As Nobina made her way downstairs, she was caught off guard by a sight she didn’t expect.


    “Surely you humans can recognize when your outmatched,” said Harton, smiling in front of three clearly exhausted adventurers.


    “It must be some trick,” huffed one of them. “He dodged everything we threw at him.”


    “You… idiot,” said another one of them. “You bumped into us constantly while we tried to land a hit. Of course we failed.”


    “It’s… a disgrace for three B-Ranks to not be able to touch another B-Rank,” sighed the last one.


    Nobina felt a bit bad for the three adventurers in front of Harton. They were completely unaware Harton was far stronger than a B-Rank. He could very well go toe-to-toe with S-Ranks if push came to shove.


    “Now then,” clapped Harton. “I’ve judge you three decent enough quality to teach my friend Nobina.”


    “Huh,” said Nobina out loud, drawing Tia and Harton’s attention.


    “Perfect timing,” said Tia, feeling relieved. “Harton here was having a small contest with the three adventurers Ina asked me to get. They will help you reach up to C-Rank in skill at the very least, which will be excellent considering you’re getting close to it as a D-Rank.”


    As Tia said that, the adventurers slowly got up, making themselves presentable as they turned their attention to Tia and Nobina.


    “Forgive us for that… display,” said the female adventurer in the center. “My name is Wendy. Next to me are Joey and Ganore.


    Both Joey and Ganore gave a bow respectively. Joey had light-brown hair with a slightly slim build. On his side was a wooden staff that looked to be magical. On the flip side, Ganore had black, short, straight hair. He had a shield and sword on his person in comparison. Last was Wendy, who had brown hair that went down to her neck. Her weapon was what looked like a whip.


    “Hello there Wendy, Joey and Ganore,” smiled Nobina. “I apologize for Harton’s behavior to fellow adventurer.”


    “Hey, it’s no big deal,” laughed Joey. “It’s on us to show our skill as your teachers, so that display was on us.”


    “Agreed,” said Ganore. “We should have been able to at least land a hit on Harton. He might be more suitable to teach than us.”


    “I wouldn’t say that,” he chuckled. “I might be skilled, but teaching isn’t more forte. If you are better at it than me, then be my guest.”


    “Well… Would you accept us as your instructors?” asked Wendy. “This is technically a quest, so you as the client have every right to accept or decline.”


    “What are the conditions?” asked Nobina, turning to Tia.


    “Merely train Nobina to her satisfaction. The goal is to make you capable of taking the C-Rank promotion test. Of course, even if you’re not able to pass, they will still receive payment if the improvement is notable,” said Tia, turning serious.


    Nobina gave a nod.


    “I accept these three then,” responded Nobina.


    With that, their training together officially began.


    It didn’t take long before the five of them made their way to the back of the guild. A few adventurers were training in the yard in the back, reminding Nobina of the setup Agora used to help train and test adventurers. She wanted to reminisce a bit more, but Wendy called her attention.


    “Now then,” said Wendy. “Can you demonstrate your current skill level and weapon of choice?”


    Nobina gave a nod, grabbing her sword from her bag. The three of them were impressed seeing a sword come out of a bag that wasn’t nearly as large.


    “Wow… is that a magical bag?” asked Joey.


    “Can I see it?” asked Wendy, looking at the bag.


    “Unfortunately, I must decline,” replied Nobina, drawing a sad look from the three.


    “Ah… it’s understandable,” said Wendy. “Well… please begin the demonstration. Show us a few attacks and your movement with the sword in hand.”


    Nobina nodded, taking a deep breath before beginning her demonstration. The first part, the demonstration of her swordsmanship, wasn’t too hard. Despite being out of practice, her sword swings were relatively accurate, and the combos she displayed impressed the three of them. However, when she began displaying her movement in general, there was a slight look of disappointment among the three. After thirty minutes, Nobina was told to stop, allowing her to breathe.


    “Man… I’m really out of practice,” sighed Nobina.


    “We can tell,” said Joey. “If you were fighting any real monster, you could very well be tired out and hurt.”


    “I know,” sighed Nobina. “I’m guessing practice is the first step in my training, right?”


    Wendy shook her head.


    “The first step is to ask yourself if you really want to be an adventurer,” said Wendy, causing Nobina to stare straight at her.


    “What… do you mean by that?” asked Nobina, confused by her instruction.


    “What I mean is… Nobina. You knew you were out of shape before requesting training, yes?” asked Wendy.


