Chapter 5: Am I Being Taught or Exploited

The next week for Ryu felt like it would never end. As he continued to progress his higher-level skills, he noticed that they significantly slowed after reaching level fifty. It took him three days of training for his MP Regeneration ability to go up one rank. He was however enjoying his newly acquired passive skill called Talented Mage though. It allowed his MP to regenerate at two per second now. It granted him the capability to cast more freely without worrying about his reserves getting low. It had made Jinsoku's relentless onslaught much more bearable for him. By the end of the week, he had gotten his protection spell to level thirty which provided him a much better guard as well. As he lay in bed waiting for his teachers daily sneak attack in the early morning, he felt blessed to have a master that was pushing him so hard to be the best possible version of himself.

For some reason, he had a feeling that today was going to be a good day regardless of Jinsoku's beatdown later. He was excited for tomorrow because he was going to be spending his second weapons training session at the blacksmith shop. The forge was going to be a nice respite from his daily torture. Plus, Ryu could not wait to have the opportunity to get some proper gear by creating what he had been envisioning himself in ever since he had learned of his apprenticeship. As the day progressed, the two of them followed their typical schedule. The routine was always the following: ten laps around the city followed by breakfast which led them to their twelve-hour training session and ended with dinner back at the inn. As he laid in his bed slowly falling asleep, he started having grandiose ideas of what the infamous Sage of the Forge acted like in person. He wondered if he was going to be similar to the dwarfs in the fantasy novels from his world that were strong, honorable, and strived for perfection in their craft. He bet he was going to be a cranky fellow that was secretly very nice and caring once you got to know him. Before he knew it, he had drifted off dreaming of himself conquering quest with his awesome equipment.

The next morning came and went in a blink of an eye as they finished their first training session of the day. Ryu quickly casted a Recovery spell on himself as soon as they finished because it was finally time for him to start his apprenticeship. As he put his bow down in its spot at the edge of the clearing, he started to ask Jinsoku, "Do you need anything further from me before I head to the weapon shop?" His teacher waved his hand in the air as if he was swatting away a gnat as he said, "You are free to go kid. Your apprenticeship allows me to handle some business around the city the next couple of weeks, so I will be taking off in a second as well." As Ryu took off running back toward the gates, he waved goodbye to Jinsoku. He needed no excuse to leave the hellish training ground that the beautiful clearing had become over the past few weeks. His teacher remained still as a lone cloud overhead in the sky blocked the sunlight for a brief second. He suddenly disappeared from the field vanishing without a trace.

Meanwhile, Ryu used his magic to quickly dash back to the city gate. It only took him a few minutes to arrive at the entrance. His sudden appearance out of seemingly thin air momentarily shocked the guard standing at his post. Ryu immediately recognized the man as the gentleman who assisted him with directions when he first got to the city a few weeks ago. He started to apologize profusely to him for his sudden arrival. The man awkwardly laughed as he rubbed the back of his head before saying, "It is okay Ryu, just be more careful in the future." He bowed to the guard before continuing to the Weapons & Armor Essentials. As he entered the establishment, he was surprised by how much smaller it was on the inside, and that there was no customers in the store. As he looked around, he noticed two medium sized shelves on each wall. Neither shelf had more than a handful of things on them. It appeared the ones on the left were for weapons while the ones on the right were for armor. The long glass counter in front of him had a tiny gold bell on it. As he walked up to it, he checked out the multiple accessories on display before he noticed a pair of curtains gently swaying in a doorway a few steps behind the service desk. Ryu curiously tried to peer between the opening, but he could only see the fire from the forge burning.

He nervously rang the bell on the counter as a loud "Ding!" echoed off of the walls of the empty shop. He suddenly had a shiver run down his spine as he heard a loud clatter from the back of the store. The curtains suddenly parted aggressively as the infamous master of the forge emerged. He had a booming voice as he said, "Welcome to my shop traveler! My name is Tetsu Yamamoto. How can I help you today?" The man was bald with a long grey braided beard that came to a point a little below his chest. He had light grey eyes and short ears to match his stature. While his image portrayed the typical signs of an older gentleman possibly in his early sixties, his physique told a different story. He was surprisingly toned and muscular to Ryu's surprise. He was dressed in a black sleeveless tank top with a pair of old orange gloves shoved into a pocket on the leather apron he was wearing over his shirt. Ryu also noticed that he was wearing a pair of dark brown carpenter pants that had many extra pockets on it. His shoes were a set of faded black boots that served the purpose of protecting his feet in case he dropped anything.

