[PP|F4]<<Training Your Friend>>

[Shay 0]

The pangolin's cry broke the silence that the two were caught up in. Shay contently sighed and scooted back a bit to give him a little bit of room. She looked him up in the eyes quietly, feeling a little weird about everything that was happening between them now. Although it was happening naturally, were they taking it too quickly?

"Uh. sorry if I'm being a little pushy. I never expected to have these feelings is all and I'm kind of talking without thinking." She explains, rotating her position to sit back up and stand to her feet. "Well, this has been one of the most... interesting days of my life. And I'm sure that it's only going to get better, but lets focus on getting my familiar here to stop being a little shit to yours." She says pointing to Grace, who was sitting innocently like she didn't do anything.

[ChaseR 0]

The swordsman simply furrowed his eyebrows, shaking his head at her and awkwardly scratching the back of his head. "Pushy or not, I enjoyed it...", he responded while avoiding looking at her in the eyes out of some slight embarrassment, his heart still racing despite her having stood up by now. She was right though. "Well... It's your familiar. It won't listen to me.", he continued, picking up Blizz and keeping him in a hug in order to not let Grace keep on bullying him.

"I'm sure she'll calm down. Just play with me for a bit, okay big guy?", Chase talked to his own companion, seeming to have a much better way with words when not trying to interact with another human. He sat down on his mattress again, petting the mammal's head with his one finger which got a low, growl-like croak to start sounding from him. "There we go... Much better, yeah?"

[Shay 0]

Shay put her hands on her hips after giving the feline creature a stare. It could tell that maybe it had gone a little too far. "Be a little nicer Grace. We don't want to hurt Blizz or anything." She said, and the familiar responded with a quiet mewl, leaping down on the bench near her owner to brush up against her for pets. Shay sighed quietly, finding it difficult to stay mad at the familiar. It was like owning a pet, but she never really owned one before now.

Giving the icy feline a quick pet on the head, Shay smiled. "There we go. Here." Swiping down her menu really quick, she pulls out another piece of the bread that she had given her earlier and fed her another piece. Once that was settled, she turned back to Chase and smiled. "Its starting to get a little crowded in here. Maybe I should start collecting money to get a house, hunh?"

---

Training Success! [2/3]

[ChaseR 0]

Chase looked at the feline, acting all innocent and trying to get away with flattery, just like any cat would in the real world. He loved how they looked, but then again, they were quite devious creatures he could never get to like. Usually looking like puppies but as vicious as a wolf. Before his hatred towards felines grew any longer, Shay said something that grabbed his attention. "N-No, I've been working to cover the costs. I know it's a lot, but... I'm trying to get us an estate so we can rest easy. We can work for it together, if you want to help, there's a garden on the eleventh floor. I know it's very high up but I stay safe. Really."

He offered with a grin, never having gone there with somebody else before. Every trip was solo, but thankfully he knew the garden well enough to not have any trouble navigating himself or avoiding the tougher of monsters that even so, decided to remain passive to any passerby, even towards Blizz who was a monster himself. Speaking of which, he'd never really seen the Nepents up there fighting one another any. It was probably a dream spot for the two. "I'd made some trips for foods for the trips. I could show you where if you like."

[Shay 0]

"We can go some time, sure. I'll get some buffs for grinding since we're probably going to be using a lot of energy. Need to make effective use of all the buffs we can. I'll just need like, protein, some damage potions and maybe a few others. Though you're going to be most of our damage since my aoe sucks." She mentions, taking a seat next to her familiar on the bench and resting her hand on it.

Grace was anatomically a feline, though no matter how she acted, she seemed like she was more a canine with the way she acted. She was brash with things that she wasn't familiar with and ecstatic to be around the ones she did know. She quietly nudged up to her master and accepted the pets, much like a cat wouldn't.

"I already know a good place to get potions on the first floor, so I'll go buy some later."

[ChaseR 0]

"Protein..? What's that..? And what damage potions? Can you get me some too? I didn't... really know those existed.", he commented with a low sigh, realising there was still so much that he was unfamiliar with. Sitting in the inn for god knows how long was definitely not doing him any good and all of it began to show from here on out. At least he had Shay by his side, both in and out of combat to keep him safe and informed, and... that was enough. Even if he didn't understand how this world worked, he would do his best to keep her safe more than anything else.

"Is it some... Bistro guy?", he asked out of nowhere, with his eyebrows furrowed and his head just slightly tilted as he continued to pet Blizz. During one of his quests, he'd heard about Bistro when talking with NIGHT, and wanted to pay them a visit to begin with. Little did he know that they were female, but regardless...

[Shay 0]

"Yes, her name is Bistro. A damage potion will increase your damage for a duration, and Protein is a food buff that does the same thing, but it decreases your mitigation so you can't take as many hits. I don't have any mitigation as it stands, so it wont really affect me all that bad." She explains, keeping a hand on her familiar to make sure that she doesn't do anything stupid. "You could use it as well, but just remember that you would be sacrificing your tankiness a little bit to deal more damage, which would be fine if we can kill off all the enemies in a single turn."

