Getting back on the original topic Graham brings the conversation back around. “So now for the real reason you three are here. One, the contract. Two, your job. Three, extracurriculars.” Handing over a small stack of papers Graham asks Helo to read it.

  It is basically an employment contract for a bodyguard but written like an employee to a business endeavor. “This is the classic guild contract that they use in the wider multiverse for exploration, growth and beast culling. It states how the loot and profit will be split. Along with some liability clauses and how you need to respond in an emergency. All of those things stayed the same.

  “Except, its modified so that saving Alli and Hinata’s life supersedes everything. This is a classic loop hole used by the wealthy to protect their children in the wider multiverse. Basically, you and Alli have the same contract with the Adventurers Guild but if something horrible happens and she is called in to help where her life is in extreme danger you are called in to drag her away. To allow this clause the guild states that any and all achievements you make only last as long as you’re in a party with your charge.”

  Micah speaks up now. “It’s the guilds way of saying that it accepts it as a necessity but it won’t award people for it. So, if you’re in a core world in the multiverse and you spend five years following Alli having a blast. Then you branch off, your rank drops back down to iron.”

  “Ah. I guess that makes sense. But why does the young scion get to keep their rank?” Helo asks.

  “Oh well if their body guard ever has to pull them out, they get a heap of fines and gets reset or kicked out. The bodyguard losing their rank is basically the way of telling them to sign a correct contract.”

  “Okay.” Helo replies while signing his name.

  “You really don’t speak much kid.” Graham says. “Next your job. With that contract signed we need to go over what your job truly is. With your smaller stature we were thinking that you could masquerade as their assistant while at the school. Basically, you will follow them around and pretend to take care of things. Really all you will be doing is keeping an eye out and sending anything you get from the girls to Luna and then Aiko if need be. Your main goal is always going to be their safety. But as the main body guard and not just a party member it’s your responsibility to help the girls keep things together. This means expenses, planning and personnel. Again, most of that will be covered by Luna and the day to day should be done by Aiko.”

  “The next aspect of your job is training. This also falls under personnel. Work with Luna to make sure everyone has a few tasks to work on. This could mean training a skill, working on their affinity, meditation, or weapon handling. Also, have everyone together to train at least five times a week. You should be going in the dungeon together at least once a week, preferably two. I will plan with you to go in alone at least twice a week starting next week. This will probably be for a few hours at night.”

  “ We have a sign-up sheet. Our dungeon is an open layout and does not have instances. It is the reason there are so many monsters on the floors. Instance dungeons have much less monsters per level. This means everyone is in the dungeon together. I’ll have to start moving things around to get you some time.” Nodding his head Helo listens as Graham hands him a packet with all the information. “This also means everyone has hobbies. This leads us to the final thing. Extracurriculars, most people in a party have a secondary job. When you’re out adventuring sometimes your gone for week to months. Having someone who can mend leather or metal is important. Someone to cook or restock potions. It also helps raise funds in a pinch. What do you think.”

  “Well, it all seems pretty easy. With the packet and the fact that Luna and Aiko are supposed to help me, I really just have to be checking up on everyone every once in a while.” Helo says with a shrug.

  “Exactly, truthfully kid when my daughter said she wanted you and wouldn’t budge I decided then and there that I was going to train someone to help. That is where Luna comes in. Aiko was just a blessing that came with Hinata.” Laughing to himself Graham had another sandwich. “So, about the extra curriculars?”

  “I am not sure. I never had an opportunity to even think about stuff like that. What do you recommend?” Helo says while looking around the room.

  Hinata speaks first. “Well with my affinity for nature I enjoy alchemy. Your energy manipulation abilities could help a lot with that.”

  Alli then speaks up but she is acting a lot meeker than usual. “I enjoy…. Sewing… I actually made your clothes.” She mumbles while playing with her fingers.

  Surprised Helo looks at his clothing. “Wow this is amazing!” Deciding to show Alli the insignia later he is really impressed.

  “Thanks. One of the wives of a guard is actually a seamstress and is teaching me. If my first class progresses the way I want it to, I was thinking about getting a support secondary class for sewing.” Her energetic attitude came back in the end.

