"Hm?" Ash mumbled, turning his attention to her.

"Oh! Do or bring?" he asked.

"Make sure to do some stretches before you come over. Limber up a little." he told her.

"As for what to bring? A change of clothing." he said.

"Or, rather, bring a workout outfit to keep here. Some shorts or pants, and a shirt, as well as some old footwear. Stuff you don't mind getting torn or stained with blood or dirt or grass, and don't mind seeing ever again." he suggested.

"I'll keep them here and wash them after every session."

He shook his head.

"Nope." he said.

"Go on back and relax in the jacuzzi." he told her.

"It'll be just what you need." he reasoned.

"Just remember to stretch beforehand, and bring some fighting clothes." he reminded her.

"Leave everything else to ME."

Ash paused for a moment, looking at her, and then hanging his head a little.

"A little." he said.

"I admit, nobody really comes to me for combat expertise." he told her.

"Mostly for cooking. Which is nice. I can appreciate that." he clarified.

"However, it's nice when someone realises that I trained hard to be where I am, and what I am." he went on.

"...physically speaking, anyway. The mana is... something else, entirely."

Ash chuckled a little when she said that.

"Yeah... I admit... I am." he agreed.

"But I can see why you went to Aunt Rocky first, and then Demi." he told her. "Aunt Rocky TAUGHT Demi. She's good at both hand-to-hand AND bladed combat." he reasoned.

"You could never have guessed that she would deny you based on your empath skills." he continued. "A bit shortsighted on her end..." he mumbled.

"Also, Ashleigh would have, but... she has some... unique fighting styles that really only work for her." he then admitted. "Soon you would have realised you're good at fighting aerial opponents, but ignoring the ground around you." he said.

"Sydney would be good as well. She'd probably be a good teacher in my absence, I admit." he added at the end, thinking about it.

"Yeah, she's... a busy woman, to understate it." Ash agreed. "If she's not doing Triad work, she's doing everything she can to AVOID doing Triad work." he said further with a smirk.

"...however..." he then said, thinking about something.

"Once you finish up your training and such with ME, and we've reached the point where you cannot learn anything more from me... we can go to Ashleigh. She'll be able to train you in dealing with airborne foes." he reasoned.

"I know all about defending against them thanks to her. So she can teach YOU as well." he told her.

"But you need to master ground combat, before you learn about aerial tech."

"I look forward to it." Ash responded.

"Also, if Mom or Vincent decides they want to talk to me about what we did today, I know you said you'd stop them or get on them about it, but don't push yourself." he insisted.

"Vincent will probably just want to talk about it, make sure I know what I'm doing." he continued.

"And if Mom tries to get on my back... I'll just remind her she told me to train you and Vicki on your runes." he then said. "And training ones body can help with that." he reasoned.

"Hell, use THAT if you want." he said.

"It might be flimsy, but the logic is there." he went on.

"But for now, head on home and let that jacuzzi heal your soreness."

She was in there for only about 10 minutes, before she heard a knock on one of the doors.

"Hello?" Vincent asked through it.

"Is someone in there?" he asked further.

"...me!" Alice called back, actually saying something for her response.

"Oh! All right, sorry for interrupting, Alice." Vincent apologised.

"Haven't seen you for a bit, was wondering where you were is all." he continued.

"I'll leave you be." he finished.

For her duration of her time in there, she was alone. Alone, and relaxed. The hot water and the jets soothed her aching and sore muscles, and it was just overall relaxing for her. It was what she needed.

Just as she was starting to climb out of the tub, she heard her father call out to her again, but this time through the wall, from the hallway.

"Pizza's been ordered for dinner tonight!" he said.

"Should be here in about 10 minutes!" he finished.

And then silence once more.

Vincent just smiled a little.

'Well, good to hear.' he replied.

'The medium one is the kind YOU really like.' he then told her, gesturing to the pizza box that was closest to her.

He then looked at her a little more closely, and raised an eyebrow.

'Are you all right?' he asked.

'You seem... a bit on the ragged side...'

She then felt something emanating from her father.

Concern. Anger. Surprise. Shock.

'...excuse me?' he asked.

'Ash... wailed on you?' he asked her. 'As in... physically HURT you?' he asked further.

'There had BETTER be a good explanation for that...' he then added, suppressing his anger as best he could right now.