had a long way to go.

Bit by bit, however, Rock lightened up the rain of blows, allowing her to do more than just mindlessly defend. She swung forth, the bulky wooden weapon sailing through the air far faster than it had only a month before. Her Initiate augment helped her handle the weight of her weapon, a fact that she was more than slightly happy about.

Rock flicked the blow to the side almost contemptuously but didn’t follow up. Lungs burning, Nadja swung again and again, anticipating his movements and trying to get in close.

Rock backstepped with each of her strikes, keeping her at a distance, and the two of them ringed the clearing once and then twice as Nadja kept at it. Perhaps feeling sorry for bloodying her shoulder, Rock slowed more and more, seeming to adjust his skill to hers.

Is he finally going to let me get a hit in this time?

Emboldened, Nadja redoubled her efforts, only for Rock to get slower and slower. As if he was somehow forcibly lowering his stats to match hers, his breathing grew heavy, and he used less force as he parried her club strikes. Over the course of only half a minute, the sparring session took a turn, with Rock almost seeming like he was struggling a bit.

Nadja knew she didn’t have much more in her -- she was already sweating enough to fill up an entire moonshine cask -- but with her goal in sight, she dredged up the last of her energy.

There! The force of her blow shoved Rock’s spear far off to the side, and she leapt forward, finally in true striking distance of the forest shadow. She put her all into her next strike, slamming it with her entire might towards his side but expecting to meet nothing but air.

It was with some level of shock, then, when the club actually connected.

And then some.

A sharp crunch filled the clearing as Rock’s massive form was sent staggering to the side before ultimately crumpling to the ground.

Wait. I hit him? Hells, I hit the shit out of him! She’d finally landed a serious blow!

Completely spent, Nadja fell to the ground beside her teacher, breaking out into an unsteady laugh as she tried to catch her breath. “I got your ass good, didn’t I?”

Unusually good-natured, Rock opted to join her in her laughter, though his was more of a sickly, wheezing affair than hers.

Man, that really feels good. “See? I’m getting better.” She rolled over to the side to gloat at Rock’s prone form, only for the words to die in her throat.

A deep red coated the patch of earth directly before Rock’s mouth, and even as she watched, more and more crimson flecks came forth.

That’s not… He’s not… Shit. What Nadja had mistaken for a wheezing laugh was anything but, and Rock’s coughing fit continued. More and more blood left his throat, the thin coating of red rapidly shifting into the start of a small pool.

“Rock. Hey. You okay?” Her own exhaustion forgotten, she leaned over him, giving him a slight nudge.

He’ll be fine, she reassured herself. Not the first or the second or even the twentieth time I’ve seen him coughing like this.

Though admittedly, it wasn’t usually this bad…

“All right, let’s lose a little bit less blood, please. You’re starting to freak me out here. You’re the one who calls me the ‘Baroness of Emer’Thalis,’ right? Baroness’s orders.”

Far from heeding her noble decree, Rock’s coughing fit only intensified, and his body began to shake. All at once, Nadja went from minorly concerned to majorly distraught as his condition only showed signs of worsening.

Shit. Did I do this? Is this because I hit him? Wait, guilt later, action now.

“Elphaea! Where are you!” Even after all this time, Nadja wasn’t entirely sure how the dryad’s powers worked, but she ran to the nearest tree and started battering it with her fists. “Rock needs healing!”

To the dryad’s credit, Nadja didn’t have to wait for long. The very same tree she was hitting rippled like water at her next blow, and a wooden head poked out of the bark. Nadja backed off, and Elphaea’s full form soon blossomed outwards. Wordlessly, she moved to Rock, the roots connecting to her feet churning through the forest floor. As Elphaea approached him, Nadja found her shoulder knitting itself back together, the dryad apparently having healed her in passing.

Rock’s healing, however, would evidently not be something so simple.

“Young one,” she cooed. “I believe I warned you not to overexert yourself, did I not? Though I suppose I cannot be overly surprised that you should choose not to listen.” Roots poked out from the earth, wrapping around the ex-commander before hefting him upwards. “Come. I believe you are overdue some healing.”

Elphaea made to depart back into the forest, and the roots cradling her patient dutifully followed behind her even as said patient did his best to cough a lung out.

Eager to see her instructor returned to good health, Nadja trailed behind them.

Or at least she tried to.

She nearly fell flat on her face as her next footstep jerked to a halt, a thin root having coiled around her ankle. Before she could ask what was happening, Elphaea chimed in.

“Thank you, young one, but having observed him, I believe he will wish to be alone for the time being.”

As the pair of them departed, Nadja wanted to object. Finally taking a pause from his coughing, however, Rock managed to croak out a single word: “... fine.” Taking a deep, gasping breath, he amended himself. “I’m fine. Go.”

And then, as if worried he wouldn’t manage to catch his breath again, he rushed out a final few words, barely audibly.

“And… good hit.”

