Peter stood outside the Battle Center with Gaia and Kalista. “The date has been set. Two weeks from today will be our challenge at the battle center. So one day afterwards, our match with Serina. It's basically the latest I could have done.” Peter noticed Kalista looking down. “That's not to say that I am not confident in our team. I know you both have grown a lot over the past two months.”

“Is it enough, though?” Gaia asked while looking towards Kalista.

Kalista sighed. “I am not worried about the challenge. It's Serina I'm worried about.” Kalista looked briefly off towards the distance before returning her gaze to Peter. “These primals we've fought, they do not fight at all like how Serina does.” Kalista smirked. “The Orc might have been the closest. But the only one we saw was weakened. I'm just not sure if the training we've been doing will help us against her.”

Peter looked sad. “It can't be helped. These forests aren't exactly the most diverse when it comes to what primals are nearby. I'm honestly a bit surprised we haven't come across more Orcs, or Tricksters. I guess we've been lucky, or I suppose unlucky in this instance.” Peter frowned. “Even when we were able to find some people at the battle center to practice with, the majority of people here at my rank just have the same primals you fight in the forest. It's quite the conundrum.”

The three silently began to walk. Peter kept running through different ideas in his head. He wondered if they could ask Serina or another member of the church for a practice battle, but that sounded ridiculous. They might just turn around and start the official battle. If only he could find someone similar...

Peter froze. “Of course! Why didn't I think of that earlier!” Peter shouted.

“What is it?” Kalista asked excitedly.

“Follow me,” Peter said as he began to run towards the Tamer's Guild

“Evans, Evans!” Peter called as he ran inside, searching around for him. Peter spotted the receptionist and ran up to them. “Can you please call Evans over?”

“Certainly.” The receptionist left and soon returned with Evans in toe. He was still wearing a white lab coat, as always.

“Morning Peter, catch any primals you need me to take a look at?”

“Not today, Evans. I've come to ask to battle you.”

Evans raised an eyebrow. “Is this for your challenge match? You'd be better off asking the fine folks at the battle center.”

“No, sir. I want to battle you... specifically, your Templar. For practice. It's a bit complicated...”

Peter explained his situation regarding the church and Serina to Evans.

“Hmm,” Evans rubbed his chin, “that's quite the perilous situation you've found yourself in.”

“I'm confident in how much Kalista has grown since I got her, but I don't want to spend a single day without helping her get ready. Would you be able to help me? I- I'd even be willing to pay you. I have a bit saved up these past few months...”

“Woah, woah there,” Evans put a hand on Peter's shoulder. “I don't need to be paid to help you out with something like that. I can't spend a ton of time, but I can lend a small hand with something like this. Especially for a hard-working tamer like yourself. For someone who still hasn't gotten their first stamp yet, you've got quite good numbers from what I've seen. I can swing by the Battle Center around seven for the next two weeks and help you train.”

Peter left the tamer's guild elated. Having Kalista practice against Karen, Evans' Templar, would give her an opponent who used a sword, similar to Serina. Although it wouldn't be exactly the same, it was the closest match he could afford at this point. For the next two weeks, Peter spent his mornings as normal and trained with Evans during the evenings. The day of the fated battles quickly approached.

---

“Today we're going to take the day off,” Peter said. He was currently laying in bed, with Kalista and Gaia flanking his left and right sides respectively.

“But tomorrow is your challenge, isn't it? Shouldn't we be training?” Gaia asked.

“We've been training all these past few weeks. I've been working you two so hard, you deserve some rest. Better to be relaxed and ready for tomorrow instead of worn out. I thanked Evans for all the help he's given us recently, and let him know that we're ready. We have the day all to ourselves. Is there anything either of you would like to do today?”

Kalista paused for a moment. “As long as it's with you, anything's fine.”

“M-Me too!” Gaia quickly added.

Peter chuckled. “Well, I had some ideas for some stuff we could do. Together, of course.” Peter leaped out of bed. “Let's get a move on,” he said as he quickly began to put on some clothes. After leaving the inn, Peter had them follow him through town, not revealing where he was bringing them. They soon arrived before a large building.

“I've been here before,” Kalista remarked.

“Oh, really?” Peter asked, surprised. They were standing in front of a bathhouse.

“Yes, I came here on that day off before.” Kalista paused. She then followed up with “The primal-only baths were really nice, lots of room.”

“Ah, that's good. Well, I was thinking we could go to the mixed baths. Hopefully they're as good as the primal-only ones.” Peter replied.

Kalista beamed. After Peter handed the fee money over to the receptionist at the front, her and Gaia went towards the Primals changing room while Peter left towards the tamer's side.

Gaia and Kalista gave themselves a nice light wash after changing out of their clothes. They entered the baths wearing white towels which covered most of their bodies.

Kalista's immediate thought was how much bigger this space was than the other one. A multitude of pits filled with heated water filled the room. As she walked through the space looking for an empty one, some occupants would glance at her, or perhaps it was Gaia who was close behind. Especially the men, whose gazes seemed to linger upon them. Their watch made Kalista tighten her grip around her towel.

