章 33: Training

"So you still ended up spending some of your own coin huh? Get everything you needed?"

Placing the bundle of items down on the table, I nodded and looked towards Alessia, who was making her way into the kitchen to open up the icebox, looking through whatever food she had stored away and deciding what to make for a meal, only to let out a sigh as she muttered "I need to go shopping..."

"I told you it was likely all of your foodstuffs would have went bad. It's been just around a week since you were last here. As for all of this, yeah, I got what I needed. Thankfully it didn't cost all of my earnings, but... yeah, this feels lighter now."

Snorting, Alessia shook her head as she closed the icebox and instead took a seat at the table, looking down at the items I had purchased and watching me as I began to lay them out properly.

"A leather hood, boiled leather scale armor, a boiled leather pauldron, leather bracers, and leather faulds. I am sensing a pattern here..."

"I like lighter armor, and I have magic that allows me to don thick pieces of wood as armor, so this is more than enough. Besides, it was what I could afford, especially since I want to keep some coin on hand just in case."

Alessia nodded, the golden haired Dogkin slumping on the table as she continued to watch me closely, only to sit back up and ask "Hey, wanna grab a bite to eat? There's this restaurant nearby that makes some of the best steaks I've ever eaten!"

I pursed my lips before glancing towards the window, taking in the still blue sky for a moment and asking "Could we train first? I want to make use of this week to iron out the kinks in my fighting style and work on my endurance... make sure I don't become a hindrance in a battle. Victor and Inga made it abundantly clear that I was a good warrior, just... weak. So..."

She snorted again as she stood up, the Talonmaster stretching and eventually nodding as she said "Fine. Train first, eat second, come back and unwind third? Maybe a bottle of wine to make that more interesting..."

Her words made me roll my eyes, though I nodded at her suggestion and didn't complain about what sounded like a perfect way to spend the rest of this day; get some energy out through physical exercise, replenish that energy with some good food, before spending that energy on something fun to end the night.

And, it would be my repayment for her hosting me still, since the Dogkin had made it rather clear that she wanted to enjoy this week off by not doing anything stressful, and that I would accompany her for this week - unless I had no desire to do so, but much like her I felt like living this next week as stress free as possible, since the raid next week could be rather... dangerous.

Getting back up, Alessia said "Get your new gear on then. Let's break it in and get you accustomed to it with a spar."

Watching the Dogkin walk towards the back of her house, I nodded and tore my gaze away from her fluffy tail and slim waist, her plan for tonight already taking root in my mind as I began to don this new set of armor I had purchased, idly noting that it was quick to go on and easy to tighten or loosen.

Meanwhile, I was still equipped with my falchion, so for now I clasped the scabbard to my belt and sheathed the falchion on my side, getting a grasp on what everything together felt like.

Alessia made her way outside, the Talonmaster giving me a moment to get ready as she took a breath of fresh air, only to look back and nod as she said "Doesn't seem to be bothering you much. That's good; usually leather takes some time to mould to your body comfortably..."

"Yeah, this is just right. Still needs to be shaped better for myself through wear, but that's not going to be something that can just happen... Now, what sort of spar are we going to do?"

"Practice spar with wooden weapons. I think... yup, these are still good. Take the falchion off for now; get used to wearing it, but for now you won't need it."

I smiled wryly as I unclasped the scabbard and blade, placing it to the side and accepting the wooden sword from Alessia, who took a few steps back on the dirt patch in the middle of her yard.

In all, her property was a nice size for this city, and the grass around us was well maintained... except for this patch, which was packed into the ground and scoured of any blades of grass at all.

"Come at me first, Kira. However you please~!"

Holding the sword loosely, the Dogkin smirked at me as she watched my movements closely, studying how I moved in this new armor as well as studying my movements to understand the attack that was coming for her.

Lunging forwards, I stabbed the sword towards the center of her chest, going for a simple opener before twisting myself to the side as she flicked my blade aside and responded in kind, her counterattack swift.

I followed my momentum and used it to travel out of her reach before turning and slashing down towards her shoulder, stepping into the attack and appreciating the movement that the pauldron allowed - the curved leather armor piece didn't restrict my arm as much as I thought it might, which was much appreciated as I pressed down on Alessia's sword, the Dogkin's arm raised as she locked my blade with her own.

Putting my other hand on the hilt, I pushed down and grit my teeth, before sliding back when a palm shot out towards my stomach, the Dogkin smirking harder as she followed through, lunging forwards and leading with that palm again.

However, instead of going for a weak point like my other shoulder, my underarm, my throat or my sides, Alessia made her desires known as she grabbed the scaled leather cuirass that rested just over my breast, causing me to give her a dry look as I continued backwards, pulling away from her hand.