Ignoring the smell of the armored bear, Claire kept her hands pressed against the thick fur. Her attention was purely focused on taking the next step forward.
Initially, when she tried to get the bear to move, Claire had focused on pressing the huge mass of flesh forward. After putting in a disproportionate amount of energy to get marginal results, it slowly dawned on her how she was approaching the problem incorrectly.
"Compared to the weight of the bear, I barely weight anything," Claire thought to herself. The image of a kid trying to shove a full-grown adult to the ground came to mind. "I'll naturally be pushed back. But the ground is heavier than the bear, so if I push against the ground then the bear will be pushed forward."
The moment she tested it out, she discovered that the bear slid against the ground easier.
"Figured it out?" Emily asked, walking next to her while keeping her eyes focused on their surroundings.
Through clenched teeth, Claire said, "You knew?" Understanding that Emily was saying that they were all aware that Claire had been incorrectly attempting to move the monster. Claire turned her head to look at the soldier while making sure not to disrupt her rhythm.
Emily looked back at Claire with a slight grin on her face.
Finding the amused expression to be annoying, Claire went back to staring at the ground and concentrating on taking the next step. Though they had just started, her arms and thighs were beginning to heat up from the exertion.
Giggling, "I'm guessing you're wondering why we didn't say anything so you wouldn't have wasted so much energy?" Emily asked.
Claire was silent.
"Our contribution to your problem may have made it easier on you, it would've hurt you in the long run," Emily explained. Not waiting to see if Claire would respond, Emily continued, "In the military, we often have the fresh recruit try to figure out how to overcome obstacles themselves. By having the person figure out the solution, the recruit then has more confidence in their ability to problem-solve."
"I hope you don't mind me sounding too thankful," Claire quickly voiced out before she needed to take her next step forward.
Emily smiled. "Though it's frustrating at the moment, developing your critical thinking skills will help in combat more than you think. There'll be moments where your team will count on your ability to work through a dangerous combat environment and if you're unable to quickly think of a solution then it may cost your team's life." Her voice changed to a more serious tone.
Not wanting to lose her focus, Claire remained silent but took Emily's words to heart. Even if the sight of Claire struggling was funny to them, it was clear that the action wasn't only meant to be a source of amusement. They were trying to see whether Claire was able to handle obstacles and overcome them.
"It's not a bad practice, having the individual struggle and use the frustration be a source of motivation. It may not work on everyone, but the military wasn't a place that anyone could take part in outside of a continental draft event. Though a draft would be done for the sake of needing bodies to fill in the insufficient number of people." Claire thought to herself. As she thought to herself, she noticed that even thinking was going in the same rhythm as her steps.
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After pushing the animal's body for what seemed like hours, Claire slowly noticed something about her body. Though she was getting tired, her body felt like it was adapting to the physical task.
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"This must be connected to what I had felt earlier, with the increase in strength after defeating the monster," Claire thought to herself. "Though the difference isn't enough to be surprising, just enough to be noticed."
The benefit of the changes in her body was how the effort of pushing the monster was easing compared to earlier.
"I'll need to see if Hannah is feeling the same thing. Hopefully, Darlina is able to provide some answers to these questions." Claire thought about this being over soon. The hope of any explanations motivating her to make the dead animal reach the town a second faster.
Her wishes were granted when she noticed that they had left the trees behind them, exiting the forest.
"Congratulations, all of you," Chelsea shouted to the group.
As Claire, watched the Guild workers maneuver the body onto a cart, she wondered why they hadn't thought about bringing something like that.
"Note to self, look into getting a cart to carry the heavy monsters," Claire sighed, happy to know that the work was finally over. "Might as well get used to it, considering this is likely what life is going to be like for a while."
Thinking about what her life was going to be like for the coming years, Claire felt as though everyone was thrust into the workforce. It was as though schools had been eliminated.
Shaking her head, she walked over to where Chelsea and the others were standing.
"Next time, we might want to consider the Level requirement," Heather said to the group. Her face was drained, as though she had pulled several days of work. "And now that we have the Guild Points, how about we invest in a cart? I don't want to end up pulling such a thing again."
Everyone nodded at Heather's comment, not looking forward to dragging such a large creature again.
"That's probably a good idea," Chelsea agreed. "How about we check the Store to see if they sell any carts." Focusing her attention on Claire and Hannah, "What are the two of you planning on doing after this?"
Claire looked to her friend, "I think we should get things ready for us to make equipment. Though we didn't get any of the raw material of the armored bear, the Guild Points we did get should be enough to purchase material for us to use."
"I still can't believe we were able to get a thousand Guild Points," Hannah's eyes were wide, just thinking about how much they'd received.
"It only means that they're getting paid for more, depending on how large their margins are," Emily thought out loud.
Selene nodded, "It would only make sense if that's the case. These types of jobs are valuable since we'll get a better sense of the value of raw material." Turning to Claire and Hannah, "For the two of you, such information will be crucial, considering how it'll dictate what equipment you create and offer to the Auction House."
After they had talked some more, the two groups decided to meet up at another time to take part in a job. It was determined that jobs inside of the simulation were equally as beneficial to the soldiers. This was especially the case when it came to correctly measure the difficulty of taking down a monster.
As the two left the portal into the Guild in the real world, Claire and Hannah made their way to the area designated for crafting equipment.
"I feel like this place is far larger than it appears," Hannah mentioned to Claire as they made their way to the manufacturing area.
"I suspect that it is, which explains how the Guild can provide so many services to adventurers," Claire agreed.
As they walked on the first floor to the manufacturing area of the Guild, they noticed fewer adventurers walking in the hallways. On the walls, there were screens revealing people working on equipment, hammering at raw material to be made into equipment.
Stopping by one of the screens, the two girls couldn't help but watch the video.
"As you can see, the scales of the fire-lizard is resistant to heat. It's why you'll need to increase the temperature to a higher level." The man hammering at the scales stopped and used a clamp to grab the material. Shoving it into a bed of coals, he proceeded to step on a pump on the ground, which caused the sound of air to be heard. With the added air, the coals began to brighten. "With the resistance to heat, you'll need to purchase Grade-2 coals in addition to the Grade-3 canister. The higher-grade canister helps to infuse the material with the energy."
While listening to the man, Claire understood that the video provided some type of tutorial for free and shown in this area. Looking away from the man talking about the process, she saw that there were other screens that showed different videos.
"I guess we're in the right place," Clarie thought to herself, getting a better idea of the amount of work needed to learn how to make equipment.