Chapter 6_Speed Running

Tomiko went home after converting the otherworldly currency into usable cash. It was the same person that had helped her last time, or at least she thought it was. It was a bit tricky to determine with the hood and harsh shadows from the pole being directly behind them.

The trader had offered Tomiko another piece of advice while she was there.

"Don't make a habit of coming here after every dive. Others could catch on and target you if you're too consistent.”

With this new outlook in mind, she decided to hold off on trading in money until the weekend.

She wasn't concerned about being mugged, but didn't want to look like she was ignoring the traders advice. That seemed like a bad idea.

Father wasn't home again. Tomiko hadn't received a text but still assumed she would be eating alone for dinner. She made herself some microwave ramen and took it into her room with her to study. Her mom would have never allowed her to bring food into the bedroom. Even light snacks were to be eaten in the kitchen. However, rules became a lot more relaxed now that she was gone.

She took out her school books and tried to catch up on her homework for the rest of the day.

Tomiko was a little rushed to school that morning. Her hair was a bit of a mess, her skirt was crooked, and she didn't have the time to make herself lunch. At least she was able to get all of her assignments finished.

She fixed herself on the train as a few boys gave her less than pleasant looks. She couldn't tell if they were talking about her, but whatever they were discussing, it amused them enough to laugh about it. Tomiko tried to clear her head by thinking about what material would be covered in class that day.

One of the boys started walking in Tomiko's direction. She felt embarrassed at first, but then reminded herself what her stance on boys was, and prepared to punch him if he got too close. She noticed, however, that when the boy was about three feet away, he was focused on something completely different.

Tomiko followed his line of sight as he walked past her, and found what drew him away from his friends. There was another group of girls with different uniforms two seat sections away. Tomiko felt a little frustrated for reading the situation wrong, but decided to be more relieved that she didn't have to deal with such an interaction before school.

Looking over at the group of girls laughing with the boy, she couldn’t help but eavesdrop on their conversation. They complained about a teacher they had heard of, sharing opinions on local restaurants, to the boy asking them if they would be interested in showing him one they had brought up that he claimed not to have been to yet.

'Smooth' Tomiko said to herself. Was that how people her age were supposed to act?

She shifted her attention away from the highschoolers as they began to exchange contact information. She noticed two men in suits who were both talking and pointing at something displayed on their tags. They also looked to be having a good time in each other's company.

'Maybe I can try more to be like that' she thought to herself. She was going to make an effort to be friendly today.

In the end she could only manage to talk to Aio. But it was really easy to talk to Aio, since she was the one doing most of the talking. Tomiko managed to seem more engaged with the conversation. Asking real questions instead of generic conversation extenders.

There was one thing that made Tomiko feel like things were changing. Normally she brought her own lunch to school because it was more cost effective, but she needed to purchase one that day because she didn't have enough time to make one in the morning. She walked out of the school and found a place close by, with some assistance from Aio giving a recommendation, selling some premade lunches.

Normally, she would think to buy the least expensive one available to help save money. But she realized she was making more than enough to cover rent and her other expenses at the moment, and felt comfortable enough to splurge a little.

One of the bento boxes displayed caught her attention. Behind the glass was a variety of black and red wooden boxes with different arrangements of popular Japanese food. They were more decorative and nice to look at but were less cost effective, so she usually tried to ignore them.

A memory came to her. It was faint and left just as quickly as it arrived, but it was a warm memory.

"Can I help you pick one out?" Asked the clerk behind the counter

Tomiko snapped out of her daze and decided to purchase the one with tempura fried shrimp. It was nice to know she could purchase things she could feel good about.

While Tomiko did most of the cooking at home, she was still not very good at it. Only recently picking up skills out of necessity. Because of this, it was very rare for her to have fried food. The couple times when she tried doing it at home didn't go very well, so she was a bit scared to try. And there was no way she could ask Aio for hers.

Now, she felt a little freed.

#

Tomiko returned to the alley after school. She wondered if Chimon would be there after what happened the evening before. Her concerns were dashed when Chimon popped up out of the trash bin after knocking, considerably gentler, on the side.

Without much fuss or pleasantries, they entered the portal.

"I think we should try that last area again," Chimon recommended. "The one with the Grembos. I hope you're not too sick of seeing them"

His attempt to lighten the mood didn't go unnoticed.

"Yeah, I'm up for pushing them around a few more rounds!" She balled one hand into a fist and struck at her open palm for a dramatic display of might.

This was how Tomiko could be pleasant today. She figured she could be extra supportive of Chimon's suggestions.

"Right, let's do this!" Chimon reassured her.

They were both already in front of the sign outside of the Grembo hill. Tomiko had the energy and drive to go in without caring about how many enemies she spawned, but restrained herself from doing so. She figured it would stress Chimon.

Things were going well. Very well in fact. Tomiko had a clear head. Chimon was pointing out where the Grembos were spawning to give Tomiko time to react. They kept at a swift yet manageable pace.

Before she knew it, Tomiko was already eyeing up the large Grembo boss that had caused her so much trouble the day before. She hesitated, but built back up her resolve to allow the fight to go well. Focusing on what she learned rather than how she learned it.

