Chapter 24: Hard day of training, part 1

After the Fifi disaster, Filarion was made aware of some things. The three needed more training. Nathaniel and Zaine could have climbed a tree, much like him, and they would have been safe from the demon.

They had not. This made Filarion think up games he could pass off as training, that got them to think more like adventurers. So now, the three were climbing the mountainside with him.

They were tied to him, and followed his foot and hand holds. The rock they were climbing on had a safety net below, with a couple of healers down there, in case someone fell outside the net.

"Grandpa, my arms are killing me," Gregory whined. He had still not forgiven Filarion, for the fact that he had been left to walk Fifi.

"On a quest, you will need to get to dungeons. Do you know where dungeons are, most often?" Filarion asked, and Gregory huffed.

"They have roads leading to them," the teen told him. Filarion shook his head, and placed another hand hold for the kids to grip, and he climbed ever onwards.

"Most dungeons actually hide in mountain ranges. Up a cliff, in a canyon. Those that have roads leading to them are for beginners," Filarion told them, and made to grip another rock jutting from the cliff. He was successful, and he hefted himself up.

"Fil, why do we need to climb now? Aren't we doing F ranked quests?" Filarion chanced a look down. Nathaniel was out of breath already, and these words must have gotten the last of his energy out of him because he was heaving.

Filarion looked up. They were nearly to the top.

"Keep climbing. Another five minutes, and we can rest," Filarion told him, and he made another step up. When they reached the top, Filarion helped the three to the meadow on the cliff's top, and they all laid on the grass.

"The sky is so pretty now," Zaine murmured, as he stared up at the red sky. They had been climbing from the early morning hours, when it had still been dark, to now. The sun was finally greeting them.

"We are just in time," Filarion spoke, and then pointed to the east. "See? The sun is showing."

The three teens stared at the sunrise. With bated breaths, they took in the view. The red sky was broken by orange. The forest was bathed in golden light. For a time, they all stared at the sight. Not uttering a single word.

"Do you like the view?" Filarion asked, when he got up. "Because you will be seeing it every morning. I think that you would benefit from morning climbs up this cliff, and others like it."

"Oh, grandpa. Are you going to tell us next you fought bears to get to school, back in your day?" Gregory teased, as he got his tired body in a sitting position.

"I did fight one, one time," Filarion told him thoughtfully. "If you make it down to the net before me, I will tell you the story."

"Then we will never find out," Nathaniel got the robe from around his middle. "You run faster than that rat demon, Fifi."

"Lesson about adventuring etiquette number one: never insult a client," Filarion rose a finger in the air, for added effect. "Besides, I will give you five minutes' worth of a head start."

The three perked up at that.

"Really? We will get a story and a head start?" Zaine asked, and Filarion nodded.

"Sure, just go," after being given permission by the elf, the three took off running. Filarion had this cliff and the surroundings cleared of anything that could harm his ducklings. He was not worried about letting them go alone.

He rested back on the grass, and closed his eyes. He was of a mind to let them win. Give them more than five minutes. It would be good for their self-esteem.

He heard huffing sounds from the cliff, and smiled. He waited until the person who was climbing hefted himself over the edge, and then came to lay beside him.

"Are we kids, to steal moments?" Johnny asked, and Filarion twined his fingers with the tanks.

"We have a romance to rekindle. This is how it is done," Filarion told him. Johnny answered him with a chuckle.

"Lovely sunrise," Johnny murmured. "How are the ducklings?"

"Running down the hill. You will have to remain in here for a while, so they won't see you," Filarion told him, turning to Johnny, and nuzzling their noses together.

"I feel like you are a single parent whose children don't approve of me," Johnny whined.

"Do you blame them, you got me into prison. Besides, it is a single grandparent, thank you very much. They call me grandpa Fil. Gregory most of all. But I got him back," Filarion edged closer, and felt a hand rest at the back of his neck.

Johnny stared into Filarion's green eyes, and sighed.

"You got him back, how? Did you scar the poor duckling for life?" Johnny asked. Filarion's smirk spoke of no-good things.

"No, I had him walk a chihuahua. Her name was Fifi," Filarion stated. Johnny winced.

"Fifi is still alive?" Johnny asked, and Filarion barked a laugh.

"You walked her too, once?" The elf asked, and the tank nodded.

"In my early days. The job paid well, and didn't require a party, so..." Johnny mumbled something incoherent after that. Filarion could guess what happened next.

"The rat peed on your pant leg?" The elf more stated than asked.

"On my head," Johnny said with a whining voice. A giggle followed, then another. Soon, Filarion was clutching his stomach and hiding his face in Johnny's neck. Trying to muffle his laughter.

"Laugh, but if you want to teach them proper adventuring etiquette, you will need to walk Fifi yourself," Johnny told him. Filarion's laughter ceased, and the elf looked into the eyes of the tank with mute horror.

"I skipped all that when I took my battle evaluations on the side," Filarion spoke. It was Johnny's turn to smirk.

"Parties rank up together. So, you are no longer SS ranked, little leaf. You are no longer ranked, period. Seeing as you partied together with the ducklings, who also don't have a rank," Johnny said, and enjoyed the indignant yelp that Filarion gave out.