Torran was pleased when he heard the dwarf compliment him - or, at least he believed the statement that Torran was big was a compliment. His size had served Torran well when he used to help his father forge, and Torran never really felt bothered by the fact he had to duck in most places. Even more than that, however, Torran was glad that the woman who led him here was speaking up for him - Torran got hungry fairly often, but even he knew that it wasn't okay to eat people!

"Oh-ho? That so! Gentle giant he is, then? Well, any friend of our dear laundry-lady is welcome here, put her there, son!"

The attempt to pat Torran on the shoulder wasn't even noticed by the large Boaz, who simply returned the handshake. Torran was very cautious about handshakes and hugs since his parents usually complained he did them too roughly - and the last thing Torran wanted to do was upset the people who could be his potential Familia. After finishing the ginger handshake, Torran finally decided to speak up.

"Yes, I do not eat people. My name is Torran, and I was hoping to join the Athena Familia."

Torran had to stop himself from smirking. He felt that he had nailed that interaction when in actuality it was kind of awkward when he put it that way. He waited for the dwarf to grand him permission to enter the building and was quick to enter. The Laundry lady followed behind Torran, and it took the boaz a few seconds to realize why she would be coming inside. Then he remembered - she had come here in order to bring laundry, so she probably came in to be paid! Torran gave himself a bit too much credit for that discovery, which any reasonable person would have realized instantly.

The dwarf, who had introduced himself as Brozar as the trio made their way inside the building, led them to what appeared to be the dining room - they stopped their, and Brozar led the laundry Lady to another part of the building after she took the laundry out of Torran's hands. Torran felt very nervous being left alone in the dining hall - well, there were other people there, but Torran didn't know anyone. That scared him somewhat, but Torran reminded himself that he was there to be an Adventurer. And Adventurers had to do things that made them scared sometimes.

Two figures really stood out to Toran - one was sleeping while sitting at one of the tables. He was gruff, was wearing an eyepatch, and was wearing armor despite being in a room meant for eating. Torran felt intimidated by him, despite the size difference, and really wanted to avoid being too close to him - but he had to lern to not be scared of things like that, if he really wanted to be an adventurer. Luckily though, Torran wouldn't have to talk to him - Torran's father told the Boaz that waking people up while they were trying to sleep was very bad. After that, Torran learned to go to the bathroom on his own, and no longer needed to wake up his parents!

Toran shook his head - he was getting distracted again. The other person was seemed much safer - the girl seemed around the same size as the girl that Torran rescued earlier that day, maybe even shorter. Was she a child? Toran knew about Pallum, and felt that it was reasonable to assume she was one - still, even if he knew she wasn't a child, she seemed much friendlier than the older man, if Torran went by apperances alone. He chose to approach her, hoping that she would be able to answer his questions while Brozar was with the Laundry Lady.

"E-excuse me, Ma'am, do you know where I go to join the Familia?"

Torran was very nervous - he never dealt with strangers much back when he worked with his parents, and the only reason he could deal with the people he talked to today was that he was acting the part of the hero. Now, he was asking questions from someone who could very well be a real adventurer - and the only reason he even managed that was because she looked so nonthreatening.

Narrative: Warrior's Rest backyard.

To get to the backyard of the minor manor, one had to walk through the dining hall area, then a small corridor until you reached what could be described as a lounge or living room. A room fillwed with sofas, couches, lounge chairs, a big round rug, some larger potted plants, candlesticks and a few small tables and low bookshelves. What was more important though was the door leading out to the backyard, which was located on the rear-most wall there in that room. There were two locks on it, a thin chain and hook-type lock, as well as a typical rotary lock. Once both of these were undone, the door would open up to the outside.

The backyard itself was nothing special. A medium-sized swathe of mostly grass, a few lonely trees and a small, thigh-high fence that encirced it all. There was, of course, Brozar's forge - whih stood unerneath a makeshift roof made out of wooden scaffolding and planks. It had everything a smith could want though, a furnace, anvil, grindstone, water trough, a rack for tools and even a workbench and tanning rack. It was all rather clumped together though, but given that Brozar was a rather compact man, it didn't seem like it'd cause any issues for him personally. The rest of the backyard though? Largely just an open area, with no furniture or other decorations at all. Perfect for just lying in the grass and staring at the sun, or doing some light excersise.

