Manic Pixie Flower Girl (4)

Bleugh.

We decide to run another lap, this time with Sakura, to show her what kind of training that we're doing. Unfortunately, her first time ends the same as ours.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine." Sakura replies with shaking legs. I can only imagine her parents reaction when she gets home covered in sweat and vomit. "Why are you training anyway?"

"Why are you training?" Josh repeats her question while looking at me.

"Well, my parents run the local library and the new Count is cutting funding so we need to figure out a new way to make money. I joined the Adventurer's Guild to make some cash but I want to get in shape before I take ant quests."

"I'm sorry." Sakura says as she looks at the ground.

"It's not a big deal. I'm sure we'll figure it out."

"But people that Join the Adventurer's Guild never make any money and they usually get hurt or die!"

"Well, I don't think they're going about it the right way. I've already talked to one of the gild staff members about it and I've got a plan to get myself in a better position."

"By running?"

"That's the start, but soon I'll be doing a bunch of other exercises too. I've already gone to the guild and checked out their workout equipment."

"How will that help?"

"Most people rely largely on bonus points to increase their stats but they soon run into a wall when the amount and strength of monsters they need to defeat gets too high. Especially with the types of monsters that live in the forest, it can be difficult to find suitable prey. Strong creatures like Griffiths live in the forest so most people will only fight the weakest of monsters near the treeline." I explain my thinking to Sakura and watch for her reaction.

"Why don't you get some bonus points first? Running would be a lot easier."

"From my understanding, using your bonus pointers makes it harder to increase your stats through exercise. It's like the bonus points are an external suit that aids your movement and decreases the strain on your muscles but by doing so you don't actually work as hard and therefore don't improve as quickly.

Besides, with the help of our seals, we can gain stats relatively fast and completely heal up with a good night's rest."

"And you're so smart that you're the first person to think of this?" She scoffs. I'm a bit taken aback by her time but I don't let it bother me.

"I'm sure other people know this but as you just experienced, it sucks. No one wants to work hard when there's an easy way to get stronger. I'm sure I could level up ten or twenty levels within a few months by fighting weak monsters."

"That's usually how it works." Sampson chimes in, apparently having been eavesdropping on our conversation. "I made it to level fifteen in a couple of months before it started to take too long to level up. Most adventurers are the same. Fifteen personal levels is seventy-five bonus points which is enough to place you well above a person without a seal but not enough to fight strong monsters."

"So you have a seal as well?"

"Yep, most of the guards are retired adventurers so almost all of us have a seal. From the looks of it, the little lady does as well." Sampson nods his head at Sakura.

"How can you tell?"

"You get a feel for this sort of thing over time, I can't really explain it." He shrugs.

"Are we all on the same page now? Sakura?"

"Okay," Sakura says while eyeing me suspiciously. "I just don't want Josh getting hurt."

"Tell him that; he already destroyed his hands from seining his practice sword too much."

"What?!" Sakura runs up to Josh and sees the bloodied bandages. "Oh no! Stay here I'll be right back!"

Sakura sprints off, seemingly forgetting her exhaustion.

"Your new friend is... interesting." I try my best to sound polite when describing the strange pink-haired girl.

"Sakura's nice," Josh responds. I nod without much thought. It's clear she cares for Josh but seems to dislike me. I don't know what I did to earn her ire but it's probably best to just ignore her.

I'm starting to get a feel for the town but things are still changing so quickly. I'm meeting new people almost every day which forces me to keep adjusting my plans. It's exhausting on some level but it's mostly refreshing. I don't feel trapped anymore, and hopefully, I'm not a burden.

I shake my head to rid my mind of the unwanted memories of my past life. It's a new day in a new world living a new life. I just need to focus on the present.

Sakura bursts around the corner with something in her hand.

"Got it!" She beams while holding up a potion. "Here Josh, take those bandages off."

"Okay."

I stand off to the side while Sakura carefully heals Josh's hands while quietly talking. I try not to eavesdrop so I don't catch any of her words but her tone seems to shift back and forth between gentle and angry.

Once she finishes up, Josh immediately turns to me.

"Spar."

"Sure, just don't hurt yourself." I grab one of Sampson's wooden swords while Josh uses his own. It's clear how much work he put in yesterday just based on the damage it has accrued.

"Josh? Why are you trying to spar him?"

"Nick beat me yesterday."

"Nick beat you?!" Sakura cries before staring daggers at me.

"Whoa, whoa, it was just a sparring match, it wasn't like I was beating him up or bullying him or anything." I throw my hands up to defend myself as the conversation takes a sudden turn.

"It hurt but I won't lose again." Josh says ominously as he draws his sword.

"That's it! I won't let you hurt my Josh anymore!" Sakura shouts at me and stands in front of Josh with her arms out as if to block my way.

"Ugh," I can't help but rub the bridge of my nose as I groan. Josh pushes past the small girl and steps up to me with his sword drawn.

"Come on, Josh! You can do it! I believe in you!"

"I can do it." Josh quietly repeats the words of his new cheerleader.

"Alright, show me what you've been practicing."

"Okay."

"Ha!" I begin a flurry of blows but Josh carefully blocks everyone. He glances down at my feet every time I make a move. Even when I throw in feints he sees through every one.

After a few minutes of blocking, Josh parries one of my attacks and moves in close.

Wham

pain courses through my shoulder once Josh finally lands a blow.

"Nice one, Josh!" I rotate my arm a few times to stretch our the newly sore muscle.

"Thanks."

"Let's go again."

"Okay." Josh nods.

"Ah!"

"Ughhh." I groan from my position on the ground. We continued to spar for another hour but I didn't win a single time. My whole body is covered in bruises from Josh punishing my sloppy movement and lazy attacks. His strikes became fiercer as he gained more confidence and I eventually had to rely on Stoneskin to mitigate the damage.

"Serves you right!" Sakura jeers. I roll my eyes.

"Thanks, Nick." Josh extends a hand and helps me up.

"I'm glad I could help but you did all the work, my friend." Josh looks like he wants to say more but can't find the words. I place my hand on his shoulder so he looks me in the eyes. "You said you wanted to get stronger and you have, what do you want to do now?"