Ryu smiled and bowed slightly as he said, "My name is Ryu Seki, and I am here to start my apprenticeship. It is nice to meet you Mr. Tetsu." As he looked back up at the Kenja, he was surprised to see an expression of annoyance on his face. The chipper shopkeeper greeting a customer was no longer present as he frustrating slammed his fist down on the counter while grumpily saying, "Ugh. You are the pipsqueak that has been hanging around that scumbag Jinsoku. You are lucky the guild master himself asked me to cooperate with this request. You are completely worthless to me, so you better do your best to not cost me any money while you are here learning. You understand me kid?" Ryu angrily scolded his master in his mind for being his typical hated self. He knew he was going to need to try his hardest to turn their relationship around now since it was starting off so rocky.

He quickly nodded before attempting to salvage his first impression with the Kenja as he apologetically said, "I am sincerely sorry for any negative transgressions my master has had with you in the past Mr. Tetsu. I will work my hardest to prove to you I am not worthless during my time here." The Sage started to stroke his beard as he sized up Ryu. He had been slightly taken aback by how nice the kid was being to him. He was a little shocked by the fact that Ryu appeared to not be rude unlike that vile Jinsoku. He started to think that he might have been to mean to the kid as he suddenly found himself intrigued by him. He was especially curious on why the guild master was so insistent that he mentor a kid who had no experience in blacksmithing or enchanting. He relaxed slightly as he casually asked, "What is your current max MP? Also do you have any affinities in any blacksmithing or enchanting skills?" Ryu was relieved that the Sage appeared to no longer be annoyed with him just for being Jinsoku's pupil. He was very proud of his MP level, so he eagerly said, "My max MP right now is five thousand two hundred, and I have a natural affinity for several abilities related to blacksmithing and enchanting, but they are all still level one right now."

The blacksmith smiled as he let out a little chuckle before beckoning Ryu to follow him into the forge past the hanging curtains. As he hurried around the counter, Mr. Tetsu almost sounded elated as he shuffled his way deeper into the work area while saying, "It is rare for someone to have a blessing in both aspects of creation and enchanting. They call me the Sage of the Forge because I have the ability to do both, but I am a few thousand below your level of magic. That Souatari blessed me with a gem in you kid." The Kenja came to a stop in the middle of the room while turning back to face him. While he had been speaking, Ryu had been taking in his surroundings while staring wide eyed at all the equipment around the room. The back of the shop was huge compared to the front of the store.

Along the center back wall sat the forge he had seen through the curtains earlier. It was a beautiful bright red bricked fire pit with all the equipment needed for smithing hanging on different brackets in front of it. A small pool of water was located to the right of it presumably to cool the weapons off after they were done in the heat. To the left of the forge was a fan with a lever attached to it. It appeared to be connected to the bottom of the pit to help stoke the fire. In front of the hearth next to a small chair was an anvil. A couple of feet away to its left sat a bunch of crates with an assortment of different ores and leathers that would be required for creating any equipment. A couple of steps in front of the containers was a small end table with a huge stack of papers sitting on top of it. To the right of the forge a foot or two away from the cooling pool was a bench that had a variety of different tools sitting on it. Ryu could see screws, nails, straps, hammers, and screwdrivers for assembling equipment on it. Against the wall on the right were three medium sized shelves that lined that side of the room. It appeared it held all the finished equipment from the requested orders. The wall to the left had a staircase that led upstairs possibly to Mr. Tetsu's room. On the wall behind Ryu next to the curtain was a big circular table with a large magic circle drawn on it. There was four clear oval crystals arranged around it. The stones sat perfectly apart arranged in a pattern similar to the four cardinal directions on a compass.

