Complete Western Brisshal Long Fang Training

[Ueno Mizuki]

Once she was alone at the top of the tower Mizuki took a moment to catch her breath, then placed her clawed hands together as she focused. The other goblins were beginning to climb their way up the tower, but she had enough time for what she had planned. These goblins had made their entire fort out of wood (because of its abundance and ease of use), which usually wasn't an issue but right now meant that they had great misfortune waiting for them.

Slamming her hands against the floor of the tower Mizuki channeled her Nature Magic into the structure, spreading underground to touch all the other wooden parts of the fort as well. The goblins, still climbing their way up the tower, would suddenly let out pained and surprised screeches as every wooden surface grew painful thorns that would easily rip through leather and skin. While not large enough to inflict lethal wounds, it now meant that the goblins who'd been climbing were falling back down with bloody hands and feet, and anyone who wasn't careful would find themselves getting torn open.

The leftover of her spell Mizuki channeled into her own body, reinforcing her bones and augmenting her muscles. Leaping over the edge of the tower she let out a snarl as she landed on top of a goblin, driving her claws into his body and tearing out several organs. The other goblins tried to encircle her, but even as they were still getting in position Mizuki was on top of another, and where before the shield deflected her strike she now punched right through it, ignoring the sharp pain in her fist as she crushed the windpipe of the goblin holding the shield.

With the two spear-wielding goblins quickly eliminated the other goblins were left at a loss, although not for very long as Cleo's exploding shredder shield pierced and ripped most of them. The ones that did survive only did so by being lucky enough that another goblin was in the way or they happened to be in one of the few blind spots of the omnidirectional attack, but there were now at most four goblins left other than the staff-wielder.

The staff-wielder had been trying to retreat, but Cleo's spear made him jump up and turn away, swearing at the redhead as he levelled his staff at her. A pure brown glow enveloped the tip of his staff as several spears made of rock shot out of the ground towards her. They lacked the precision and quality of her spears, but they could still pierce flesh and even crush bone if they hit. At the same time the four goblins that remained charged at Cleo from behind, trying to catch her while she was busy dealing with the staff-wielder.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

There was a sudden rush of energy as all of the wood in the fort began to be covered in thorns and such, shredding through the hands and feet of the goblins, especially those ones that were trying to climb up to get to Mizuki. It was a pretty inventive strategy and they'd have to rethink how they were going to reach the wolfkin girl, or slow down and actually be careful with each movement that they made, so she had bought herself enough time and room to breath. And more important, time to react to the ones that reached her first, before moving on to deal with the others.

And meanwhile with Cleo, she was dealing with the rest of the goblins around her, snarling as the goblin that had the staff as he began to cast another earth spell at her. And, more importantly, he dared to utilize spears against her, when he'd seen the way that she used spears. She fixed him with an unimpressed look as a spear appeared in front of her, spinning rapidly to block the stone attacks. But, more strangely, spears appeared underneath Cleo's feet, lifting her up into the air and out of the reach of the goblins that had been approaching her from behind.

If the goblin wanted to try to protect himself from projectiles, then she was going to give him a LOT of projectiles, just so he felt good about himself.

Now you might call this excessive, but you're not even real, so your lives don't hold any meaning. Now vanish forever within my crimson forest.

As she spoke, the sky began to change from grey to crimson, as suddenly it would seem as if the rain had stopped in random patterns. Any that looked up, though, would see a sky filled with crimson spears, each with the tip pointed to the ground.

May your gods have mercy, because I won't. Now, fall.

And with that, a crimson rain truly descended upon the entire fort, as Cleo pumped as much energy as possible into this attack. Only the roof of the tower she'd climbed into would spare Mizuki.

@Ueno Mizuki

 

[Ueno Mizuki]

Mizuki's sensitive ears told her that Cleo was still fighting against the goblins that had decided to leave the safety of the fort behind in an attempt to take down the ranged assailant, although the amount of goblins left alive was but a fraction of the original amount. That was good news, and it filled the wolfess with confidence as she ripped through the goblins that had remained inside of the fort. Her low quadruped stance allowed her to move around quickly, using both hands and feet as weapons as she kicked and swiped and spun. Now that she had bolstered her own strength enough that those reinforced shields could no longer stop her she effectively maintained a death zone around herself, where every goblin would quickly get struck down.