    “Well… yeah. I probably should have gotten back into the swing of things before asking for training,” she replied.


    “You recognize that, yet you requested training. Why?” asked Wendy. “Isn’t getting back in the swing of things something you can do yourself?”


    “Because I wanted to get stronger faster,” she replied back.


    “For what purpose?” pressed Wendy, who was staring straight at Nobina’s eyes.


    “I… I can’t say,” she replied back.


    Wendy gave a sigh, shaking her head.


    “The contract is for five days. By the time you are back in fighting form, the contract will be over, and we’d only have gotten you back to shape. I really suggest asking yourself if this is the right direction for you. Is your time really best spent training and physically improving? Do you have any other routes you can follow? Considering you got yourself out of shape, you must have other priorities”


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Nobina stood still, now questioning herself and her decision to even train. Mimiki was always there to support her, but she remembered how Mimiki was also disappointed in her lack of keeping up with her physical training. She could even recall seeing Fay and Harton train a bit during the trip as well while she merely watched.


    “Listen,” said Wendy. “We are contracted by the guild and will do our best to get you back into shape, but… We cannot guarantee you pass the C-Rank test. If that is still fine, we’ll continue the contract, else…”


    “I understand,” said Nobina. “I… wish to dismiss the contract and will pay you the fee for contract dismissal.”


    Wendy and her party gave a nod. Joey and Ganore headed back, while Wendy went to Nobina. As for Nobina’s end, she found herself frustrated. Perhaps she would have benefited from the three of them helping her, but she knew how tricky the guild situation was and didn’t want to waste the time of three B-Rank adventurers.


    “Hey,” said Wendy, drawing Nobina’s attention.


    Nobina looked at Wendy, who merely wiped the tears of Nobina away that had formed.


    “Don’t let my words stop you from your goal Nobina,” she said gently. “I just want you to have the fire you’d need to become stronger. It would be sad if we trained you only for you to fall short of the test. I’m sure you have your reasons for it, but I hope that you understand that what you seek requires you to dedicate time to it. Talent might get you far, as we see your swordsmanship skills, but effort matters just as much.”


    “Yeah,” said Nobina. “Thank you for those words, Wendy. I’ll… hopefully be able to one day train under you.”


    “And I’m excited for it,” said Wendy, patting Nobina on the back before heading off.


    As everyone else left, Harton finally spoke up, nodding his head.


    “They are right though. Training your body physically is going to be really important for you to continue to develop your swordsmanship. However, what is your power based on? Does it get stronger by physical training?” asked Harton.


    Nobina shook her head.


    “My abilities get stronger with writing, but I haven’t had the time for it,” she replied.


    “Then you should make time,” replied Harton. “We probably have five days before Fay comes back. Fully focus on your writing. Make strides in it. Sure, you might not receive an immediate boost, but any progress will be good.”


    Harton had a point. Nobina knew that she had never really had the time to continue her writing, but this was the perfect change. It was only five days, but she couldn’t remember the last time she had five days to work on her writing at all.


    “Perhaps I can finally get a few chapters done,” she smiled to herself.


    “Exactly,” nodded Harton. “If you need any help, please don’t hesitated to ask.”


    Nobina couldn’t help but laugh, nodding her head. It seemed so simple, but writing was really all she needed to do to advance her powers. Sure, physical training would be important to fully utilize them, but improving her current powers might have been the most effective path for her. Not only that, but it was a step towards her dream of writing a book. If she had done that, she’d have accomplished a major goal.


    “I’ll take a step towards my dream,” nodded Nobina.


    With that, Nobina and Harton left the training grounds, heading back to the inn.


    …


    Fay was making good progress through the woods. It was approaching the end of the day, yet she felt the urge to travel a few more miles.


    “Man, I wish my endurance was better,” she sighed, stretching as she finally stopped. The sun was already gone, yet Fay was well accustomed to night travel, thanks to her training back in Arrin.


    “Like old times I guess,” she smiled to herself, remembering the solo missions she had been on.


    As Fay found a spot to settle down for the night, she gathered the materials she needed and lit a fire. It wasn’t necessary for her at her strength, but the warmness of the fire reminded her of a lot of Nobina and their time together.


    “The sooner we are done with this, the faster I can get back to you,” said Fay.


    Fay found a good spot to put her back to. As she relaxed against one of the nearby trees, her eyes turned to the Gaze Bag, which she still had on her person.