  “So, Helo what do you think?” Micah asks?

  “I think I would like to spend some time learning.” He says slowly. “Do you have a library or a place I could read up on all the different professions?”

  With a nod Micah directs him to the house north of the lake. Or the complex to the west of that house where all the training happens. That complex also has a wing dedicated to crafting it seems. Deciding to go there in the evening Helo says goodbye and leave with the girls. On the short drive back, they decide that they are going to spar a bit once they are home.

  Parking in the garage and heading into the first floor Helo is about to go gather everyone when Alli yells at the top of her voice. “EVERYONE COME OUTSIDE!” Wincing at the noise Helo heads out the back door and sees a field. On the eastern side there is a small building, looking inside he can see that it has sparing equipment and training dummies.

  Hinata and Alli, both followed him. Going inside the shack they both grab training weapons that feel good. Helo can’t find anything so he takes his knife sheaths off his belt and covers his blades.

  “Oh, we can send a request to the crafters. They will have your training weapons ready by tomorrow.” Luna who overheard comes over with a mana powered cell phone.

  Here let me see that. She says while finding a take measure in the storage building. Taking measurement of his gear she asks if there is anything else.

  About the say no Helo stops himself and pulls out his throwing blade. As they all look at it, he turns and throws it into a training dummy that is in the storage building.

  “Hey, why did you do that.” Luna says in an annoyed tone.

  “One moment.” Is all that Helo says, before the knife they are all looking at disappears. Pulling out the knife again he hands it to Luna. “I don’t know how to turn off the enchantment other than to use it.” He said with a shrug.

  “That was awesome! How did you do that?” Alli exclaims.

  “It is part of the gear that I got from the dungeon.” Helo says shrugging. “Maybe I should be an enchanter.”

  Looking at him in confusing Hinata asks. “But you can’t use mana.”

  “He can’t use Mana!” Luna yells while handing back the knife.

  “Shhh nobody else knows yet.” Alli says holding hand over Lunas mouth. “I want to surprise them. EWWWWW! Don’t lick me!” Wiping her hand on Lunas chest.

  Taking back the knife, he shows the insignia to Alli. “The dungeon also branded my gear with this insignia. Do you think you could make it for me. I like the roses. So maybe put it in hidden areas like my own mark.”

  “Wow. That’s really pretty!” Alli says while looking at it. She takes out a phone and takes a picture. “Hey while we wait you should test your new skills.”

  Taking out the training dummy that he stuck with the knife Helo is surprised to see that it has no damage. Hinata seeing Helo’s confusion explains that they have a minor self-repair enchantment. It can’t regenerate material that gets cut off but if it’s only a slash or a puncture then it can repair itself work. “They actually glow as well if they are struck with a skill.” Hinata demonstrates by grabbing the handle of her katana and sending out an illusional copy of her katana. The strike of the illusion doesn’t do any damage but the sort it hit is glowing blue.

  “Awh.” Getting looked at Hinata explains. “The illusion is great, especially when I am holding my blade but I have another skill that I am trying to get to work in tandem. It sends out a second physical copy of a strike. If I could get this skill to work with my illusion then it would add another layer to the confusion. Think about it, you block an illusion only for nothing to happen then a moment later it reappears and is real. That would be great.”

  “See Helo, this is what we talked about when we said it is important to put pressure on your skills so they grow. Even if creating illusions is something that Hinata can do innately. Right now, she doesn’t have the skill or power to make them innately or if she does it will drain her reserves. Plus, once she does her skills will have evolved so far that it will still be something new. Maybe it is something that she can do with her personal skill but in battle it might take too much concentration verse using a skill.” Alli says with a smile obviously super proud of her friends. “Well let’s see your skills!” By this time Aiko and Cody are outside as well.

