The giant Komodo dragon looked directly at Rosaline, and with its forked tongue could taste the salamander blood from Rosaline. Giving a roar it quickly charged towards her. Rosaline immediately reached into her pocket, fumbling for the alarm. Twice in three days a massive monster was about to kill her, and twice in three days someone came to stop it from doing so.
In a blur, Archer came flying in, left knee smashing straight into the front snout of the salamander. Crushing the front immediately the body vanished, leaving nothing but a large gemstone.
"I was hoping for that to last a bit longer." Archer murmured as he saw the thing disappear. I wonder how strong the boss would be. No, no, Archer, let's not get ahead of ourselves. He thought as he turned to see Rosaline, no longer looking for alarm.
"You again, why are you down here?" Rosaline asked, "How did you kill that thing?"
"The license isn't fake you know." Archer said flashing a mouth-guarded smile before taking it off, "Great now I have to clean it again." He said as he stashed it away.
Rosaline stared at the gemstone, that thing was as valuable as the tail. Archer noticed her staring and proceeded to pick it up, "Even with that tail you still want this? You must really love money." He teased.
"I need the money." Rosaline said defensively.
"I can see that." Archer observed, "You don't look too good, you alright?"
"I'm… I'm fine." Rosaline said looking at the ground.
"Right, tell you what. You keep quiet about me being here and I'll give you this after school. Also you bring me a slice of that tail. Unless you're busy today." Archer said.
"No, no, I'm free." Rosaline blurted out before pausing, "Where though?"
"Don't worry." Archer chuckled, "Just at the front gate, we can even stand in front of the disciplinary committee if you want."
"That, that works."
"What you thought I was going to kidnap you or something?"
"Wouldn't be the first time." Rosaline mumbled quietly to herself and Archer pretended not to hear.
"Use your alarm and get out of here safely."
"What about you? How are you going to get out?" Rosaline said looking up from the ground only to see Archer was gone. Blinking a few times she made sure that Archer was actually gone and she wasn't hallucinating.
Looking around she couldn't find any trace of him, and still a bit bewildered, she finished packing up her loot and activated the alarm. With the Komodo dragon gone, she really had no proof that Archer was ever down here to begin with. Though she did wonder why he was here in the first place.
***
Archer after school was standing near the gates, staring at his hands. He had a slightly troubled look on his face as he stared at them. He had gotten stronger naturally, he was getting older. That wasn't a surprise, he'll continue to improve for at least a few more years.
But it's the training that he's been having a problem with. Since being here, he hadn't been able to properly have any real practice. Sure he dealt with a handful of monsters and the ability to practice his fear tactics was good. But he needed someone to spar with or at least something.
He did promise to teach Luna, which will be useful. He could review the basics with her, but he was going to be in a teaching role which meant less actual practice for him. There was a tinge of worry that going out to the field without a proper warmup, he would make an obvious mistake. Though then again, the best place to practice was on the field.
His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Rosaline. Smiling at her, he greeted her with a small wave, which caused her to rush forward and stop him.
"Enough of that." She hissed.
"I don't think anyone really cares about us nobodies." Archer said with a shrug as he momentarily locked eyes with Esme who gave a curious glance before shrugging and focusing back on other students.
"Do you have the gem?" Rosaline said as she looked agitated looking around.
"You have my steak?"
"Here." Rosaline said handing him a cold package.
"Thank you and here you go." Archer said handing Rosaline a cardboard box he picked up from the ground as he took the tail meat.
"What's this?" Rosaline said taking it, surprised by the weight and the sound of multiple objects inside.
"The Komodo stone, also about a dozen others. Your team left a pretty big mess, could have caused someone to be hurt." Archer said, though he did pocket a few for personal spending.
"I know that… thanks for cleaning up." Rosaline said nodding her head, "That license is real right?"
"You want to run a check on it?"
"No, no… it's fine." Rosaline said as she peeked into the box to see the glimmering monster gems shining inside, "What's the deal you want to make with me?" She said shutting the box closed.
"Well if you do accept the deal we'll meet on Saturday at noon. You won't do any fighting, just collect. Once we're done, we split it fifty-fifty."
"Why do you need my help?"
"I don't like carrying too many things." Archer said with a shrug, "You were hurt on Wednesday weren't you? How well can you move?"
"I should be fully recovered in a couple of days. But I can work fine right now. You saw it today." Rosaline said before she paused, wanting to ask him about why he was down there and who exactly he was and why was he lying about his strength.