Mr. Tetsu was now rubbing his hands together with a greedy selfish look on his face as he said, "After I teach you the basics, I should be able to use your magic to triple the production of my shop which in turn will lead to more orders being completed. That means you are going to make me much richer kid." Ryu awkwardly laughed as he started to realize that Jinsoku's statement a week ago at the guild hall about the Sage's cupidity might have had some merit to it. The Kenja motioned for him to follow as they made their way over to the short table in front of the ore. Ryu watched as he started to rifle through the pages. Mr. Tetsu suddenly pulled one of them out of the stack while excitedly saying, "Ah Ha! This order should be perfect for teaching you the basics to everything." He handed the page to Ryu for him to review. As he started to read the request, the Sage started to explain to him the system in place for making the equipment and enchanting it, "This stack is all of my pending orders. We start by taking one of the sheets from it and we determine if we have all the necessary equipment to create the item or items. As you can tell by these crates in front of you, I have an abundance of different ores and leathers, so there is typically no issue with fulfilling an order." Ryu nodded as he said, "Okay."

The form that the Kenja had people fill out was pretty simple and easy to follow. This particular person was requesting an iron sword enchanted with a lesser fire blessing. He watched as Mr. Tetsu picked up an iron ore before taking a seat at the forge. The Sage began to cast a magical spell on the lode as he continued with his instructions, "The first step is to use the blacksmith spell Morph to change the shape of the material into a rough outline of the item you are trying to create. Once we have the general structure, we use the heat from the forge to make the metal more malleable, so we can further refine the gear. Once this is completed, we utilize the various tools here in front of the hearth such as the tongs, chiseler, hammer, fuller, and swages to really define the iron." Ryu watched as he masterfully molded the metal into a sword. Once he had completed shaping it, he plunged it into the tub while informing Ryu that the water should be room temperature or hotter at all times to avoid cracking the metal. Mr. Tetsu quickly pulled it out of the basin before setting it down on the anvil as he continued, "Now that we have the shape of our sword completed, we need to temper the blade to toughen it. The blacksmith spell Thermal Cycling in combination with a time manipulation spell called Accelerate can accomplish this step. Any questions kid?"

Ryu shook his head no as he watched in complete awe as the Sage completed each step with such ease. He was exhilarated from having the opportunity to learn so many new spells. His mind was racing as he thought of ways to possibly use what he was learning in combat situations. His excitement could not be contained anymore as he suddenly launched a folly of questions at Mr. Tetsu, "How does the Thermal Cycling and Accelerate spells work? Do you have to use them at the same time? Is dual casting possible?" The Sage was excited to have a student with such enthusiasm for the profession as he laughed before answering his questions, "Thermal cycling is the process of wrapping the blade in fire magic heating the blade to a couple of hundred degrees. Accelerate manipulates time and ages whatever is inside the casted field of the spell. To complete the tempering process, you dual cast the two at the same time in two different cycles cooling the blade back down after each round via wind magic. Dual casting spells can drain your MP very quickly, and it can be very difficult at first. To achieve one hour of tempering, you have to cast simultaneously for one minute straight." Ryu nodded before asking him to proceed with the demonstration. The Kenja was more than happy to oblige as he began.

After two minutes, he stopped and appeared exhausted before saying, "Now we lower the temperature of the blade back down by accelerating the natural cooling of it. We do this by wrapping it in an air tunnel and applying Accelerate for fifteen seconds or so." Ryu watched as the blade simmered to a low glow before the Sage started the second cycle. As he finished up round two, he wiped his brow as he handed the sword to Ryu to put down on the work bench next to the forge as he said, "Give me a minute to recover some of my MP before we continue. While I have done this work for years, my MP Regeneration is only level twenty-seven. I, unfortunately do not have a natural affinity for it." Ryu gently place the blade on the table before he took a seat on the ground as he anxiously waited for his teacher to continue.

