Rickasorous101: Glad to hear it! And yes, the story of Tethered Souls is the next book, but it will be titled "The Balance of Power."
It's been quite a while now, but I hope to speed up a bit in the future. Enjoy!
The following few weeks involved training in self defense. It was nothing particularly technical; I could already produce and control my own electricity, as could Veria maintain a flame. Instead, this training was focused solely on power. Each day, we would push ourselves to the end of our stamina before retiring to the guild. By the end of the training, I felt exactly the same as I had before. Though my shock might have had just a bit more power behind it, Veria enjoyed a significant improvement. By the final day of power training, her flames extended over a body length in front of her.
Technical training began immediately after and lasted only a few days. This wouldn't be the first time that I considered my natural abilities practically, but it would certainly be the first time with combat in mind. Without any actual experience in fighting, the training didn't bring about any new, innovative techniques, but I did reinforce some of the basic ideas, such as throwing a weak shock or coating myself in electricity. The day after technical training ended, Osti took Veria and I out to the training field once more.
"Let's do some team building exercises!" he announced. "You've known each other for what… Almost a month, now? I think it's about time you both figure out how your partner fights. If you ever end up having to defend yourselves while exploring, knowing how to support each other is vital."
"Now… Lux, come stand right over here… Yeah. And Veria, right over here… Good. Now face each other… Aaaand, fight!"
"What?" I stared at Osti for a clarification of his demand, but before I was given a response, a gout of heat engulfed my face and shoulders, forcing me to recoil. It seemed that Veria hadn't hesitated to comply.
"Fight," he repeated. "And be sure to observe each other well."
I quickly gathered my focus and braced myself for the fight. Despite my earlier confusion, I had already formed a simple plan. As soon as Veria loosed her next attack, I rolled aside and, with the speed that won a hundred footraces in grade school, charged at her. But with the speed that must have won a thousand footraces, Veria stepped away and snagged me by the nape. Taking advantage of the contact, I released a damaging shock. Bad idea. The current only forced Veria to clamp tighter, sending a flash of pain down my spine. I cried out and cut off my discharge, and Veria stumbled away. I tried to take a step, but a stinging sensation shot all from my leg to my neck, and I collapsed.
"Au… Ma ts- Augh! Ma sugh…" Veria blubbered. I turned my aching head towards Osti, who was looking on in a slightly horrified panic.
"U-um! I'll go- uh… Stay right here! I'll go get Ipsimus!" Osti rushed off. I turned my gaze to Veria, who was trembling from head to tails.
"You… you okay?" I forced. Veria only stared at me for a moment before answering.
"Yuh. Puhfe'ri fai," she returned sarcastically.
"Oh… Uh… S-sorry about… this… It was a pretty dumb move…" I grimaced. Even talking hurt.
"Eh, I've bih worse… I's zhus' my sugh'… Are you ohay? You're bwee'ih pre'y har'"
"Hm?" I gently dabbed a paw on the back of my neck and checked it. And just as Veria said, there was a moderate coat of blood on it. I only groaned and flicked it away, and I attempted to stand. The initial pain had begun to subside, but my neck was still throbbing. "Don't… worry about me. I think it was just a nerve. But what about your tongue? How bad does it hurt?"
"A 'ot. Bu' o'y whe' I 'oush i'. I awrea'y have a heavy a'cent, zough, so 'o bih 'eaw," she jested. For just a second, all the pain disappeared. Only then did I become aware of a development that had been in motion ever since I met her. Throughout the past month, Veria had gradually grown more and more sociable. Though she still seldom expressed her opinions and feelings, she always had a witty remark on the tip of her tongue recently. I couldn't help but grin. I was going to respond, but a gust of wind signaled Ipsimus's arrival with Osti. He shifted his gaze between us almost bemusedly.
"That's a pretty nasty wound you've got there, Lux. What exactly happened?"
"We were sparrih whe' 'uhs sharzh' a' me, so I haugh' him by 'uh 'eh', bu' he sho' me righ' i' 'uh mouf, a' i' zhus' may' me bai' 'ow' har'er…" Veria tried to explain.
"P-pardon?"
"I zapped her in the mouth… didn't mean to…"
"I see," he said, making the connection. "Osti was making it out to be a murder scene," he laughed.
"Er… I guess it seemed a lot worse at first…" Osti mumbled.
"Yes, of course… Well, let's get you both back to the guild, now, and I'll call the doctor over to have a look at you."
x
Veria and I were left to wait in our room while Ipsimus brought the doctor. I found it a bit too quiet, so I decided to test how much Veria would really talk, given the chance.
"So… you seemed pretty quick during that fight… Do you have some experience or something?" I asked. I received only an indignant stare.
"You shoose 'ow of au 'imes 'o have a reaw 'omversatio' wif me?"