There was still so much she needed to teach Chase, even though they were on their way to the third tier. She wondered if he would want to join the frontline right away or if he'll want to get more levels before then.

[ChaseR 0]

"Her name..? Bistro is...", he looked at her in confusion, shrugging it off and trying to ignore that little surprise for the time being. She explained what he needed to understand and that was enough, for the time being. "I see... Let's get me that protein food as well and see if we can do anything to kill them in a single turn, okay? I'm supposed to be taking the hits in the first place, not you. So we'll go kill monsters, gather up money so I can buy us an estate and we'll add rooms as we please. Sounds fair?"

The boy repeated the two's plan once more, in order to make sure they were on the same page. He wasn't sure what to do with the other loot that dropped, like materials and unidentified items, but it was probably not going to be much of an issue seeing as they hadn't had quarrels over any items, if any at all so far. "We share our materials anyways so no biggie. Right?"

[Shay 0]

The rogue smiled at the boy. "Sure thing. We'll do it soon, we can go and get the item's identified to see if we get anything unique and I'm running somewhat low on materials so it will be nice to get some more. It will also be nice to not live in such a small place considering that there is two of us living here now." It was true that they could probably share a room now that they were a couple, but she didn't want to rush anything. If he was getting the money to buy them a house, he could make it whatever he wants and she would sleep on a cough or something. That was fine by her.

"Any ideas where you want to put your house then?" She asked, looking over at him with her crimson eyes. A soft smile was still on her lips as she talked.

---

Training Fail. [2/3]

[ChaseR 0]

With a quick nod, he grinned. Until she asked where exactly the house would be, which... got him thinking, to say the least. He had but the slightest idea of what every floor looked like until he went back to it, groaning and scratching the back of his head. The highest floors he'd been to were the twenty second where he'd gone for the event, and the eleventh for the garden. He'd much too little experience picking a plot for his house like that. "Uh... Actually no... I was going to tell you before I made the house, but I got excited before and leaked the secret... Sorry."

Chase grumbled, looking down at the ground and starting to get troubled over where he'd find a plot and whether he would be able to get one in the first place. Given how many players there were, he might have to go to a higher floor which would mean more dangerous trips past and through higher level monsters, potentially. "I don't have any idea... We can... find something together, right? Some place we both like?"

[Shay 0]

"Its going to be your house so you can choose where you want it to be. You're the on paying for it. I think I'm just along for the ride at this point." The girl says, standing up from her position and going over to take a seat on the mattress next to Chase, scooting a little closer to him to get comfortable. Grace followed her over and sat next to her on the other side Shay from Chase. Shay leaned her head on his shoulder again an sighed.

"This experience has been a lot, getting sucked into this game, but I'm glad I have someone like you here to help keep me sane Chase. Thank you for being here for me and looking after me. I couldn't ask for anything better in my life." She wondered if she should tell him now that they were dating... She'll wait until he replies first, then tell him.

[ChaseR 0]

When she scuttled next to him, he smiled slightly and moved in to lay his own head on her shoulder, only to feel the more petite rogue do so first. He quickly pulled his head back to normal to avoid bumping into one another for a great headache, and silently heard what she had to say. With a small grin, he hugged her, not sure if he felt the same intense emotions as she did- but he certainly couldn't say he didn't hold deep feelings for her. Right now, the way everything was going, Shay was the best thing to have happened to him too. He had nowhere to turn but her, and she was always there for him even at his worst.

"I'm... Thank you. I wouldn't be here if you didn't help me back then. I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you...", he admitted, his grateful voice shortly taking a more melancholic tone, before he hugged her once more. He was very emotional and sensitive, but such was the bluehead. "Sorry. I know I have to be happy too."

[Shay 0]

"I told you just to be yourself and you're doing fine okay? I'm glad I took the chance to make friends with you, even if I was a bit skeptical about becoming friends with you." She said, thinking about all of the harsh things that she had said to him before they got to this point. They were starting to make her feel bad just thinking about it. "I'm sorry that I've said so many awful thing to you before. It was unwarranted and I was just mean. I think you're helping me change that about me though. I'm glad for that."

She mentions scooting as close as she possibly can to the boy to get comfortable. The sun was starting to set now, they could see through the single window. Soon it would be night time. Grace crawled into the rogue's lap and got comfortable as well, relaxing with the couple.

[ChaseR 0]

He was out of words momentarily, not even remembering that she'd been that rude to him in the past. With a simple shrug, he just tightened the hug slightly, now with more ease as she was closer and chuckling lowly. "You suck with words. Me too.", he repeated, just like he had commented back in the first day that they'd met. Both him and her already knew just how rough they could be with speech, so he'd already been taking everything she said with a grain of salt from the start, thankfully.

