Stage II, Chapter VIII: A Walk With Catalyn

"There it is again! The clones are coming!" Aurelia says as she fires a Constricting Vine at the white gorilla's arm, stunning it for a bit as it tried to pull it's arm out.

"He seems pissed. What's with him?" Kenneth asks Lena about the gorilla.

"Well, Lucas won against it in a battle of strength, so it must be furious. Watch out for it's arm! It's free already! Sunlight Flash!" Lena raises the wand in her hand and chants her spell.

Lucas was right in front of the gorilla, trading hits. Lucas was getting three for every hit the gorilla did to him though, so he was clearly winning. Plus the Sunlight Flash, which had blinded the gorilla, allowed Lucas to get more hits in.

"Woohoo! Take this, you big bitch!" Lucas threw a series of punches at the gorilla.

*thwack!* The sound of Catalyn's whip hitting the gorilla's fur could be heard. The loud scream of the animal that followed right after the whip was almost as loud.

"Let me try something out, Lucas! I've already set it up, so get back!" (Lena)

"Huh? Well alright then, he's all yours." Lucas threw one more punch before retreating back.

"Reflective Beam!" Lena fired off a Light Beam from her wand. But it looked as if the attack wasn't aimed at the gorilla. The moonlight shone on a certain piece of glass as the Light Beam reflected on the surface, before changing direction and hitting the gorilla smack in back of it's head.

The gorilla, tired and weak from the attacks, had already fallen down, it's body devoid of life. Lucas went over to skin the gorilla and take some of it's parts.

"Damn, that was a nice spell, sis. Is that the new mirror you bought?" Lucas asks Lena.

"Yes, I had Catalyn create a portal behind the gorilla at an angle so it could reflect my attack. I've actually never tried it, so I was glad it worked.

"We never really did use the Hill Golem's parts did we?" Kenneth said after seeing Lucas skin the gorilla. It reminded him of the time they first fought a Hill Golem.

"Not yet. We haven't found a reliable blacksmith. It's a profession that's really uncommon nowadays." (Lena)

And she was right. The rise of machines had led certain jobs ran by humans to be instead ran by machines. Weapons were now made from laser technology and metal transfiguration.

"Right. I don't trust the machines. They always take a good portion of the catch, saying it's "tax". Plus their products aren't even that great. I prefer my weapon to be personallu hammered and beat by blacksmiths with their hammers and smelt in a steel furnace." (Lucas)

"Should we head back home? It's nearing midnight, and I'm getting tired." (Lena)

"If you guys are planning on heading home, then I'm gonna stop the Link. I'm beat, I missed my afternoon nap because of this." Kenneth yawns.

"Go ahead. We'll get back home soon. Maybe after heading to the bathouse, haha." (Lena)

Kenneth didn't hear this as he had already cancelled the Database Link, and had gone to sleep.

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(Author's Note: This line of * can mean a short time skip. In this case, Kenneth had fallen asleep, so it is now the next day.)

"Good morning young master." Catalyn came over and picked up the still drowsy Kenneth.

"*yawn* Good morning. Remind me, what were we going to do today?" (Kenneth)

"Nothing in particular. You said yesterday that we should take a rest day after finishing the quest, so we.. are doing exactly that." (Catalyn)

"In that case, can you take me for a walk then? I feel like going outside." (Kenneth)

"!?! Of course.. young master!" Thoughts about being alone with her master as they walked around the city was flowing through her mind.

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"The wind feels nice. Is there anywhere you want to go? I myself haven't been to many places inside Argonsville, so we can take our time." (Kenneth)

"Then... the café."

"Huh, okay then. We can stop by some other shops too on our way, so take it easy."

************

"Hi, welcome to BarStucks, what can I get for you today?" The receptionist/barista asks as in a cheerful tone.

"Umm...." Catalyn was having trouble ordering.

'I thought we already went through this already. Maybe she has a tendency to act weird around people she doesn't know.' Kenneth smiles and flashes a thumbs up towards his sister.

Seeing her young master cheering for her, Catalyn mustered up the courage to order her drink.

"I see. Will that be all? If you want, we have some drinks for the baby too."

"Then... just hot milk."

"I see. That comes to..... thank you for your patronage! Um..."

"Catalyn. My young master is Kenneth." She said as she typed in the details for Lena's bank account given by Kenneth.

"Catalyn and Kenneth, I see. What wonderful names. Please take this card, and redeem it over there for your drink. " The receptionist points towards a coffee machine that seemingly produced a cup of coffee with a single swipe of the card. Customers were lining up, scanning the card, getting their drink, and heading out.

Catalyn brought Kenneth over to the machine and soon scanned for their drinks.

"Careful, it's hot." (Kenneth)

"Yes..." (Catalyn)

The two sit down and began to drink their beverages. Until Kenneth spoke up.

"Hey. You know, you're doing pretty badly in making conversation, even if it's just small talk. No offense." (Kenneth)

"I... know. I find it hard to talk to people I don't know, young master." (Catalyn)

"Let's fix that." Kenneth slapped his hands together. "Pretend I'm the receptionist from earlier. If she didn't ask you what your order was, what would you say?"

"Umm...."

"No. Just greet her. Even a simple hello can help. You always wake me up with a good morning everyday, yet you're having a hard time here. Oh! I know. When you talk to another person, try to find a reason as to how that person is connected to me."

"?" Catalyn tilted her head.

"Here. The receptionist earlier, what was your reason for talking with her?"

"To order... drinks for us."

"That's right. Let's say you're talking with Lucas. Why would you talk to Lucas?"

"He's... our brother."

"Nice. Here. After this, let's try greeting random people on the street good morning. If you manage to greet five people without stuttering, then I'll grant you a wish. Of course, it has to be reasonable."

"Okay. I will try...."

"Good! Let's finish our drinks and go out and talk to some people."