Chapter 254: Fists and Fortune 16 – Another pass of the Baton

Aclysia slowly stirred the pot. Today had been another uneventful day of constant training. That was entirely alright, since the progress was also constant. Slow, yet constant. Less than two months remained now until they were in the range of days that the Inquisitor had prophesized. If those two spells were all Pronthin had in store for her, then she was confident she could master them in that timeframe.

Humming happily, she looked over her shoulder. Apexus, Reysha, and Korith were sitting in a circle around a low table. It was a hand-me-down that the humanoid chimera had picked and fixed up as part of his training. The training part was to bang all the nails in with the palm, without causing any damage to the wood.

Her distaste for Maltos had simmered down considerably by now. The breach of trust remained a sour note. However, his way of training her darling had to be applauded. It combined the necessity of swift and improvised usage of his abilities with various everyday skills that could come in handy after their adventures.

The table was not the only thing that was new. Aclysia was in possession of some additional cooking utensils, they all had a second set of clothes, and some additional washing utensils now. The house that they had claimed had gotten further fixed, as both Aclysia and Apexus spent their downtime on ironing out the kinks all around it. The metal fairy had even started a patch of the magic-infused herbs they threw into every meal. A benefit of a Leaf with only one season was that it was always the appropriate time to sow.

As for Korith, she had gotten a fresh set of playing cards and dice. Both were currently in use. The cards were put in a snake like pattern, with dice both getting used as counters and to roll each turn. The game was the backdrop to their conversation. Reysha was talking for two, as was usual, with Korith’s stammered responses and Apexus' archaic mixture of high wisdom and adorable denseness serving to amuse everyone, especially the angel.

“What’cha humming?” Reysha asked, after having concluded a turn. No one answered the question, Aclysia continued to stir the pot. “Hello? Mortal to angel? Ya listening to my prayer, bubble butt?”

“Hm?” the Guardian Angel half turned her head, only now realizing that she had been humming. “My apologies, I was lost in the moment…. If that was any particular song, I must admit that I did not pay the attention necessary to identify.”

“You zone out a lot, recently,” Apexus pointed out.

“Do I?” the angel ruffled through recent memories. Weeks were a blur, as much of them was pure repetition. She woke up, got dressed, made breakfast, went to the monastery, prayed, discussed the faiths, trained under Pronthin’s eyes with Mehily, came home, made dinner, then continued her studies in private, then went to bed. Chaotically thrown in there, depending on the day of the week and opportunities, were her other household chores, loving the other inhabitants of the house, tending to the garden, and connecting with the locals.

Going through her recollections, apt as her high intellect allowed, she did realize a pattern.

“I suppose I have been of rather aloof behaviour as of the past three weeks,” Aclysia admitted.

“Is that… a bad thing?” Korith rolled her die and then squeaked. “That is definitely a bad thing…”

“And just like that, Korith loses two points,” Reysha cackled. “Off with the shirt, shortie.”

“I never agreed to these rules!”

“Stripping is implied whenever ya sit down on a table with me.”

Apexus sorted the dice in front of him, disconnected from the discussion. He had been naked from the moment he got home. The humanoid chimera preferred it that way. While Reysha and Korith hashed out the application of non-verbal contracts on the situation, the Monk-in-training looked inquisitively at his first love.

Aclysia stopped stirring. The ladle was hung on a hook specifically for it by the fireplace. Then she strutted over and embraced her darling. He received her loving embrace in kind, and she found herself half-laying in his arms, kissing him deeply.

“Didn’t know we had sugar in the house.” Reysha’s remark turned Aclysia’s attention away from her pure joy. With slight annoyance in her voice, she answered.

“We most certainly do not have access to such a luxury good and even if we did, I would not waste it, as it is of no advantage in a soup.”

“Wild that it’s a luxury good over here. We had these cane thingies in most oases where I am from and you could get the good brown sugar from it.” Reysha licked her lips and glanced at the stew. She could not wait for the next meal. “Anyway, we were talking about ya spacing out?”

“I have nothing further to report on that topic,” Aclysia kissed Apexus one more time, then returned to the pot and the stirring. The mashed potatoes she had added gave the entire soup a creamy texture. Behind her were her loves and their lovely little house. “I am merely relaxed.”

“Good for ya,” Reysha grinned. “Give Korith some of that.”

“I am relaxed,” the shortstack grumbled, looking at the cards on the table and her options. There were not a lot of them. As a matter of fact, that latest dice roll was likely to send her in an unwinnable tailspin. Especially after Apexus rolled two sixes.

The game concluded with the humanoid slime’s victory. Then they ate, Reysha and Korith the soup and Apexus the soup with a hefty helping of bones that they would have thrown out otherwise. After dinner they huddled up by the fire, sharing one huge, fluffy blanket. Korith sat in Apexus’ lap, Aclysia was to his right, Reysha to his left.

‘I miss being small,’ Aclysia thought, glancing enviously at how nicely the kobold fit in front of Apexus’ chest. Any further complaints were silenced by the strong hand of her beloved wrapping around her. “I suppose it is time for our customary progress exchange?”

“Ain’t much to talk about on my end. Just trying to get a handle on things one after the other. You, bubble butt?”