The primals resting with them would narrow their eyes upon catching Kalista looking back. Kalista wished Peter had arrived before them, then these primals would realize they had no reason to fear her. Why would she want the inferior product? How she would love to parade Peter around this place. She imagined grabbing him by the tip of his cock and leading him around the area to one of the empty pools. Kalista could feel her groin begin to drip. She may ask Peter to clean up the mess he made.

Still, the sight of the other men was a little surprising to Kalista. She had expected more of the men to be in similar shape to him, but in fact there was quite a lot of variance. Skinny, fit, muscular, pudgy, all shapes and sizes.

Kalista found an empty pool of water near the middle of the room towards the primals' entrance. The side closest to the tamer's entrance was nearly full, although some pools Kalista noticed didn't have any tamers in them yet. Perhaps they had just arrived and were waiting still, like she was. Kalista sat down on the rocky edge and dipped her feet in the water, keeping her towel on. Even with just her feet, it felt relaxing being in the warm water.

Gaia soon sat down next to her, doing the same. Almost instinctively, Kalista wished that she had been able to come here without Gaia. She then shook her head, trying to reject the idea.

No matter how she felt about Gaia, it was Peter's decision at the end of the day to keep her. Or Gaia's, she supposed, if she decided after a year with Peter to look for another tamer. But she was certain neither would abandon the other. Better to just try to enjoy the day for what it is.

A sudden noise from Gaia caused Kalista to briefly glance at her, spotting her rapidly turning red. Kalista followed her gaze towards the tamers' entrance, where Peter had just emerged.

He was holding a white towel around his waist, Kalista's eyes naturally drawn to the slight imprint on the front. His wet hair flopped around slightly as he turned his head from one corner of the room to the other. He stopped upon looking towards Kalista, and gave a small smile. Droplets of water slowly ran down his muscular body. Kalista's thighs inadvertently squeezed tightly together, and she couldn't help but form a mischievous grin.

“Oh we are-” Kalista began to mutter herself before she stopped, just as she watched a hand shoot out and grab Peter's ankle from the pool closest to him and pull him towards it, causing him to fall in. Kalista jumped up from her seated position. You bitch!

---

The first thing Peter noticed was that the water was hot. Almost uncomfortably so. “Looking for a fun time, handsome?” A primal with fiery red hair and flushed pink skin right in front of him asked. He immediately began to understand why the temperature was the way it was.

Despite being underwater, patches of flames covering the primal's breasts, privates, and ankles actively burned. Even her eyes seemed to flicker. The primal caught Peter's gaze looking downwards and smiled. “Looks like you're interested. Here, let me get rid of these for you.”

The flames covering her body all died down at once, but her burning bright eyes remained. The once covered breasts now revealed confident pink nipples. Her lower lips had a similar hue, and in one smooth movement the primal pushed Peter against the wall of the pool and pressed her body against his, rubbing herself into him.

Although both the surrounding water and her body were hot, hers was a different kind. Almost, strangely, comforting, in a way. As if his body could melt into hers. Like he could easily relax himself into her arms. Unknowingly, Peter's hand began to move upwards. The primal's face drew closer to his, her ember lips taunting him with an even greater comfort.

Something snapped inside Peter, and his arm grabbed her wrist. “What are you doing?” he asked angrily, with a sound of authority. “What would your tamer say if he saw you trying to play with another man?”

“Huh?” The primal raised an eyebrow, appearing confused. Then, she smiled. “He'd ask you for a bit of money and transfer me over. I'm past my one year, and I'm looking for another tamer. You look like a lot of fun, what do you say?” She began to rub her hands over Peter's chest. “I'm pretty strong, I can probably convince him to not even ask for full-,” whatever the primal meant to say, she wasn't able to finish the rest of her sentence.

Kalista grabbed the shoulders of the primal and tossed her against the wall, a loud splash of water erupting from the pool from the sudden displacement as the primal flew. “Get your hands off him!”

The primal shook her head, a few wooden planks falling down from behind her. “Sorry sister, I saw him first.” She took a deep breath and began to puff up her cheeks, a faint glow appearing from the back of her throat. Peter turned to spot Kalista, completely naked but now holding her sword and shield.

The entrance to the tamer's changing room slammed open, the man from the front desk appearing. “What's going on here!” His eyes darted back and forth between Peter, Kalista, and the fiery primal. “All of you, out!”

“But!” Kalista started to say.

“OUT!”

---

Outside the bathhouse, Kalista watched while standing nearby Gaia as Peter apologized to the receptionist. Her tightly clenched fists trembled as she watched the almost naked, fiery primal from before walk down the street as if she were an innocent party. A small clinking sound caught Kalista's attention, and she spotted Peter handing over a small amount of money to the receptionist.

It felt as if all the wind had been knocked out of Kalista at once. Her shoulders slumped, and she stared towards the ground, feeling terrible. As Peter approached her, she said, “Peter, I'm-.”

Peter grabbed Kalista's hands. “Thank you for protecting me back there, I don't know what she would have done if you didn't step in.”

Kalista was taken aback and blushed. “O-oh.” Had Peter's hands always felt so nice? Kalista shook her head. “Of course!”

Peter smiled. “It's a shame we couldn't enjoy the bathhouse together, but we at least all cleaned up a little. Come on, there's somewhere else I thought we could go.”