{Thursday, 25th of March... 5:51 AM...}
In one of the largest rooms on the ground floor of the Panacea Familia home, one can find what's been named Kim's Workshop... although it should've been called a laboratory, but Kim wanted to name it a workshop.
In this workshop, Kim and a few of her brothers and sisters; of whom are her assistants, lab partners, and helpers, make the potions, elixirs, tonics, and medicine they sell at the Medical Ward. However, that wasn't it's only purpose.
When you look pass the slowly bubbling beakers; on top of magic stone powered bunsen burners, the empty cauldrons, the crucibles, the empty workstations, the half finished writing boards, the ingredients pantry, and the other different areas where new concoctions are tested through a battery of experiments, you'd see a bed in the farthest corner of the workshop.
On this bed, is Kimberly Mira; the 15 year old, 1st Vice Captain of the Panacea Familia. She's 5ft 2in tall, has medium-length black hair; that she almost always keeps in a ponytail, and she has a very petite body. She's a wiry and lean teenager who's still growing into her own. She has deep hazel eyes, soft features, an adorable nose, small & thin lips, and she's got a pair of budding breasts that haven't reached the cusp of B - cups, but they're getting there.
Kim was currently dressed in her pajamas and was looking at the small magic night light above her head. The softly glowing green light was the only light on in her workshop and she's been staring at it for what felt like hours now. But it's only been half an hour or so since she woke up, and she hasn't looked at the clock beside her bed yet.
"I still can't believe she just gave all of those monster parts to me...", she spoke out while shaking her head slightly.
"I did ask Lady Faith for more ingredients and reagents to experiment with..., but for the resident Songbird to give all of that to me... It's simply astounding. And she got all of that in one dive..."
'But seeing her like that after coming back... that sucks. My Captain told me the details afterwards, but damn... I always saw Dinah as the strong woman she was, but it really hits home how everything can change just like that.', she thought to herself with a frown. 'No one can be strong and maintain that appearance of strength all day every day, after all.'
The resident potion maker was currently going over her thoughts about their latest addition to the family. The singing teacher, the Martial Arts master, the young mother, the helpful and friendly woman, the helpful advisor, and the fun big sister figure of the Familia are some of the things she'd attach to Dinah.
'And grieving widow is another thing I'd attach to her readily... I don't think she's left the house at all except to exchange her magic stones into Valis slowly over the course of a week.'
*Whoosssh* With a blow of air from her mouth to push back her bangs, she slowly got up and headed for one of the nearest workstations while turning on the lights to her workshop.
'And she gave Lady Faith 100,000 Valis to help out our family from her hard-earned earnings. If what my Captain inferred is right, then that was only half of what Dinah had. She wanted to give more, but the Captain wouldn't have it.' With a small mirthful chuckle, Kim shook her head.
"Dinah's too nice for her own good. But at least, we can compromise with her.", she said quietly while looking at the bubbling beakers that were slowly breaking down one Goblin Fang each. The ones next to it were doing the same to a few Kobold Nails.
"Hmmm... it's breaking both down in a concise manner. But the glow of the water for both are becoming different colors... And they're also glowing... Just like the last few experiments... Hmm..."
As Kim talked, she took notes on one of her numerous journals that were scattered about the different workstations. 'Dinah gathered these and gave them all to me out of the kindness in her heart. I'll use them to further my knowledge and change the very essence of Potions, Elixirs, Tonics, Medicine, and who knows what else?!'
"And if I can make something that'll help Dinah out in her dungeon dives, then this will all be worth it."
*Yawnnn* "Losing sleep is nothing new for me... Talking to myself isn't either. I know I'm close to a breakthrough, I can feel it..."
'Hmmm... I'll call the Goblin Fangs that were broken down through the fastest process as Liquid Essence of G.F. Ver.#1. I wonder how much or how less potent the magical energy is from breaking it down like this? Does this Liquid Essence have more or less magical energy? What can I use it for? Hmmm..., ideas, ideas...'
