Bill shifted his feet after hearing Abby's words, looking away from her. There was no attempt to refute her harsh words.

Seeing Hannah's brother being told off by her oldest sister, Claire didn't know what to think. Though both of their families had mild disagreements, none of the moments felt close to the uncomfortable feeling that was growing inside her chest.

"Bill, if Claire and I could develop better fighting skills after being trained by Chelsea, you can, too," Hannah stepped into the conversation. Though her voice was lighthearted and optimistic, it was barely covering the underlying concern.

Pressing his lips together, Bill didn't answer Hannah's encouragement. It was clear that he was trying to sort through his emotions.

Knowing that rushing Bill to say something would be counterproductive, everyone stayed silent.

Even Darlina didn't say a word and simply stared ahead. If it wasn't for the occasional blinking, Darlina would've appeared to have just been replaced by a still shot of the robot's head.

Breathing in deeply and holding the air in his lungs before slowly letting it out, Bill said, "Business school didn't prepare me for this." He lightly chuckled.

Tommy placed a hand on Bill's shoulder. "Hey, little brother, you'll get there." Grinning, "Remember, you got me. I'll make sure you're ready before leaving this place."

Half-smiling, Bill said, "Appreciate that big brother." Shaking his head slowly, "I just keep thinking of the number of times those monsters ate me." A shudder ran through his body.

"That wasn't enjoyable for any of us," Abby tried to cheer Bill up.

Tommy nodded, "That's right. I've been shot before... But getting eaten hundreds of times was definitely a new experience."

Hannah's dad added in, "Bill, I'd rather you have to go through that then experience the real thing out there. You have an opportunity in front of you." Turning his head to look at everyone in the room, he then returned to looking at Bill, "There are others who aren't as fortunate and will likely have to struggle to become stronger by purely taking jobs inside of that place. But we, all of us here, are able to work together to gather the necessary resources quickly."

Not responding right away, Bill slowly looked at each one of them. Bill then looked at his dad, "For the family, I can do this."

Smiling at his son's strength, Hannah's dad stood up and maneuvered his way towards Bill. Hugging his youngest son, he said, "I'm proud of you. We'll get through this."

Moving to his dad and younger brother, Tommy joined in and hugged the two.

Seeing the raw emotions on display, Claire felt herself tearing up. Using one of her forearms, the tears were wiped away from her eyes.

The motion with her arm drew the attention of her mom. Her mom got off from the sofa and made her way towards Claire and Hannah.

Hannah, sensing that Claire's mom wanted to have a moment, placed a hand on Claire's shoulder before moving to her parents.

Looking at her mom, Claire gave a smile.

"How are you doing?" Claire's mom asked as she leaned against the kitchen counter like Claire was doing.

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Shrugging, "I guess I'm just thinking of what we're going to have to do." Claire gave her mom a hug, enjoying the comfort that her mother gave.

Returning the hug, Claire's mom asked, "Are you okay?"

"What do you mean?" Claire moved her head back to be able to see her mother's face.

"Claire, I just got through that training simulation." Letting go of Claire, she placed a hand on either side of her daughter's face. "That's not an experience a girl as young as you should be dealing with."

"Oh," Claire answered, understanding what her mom was talking about. Looking away from her mom, Claire said, "I wasn't expecting I'd have to go through that. At first, it bothered me to the point where I thought I'd go crazy..." She breathed in and out before returning her gaze to her mom. "But then I realized how much people are held back by the fear of death."

Hearing Claire's words, her mother sighed.

"I'm sorry, mom," Claire said in a quiet voice.

Shaking her head, "There's nothing for you to apologize about. You going through that was the reason why I was concerned, after hearing you had become an adventurer." Pulling Claire close to her and giving Claire a hug, she said, "Though I didn't imagine you'd have to experience such a traumatizing thing as part of the orientation to become an adventurer. Even after hearing you talk about it before, I had a difficult time believing what you said."

Nodding, Claire said, "I think it's because Star and Moon knew that people would be scared of being killed in the simulation, even if there were no consequences. This would hamper their training and prevent them from getting to a point where stepping outside wouldn't be an issue."

As Claire and her mom were talking about what had happened inside of the training simulation, the others were near the monitor.

"How long does it take for us to notice a difference in terms of staying in this type of room?" Claire's dad, Robert, asked Darlina.

Abby, next to her father, nodded her head in agreement, looking expectantly at the robot on the screen.

Instead of showing a cheerful smile, its expression was neutral. "Though this room does have an elevated level of energy, it still isn't to the degree where you'd see results immediately." Darlina looked at each one of them. "If it were, then just entering the room would be a painful process."

"But then what's the point of paying valuable Guild Points? I thought the purpose of getting these types of rooms or eating the special food is to get stronger as we absorb more energy?" Tommy furrowed his brow.

Darlina nodded, "That's the case. This hasn't changed." Next to Darlina appeared the image of a gym, "But this is the same with going to the gym and getting stronger, right? Do you expect your body to immediately get stronger after going only a couple of times? Not only would that be unrealistic, but it would also place a strain on your body."

Their expressions changed after hearing Darlina's words, as though its words had clicked in their minds.

"This is, even more, the case when you're factoring the new abilities that emerge as adventurers absorb more energy into their body," Darlina said in a stern voice. "Though you benefit from taking in more of the energy, you shouldn't be careless with it. Just like anything good for your body, an excess amount can be detrimental to your body."

Behind them, Claire said, "Trust Darlina on this information. You don't want to absorb more than your body can naturally handle." She had finished talking with her mother and went over to where the others were gathered in front of the monitor.

Abby looked at Claire and back to Darlina. "Though we may be impatient, I sense our mindset was wrong when thinking about this new resource. Even something as innocent as sugar can have a negative impact on your body, like fructose sugars interacting with the liver inside your body." Nodding, "It's good that we learned about this now instead of sometime in the future."

Listening to their words, Bill chuckled, "I didn't expect this to turn into a health class."

"You could lose a couple of pounds," Tommy laughed while using the back of his hand to tap Bill on the chest.

"Our husbands could see some improvements, too," Claire's mom joked as she looked at her husband.

Both Robert and Philip frowned, looking hurt at the comment.

Laura giggled as she nodded at her friend's comment. "You're right, Cynthia. It's been a while since they've seen their toes without having the crane their heads over their stomachs."

"Hey. We've been busy with work," Philip defensively touched his stomach. Looking at his wife, "It's not like the two of you..." He began to say but stopped after seeing the two women glaring at him as if daring Hannah's dad to finish his thought.

Claire and the others laughed at the interactions of their parents, forgetting the dire words spoken by the robot and the impact the energy could have on their bodies.