Ryu's curiosity was running wild, so he decided to ask the Kenja about how they were going to sharpen the sword, "Mr. Tetsu, I do not see a grinder or wet stone anywhere. How do you polish the blades?" The Sage slapped his knee enjoying the fact that his new apprentice had a keen sense for this kind of work as he said, "Good observation kid. That is one way to accomplish our task, but it takes several days if we go down that route. The same result can be achieved in just a few minutes by combining earth and water magic along the edge of the blade." As he finished, he got up from his seat and went over to the bench. He pulled a holder out from one of the drawers that resembled a hilt. He then proceeded to put the blade into it before activating his magic. Ryu had never noticed till now that the Sage's aura was a dark blue color. He watched as Mr. Tetsu conjured a stone and soaked it in water before quickly whipping it along the edge of the blade. The smooth rock was followed by the water to wash any debris away before it was resubmerged again. He continued this process for several minutes before stopping. He grabbed a stray piece of paper on the table and ran it along the edge of the sword. It sliced the sheet without the Sage having to put any pressure on it.

As he plopped back down on his chair near the forge, Ryu continued to study the Kenja's beautiful craftmanship. Mr. Tetsu sighed as he said, "I will have to show you how to enchant a blade tomorrow since I have exhausted myself of my MP for today." As Ryu turned back toward him, he decided now would be a good time to ask a question that had been on his mind before heading back to the inn for the night. It had been lingering in his thoughts since he had arrived at the shop earlier as he nervously asked, "Is it possible to create some unconventional weaponry and armor for me while I am training under you?" The Sage stroked his beard as he pondered on the request. He had a smirk on his face as he thought of a creative response before saying, "I believe I have a proposition for you that can benefit both of us. I can assist you with crafting your unique gear, and I will let you use anything I have available here as well; however, you must complete thirty-five orders in the next four days. If you are able to do that, we will spend some of the time in the last two days of the week working on whatever you have envisioned. Do we got a deal kid?" Ryu was brimming ear to ear at the challenge because the reward was worth every bit of the effort he would have to invest to complete it. He hurriedly grabbed the Sage's hand and shook it enthusiastically as he ecstatically said, "Yes! You have a deal. Thank you so much Mr. Tetsu."

As Ryu headed to the door to leave, he waved goodbye to the Kenja while letting him know he would be back at the same time tomorrow ready to get to work. The old man chuckled to himself as he thought about his new apprentice's eagerness and energy as he waved back. The sun was on the verge of dipping out of the sky to give way to the darkness of the night as Ryu made his way back to the inn. He was excited to tell Jinsoku and Kasai about his first day as he entered the inn before he remembered that his rent was due for this week. He quickly retrieved a gold coin from his sack as he walked over to the counter where Miss Rina was sitting working on some paperwork. As he approached, she looked up and smiled before saying, "Good Evening Ryu, has it already been another week?" He nodded as he kindly responded, "It has been. I am sorry I did not pay you this morning. Here is my one gold coin for this week." As he placed the money on the counter, she waved her hand as if telling him to stop it before sliding the coin into her hand while saying, "You do not have to apologize Ryu. I know you are a good person and wouldn't be trying to pull one over on an old lady like me. We are all glad to have you around here. You have made this place so lively the past few weeks." He blushed from the compliment as he thanked her before turning around to head over to the dining room.

As he sat down at one of the open tables, he noticed that Jinsoku was nowhere to be found. Kasai suddenly appeared behind him giving him a hug while leaning into his back. His face turned bright red as he struggled to say, "Kasai, what are you doing? Do you know where Jinsoku is?" She stood back up before sitting down on the seat next to him as she answered, "What do you mean? I am just glad to see you are back for the day and in good spirits. I was certain that Mr. Tetsu was going to be hard on you because of Jinsoku." She hmphed as she started twirling her hair before continuing, "As for that miscreant, I have not seen him come in for the night. He must be busy with a quest or something. You know he is the former Hero of The Twin Blades, right?"

Ryu felt he had just been slapped across the face from hearing the news that his master was an influential person in the Empire. They had been training for over two weeks now and nobody had said anything about him being an infamous warrior. He was baffled because he would understand if she had said he was a strong unhinged adventurer, but a hero? She could tell from his reaction that he was not aware of Jinsoku's past. She started to worry she may have said something that he did not want Ryu to know yet. She awkwardly attempted to backtrack as she said, "Umm. Forget what I just said. I should go get you dinner. You are probably starving." She quickly got up and made a bee line for the kitchen before he could collect himself to ask her any follow-up questions.