With slowly widening hazel eyes, Kim's face took on a very excited and mischievous smirk. "Hahahaha..., if I can make this right, then this could be a game changer. Oh, yes it will..."
As Kim continued her work, a knock at the door stopped her tinkering. She looked at her clock and saw that she was late for breakfast. "Crap... not again.", she said to herself with a frown.
After looking back at her work, she quickly rushed to the doors while yelling out, "I'm there! Wait up!"
'I'll have to find something or make something for Dinah as a thank you present. I haven't had this much fun tinkering since forever.'
"Hmmm... did I leave a burner on, nah. I'm sure it's fine. We did spend top dollar for these workstations that turn themselves off while maintaining the work for a few hours or so without supervision..."
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{7:23 AM}
As the daylight grew, the morning cold slowly disappeared. In it's place was another brand new day for the Goddess Panacea.
She was currently on the porch steps with a napping baby Conner cradled to her bosom gently while she watched another morning training session by her Songbird.
'Lianne is slowly getting better and faster. Her jumping height has been slowly and steadily beginning to increase as her training intensifies. Dinah seems to be helping Lianne take advantage of her Hume Bunny traits to help the little one become stronger. At the same time, Faith is also showing marked improvements. Faith's always been graceful, but the training she's undergoing is subtly making her movements more natural. Her natural grace from her Elven heritage is being enhanced and polished slowly. Dinah's such a great teacher.', she thought fondly while a great feeling of pride was slowly growing within her.
'She's also a great mystery.'
Panacea's thoughts went back again to Dinah's updated Status from last week...
- Status -
- Dinah Laurel Lance -
- Level - 1 -
-- Power -- I 0 --> I 35
-- Endurance -- I 0 --> I 49
-- Dexterity -- I 0 --> I 31
-- Agility -- I 0 --> I 23
-- Magic -- I 0
- Skills -
-- Enhanced Ear Membranes -- [D]
-- Fighting Spirit -- [I]
-- Martial Arts Mastery -- [G]
-- Peak Human Pain Tolerance -- [H]
-- Trained Reflexes -- [H]
-- Mentor -- [I]
- Developmental Abilities -
-- Voice of the Canary -- [I]
-- Runic Understanding -- [I]
- Magic -
-- Canary's Cry -- [D] (((Locked)))
Panacea was slightly impressed with the amount of Excelia that Dinah had acquired to almost all of her Basic Abilities' parameters, but what really impressed her more was her child's ingenuity when she was in the dungeon. Most Gods and Goddesses don't advertise this, but when they're updating their child's Falna, they can see a play-by-play scene of what their child did to get these numbers. They can literally see their child's story through their blessing. 'And what Dinah weaved into her own Falna was simply breathtaking as well as had her fear for her Songbird's life numerous times.'
'When she described running into that many monster parties, it was different. But seeing it for myself, it was both breathtaking and heartrending.' With a shake of her head, she also revisited the new addition to her Songbird's repertoire.
'The Mentor Skill..., if what we believe it does is as advertised, then it certainly helps explain the half of Lianne's and Faith's rapid progress in their training. The other half might have something to do with the two truly wanting to improve themselves with Dinah's guidance. The question is, how'd she get it?', Panacea pondered as she watched Dinah and Lianne spar while Faith watched from the sidelines.
'They're improving too quickly. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it'll attract too much attention. Especially since they're training out here. It's a good thing that I talked Faith into getting it for the Familia..., but it won't be ready for another week. I can't wait for Dinah to see it.', she thought to herself while laughing inwardly. 'Just imagining Dinah's reaction to seeing it for the first time is getting me even more excited.'
——————————————————————————————
{7:25 AM}
In the front courtyard of the Panacea Familia home, Dinah, Faith, and Lianne are hard at work in their training.
