Chương 89: Chapter 87 – It's Only 3 Years

The meeting had gone about as well as Chelsea could have hoped. Every hour that passed was another hour closer to Valhalla. Another hour closer to saying goodbye to Ivy. She had spent so much time worrying about Celeste, the demon kingdom, and the Valkyr that she hadn't really let herself think about that part.

"Now to spar," Gerard announced.

"Lead the way to somewhere we can." Chelsea felt Celeste pushing against the ability.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Don't think what I said to my father meant anything." Chelsea smiled.

"Of course not."

"The only reason I said any of that was so he wouldn't worry."

"Mhm." Chelsea nodded their head.

"I still think you're a fucking idiot with a saint complex." Chelsea wrapped her arms around herself giving a self-hug.

"Thank you, Celeste. That's very sweet. Love you too!" She knew what she was doing and it would just piss off Celeste. The princess was hammering away at the ability while Chelsea ignored her. They reached the city gate a few minutes later.

"Hello again," Chelsea said brightly.

"We are all done speaking with the demons. Could you please let us back in now?" The guard straightened immediately.

"Yes, Miss Wixx." Then he hesitated.

"Actually, I wanted to thank you." Chelsea blinked.

"For what?"

"My brother's bakery." The guard adjusted his helmet.

"That loan changed everything for him. For all of us." Chelsea immediately shook her head.

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about." The guard stared at her confused.

"I do believe that loan was approved by an anonymous individual."

"Of course." he replied with a nervous laugh. Chelsea smiled and added a wink. The man's grin somehow widened further.

"Must've been somebody else." He pounded twice on the gate. As they passed through, Gerard looked between Chelsea and the guard.

"The hell was that about?" Ivy laughed.

"Our favorite little demon basically runs the Merchant's Guild." Gerard stopped walking.

"What?" Chelsea frowned.

"I do not." Ivy bumped her hip against Chelsea's, "You move enough money to make nobles petition the king for… what was that word? Sanctums? Sanc… Sanctions. That one." Chelsea thought about it.

"Okay, that only happened twice and it was the same noble both times." She laughed. Gerard stared at her for several seconds.

"You've been here like a month."

"You should take the merchant assessment. It's really easy." She looked up at him. Gerard immediately made a face.

"Eh, maybe. I've been a merchant before. It's not for me." After a quick stop at the manor to change clothes, they headed for the practice fields. Most adventurers were finished for the day, leaving plenty of room.

"Practice weapons or real?" Adriane asked.

"Real is fine," Gerard replied.

"As long as we're sparring and not trying to actually kill one another."

"That's fine." Adriane agreed.

"I'm level forty-three. My strength is in the low two hundreds." Adriane's eyebrows rose.

"Forty-three?" She nodded impressed.

"In a month?"

"I have an enhancement of my own." The two took their positions. Adriane lowered herself into her stance. Gerard's expression brightened.

"Ah. Very nice."

"You recognize my stance?"

"Machaka style." That got a strange look out of Adriane as she didn't recognize the word.

"I've seen worse styles."

"What do you mean you've seen worse?"

"I've seen a man hold a sword backwards and somehow make it work." Nobody knew whether he was joking. He drew his own blade and settled into position. Or rather, what appeared to be the complete absence of one. His posture was relaxed. His sword rested loosely in one hand. Every movement looked effortless. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Chelsea understood that Adriane could regulate her strength down to around where he stated his was.

But how did that work exactly? Surely she'd still have her reactions speed. But she also knew Adriane respected combat. So maybe if he was skilled enough she'd let things happen to her? Like how Chelsea cut her during the guild assessment. Adriane stared at him for several moments. Then shrugged. If he wanted to stand there like an idiot, that was his decision. She launched forward with some restraint as it was a fight of skill not strength. The opening was obvious. He was giving her a free strike.

The sort of mistake no experienced swordsman should make. Adriane immediately took it. The next movement happened so quickly Chelsea almost missed it. Gerard's sword shifted catching her blade effortlessly, leading her to.... A foot. Adriane's balance disappeared as he tripped her. A moment later she was face-first in the dirt. There was silence. Adriane slowly pushed herself upright. Gerard looked thoughtful.

"Good recovery." Adriane blinked, her cheeks were red.

"What?"

"You kept your chin tucked when you fell." He nodded approvingly.

"Most people don't." Gerard continued circling her.

"Also, whoever tailored that dress did a good job. The shoulders aren't restricting your movement nearly as much as I expected." Adriane looked completely thrown by that observation. Chelsea noticed Ivy quietly lowering her head to hide a smile.

"Are you a woman who takes criticism and suggestions well, Miss Wixx?" Gerard asked. His tone was completely sincere. He wasn't mocking her Adriane brushed dirt from the front of her dress.

"I'd like to think so." Her face had turned even brighter red at him mentioning her dress.

"You got too powerful too fast." Gerard struck toward a spot already covered by Adriane's blade. She moved instinctively to intercept. The moment she committed, he changed angles. The hilt of his sword tapped lightly against her ribs.

"Again." Adriane reset immediately. A second later she was attacking. Gerard slid into a lower stance, mirroring her own posture closely enough that Chelsea recognized what he was doing.

"You spent years existing stronger than everyone around you," he said. Steel rang out between them. Adriane attacked. Gerard blocked. She attacked again. He redirected the strike with minimal movement.

"You had one person who could consistently challenge you." Another exchange. Another deflection.

"You learned how to fight that one person." He stepped around a thrust.

"You learned their habits." A strike glanced off his blade.

"Their timing." Another.

"Their weaknesses." Adriane increased the pressure. Gerard continued speaking as though they were discussing what's for dinner.

"You became exceptionally good at fighting one opponent." Their swords met again. Then suddenly Adriane's blade was out of position. Gerard's sword stopped just short of her throat.

