Chapter 4:
Stalker Girl
THINGS GOT A BIT EASIER FOR ME, TOO, ONCE Wim was given permission to temporarily stay in Nachtlibelle’s guesthouse. Being an elder came with authority, which meant I could do just about anything once I gave the name “Heidemarie.” I could get my hands on anything I wanted, and invent magic to do just about anything.
Unfortunately, there was no teleportation magic, and even elders couldn’t overcome physical distances. The intel I could get from the transmission crest was also limited. It took installing a wiretap stone in Drachenflügel’s party house to finally get a basic idea of Wim’s life, but once he stepped into town, my information dropped back to zero.
But what about now? There was only a few minutes’ walk separating his room from mine, and I could easily get that down to one if I ran.
I had been given a research lab inside Nachtlibelle’s party house, and it also served as my bedroom. Luckily, I could see the entrance to the guesthouse from my window, making it perfect for surveillance.
Since the whole party lived together, we shared the same dining hall and bathing rooms, and some rooms even shared toilets. Now that Wim and I were in the same party, we couldn’t hide certain information from each other. The best part was that I could see my transmission crest moving in real-time.
I was immensely grateful in terms of insurance, too. I was done for if anybody caught me sneaking into the Drachenflügel Party’s house, but now I didn’t have to worry about that. If someone caught me sneaking into the guesthouse, I could probably get out of it if I was insistent enough. Living close to Wim meant I could worm my way out of unexpected situations.
It was the perfect setup, and I had no complaints.
A few days had passed since Wim moved in, and I was jolted awake by the alarm bell placed next to my bed. I quickly spread open the map of our manor to double-check where the signal sent by the transmission crest had come from. It was outside the circle I had drawn and headed for the courtyard.
Wim had left the guesthouse.
I immediately thought this was strange. The only training Wim usually did in the morning was going on a run, and that was more to work the sleep out of his bones than build strength. His usual route went from Drachenflügel Party’s house to the Abenteurers’ Guild, around the building, and then he went from the town square back home. In the town square, he would do some stretches and some small training sequences to keep himself nimble. Sure, he was now staying with Nachtlibelle, but Wim was the type to keep his routine consistent.
So, what was he doing in the courtyard so early in the morning? Training of some sort, probably. Likely practicing with his blade. Knowing him, he would choose to do basic training behind the guesthouse to avoid any onlookers.
He must’ve been summoned by someone.
I activated my wiretap stone and brought it to my ear. The stones were magical tools, decorated and paired together so that the vibrations picked up by one would transmit to the other. I had attached one to Wim’s jacket.
I could hear the sound of the wind and his rustling clothes from the other side. He must have put on his jacket today. So, who had called for him?
Damn, I couldn’t narrow down a list of people. I had a hard time thinking that anyone besides me would invite Wim out. Maybe Abel was trying to be nice?
I picked up on another sound through the static. It was a voice—a woman’s voice.
“No way…” I pulled away from the stone—not that I was truly shaken or anything. I took a deep breath and listened back in.
“Sorry to call you out here, boy.”
It was Camilla.
✦ ✦ ✦
Using buffs to train was Camilla’s idea. I would cast a light buff on her and then she would try to swing her blade and move as fast as possible while paying attention to that sensation. Then, I would undo the buff, and she would try over and over to recreate those same movements.
It made sense. This could be a good way of further refining your abilities—one I had never considered myself. I would cast buffs on myself during battle, so I had naturally done something similar before. But I had never thought of applying that to someone else.
“I know it’s early. You have my apologies.”
“No, not at all! Um… Fweh heh heh. You’ve been so kind to me, after all.”
“This is work, so I’ll give you a bonus for your services later. If this proves successful, I want to have some of our other members try it out, so you can expect good pay if you do decide to join us.”
“I-I see…” I didn’t know how to react. I felt bad getting paid just for waking up a bit early.
Camilla did some squats, jumped in the air a few times, and turned back to me. “Then let’s get started. I, Camilla, approve you, Wim, to cast your granting magic on me.”
“Right.”
The buffs I would be formulating today were just for training purposes. I didn’t put as much power in them, instead providing only a little support for the movements I analyzed.
“You’ve been enchanted.”
“All right.”
Camilla waited for me to move a certain distance before pulling out a training sword and giving it a few swings. And when I say “training sword,” I don’t mean the common foot soldier’s blade people tend to imagine. This sword was huge and so heavy that only some of those with the warrior occupation were able to wield it.
She cut an elegant arch through the air. Her footwork was excellent, and she quickly and easily moved from right to left. The sound of her blade as it sliced through the air was a contrast to her swiftness, and instead embodied the terror a clump of iron could do in terms of damage. It was enough to mess with your sense of perspective.
For one, it was rare that anyone so large could move as nimbly as Camilla. The fact she could wield such a blade so easily exemplified what set her apart from the average abenteurer.
“Undo the buff, boy!”
I did as she said. “Done!”
Camilla nodded. Then, she redid her earlier movements. They were still refined, which made sense given her skills. However, they were just a half-step—or more accurately, a quarter-step—slower than they had been. She repeated her movements again, then once more.
“Hmm…” Camilla froze for a moment, her eyes were open wide. “Recast those buffs on me!”
“On it!”
I silently watched as Camilla swung her sword, casting and uncasting the buffs on her. I was sure she would get bored, but I could tell just by observing her that her skills were shockingly progressing by leaps and bounds. She figured out which of her movements were unnecessary, further polishing her already refined abilities. In just an hour, she had clearly taken a half-step forward.
“Perfect. This is perfect!” she declared.
I was the one who had cast these buffs, but even I was surprised to see how effective they had been. Camilla had the might of a warrior god, and yet she had climbed to new heights. It was almost scary.
“I swing my arms too much. Now, how do I fix this…?”
She had already figured out what she needed to do to improve! Her movements were fluid, but she divided them into parts, and practiced them over and over. Apparently, she swung her arms too far upwards when doing downward, diagonal strikes, which made it more difficult to redirect her attack.
Watching her gave me a thought. “Um…Camilla?”
“What is it?”
“I think you’d get closer to your ideal swing if I adjusted the friction on some of your joints. Though that would mean casting a debuff rather than a buff.”
“You can do that?”
“I can. Basically, your movements will be restrained and instead forced in certain directions. If I undo the sensory buffs on you, I think you’ll be able to feel the difference, which should make things easier.”
“All right. Let’s try it then. I give you my permission.”
I had already watched and analyzed her movements, which made putting together a code easy. “You’re now enchanted.”
Camilla swung her sword downwards, repeating the action a few times.
“Got it. Take it off, now.”
I cut off the path connecting us, and Camilla immediately swung her sword again. The difference was clear as day. The transition between slashes had disappeared, and it had improved her sideway swings as well.
She was a genius. As soon as she got the hang of things, she was immediately able to put them into action.
“You’ve done it, boy!” Camilla’s voice was full of emotion as she took a big step towards me and grabbed my hands. I was about to shrink backwards, but I stopped myself. “Let’s do this every morning! And as a partner… Perfect! I’ll invite Abel!”
I responded with an awkward laugh. I was just glad I was able to please her this much.