The official recognition from the DLRB that my dream training was "effective" was the worst thing that could have possibly happened to my nap schedule. For me, it was a quiet success. For FaeLina, it was a starter pistol for a race to global brand domination. She spent the entire morning presenting me with her new business plan. ’Okay, Mochi, listen up!’ her psychic voice buzzed with the energy of a thousand bees. ’We can’t just call it ’Dream Combat Training.’ That’s boring! We need something with flair! I’ve decided to call it... The Mochi Method™!’ She showed me a mental image of a logo she’d designed. It was a cartoon drawing of a sleeping brain happily lifting a tiny dumbbell. ’And the slogans!’ she continued, ignoring my stony silence. ’"The Mochi Method™: Slay Your Inner Demons While You Sleep!" Or how about this one: "Level Up Your Mind with Subconscious Sparring!" It’s brilliant!’ ’It’s horrifying,’ I thought. My quiet, personal project was being turned into a corporate wellness retreat with cheesy marketing. My only goal had been to stop the Iron Gryphons from getting soft so they wouldn’t cancel their contract. I had accidentally created a whole new industry. Before I could project my official, resounding ’No,’ the Guild Bulletin Board chimed with a new [Direct Message]. It wasn’t from Guildmaster Peppin. It was from a different guild, one with a much fancier insignia shaped like a bird made of silver. FaeLina read the message, her wings fluttering with excitement. "It’s from the Silver Griffins! They’re one of the richest guilds in the capital! They’re all high-born nobles!" The message read: Read full story at novel-fire.net To the Core of the Sanctuary. We have heard rumors of your... unconventional training methods. Our own guild’s knights are highly disciplined, but some lack the mental fortitude for missions requiring a certain... ruthlessness. We are intrigued by your ’Cozy Core Method.’ We wish to send one of our knights for a trial session. FaeLina was practically vibrating. ’A new client! And a noble one! Mochi, we can charge them a fortune! Quote them a hundred gold for the first session!’ I was much more wary. My method wasn’t designed for "ruthlessness." It was designed for the opposite. ’Ask for more information on the candidate,’ I projected to FaeLina, who relayed the question. The reply from the Silver Griffin Guildmaster was almost instant. Our candidate is a young knight named Sir Reginald. He is, by all accounts, a perfect warrior—brave, strong, and impeccably loyal. He has only one minor, recurring flaw: he is completely unable to fight any opponent he perceives as ’cute’ or ’pathetic.’ The message continued. He was recently defeated in the capital’s grand tournament because his opponent was a gnome who fought with a parasol. Sir Reginald felt it would be ’terribly impolite’ to strike him. He needs to overcome this weakness. This was, without a doubt, the most ridiculous problem I had ever heard of. They had a knight who was too nice to fight cute things. FaeLina’s business-fueled excitement immediately curdled into pure panic. ’A knight who can’t fight cute things?! Mochi, this is a trap!’ she fretted. ’If we fail to ’cure’ him, the snooty Silver Griffins will tell everyone our method is a joke! But if we succeed, we’ll get a reputation as the dungeon that teaches noble knights how to punch kittens! We can’t win! This is a public relations nightmare!’ She was right. It was a no-win situation. It was complicated, stressful, and would require a lot of effort. Naturally, I found it fascinating. How do you teach a man to fight a Dust Bunny? It was a unique puzzle. And if I could solve it, maybe the Silver Griffins would pay me enough that I could afford to take a month-long nap. ’Tell the Guildmaster we accept,’ I projected, ignoring FaeLina’s psychic screams of protest. ’Send your knight.’ A moment later, a new, very strange notification appeared. [New ’Coaching’ Client Acquired: Sir Reginald of the Silver Griffins.] [Training Objective: Cure ’Acute Cuteness Paralysis’.] [Potential Rewards: High DP, Gold, Increased Reputation with Noble Factions.] [Potential Risk: Becoming known as the place that trains heroes to be mean to small, fluffy animals.] This was getting complicated.