"Excuse me, sir, are you planning on borrowing or purchasing that book?"
A timid librarian stood a distance away from a gaunt young man. The young man was sitting on the ground, reading an austere combat book. He seemed to be so engrossed in the book to the point where he couldn't hear the librarian's call. The librarian walked closer to the man, seeing if he would be noticed. However, the man still kept his eyes on the pages of the book. Eventually, the librarian confronted the man head on.
"Sir, will you be purchasing or borrowing that book? It's almost dusk, so the library will close soon."
The young man slowly moved his gaze up towards the librarian's face.
"Oh! Sorry, I didn't notice you there. It's rather difficult to hear because of the… uhh… I mean, could you repeat that again?"
"Return, borrow, or purchase that book now. It's almost dusk, which means the library will be closing soon."
Finally understanding what the librarian was trying to communicate, Quies hurriedly closed the book and stood up, searching for where he got the book from.
"Right. I can't believe it's already dusk."
'Which means I'll have to meet Valerie soon. I should probably get going.'
He slid the book back onto one of the shelves and motioned a thanks towards the librarian, who did not reciprocate.
'Everybody here is cold except for that Wally guy.'
As he made his journey outside of the temple, towards the bridge, he mentally reviewed what the book covered, or at least what he was able to interpret from the piece of literature.
'First off, the fundamentals. It's similar, in a way, to hand to hand combat. Footwork, breathing, and positioning can be transferred over from hand combat to sword oriented combat. But there's also a few other things which are exclusive to swordsmanship like grip and bladework.
Ah, that reminds me of a quote I heard in passing. How did it go again? I fear more a man who had practiced a single strike a thousand times than a man who had practiced a thousand strikes once?'
Indeed, that quote did apply towards combat arts. If one's fundamentals are sloppy, that will transfer to all of their other skills related to the fundamentals. A concrete building that is constructed on wooden stilts is bound to fall.
Of course, this could also be tied towards his neverending quest to resonate with the song. For someone of his skill level, reading a beginner manual on swordsmanship should cover the practice part of progression. Now he needed something to demonstrate that skill on.
Quies ascended the stone steps situated outside of the temple, hands in the pockets of the pants he got from the Inn. He was heading towards the agreed meeting spot with Valerie.
"Aye you!"
He heard a loud shout from behind which sounded like it came from a teenage boy. He knew better than to look.
"You with the raggedy brown tunic!"
It was another voice. Quies kept walking. Suddenly a hand grabbed his shoulder and forcefully turned him around. He saw two teenage kids, both wearing white themed clothing similar to the guards, but with less grandeur.
"Were you the one pressing our friend?"
The punk at the front put on an angry look, however the one in the back had a sly smile on his face. He could barely make out what he was saying from how loud the whispers were.
"Huh?"
The kid… was he even a kid? He sure didn't look like one. They were both slightly shorter than him, so he assumed they were a few years younger than him. Quies hadn't been keeping time during his stay in Erisia, so he assumed he was around 18 or 19 years old. The one in the front had somewhat of an athletic build, however the one in the back… had some mass to him. If he had to guess, they just finished some sort of lesson near the temple and were looking for trouble.
"Are you deaf in both ears? You need a slap across your face to wake you up?"
Now, Quies was able to listen to what the punk was spouting to him.
'Why are they being so damn rude?!'
"Why? Are you trying to pick a fight with me?"
He said that last phrase in somewhat of a mocking tone. He had missed the experience of bantering with another human. He wasn't actually sure whether he could beat one vigil trainee, let alone two if the guy in the back joined in.
"Maybe I am."
A moment after that dirty punk in the front uttered that phrase, he put two hands on Quies' torso and thrusted him back. In terms of weight, Quies would be at a disadvantage. He was on the lighter side in terms of body composition, so the unexpected push sent him toppling backwards and landing on the hard stone steps. It was rather humiliating. He could feel a tightness in his chest, the kind one feels when their fuse is running short.
It was safe to say that Quies was rather pissed. He was also someone who didn't easily let others disrespect him like that, especially someone younger than him.
"Look at him! If I had pushed him any harder he would've disintegrated!"
The two rascals were laughing their wretched hearts out, which only made Quies more enraged. He balled up his fists tight, almost digging into the skin of his palm.
"Oh! The little skeleton seems to have risen from the dead!"
Quies took a deep breath in and focused on his blood circulation. After a little under a day of practice, he had gotten enough of a grasp of Blood Enhancement to be able to multitask while doing it. It would take a few more days for it to be as natural as breathing, and few weeks or months for it to be as natural as the circulation of his blood.
'How poetic.'
He took a couple of steps towards the rascal in the front. Even if he was furious, he had to be smart about how he handled it. It wasn't like he didn't learn anything from living off the grid for a few years.
"Ooh, scary… hey Agrippa, you got my ba-"
A moment after that filthy punk turned his head to address his accomplice, a sound akin to a whip crack shattered the air.
'How arrogant.'
Quies' gaze alternated between his bloodied fists and the unconscious punk laying on the ground. After a moment, he shot a deathly gaze towards the other young rascal. The two shared eye contact for a moment before the young punk scurried away.
'Nice to finally have a win after so many losses… dire ones at that. Such pretentious little brats, thinking they can go pick a fight with anybody. Did they ever learn not to judge a book by its cover?'
He stood over the unconscious adolescent for a moment, processing what was happening. His breaths were deep and fast, the tightness in his chest unknotting.
This wasn't the first time Quies had encountered a situation like this. In fact, he brawled plenty of times when he was a kid, even though he lost most of them. Compared to others, this altercation was more mental than physical.
After the exchange of the first few words and judging by their appearance, Quies knew that those brats were too confident for their own good. He capitalized on their prejudice of him being a helpless and frail man, which gave him the opening he needed to end the encounter without receiving a single scratch.
Sure, there were probably better ways to deal with this situation. However, he was short on time, and he wasn't willing to just let that push slide. The poor thing would wake up soon enough.
Speaking of which…
"Quies."
His attention was broken by his name suddenly being broken. Turning around, he saw Valerie standing on the stone path that led to the bridge they were supposed to meet on.
'This is… awkward.'
"What did you do?!'