That was, until Cleo decided that she was done humouring the goblins outside of the fort and lifted herself in the sky, using her own spears to support her form. The goblins could only look up as their enemy floated out of reach, and their eyes grew wide when the sky, previously a merciless downpour of rain, turned into a forest of crimson death. The smartest had already begun to run, but none of them were fast enough to escape what came next.

As the spears fell down the goblins died, their shields unable to protect them as they were crushed if they couldn't be pierced. The goblin with the staff held it aloft as he tried to keep the barrier strong, the four goblins who had yet to die to Cleo's spears sticking close to him, but as the rain of spears fell down the barrier shimmered, then cracked, then shattered and those five goblins joined their brethren in the afterlife.

The only survivors were Mizuki herself, who used the tower as a shield against the onslaught, and those few goblins who'd been close enough to Mizuki that the tower protected them as well. Although that wouldn't last, as the wolfess growled and they looked at her. A desperate attempt to fight back was overridden by Mizuki's jaws, and by the time that Cleo descended back to the earth, the last goblin would be dead in Mizuki's hands, blood leaking from a large wound in his chest as if a bear had gauged him.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Her rain of death over, leaving a devastated fort filled with crimson spears that stuck out of the ground like they were stakes or grave markers, Cleo breathed a sigh and cut her connection to all of her constructs barring the spears that were holding her in the air, allowing them all to slowly begin to flake apart and crumble into tiny little particles of energy that began to float apart in the winds of the storm as the downpour of rain continued.

All said and done, Cleo began to make her spears float her down and towards Mizuki, who was cleaning up the few goblins that had escaped her onslaught by being underneath the protection of the tower. And from what she saw, they stood no chance. By the time she arrived, the last goblin was dead in Mizuki's clutches, bleeding from a claw wound to his chest, his body jerking and twitching as death took him into its gentle embrace.

Well that was a fun slaughter, I suppose. That spellcaster was a little bit annoying. He had the nerve to try to use spears against me, after everything that he'd watched me do, and thought that I wouldn't know how to defend against a spear.

@Ueno Mizuki

 

[Ueno Mizuki]

Mizuki looked up at Cleo as the beautiful redhead returned to the ground, dropping the last dead goblin to the ground by unceremoniously letting go of its broken body. Glancing around she watched as the forest of spears sticking out of the muddy earth faded away, their energy returning to the world.

Yeah, when you're strong enough that you can kill a goblin with each attack you can deal with large amounts with little difficulty. As for the spellcaster... well, it's not like they have an unlimited amount of spells at their disposal. They gotta work with what they have.

Unlike Cleo, who'd remained relatively clean throughout the slaughter as only the rain had managed to touch her, Mizuki was covered in mud and blood, with the rain washing some of it away while the rest only became a bigger mess. Licking her lips to get rid of some of the blood she gave the goblins a dismissive glance before returning her full focus to Cleo, looking the lancer over.

Hrmmm~ Are you sure you're going to be fine after using such a big attack though? We're still going to spar after this, and casting magic does exhaust you even if you're already a lot better than I would have expected a newcomer to be. (She frowned.) Have you been training nonstop or something?

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Mizuki somehow still managed to look good even when covered with blood, though Cleo wasn't about to walk up and give the beastkin woman a hug. Not to mention how obscene such a thing would be, given that both of them were dripping wet from the rain, sweat and, in Mizuki's case, blood. There were people out there that would have committed actual murder in order to see such a scene and though there were no witnesses, this probably wasn't the time or the place to go hugging people.

Yeah. Still, it wasn't exactly good fortune for him to come across a spear specialist. His weird arcane and geomancy mud tendril things were annoying, though. Managed to slow down my first charge.

She hummed in thought, a finger and a thumb placed on her chin as she mulled something over.