Don’t give me that, you dramatic bastard. “Can you two stop being infuriating for one gods’ damned second and just let me come with? Really, just spare me the whole ‘I’m stubborn and don’t want anyone to see me weak,’ act. I don’t care.” Nadja bent down and started tearing at the root, but perhaps as to be expected from a restraint conjured by Elphaea, it held fast.

Elphaea snorted, a gust of wind rushing through the forest as she did so. For his part, Rock continued to wheeze, but Nadja was fairly certain that this time he actually was laughing. Nonetheless, the restraint on her leg stayed put.

“While your desire to see him healed does you credit, I am afraid I will insist on this matter,” Elphaea replied, all the while walking farther away. “If for no other reason, I believe it is time that the commander and I had a talk, just the two of us. Rest assured I will alert you when he recovers, however.”

Still not liking the answer she got, Nadja continued attempting to break her wooden restraint. Unfortunately, the only weapon she had at her disposal was a club, which despite its many selling points, was not well-suited for the task at hand. She tried it anyway, only managing to smack her own ankle a few times for her troubles.

The two grew further and further, and she shouted after them. “All right. Well. You’re a pain in the ass sometimes, but feel better!”

As they finally receded from view, her thoughts shifted to slightly more immediate concerns.

So, uh. How do I get this thing off anyway?

Rock wasn’t certain what to feel the most embarrassed about: the fact that he’d let the girl land a hit on him, that she’d had to see him in his current state, or that he was being carried around like some helpless princess. With all three of those things combined, there was a solid chance he’d die from shame far before his ailment managed to kill him.

If there was one small mercy, it was that Elphaea hadn’t let the bartender come along. When they were far enough away that there was no chance of her pursuing them, Elphaea lowered him to the ground, the roots carrying him slowly sinking back into the earth.

Without any warning or preamble, a flood of life mana started pouring into him. Even as it began to repair his many bodily issues, Elphaea chided him.

“You should have come to me sooner, young one.”

He grunted. He’d already come to her a few weeks prior. Clearly, his condition was speeding up, but he hardly wanted to admit it.

It was then that the honored dryad said the last thing he wanted to hear from her.

“Perhaps you would do well to consider asking the Protagonist for help. I believe she has been traveling as of late. She may do better in procuring you a capable soul mage than anyone here would be able to. As it stands, I do not know how many times I can keep healing you.”

For all that he revered and respected the honored dryad, it was all that he could do to keep himself from hitting her with every swear word he knew.

I will not go groveling to the brat for something like this. It just wasn’t going to happen. He could tolerate her now, sure. Even if somewhat reluctantly, he might dare say he had a small measure of respect for her.

After endlessly berating her and calling her a weak and spoiled brat, however, there were some things he just wouldn’t do. Already it was painful to watch how quickly she was growing and exceeding him. He’d be dead and buried before he admitted to personally needing her help, though, and he meant that literally.

The life mana flowing into him finally lessened before cutting off entirely, and he sighed as the absence of pain hit him all at once. Still, he felt weak, far weaker than he had after the first few healing sessions. Still, the idea of asking the Protagonist for help…

“Not an option.” He’d find another way. “Perhaps you can just leave me with some of the wine you make? Whatever healing spell you put over it seems to work well for me.” Indeed, a bottle of the dryad’s wine did almost as much as a full healing session with her. He often reflected on how lucky everyone was to be drinking such a potent healing sourc-

“Young one, I do not imbue the wine with any form of healing. It is simply wine. It has been healing you?”

He nodded, not believing what he was hearing. Just wine… Like hells it is. He’d been skeptical at the start, but by now, there was no mistake that the wine healed him.

“Curious. Allow me to observe.” A root poked out from the ground, shaping itself into a small wooden goblet.

Rock wasn’t entirely sure how Elphaea produced the wine that the bar used. He was fairly confident that not even the bartender girl knew. Still, had he been asked his best guess, it wouldn’t have been what followed.

For a brief moment, he worried that she’d caught some manner of disease, as all across her body, small bumps appeared. Over the course of a few seconds, they extended outwards, darkening from blue to purple to nearly black, until, with a start, Rock realized he knew exactly what he was looking at.

Berries. Largely grapes, in particular.

As if to reinforce the transformation, Elphaea’s hair erupted into heavy, fruit-laden vines, making her entire figure look more purple than her usual green.

“A moment, young one.” Elphaea lifted one of arms above the goblet beneath her, and a leaf appeared in her other hand, the moonlight reflecting off of its unnaturally sharp edge.

With one smooth motion, she flicked the leaf over her forearm, tapping into the cask she’d turned her own body into.

Rich, ruby liquid streamed down into the goblet, filling it up completely before the dryad sealed her wound shut.

Though he hardly saw himself as a squeamish man, at any other time, the sight might have given him some pause. As it was, however, he stared at the practically overflowing cup…

And he wanted it.

The roots attached to the goblet wove their way over to him, presenting him with the wine, and with barely a conscious thought, he pulled himself from the ground and greedily gulped it all down.

He could feel as the color returned to his face. Energy welled up within him, leaving him feeling better than he had in ages. He could barely keep himself from groaning as he drained the cup.