Ryu sat in silence still baffled before he finally decided he would work even harder to become stronger, so he would not be a burden to his teacher anymore. He realized at that moment that his second weapons training was not a time for him to be resting. Jinsoku had done nothing but push him to reach his full potential as quickly as possible ever since they had met each other. The respite from his second sparring session had to be a test for him to prove his dedication to honing his skills and becoming a true adventurer. As Kasai came back with his meal, he bowed before thanking her for the food. He did not feel it was necessary to pressure her with any questions as he quickly ate his dinner. He left shortly after finishing as he headed upstairs to his room. As he laid down on his bed, he believed it was pivotal that he work even harder moving forward. He decided he would get up earlier then he currently was to run twenty laps around the city. As he drifted to sleep, he also thought it would be a good idea to start carrying a stone around with him to practice his Morph spell. He could also work on his dual casting and time magic, so he could master his blacksmithing skills faster.

The next morning, Ryu woke up very early and checked on Jinsoku, who was not in his room. It appeared that his master still had not returned from yesterday as he left the inn. As he made his way to the city gate, he wondered if his teacher would be present for their weapon training later. He stopped briefly on the roadway outside of the city walls and grabbed a small stone off of the ground before beginning his sprint. While he ran, he attempted to use multiple spells at the same time. He realized quickly that Mr. Tetsu was not lying about the strain of multi-casting as his MP deplete at a much faster pace than normal. He also learned the large amount of concentration that he needed to have to cast fire magic around the stone while applying Accelerate to it. He also had to make sure he continued to use Dash and apply a speed buff to himself. Any lapse in his focus caused his magic to faulter, and he had to start completely over. As he finished his last turn, he started to head back to the inn. He noticed his time magic and multi casting skills had both reached level six. He had pushed his MP to almost zero multiple times during his laps, but the exhaustion from doing so had been worth every bit of it because of the experience he had gained.

As he entered the inn, the sun was just starting to creep over the horizon bathing the street in a warm glow. Kasai had already went ahead and prepared his meal for him since him and Jinsoku had always made it back from their warmup right as the sun came up every day without fail. Ryu took a seat at the table she had placed his meal on happy to see it was still hot. Today's breakfast was a simple bowl of steamed rice with a tasty grilled salmon on a side plate served with a glass of green tea. Kasai sat down with him as she enjoyed her cup of coffee when she suddenly asked him, "You left really early this morning. Is Jinsoku in an especially tortuous mood today?" Ryu was in the middle of stuffing his face full as he attempted to respond causing him to choke on his food. He quickly took a drank of his green tea to clear his throat before saying, "I still have not seen him. I got up early to run twenty laps around the city and practice my magic. Just because master is not around, it does not mean I can slack off from my training." Kasai briefly stared at Ryu in admiration for his dedication as they sat in silence for the next few minutes while he finished his breakfast.

He suddenly stood up and bowed after finishing his meal before he quickly took off for the door while waving goodbye to her as he exited back out onto the street. He had decided he should get to the clearing early to ensure Jinsoku did not think he was slacking off without him around. As he entered the clearing, the sun had fully risen and was visible in the sky as his teacher stood waiting for him. As Ryu retrieved his first weapon, he noticed that Jinsoku had some blood on his shoes. He became concerned that his master was hurt, so he asked, "Is that blood on your shoes? Are you okay?" He waved off his pupils concern as he said, "I just finished a quest earlier this morning, and I did not have time to clean up. If you are not careful while we are sparring, I might end up staining them with some of your blood to." Ryu could tell by the wicked grin on his teachers face that he was feeling extra bloodthirsty today. As the next six hours of training passed, it went about how he expected it to. Jinsoku knocked him around the clearing a little rougher than what had become the norm for the past week. As they came to a finish, he quickly healed his injuries and casted his recovery spell to regain his stamina. His teacher menacingly stood staring at him as he said, "I expect better from you as the week continues kid. Next week will be your true test, so you better prepare yourself and not slack off while we are not together." His cold piercing tone sent chills down Ryu's spine before he turned to quip back that he had been training hard. He fell silent as he looked around realizing his master had already disappeared without making a sound.

