Chapter 108
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 108
Chapter Title: Body Adjustment (2)
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Even though old man Hawk had been an explorer for fifteen years, he'd barely set foot in the third layer and just kept circling the first one. Honestly, Claude and I had started subtly looking down on him as our levels went up.
"Hyaah!!"
Whoosh!!!
Bam!!!
It had been five minutes since Loren clenched her fist and charged at old man Hawk.
She'd easily landed hits on me, Claude, and Uncle Frank in rotation during training, but now she couldn't tag the short old man Hawk even once. Panic started creeping across her face.
But still, listen to that air-whooshing punch sound. Was she some kind of martial artist?
"Can't you move those ears any faster, elf? Hahaha!!!"
"Eeeek!!!"
Old man Hawk's taunting words made a vein pop right on Loren's smooth forehead with a throb!
Krunch!!!
Baaang!!
"Whoa there!"
Loren dug her foot in so hard it cratered the ground, then thrust her fist forward with everything she had.
Thwoooong-!
Vrrrrmmm!!!!
"...Huh?"
"No wonder, training all alone without a master. Your moves are like a wriggling maggot."
"W-Whaat!!!"
Not with a shield, but with the flat side of the small axe at his belt, old man Hawk smoothly deflected Loren's punch by a hair's breadth.
The axe blade that her fist grazed hummed like a struck gong, the clear tone echoing everywhere. Pretty impressive.
"Cain, is Loren gonna lose?"
"Hm? Win or lose doesn't matter in training."
"But still..."
Sia, crouched beside me watching the spar, whispered softly.
Twitch!!
She was trying to keep it quiet so Loren wouldn't hear since they'd gotten close, but Loren was an elf with sharp ears and caught every word of Sia's murmur.
"D-Dwarven bas... not bad at all!!!!"
"What're you yappin', you clumsy elf? You comin' or what? That it...?"
"Eeeeeek!!!!"
Boooom!!!!
Falling for old man Hawk's blatant provocation again, Loren flipped the earth and charged forward wildly once more.
That speed was about Claude at full tilt, wasn't it?
"Aigh. This'll take all day."
Old man Hawk threw in fake yawns now and then, exaggerating his sighs as he toyed with Loren, scratching at her nerves.
I knew he was sly, but this level was something else.
After about thirty minutes of old man Hawk messing with Loren like that...
"Huff... haah... crazy, can't land a single hit..."
"Ahem... well, I got a bit harsh with my words earlier, elf girl. Sorry about that."
"Uncle! Loren-sis is older than you... mffph!!!"
I hurriedly clamped Sia's mouth and glanced at Loren.
"Huff!! Haaaah!!!"
From watching Loren explore and train before, it seemed like years of solo physical conditioning had made her body freakishly tough, but she'd developed a habit of bulldozing everything with brute force.
So yeah, she was pissed from not landing a single hit on old man Hawk, and Sia's age jab on top made her face twist into a demon's.
"Still... with a little correction, she could probably handle basic sword work easy enough..."
"R-Really?!!"
"Yeah, not like some massive breakthrough, but fixing those bad habits and movements should get her to a normal person's level at least."
"Aaaah...!!!"
Thud-!
Her face had been burning red with rage and humiliation just moments ago, but at old man Hawk's assessment, Loren dropped to her knees and bowed flat on the ground.
"P-Please teach me!!!"
"Ahem...! Well, I feel bad for riling you up too much during the spar, and since it's Cain askin', I'll check in whenever I've got time."
"Thank you!!!"
Old man Hawk looked flustered at how Loren switched instantly from murderous grudge-stare to reverent devotee mode.
"Cain, this girl's always like this?"
"Kinda... dimwit vibe, right?"
"More than that?"
"Nah, she's not a bad kid."
"R-Right."
Old man Hawk coughed awkwardly repeatedly as Loren started crawling toward his feet like she'd grab his pant legs any second.
"Ahem!! Alright then, be here tomorrow at this time."
"Hey, old man, have a beer before you go."
"What?"
"You said yesterday you'd cover the rest of the month's days, right? No other plans? Been a while, let's grab a brew."
"Kgh...!"
Besides the money he owed me, he'd probably been grinding the labyrinth non-stop for personal commissions, no breathing room.
