"Not quite. Focus more! Imagine energy coursing through your veins!"
Elzabell is tutoring me on using magic, but it just isn't quite clicking for me. I'm trying to do what she says, but when trying to create how her magic coursing through me felt, I never get more than just tingles.
"Focus on the magic, and the incantation should pop into your head."
"I'm trying!"
I really am trying. I'm having limited success on recreating the flow of magic that's supposed to happen when casting a spell.

Elzabell sighs, partly from annoyance, partly from disappointment.

We're currently two days into our three day trip back to the capital. Elzabell is training me to use magic a short distance away from where our camp is set up. From the random monsters we encounter on the road, Maria and I have risen to level 20. I've been able to unlock a lot more gauntlets than I expected. Is the unlock time going down a bit? I thought it was supposed to be between eight to twelve hours depending on what the material was, but I'm unlocking more of my gauntlets in about six hours now. I currently have the Chimera Dragon Gauntlets equipped right now because they give the biggest boost to magic, but having a higher magic stat doesn't seem to be helping much.

"Maybe he needs a different approach?" Maria walks over with some cooked monster meat. Killed by me and Maria just an hour ago! The knights were handling the camp setup and we'd all take turns cooking, although the cooking was mostly just putting meat over the fire. It wasn't bad. In fact some of the monster meat didn't taste thin like the other food I've had in this world, although everyone else didn't like it much due to it "tasting too thick"
"Nonsense. This is exactly how I learned." Elzabell rebutted.

"You said yourself the gauntlets are affecting his ability to use magic. So perhaps a different way of learning is required?" Those two are getting oddly close, and glaring at each other. Eventually Elzabell relented.
"Fine, you get a turn to try and teach him magic. I was getting sick of trying anyway." Elzabell snatched some of the food Maria was carrying and walked over to where the knights were sitting.
"It's best to not antagonize her like that. If I recall, she's the best at magic here, and the highest level too."
"Her teaching hasn't been getting results, so that's why I'm trying."
"What Elzabell described as a requirement for me learning Erste magic sounded similar to what you described as a requirement for learning Zweite magic, so wouldn't it be natural that it takes me time to do this?"

Maria's hostility goes down a little bit at that, I think changing a bit to shame.
"Yeah that's right. Even if you were a prodigy it would still take some time to properly learn."
"At least the benefit of this is once I learn how to do Erste magic, it shouldn't take me long to learn Zweite" Maria lets out a small smile at that.

"At least we're working out the hard stuff now while it's peaceful."
Maria has just learned Zweite magic, also mostly sticking with enchantments. She's worked out Fire and Healing at Zweite level, but for the other elements she needs to really focus to do them. I'm not sure she can do it in the heat of combat. For the rest of the day, Maria would try teaching me magic. It involved meditating a lot to try and get a sensitivity to magic power. I think it was actually working. I'm making slow and steady progress, but we'd arrive at the castle before I'd figure it out.

"Welcome back, Gauntlet Hero." The King greets me with his usual regal presence. "I see you brought an additional guest." He says, eyeing Elzabell.
"I'm the one who created the monsters that created the difficult situation over there. The Gauntlet Hero helped me exterminate them all. Without him, it would have taken me considerably longer." She starts in a joking tone, but ends off seriously.
"I see. The reports I've received support that statement. However, I've already come to my own conclusion on what to do next. Ash, Maria, please leave the room for a few minutes."
"Your majesty-" I begin to ask why, but he cuts me off.
"No harm will befall her, and I have already decided your next mission. I just need to have a word in private."
I'm unsure of what to say to that, so I just nod and leave the throne room.

Their conversation was only a few minutes, and ended with Elzabell walking out of the throne room looking rather satisfied.
"What happened in there?"
"Can't say. Do your next adventure on your own." She says that with a smile, not even looking at me.
"Wha-"
"Come on Ash, let's find out what our next assignment is." Maria tugs me towards the throne room.
"Alright. It kind of sucks she isn't coming with us. She's really strong."
"Maybe the King wants her to work on something?"
"I'm sure we'll find out at some point. Let's just get our next assignment."