He attempted to shrug off the ominous warning from his master as he headed to the blacksmith shop to learn about enchanting. As he entered the store, Mr. Tetsu called for him from the back. As he went past the curtains, he noticed the Sage had finished the sword they had been working on yesterday. He had given it a beautiful black leather woven hilt. It was now sitting in the middle of the circle on the enchanting table. The Kenja was eager to show his prodigy how to spellbind items as he said, "Aw, my apprentice has finally arrived! I hope you are excited as I am kid. My magic is full, and I am ready for our demonstration to finish your training." He paused momentarily as he made his way over to the table before continuing, "First, you need to know the basics. Enchantments cost double is the golden rule. For example, a minor Fire Ball could cost one hundred of your MP if you were to cast one. This means you have to fill the table with two hundred of your mana for the enchantment. Once you have completed that task, you have to use another two hundred to manipulate that MP into the item while expending an additional one hundred MP to maintain the spell while it is being engraved onto the blade." Ryu was barely able to contain his excitement as he nodded while patiently waiting for him to begin. The Sage turned toward the enchanting table and held up both of his hands as the Mana Manipulation Circle started to glow blue. Once it was completely lit, the crystal balls started to get engulfed by the magic till they were completely drowned in it.

As he came to a stop, the circle and orbs continued to glow a brilliant indigo as he said, "Now this is the hard part, so watch closely. We have to control the flow of the magic, so the blade can absorb it properly. You have to be careful not to rush the process and maintain a steady surge." Ryu watched as the Kenja summoned a fire emblem above the sword while conjuring a mana manipulation signa above the crystal ball on the left side of the table. The stored magic in the orbs started to fade as a small circle started to appear on the metal of the weapon near the hilt. Ryu intently stared at the Sage as he finished the enchantment determined to not miss anything. As the last bit of the blue aura faded away from the table, the blade had a tiny indigo colored fire magic circle glowing on it now. Mr. Tetsu staggered momentarily as he stepped away before taking a seat on his stool. He let out a deep breath he had been holding in during his casting, so he could avoid losing his focus during the process.

He appeared exhausted as he said, "That's all I got kid. It's your turn to try to fulfill some orders. While you are working on creating the requested items, I will fashion the hilts, straps, belts, etc. for the weapons and armor. It is one of the few things I can do around here when I've depleted my mana." Ryu nodded as he moved across the room to the chair with the orders on it. He started to peruse the papers as he attempted to find something he could complete at his current level. He suddenly stopped slapping the sheet in his hand. He found just what he was searching for in the stack. It was an order for a pair of daggers made of pentlandite with a minor sharpness enchantment. He sat it down as he went and grabbed a big chunk of the requested ore. He set it down on the edge of the forge before using wind magic to cut the mineral into two smaller halves. He was determined to push his limits, so he started to cast morph on both pieces at the same time. As he finished the rough outline of the blades, he noted the cost to do so was roughly three hundred of his MP. He grabbed the tongs as he picked up one of the daggers and started to heat it. He used the hammer to refine the shape of it as he diligently worked to achieve the desired form for it. As he finished, he started the tempering process by placing it in the holder near the forge to keep it steady while he sharpened it.

As he finished the first dagger, he sat it to the side before starting the second one. It took him about fifteen minutes to complete each weapon before he handed both of them to Mr. Tetsu for their hilts. Ryu anxiously awaited the Sage's approval as he closely inspected the two items before nodding as he said, "Not bad at all kid. It will take me about ten minutes to get the hilts done for each, so go ahead and start another order." Ryu was beaming with pride as he walked back across the shop to the stack of papers. It did not take him long to find another request he believed he was capable of creating. The person was asking for a pair of twelve-inch hematite shin guards, and they wanted them to be enchanted with a minor protection spell. Ryu wondered if the reddish color of the iron armor would appear cool as he grabbed the mineral and headed back to the forge. It took him roughly thirty minutes before he had finished shaping and tempering the metal. As he and the Kenja exchanged gear, Ryu took the daggers over to the enchanting table as the Sage started working on the straps for the shin guards.

