She walked over, ignoring Ellis trying to call it off. She menacingly stood over Michael. Her shadow was basically covering him.
He gulped. What was she doing? Were they still fighting? If so, did she think she could win while being unarmed?
That thought was quickly answered as Mave ripped away the wooden sword in his hands. Michael had even thought he had a decent grip strength for someone his age but feeling how she forcefully took away his sword, there was a certain unpleasant memory that played through his head.
Mave kicked him back and stomped him on the ground, extinguishing any will to fight he had left.
Michael thought she was trying to cave in her foot into his chest by how hard she was stepping on him. Then he felt the rough edge of the wooden sword poking deeply in his neck.
"You're dead." she said with a cold voice.
He thought it was hard to breathe. The wooden sword was taking half the space in his throat and how her foot was leaning into his diaphragm. She then pressed the sword to his chest, near to where the heart was beating.
"You're dead, again." she repeated.
Michael froze in her eyes. It was like if she was holding a real sword, she would actually kill him. After all the times that he's gotten on her nerves, Michael wasn't necessarily on her good side. And demanding her to continue their fight was like mocking her.
With one painful reminder, she kicked off his chest and sent a sharp wave of pain down into his body. She walked back into the house and took her brutal win. Her morning was already off to a bad start.
Michael stared into the morning clouds, zoning out to his own uneven breathing. Was she trying to make him throw up when she kneed him in the stomach? Did she even realize he was seven years younger than her? What if all of these injuries would stunt his growth as a boy? Michael had never thought that deep but thinking of it now, it sort of scared him.
Stefan leaned his head over. "You alright?"
Michael looked at Stefan then back to the still clouds. The mood turned a little better. At least he was done fighting for the morning.
"How many is that now?"
"I don't know."
"You're not even keeping count? How am I supposed to know if you're taking this seriously?"
Michael sat up, wincing at the aching pain in his abdomen as he curled over. He figured that wasn't going to go away anytime soon.
Stefan still stood beside him. "It was a good fight."
"You always say that."
"But I'm not lying. Think about when you first started and compare yourself to now."
"I don't think I want to do that."
"Why not? It's progress. You're not the same skinny boy I saw back at the Adventuring guild, are you?"
Michael stared off. "I guess."
"And remember you cried when you first trained with Mave? Look at you now, no tears shed when she's beating you up."
He grimaced. Why would she share something like that? Did she like humiliating him just as much as throwing him around?
Stefan noticed his expression. "You're getting stronger, kid, just like what you wanted. Don't let these losses get to your head, especially with Mave."
Michael mumbled something to himself. There wasn't any type of situation where Mave would be stuck in his head.
"Think about this for a second, is there any other kid like you with the opportunity like you have now? An awesome party, an amazing and handsome teacher, and they're all actively trying to help you. This type of stuff isn't common, you know, especially for free."
"Free? But I do all of your guys chores—"
"Listen," Stefan silenced him. "You can't be hung up on your failures because then you will never see yourself improving. You have to pat yourself on the back sometimes."
"That's…not the reason."
"What's the reason?"
Michael picked the callouses on his hands. "Everytime that I lose against Mave, I imagine myself dying, not being able to get back up."
Stefan turned tense. "That's realistic, but at the same time, too harsh. She's training you, kid, even if it seems that way. Mave would never kill you."
He wanted to disagree. Mave would definitely kill him if she wanted to but for the sake of their quests, he remained alive.
"It's good that you're thinking ahead but take it one step at a time. You won't get anywhere with that type of mindset."
"What about our quests? Isn't the time running out? What if I don't catch up with you and Mave?"
"You will." Stefan assured. "You're one of the youngest adventurers in the guild, or maybe in all of them, and you've shown more promise than anybody else."
Michael thought Stefan's words sort of touched him. He wasn't used to being complimented by other people since all he's done is criticize himself. Of course, nobody else had the desire to protect their magical talking sword. Maybe he really did have the potential to be better, or was it the delusion that he was feeding into again?
"Come on, you two," Ellis called from the door. "Get in here."
Michael went back inside and cleaned his body before eating breakfast. He also grabbed Evelyn from the attic which ticked off Mave because she had to cook another portion.
Today's breakfast consisted of a healthy plate of seared sausage links, a generous clump of scrambled eggs, greasy bacon, and a side of baby tomatoes. The bread came off a little stale but Michael never argued about the taste of anything. Mave was an excellent cook as she was a fighter.