Inside Warrior's Rest:

When the big boaz came over and spoke, Tiramis wa sure that he would be the gruff, bellowing and demanding type - big folk were usually like that. However, she was pleasantly surprised to find the man to be not like that, but actually meek and soft-spoken, almost like a child. The tinge of nervousness in his voice was almost cute, if not for the fact that he could likely wrestle a bear ... And win. The tiny alchemist smirked at this though for a brief moment, before returning to reality and the big softie before her.

"Heya! I'm Tiramis, but just call me Tira. Everyone else does." She said in a warm greeting, having to slightly bend her neck backwards in order to look up and meet the mountain's eyes. "If you're looking to join, you'll have to speak with Lady Athena herself, she should be right down though." She continued, just catching a glimpse of the new pallum-recruit pass through the dining room, on his way somewhere else. A few moments later, the goddess with golden hair and ruby eyes strode into the mess area herself, a serene expression on her face.

"Ah, Tiramis. Is this our guest?" The Goddess asked.
"Sure is! He came along with the laundry-lady! Brozar snatched her away though. Apparently he'd been helping her all morning from the sounds of it." The alchemist said, having heard most of the conversation from outside, since Brozar wasn't exactly a quiet talker.
"Oh? That's very kind of you, sir...?" Athena trailed for a bit.
"He said he's called Torran!" Tira chimed in before the man could speak up for himself. "Apparently, he wants to join the Familia too."
"Well now, today's been a busy day." Athena said, looking a bit surprised. "So many new applicants in one morning.. You'd almost think the fates were conspiring something."
"You shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, right?" Tira laughed.
"Hmhm, I suppose." Athena laughed very softly too. "Well then, Torran, was it? If you'd like, we cam get right down to the blessing. Just come with me and we'll get started." Athena said, motioning for the man to join her.

The process would be the same, take the boaz up the stairs to the third floor, let him into her room and then they could speak more privately about what's and why's and how's there.

On a different note, Grent had been asleep this whole time. And still was.

Nice and open was Triss's first opinion of the little courtyard. Thank god there wasn't a vegetable garden or a bunch of pots he had to watch out for, huh? Spreading out his toes and enjoying the softness of the grass, the pallum took in a couple deep breaths. He envisioned an aquamarine pool, the waters perfectly clear, the stone beneath a hue of red and orange that gradated into deep emerald. Slowly, his thoughts melted away, leaving only the body that had been drilled so many combinations that he could do them in his sleep. One breath, two breaths, three...

"Delm!" Elbow thrust. "Hel!" Vertical backhand. "En!" Supported uppercut. "Balk!" Side thrust kick. "Arve!" Crescent kick.

"Jess!" Leaping high kick. "Yeen!" Defensive roll into body hook. "Sark!" Grapple their arm and pivot behind. "Fram!" Outer sweeping throw. "Dart!" Dropping axe kick.

"Ohm!" High jab. "Rel!" Heel stomp. "Ect!" Explosive hip slam. "El!" Lunging spear hand. "Vel!" Headlock into flying knee. "Darsh!" Vertical elbow strike, connecting with knee.

Landing on the final blow, Triss exhaled deeply, before looking at his surroundings once more. He had definitely covered more ground in his katas than he used to, that was for sure. The youth flexed his fingers a couple more times, rotating his wrists and stomping on the ground, a half-ironic grin on his face. Like this, he could totally maybe punch through a stone wall, huh? But for all his effort, there was still something missing.

Momi ACTUALLY punched out fire and kicked out explosions and blasted out lightning when she did her core kata, the same that she drilled into Triss until his head was swollen with adjustments and all, but, well, he didn't do any fire punches, even after receiving his falna. Maybe it wasn't a falna thing though. Maybe it wasn't even a strength thing? Maybe it was just something he should stop thinking about, because a punch was going to hurt, no matter if your fist was on fire or not.

The pallum bounced on the balls of his feet once more, his braided ponytail bouncing against his back. He'll warm up a bit more, push himself a bit more, and see just how far his newfound strength got him when he put in maximum effort!

"Alright, once more from the top!"