He put the dual weapon down in the middle of the circle before holding up both of his hands over the table. He activated his magic while summoning the Mana Manipulation spell without any issues. It did not take him long to fill the emblem and orbs as he continued to the next step of the engraving process. As he finished flowing his aura into the blades, he noticed a small pulsating golden circle appear on the bottom of each dagger. Ryu swiftly placed them on the finished shelf as he realized it had costed him five hundred of his MP to complete the enchanting. He was certain at this pace he would be able to complete thirty-five orders in the next four days. He was worried it would be close, but he was glad to have his Talented Mage skill now. While his magic regenerated quicker, the orders slowly chipped away at his overall MP slightly faster than what he could replenish. As he finished his seventh request for the day, Mr. Tetsu gave him a pat on the back before saying, "I think we will call it there kid. It is getting pretty late now." Ryu's MP had dropped under a thousand from the last order, so he did not protest as he yawned before saying goodbye to the Sage.

As he exited onto the street, he was surprised to see that the sun had completely set for the day. While the work had been draining and taxing on him, he was excited to see he had gotten his Morph and Accelerate spells up to level twelve now. As he stumbled back into the inn, he was ready to go to sleep, but he knew he would need to eat before heading to bed. On this particular afternoon, the dining area was packed with people enjoying the delicious comfort food from the kitchen. Kasai suddenly appeared next to him as she ushered him over to an occupied table. It had the cute girl with the scythe sitting at it. As they came to a stop in front of her, Kasai had a smile on her face as she politely asked, "Excuse me miss, is it okay if this gentleman shares the table with you? I promise he will not impose on you, and he will only be here for a brief time since he has to get to bed soon, so he can wake up early in the morning for his training." Ryu was embarrassed as he quickly interjected saying, "Kasai! What are you doing?" Before she could answer the girl said, "It is okay. Please have a seat. I do not mind sharing the table with you."

Kasai forcefully pushed him down into the seat while thanking the girl before disappearing back to the kitchen to get a meal prepared for him. Ryu was awkwardly speechless as he rubbed the back of his head while blushing. He had never seen someone so beautiful before as he attempted to introduce himself, "My name is Ryu Seki. Thank you for letting me sit with you." As she looked up at him from her book, her glasses slid down her nose. She smiled as she said, "No thanks needed. My name is Megami Yoshida. It is nice to meet you Ryu." He froze up and turned completely red from hearing an angel say his name. She was certain she saw smoke rising off of him as if he was overheating. She let out a cute little chuckle at the sight of him before delving back into the book she was reading. By the time he recovered from his nervousness, Kasai had arrived back at the table with his food. Today's menu item was a grilled bass with seared vegetables on the side with a glass of lemonade. He quickly devoured his meal with his typical swiftness to Kasai's disappointment as she shook her head at his failure to act more sophisticated with a cute girl in front of him. Megami was oblivious to the world though as she read her book, so she paid no mind to his lack of dinner etiquette.

As Kasai took away the plate and cup, he thanked her for the meal before standing up to go to his room to get some sleep. Megami temporarily broke out of the story she was enthralled in to ask him a question, "Are you leaving? It is still pretty early." He was shocked that a beautiful girl like her was enjoying his company since they had barely talked the whole time. He began to apologize to her for his sudden departure as he said, "I have to unfortunately get up early to train otherwise my master may kill me. I am sorry, but I am thankful you shared your table with me." She put her hand over her mouth as she giggled before saying, "You are an interesting person Ryu. Feel free to join me again sometime. I enjoyed our time together this evening." His heart almost imploded at her innocent sweetness. He quickly nodded before running upstairs in embarrassment. She smiled slightly and her cheeks were faintly blushed pink as she went back to reading her book. Her chest was pounding from the excitement of finally talking to the cute boy that she had been watching for the past few weeks at the inn.