Michael sat next to Evelyn, savoring every bite that he forked into his mouth. It was always like a reward after being beaten in his training then he would wait at the dinner table for a fresh meal. Though ever since he had revealed Evelyn into the party, she also ate alongside him. He honestly didn't want to explain how her digestion worked to them.
Evelyn was scarfing down her food and tearing pieces of bread in between her bites. Michael found it a little embarrassing that she still didn't have the table manners to eat like a normal human being. They even looked at her in contrast to him.
Stefan sat at the end of the table, just a seat to the right, and ate while trying to figure out how a shapeshifting magical sword could have such an appetite. Or actually, it looked like everyone shared that same exact thought.
Ellis sat in front of Michael, careful enough to stray away from the creature that was relishing in her food. Judging from their past experiences, he learned to be in the clear when she was dealing with foods with flinging sauces or liquids.
Mave stood at the kitchen counter, eating while standing, and didn't bother sitting down at the table. She stopped sitting with them when Evelyn became an official member of their party.
"So now the kid is healed," Stefan said. "How about that quest in Alaris?"
Ellis shook his head. "No."
"Really? That quick? Think about the pay though, I figured you would at least be intrigued to take it."
"It's not an assigned quest, is it? That means the pay would be lower. Imagine the amount of parties that've been passed around on that quest. Remember what we told Vince? We don't mix ourselves with them. We're our own team. It would be contradictory of us to join that herd of fools."
"What about you, Mave? Are you up for it?"
Mave turned her shoulder. It was like they already knew her answer.
Michael had spent the week recovering so he didn't get to tag along any of their quests. But they've only gone for a few, rarely long enough that lasted half a day so any free time was spent training with Michael. Neither of the quests meant dealing with any mana beasts though, only minor trouble in neighboring towns. In other words, nothing spectacular had happened as of late.
Evelyn started to pick off Michael's plate when she was finally finished. He moved her hands away as the party watched the two get into a small fight over breakfast. It was embarrassing.
"Here." Stefan gave her his plate. "You can have mine."
Evelyn looked at it with some contempt. Stefan was handing over his plate like he was trying to tempt a wild animal. She turned away and continued to pick at Michael.
To avoid making a whole commotion so early in the morning, Michael gave his plate over to Evelyn as he ate from Stefan's. Though this trade didn't please Mave at all. It was like their days were about to get ruined because Michael had introduced his magical sword girlfriend.
"What's Alaris?" Michael asked. "Is it some other town?"
"It's a quest," Stefan drummed the table. "But, yeah, it is a town. Nothing like that quest at Almore if you're asking about that. It's just that the quests have been slow recently, and sadly, living has been pretty expensive. I'm saying we should take the matter on ourselves instead of waiting for it to come to us."
Ellis gritted. "You would rather travel across Wilmere for a handful of coins? Is that what you're trying to say?"
"I'm saying, let's not go broke. That giant mana beast we killed is surely keeping us afloat, but come on, we're living in Aldoria. Living is certainly not free."
"Just give the guild a couple days. We'll find something to do."
"And do what? Laze around until our pockets are empty?"
"Isn't that what you want?" Mave scoffed. "I never thought you would be the person actively looking for work."
"I'm looking to help the guild." Stefan remarked. "You said we wanted more assigned quests, then that could only work if we have more influence. Believe me, I don't like any of the other members more than you do but it's still our guild. Vince will still consider us the priority if something comes up anyways."
Ellis sighed. "That's not the issue."
"What? Don't tell me you're scared."
Michael wiped Evelyn's face. "Is there something wrong about Alaris?"
"It's a collective quest." Ellis said. "That means we're not only going to be with other people of the Adventuring guild, but also with other rivaling guilds. Knowing that we've moved up to seventh place in ranks, I imagine they can't wait to snuff out our flames."
"What…are we supposed to be doing in Alaris to have that many adventurers in it?"
"I haven't read the quest well because I have zero intention on taking it. That decision goes for all of us here."
Stefan groaned, sprawling his arms over the table. "This party is a bore. What about you, kid, you're just waiting to take on a quest, huh?"
Michael felt a little indifferent. He enjoyed venturing outside just as much as he stayed home alone with Evelyn. But it was just like Stefan said, living in Aldoria was not free at all. Feeling like their assigned quests had been coming off a little slow, it wouldn't hurt to take on a quest themselves.
"I wouldn't mind." he nervously said. "My body feels a bit normal again. I think I can fight just as well, too."
Mave glanced at him as if she was wondering if she should have kneed him harder in the stomach. Maybe hard enough so he wouldn't be able to voice his own opinion.
"Alright, then it's decided!" Stefan slapped the table and stood. "We're moving out!"