Instead, Archer quickly departed away from her while telling her, "See you Saturday, don't be late. I'll be waiting for you at the end of the line."
"Where are you going?"
"To a meet-up." Archer said leaving the school.
***
An hour later Archer was standing inside a gym in a boxing ring waiting. Sat at a bench nearby were Julia and Esme both also waiting. The gym was currently empty except for them, rented out for the next two hours.
Julia reached for a remote and began to have music play through the speakers. At the same time Luna finally made it out of the changing room equipped with her gym gear. Julia when seeing her frowned.
"What are you wearing?"
"It's the school-issued gym clothes."
"Yeah, why are you in those? They're so gaudy."
"Actually the uniforms are very form-fitting and tend to be better quality than most gym clothes you can buy at a store." Esme replied.
"They're also the only ones I had." Luna said, "They were provided to me by the school."
"Oh, well we need to get you new clothes." Julia said.
"That's not necessary." Luna said looking embarrassed.
"Don't worry it will be fun." Esme said.
"Speaking of clothes, Archer why are you still in your school uniform?" Julia asked.
"I have a regular athletic t-shirt underneath."
"Then why do you have the school jacket on?"
"Well, it just feels right." Archer said looking at it, "Plus I have ten of these. It only seems appropriate to wear them."
"Even in a gym?"
"Well they are meant to be worn even in combat scenarios." Archer said, "Decently tough fabric that allows flexibility. Besides, I think it's nice to have a signature look."
"A bit stupid." Julia said and Archer gave a helpless shrug.
"I have been told."
"So, what am I supposed to do?" Luna asked standing at the front of the changing room awkwardly.
"Oh yeah. Come on Luna, get inside the ring." Archer said moving over to the ropes and helped her get in by pulling the ropes wider apart for her to get in.
"So why boxing?" Julia asked.
"Well hopefully, kickboxing and it's because Luna struggles to throw a real punch." Archer explained.
"She hit Annaxia over a dozen times but couldn't stop her." Esme explained.
"That is pretty bad." Julia said nodding in agreement, "But why hand-to-hand combat? Why not some type of weapon combat or even ranged?"
"I have a feeling that Luna probably benefits from hand-to-hand combat more than anything. Besides, I plan on helping her with other arts, just starting with this." Archer said as he handed Luna a roll of his tape, "Put this on."
"Uh, okay… how?" Luna said looking at the tape completely lost.
"You really haven't been in many fights have you?"
"No, not really."
"If you don't mind me asking, why did you join this school?"
"They offered to pay for everything as long as I could maintain my grades for non-practical subjects and improve a bit with my physical abilities. Besides, I'm hoping to transfer into the supporter field next year." Luna said before quietly adding, "Also I could make some money from hunting."
"Are you in need of cash?" Esme said concerned.
"If you need help we can help you."
"No, no, I can't take your money, that wouldn't be right!"
"It's fine. Listen if you need some money I can help provide it." Julia assured her.
"My family isn't broke, it's just that they work long hours and if I could make some money they may be able to retire." Luna said, "I don't want to be a burden on others. It won't be any different than owing my parents if you give me money. Besides, you all have helped me plenty already. I never thought I would have such cool friends."
"A blood addict, a person you tried to kill, and a full-on weirdo are people you think are cool?" Julia joked.
"You are to me." Luna said nodding her head.
"We appreciate it." Esme said with a smile.
"Here, let me help you tape up your hands." Archer said taking one of Luna's hands and grabbing the tape, "Normally you would also want to tape each knuckle, but there won't be any risk of breaking them here."
"Oh, uh, thanks." Luna said as she watched, a bit transfixed as Archer held her hand and wrapped it with tape.
"With this we won't need any gloves, which will give you a more realistic setting." Archer continued, finishing her first hand and moving to the next.
"Are you embarrassed?" Esme teased.
"What are you talking about?" Luna said quickly snatching her hand away once Archer was done taping them. Holding her hands protectively, she turned away from Archer. As she was feeling self-conscious, she did notice how well her hands were taped. Archer in the meantime picked up a pair of hitting pads and approached Luna.
"Alright, you ready?" Archer asked.
"Yeah, I am." Luna said recovering quickly with a cough.
"Alright, throw a quick one."
"Huh?"
"A jab." Archer explained.
"Uh." Luna said as she threw a weak punch with her right into the pad that Archer raised with his right.
"Oh, wrong side." Archer said, "Also get into a proper stance."
"Uh, how?" Luna asked.
"You've done swords training right?"
