"One is never too young or too weak to try the impossible. And all my apprentices need to be comfortable with facing them constantly." ~Shallies Mythernal

Shallies chose the empty fields near Catelyn Road as their training area. Of course, they weren't exactly empty, and Apple had to herd a few wild animals and critters away from the area so that there wouldn't be any accidental casualties. Letting her keep Grovekeeper was quickly proving to be the right choice.

She also considered taking one of her many spatial barriers out of her Class Inventory. She had one that would be sturdy enough to withstand clashes and mana surges coming from high-level Advanced Classes. In the end, she decided against it. It would be a little too telling, she thought. They weren't planning an all out brawl, and an empty field would suffice for what they were trying to achieve.

"A tavern name, huh…" Shallies mused while standing in the middle of the field, waiting for the three to show up. She crossed her hands and looked at the afternoon sky. They had roughly four more hours before the sun completely set. "I can't seem to come up with one."

"A name for your establishment, I would go as far as to say that it's mandatory," Amabelle said, crossing her arms while she pondered in deep thought.

"Do you need help with names?" Valor'el asked, slightly tilting his head. He found a large rock to sit on, cleaned it, and offered half of it to Amabelle like the true gentleman that he was. She gladly obliged.

"I think this is something we should decide on our own," Shallies replied. "Me and Apple specifically."

With that, the two kept their suggestions to themselves and waited for the training session to begin. Amabelle began some small talk with Valor'el, pointing out the fact that there had been rumors about a seraph running amok in Cinterbrim Town about a week ago.

Shallies shuffled names in her head, leaving the two to their discussion. Stachie gave some suggestions, and even Apple sent mental gestures through their Soul Confidant connection, but the three of them couldn't agree on a single thing.

"If memory serves, the catchy names always have 'The' and then two words combined to make an easy to remember name."

[They have to be straightforward with their meaning, too,] Stachie added. [If their combination can be interpreted in any other way other than a tavern, you might confuse some potential customers. Alternatively, that could be the entire point of your tavern name.]

Apple sent an image of herself making a twirl, then pointing to herself.

"The Twirling Fairy?" Shallies guessed, which Apple pointed with affirmation. "That sounds like a clothing shop or something similar. Or a place for tiny creatures like you."

Apple pouted.

[What about The Big Burger?] Stachie suggested. [The True Burger, The One Burger, The Burger Tavern, The—]

"I want something other than a burger," Shallies said aloud, causing Amabelle to suddenly turn in surprise. "Sorry, sorry. Just thinking aloud."

Valor'el smiled silently, understanding what was happening inside the Chef's head. Shallies sighed.

They went on, not finding anything suitable, until Grace and her party showed up. Failing to find a name that she liked, she mentally set the thought to the side and focused on the task at hand.

As soon as she turned, Shallies surged her mana, sending an obvious signal to the approaching party. They immediately realized this and stopped quite a distance away. With a nod, the semi-retired Godkiller regulated her output, allowing everyone to relax. Even Amabelle and Valor'el stopped speaking.

"So what's our objective?" Tayin asked, almost shouting. Her tone was nervous, but she was keen to get the stifling atmosphere out of the way as soon as possible.

She was fully geared. A cloak covered most of her leather armor. She had a long, pleated skirt filled with intricate patterns, and a pair of boots. In one hand, she held a long wand, the same length as her arm. She had a small shield on the other. A tiara adorned her gray hair, with a matching necklace to complete her accessories.

Each of these pieces of equipment, though not a complete set, had some form of enchantment on them. Whether they were achieved through crafting, gem-embellishing, or a Loot Source reward, Shallies didn't bother to check. Though it was to be expected of an Advanced Class Adventurer, none of Tayin's gear was exceptionally outstanding.

It was the same deal for Ren. He wore his trusty full-plate armor. From what he had displayed back in the Guild Hall, the metallic makeup of his gear had the enchantment for freedom of movement. While armors, even full-plates, usually allowed the wearer fast movements, the Shield Knight's permitted him some excessively snappy and agile techniques that would've otherwise hurt him or his armor. It was oddly counterintuitive for his Class, as most of his Skills wanted less mobility, exchanging his ability to dodge with a far stronger shield.