  Walking up to the training dummy Helo pulls out one of his knives. Stopping for a moment Helo closes his eyes and loops his pathways so they start filling his knife. With a smile at it only taking him a few seconds Helo steps forward again. Tapping his blade against the dummy he activates the skill ‘Disabling Strike’. With his eyes closed he sees how somewhere within his center where both his mental and physical pathways merge, similar to his heart, a swirl of energy emerges it looks like it comes from his body and soul at the same time. This must be a place where my soul is closest to my body. Kind of like my mind. Except this is also a place where to two merges. Is this also where the system resides. Huh. Someday I’ll understand but right now I don’t even know if what I am perceiving is real.

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  Opening his eyes he sees everyone staring at him. “Sorry, I was watching how my body activated the skill.”

  Gabi is now here as well and she answers him. “Ha, that’s easy. It just comes from your mana.” Seeing everyone nob along Helo looks at Alli and remembers how excited she was to surprise everyone about his lack of mana. Decided to not mention it Helo answers.

  “Yes. It probably does but a lot of people focus on their mana exclusively until there are at a road block or extremely high tier. The skill originated from my center.” He says this while pointing to just below his diaphragm. “It is one of the locations that I believe the physical body interacts with the soul. It is also one of the points in the body where all your different energies flow into. Also, it is where I believe the system resides.” Everyone is looking at him like he is an idiot. “Ah. Sorry. It isn’t important right now. I don’t think this is something people think about until they are much older. Plus, your mana runs through your body covering up everything else. So, it’s almost impossible to see unless your much more perceptive.”

  Both Hinata and Alli look at one another in that moment of eye contact. They both realize that what makes Helo’s abilities so unique is that he has already been exploring parts of himself that people don’t looking into until they are powerful, ancient and/or trying to break through.

  Focusing back on his skill Helo activated it again. ‘Disruptive Strike’. Then he watches as a complex swirl of mental energy travels his pathways and to his blade. It sits there in his right hand. Pulling his blade back Helo watches as it quickly dissipates after three seconds. “Well, that is good to know.” Helo mutters.

  With a tablet out Luna asks Helo, “What was that? I didn’t get to mark it down. I have been recording your ideas on energy and about your skills. It might be important in the future.”

  “Ah. Its fine. Just make sure that the only people who ever have acess to that information is me, you, Alli and Hinata. Information like this could be the perfect way to set up a trap.” Helo says turning serious for a moment.

  “See! He is already doing his job!” Alli says happily. Hinata just nods her head while watching and holding a water bottle.

  When did she get that?

  “Thirsty?” Hinata ask stepping forward. Looking at her neck for a moment Helo bites his lip.

  “Ah. No. Thank you though, maybe later.” Helo says turning around.

  Alli, Luna and Aiko all laugh and Alli mutters. “Mhm, I’m sure you would like a drink later.” By this point the four girls are sure that he is a vampire. The three girls laugh at Aiko who hears them but doesn’t yet know what is happening. Alli thinks the big bad monster set his sights on her and she doesn’t even know. Ahh I’m jealous.

  Hearing her muttering but not totally sure what she is referring to Helo goes back to the dummy. This time he tries the skill again and taps the dummy. Ten seconds later he stabs. Then he slashes it. Then he throws the knife. That doesn’t work. Using his claws does work. Going over and over Helo finally feels the draw after 15 uses. That is pretty good Helo thinks. This is the kind of skill I would use on an enemy that has to high of endurance to kill or bleed out quickly. Telling his findings to Luna Helo moves on.

  While he walks back Luna turns to Hinata and Alli and mention that they should make it a rule that everyone should have to do this kind of skill testing. Both girls agree and they watch as Helo tests ‘Penetrative Strike’. He does the same process watching how the skill comes from the places he is calling his core and picks up physical energy along the way. It forms a complicated pattern before it stops in his hand. Once there it quickly dispels.

  Trying again the skill fails, reading the description it has a minute cooldown. Trying again Helo uses the skill as he is thrusting and it works fine. The mark where his blade should be is deeper and leads into a more deliberate point than his kukri. Smiling at this, it seems that his skill shapes itself into the optimal shape. Trying again he activates the skill when he already made contact.

