[You have rested on a bed! HP and AP have been fully restored! All debuffs have been removed]
"Alright Joan!" I yelled out, suddenly grasping the poor ex-boy girl's sleeping bag and yanking suddenly. Like those magician's tricks where they pull the tablecloth without disturbing the plates, cutlery, and other decorations on the table the sleeping bad was removed with no trouble.
"Ow!" However, unlike those magician's tricks I had managed to make Joan hit her head on the floor. "Why do you do this to me?" I heard her complain.
"Ah Joan, there are many reasons I many things, particularly for you the reason would be fun, amusement, and because I want to." I explained with a grin. "Now come on! The shop's opening late today, as much as it pains me to do so, and I've already brought us breakfast!" I held up a paper bag that smelled wonderful and felt warm to the touch.
Joan, looking bedraggled, groaned and weakly lifted herself off of the ground before shuffling towards the bathroom.
"The water isn't working again!" She called out.
"It is, just give it a moment!' I called back. Once I heard the sound of running water I made my way to sit on my usual spot on the floor. Several minutes later she was sitting across me already opening her bag.
"You know…" I began hesitantly. "I can't help but notice that most of your clothes don't are too big for you now." She looked up from her bag.
"And whose fault is that exactly?" She replied.
"I know, I know. You want me to do anything about that?" She nodded. "Alright, I'll get to it when I figure out how."
"Wow…this is different…" I breathed out, we had appeared in the middle of a poorly lit empty street,
One of the many things that I had liked about the Instant Dungeons was the unique environment it presented me. The Knights and their castle, the Ants and their underground cavern, the Slime and their plains, and the Spirits and their marsh…or swamp…or bog. The Beowolf Grimm dungeon seemed to be set in a ruined Vale, a sight that while foreboding was surely majestic in its own way. Cracked roads, crumbling buildings, a dark night sky, and the scant amount of still functioning lamp posts painted a…dare I say…grim world to be in.
"You can say that again…" I heard Joan mutter next to me.
"Okay, so now that you have some experience fighting other humans, you can work on that in Beacon because that's what a school is for, we can move on to the enemies of humanity. The Grimm."
As if on cue the howling of several Beowolves filled the air. Joan readied herself by unsheathing Crocea Mors and unfolding her shield from its sheath form. I let out a chuckle as I saw several notifications pop up.
[Through action you have gained a new skill!]
[Detect Bloodlust Lvl1]
[Passively detect entities that intend to do harm.]
[Detect Bloodlust has levelled up]
[Detect Bloodlust has levelled up]
[Detect Bloodlust has levelled up]
[Detect Bloodlust has levelled up]
'Boy, there are sure a lot of Grimm.'
"Here's what you need to know about Grimm." I began before I suddenly used Reckless Charge into a Beowolf that was turning the corner and quickly killed it with a few placed hammer strikes to the head. "There will be no talking to them, no bantering." I hefted my hammer onto my shoulder and quickly looked back at her. "No pleading for mercy or any surrender…only life or death, there is no middle ground here, you will fight them and you will kill them." I began to walk back to her, moving slowly and lowering my guard.
[Item Get! Bone Mask Shards x3]
"The Grimm are beasts, monsters, some creepy unholy love child between animal, nightmare, and a skeleton for good measure and yes you can quote me on that one. They kill people regardless of who they are. You are people ergo they will try to kill you too." I stopped in front of her.
"A Huntsman's, or in your case Huntress', job basically boils down to three things and in order of priority it's save people, hit things, and don't die."
"Now. I don't want to hear something about you dying so try not to go into fights unprepared ok?" I whistled sharply, gaining the attention of nearby Beowolves. I could feel many eyes gaze at me, making me shudder for a bit.
"That being said…" I gave Joan a strong shove towards the pack of Beowolves, grinning when I heard a sudden squeak. "Have fun!"
"How's the armour holding up Joan?" I yelled, pushing a Beowolf off of me and quickly rolling aside to dodge a claw.
Silence met my question.
"Joan?"
"I'm busy here!" I hid behind my shield and turned towards her direction.
[Joan Arc]
[Unlucky Heroine]
[923/1320 HP]
I watched her stab a Beowolf with her sword and made it dissipate.