"Looking forward to learning from you," Ren said with a polite bow. He readied a round shield and a shortsword. Both of which were enchanted in some way or another.

Grace was probably the most under-geared. Her only enchanted equipment were her Mana-Edge +3, which didn't have any special properties, and her Swift Blocking Armguard of Mana Stability +3. She wore normal leather armor, with her training robes to match. Even then, the girl was smiling confidently.

Shallies on the other hand, didn't bother wearing any equipment except for her Illuminating Astral Watch +4. A sleeveless shirt and a medium length skirt were all she had underneath her Chef apron. She also wore sandals instead of boots. Despite this, none of the participants took her less seriously.

"Before I start," she began. "Grace, where's the cradle egg?"

The Spell Sword brought out the egg from her pocket, enclosed in a small box with a bunch of cloth inside to protect it. As far as effort went, it looked like Grace was sincere. However, she missed the point entirely.

Shallies didn't bother commenting on it. "Let Apple hold it for now."

"But you said I shouldn't let anyone else hold it!"

"This isn't a trick question, Grace. I want you to be prepared for your quest, so I need you to try everything you know and find ways to protect the egg better."

While Shallies spoke, Apple appeared with a normal egg in her clutches. She barely had her arms around the thing as she hovered in front of Grace, waiting for her to accept the exchange.

"This will be your practice egg. While I don't really like wasting food, this is as close-to-reality as you can get without sacrificing the real deal. Try different ways you think you can protect the egg, and test them out during this training."

There was still some hesitation in the Spell Sword's eyes, but she eventually accepted the exchange. She waited for a few breaths, anticipating the worst, but no proclamation of failure came.

Apple mischievously dropped the cradle egg, causing Grace a sudden yelp, but the fairy's mana-control immediately stopped it from falling into the Spell Sword's trembling hands. The onlookers, including Tayin and Ren, sighed in relief while the teacup fairy just made giggling chimes.

"You'll give me a heart attack!" Grace complained, causing Apple to fly away, the cradle egg floating closely beside her.

Shallies was just there, smiling. She hoped that was enough of a clue for Grace to figure out what she was missing. In the meantime, she turned to the entire group in general.

"Your objective is to destroy any two of five targets," she began, letting Apple create small, wooden targets for her. They hovered around specific parts of her body. "These targets symbolize some typical monster weak spots. My head, my neck, my chest, my stomach, and anywhere on my back. You'll have to adjust when you fight off actual monsters, since these locations will be different on hunched over targets, but identifying them should be the same most of the time. They'll also be equally protected.

"Use any means at your disposal. You don't have to aim specifically for the target, if you think it'll give you a better chance of destroying one later on. If you have any resources you're planning on using during this quest, let me know and I'll sponsor you for this training."

"I have a Quickweave Scroll," Tayin began, producing the item from her Class Inventory. "But I'm only planning on using it in very dire situations."

"No problem," Shallies said, nodding. "Use it when you think it's necessary. I have spares to replace it."

"I have Steelskin Feathers," Ren said next. "I have ten in my Inventory. They last a day, so I think I can use one per day during our quest."

"I have replacements for those too."

Grace simply shrugged. "I don't have any."

"That's expected," Tayin said. "This is your second quest, right? You can't go spending all your bits after your first one. Bet you don't even know your preferred way to fight yet."

"I have some ideas," Grace started. "But I guess you're right."

"Now I'm giving you until the sun completely sets to complete this training," Shallies continued. "If you fail, you can try again tomorrow after lunch. But whether you complete this training or not, has nothing to do with whether I'll cancel the quest."

At her words, Ren and Tayin readied themselves, holding their weapons at the ready. Grace saw this and followed suit. Shallies had intended for them to do some planning before their assault, but at this point, it would be disrupting their intentions. She decided to trust them to figure it out.