  Watching the skill form it comes out weaker and blunted. It only takes a moment to form. But a second to early and it dissipates, and a second to late and it doesn’t form right. Practicing a generic stab thrusting forward with the blade Helo tries for a while. Once he has it down, he tries some more complicated movements. Running forward and jumping into a spin Helo lashes out with a mid-spin backward held blade only for blade to come out to late. Again, and again Helo practices. After 10 tires he can feel the drain on his energy. Telling Luna what he thinks Helo sits on the side of the field and mediates. While mediating Lelai comes out of the woods and lays in his lap.

  The girls can’t help but think how cute they look. Luna even took a photo to send to their group chat. These kinds of moment might help in the future when they are more popular and traveling to help stabilize and save people. Fifteen minutes later Helo is ready to go again.

  This time he is practicing his ‘Quick Step’. Taking a step forward and activation the skill this time it is much more straight forward. But also has the chance to cause him damage if he messes up his practice. He watches as power pulls from his center down and into his leg. Then it burns itself as energy to empower and stabilize the location.

  Thinking about it, it seems like a localized version of his golden empowerment after he absorbs life force. But if the balance is off, he will harm his muscles or worse. Deciding that it is useless to study until he can actually manipulate the energy by himself Helo gets to work. Trying again the step definitely is far quicker. He would say that single step can add half of his top speed onto his movement. Trying again he notices how it can be hard to control. Surprisingly the easiest time he had controlling the skill was at top speed. This was because he knew exactly what he was getting.

  Practicing for a while Helo is starting to get the hang of it. Helo can already see how he would use it in a fight. After using ‘Disabling Strike’ on an enemy limb, they would be unused to their uncoordinated movement. Using ‘Quick Step’ he would close in faster than his previous speed. Then with a use of ‘Penetrative Strike’ he would finish them off.

  “Why are you smiling?” Alli asks as Helo walks over.

  “Mhm. Oh, I was just thinking about how great my skills work together.” Helo replies. “How are you doing? Do you want to show me your skills?”

  Alli readily agrees and shows off her ‘Runic Conjuration’ skill. This skill allows Alli to create a simple array in the air and fire off a spell. “This is a skill that requires a lot of knowledge and practice.” Alli explains. “It is possible because of my family’s high mana reserves and our affinity for fate and arcane mana. Right now, I can only make an array in the first tier and with up to five runes. By linking them I create a spell. It is like using a talisman or spell scroll.” Alli says this while three runes flash and a fire ball appears in the air. Then the other two runes flash and two more fireballs appear.

  Firing off three head sized fire balls Alli turns with a big smile. “You see I had a rune for fire, then a rune to give it shape and movement. With the final two I was able to create duplicates. I can also use them to empower the original fireball as well.” She says this while creating another array this time the fire ball is created and then it increases in size and temperature.

  “Isn’t that great! As long as I have the knowledge and imagination, I can do anything! Also, it is one of the reasons I want to get a secondary seamstress skill. Spell scrolls sell well and the best kinds are the ones that have the spell woven into them.”

  A little overwhelmed Helo looks at her. “Wait, what is arcane mana and does that mean you are an enchanter.”

  “Oh well arcane mana is a sort of scholarly mana it works well in arrays and rituals.” In a deep voice she says. “It is a conduit for the world mysteries.” With a giggle she continues. “At least that is what my dad says when he goes on a tangent. It pairs well with our fate affinity. Most of my family has an arcane affinity. Having fate is far rarer.” Alli says with a smug look like she wants to be rewarded.

  Reaching over and patting her head Helo laughs. Leaning into his hand for a moment Alli smiles then she looks up and swats his hand away. Dancing back, she twirls around. “Anyway, a plus side is that like neutral mana, arcane mana very easily takes on other affinities so I can do things like this.” She proceeds to show Helo an array of affinity bolts. Water, ice, light, fire, earth, and wind. She explains that those are the ones that she can create so far. None of the bolts are as powerful as the third skill she shows. It is a neutral aligned mana bolt that hits pretty hard and explodes on contact. But this does give her great versatility.