Maybe I could do something pretty similar by spawning just the spearheads out of the ground and turning them essentially into spikes and caltrops or something?

It'd help her deter charging enemies, just as much as her spinning spears had, with the chronomancy boost turning them into a whirling buzz saw of death. It'd probably be more cost effective than the strategy she'd used today had been, since she wouldn't be maintaining two different spells from different schools of magic.

Though when Mizuki frowned and asked if she'd been training nonstop, Cleo shrugged.

Of course I have. If I'm not training in some way, I'm out hunting monsters or rescuing some new player that has gottem themself into a serious bind. That's just how I've been doing things. You surely didn't think that I wasn't working my ass off to be able to catch up with you and the other veterans in terms of skill? I told you myself that was where my focus was.

@Ueno Mizuki

 

[Ueno Mizuki]

Mizuki didn't know why Cleo had chosen this outfit, other than perhaps the fact that it was good for mobility and looked pretty good, but the downpour meant that the huntress was pretty sure she saw almost as much of the detective as she would have if the female human had been naked. It was quite the sight, and she couldn't help but rub her lower face before her heterochromatic eyes focused on the detective's.

I don't think any of these goblins could be considered lucky. I'm already surprised that their caster could combine two schools of magic like that.

As Cleo considered the possibility of imitating the goblin's trick the wolfess shrugged.

You could have your constructs spawn out of the ground, yes, but it wouldn't be the same as what the goblin did. But mixing schools of magic is possible and can be very useful, like what you did with that wall of spears.

Mizuki had noticed how Cleo was using her chronomancy to speed up her constructs or slow them down, and it was certainly an inventive way to either make her attacks faster and harder to dodge or prepare a bigger attack which would be difficult to produce in one go.

What was more pressing, however, was Cleo explaining that she was very purposefully trying to become just as powerful as the veterans, and had been pushing her limits to achieve that kind of growth. The wolfess frowned and folded her arms, looking a bit troubled by Cleo's words.

There's such a thing as pushing yourself too hard. Your Earth body might not be affected, but your body in here also has its limits and your mind still experiences stress and exhaustion. (She pulled some hair out of her face.) Well, it's not my place to dictate how much you train, but make sure you don't break yourself trying to help others.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Was combining schools of magic a rare thing? Because it felt like basically everybody she had met could do it. Then again, she'd only really met players, so perhaps it was just incredibly common amonst Travelers and for a Lander, or monster, to accomplish it was actually a pretty big feat. She wasn't going to remember the goblin, though. In the end he'd been a pretty pathetic spellcaster, though perhaps she was biased due to the fact that he'd used spears against her, when spears were like, her one thing.

It wouldn't be the same, no, but it could achieve a similar enough effect. I'm just looking for something that would deter advancement, similar to my spinning spears, but without the horrendous energy drain of having to maintain the spears, move them and change their velocity. It all really starts to act up when I layer those different things on top of one another.

But she was at least already experimenting with combining her two schools of magic, to varying degrees of success. She was honestly having more success with combining her magic with her own body, thanks to her experimentation with Evoke that she'd picked up.

Mizuki looking troubled and being concerned about her pushing herself too hard was just old news at this point, though.

I appreciate the concern, but I'm perfectly fine. I've yet to hit any of my limits and I make sure to keep all of my bars from reaching empty, so it's not like this is doing me any harm.

@Ueno Mizuki

 

[Ueno Mizuki]

If energy efficiency is your biggest concern the best thing to do... (Mizuki rubbed her chin before her eyes lit up.) Here's a thought: the best way to conserve your energy is to not spend any more maintaining your constructs than needed. You could use Chronomancy to slow down time so you don't have to keep up a ring of spears because you can react to any attack that comes your way.

It was entirely possible that Cleo was already doing this and Mizuki simply hadn't noticed, but it was the best thing that the wolfess could think of if Cleo wanted to keep her energy expenditure as low as possible.

Since you're only altering your own time it shouldn't cost a lot of energy to do either.