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"One last thing. I might be imitating a Level 20 monster, but I still won't take it easy on you. Begin."

"Flame Lance!"

"Shield Charge!"

"Haste!"

Three Skills simultaneously erupted in front of Shallies. Ren dashed with a coat of mana surrounding him. His first step kicked off the ground, giving him additional speed like he was on a stampede. Grace sped up as well, igniting her Mana-Edge +3 with yellow, concentrated mana. She kept up with the Shield Knight, only lagging a few steps behind.

Tayin stayed back and provided cover with Flame Lance, one of the easiest Spells to pre-cast, allowing her to use it without an incantation.

While elemental Skills weren't a Chronospark's forte, they were quicker to cast when compared to something like Time Slow, for example. Time-altering Spells, while extremely potent and could influence the flow of battle directly, also demanded more resources and preparation compared to other types of Spells. Especially in her current Class, it would be pretty taxing to cast them without restraint. And Shallies wouldn't give her the time to completely cast one. But once she advanced, she had the potential to be one of the most powerful Spellcasters of her generation.

The halfling was basically enduring an early trial of her own, putting her future on the line, for what was quite possibly one of the most powerful Hero Classes out there. If she progressed enough to ascend to a Favored Class, she might just be one of the few people who would find out who Shallies truly was through sheer hard work alone.

But that meant Tayin had to resort to these flimsy, basic elemental Spells first. And while pre-casting was a useful trick, the halfling's Level and Skill Proficiency could only let her do two Spells at most with it.

Because of Ren and Grace's speed, the Flame Lance barely led the way. The cover fire was perfectly done, leaving almost no gaps in their charge. If this was any other target, a beast-type monster somewhere around Level 22 or below, they would successfully hunt it nine times out of ten.

Shallies made a mental note to commend them regarding this fact before she made her first move. A small step to the side immediately took the Flame Lance out of the equation. The move placed her directly on Ren's path, who was waiting for that exact moment. The Shield Knight thrust his shortsword, aiming perfectly towards the chest target.

Shield Charge was a straightforward Skill, and one of the few mobility Skills recommended for a Shield Knight. Even if Ren used it without a command, Shallies would see straight right through it. Advanced Classes, however, would still struggle with that particular aspect because of their lack of Skill Proficiency and Focus.

In any case, Shield Charge coated Ren with defensive mana while allowing him to dash in a straight line. It provided him some intense pushing force, which would protect him from any low-level projectiles until he tackled his target. Shallies, in this case.

The semi-retired Godkiller moved an arm as she swayed opposite to her initial direction. She avoided the stab, while catching Ren's wrist, using the same maneuver she had done on Gar when he had been feral.

The Shield Knight caught it and stopped himself just in time, but this gave Shallies the upper hand. With her trained reactions, she took a step and dragged Ren further than he had anticipated moving, pulling him off balance.

With a twirl and a twist on the wrist, Shallies turned and dragged the human knight directly in Grace's direction, who was in the middle of swinging down. The half-orc abandoned her attack just in time. It left her with no choice but to brace for impact, as metal armor slammed into her chest. The impact threw the both of them slightly in the air, crashing down and rolling over a slight distance away.

The rustling of grass and leaves were the only disruptions in the quiet that followed. All three of them were stunned in place, eyes looking at Shallies while she smiled back at them. They were in disbelief that a small girl with a Hero Support Class managed to not only come out unscathed, but that she had done so while overpowering them effortlessly.

Well, not fully unscathed…

"Good attempt," she began, picking up the target on her temple. A light scratch showed on an otherwise smooth surface. She looked at Ren. "If this was any other monster, I'd say you had successfully hunted one. But you abandoned safety for a chance of a killing blow. Brave, but I imagine you only did so because this is training, correct?"

"It was worth a shot," said the human knight.

"The entire point of this exercise is for you to figure out how not to die, and cooperate with your party members. While you and Tayin have already figured out what works best for you two, you're leaving Grace intentionally to sort it out for herself." Shallies placed the target back on her temple. "If any of you tries something reckless like that again, you're out for today."

