"Even the ones who can fly won't do it till perhaps eight at the earliest."

"That'd make a difference, yes." 

They can keep practicing flight for a bit longer; he'll cover a few basic aerial dodges that might help avoid lunging monsters, then review the other exercises. "I generally ask students to demonstrate a minimum proficiency in these and a few other skills before moving on to more advanced techniques. You're doing well, and could meet that bar with practice if you chose to try for it." 

"Sounds like fun, I don't know enough songs to sing all day and I don't think I can fit any more Dutch in my head till morning."

Then he'll leave her with a few easy-to-practice foundational agility exercises! If she's still got the energy for it, she can practice while he studies the ship for teleport finding.

He shares his plans to head off on a monster-hunting trip after this. 

"Oh good, fewer for the rest of us."

"That's the idea!" 

He bids farewell not long after that, and flies west. 

Off to pick a fight with an eldritch abomination! It's a nostalgic thought. 

Freedom of movement has a long duration; he keeps it up the whole hunt. 

That will help when amorphous hostile black things swipe at him from under the waves.

Tendrils slide off the magic, unable to get a proper grip. All according to plan! 

In his last couple fights with these things, Ipaxalon has learned that fighting them in melee as a martial artist, while somewhat effective, is not really the best option available to him. So, with some reluctance, he elects to try out a new plan: fighting like a dragon. 

Said plan runs roughly as follows: When you have a recharged breath weapon, strafe the enemy with it. Otherwise, cast essential buffs (in this case fire shield and a couple modest protection spells) and try to stay out of range. Repeat as needed. If the enemy flees, then pursue and finish them off. 

They're usually pretty reluctant to flee until they've been cut down by half or more of the size they were upon attacking him.

Unless they have countermeasures he hasn't encountered yet, that's gonna happen eventually. At which point a repeat of the previous encounter occurs, ending in a refreshing cocktail of monster-on-the-rocks. 

He's getting the hang of this!

Next, it's off to London for a rest and more politicking. 

About a week later, Rebecca gets another visit from Ipaxalon. 

The ship is making decent time to Johannesburg but he encounters them in the middle of a downpour.

That's gonna put a bit of a damper on flying conversation, huh. He'll just let the sailors know he stopped by, and that he plans to return when the weather clears, unless Rebecca wants to chat in the rain or the captain wants to invite him aboard in human form. 

The captain is not wholly clear on his deal, because the language barrier is pretty significant. With an Ipaxalon-direct explanation and the help of Tongues, sure, he can come aboard.

Yeah, they speak Dutch and he doesn't, he's using tongues for this. After some clarification...

...Ipaxalon thanks the captain and makes his way belowdecks.

He's managed to acquire a nice set of clothes for this form, now, and he doesn't mind them getting a bit wet; he can dry them off with a cantrip. 

Rebecca has her own little cabin not far from the captain's, and she is experimenting with conjured violins in it. Sounds like she's maybe tuning?

He knocks politely on the door. 

"Who is it?"

"Ipaxalon! The captain kindly allowed me aboard, in human form. May I enter?" 

"Oh! Yes, come right in."

He does! 

"It's good to see you again, Rebecca. How's the testing coming along?"

"I can get a violin to behave just about right if I tune it really aggressively, the strings don't come in at the right tension but that's what the pegs are for. How are you?"

"...a bit overwhelmed, actually," he admits. "But making steady progress." He does look somewhat morose.