Tomiko readied herself to dodge, as she remembered that the boss led with a punch which would leave it on the ground. It felt as though the large Grembo was moving in slow motion, but as anticipated, it wound up its punch and let it soar through the air. Tomiko easily dodged the strike, leaving the creature wide open for a counter attack.

With mighty swings, Tomiko slashed at the flailing mound until it moved into position to get up. It only took Tomiko one large sidestep to get out of range of any punishing attacks. It was a little risky being up close to dodge the projectile mounds of dirt, but she was feeling too confident to back away any further. She would get the large Grembo to strike at her after only one volley.

It was a little close, but Tomiko managed to move out of the way in time to avoid taking damage. She was still in range to trigger a punch attempt from the boss.

Tomiko moved out of the way at the last moment, minimizing the distance she needed to travel to counterattack. She got two more hits than normal because of it.

As the large Grembo shifted back into an upward position, Tomiko realized that she was enjoying the fight. She hadn't taken a single hit and the boss had already changed to a redder color. This next set of attacks should finish it off.

Almost as soon as she thought so, Chimon confirmed what she had estimated. "One more round of hits should do it!"

She had already figured as much, but instead of rebutting, she simply nodded and continued fighting.

The tosses the boss made were a little faster than expected. Tomiko got hit by the first one and was knocked back, but was on her feet before the second lump landed. She was a little disappointed to have gotten hit, but shook it off to be ready for the last phase of the fight.

After a large roar, the boss wound up slowly once again for the final strike. It's fist got even more red, as well as what could only be described as steam started to emit from the creature.

It let loose.

The large Grembo lunged forward with all its strength. Tomiko played it a little safe, and made a large leap to the side as soon as she could estimate the area of impact.

Pure adrenaline rushed through Tomiko's being. She dashes forward and let loose her own fury on the creature.

Then it was done.

The boss disappeared, leaving behind a cloud of smoke and the reward.

Tomiko looked down at the prize, feeling fairly accomplished with what she pulled off. The smoke dissipated and revealed the large crystal and prize equipment. This time the other item was a pair of adventuring boots. It was a lot less impressive than what had dropped the last time she beaten it. However, it's not like it mattered to her anyway. Tomiko was still only interested in what could be turned into money. But she wasn't even thinking about the crystal at that moment. While she retrieved the items, something else was on her mind.

"Hey Chimon?" Tomiko said in an inquiring tone as she shoved the rewards into Chimon's bubble. "I want to go again."

Tomiko wanted to try and run through again without taking any damage. She felt that she was really close to doing so if she had been a bit further away on the last round of projectiles.

"Sure! You did really good that time. And this area makes a lot more money than the starter cave."

Chimon warped them back to the sign at the base of the hill. Wasting no time, Tomiko dashed up the hill. She had forgotten about the spawning Grembos before the boss fight, but found that she had no need to be as cautious with them anymore. If Chimon could tell her where one was coming from, she knew their attack arch well enough to intercept.

Unfortunately, her unwavering strategy did allow one to get a hit on her. But she brushed it off and kept moving forward. Chimon apologized as he had prioritized telling her in the order they spawned instead of which ones would be closer to her given her pathing. Tomiko could have applied pressure, but instead informed him of the information she was looking for so he could do better next time.

They even managed to take out the boss Grembo without taking any damage. However, it still felt like an incomplete victory. Tomiko requested to do it again.

She was getting competitive.

The next time they went through the area was a complete success, No damage was taken at any point during any of the fights.

Tomiko felt a small itch as she stood at the top of the hill victorious. They had beaten the area four times, but something was still missing about the experience. They certainly had made more money than on any other day, but that wasn't the interest at the moment.

Then Tomiko came to a realization. She didn't have the full picture of what she was looking for, but she had an idea. A wicked idea.

“Chimon” Tomiko said, with a tone that made him feel uneasy. “Can you time me?”

Chimon was a little concerned where this was heading, but he wasn't used to Tomiko being this excited about adventuring, and didn't want to interfere with that excitement.

“Sure… I can time how long this next run takes you.”

He only wanted it to be the one run, but the attempts added up very quickly.

The first timed run only took a little over eight minutes. Very impressive and very efficient. But Tomiko wasn't satisfied. She could think of places where she misstepped. Strikes that were made out of time. Stretches where a burst of speed could probably shave off more time.

She was able to get two minutes off her time. Then one minute. Then forty five seconds. Then thirty two seconds. Then fourteen. Before long she was fighting to shave even a single second off her time.

They were at it for about an hour and a half before Chimon finally said something “I think that’s good for today. We spent a lot of time speedrunning and I’m getting kind of tired”

Tomiko had partly forgotten that he was there. She was so used to the enemy placement and spawn points, that the only thing Chimon was doing was giving her the run times. Although every once in a while he had to remind her to pick up the loot.

“Yeah, sure.” Tomiko took a bit of a defensive tone again, partly forgetting that she was trying to be pleasant that day. She regained the wherewithal to remind herself before they logged out, so she was able to accept her payment with grace.

However, she found something she liked about portals. Chimon had called it ‘speedrunning’.

It was something to keep in mind.