Grace had a confused look on her face.

"While sacrificing moves can be necessary, it's not meant to be your first option," Shallies pointed out, lifting a finger. "Or would you rather I actually take advantage of your blunders?"

She slowly moved her finger down her midsection, looking intently at Grace. A subtle signal for her to check her own pocket. The half-orc did so and looked at the wooden box, now broken with a cracked egg in it.

"The moves I used, while no monster under Level 30 could do them, the force they could muster would be the same." This time, she crossed her arms. "If this was the real quest, you just lost my trial."

The exchange hadn't even lasted for a minute, and already Shallies had snuffed out the party's morale. She caught herself too late, looking at Valor'el who was rubbing his forehead in disappointment. Not to the party, but to the trainer.

Grace stared dejectedly at her broken egg, arms slumped down with her entire back. She had just been served reality. Even Ren and Tayin noticed how the fire in her eyes was suddenly gone. They looked at each other, but neither of them seemed to come up with anything to cheer her up.

The seraph was right. While Shallies never outright denied people who wanted to be her apprentice, she also never made it easy for them. She'd rather have them give up as they were shown their errors and weaknesses. That way, at the very least, she could give them some crucial lessons early before they eventually left.

With all the intensity suddenly washed cold, Shallies started heading for her tavern. With Grace looking so defeated on the ground, there would be no more point in training. Maybe tomorrow would be—

"Another egg!" Grace shouted, suddenly snapping around to look for Apple. "The sun's not yet down! Another egg! I'll pay if I have to!"

The teacup fairy, who had been reluctant to leave, suddenly beamed and zipped towards Grace. She produced another egg from her Class Inventory, leaving Shallies no choice but continue their training.

The half-orc's shouts even brought life back to Ren and Tayin. They readied themselves for another bout.

Shallies hid her smile, raising a single hand into ready position instead.

To a wordless encouragement, Grace quickly took the egg from Apple and produced a metal box from her pack. She filled it with clothes, grass, and whatever soft material she could fit in there before storing the egg inside. This time, she chose to put the container back in her pack rather than in her pocket.

A metal box would probably work… But why didn't you use that one in the first place? Shallies mused. She didn't mind the half-orc's solution. People had their own approaches to problems. If this was her way, she could just teach her the lesson some other time.

Still, Shallies prepared herself.

Let's see if I can break that box without using too much power.

"You need to practice casting quicker," Shallies told Tayin. The sun had completely set and everyone was back in the tavern. "There are ways you can do that even while you're still an Advanced Class."

"Like what?" the halfling said, prying away her head from her notebook. An odd choice given that people usually just used their System Consoles when taking notes. There was an empty plate at her side and a cup of tea she was stirring with mana-control.

"Other than pre-casting, you should learn about incantation shortcuts," Shallies replied. "Depending on what purpose you want your Spell to fulfill, you don't have to recite the full incantation. Earlier, you kept using phrases for long distance, even though I'm well within your short range. You also kept using amplifying phrases even if your objective was just to distract me. Both are a big waste of mana that you could've invested into more Flame Lances, not to mention the additional seconds it takes you to recite them."

Tayin nodded quickly, and wrote in her notebook.

"You'll need deeper understanding of which phrase of the incantation does what for your Spells."

"That was an optional course back at the Academy," the halfling noted.

"You skipped it, didn't you?"

"It wasn't high in the recommendations, since we can discover quicker phrases once we increase our Skill Proficiency with the Spells we want," the halfling grumbled, writing a little more intensely in her notebook. "Should've taken it."

"You can take a quick lecture from your System Console, it'll give you a rundown of some basic phrases. Once you know how to quick-cast, I'll give you a short phrase for twin-casting as well. It adds nothing special other than giving you two projectiles per cast."

"Yes please!"

With a nod, Shallies turned to Ren next. This one was using his System Console. "You're throwing your weight around too much. And you're not depending on your shield. You move more like a Swift Blade instead of a Shield Knight."