Both of us enter the throne room once again, and the King begins talking.
"I have good news Ash. The other heroes have handled most of the immediate problems. This next assignment should be a great levelling opportunity for you two. The city to the South East is hosting a coliseum event where any group of adventurers can take on monsters. The adventurers guild branch will do their best to match up monsters to groups, so it should be challenging, but rewarding."
That sounds great! Several fights against strong monsters that we should be able to win against! There's probably several rare monsters that I can get good gauntlets from too. For some reason Maria looks really pale.
"Will.. will it be a big event?"
The King responds with a smile. "Of course it will be. All the nobles there will be watching."
I swear you could do the anime character going insane pov with her and it would fit really well. Although what brought this on? Stage fright? But then why would the king mention nobles?

"What's going on?" I ask both Maria and the King
"It is not my place to disclose that information." The King coolly responds.
"Maria?" I look over to her
"Stage fright!" She squeaks over to me. This is the first time she's said anything like that. I'm pretty sure she's lying, but it would be insensitive to try and pry now.
"Well I'm ready to go whenever." I say to the King.
"Excellent. It is about two days' travel from here. Please be back here a week before the countdown ends."
So three days there? I'm not exactly sure how much levelling I can do in that time, but there must be a reason, right?
"Why such a short time?"
"For the last week before the countdown I would like all the heroes to train together, as well as train against my most elite knights."
I suppose level isn't everything. Actual combat skill matters quite a bit too, so I see the reasoning behind this decision. Plus if we'll all have to fight together, it makes sense to train together. I guess the disasters happening around the continent prevented us from all working together.
"I believe that's all the questions I have. Maria, do you have anything to ask?"
"Can we go somewhere else?"
"No" The King responds, quick and to the point. It is kind of weird he's directing us right towards this town, but it does sound like a very good opportunity to get stronger. The King begins speaking again.
"Ah one last thing. As a reward for clearing up the issue with that village, you may have 100 Silver."
"Thank you, your majesty!"
"You're welcome Ash. May I recommend buying some armor?"
"Oh yeah…" I'm embarrassed. I've forgotten to get armor for two weeks now. If I had armor maybe the Chimera's fire breath wouldn't have hurt me as much. I bought a new shirt at the village, but I didn't have enough to buy any armor there.

"I'll have a carriage waiting for you just outside the castle for whenever you want to go. Safe journey Ash. You too Maria." The King says to us, seemingly to usher us out. I take no offense, we'd been there a little while, and there didn't seem to be much to talk about.

Finally! The armor shop! The inside was made mostly of stone bricks, with a metallic dusty scent as well. There was a sort of sketchy looking guy at the front, that also somehow looked reliable. I guess like a reformed thug? He had a messy beard, and large musculature.
"Hey, what can I do for you two? Just so you know I don't make rings."
Rings? Maria seemed kind of flustered by that.
"No, I'm just here for some armor."
"Sounds good. What are you looking for? Leather? Full steel armor?"
"I guess something durable that isn't too hard to move around in."
"Some lighter Half-Plate. Got it. If you got a high budget, I can get some Air Wake equipment for you."
"Air Wake?"
"Heavy equipment enchanted to be light so it doesn't restrict movement as much."
"My budget is 119 Silver"
"Not enough for Air Wake then. I'll prepare some light Half-Plate for you. With your budget the best material I can offer is Magic Iron, for 105 Silver."
That's most of my money, but I guess I don't have much else to spend on. I've definitely got enough for food for a while.
"I'll take it"

The armorer took my measurements, went to the back and brought me a set of magic iron half-plate

Magic Iron Half-Plate
Slash Resist (Med), Pierce Resist (Med), Bludgeon Resist (Low), Magic Resist (Low), Magic Conversion

"What does magic conversion mean?" I ask the armorer
"It means the armor uses some of your magic to increase your magic resistance. The higher your magic stat, the more the armor will help you resist magic."

That's pretty useful. I'm guessing that's the difference between just Iron, and Magic Iron. When I touch the Gauntlet part of the half-plate I get a notification
Magic Iron Gauntlets obtained

Ahh so that's how the weapon copy system works. I was worried I'd have to absorb it, but I can just touch it and I get some new Gauntlets. What are the stats on these?

Magic Iron Gauntlets, Unlock Bonus: +2 DEF, +3 MDEF
Equip Bonus: +5 DEF, +5 MDEF, Magic Resist (Low)

Funny how the stats are somewhat similar to the armor, but still different.