"Joan! Armour!" I pressed.
"FINE! It's doing fine!" She yelled at me.
"Yeesh, calm down would you. Nature's Blessing." She flashed green for a moment, signifying that she had been healed. I then reached for my hammer and bashed its head in.
[-55 HP]
I had gotten distracted and allowed an opening to be made, I glanced down where a claw had struck me before looking up and grinning.
"Oh, now it's on." I wildly threw myself into the pack with a manic smile. My hand tightly gripping the handle of my weapon as I swung, again and again. I struck Beowolves on the head, on the chest, on one of their exposed limbs, enjoying the satisfying feeling of a heavy weight sinking into flesh and the sound of cracking bone. I idly noted that I had levelled up as well. Finally my hammer met resistance and I couldn't help but look up at what was possibly the biggest Beowolf I had ever seen. It was also growling at me as I slowly removed my hammer from its neck.
[Alpha Beowolf Lvl 30]
[452/500 HP]
"…who's a good boy?"
No matter how much Joan might say that my voice squeaked during this part I will vehemently deny it.
"Bad boy! Sit! Stay! Heel! Roll over!" I yelled as I sprinted away from the Alpha Beowolf to the best of my ability, trying to put as much distance between us as possible.
[Sprint has levelled up!]
'Not helping game!'
"Get us out of here!" Joan yelled as she kept up with me.
"Oh but where would be the fun in that?" I replied. "Just face it head on! Shouldn't be a problem for you!"
"Euca!"
"Fine! Spoil the fun. ID Escape." The world fell away before we reappeared in the second floor of the shop. "Well that's been fun. I'll go open the shop now…"
Normally I wasn't much of a reader and for me going into a bookstore was a rare occurrence. I wasn't averse to learning I just had the habit of learning things when I need to, which was why I was heading over to Tukson's Book Trade to see if I could purchase some books I could need.
I entered the shop and was greeted with the sight of what could possibly be the largest amount of books I would endeavour to see personally in my lifetime.
"Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade! Home to every book under the sun! How may I help you?" I looked at the owner, who I knew to be Tukson. Naturally I knew about his secret and his apparent fate…
[Tukson Lvl45]
[?/? HP]
"…You say that every time someone comes in, don't you?" I received a nod. "Thought so, I'm looking for books about weapons and combat, I have a friend who's going to Beacon so I figured I'd get her some presents."
"It's over to the side."
"Thanks…oh and…um…are there books about clothes? Making or altering…"
By the end of my trip I was carrying a small stack of books that had torn out a decent 2000 Lien from my savings. I didn't find it heavy, with the Merchant Class basically letting me ignore carrying weight for items, of course. The books were actually for Joan so she didn't look like a fool but a few were actually skill books for me.
[Skill Book: Weapons Mastery]
[Skill Book: Basics Of Dust]
[Skill Book: Aura and Semblances, What Are They?]
[Skill Book: Tailoring For Dunces]
[Skill Book: Repair]
I think I'll learn Tailoring first and the rest tomorrow…
[Tailoring]
[Alter clothes outside of combat. Uses Materials Or Lien]
"…what did you do?" Joan asked me.
I had actually gone with making a table and putting it upstairs so we no longer had to sit on the floor every time.
"I made a table Joan. Oh, the books over there are yours, I'd like that you at least start reading them before Beacon."
"That's not what I meant." She gestured to the messy pile of her old clothes, or at least what was once her old clothes. Now they were undeniably new clothes that looked like her old ones, only that they were adjusted for her body type and a very bright pink in colour.
"Oh, well I did say I was going to do something about your clothes once I figured out how." I said before returning to altering clothes.
"I get that, but why are they all pink?"
"Because it's hilarious, don't worry, I got a skill that lets me freely alter clothes out of combat so I can reset them to their original colours later." She rolled her eyes as I turned the clothes she was wearing pink.
"Fine… "
"By the way, I can't do anything about your underwear so you have to go get some of your own tomorrow…I even bought a book to help you and buying it was embarrassing to me and I hope it's embarrassing to you too."
And with that, her reddened cheeks and embarrassed stammering made my evening great.