    “I wonder… would one of the entities bring something forth while Nobina is away? Is she really safe as long as I have it and she doesn’t?” she asked herself.


    To her, the Gaze was a threat above all else. It might have provided her with the means of protecting Nobina, but it also provided the very threat that came after her life.


    Fay was very tempted to merely bury this bag and leave it be, but she knew how foolish that was. If the bag produced another deadly monster with the potential to get stronger or one capable of defeating even the strongest adventurer, then it would be her fault for leaving it unattended.


    As the fire crackled, Fay found herself slowly falling asleep. Many thoughts were running through her mind, but one thought found itself on the surface. The fact that as long as she worried, she’d be keeping herself awake longer. The longer she was awake, the longer she was going to be away from Nobina.


    “Can’t… have… that,” she told herself as she fell asleep.


    …


    It was nighttime, and Nobina was feeling tired. She had spent most of the day writing another chapter in her adventuring book. It was unfortunate she couldn’t consult with Mimiki regarding what she wrote, but Harton ended up being a boon to have. His knowledge of adventuring was second to none, and he had loads of tips and advice that helped fill the most recent chapter. She not only finished one chapter, but she had a chance to edit it as well, and she was ready to move on to the next chapter.


    Harton had already headed off to bed for the night, so all Nobina was doing was writing an update in her diary. As she finished that, she took a breath and decided to practice her abilities once more.


    “Pen Blade,” said Nobina, immediately summoning the weapon mode of her Pen Blade skill. As she held it out, she felt the drain of the sword on her stamina. She could tell it was slightly easier to maintain, but her being out of shape was countering any real progress in keeping it out for a significant time. All she knew was that if she worked on both writing and physical training, she would be able to use the blade from dawn to dusk.


    “That’s the dream anyway,” she chuckled to herself as she began feeling tired.


    Eventually, she recalled the Pen Blade, preparing herself for the night. However, as she laid her bag down, she saw Pausers, Echo, Hammy, and Spot come out of her bag.


    “Hello everyone,” she smiled as her four companions found themselves playing around her.


    For most of the trip, her companions had been in her special bag, only coming out occasionally to look around a bit before going back in. They had generally avoided coming out of the bag when she was near others, which was a relief but also sad. Part of her wanted them to be able to walk freely without drawing unnecessary fear from those around her.


    “Perhaps when I’m stronger or more renowned,” said Nobina to Pausers, who merely snuggled against her.


    As she said that, Pausers dropped a message in front of her. Nobina, reading it to see what it was about, gave a gentle smile.


    “Well… If the entities have no issues with me researching them, then who am I to complain. Also, I’ll be sure to summon this message the next time I’m in danger,” chuckled Nobina.


    Recalling the note, Nobina felt a bit safer with a message that basically amounted to a one-time safety net. It would only work on things from the Gaze bag that would cause her trouble, making its usage limited. She merely had to summon it, and the message would act to protect her. How exactly it would that it didn’t specify.


    Nobina, satisfied with the message, looked at the four of them, a sad face formed on her face.


    “I wonder if Lebron is doing ok,” she told herself, thinking about her last companion. Lebron reminded her of herself in a sense. He was just a normal Corgi, yet that normal status meant he had to stay behind for the trip. Nobina didn’t want to bring him in harm’s way if she could help it.


    “Hm… I guess there’s more than Lebron to think about, right?” she told herself.


    Mimiki hadn’t been too far apart from her, but it didn’t prevent Nobina from worrying a bit about her. She was going to bear the main brunt of dealing with Aunai, Immana, and the other nobles and high-position individuals back in Navira. When Nobina was done with her business with the dragons, she knew she’d have to make it up to Mimiki for handling everything. However, that wasn’t the only person she had to make it up to.


    Back in Agora, Sarah was holding down the fort as both Mimiki and Nobina were away. Despite the goblin threat being handled, she couldn’t help but worry some new threat would rear its ugly head. Pausers was no longer there, so only Eric was really there to protect them. Plus, they have Exuten and Harden, both capable individuals.


    “I’m sure they’ll be fine, right?” she asked herself.


    Eric, Lare, Exuten, Harden, and Sarah were all experienced. There was really no reason to doubt them as long as the Gaze stayed out of it.


    As Nobina’s eyes began to close, she began thinking about what Wendy said.


    “I don’t know if I want to be an adventurer, but I do know I want to accomplish my dream and finally stop the chaos of the Gaze,” she told herself as she closed her eyes.