"I don't need the gauntlet part of the half-plate."
"Oh alright. I can lower the price a bit. Let me just take these back"
The armorer brings the Magic Iron Gauntlets back.
"Alright, your total is 85 Silver."
"One more thing…"
I explain to him about how my gauntlets can copy any gauntlets I touch
"So, is it alright with you if I copy all the gauntlets I can?"
"I understand. It does feel a little wrong, but overall I'm not losing on any products. I'll just charge you a flat 100 Silver."
Alright! I got a good deal. I run my fingers over all of the gauntlets I can find.

Bronze Gauntlets obtained
Iron Gauntlets obtained
Steel Gauntlets obtained
Magisteel Gauntlets obtained
Iron Buckler obtained
Magic Iron Blade Arm obtained
Etc

All of these gauntlets just gave stat boosts as their Unlock Bonus, but there was one that looked really powerful

Level 30 Requirement
Siderite Gauntlets, Unlock Bonus: Stardust Strike
Equip Bonus: +10 ATK, +10 MAG

Couldn't use it yet of course. That would just be too convenient.
"Figures the Gauntlet Hero would visit my shop. I already heard about the Sword Hero from Luge. He told me they had a conversation about copying weapons."
"You knew?"
"I figured, once you told me you didn't need the gauntlets. Confirmed when you told me about the copy system."
"Um, excuse me?" Maria asks
"Yes Miss, what can I do for you?"
"Do you have any metal masks?"
"Ah yes I do. What's your budget?"
"30 Silver."
"I can offer a Steel Mask for 18 Silver."
"That will do. Thank you."
That purchase kind of came out of nowhere. I suspect it might have something to do with her apparent problem with where we're going.

While on the way to Sellbull, I'm continuing training my magic. Sellbull is apparently the name of the adventurer hotspot city. It was originally a small trading hub that grew from adventurer business into the giant city like it is today. It's the second biggest city on the main continent, just behind Einsbrey Kingdom. Just before we left the armor shop, I learned the armorer's name is Jule. I almost forgot to ask him, but I'm also doing good on breaking that habit. The journey there was uneventful. There weren't any monsters on the road the knights needed to help us with. My magic training was still going steady. I've gotten pretty good at manipulating my magic, save for me being unable to cast spells, but I feel like I'm really close. I had tried reading the tome's I bought, but I still wasn't able to. Maria was able to read a little bit of them, and according to her the writing in them responds to your ability to understand magic, making them incredibly valuable for someone at a higher level, but also harder to learn from. I guess once I can read a tome I'd know I can cast spells? That seems somewhat self-fulfilling though…

Arriving in the city was quite the experience. It looked very similar to Einsbrey, like a medieval kingdom, but with the absence of a castle, and the brick walls looked like it was made out of a more yellowish stone. Maria had put on the mask she bought and was checking over her shoulder every now and then.
"Looking for someone?" I jokingly ask
"Oh, this is just a big place, I want to make sure nobody will try to rob us"
"This isn't the criminal hotspot you know!" I was putting on a smiley face, but I think I know what this is about now. I remember when we first met she had mentioned running away from home, so I'm guessing that her family lives in this city. Even though I've never been to this city before, it was easy to tell where the coliseum was. Not only was it one of the biggest buildings in the city, it was also where a bunch of other people were headed. At one point we were just following the crowd, until we arrived to the coliseum, then Maria pointed out a sign that indicated that participant sign-up was on the other side of the coliseum. Overall the coliseum looked just like you would imagine a roman coliseum.

"Hello there. Number of participants and levels please?" We were met by a sunny sounding smiling attendant.
"Two participants and…" I looked over to Maria for the next part. We were both level 20, but…

Ash Kane | LVL 20
ATK: 67 + 3
DEF: 72
MAG: 42 + 3
MDEF: 65
SPE: 65

I certainly got a lot stronger since I last checked. Without the permanent stat boosts I get from the unlock bonuses, I feel like my higher stats would all be in the 50's range. Overall I'm probably about as strong as a normal person at level 30, higher if you count my amplified skills. I guess I could hold back, but if I pretended to be lower level we would be fighting monsters worth less experience, but if I gave a level that actually correlated to how strong I was then Maria could be in danger. I guess I can meet in between?

"We're both level 24"
"Understood. How many fights would you like to participate in?"
"As many as we can."
She begins looking over several sheets of paper

"We have a few slots left over, however they're all close to each other, so you wouldn't be getting much rest between battles."
"That's fine with me." Maria should be able to heal any injuries we get in just a few minutes. Plus, I'll be trying to take all the attacks since my defence is higher, so she shouldn't need to heal herself after battles. I check on Maria. It's hard to tell because of the mask, but I think some of her nervousness is gone. Her breathing is more steady at least.