The guy who always kept his mustache gleaming looked kinda grubby all over.
Now that I'd confirmed he had the real skills to improve Loren's condition, time to treat him right.
If played well, this was a chance to grow her cheaper than those academy punks. Miss it and I'm the idiot.
"Shower up clean in our room and have a beer? Cool?"
"Gulp...!"
"Ha... no good. We just got back from exploring two days ago and were gonna feast, but c'mon."
"Ahem!!"
"Right, old man. To celebrate you becoming our new teammate Loren's master, daytime drinks at least!"
Claude, who'd partied with him on booze runs plenty without ever banging chicks together but still buddy-level close, sidled up and patted his shoulder.
With Claude cozying up, conflict flickered bigger on old man Hawk's face.
"W-Well... how about a cold beer then...?"
"Claude, take old man to his room, shower together, then head down."
"Huh? Oh... yeah, old man, let's go."
"Sure."
Claude and old man Hawk arm-in-arm headed into the inn.
"Sia, training done?"
"Yeah!"
"Then wash up and come down."
"Okaay!!!"
"Massage later when I've got time."
"Yeah... heehee!"
Mwah!!
Sia, who'd glanced around to check Claude and others weren't watching, pecked my cheek lightly and went inside.
"Ooh, kissing in front of Loren now."
"Ha... haha.."
And left were me and Loren, who'd stopped her grovel-crawl dead on the ground.
"You two gotten real close?"
"Y-Yeah!!"
"Yeah? How close?"
"Just... Sia tells me all sorts of stories... she talks about Master a lot."
"Oh?"
Figured they'd gotten thick as thieves lately, but already swapping stories like that?
"Details in your room bathroom?"
"Huh?!!"
"Don't like?"
"N-No, I... love it!!"
I'd just watched Hawk and Loren spar today, so my body's still clean enough, no shower needed.
Sia takes forever solo, and Claude with old man Hawk sharing a bathroom would take time too.
At my suggestion to chat in her bathroom, Loren's face and ears flushed beet red, her ears flapping.
Squeeze-!
I pulled her up from the ground and casually grabbed her ass.
She had sabatons and greaves, but the bottoms were leather pants, so kneading that firm, bouncy butt was no issue.
"Eep!!!"
"Just washing today."
"Huh?"
"Day drinks and chill."
"Okaay..."
Sag-
We slowly walked from the clearing to the inn, and Loren's eagerly perked ears drooped hard.
"Booze a lot and you'll hit the bed early afternoon, right?"
"...Ah?"
"Play moderate with Sia, crash, and we'll have more time to enjoy... so no gathering this afternoon, wait up, got it?"
Squeeze!!
"Y-Yes!!!"
With Loren blushing afresh, we went to her room for a blowjob.
Her throat pussy was tougher than a hardcore onahole, great thrusting feel, so outside full sex, I usually went for her throat for head.
Showered with her, drained three loads, then headed to the first floor alone. No one there yet.
"Uncle!"
"Yeah? Lunchtime's still a ways off."
"Ah... old man Hawk checked Loren's condition and said he'll train her awhile. Day drinks instead of lesson fees."
"You've been overdoing it lately... mooching off the kids, tsk...!"
"Don't be too harsh. When Claude caused that mess before..."
"Ah."
Uncle Frank, mid-trash-talk on old man Hawk, nodded at my nudge about the prior shakedown incident.
"So, how's Loren?"
"Old man Hawk says he can correct her some."
Uncle Frank nodded like it was obvious.
"Never knew old man Hawk was that good..."
"Hm... back when we were active around the same time, folks figured Hawk's party would clear mid-layers no problem."
"Ooh... that much?"
From the fourth layer on, people called it mid-layers.
Layers 1-3 low, 4-6 mid, below that deep.
Even just doing mid-layers in this city got you top treatment, higher-quality mana stones from monsters meant fat income.
Challenging deep layers? Even with peak talent, effort, luck, party chemistry... you still hesitated. Only rare parties tried.
In our two years, we'd seen just one party dive deep.
If everyone assumed they'd break fourth someday, Hawk's party had real potential.
"But why now..."
"...Hear the rest from Hawk himself."
"Got it."
Seeing Uncle Frank's slightly bitter look, I figured Hawk's necklace story was still far off.