It’s… fresher. Better. More potent.

The bottled stuff in the bar was only a cheap imitation of what he’d just had. He wanted more. More. More.

And then the last drops vanished into his throat, and the feeling subsided all at once, leaving him empty. He crashed to the ground, healthier than he’d been in months, but now filled with a crushing, aching void.

What was… I don’t even care. That was incredible. Hells.

Having watched the entire process unfold, Elphaea bent over the prone form of the ex-commander, opting only to utter two words.

“How curious.”

It was some time after Elphaea and Rock disappeared from view that the root coiling around Nadja’s ankle finally slunk back into the ground. And it was a good thing it had, too, because no amount of tugging or bashing had managed to even loosen the damn thing.

Damn. Really hate feeling so weak. Can I really be taken down by just one root?

She wondered how much training it would take before she stopped feeling like nothing more than a kid waving around a big stick.

Without a spear flying towards her face or a taciturn and bleeding forest shadow to fret over, Nadja found her exhaustion returning in full force. Wearily and begrudgingly, she trudged her way back to her bar.

It was already past closing, but she let herself in and poured herself a stiff drink. Tired, but also restless after all that. She downed her drink in a single gulp.

With nothing else to do at this hour, she bent down behind the bar and retrieved the flute that she kept stashed there. Her instruments were some of the only belongings she’d brought with her from Ftheran, and on nights she wasn’t training with Rock, she’d occasionally play a bit after closing the bar.

Feeling oddly cooped up and not wishing to be in Elphaea’s forest right now, she decided to head out into the ruins of Emer’Thalis, eventually stopping in an open space that she was certain was far enough away to not bother anyone.

She took a moment to get into the right mindset. The cool night breeze flowed through her. The moonlight sank into her skin. She brought the flute up to her lips, and then at last, she played.

Music had never been a science to Nadja. Past the basics, she’d had little in the way of formal training. It wasn’t something that she studied, and she didn’t spend her night poring over the sheet music for composers of old.

That was not to say, however, that she was lacking in any way. To allow some vanity, in fact, Nadja thought she wasn’t even half bad. For her, though, every song was much less about strict rhythms and technical perfection -- music was something to unabashedly pour her emotion into.

And she had quite a few emotions she needed to pour out right now.

Exhaustion. Concern. Frustration. Lots of frustration. At Rock and Elphaea. At all the things that had to go wrong in her life for her to end up here. And of course, whether warranted or not, chief at all at herself.

The melody flowed out from the flute, resonating through the crisp night air as she sank her soul into her instrument. Bit by bit, she felt herself calm, the music bringing her a sort of catharsis.

Her performance felt better than it usually did, but even despite that, she found herself shocked when, as the last notes of her song came to a close, she was greeted with a notification.

Flute has reached level 37!

Hells. When was the last time that leveled? A year? More? The first ten levels had whizzed by, but now they came painstakingly slowly after over two decades of playing. It was one of her highest-leveled skills by now, surpassing even her class-aligned skills considering how she’d started practicing far before she’d even been a bartender.

If her performance had been good enough to warrant a level, she found herself feeling oddly sad that no one had been around to hear her.

And then just as she was having that thought, someone began to clap.

Hells! Jerking about, Nadja spun to face her unseen observer, finding a tall chitinous form a short distance away. One of the kexids? She’d gotten next to no exposure to the ant-like residents, as they didn’t seem to have much of a taste for alcohol.

“Good! Music your is… Your music is very… more than good, deary!” It was hard to be certain, but Nadja thought she detected a certain amount of frustration as the figure stumbled over her words.

“Um. Thank you? I think? Sorry. If you were walking around, I didn’t mean to disturb you.” Although, even it was a little creepy to just sneak up on someone and watch them play, but she’d give the kexid the benefit of the doubt.

The kexid gestured around frantically. “No! I was… Hmm. Far! Yes. I was far. But kexids good ears have. Sensitive. You will come!” Without waiting for approval, the kexid approached Nadja, and before she knew what was happening, she was being dragged along.

“Wait, what? Come where?” Did the kexid seriously not understand how sketchy this was?

“Music!” the kexid replied. “Come listen. And come play! You come now, deary.”

Bewildered and in need of a nap, Nadja barely stopped herself from ripping herself away from the kexid gripping her. Only one thing stopped her.

Listen? I didn’t know anyone here really played anything. It had been the better part of a year since she’d really heard any music besides her own at this point. More than anything else, she found herself curious. And even if the kexid in question seemed a bit sketchy, Nadja was a little excited, too.

You know what? What the hells. Assuming I don’t get murdered, worst that can happen is I have to sleep in late tomorrow.

Having made up her mind, Nadja let herself get dragged off, opting to introduce herself as she did so.

“All right then. I’m Nadja.”

The kexid chittered excitedly in response. “Ava, deary. I and you be will friends good! Come!”

Just a small adventure then, she decided. And by the time I’m done, I’m sure Rock will be all back to normal.