Training with everyone today went smooth.
Atro seems to be slowly improving while training with Cecil and Tirino. Even Yani is helping him get better at archery.
For today, though. We stopped searching for possible spell chains between us, and we started helping each other by giving tips and tricks when it came to magic.
Theo was the one that contributed the most to giving out tips. It makes sense that he's the one who studied the most when I remember that he's the top one on the S class.
But, where Theo couldn't help, I picked up on teaching different situations and possible tactics when fighting in a duel.
In the end, I think the best way to win a duel is by playing the waiting game and stalling the enemy. It's not the most honorable way to win, but I personally feel like winning matters a bit more. I also think that when the arena allows for it, throwing the opponent outside of the arena is a required tactic.
Most didn't fully agree with my take on winning duels, which I completely understand.
After we finished training, we left in our groups.
Personally, I had to go out with Fran to buy some sweets she may like.
I was also thinking of buying some equipment for myself, as my daggers were especially used up and I was in serious need to replace them.
"Hmmm! So sweet..." Fran said, taking a bite of a cupcake bathed in chocolate.
We were both walking down the streets of the city surrounding the academy. I was carrying a couple of bags full of sweets while Fran was busy eating them.
She honestly had such a sweet and calm smile on her face when eating that I simply stayed quiet and only talking when necessary.
"Want to try one?" She asked with an uncharacteristic smile.
"I don-"
"I know you don't like really sweet things like I do, and that's why I bought this bitter chocolate just for you" she looked hough one of the bags I was carrying and took out a chocolate bar.
"Here, eat" she placed the bar next to my lips, expecting me to bite into it.
I opened my mouth and bit into the chocolate bar.
"Thanks, Fran" since I was chewing on the chocolate bar, I had to cover my mouth while I said that.
"Honestly! I had to go out of my way to sneak that one in since you kept telling me you didn't want anything" she pouted and crossed her arms.
"I didn't want you to waste your money" I awkwardly chuckled.
"It's not wasting money if it's on you. You're my friend, and I'm spending my money on you" Fran said, still with her cheeks puffed.
I laughed and smiled at her, feeling like I really got myself a friend I'll never forget in my entire life.
"What's happening there?" Fran asked as she pointed at a crowd that was surrounding something.
"A street performance? Let's go see it, maybe it's something interesting" I began walking towards the crowd with Fran following me by my side.
Once we walked through the crowd and got to a good spot that allowed us to see what this crowd was circling around, a familiar face was the spotlight.
"Tsk, tsk. You're no good young man, if you keep on doing what you're doing, a significant someone might meet an unfortunate fate"
An old woman was holding the hand of a demi-human guy. She was reading into his palm.
"Let's see... take one of these" the old woman pulled out a deck of cards, and she shuffled it in front of everyone seeing the spectacle.
The cat-eared guy pulled out a single card and showed it to the old woman.
The old woman, a demi-human with canine ears, one of them had a chink clearly bitten off, grabbed the card.
"Oh, this card... your girlfriend, she's feeling lonely. You always focus on work too much that she's left unattended, especially for another man to come in and comfort her while you're not there" the old woman with raspy voice said as he saw the face of the man contort into an uncomfortable expression.
It seems she had said something accurate, as the guy began sweating and asking for advice.
"You have a choice to make young man. You either keep working your ass off and see the love of your life leave you because she feels like you don't love her back. Or you can spend more time with her, just like you did when you two first met, this will cause your work environment to suffer, though. So make a choice that fits you"
The old woman stretched her hand and pointed at the hat she was grabbing. Of course, the reading of ones future wasn't free.
"Alen, princess Von Themys" Yani approached us with her usual cheerful tone.
Behind her, Kaida also greeted us with more shyness due to Fran being here.
"What are you two doing here?" Fran asked with a frown and an angry tone. She definitely was expecting to not cross paths with Kaida again for today.
"Kaida has to buy a couple of things and I wanted to accompany her" Yani smiled. She definitely became more comfortable with being around Fran.
"You should take that sinner out of here then, she's polluting the atmosphere with her presence"
As Fran and Yani kept talking, I looked at the old woman once again.
In the game, she can be recruited if you meet the right set of characters. However, she isn't a fighting unit. That woman turns into a guide that helps players before a dungeon or any other event.
By paying her an amount of coins, she'll tell you details and tips about the enemies you'll find and fight, characters that can appear and be recruited and a couple of other things.
For a player that has played the game multiple times and memorized lots of events and patterns, like me, she's useless. But a new player that plays without a guide, she can be quite useful.
Another thing she does is helping with training a unit.
"H-hi Alen" Kaida whispered, taking advantage of te fact that Fran was busy with Yani.
I smiled at her. I couldn't really interact with her today, so it's nice to see her moving around and getting stronger.
After all, she has to if I want to survive in this world.
"What are you two buying?" I asked the pink-haired girl.
"W-weapons, Yani's bow string snapped and Tirino' sword shattered after clashing with Cecil today"
"Then, could you buy me a couple of things? I'll give you the coins, so don't worry about it" I said. I took out a sack full of coins that I have been saving, and I hand it to Kaida.
"Y-yea... I-I'll buy it, just tell me what you want and I'll give it to you later" she blushed while holding the sack full of coins tight.
"Just a pair of daggers and a bundle of throwing knives" I said and turned around to see if the old woman was reading into the fate of someone else.
"Ack!"
To my surprise, she was right in front of me, scaring the life out of me when I turned around.
"You... young boy, are you interested in having your future read?" Te old woman asked, her onyx eyes squinting as she grinned.
"N-not really... thanks for the offer, though" I put up my hands to create some distance between the old woman and me.
"Do not be afraid of wasting your money, boy. My abilities are as real as breathing to stay alive"
"N-no... I really don-"
"I can tell you where your family is. That is the extent of my powers, you get to know where your missing parents are, and I get my money" the old woman grinned.
I felt people's eyes fall on me as they heard what the woman said.
I especially felt Fran and Kaida's gazes on me.
I let out a long sigh.
"I also happen to know where my family is, so that kind of future reading doesn't interest me"
Alen's, my, biological parents don't interest me. As far as I know, and as far as the original Alen knew, the [Crescent Moon] is my family. And I know that no matter where they may be right now, I know that 'll always be able to find them on that cabin in the mountains, where our base and home was settled.
"Then, what about a simple future divination? Your mana is deeply intriguing to me young man, enough for me to want to see deep into you for free. No one gets something for free, and you just might"
"Uhhh... sure... okay"
Knowing this character, something must be up for her to not ask for money.
The interaction between Alen and her was really weird now that I think about it.
In the game, your units can interact with each other, deepening the bonds of friendship or love in a couple of cases.
Her and Alen's interactions were similar to what I'm experiencing right now. She sees something interesting in Alen, he refuses, and once she reads into him, the interaction turns weird.
If I remember, she talked about Alen being empty, as if he had been dead for a long time.
But thanks to the fact that the Alen I know from the game was mute, it was hard to follow their interactions.