Dinah was dressed in another crop top t-shirt, shorts, and nothing else. Her crop top was a dark gray while her shorts were black. She had a slight sheen of sweat glistening on her skin and her smile was bright and encouraging.
In front of her was Lianne, who was dressed in a white shirt with a caricature of a carrot at the front, black shorts, and nothing else. Just like her big sis; personal idol, and Sensei, the hume bunny girl chose to go barefoot as well. She was sweating in slight exhaustion, but she was enjoying herself as they sparred.
Watching their spar with intrigue and a small smile was Faith; of whom was sitting at the sidelines. Faith was dressed in a red t-shirt, blue jean shorts, and she chose to wear her leather sandals instead of following Dinah's lead on barefoot shenanigans.
^(Whoossh!)^
^(Thwip!)^
^(Fwoo!)^ ^(Fwoo!)^
The sounds of a spar growing intense as the seconds dragged on filled the courtyard. With a backwards flip, Dinah dodged another kick that would've hit her face while she blocked the 2nd kick with a palm.
After disengaging, Lianne circled around Dinah while she lightly hopped from foot to foot. Her sensei just watched while taking a loose stance and following her student's movements.
Her 3rd time around her target was the moment she changed up her attack. Before she hopped to attack, she kicked a piece of a broken branch to Dinah's face before following it with a flying side kick aimed at the Canary's midsection.
Dinah; immediately seeing the unorthodox attack, smiled before she shattered the branch with a fast jab while closing her eyes to prevent the splinters and wooden fragments from injuring her vision.
Without her ability to see, you'd think the kick aimed at her midsection would've hit her, but her sense of sight wasn't the only way she saw the battlefield.
Hearing the slight change in the air and the minor whistling of the wind gave her the direction of the attack's origin. With a guess, Dinah put a forearm in front of her torso and the moment she did, she felt an impact that pushed her back a few inches.
With a shift of her stance, Dinah put up the time out signal to indicate the end of the spar. With opening eyes, Dinah looked at her tired yet very pleased pupil.
"Good job, Lianne. You managed to hit me and push me back. You also used some of the advice I gave you. You've definitely improved.", Dinah complimented her hume bunny pupil with a smile and nod.
"Yeah! That was fun, big sis Sensei!", Lianne replied with exuberance. Lianne hopped around Dinah and Faith in joy while the three women in the area watched with great fondness.
'It's interesting how she's taken the stepping method I taught her and evolved it to work with her improving bunny hops. Who knew she could accelerate from a simple stance to a quick attack with just a subtle shift of her muscles, until we found out yesterday.', Dinah thought while inwardly chuckling.
'Who knew a 4ft 4in tall, 10 year old hume bunny, could jump 7 feet into the air? Apparently, Lianne can with the careful application of the explosive power in her quads, glutes, hamstrings, and calf muscles. And she's still growing. Her kicks are going to be the most devastating weapons she'll have at the moment as well as her mobility... Hmmm...'
With a shake of her head to get her back on track; while saving her ideas in a bottle for later perusal, Dinah gestured for Lianne to sit next to Faith.
As Lianne joined Faith, Dinah sat down in front of them and they began their daily ritual in which Dinah shattered their preconceived knowledge of certain subjects while dropping snippets of wisdom like an apple tree drops it's fruit. These conversations were lessons in and of themselves, but Dinah tended to add subtle flairs to the knowledge she drops on them that helps her pupils retain them easily.
"Now, before we continue our sparring session, have you two had your Status updated?", Dinah asked without preamble with a gentle smile set in.
"Yes, we have. I'm curious as to why you asked of us to have that performed earlier than we usually have it done, but I'm happy to say that a few of my parameters have increased as of late.", stated Faith with a happy grin.
"Yeah, it's awesome big sis. I'm a little bit stronger now.", said Lianne cheerfully.
"Alright, that's great to know. Now, besides the training I've put you under, what other things have you two done that would've increased your parameters?"
