She was using a practice spear to repeat the various movements of her spear technique before transitioning into the spear arts of Athena, which she had learned upon becoming her chosen player.
Monique's spear arts were specialized in defense, counters, which was the reason she originally gained the class of Turtle Warrior. Her fighting style was a shell, while the tip of her spear was like the head of a snapping turtle, fast and taking advantage of any opening.
Her class had changed to Aegis Warrior when she received the blessing. Her own fighting style was based on the capabilities of normal humans. The spear techniques that came with the new class operated on the same principles, but incorporated the powers of skills and magic.
Overall, it was slightly more aggressive in attacks, while using temporary barriers and attack skills to make up for the opening created when attacking more proactively. Cost, duration, and cooldown of these skills became very little compared to their effectiveness, but they were hard to use.
Weaving in skills to cover weakness and improve attacks, all at the same time, while fighting in and potentially deadly fight, took a lot of nerve and proficiency. Monique was confident in her nerves, but it took a lot of practice to master the fighting style perfectly. Especially since she had to overcome and evolve her habits from her original training.
If she were honest, she had not given her all in mastering this new fighting style until now. Monique was used to fighting with just the spear, but about a third of the moves of Athena's fighting style needed a shield. The spear demon had not gone the distance until now.
After training her own techniques for an hour and those of Athena for another, she walked to the rack of practice equipment and picked up a shield. If Seth was really going to create an Aegis for her, and the Aegis was an equipment that could swap between a shield, a breastplate, and a cloak, her potential fighting style would become much more varied.
She was going to such great lengths to create the Aegis; it would have been childish to insist on not accepting this change. Maybe clinging to something close to her family's style had been childish from the start, but that couldn't be helped now.
After receiving so many blessings and going to such great lengths, she had to prove herself worthy. If she couldn't make use of the Aegis and still clung to her ways, what was the point in finding a gorgon and making such great armor?
Sweat was streaming down her back as she practiced for hours, absorbed in incorporating the skills and techniques to their fullest potential. There was no way to master it in one day, but she decided not to stop until she made satisfactory progress.
In the middle of a set of movements, the door to the training room suddenly opened. Monique finished the set before looking to see who had entered. It was a face she had not seen often, but she could put a name to it, thanks to the recent party.
"Paolo? Did you also come to practice?" she asked, using the not as wet spot of the drenched towel around her shoulders to wipe the sweat from her forehead.
"Oh, Lady Lest! Y-Yes. The Tower Master gave me these gauntlets the other day, and I'm practicing with them before I test them in the Holy Land," the priest explained nervously, holding up his hands covered in purple crystalline gauntlets.
"Wow, those look really cool. What do they do?" she asked, intrigued, looking at them like a work of art. Still nervous, but slowly becoming more confident, Paolo told her about the Cestus of Amycus and about his attempt to incorporate it into his fighting style.
"Do you need a sparring partner? I could use an opponent, if you are up for it," the chosen of Athena offered. Paolo hesitated, surprised by the sudden offer.
"I-is it okay? I would want to hurt you accidentally," the angel summoner voiced his doubts. The next moment, Monique had donned her full armor, but kept the practice shield and spear. Although it was not a legendary set, Monique's armor was made of custom relics.
"Hah! Let's see you try," she said confidently.
...
In the afternoon, a couple of hours later, she had had enough of using Paolo as a punching bag and ended her training, leaving the bruised priest behind in the practice room. Wedan still had not called, but she decided to check in on the situation in the workshops after washing up.
She checked the door to Seth's workshop first, but it was still locked. Facing the closed door, she popped her head in Wedan's and Hoen's workshop, where the two dwarves were working on their own projects.
"Did he come out even once in the past 6 hours?" she asked, perturbed and slightly puzzled, once she had the attention of the two. It was roughly that long ago since she came by to meet Seth about the potential gorgon Jane found.
"Nope, but it's not really unusual. he might be done but forgot to unlock it... But when I look at the time. If he was done at this point, he would have gone to eat something for lunch..." Wedan theorized.
"It must be a big project then, or something complex that just takes its time. Considering he has all the forging corrections and speed buffs, I would guess it is the latter." Hoen joined the conversation. His reasoning seemed sound.
"How long do you think it will take then?" Monique asked for a rough estimate.
"Sorry, no idea. At this point, he could come out any minute, or stay in there until late evening... Depends on what he is working on," Wedan gave his verdict. Hoen silently nodded beside him, agreeing with his guess. Monique's shoulders slumped.
"Then I will go and see whether Jane already has something new..." the spear demon mumbled. "Thanks, guys," she said as goodbye and left to give Jane a visit. The business administrator of Minas Mar was in her office, probably still busy catching up on the paperwork she had missed during the time they were away.
"No, I have not yet received an answer," Jane greeted her automatically, the moment she saw Monique enter her office. Although there was no news, it meant Jane had not forgotten, despite Monique calling her in the middle of the night.
"That's a shame, but thank you for asking for me," the chosen of Athena said with a smile.
"No problem. Was there anything else you wanted?" Jane asked when Monique didn't immediately leave.
"Eh, not really... Seth's door is closed, so I can't talk with him about the armor or the gorgon..." Monique trailed off.
"So you have nothing to do anymore and just lurk around here until what?" Jane asked, her eyes not rising from the papers in her hands.
"Until Wedan calls me, or someone calls you about the gorgon?" Monique joked cheekily.
"Just joking, I'm leaving now..." she said, a little downtrodden, and left the office. Jane didn't stop her.
Thinking about what to do now, she suddenly had a great idea and decided to visit Link. She would get a surprise for Seth when the door finally opened again. She decided to also get something for Hoen and Wedan.