She could tell that Cleo wasn't impressed by her concern, with the red-haired beauty stating that she was confident that she wasn't pushing herself too hard. Mizuki wasn't entirely certain that Cleo was being as careful as she said she was being, but she couldn't really call her out without any evidence. Instead, the huntress shrugged and walked past the lancer.

Well, let's go back to the river. I want to clean myself before we start sparring, and this place is going to become a hotbed of vultures and rot soon.

Goblins were disgusting, so Mizuki would leave it to the local wildlife to eat them all. There was nothing impressive about these goblins either, so she didn't feel like eating their hearts would grant her courage or strength even if she ate every single one.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Mizuki was onto a good idea there, though she perhaps had one detail backwards. Rather than slowing down time, it would probably be a better idea to instead speed up her own time, rather than slowing down the time of every other thing around her. If she was only altering her own time state, then it would be way cheaper. That was definitely something that she was going to file away for later.

Yeah that's a good point. If I speed up my own time, then I can react to threats faster and not have to keep my spears manifested for any longer than they need to be. Though of course, there are some times where it just makes sense to keep one or two manifested.

Like when she was engaging in melee combat. It was rare for her to ever use her actual spear, instead keeping that in her inventory or slung over her back, keen to keep it in stock in case she was ever running on fumes but still needed a weapon that she could use. For better or for worse, she'd picked a very energy intensive fighting style, so she'd had to come up with a few contingency plans.

Including a liberal use of energy potions.

Still, she nodded, following Mizuki as the woman passed her, keen to leave this place to the vultures and other scavengers, secretly glad that Mizuki wasn't suggesting that they ate the goblins. That was a step that she definitely wasn't willing to take.

Remember to pick up your clothes. Or don't. I don't mind either way, really. Hell, I might have accidentally hit them with my attack, so maybe it's best that you just leave them and get yourself another set the next time that you get to a city or something?~

@Ueno Mizuki

 

[Ueno Mizuki]

Keeping a handful of spears manifested in case of an emergency is a good idea, but just now you produced either dozens or hundreds of spears. That's the kind of thing you'd want to try and keep to a minimum, either by using less spears or cutting down on how long they're manifested. Preferably the former, as I understand that creation is more costly than maintenance.

Mizuki was pleased that she was able to give Cleo at least one useful suggestion for how to best use her magic. She wasn't a magic specialist herself, as she primarily enhanced her physical fighting ability with her Nature Magic and Metamorph, but she did put more thought behind what worked and what didn't than people might expect given her savage fighting style. Her real job involved doing quite a lot of research and figuring things out.

Her ears twitched as Cleo pointed out that she'd have to retrieve her clothes, her lips curling into a smirk as she looked over her shoulder at the lancer. It looked like she wasn't the only one who was enjoying the consequences of the downpour.

I do hope you didn't destroy them, although at least I'm not as dependent on my clothes as most people. That said, are you comfortable walking around like that? I don't think your outfit is doing a very good job covering you up right now~

Walking back towards where they'd started the assault she managed to retrieve her clothes, which were a giant ball of mud by this point. Thankfully the rain was beginning to die down, the downpour from before fading into a more reasonable rainfall. Of course, as the two of them were standing in the middle of a dense forest, it'd be a while before they'd enjoy the difference as the trees had captured quite a lot of water with their foliage and would continue to drop it on their heads.

Cleaning this up is going to take a while. (She sighed, then shrugged.) I'll take care of that after we finish sparring.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Oh that? Spawning that many spears really isn't all much in the grand scheme of things. I've chosen to specialize in spears so heavily that my ability to create them is so incredibly discounted. Other stuff that aren't spears cost more than they normally would to produce, though, so there is at least some kind of trade off with that kind of thing. Which is just typically how specialization works anyway, so it's pretty much fine.

Still, cutting down on the number of spears she needed to spawn was probably a good idea either way. Even if each spear only cost 0.5% of her energy, a hundred spears would still leave her at half reserves, so it wasn't like she wouldn't benefit from cutting down on her production quantities.