"Yeah, I'm not very good. I tend to rely on Ran in the dungeons and I've never had any fistfights before."
"Alright which hand are you dominant in?"
"Right."
"Right, then let's do this traditionally, stand in a similar stance you would with a sword, left foot forward, arms up to protect yourself." Archer instructed as Luna followed, "A one is a jab, which is a quick light punch. You do that with the closet to your opponent. In this case you're left. Throw it straight into the pad."
Luna proceeded to throw a still relatively weak jab into the pad and Archer nodded his head, "Okay so now to generate more power easier, throw weight behind it like this." Archer said as he mimicked what Luna should do. Luna following suit, threw a much better-looking jab.
"Good, now more power."
Luna struck.
"Good. Now a two, that's a straight with your right." Archer said raising the other pad up, "Like the jab throw it with your body and add a bit of power."
Once Luna threw a satisfactory straight right Archer gave her the next instruction, "Put them together now, one, two!"
Once Luna completed it, Archer continued to give instruction, "Again! One, two! One, two! One, two!" Each time Luna would strike with a jab followed by a straight, getting into a groove of things. Luna was feeling confident with each punch.
***
About an hour later Luna lay in the middle of the ring, absolutely exhausted. Esme feeling a twinge of pity was currently fanning her with a towel as Luna was chugging water on the ground.
"You did well." Julia complimented as Archer was busy putting the pads away.
"Thanks." Luna said finally recovering enough sitting up, "How often do we do this?"
"Well, we need to figure out a schedule, but at least twice a week." Archer said.
"Oh, twice of this?" Luna said sounding crestfallen.
"Oh, it's going to get worse." Archer said matter-of-factly, "We haven't finished with punching yet and we haven't even started with kicks yet."
"Oh… great." Luna said, wanting to collapse onto the mat again.
"Hey Archer, you mentioned helping Rosaline. What are you planning?" Julia asked.
"I'm going to climb a tower with her."
"What? How?" Julia said shocked, "The only ones nearby are either privately owned or need a license."
"I have one."
"Wouldn't people be suspicious with you still being in high school?"
"Normally yes, but I don't need to worry about it."
"How?"
"I'm a registered AGDF trainee. They are given licenses that are valid across the world."
"AGDF?"
"Arcadian ground defence force."
"Wait, you're a government agent?"
"Honestly, it's more of a front to hide my WDO position. It helps hide why I might be so peculiar. Though I do on occasion have to work as one." Archer said with a shrug.
"So you hide a secret within a secret?" Esme asked.
"Essentially."
"Wait, so that's what those uniforms are for?"
"Uniforms?" Luna said confused.
"I saw some official-looking uniforms in Archer's closet when I hid there."
"Yeah, haven't needed to wear them yet, but I brought them. Though it would be nice to use them at some point." Archer said, "Now should we go get something to eat?"
"I know a good place." Esme said, "Far away from the school too, pretty good."
"What about Dominic?" Julia asked.
"It doesn't seem that he's paying her much attention these days." Archer said.
"Hmm, well be a bit careful with him. Apparently, he's gotten pretty strong recently and looks a lot less stable." Julia warned.
"I've heard about that a couple times now. Any real reason why?"
"Not that I know of."
"Fascinating." Archer said as his brain worked a little, "Well, I'll keep that in mind. Maybe I can convince Rosaline to tell me something."
"Speaking of Rosaline, if you're going to the tower you'll need some gear right?"
"Yeah, I was going to rent some."
"You can use some of my old stuff, you won't need anything special right?" Julia offered.
"Oh, that would be great. Thank you kindly."
"Hey Archer." Esme said as she and Luna left the ring, "How strong are you?"
"Pretty strong I guess. But I still have room to improve." Archer said with a shrug.
"But like how strong?"
"That's… a bit hard to quantify. There are definitely a few people in our school who are on my level. But that doesn't mean I can beat them or they could beat me. It depends on a lot of things." Archer said with a shrug.
"Huh." Esme said nodding her head before asking, "Do you think you'll ever show us your true strength."
"Considering my job, probably yes. Though I hope not."
"Why?" Luna said as she was about to enter the changing room.
"Because that means I'm dealing with a major issue." Archer said.
"Well you'll need to be careful at school then. If people realise how good you are, you will get challenged." Julia said.
"Let's hope that never happens." Archer said with a grimace, "Now come on I got myself a slice of fire salamander tail in the fridge we can have for dinner."
"Where did you get that?" Esme asked.
"It was a gift." Archer said with a shrug.