…And with that, he was spent.
One large contract and three small ones was his limit. A rather impressive showing for a man his age – given that a single large contract was the average - but at moments like this it felt woefully inadequate.
Especially with his end goal in mind.
"Well, I guess you can't be too upset." A voice called from the darkness. "Because if that last one was trauma-boosted, then it was the weediest trauma boost I've ever seen."
Turning, he saw two silvery eyes making their way over to him through the gloom, the light of the nearby gas-lanterns reflected in them.
"Marline," he sighed. "I- now's not really a good time."
He just didn't have the energy for whatever issue the Dark Elf had with him. Tomorrow, certainly, but for tonight he just needed to… think.
"Really?" the young woman said, white hair standing out vividly against her dark grey skin as she stepped into the light. "Even if I brought food?"
Sure enough, held in her hands was a small basket containing a number of small sandwiches.
Once more, William's stomach rumbled at the sight.
"That's… kind of you?" he said with genuine surprise.
The elf rolled her eyes, even as she all-but shoved the basket into his hands. "Why? Can't I look out for a teammate?"
Idly, picking up one of the snacks, he shook his head. "Not at all. I'm thankful. And a little surprised. I thought you didn't like me."
Marline looked like she might argue for a second, before sagging. "It was that obvious?"
He laughed around a mouthful of bread, before swallowing. "Was it supposed to be subtle?"
"No, I suppose it wasn't."
She sighed as she unshouldered a pack that was strung over her shoulder. The contents clacked together as they hit the ground.
Carefully, William wiped some crumbs from his hand, resisting the urge to grab another sandwich as he regarded his teammate.
"Any chance you'll elaborate on precisely what the issue was?"
She shook her head. "No… not yet. Besides it wasn't really you. Or rather, it wasn't your fault. It just took me until today to realize that."
Well, the only thing that William could really think of that happened today regarding him was his confrontation with Tala. A conversation that had dozens of implications for any curious onlooker.
Ultimately, he just didn't know enough about his teammate to guess which ones had apparently improved her opinion of him.
"Fair enough," he said, grabbing another sandwich.
Despite herself, the young woman laughed. "Really? You're not going to press me for answers?"
"We'll be spending the next four years together and it's been two days." He shrugged. "You'll probably tell me eventually."
"Probably," she muttered as she glanced down at her feet, before looking back up at him. "Though that assumes you're actually with us for the next four years. Given what your 'fiancée' said, Olzenya's already planning on stepping into the leader role when you go."
He blinked. "Pretty sure team-leader is decided in the third week."
"You're not as subtle as you think," the girl said as she regarded his owlish expression. "I'd say only Verity's yet to notice that you've been unofficially sliding yourself into the role."
Huh, he hadn't thought he'd been that obvious.
"Well, Olzenya shouldn't be counting her chickens just yet. Even if Tala can get my mother onboard with switching my team, Instructor Griffith says that it's unlikely to happen until the end of the first semester. Which is six months away."
"And?" The dark elf cocked her head.
He grinned, some of his momentary melancholy and frustration leaving him. "A lot can happen in six months."
Sure, it effectively cut his planned timetable in half, but that was life.
No plan ever survives first contact with the enemy, he thought.
And now that his enemy had made her first move, it was up to him to adapt.
Which meant getting his team ready.
"You know, I think I preferred you when you were sulking," Marline commented.
He just laughed, before his attention turned to the pack she'd been carrying.
"With that said, I doubt you came all the way out here just to bring me dinner – which I'm thankful for by the way." He placed down the now empty basket. "I'm also noting a distinct lack of Verity present."
Indeed, while the orc may not have had glow in the dark eyes like their elvish teammate, she would have been pretty hard to miss.
Because here was supposed to be the meeting spot for their 'fighting lessons'.
Admittedly, in the future he'd have arranged for them to be in a proper practice arena, but for this evening he knew the spell-range would be pretty much empty and he had some… frustrations to work out.
"She's not coming," Marline confirmed as she reached down to the sack to pull out two wooden practice sabres. "It took some convincing, but she's back at the room getting meditation lessons from Olzenya."
William raised an eyebrow. "So, you're here in her stead?"
"That I am." She tossed one of the 'blades' to him. "In return for her teaching me the same shit Bonnlyn's teaching Olzenya."
How to properly wash clothes, in other words. Along with a myriad other small tasks that the two elves were accustomed to having servants for.
He twirled the blade in his hand, getting accustomed to its weight. "Oh? Were you feeling left out of the little circle of favors I was creating?"
Despite his teasing, the elf just scoffed. "Hardly. I just needed the skills she had – and I thought I'd save you a load of pointless pain and wasted time."
As she spoke, she brought the wooden blade up, getting into a stance. Which William imitated with his own, before tapping his blade against hers.
The universal signal to 'begin'.
"Wasted time?" he asked, as he lunged forward.
"Yes," Marline confirmed shortly as she easily deflected the blow off to the side. "Because she's too naturally talented."
William brought his blade around, trying to bring his blade across, but once more Marline's own interspersed itself.
"She wasn't trained or taught. She just does what she does naturally. A prodigy if you will."
She stepped forward and he was forced to step back, maintaining his footing as best he could even as he moved into a defensive stance.
Or… his best approximation of such.
"Because of which, I sincerely doubt she could explain how she does what she does." Marline's sword lashed out again, and William's was knocked wide – and then the tip of her blade was pressed against his chest. "She just does it."
A little disappointed, William sagged in surrender. "I yield."
"I on the other hand can tell you that you just lost because I maintained total control of the centre line after that first hit." She stepped forward, hand coming over to make a dozen small adjustments to his stance. "And I can also tell you're a total amateur who's likely held a blade all of twice in your life."
He shrugged. "That's not entirely wrong."
Marline just grunted. "Perils of being a man. With that said, we're in general intake. You'll hardly be unique in that respect. Plenty of our teammates will be starting from scratch and the Instructors will have lessons for them planned accordingly."
She stepped back. "With that said, you were wise to seek out 'extra lessons'."
William nodded, noticing how much more… smoothly he could move after her adjustments.
"Feet stay on the ground," his instructor instructed. "Glide. Don't walk or stomp. If you're in the air, you can't adjust or change course."
As she talked, she demonstrated by sliding her feet across the ground, changing directions at will, sword constantly at the ready.
William followed her motions.
And continued to do so, for the next hour, until the end of day bell rang and the now quite sweaty pair started making their way back to their quarters.
It was only afterward as he lay his aching body down onto his bed – his contracts memorized – that he realized that he'd never actually agreed to let the dark elf be his tutor.
Huh, seems I'm not the only one who can pull people into their flow without them realizing, he thought blearily as he nodded off to sleep.