"I planned on taking Swift Blade as my second Class," Ren said simply.

It brought a smile on Shallies' face. "A purist. You're a rare find."

"Purist?" Ren and Tayin asked at the same time. It even piqued Grace's interest, who was busy scratching her head in front of her broken metal box. Apparently, she had been testing both wooden and metal options.

"People usually take a second Class in order to progress in a different aspect or specialty. Combat Classes are usually categorized into four main generalizations." Shallies gestured to the three young adventurers, urging them to respond. She enticed them to respond by producing a small vial from her Class Inventory.

"Martial, Spellcasting, Hybrid, and Niche, which is also usually interchanged with Support," Grace replied quicker than the other two.

"Good. A purist is basically a Class holder who chooses both Classes from the same category." Shallies placed the vial in front of Grace, allowing the young adventurer to analyze it. "Purists are rare because combining two Classes of the same type places you heavily in a certain pool of options when accepting quests, or taking positions, or whatever else. This is extremely predominant in Martial, Spellcasting, and Niche types. Hybrids, because they are Hybrids, don't face this problem too often."

"Is it bad, then?" Ren asked.

"Not really, no," Shallies said. "Because purists are rare, they are pretty high on the priority list for their specific specialty. Not to mention there are a lot of ways now to make your Class combination flexible despite being a purist, thanks to magical development and science. You're not exactly as limited as your ancestors centuries ago.

"And, if you keep working with Tayin, and you become a packaged adventuring party with Gar, you don't have to think of your limitations at all. But always, always consider your options with yourself in mind first and foremost. You're adventurers. There's no telling what will happen to you or your party members in the future. If you let your progression depend on someone else's, you'll, more often than not, regret it in the future."

"That's…" Ren looked at Tayin, who returned the gaze at the same time.

"It's a sobering thought, I know," Shallies began, getting two more potion vials from her Class Inventory. "But reality doesn't often go according to plan. I'm not saying sacrifice your friends, or put them under the mana-engine vehicle. I'm just saying—"

"Gar's not coming back adventuring with us," Tayin said finally. "The poison got to his intestines. He can't process food normally anymore. We get your point, Shallies."

The semi-retired Godkiller sighed, placing the vials in front of the two Advanced Adventurers. "Take these."

"These are?" Ren took both vials. He carefully opened Tayin's trembling fists, placing one of the potions into her hand.

"It's an Angel's Tear," Shallies explained. "It'll nullify any negative Conditions and heal you at the same time."

"Will it work on Gar?" Tayin asked, turning with renewed hope.

"If it doesn't, then I'm afraid the damage has progressed long enough to be permanent. If that's the case, you'll need a Archdevout to perform a Miracle."

The halfling jumped out of her chair and headed straight for the door. "I'll give it a shot! Thank you, Shallies!"

"Thank you," Ren followed before heading out as well.

"Please don't get your hopes up," Shallies said at last, but the two were already gone.

"Will it actually work?" Grace inquired, staying where she was. "I mean, is there a chance?"

Shallies just sighed and went to clean the dishes. Valor'el, who was listening the entire time, took that as his signal.

"It's miniscule," he replied. Shallies had given him a rundown of what had happened. "An entire day of being poisoned has basically pushed that chance into the realm of impossibility. Even if Lady Shallies had given it to him the moment they met, I'm afraid it was already too late then."

"Even if, by some miracle, he recovers," Shallies began, "I don't think he'll be fit to return as an adventurer anymore."

"Oh…" Grace stopped fiddling with her Angel's Tear and stored it in her Class Inventory. "I hope at least, it lets him eat properly again."

"What about you?" Shallies asked, her eyes peeking slightly towards the half-orc. "Aren't you going home?"

"Can I stay?" Grace asked. "I told my parents I'm going to do some training."

"I don't think Lady Shallies has any available room for you, Grace," Valor'el said.

"It's fine." The Chef turned off her water faucet and started to dry her hands. "She can sleep in my room. Go get me more of your wine. I want to do some tasting."

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