"Oh, right…" And so, we waited in silence.
x
When the doctor finally arrived, he gave us a quick once-over. He diagnosed Veria with simple electrical burns and muscle tension; he gave her a cheri berry to relax her muscles and applied a rawst poultice to the burn site. He diagnosed me with a severely pinched nerve and gave me an oran berry to relieve the pain. Unfortunately, he forbade me from participating in intense training for at least two weeks as well. Immediately after the visit, I took a thorough bath and washed the drying blood from my fur.
Ipsimus granted Veria and I a few days off to heal. Leaving the guild that day, we agreed to part ways and meet in front of town hall at noon, just a few hours from then. I took the opportunity to visit my parents for the first time since enrolling at the guild. After a quick stroll through town, I finally came upon my home.
"I'm home," I called, trotting through the open doorway. Father was lying in his favorite spot by the window as always.
"Oh, welcome back!" he returned delightedly. "What's the occasion?"
"Injury," I quipped. "Sorta."
"Ah, let's see it!" I sat down in front of him and revealed the back of my neck. He studied the wound for a moment. "Lemme guess… You tried to discharge while someone had you by the nape?"
"Y-yeah! H-"
"I've done it before… Just a bit of roughhousing after school one day." I peered over my shoulder to find him wearing a reminiscent expression, a look that I rarely ever saw from him. "Believe it or not, that's what sparked my interest in material science. After it happened, I just couldn't help but wonder why my electricity made his muscles contract like that. From there, I guess my curiosities began to wander towards materials in general…"
I knew that a long story was fast approaching, so I quickly asked the first question that came to mind to break his train of thought: "Did you ever figure it out?"
"Hm? Ah, no. No, that's unfortunately beyond our current knowledge of physiology." He paused for a moment. "Now, where was I going with this… Ah, nevermind that."
Success!
"Your mother has been wanting to see you for a while now, so be sure to give her a big hug when you see her."
"I will…" I peered out the window to check the time. The sun was just over halfway to its peak. "You have to go to work soon, don't you?"
"Indeed. What do you plan on doing today since you don't have school anymore? Going up to the river?"
"No, I've got plans. No idea what they are yet, though."
"I see. Well, it's about time I go, then." He rose to leave. "Oh, also… what day are you returning to the guild?"
"Monday."
"I see… Well, be back by dinner tonight. See you later." He headed off for the university, leaving me with two hours to spare and nothing to do.
x
I was waiting in front of town hall when noon finally came, and Veria arrived shortly after. We spent the day wandering about the town and doing whatever came upon us until the sun began to set, at which point we each went home for dinner.
I arrived home a bit early, so my parents were still hard at work in the kitchen. Hearing me enter, mother dropped what she was doing to affectionately welcome me home, and per father's previous suggestion, I allowed her to do so as she pleased.
The last time I had dinner at home was far less cheerful than it was this time, for I had plenty to talk about tonight. I talked about Veria, Osti, our trip to the "dungeon of mystery," our stay at the barbarian village, our training, and finally, the reason for my visit. Though for my mother's sake, I heavily downplayed my injury, of course.
After dinner, I went straight to bed, as my neck had already begun to ache long before, and I wished to push myself no further.
The next day, I saw mother and father off to their jobs before meeting Veria again. We had long grown bored of exploring the town from yesterday, but this time I had an idea. I led Veria to the public library, which was also part of the university on the second ring. It wasn't very large at all compared to its surrounding buildings, but it contained every single book written in Tempa's forty years, and even the few books brought by the founders from before. As we entered, Veria fell silent to take in her surroundings.
"Have you never been here?" I guessed.
"No… I didn't even know about it." I wasn't surprised; the library was rarely used by anyone except members of the university. As such, most of the books were on research conducted by the university that went well over my head. Luckily, there were plenty of books within my comprehension: histories. From the shelves of histories, I pulled down a rather worn book with a dark, scuffed cover and spread it in front of Veria.
"This is my favorite, Imperium ad Maris. Be careful with it, it's pretty old." Veria took a long stare at the book before passing me a confused look.
"You can read?"
Indeed, out of the few dozen children in Tempa who were my age, only ten or so were able to attend school. In total, there were only about a hundred students.
"Yeah. I can read and write, but not very fast, yet."
"How fancy," she scoffed. For the rest of the day, I read stories aloud to her. She seemed to take an interest in history, so we spent our final day off in the same way. On the day of our return, Veria and I met early in the morning and made our way back to the guild, very much ready to resume our training.
x
Over the next two years, I took several responsibilities upon myself, the first of which was teaching Veria to read. It was a slow process due to how little time there was outside of guildwork, but she made her way along rather well.
For the guild, I volunteered to participate in mission planning with Ipsimus, Osti, and another member; Veria and I made sure to accept each mission as they came. Spending nearly every day on exploration, we grew prepared for nearly everything that was to come.
Not sure how often I'll be updating anymore. Senior year has started, but I'll try my best to get more out.