Chase looked down at Grace, raising an eyebrow before looking through the window to see the sunset. "Hey, look.", the boy tried to get her attention and let go with one arm, pointing towards the window. "Just like real life. Right?", he chirped happily, getting a croak from the pangolin that quickly climbed onto his head and stood on top of it to look out of the window at the sunset as well, curious to see what his partner was pointing at.

[Shay 0]

"Yeah. It looks nice, its amazing how beautiful the game can be when you look for those beauties. That's why its awful that it was made to be a prison of sorts." She commented quietly, keeping her head resting on his shoulder and her hand on her familiar to give it some pets. Grace mewled quietly and got comfy enough in Shay's lap to relax and eventually fall asleep.

"Well, I'd say she's warming up to me now." A message pinged up on her status. She opened it up to read it.

You gained the familiar mastery skill! Please choose a skill to master.

"Hunh, well there's proof I guess." Shay mentioned, clicking on the damager option. "Well, now I have a trained familiar like you do. That was pretty easy. It kind of just fell in my lap, wouldn't you say?" She giggled slightly, looking down at Grace Eon.

---

[ChaseR 0]

The exhaustion from transforming into a girl and then back to a boy was starting to catch up to him once more, as a wave of fatigue brushed over him and he almost lost his balance momentarily. His pangolin slipped from the front of his head and fell onto his cross legs, thankfully landing quite softly and staying curled up into a ball until some time had passed, when he looked over at the feline on Shay's lap, tapping its tail with its claws once more. "S-Sorry about that, just kind of tired. That's great, nice job.", he complimented her rather tiredly, giving a weary smile.

"She will fight with you but... Will she know how to? I had to train Blizz to get him to learn how to use his body for fights. I taught him that frost breath, the claws and how to roll to attack. He didn't have any combat experience beforehand, by the looks of it, and he usually just covers my sword with ice so there's an extra 'layer' and I hit harder.", he gave an indepth explanation, curious as for what Grace could even perform in battles with.

[Shay 0]

"I'm not sure how she'll help me fight, but she will. It seems like she already has the combat experience to do so. We'll find out how when we get into it. If you want, we can get back the grinding tomorrow again, or we can take a few more days break if you want. I don't mind either way." She says, leaning against Chase's side and sighing. She wouldn't mind staying like this for awhile longer.

In fact, she was getting so comfortable that she was starting to lull herself to sleep. Her eyes shut and her breathing started to slow. If Chase didn't wake her up while talking she would quietly fall asleep against his side. A cute little snore would alert him if he didn't notice that she had fallen asleep right there. It would probably be too hard to get her upstairs at this point, which means he'd either have to wake her, or let her sleep on the mattress.

[ChaseR 0]

Chase wanted to wake her up, feeling like she'd probably get all flustered by the time that the two woke up. Regardless, he was too tired to do so and just chose to give it a break. "It's just for a few minutes anyways... It's still late afternoon, we won't sleep to the next day or anything. Never slept that long after all.", he thought to himself as his own eyes began to feel heavier and heavier, but it wasn't long before he lost his balance and dropped back on the mattress, starting to snore himself as his brain fell into an unconscious state.

It was kind of cute, all in all. The two were practically sleeping together, although not in the way anybody would imagine hearing that, and they had been practically exhausted far too much today. He'd probably ask her to get back to it by tomorrow, but until then, they could finally cut themselves some slack and get to recovering their energy and mental fortitude.

[Shay 0]

Even as Chase fell on his back to the mattress, Shay fell on her stomach next to him, slightly further down the mattress from him. She didn't cuddle up to him or anything, but she did lay down close enough to him to wrap an arm over his stomach. The familiar that was in her lap had jumped out and readjusted her position to find a more comfortable spot to lie with her new master.

She never got an answer from him before she fell asleep, but that was fine, she would be able to ask him when they woke up later. The two would sleep through most of the night together, or at least Shay would. She was pretty tired herself after everything that they had been through. Not to mention that sleeping with another person near you was actually so relaxing that she wouldn't wake up until after him.

[ChaseR 0]

Chase slept through the night without a problem whatsoever. Sometime in his sleep, while Blizz had scuttled further on the mattress where he could have his own space, unlike the trio that was practically all snugged up together, he'd turned to the side so Shay was spooning him almost. It was late morning when he began to wake up, feeling much more relaxed and opening his eyes to see that he was on the floor, to his surprise. With a yawn, he looked down to notice an arm over him, blushing lightly as soon as he realised exactly what had happened just now.

"Mngh... Shay, wake up...", he groaned before yawning once more, shaking her hand just lightly. With a quick look over his shoulder, he could tell she looked far too beautiful when asleep to want to wake her up abruptly just like that. "It's mornin'...", he continued with low whispers, stretching his legs slightly and letting out a sigh.

Spoiler

Thread Rewards:

• Shay; Familiar Mastery Skill - Fighter (Novice Rank)
• 3 SP for Chase (2 Page, 1 Event), 4 SP for Shay (1 Quest, 2 Page, 1 Event)
• 400 Col each