"Please head over to the waiting area as directed by the arrows we've set up. In there somebody will be there to explain the rules to you."
Maria told me I should probably hide I'm a hero, so I had the Chimera Dragon Gauntlets equipped. They're stylized to look like my arm is a dragon's neck with my fist coming out of its mouth, but most importantly, it doesn't materialize a buckler when I close my fists. Instead the head comes forward and closes its mouth, covering my fists. As far as all of my gauntlets go, this one doesn't materialize anything, so I think it's the least conspicuous set I have.

The waiting room was made of yellowish bricks, just like the rest of the city, and smelled of stone and sweat. Inside were a bunch of other strong looking people. They all looked like adventurers, all dressed to look like some kind of class. There were plenty of robes, heavy armor, and ninja outfits going around, which made it pretty easy to guess what each person's specialty was. There were also a lot of people wielding Axes, Swords, or just wearing a set of gauntlets. If any of them try and claim to be a legendary hero I'm going to do a flip.

"Welcome Participants!" A booming cheery sounding voice filled the room. It came from a man wearing a similar outfit to the woman outside, so I guess he was the one who would explain the rules to us.
"You're all here today for the Monster Meltdown! An event where each party will fight against a monster selected by our very own adventurers guild, taking party size and level into account. However, our monster selection process doesn't account for personal martial skill, so if you aren't confident in your skills, I suggest you leave, or things could get messy."
A couple groups shifted at that last sentence, but everyone stayed.
"The rules are very simple. Your party will fight between one to three monsters depending on what we have available, and each fight should be tailored to your capabilities. The fight will be to the death, either you kill the monster, or the monster kills you." He switches to a more joking tone. "Or you run around screaming until someone in the audience decides to help you!"
That gets a few laughs. I'll admit one of those laughs was from me, and Maria peeks her mask up to look at me disapprovingly.

"You are allowed to take what you want from the monster. Both the experience you gain, and the materials you decide to take are your prize. If you're unsatisfied with that, then go into the wild and fight an unknown amount of monsters whose strength you don't have any idea of!"

This whole competition makes me wonder how profitable of a business capturing monsters and selling them bound to people who want to level up is. It would probably be more efficient to just party up with someone low level and kill a bunch of monsters to level up.

Whatever the answer to that is, Maria and I had to wait since we weren't the first ones up. We didn't get a very good view of the fights from here, but they all ranged in scale. There was one party that had to fight a large turtle that could use earth magic, and some parties struggled against a familiar looking goat monster. When it was our turn and we entered the arena, inside it waiting for us was a beast with the main body of a Lion, but the head and wings of an eagle. For goodness sake another Lion monster?
"Meat Appraisal" I mutter under my breath. I don't want others to know I'm using skills.

This meat belongs to a Griffon. The Griffon in question is still alive

Okay, I was thinking it looked like a Griffon. Me and Maria look to each other, and begin.
"I am the source of great power. Engulf my weapons in a layer of lightning. Zweite Lightning Enchant!"
Meanwhile I dash towards the Griffon to prevent it from going after Maria. The Griffon runs towards me as well, and I catch its headbutt on my gauntlets. It still hit hard, but I wasn't sent flying, so it's weaker than the Chimera. It reared up to try and scratch at me, but I managed to get back far enough that I wasn't taking the brunt of any of those attacks. Maria finished her spell, and ran up to my side a little bit behind me, and flung her yoyos at it. Lightning appeared to be the right pick, since it screeched in pain and recoiled any time her yoyos hit it. Between me blocking its attacks, and Maria's super effective lightning yoyo's, we eventually wore it down, and it stopped moving.

A blast of confetti and a horn went off when it died, and some moderate cheering from the crowd. Moderate cheering isn't very good, considering it's a packed stadium. I guess our fight wasn't too entertaining.

!

I felt a chill down my back.

I turn around, and walking down from what looks like a noble seating area down to the edge of the arena are two older people, one man and one woman. They are flanked by four people who look like ninja' they reach the edge of the coliseum the man speaks.
"Welcome home Maria. Your yoyo tricks got a bit better. Did you have fun on your little escapade?"