Chapter 70 - Weakness

Seeing Hestia calling Lili, Ethan smiled before returning to look in front of him. This action brought Ais to ask him

"Are you...happy?"

Hearing the sudden question, he answered with his smile that didn't dissipate in the slightest

"Yes, I think I am slowly...understanding how to live in this different type of atmosphere. Where I come from, it was all so different that it's still difficult to adapt.."

Remembering an important quote, he turned towards her while adding

"To me, being happy means I'm living life as I want it. I know I have to work hard to keep this happiness, but It's nothing if I'm able to be happy with the people I want to be with..."

Seeing her confused, he laughed sarcastically while he brought his hand behind his neck. Looking away, he clarified

"Or at least... that's what I've been told when I was a kid.."

Hearing this conversation as well, Lefiya stared at Ethan while Ais understood somehow that It wasn't something he wanted to talk about. While Hestia and Lili were arguing against each other, they were finally in the training grounds.

Seeing more people than what she expected, Riveria saw Hestia and Lili. With a bow of respect for Hestia, she asked

"May I know why you are there too, Hestia-sama?"

Being asked this question, Hestia replied with an 'Ah?' before understanding she was talking with her. Deciding it was better to be sincere, she answered

"I am here because I was worried about Ethan, I won't interfere with you.."

Shaking her head, Riveria clarified

"It wasn't my intention to sound annoyed by your presence in any way, I was just curious about the reason..."

Smiling, Hestia looked at Lili for a moment. Seeing her face that had an expression that clearly asked 'Can you ask her to train me too??', she sighed while nodding.

"For today then we'll be spectators"

With a shocked expression, Lili was ready to argue with her before Hestia closed her mouth with a 'smile'

"Right, Lili?"

Feeling somewhat afraid of her, she looked away while nodding. Understanding everything went as planned, Hestia brought Lili far from them to be able to observe without being in the way. Now sat on the grass, She pouted at her

"Why didn't you ask them to train me? Ethan would've surely accepted!"

Sighing, she looked at her while answering

"Are you stupid? They have an important expedition in two days, you can't be so greedy to make them skip training for your selfishness. I accepted that Ethan will train you and that's already too much, but we won't be making problems for others if it isn't absolutely necessary, understand?"

Hearing this, she made an 'heeeh?' before thinking carefully about it. Pouting again, she replied while looking away

"Fine, I understand you have a point"

Nodding, Hestia sat next to her while looking at the sky.

"Don't cause too many troubles for him..just because he's kind to you, that doesn't mean you can be a burden for him 24 hours a day..."

Now staring at her, she didn't reply as in her mind, all her words dealt heavy blows. Bringing her knees to her c.h.e.s.t, she rested her head on them while holding her legs still...

Seeing she made her sad, Hestia took her into an embrace while adding, now far gentler

"Though..for a few hours a day, they won't weigh on him for sure.."

Her reply made her nod before the tears that threatened to escape her eyes stayed in their place before Lili wiped them. Removing her goddess from her, she continued to stare at them as they started to talk..

"Thanks...Hestia-sama"

---

"Thanks Riveria for the help, and sorry if we made you wait"

Saying this, Ethan looked at Riveria before he heard another voice from the distance.

"Ethan!!"

Turning to see who called him, he saw Tiona running towards them with a smile. Returning her with a smile of his own, he added

"So, I guess Tiona will help too..?"

Closing her eyes, Riveria replied

"Yes, she decided to let you fight her to improve your close combat as it lacks technique. From me instead, I'll make you learn the fundamentals of magic. I think you already have basic knowledge, but it's always better to repeat it. They can help you get the [Mage] development ability"

Surprised, he thought about her words while Tiona was already next to Lefiya.

'Basic knowledge..? The only things I know are related to mana, It's obvious that on a manual to control mana I won't have basic knowledge on magic as well, I guess it'll be wonderful to have her as my real teacher..'

Smiling awkwardly while his mind had some thought on Riveria dressed as a Sensei, she glared at him while hitting him with her staff.

"You're surely thinking something that shouldn't represent the situation we are in. Cut it out."

Rubbing the spot where she hit as always, he replied, changing the subject

"So? Which train should I start first?"

Returning serious, Riveria answered

"Let's start with your close combat. It's way too regular, like you don't have a fighting style at all. It can catch someone off guard but against someone very powerful you would surely lose, no matter how strong your blows are, if the hit doesn't land then it's useless"

Remembering he heard similar words from someone else, he nodded while staring at Tiona. Seeing he was so focused, she smiled while saying

"I won't go easy on you, so get ready!"

Understanding she was serious, Ethan gulped before Riveria smiled at his reaction

"You can't use magic against her, I realize if you will do even one spell."

Even though he roughly understood why it was necessary for him to not use his magic, he still wanted to ask but, before he could, he heard a shut from Tiona who announced the 'start' of their training.

---

While these events were taking place, Lefiya and Ais they moved away as well. Staring at him with her expressionless face, Ais saw Tiona starting their fight. Slowly closing her eyes, she said

"Ethan..won't be able to resist Tiona's power if she doesn't hold back..."

Hearing this, Lefiya replied

"It's true..but Tiona won't really hit him with all her power...r-right?"