I'm comfortable enough. It's not like I have anything that you've never seen before in a mirror or anything. Besides, you currently show off just as much as I do, so it's not like you're the only one getting a free show from this~

She placed a hand on her hip, flashing Mizuki a cocky smile before she followed the Caenis to the starting point, with Mizuki eventually locating and retrieving her clothes.

Okay, now we just need to find a river or something so you're not drenched in blood, right? Think you can find one of those in the middle of a storm?

@Ueno Mizuki

 

[Ueno Mizuki]

That's true, but beyond a certain point further improving your efficiency is less about doing things entirely different and more about refining the method you're already using. (She smiled.) Although I don't think you need to be told about the cycle of innovation.

Mizuki wouldn't have thought that Cleo would be particularly receptive to flirting, but it seemed like the redhead was in a pretty good mood after wiping out those goblins. Given that she'd made it clear her goal was to make this world safe for the Travelers achieving that goal at least in part must feel good. The huntress grinned back at the detective.

Like what you see then~?

Her tail wagged behind her, revealing glimpses of her muscular derriere as she walked. Her hands and feet were still clawed and furred, but she doubted that was what Cleo was paying attention to anyway. Looking up at the sky, or the canopy above them, the wolfess sniffed the air.

I was planning to lead us back to where we started. Also, it looks like the weather is calming down, so it shouldn't be so difficult to navigate our way there.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

She wasn't sure she was any expert on innovation, but she understood the gist of it enough and had really been putting it onto practice recently, bumping her training higher and higher without ever letting it come down, trying to find new ways to grow her own power, fanning the flames higher and hotter than most people would consider to be safe. It was probably why everybody told her that she needed to stop and relax, worried about her health, mentally if not physically.

But she could never stop.

Though Mizuki was laying the flirting on quite thick, for whatever reason. Cleo wasn't even really aware that she'd been reciprocating, but she shrugged.

It'd be a lie if I told you that I didn't. All that activity has been doing your figure a lot of favors.

The brief glimpses of derriere had Cleo shaking her head and chuckling, making her way to follow after Mizuki as the two walked. With the plan to get back to where they were, and the fact that Mizuki could somehow tell that the weather was calming down, Cleo breathed a sigh of relief and nodded.

I'll let you lead the way then. Purely for pragmatic reasons, of course~

@Ueno Mizuki

 

[Ueno Mizuki]

That's one of the reasons I started working out more back on Earth. (She chuckled.) I noticed how much activity in this world was helping improve my figure, so I wanted to see if I could develop a similar figure on Earth. I don't think I'm quite there yet, but I'm pretty satisfied with the progress I've made so far.

Of course, her Earth self could never become truly like her Terrasphere self, as the worlds were just too different, but Mizuki didn't think anyone would disagree with the motivation to work out more and develop her body to be healthier and fitter.

Understood. Just make sure to keep your eyes on me so you don't get lost.

Even with the weather slowly getting better they were still in the middle of a forest which was dense enough that they were permanently in the shade, and Mizuki's aesthetic wasn't so bright that she was easily spotted in the dark. However, she'd successfully navigate their way back, circling around obstacles like they had on the way there as the large droplets of water dripping down from the canopy above became less frequent and the roaring of the storm began to die down.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Well that was a good thing, at least if nothing else, playing the game had convinced somebody to try to improve their real world self in some capacity. After a lifetime of activity and looking after her figure and shape, Cleo could attest to just how important it was for the mind to be accompanied by a healthy body. She didn't know if, scientifically, having a healthy body did anything beneficial for mental health, but she felt like it at least helped her.

I'm glad that you were inspired to try to make something better for yourself in reality. And it's nice to know that you're satisfied with your progress. If you'd like, I can show you some of the workouts and fitness regimes I follow in the real world?

She figured that the woman could benefit from the kind of fitness regime that Cleo herself followed. Though, when Mizuki said to keep her eyes on her, Cleo nodded with a chuckle.

Sure thing. Consider my eyes glued permanently to you until further notice.

And with that, they were on their way. She had to keep fairly close or she risked losing Mizuki in the dense shade of the forest, though the skin that the woman was revealing helped out quite a bit with keeping track of her. Idly, her hand reached out to brush her fingers through the fur of Mizuki's tail as they walked.