"That's where your training ended." Silence settled over the field. Adriane stood frozen. Her chest rose and fell rapidly. Chelsea knew her well enough to know this sort of training wouldn't make her out of breath. So why was she breathing heavily? Something felt off. Adriane wasn't angry or embarrassed. If anything, she looked... Chelsea glanced toward Ivy, who looked equally confused. Passion, meanwhile, seemed to understand exactly what she was seeing and was trying very hard not to smile.

Adriane lowered her sword.

"You can stay at the manor." The offer came so quickly that even Gerard looked surprised.

"You want me to stay?"

"Yes." Adriane cleared her throat. Then tried again.

"I mean, if you don't have other accommodations."

"Will you work with me?" Adriane asked.

"I didn't realize how much I still needed to improve." Gerard considered the request.

"Sure." Adriane brightened noticeably. He held up a hand with his index finger to the sky.

"As long as you take me on S-rank missions when they come up."

"Deal." Adriane replied quickly. The answer came so fast that Chelsea nearly laughed. Adriane immediately looked away as though she hadn't responded like that. Gerard appeared completely oblivious.

"Excellent. You have good fundamentals. This shouldn't take long." Adriane Wixx had just found someone capable of teaching her something she didn't already know. That alone would have been enough to make her happy. But… Chelsea was becoming increasingly suspicious that it wasn't the only reason. It would be three years before she saw her silly elf again. Chelsea hated that. She hated it far more than she wanted to admit.

Unfortunately, hating something had never once made it go away, so she did her best to enjoy the time she still had. She and Ivy spent most of the afternoon together. It took three separate visits from Passion to finally convince them to head downstairs. By the time they made their way downstairs, everyone was waiting in the entryway. The other Valkyr stood near the front doors alongside Freya. The Wixx family occupied the rest of the room. Dewey looked like he was trying very hard to be the strong one.

Fiona wasn't helping, as she looked just as emotional. Adriane's eyes were already red. Bea had adopted her usual expression of mild annoyance, which only worked if someone ignored the fact that she kept refusing to look directly at Chelsea. Edgar looked exactly like Edgar. Chelsea smiled. Then immediately felt her eyes watering again. The goodbyes took longer than she expected. Bea was first. The healer crossed her arms and gave Chelsea an irritated look.

"You made us wait forever." Chelsea laughed and wiped at her eyes.

"Sorry."

"You should be." Then Bea ruined the entire performance by stepping forward and pulling her into a hug.

"Try not to die."

"I'll do my best."

"You better. I still have years of spoiling to make up for." When they separated, Bea immediately returned to looking annoyed, as though the hug had never happened. Chelsea wasn't fooled. Next came Adriane. She handed over a pack that was.

"Inside you'll find hearts to last you a week, plenty of gold, and a lot of broken gear," she whispered quietly.

"There is enough in there to get you to historic +1. Make sure you equip everything and burn them in the correct order."

"I will."

"Good." Adriane nodded once before pulling Chelsea into a hug. The small kiss on her forehead nearly broke what little composure Chelsea still had.

"I'm going to miss you so much," Adriane said. Chelsea hugged her tighter.

"I'm going to miss you too."

"You're going to do amazing things. Push yourself. Don't settle. If someone is too tired to train, find someone else." Chelsea laughed through the tears.

"That sounds exactly like something you'd say." Chelsea nodded.

"I'll remember." When Adriane finally released her, Ivy was waiting. The elf looked awful. Her face was red, her eyes were swollen, and she had clearly given up trying to hide the fact that she was crying. Chelsea immediately wrapped her in a hug.

"I love you, Ivy Leaf." Her arms tightened around Chelsea.

"I love you too, Chelsea Wixx."

"We're going to get through these three years." She nodded.

"I'll send letters as often as I can." Another nod.

"Try your best to learn to read them." That finally earned a laugh.

"I will."

"Some of them are going to be spicy." Ivy groaned.

"Chelsea."

"I don't want my mother having to read those to you." The laugh that escaped her was half amusement and half despair. They shared one final kiss before pulling apart. Neither wanted to be the first to let go. Eventually they managed it. Chelsea immediately regretted being mature about it. She turned toward Passion, then stopped and looked back one final time. The manor had become home. Not the home she grew up in. But home all the same. Her gaze drifted across the room.

Dewey stood beside Fiona with an arm around her shoulders. Edgar remained impossible to read. Bea was pretending not to care. Adriane looked moments away from crying again. Ivy was still staring at her as though she might disappear if she blinked. Three years. The number felt impossible. Three years without seeing any of them.

"I love all of you." Several people tried to answer. The tears won. Chelsea smiled. Then she turned away before she lost her nerve. Freya gave her a small nod. Chelsea returned it. Together, the Valkyr stepped outside. A massive teleportation pedestal occupied the front walkway. Chelsea knew for a fact it hadn't been there earlier. One by one the Valkyr stepped onto it. Chelsea was last. She paused at the edge and looked back at the manor. The doors had already been closed.

The evening sun reflected softly off the windows. For a brief moment she imagined herself walking right back inside. Sitting down for dinner. Listening to Bea complain about something. Listening to Dewey and Fiona talking about nothing while being cute. Falling asleep next to Ivy. Instead, she would be gone for three years. Chelsea took a long breath. Then she stepped onto the pedestal. Freya brought her foot down. The runes erupted with light. The world vanished. When it returned, Junstruce was gone.

Chelsea stood in a strange place surrounded by people she barely knew. For the first time since arriving in this world, there was nobody behind her. Nobody waiting to help when she made a mistake. Nobody to point her in the right direction. Despite standing beside eleven Valkyr and their goddess, Chelsea felt more alone than she had since the day she was summoned.