I spent an hour at home playing with Penguin, since I'd been neglecting him quite a bit lately, then we both teleported to the Core Partition where I immediately found Surviving the Unsurvivable: Last Resort Tactics.
That was where I'd read about combining blood and Elemental reactions before, so that was what I'd decided to focus on this time.
I took it back to bed.
Penguin chirped at the sight. Even though it wasn't the book he had suggested, it looked like he approved of this choice.
Well, we'd only met with Tapestry the day before yesterday anyway, so we still had a few days to go. Plenty of time for me to read the book Penguin had suggested too. He must be thinking the same.
I looked down at him.
"Hey," I said. "What if you stayed behind for the auction?"
Penguin froze mid-movement, then immediately launched into a tantrum.
I guess that was a no.
"Okay, okay," I said. "I get it."
I sighed. I felt guilty that this played to my advantage.
I reached out and petted him.
"Since you want to come at all costs then, how do you feel about training together?"
Penguin perked up immediately and looked up, chirping. I positioned the pillows properly so I could sit up and picked Penguin up, placing him on my chest, before opening the book, so he could see too.
I found the chapter I'd seen last time: When Blood is Your Only Weapon.
"See?" I said, pointing at the book. "This says that blood-infused Elemental combinationsare an advanced technique that can be useful against artifacts. But I can only use Water. You however can use all of them."
Penguin chirped, paused, then chirped again, questioningly.
"No, we won't train with blood. We just need to learn to fight together to master Elemental reactions."
Penguin chirped, this time more enthusiastically.
Actually, he looked properly excited, now that I was looking at him.
"I don't like the idea of you fighting at all," I told him. "So you need to remember to put your own safety first, alright?"
Penguin chirped a few times.
"Yes, I'll be careful too. And I know you're very strong, but I'd still like you to be careful."
Penguin nuzzled me and chirped in agreement.
Ah, he was adorable.
This sucked though. I didn't like feeling like I was using him.
Llewellyn's assessment of his magic levels put me a bit more at ease, and both Llewellyn and the entirety of TAPESTRY would be there too, so that should also help. Still.
"Let's nap now," I told him, placing the book on the night stand. "We can start with the training after we're done here."
I fixed our pillows and we both fell asleep immediately.
***
After our nap, Penguin and I teleported into the dojo environment from last time.
"Alright," I said, looking around. "I think we need some targets to practice on. What do you think?"
Penguin chirped.
"System?"
Multiple dummies materialized across the space. Unlike last time, they had proper Elements this time. One was on fire, one was made entirely of flowing water, one was just vines moving and tangling into form, and so on.
Well. That was the next best thing after actual monsters, I supposed, and definitely the safest.
"Ready?" I asked Penguin.
He chirped and immediately turned into a fire fox, ready for action.
We trained for a few hours, figuring out how to chain reactions and work together.
Since I could only use Water, Penguin was the one who had to adapt. I guess he'd learned more than I thought, because he was amazing, barely missing a beat, following my Water with the most suitable Element or preparing the way for it to land and trigger the right reaction.
I supposed the only difficulty was that some of his forms were more prone to get hurt than others, so we had to be extra careful. I also had to learn how to extend my shield at the drop of a hat, if needed, so I could protect him too.
We switched to moving targets soon after. We practiced which ones he should leave to me (anything that reacted to Water), which ones he should attack with me, triggering Elemental reactions as we'd been doing, and which ones he should tackle by himself because Water just wouldn't work or would make things worse.
We also practiced Penguin climbing onto my arm mid combat and turning into a fish to activate bond-enhancement and combat augmentation, increasing the amount of Water I could blast.
By the time we were done, we were both exhausted but elated.
Penguin had figured out exactly how to work around my limitations and I'd learned to read his chirps and chittering, as well as the changes in his posture that meant he was about to dart in a specific direction or change form.
Honestly, I couldn't believe we'd accomplished so much today. I really hadn't expected it to be this easy—this bond must have been stronger than I thought.
We still got tangled occasionally, but that was because of my low stats and lack of actual physical training, for the most part. My understanding of what he meant to convey at any given moment was actually seamless.
I showered—Penguin indulging too this time when he saw a small shower his size, even though he didn't need to—then we teleported back, tired but refreshed.
I checked my watch. It was barely past 2 pm and I wasn't on shift until 11 pm.
Fucking hell. I wasn't used to having the whole day in front of me—I wasn't even sure what to do now. I supposed I should sleep, but… I was hungry.
"Food?" I asked Penguin. I didn't really feel like cooking or waiting for delivery, though. "Want to go out and have lunch somewhere?"
Penguin chirped enthusiastically. We hadn't gone out for a walk in a while after all. Even if we didn't get as far as the promenade this time, it would still be nice.
I looked up a place that had something for both of us and made sure to equip a concealment artifact before leaving together.
The weather was nice. It was too early for Haneve's green lights to be turned on, but there was enough greenery here, between one timber-front house and the next, that it still looked green enough, even in the sun.
The place I'd picked was only about ten minutes away. When we got there, I ordered takeaway—fried chicken for me, a sashimi box for Penguin, and some extra spring rolls—and we made our way to a park nearby with a few benches scattered around.
I went for a bench under a tree, away from the main path, and put our containers down.
Penguin poked his head out of my pocket, checking that no one was looking, then hopped down and walked a small circle on the bench.
I opened his box and watched him pick at the salmon to try it before chirping, delighted, and wolfing it down.
Well! I grinned.
The tuna slices weren't as well received, however. He nibbled at one, looking disappointed, then turned into a firefox and roasted them on the spot before trying them again.
"Better?" I asked.
He chirped and pushed the box toward me.
I picked one.
…Okay, that was amazing.
"This is incredible," I said. "How are you so good?!"
Penguin chirped happily between bites, clearing out everything.
We finished eating, packed up the containers, and I helped Penguin back into my pocket.
"Comfortable?" I asked.
Penguin chirped, bouncing a bit.
I yawned. Damn, I really needed to sleep a few hours if I didn't want to fall asleep in the middle of my shift tonight.
The problem was, I really didn't want to work tonight! Maybe it was really time to quit—though I'd probably have to wait for the end of the festival first.
I mean, Llewellyn was right, I didn't need to work at this point anyway. And if I was free, we could probably spend more time making out and—
I was mulling this over on our way back home when suddenly someone with bright red-wine hair and elegant clothes walked briskly past me, going the opposite direction.
Wait— What the…
Wasn't that mysterious dungeon guy?! The one who'd modded the pirate dungeon?!
I hadn't been able to see his hair color in the dark, but I was positive that was him. His demeanor and the way he dressed were the same.
What the hell was he doing here?!
I already had a concealment artifact on, but I equipped a magic masking one too and flattened behind a corner, taking out my phone to record him. Then I quickly sent the video to Llewellyn, sharing my location.
Llewellyn called immediately.
"Keep an eye on him," he said. "Let me grab my coat and shoes and I'll be there."
I barely had the time to hang up before Llewellyn materialized next to me.
We looked at each other.
The guy stopped, suddenly alert, and turned around, scanning the area.
Shit. Was he going to teleport away?!
We both moved at once, rushing forward, and tackled him down.