@Ueno Mizuki

 

[Ueno Mizuki]

That would be appreciated, yes. So far I've been looking up exercise regimes that are considered effective online, but I imagine that as an officer you know what really works and what doesn't.

The police didn't have a monopoly on effective training methods, but she did expect someone who was in the force to have a solid grasp of what yielded results and what didn't.

I've also considered picking up martial arts, although I wouldn't know which one to choose. Is there anything your job recommends?

With Cleo's affirmation that her eyes wouldn't stray Mizuki just chuckled as the two of them made their way out of the forest, her tail continuing to swish from side to side as if intentionally teasing the lancer with her well-defined behind. When Cleo's hand touched the tail, however, Mizuki halted for a moment and looked at the female human over her shoulder.

Interested?

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

She had a good idea of what actually worked, yeah, though she wasn't entirely sure she could attribute that solely to her career choices. Though either way, she'd do her best to give Mizuki the kind of support that she needed for whatever goals that she had.

Of course, yeah. Just let me know what kind of goals you're looking to achieve. Like, if there's a certain body type that you're aiming for or a particular ability that you're going to achieve. I'm pretty sure no matter what you're looking for, I know of something that'll help you out.

Though the question on martial arts was a little harder. She wasn't exactly an expert on hand to hand combat, it wasn't all that focused on during her training. She knew bits and pieces though.

Well, typically we recommend boxing to people that have never done a combat sport before. It's fairly beginner friendly and they use a lot of safety equipment, but the techniques they teach you can save your life. Beyond that, Judo is pretty well respected, since taking somebody down can be especially effective.

Though when she reached out to touch Mizuki's tail, her mind having not been focused on anything and allowing her body to act on autopilot, Mizuki seemed to stop and look at her. Cleo blinked, before flushing red and rubbing at the back of her neck.

Ah, was that weird? I'm sorry, my hand was just kind of moving without my mind's permission. It was nice though. Very fluffy.

@Ueno Mizuki

 

[Ueno Mizuki]

It was nice to have someone who was more experienced with these matters be available to give her advice. Mizuki nodded as Cleo explained that she'd do her best to help, but that it would also depend on what the huntress was really looking for.

I'm aiming for something similar to what I'm like in here, so lots of stamina and athleticism over raw strength. I'm not really expecting to get in many fights, after all, and my job isn't physically demanding.

Of course, any physical training would also help in the strength department, but Mizuki was more thinking about running around and being able to keep going for long periods of time than the ability to produce bursts of strength.

I think judo would suit me more since I'm not planning to start bodybuilding or anything. Did you know that wolves are more focused on tiring their prey out? They only really go for the throat if the prey is already wounded or they're hunting something small.

It was amusing to see Cleo get embarrassed about the movements of her hand, although Mizuki herself blushed slightly when the detective complimented the quality of her tail before she coughed and looked ahead again.

Not weird per se, but I'd prefer it if you asked first. Not because I dislike it, mind you.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Well that made sense. Already she was starting to put together a simple plan for Mizuki to follow. Wanting stamina and athleticism was smart, though. She wasn't sure that a build that was suited to raw strength would suit the woman anyway, especially if she was some kind of office worker like she had mentioned. It was probably kind of awkward to squeeze into an office cubicle when you were a tower of muscle, though maybe Mizuki's workplace was fairly accomodating for that kind of thing?

Well if you want to build stamina and atheticism, be prepared to do a lot of low intensity repetitions. You won't so much be trying to lift the heaviest stuff possible, so much as you'll be trying to do more and more reps of the weights that you can already lift.

Though Mizuki was smart to pick Judo over trying to go for any bodybuilding, though boxing was also a sport that was made for lithe and athletic people just as much as it was made for the big, musclebound brutes. Though of course, she had to bring it back to wolves, which made Cleo chuckle, but nod, confirming that she had already known that particular factoid.

Though the tail subject definitely felt awkward.

Right, yeah. I'm sorry about that. I'll keep my hands to myself from now on.

@Ueno Mizuki