“Similar,” Aclysia stated. “Darling?”

“I have progressed well in Ironskin and Featherstep. Rippling Palm is my current training focus. I will start on Flow Manipulation after I have displayed the three feats of mastery.”

“What are those?” Korith asked.

“I must be able to catch and throw a blade-covered sphere twenty times without cutting myself. I must be able to maintain my balance while hopping across treetops to twenty jumps. I must be able to only break the middle two in a stack of twenty tiles.”

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“Lots of twenties,” Reysha remarked.

Apexus could only shrug. In each instance, the number had emerged after generations of tests, some too easy, some too hard, through experience. He would not question the wisdom of past masters. Even though they may have changed the numbers a bit for spiritual consistency’s sake, the tests were still proven to be adequate. “What about you, Korith?”

“Oh… you know… punching harder…” the primary frontliner of the group mumbled. “Trying to improvise a few things outside of what Vulk teaches me… praying to Hoard… the usual things.”

“The boring things,” Reysha poked fun at the kobold, and was jabbed in the ribs by Apexus in return. She hissed, but supressed her instinct for another fight for dominance. Something Aclysia was rather thankful for. At least, Reysha respected the boundaries she had set for indoors.

“I love you,” the Guardian Angel said, out of nowhere.

The three other people in the room looked at her. Then they, like her, gazed into the flickering flames. The honest golden light reflected in their eyes. A little tighter, they got together. Korith pulled Aclysia’s unoccupied hand in her lap and Reysha added hers on top. “I have thought about what we will do after the Deathhound,” Apexus said. No one moved, but he knew they listened. “We will leave.”

The revelation made Aclysia’s smile falter a little bit. She leaned onto Apexus’ shoulder and inhaled deeply, until the suggestion no longer sounded that bad. No matter where they went, they would be together. “It is our responsibility to get stronger, correct, darling?”

Apexus nodded. “I do not know if we can stop Apotho. Us having the strength to face him before the Church finds him and brings him to justice is… I do not know how likely. We cannot be prey to another villain, no matter what. We should be hunters instead.” The humanoid chimera paused for a moment. “Weakness is a luxury for those in isolated biomes. I do not wish to be safe. Thus, I must grow strong.”

“I understand, darling,” Aclysia said. She was the only one of the four he needed to convince. Reysha and Korith had set out with similar goals in mind, for adventure and riches. Only she drew it to a more settled lifestyle. “Could I, however, make a selfish demand?”

“Ya can make all the selfish demands ya want, that’s healer and housewife privilege,” Reysha responded, between joking and serious.

“Could we perhaps have an approach that is less nomadic?” Aclysia requested. “It will require additional funds and likely limit you in your preferred dietary choices. Still, I would like to have a home. To have some luxuries. Is that a possibility?”

Apexus and Reysha slowly nodded. “I’ll have to look at the specific houses or whatever we go for,” the redhead said. “I like hunting… but access to a bathtub would be fucking great.”

“Specifics will need to be looked at,” Apexus nodded. “I am okay with finding semi-permanent habitats. We will spend months or years on Leaves that we operate on.”

“Just make it cheap, please,” Korith requested.

“Ya have no room to request us being stingy for you. When we give ya money, it disappears in the abyss.”

“It is added to the great Hoard,” Korith responded immediately. “Hoard is good, Hoard is great, Hoard knows what to do with the money… pile it up in a big shiny pile of shiny stuff!”

“Truly, the wisest of all gods,” Reysha stated, drily.

“Now you get i- hey, no sarcasm!”

“Truly, the wisest of all kobolds.”

Korith let out a series of annoyed sounds and ultimately fell quiet. Cackling, Reysha apologized to the shortstack by means of kissing her on the cheek. “You’re so mean.”

“I know, right?” the tiger girl purred. “Any other plans beyond that we’re leaving once we’re done here?”

Apexus shook his head. “Aclysia decides where we head next.”

The metal fairy blinked a couple of times. “May I request further details on that task, darling?”

“We are no longer being hunted, we can take our time and rely on common wisdom.” Apexus’ hand brushed up and down her side. “You have the best memory of us. Find out about the other worlds around this one. Find one that suits our needs. One where we can grow stronger and do good. If you find none truly suitable, then we will wander.”

“I understand, I will fulfil this duty,” Aclysia responded.

Then, there was nothing left to be said. They continued to sit there, warmed by each other and the fire, as the evening turned into the night and the toll of the training over the day made their eyelids heavy. Reysha was first to doze off, ever so easily prone to it as her cat-like appearance would imply. Aclysia was second, just giving herself to the state close to sleep that angels fell in. Apexus carried them both to bed, laying down, by their side, Korith in his arms. Soon, he himself dozed off.

Korith stayed awake for a little while longer. The layer of hay underneath them smelled pleasant, especially with the blanket on top of it that was practically soaked with Apexus’ pheromones. His arms enveloped her, the blanket layered on top of them prevented the autumn cold from seeping in. She was wrapped in a safe little cocoon.

Yawning, she remembered the past few weeks. The constant, exhausting workouts, the challenges that Vulk put on her and other students. To be a Warrior was all about constant effort. There was no other motivation needed than what surrounded her right now.

Ready for the next day, she drifted off.

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