  Showing off her final skill Alli pulls out her staff, grinning excitedly she walks toward the dummy. Hinata who is standing next to Helo sighs and shakes her head. “Ahh, she is so difficult some times. She has this wide array of skills. Her conjuration skill is essentially limitless as long as she has the reserve and knowledge. Mix that in with the ability to create constructs. They can be used as barriers, ramps, and platforms. She is a great back line mage. But she insists on using her construct like this.”

  Once she finishes speaking Alli yells and jumps into the air. At the tip of her stall a construct appears in the shape of a giant hammer head. She proceeds to slam it down on top of the dummy and then beat the ever living shit out of it. She is cackling and grinning the entire time.

  With a hand over her face Hinata just groans. “Alli-Kun’s family is a mix of beast-kin and elven. But they have a bloodline of a powerful wolf ancestor. When her bloodline appears in one of the children in their clan, they tend to be a bit…. Rowdy and playful.” She says while turning away in second hand embarrassment.

  At that moment Alli finish beating the dummy and in one last swing she bats it away like she is golfing. Turning around with a mischievous grin she looks at Helo. The hammer head dissipates and she looks over to Hinata. Seeing Hinata’s expression Alli coughs lightly, pats herself down and walks back over like nothing happened.

  Helo looks around and everyone even Cody who just walked outside looks away. For them this is a common incident. Alli really loves her hammer.

  Walking up to Helo she looks up at him with a questioning look. “Ahem, yeah that skill was really great.” Helo says awkwardly.

  With a nod she turns to Hinata. “Your turn.” At this time Cody is picking up the dummy that is sprawled all over the floor. Setting it back up he backs away as Hinata gets closer. She draws her Katana and shows off her skills. The first skill is ‘Illusionary Strike’ it’s shown as an illusion that covers her body. It makes her arm and sword look like they are attacking from someplace else. She demonstrates how it isn’t perfect and she can’t step out of the illusion. But it will make a low thrust look like a high one. Or a left swing appears as a right.

  Her next skill is a little trickier. It is her ‘Second Strike’ skill it is a second blade swing follow behind the first. It strikes the target for about half the damage. But it also is hard to evade. The final skill is simple it is a ‘Mana Shield’ that rotates around her. Alli explains to Helo while throwing rocks at Hinata that it is far stronger than her own constructs but it is also limited to only a shield. Right now, Hinata is trying to make it more autonomous. She has to see and acknowledge a strike for the shield to block it.

  “Alright! Now let’s spar!” Getting agreement from everyone the only person missing is Kenneth. While sparing everyone gets ready Alli explains how tricky it can be. At tier 3 going all out in a spar is okay because you can take a ton of damage. But as they are now, they can’t use their skills on one another without worrying that they will accidently kill another. So right now, the only skills that they use are non-damage-based skills like Luna’s ‘Haste’. She uses it on everyone randomly so that they can get used to fighting while under its influence. Aiko also uses her ‘Heal’ and ‘Protect’ skills to block strikes and well heal.

  Right now, Alli and Cody are practicing fighting while dodging. With both of their ranged abilities they are firing spells and arrows. Alli is only sending balls of wind that push Cody back if he is hit and he is shooting blunted arrows. Aiko and Luna are sparing with their staffs. They are going at half speed but at the same time they are casting their spells on the others. Aiko is healing and blocking strikes. She is focusing on learning how to use her judgment to send out shields in the middle of a fight. Luna is using ‘Haste’ and ‘Disarming Voice’ to randomly weaken and speed up people. The both are support casters but being in a party and going in a dungeon means that eventually they will have to defend themselves.

  Hinata and Gabi face off with one another. Gabi is showing an extremely barbaric fighting style that focuses on her heavy axe. Using wide swings and spins she is moving her body and the axe like it is a dance. Standing at 5’1” the axe is almost as tall as her and the blade is about the size of her torso.

  She shows incredible strength and dexterity. Moving with her swings to stay in an optimal range Helo can see how truly skilled she is. She stays just at the edge of her enemy’s range. Wearing a crop top and tight cycling shorts that make her look great she is letting her body take Hinata’s sword strike. But she is only taking hits that won’t affect her much. After each landed strike she gets just a little bit faster and stronger.