With a raised brow, the half-elf answered right away with, "There's nothing I can think of."
"Nope, nothing.", said Lianne with an adorable thinking pose.
"I want you both to keep that in mind while you think over this next question. What does the grace of the Gods and Goddesses do to each and every individual that has them? I want you both to give me an answer in how you describe it in your own words. Don't just regurgitate what you've read in books or what you've heard others say."
"Hmmm..., in my experience, I'd say that those blessed with their respective Gods' or Goddesses' Falna are able to reach heights of power unknown to most mortals. We basically become pseudo demi-gods or demi-goddesses if we put in the time, effort, and work to reach that high.", answered Faith clinically while she nodded to herself. "It's a difficult height to reach, but it's not impossible."
"I agree with big sis Faith. If we work hard enough, then we can become stronger, faster, and we would be able to use Magic. We become tougher and overall more heroic.", said Lianne with a confident smile.
"Those are good answers and they're all knowledge that are based on the facts we've observed from former knowledge and experience. However, what you both probably haven't realized yet is that the Falna we've been given isn't just an enhancer or a gateway to the realms of the Gods and Goddesses in terms of power acquisition. The blessings of the divine are multipliers. It enhances what we already have and increases our potential, but it also multiplies what we naturally have. My training is adapted to take advantage of the minor healing factor the Falna gave us while also helping us increase our natural strengths. Those minor jumps in your Basic Abilities are just that, - minor. But if you think about it, how come you're both much faster than before? How come you're both much stronger than before? What is the reason?"
After a few seconds pause, Dinah continued her lecture. "It's because you've been training your bodies naturally and I've increased the intensity of our workouts after every day that passes. The minor healing factor we all have helps us quickly recover after a good meal and a good night's rest. The small jumps in parameters are pretty minor, but I suspect you've been getting them because your bodies are being pushed to their breaking point in several different areas. However, the key factor in all of this is what you've been achieving with your own efforts. The more natural strength you have, then the more stronger you'll be as your parameters increase. Everything I'm making you two do is to help strengthen you in almost every area I can think of."
Dinah swept her gaze between her two pupils' slowly widening eyes. With a nod, she finishes with, "That's right. This training I'm giving you two will make you both individually powerful Level 1's without having to go to the dungeon as of yet. I have several goals I believe you two can reach within 3 months, wanna hear them?"
"Before hearing these goals you want us to reach, what's your plan for further training us? If what you've shockingly revealed to us is fact; which I'm starting to see is very likely a possibility, then how can we further maximize our training if the number of certain workouts we do keep reaching higher and higher numbers?", Faith asked with a glimmer in her eyes.
"Simple. I'll just increase the intensity. I'll be strapping each of us with weights. Ankles, wrists, vests, and the works. We'll be lifting boulders, swimming upstream, climbing mountains with our bare hands, and I've got more interesting ideas...", said Dinah with a scary grin on her face. This grin and the way their Sensei spoke just now made a cold shiver climb up their spines.
"Ummm..., bis sis Sensei...-", interrupted Lianne with a subtle shiver and a reluctant smile. "Where would we find boulders?... And ummm, yeah... Where would we find these things?"
'Oh Lianne, you brave brave girl. I'll be getting you more dessert later.', Faith thought in gratitude while trying to keep a calm facade.
"Oh, that's easy my cute little disciple. We'll be diving into the dungeon to workout by using their different environments as training aides in the near future.", Dinah said with a grin and a twinkle in her eye.
'I feel really worried right now.', thought Faith with a slight frown.
'Big sis Sensei has scary ideas, but if it helps me become stronger, then I'll follow my Sensei's lead... I'm kind of scared though.', thought Lianne with a small resolute look.
'My Songbird is a truly dedicated mentor. Hopefully she won't scare her students too much.', Panacea thought while releasing a *Sigh*.
"Now then, wanna hear those goals I've got for you two?", Dinah continued with a slightly excited smile.