187 The Clouds in the Sky
After the visit to the Pontiff’s Hall, Luke, Meredith, and Alexis returned to the half-dragon house. The furniture, the floor, everything was shining, and since everyone was tired from the trip, Matthew thought it was only right that everyone took the day off to rest.
Luke enjoyed seeing how Matthew acted like a leader again after finding out that Shiro and Sarah were not dead.
After the afternoon lunch, almost everyone in the gang eventually fell asleep, and even Meredith also dozed off from exhaustion. The huge weight of uncertainty if Rebecca would believe them or not, proved unnecessary, and everyone was much more relieved after knowing that the Pontiff would talk to the Emperor.
Only Luke Lange and Alexis Dmitry did not sleep that afternoon and, sitting on the balcony of the second floor of the residence, they talked about Alexis’ adventurous days.
According to the S-Class, she went to university much earlier than her normal age, becoming only at nineteen a respected A-Class in the Cardinal Kingdom.
One day, in her party of only six people, Alexis, and her companions managed the amazing achievement of reaching the 67th floor of the local Dungeon in a few months. Since one of the members’ inventory was running out of food, they returned. However, Alexis was excited to reach the S-Class and asked them to advance at least to the next floor and then return. This would be the decision she would regret for the rest of her life.
The crucial information that the Boss on the 67th floor respawned was not in any databook. Because of this, the party of seven people had to fight against this Boss, and his sentries, whose ideal number to win was at least 50 high-level Adventurers.
“At the end, when the message that the Boss was dead resounded inside my head, somehow I was still standing… but that day I didn’t win, because all my companions were killed supporting me.” Alexis spoke, looking up at the many clouds in the partially blue sky. “When I returned to the surface, I was decorated as an S-Class for achieving a great feat, but since then, I have never entered the Cardinal Kingdom Dungeon again.”
Luke looked into her deep eyes and said:
“Alexis, if you blame yourself for the deaths of your companions, if you think you could have been stronger, done better, I ask you not to torture yourself like that. Death is natural, and whether we like it or not, it will always be part of our lives… The only task for those who are alive for now, is to live in a way that would make the people who can no longer be here.”
The half-dragon looked at him and stood for a few seconds, processing what Luke said, without saying anything. Of all the words he could say, like ‘my condolences’ or other types of sympathies, the half-wolf decided to just be himself and say what he thought. After that, she stood up and spoke to him:
“Everyone here is sleeping. How about going for a walk?”
Since it was a lovely autumn breeze, Luke judged that a walk wouldn’t be bad at all.
While walking with Alexis, the half-wolf basically had a tour of the neighborhood where her house was located. She explained that all Class-S Adventurers get a house in the city, like a way for the Queen to keep them close by.
In that neighborhood were many commercial buildings, plazas, and Cardinal Church temples, since the physical church was used mostly by scholars.
“Among so many things in this city, this is one of my favorite places!” Alexis spoke, opening her arms like a child showing her favorite toy to a stranger. Behind the half-dragon was the Gymnasium of the Brave.
“Ever since we left your house, you already planned to bring me here, weren’t you?” Luke asked her, clenching his eyes.
“Fiuuuu~.” The half-dragon hissed. “You’re smart! Shall we go inside?”
“Why not?” Luke shrugged.
So the two adventurers entered the Gymnasium. This circular building was several times larger than the one on the Strogueher property, and right at the entrance, the half-wolf noticed that it was no ordinary gymnasium either.
“This place was built with obsidian beams, in other words… We can train at full strength here!” Alexis spoke excitedly, and Luke could swear he saw flames of excitement coming out of her eyes.
“He… He…” Luke laughed dully because he already knew what was waiting for him.
During the training sessions in preparation for the Tournament of Legends, Luke had trained with the S-Class several times, but he knew she was holding back, as was customary. However, when she once said that she was not using even 50% of her full strength, Nathalia and Luke wondered what her actual strength level was.
That’s why Luke was startled when he realized that the half-dragon was serious about training for a while in the Gym of the Brave. Luckily, the place was empty that afternoon, so Luke would not be humiliated in public. Even though he wasn’t too confident that he could win, the half-wolf wouldn’t give up without trying to win, because that was the only way he could give it his all and learn from his mistakes.
“I saw that you are training a martial art with Ynosuke; how about we don’t use our weapons and skills for today? Just our fists and legs.” Class-S proposed, after stretching.
“Will you still come with everything?”
“Of course. It’s been a while since I’ve used the martial arts I learned in the Cardinal Church!” She spoke, placing her hands on her waist.
“All right, then I accept your conditions.”
Luke had made a lot of progress with Sea Ornament in the last few days, so he was confident that he would perform well. According to Ynosuke, the half-wolf was very close to completing the First Stage of the Sea Ornament. His arms were lighter, as were his legs and thighs, which significantly increased the speed of his blows. Therefore, Luke would soon begin to learn the correct fist positions, but Ynosuke didn’t know that Luke was secretly trying to learn the Second Stage positions, based on Ynosuke’s own fighting moves during training.
More than anyone else, Luke understood that it’s not because someone is weaker than him that he had nothing to learn from that someone.