Sharpening her eyes, Ais didn't say anything more while focusing entirely on his fight. Seeing her like this, Lefiya was a little worried..

'I mean..she just wants to see him training..m-maybe?'

Thinking this, she knew there was nothing she could do to help him..

Barely evading a blow, Ethan felt it was impossible to even understand how he should learn something from this 'fight'

But even so, he was determined to not let it finish without him doing anything. Trying to hit her, the only thing he earned was a punch that threw him away...again.

Stopping for a moment, Tiona laughed while saying

"Your instincts are really sharp! A Level 2 wouldn't even be able to catch a glimpse of my blows while you're trying to dodge them because you can see them with the corner of your eyes, right?"

Being asked this question, Ethan got up while replying

"The pattern of your movements is too irregular for me to understand and predict them, if I use my magic, I should be able to dodge even more hits..but I don't think I'll be able to lend a blow on you.."

Shaking her head, Riveria was about to charge in but, before she could, Tiona's smile widened.

"That's not a fighting style. You are trying to understand how I fight to evade my blows. That would lead you to lose all the fights with opponents stronger than you...if you had an opponent as powerful as you then it would be fine, but this is useless here!"

Before they could continue, Riveria finally said

"Let's end this here. Ethan, I think learning Tiona's style isn't suitable for you. It's better if you develop your own style from seeing others at work..the expedition will help you with your weakness, but you need to rely on your other parameters as well instead of only magic, otherwise you will end up like Lefiya.."

Hearing her use Lefiya as example, he chuckled while she was deadly serious. Even though it wasn't as evident during the fight, Tiona still broke a few of his bones while hitting him.

'I guess she used quite a bit of her power..'

Boosting his natural regeneration, he felt as the bones were starting to slowly heal while returning at their places. Feeling something odd, he had a few thoughts about his healing.

'Wait, won't my magic just boost my natural regeneration? Would that mean the natural regeneration of humans can become so effective with a small push?'

While he was thinking this, Riveria stared at him before casting healing magic as well. Feeling the bones healing faster, he snapped out of his thoughts while she sighed

"You could tell me directly that you needed treatment."

Saying this, he saw Lefiya run towards him while Ais walked slowly towards him while glaring at Tiona out of the corner of her eyes.

Asking him if he was fine, Ethan just waved his hand to make them understand he was. Deciding it was better to apologize, Tiona rubbed the back of her head with a troubled expression.

"Sorry if I hurt you, I can't hold on that well when I fight.."

Understanding this as well, he nodded while replying

"You made me understand how to improve myself, A pair of broken bones is nothing compared to this"

Busy talking amongst themselves, Ethan glanced at Hestia and Lili. Seeing the former blocking the latter with a hand on her mouth, he smiled at them before returning his focus on Riveria.

"I want to ask why my train with Tiona was so..fast?"

With this question asked, Tiona was the first to reply

"I honestly have nothing to teach you, I can just make you understand your mistakes during battle, but if you don't have a fighting style to fight me with then it's pretty useless for me to battle against you, right?"

Surprised by how calm she seemed to be, he thought for a moment this was something that clearly showed him the differences between the world he was in and the anime he remembered, but..

"And, if you fight me, at least I want to see what you can do, without being restricted by such a thing as a fighting style.."

Even though he expected her reply, he still smiled at her

"The first time I couldn't show you my strength at its fullest...But in the future, I'll show you..what I am capable of"

Nodding, she approached him while grasping his arm with a laugh.

"That's the spirit! I'll wait for you to be strong enough to challenge me, seriously! Until now, I can help you training when you will understand what fighting style you want to use.."

Feeling her c.h.e.s.t on his arm, he looked away while glancing at Ais, asking for forgiveness. With her smile widening, she added

"So you like us without b.o.o.b.s too..I see!"

Glaring at Tiona even more, Ais approached him while grasping his other arm. Understanding she had to release him otherwise things would get complicated, she did exactly that while heading towards the exit of the training area.

With her expression softening a bit, Ais now stared at Ethan while still holding his arm.

"She's..dangerous.."

Gulping, he nodded as she didn't break her staring even for a moment. Deciding it was better to calm her, he replied

"I'm weaker then her, so there's nothing to worry..right?"

Shaking her head, Ais added

"She is still...dangerous"

Sighing, he decided he would talk with her when they were alone, but Riveria had different plans.

'Probably Ais won't be the only one in his heart at this rate..the real question is whether Ais is fine with that or not..Why I'm even worrying that much? It should be their problem..but'

With this, she understood she had to do something to help the two, otherwise Ais will be unhappy, and that's something that deep down she didn't want to tolerate, after all, Ais is like a daughter to her...

'I need to correct Ethan's mistakes..again...'

Sighing, she returned on their training with these thoughts in mind.

---

(I have a discord server. discord.gg/cpVr5X8 If you enter it, you can choose one of Ethan's future powers from the pool I created, but that's not all! On the server, you can see the reference on some things that will be present in the story! Right now you can freely see some things like the [Twin's Digimon] and [The Devoted Heart].)

(If you want to support me w ww.pat reon.com/watashiwavdesu)

(Alternate Titles: "Ais' glaring is cute yet..scary", "Ethan: using the card Amazoness Instincts against Ais. It wasn't effective.", "Hestia, fighting with herself on how to act with Lili")