It's been one week since the incident. Alric still has a few minor injuries in his arms, and his muscles still ache. He awoke when a ray of light peeked through the top slits in the caravan that's now his. The machine was silent, no hum of engine, nothing, just the silence of living alone in a caravan on the outskirts of the city. Sunbringer, on the other side of the caravan, lay against a wall, a pristine monument in an otherwise barren room.
Alric got out of bed to stretch and almost hit his head due to how short the caravan is for him. He got out, sat on the steps, and started thinking. Thinking about how he was the weak link during their first, and may have been their last mission together.
Eos moved with precision in every movement, a capable combatant able to go toe-to-toe with almost anyone they faced. Alric is confident that, in a one-on-one, Eos would have won against the Handler. Cherry was thinking a few steps ahead as always. Even though he was injured, he still had a plan to fall back on, and he showed surprising tenacity. Lastly, Elfie. She was basically a walking natural disaster. The power her magic showed was no joke; the crater left on the wall left a mark on Alric's mind just as much as it did the wall.
He sighed heavily. Compared to the others, he was just muscle—a blunt instrument that breaks with a push. He saw no finesse or technique in himself, only weakness. He felt pathetic.
'I need to get stronger, faster.'
He got up and started doing body exercises until he could no longer, the first step is your body. Even if he's already stronger than the average person, even stronger than 5 people combined, improvements can always be made. After about an hour, he decided to clean up and go to the Smiling Solari for a meeting with the team.
He was the first one there. The store was empty as it was still early, with only a few knights loitering about. Sunny waved him a happy greeting and got him started with a drink. He took a sip and sighed. If only he could join the knighthood and train with them. Maybe he'd be sitting with the group of knights over there. Before he could help himself, he was staring.
A familiar face stared back at him and waved; it was Lawrence. He got up from his seat and moved to an empty spot next to Alric. "Didn't fancy you for a lone drinker? For someone so young, too."
"Sir," Alric greeted and raised his glass at him. Was this the correct manner, right?
Lawrence seemed taken aback.
'Uh oh'
He chuckled and raised his glass in return, "No need for formalities, Alric, it's not like I'm your supervisor."
"Ouch," Alric said while taking a sip of his drink.
"Is that not a good thing for you?"
"I'd actually rather have you as a knight? I wanted to train to be one after all. As I am now, I don't think I'm worthy to be called anything, let alone a hero."
"Hmmm, it seems the Hound Handler really did a number on you, boy."
Alric raised his arms, still wrapped in bandages, where the Hound Handler got him with the kick, and chuckled, "One and done."
"What do you think is holding you back?" Lawrence asked.
Alric thought about it. Even he doesn't know about it. First of all, maybe he could explain what his old knights told him, "Well, the nuns always told me to practice patience, so I can't really be aggressive in my fights. The knights who trained me also only taught me to take hits, not give."
"You rely too much on your toughness, your greatest strength," Lawrence said, and Alric nodded.
Lawrence put a finger on his chin, "Well, I can tell you this now, Alric: either you lean into your strengths and use your Energy Aether more effectively, or you cover your weakness with more fundamentals."
Alric nodded along. Lawrence continued, "Looking at your situation now, it seems building your foundation with experience is more practical. Enrolling in a knighthood would simply be inefficient for you."
Alric deflated, "Why?"
"Your current problem. Do you think you have the time to spare for both training and the debt? Remember which takes priority."
Alric balled his fists. He hates to admit he can't help more; it's already difficult managing the debt with how few jobs they can safely take. Their first job almost got them killed, and a second one isn't even close.
"No. I don't think so."
Lawrence let out a sigh, "Then let me teach you this as a special lesson."
He stood with his knees low and his feet firm in a stance. The distance between his feet was as wide as his shoulder, and then he started to move. Back and forth, but the movement wasn't wasted; it was quick, and before he knew it, Lawrence had become a blur. He stopped, wiping sweat off his forehead.
"That's a Knight's Stance. Learn and do that drill until it becomes second nature to you. Once you've mastered it, come to me again, and I'll teach you another move."
"Thank you, Lawrence, Sir!" Alric thanked him happily.
"Well, I wouldn't want to overstay my welcome; it seems like your companions are here." He stood up and took his leave.
On cue, Cherry went up the stairs, sling still on hand for his damaged arm. Then came Elfie, quiet, nodding only in response, and took the farthest seat away from Cherry. After a few minutes of awkward silence, something broke through the tension.
"Why isn't anybody talking?"
"UWAH!" The three screamed in unison.
Eos's head suddenly emerged from underneath the table. He scrambled up, climbed into an empty seat beside Alric.
"Well, since we're already gathered, I think we need to talk about our next job." Alric started.
Elfie and Eos nodded, while Cherry just shook his head, "Couldn't even wait for this to heal, could you? Slave driver," He raised his broken hand.
"Why don't you just get a healer to get the Aether off and heal it?" Elfie muttered, not even looking at him.
"Oh, I'm sorry, you did not just say that. Not when YOUR Aether is so thick not even the better healers in this kingdom know how to get it out." Cherry yelled, his tone laced with anger, "They say it's so bad it might as well be Aether Corruption, got no choice but to let it heal normally."
"If you had better control, this would be a non-issue," Cherry muttered to himself.
"I had no other choice, I was out of arrows! Would you rather the hounds swarm you?"
"Oh, and your solution was to blow me into smithereens? I'd take my chances with the hounds!"
"You know that wasn't my intention-"
SLAM.
Alric punched the table. Wood splintered under his fist, sending a cracking sound through the bar. The slam made the two at his table fall silent, but the other patrons didn't react, as if this happened every night.
"We can't work like this," Alric said matter-of-factly.
He turned his sights to Elfie, "You almost blew him up, no, you DID actually. Say you're sorry."
"What? You don't get to-"
He slammed his fists again, "I'M TRYING TO FIX THIS!"
"Apologize, please."
Elfie bit her lip and balled her fists. Looking straight at Cherry, she didn't say a word; her mouth shut.
Before Cherry could bite back again, a voice interrupted them.
"Ahem."
The four of them looked to the source of the voice; it was Lawrence. "It seems you four need a bit of a distraction. May I offer you a job, one enough to dent your debts maybe?"