Talking It Over with the Team

Early the next morning.

As agreed with Chris, Rain stopped in front of a house in the southwest corner of Mill Town.

It was a two-story home of the sort common in Mill Town, with a sloping roof and a square stone chimney. The only unusual thing about it was its large front yard, enclosed by a fence nearly two meters high. The Whistling Hunters had rented it as a training ground.

Through the thick ivy and honeysuckle growing over the fence, Rain could already see several familiar figures practicing in the yard.

A few minutes later.

In the front yard.

"Rain, come on. Let's spar."

"Back when we were clearing out those Vampire Bats, I got the feeling you handled a shield even better than I do." Chris raised his shield and grinned at Rain.

Chris might usually be all smiles and jokes, but he had his pride.

As an Apprentice Warrior, he would question himself if he could not use a shield as well as an Apprentice Mage. He would even begin to question his place on the team.

"Sure."

Rain readily accepted Chris's invitation.

For one thing, sparring would help him improve his command of Combat Techniques.

For another, it was a tradition among adventuring teams: sparring helped teammates understand one another better.

"We've got training gear." Chris pointed to a rack holding iron-rimmed wooden shields, blunt iron swords, wooden hammers, and other equipment.

"Mm."

The two soon took their positions in the middle of the yard.

Chris looked as though he were facing a formidable enemy. Rain was much more relaxed.

Seeing the two about to spar, Fabian and Leia joined Grand, who was already standing nearby, to watch with interest.

"Is Rain that good with a shield?"

Leia had missed both occasions when Rain fought monsters up close, so the sight prompted her to ask Fabian.

"Hm?"

Fabian paused at her question.

He glanced at Grand, then broke into a smile. "Captain, want to make a bet? Loser buys everyone a round at Hearthfire Bar. I'm betting on Rain!"

"Hm?" Leia looked from Rain to Fabian, puzzled. "You're that confident in him?"

"It's not just me. Grand thinks so too," Fabian said with a grin.

Leia turned her beautiful eyes toward Grand. To her surprise, he nodded solemnly.

"Well..."

"All right. If you're betting on Rain, I'll take Chris." Leia still found it hard to believe Chris would lose to Rain in a contest of shields.

After all, one was an Apprentice Warrior, and the other was an Apprentice Mage.

They had even agreed not to use spells. If Chris lost under those conditions, what could she say?

Clang!

The fight had begun in the middle of the yard.

Chris moved a fraction faster, chopping at Rain with his iron sword, but Rain immediately raised his shield to block.

Rain counterattacked with his hammer.

Thud!

Chris raised his shield too, but the moment hammer met shield, his expression changed.

Enormous force surged through his shield arm and into his shoulder, driving him back a step to absorb the blow.

Outside the yard.

Huh?

Leia's red lips parted in surprise.

As someone on the verge of becoming a full-fledged Professional, she had an eye for such things.

Yet Chris, an Apprentice Warrior, was slightly weaker than Rain.

For a moment, she had no idea what to say.

Rain had shown decent strength and close-combat skill before, but Leia had taken him for no more than an unusually sturdy Apprentice Mage.

She had never imagined he could drive Chris back so easily in close combat.

Was he really an Apprentice Mage?

While Leia was lost in thought, the sparring continued at a brisk pace.

After a brief exchange, Chris and Rain seemed to spot an opening at the same time. Both swung their shields at the other.

Thud!

The two wooden shields collided. Then, to everyone's astonishment, Chris staggered back three steps before he could steady himself!

Worse, the force of the head-on collision had cracked the sturdy wooden shield in his hand.

"Rain, I lost." Chris looked at his shield and shook his head with a rueful smile.

He had known Rain would probably beat him. Still, now that it had happened, he could not help feeling disheartened as an Apprentice Warrior.

"I'm just stronger, Chris," Rain said sincerely.

And he meant it.

A considerable part of Rain's strength came from monster bloodline abilities. His victory over Chris, who had trained hard for years, owed much to the Boarfolk Warrior bloodline's passive talents—Brute Strength Lv. 2 and Thick Hide Lv. 2.

Without the bloodline's boost to his strength and constitution, Rain had used a shield for less than two months. Even with Humbert's guidance, he could never have beaten Chris.

Leia stepped forward, her beautiful eyes studying Rain. "I think I need to get to know you all over again."

"Are you really an Apprentice Mage? Or have you been planning to become a special Professional all along?"

"A special Professional? Do you mean the Arcane Knight you mentioned last time, Captain?" Rain asked curiously.

"No. Arcane Knight is a later advancement into the extraordinary. I'm talking about the first step: becoming a Professional." Leia shook her head.

To make herself clearer, she continued.

"Take me, an apprentice Ranger. Normally, I'd become a Ranger. But there are special paths too. If I focused on improving my shooting, I might become a Sharpshooter."

A Sharpshooter?

Rain nodded slightly as he listened.

It sounded a little like the Great Hammerer, the special profession Humbert had mentioned before.

"But if an apprentice Ranger also learns to cast spells, she might become the much rarer Magic Archer."

"Magic Archer?" Rain paused, turning the term over in his mind.

That sounded rather close to his own situation.

A Magic Archer combined archery with some spellcasting ability. He combined a warrior's abilities with some spellcasting ability.

"Captain, are you planning to become a Sharpshooter or a Magic Archer?"

"It's not as simple as choosing one. To become a Magic Archer, for instance, I'd need to master at least one spell. I don't meet the requirements." Leia rolled her eyes at Rain.

"But enough about me, Rain." Leia changed the subject and asked him again.