“Congratulations Maggots, you managed to do those fifty laps perfectly, without a single one of you quitting! What a beautiful sight to behold! In fact, it’s so wonderfully beautiful that I think I’d like to see it again!”
Groans rang out but no complaints were raised They’d learned early on that complaints were met with either relentless scorn or, more often than not, a swift steel-toed boot up the backside. Instructor Thomas enjoyed their pain, he relished the opportunity to make them miserable and would use every tool at his disposal to do so.
All in the name of training.
Johann dredged himself up from where he had collapsed and trudged on, barely moving faster than a slow jog as he moved his limbs through sheer dogged determination. If nothing else this training had taught him how to keep moving no matter how tired he was. As he trudged on Johann couldn’t help but think of how bright the future had seemed just three months ago.
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Johann, Gloria and Torin waited at the platform nervously, along with eleven other newly minted adventurers and a small crowd made up of family members, friends and a few random people who had little idea what was going on but liked to be included in events.
The fifteen of them had been told to meet at the teleporting platforms today at noon. They had already said goodbye to the wolfhounds, Malek and Sharptooth having gone with the rest of the animal companions to receive separate training designed to help them fight alongside their bipedal owners.
The animals weren’t the only ones being trained. From here the fifteen newly minted adventurers would be teleported to an undisclosed location for a year of training before graduating from rookies to fully fledged adventurers. The training was described as ‘light’ and ‘aimed towards attaining quality Tier 2 Classes’. The Johann, Gloria and Torin were looking forward to some easy training after the months under the demon, especially Johann.
While he had been cleared by the healers Johann’s Mana channels were still cracked and would be for at least the next two months. Physical activity would be fine but if he even attempted to move his mana he would be racked with excruciating pain.
“Right, times up. Seems that all of you are here apart from Mr. Gut-Koch. No worries, as I said yesterday, we will make sure you get where you need to go.” Krolan gave the sort of smile that contained a great amount of humor for some unknown reason.
Johann, seeing the smile, felt a small amount of unease. The unease grew as he watched Krolan close his eyes for a moment before waving his hand, a horizontal portal appearing in front of him. With a brief and undignified yelp a disheveled young man tumbled out of the portal, crashing onto the stone paving at Krolan‘s feet.
Before the man even had a chance to figure out where he was Krolan lent down and yelled “YOU’RE LATE!” before grabbing the poor fellow and chucking him head first through another portal. Turning around Krolan presented everyone with a pleasant smile and gestured towards the portal.
“If the rest of you would please step through the portal, that would be most appreciated.”
The rest of them walked through the portal calmly but quickly, none of them envious of the fate of the young man who went first. The other side of the portal led to a small wooden room containing nothing but a table bearing fifteen armbands and a large man. Despite the room containing little it still felt cramped, the sheer presence of the man that stood at the other end of the room stifled them, the weight of it leaving the youths feeling unable to breath.
With gray tinged skin and an angular face the man looked as if he had been carved from stone and his figure suggested that the carver had been particularly enamored with over-developed muscles. He had the sort of face that not even his mother could love and it was further marred by a rather jagged and pronounced scar running from just over his left eye to below his right ear. His frightening looks combined with an aura of barely contained violence had everyone keep their distance, or at least, try to. With as little space as there was there was nowhere to retreat to, the portal having closed as soon as the last person entered.
The fact that the man was smiling did not help matters. Whereas Krolan‘s smile suggested a hint of schadenfreude, this mans smile screamed of it. After a few moments of silence during which the man’s eyes scanned each of the fifteen, he spoke. His voice was soft and gentle yet somehow still terrifying, like a serial killer speaking to his victims.
“Greetings everyone, my name is Instructor Sergei. Before we begin, I would like everyone to come up and equip an arm band.” He gestured towards the small table laden with bands and everyone shuffled over and grabbed one, quickly retreating afterwards to remain as far from Sergei as possible.
“The arm bands are some highly enchanted magi-tech items that passively monitor your vital signs and raise an alert should you be in danger of dying.” A few worried looks were exchanged between the youths at that but Sergei simply smiled in a way that was very much not reassuring. “Don’t worry, they’re purely a precautionary measure, you have nothing to worry about.”
No one believed him.
“Now, I’d like to remind you all that, as stated on the contracts you signed when you joined the trials, by entering that portal you have agreed to one year of light training. Some of you may feel that you do not need this training and that is absolutely fine. At any point during the year you can either quit or you can request a test which, if you pass, will let you become a fully fledged Adventurer immediately.”
“Until such a time that you either quit or become fully fledged I expect you to follow my orders without question. Any time you do not then a light punishment will be given. Do you all find this acceptable?”
Everyone gave their assent, though a few looked as if they gave it begrudgingly. As Instructor Sergei had alluded to, there were a few who found the idea of light training unnecessary but hearing that they could take a test to pass early mollified them.
“Good. I’m glad that we are all in agreement. Now, after you leave this room we will be heading towards the arena for orientation. There will be plenty of signs so you shouldn’t get lost-” he paused, glancing in the direction of a disheveled youth “- though if someone could please look after Mr. Gut-Koch that would be great. Apparently the boy is directionally insane and whilst I don’t personally care if he lives or dies he needs to at least get through orientation before wandering into a bear cave and dying a gruesome death.”
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Sergei shook his head as if bemoaning the existence of such a person being placed under his care. “Alright, you have the bands, you know where you’re going and you know to swim as fast as possible to avoid the Essers. I think that’s everything, enjoy your swim.”
Before anyone had the time to ask what he meant the floor split in half and dropped open. In the brief moment before gravity realized what had happened Torin managed to grab a glimpse of Instructor Sergei, his smile having transformed into a devilish grin as he watched the rookies fall.
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The fifteen splashed into the sea with about as much grace as can be expected. Their reactions after they resurfaced ran the gambit from outraged indignation to calm acceptance but they quickly began to swim towards shore. After all, it wasn’t easy to be angry when you’re trying not to inhale sea water. It also didn’t help that the target of their anger was currently flying away in an aeroship.
The aeroship had apparently been designed for the singular purpose of providing a location for them to be portalled in and then dropped out of, the vehicle was nothing more than a large box with engines strapped to its side and a small cockpit attached to the front. The fifteen were half way to shore when the more perceptive among them spotted the craft, which had until then been traveling in a circle perpendicular to the shore, stop and discharge another group of fifteen. It was an interesting sight, one which raised plenty of questions, but sadly most of them failed to see it as they were too focused on the sight before them.
The island they were mostly swimming towards (Henri kept wandering off and Arashi had already arrived) seemed utterly alien to most of the rookies. Having grown up in the Western Feulac they were unused to sweeping forests, majestic waterfalls and lofty mountains, so the island was quite the distracting sight for them.
Measuring exactly 49 miles in diameter the island had over 70% of its surface covered in forests, jungles and the occasional grassy plains. A further 15% was found in the various lakes, ponds, rivers and one small pool that the instructors like to relax in on their days off.
The remaining surface area was home to the bitten peak, a large mountain smack dab in the middle of the island that gained its name from the peculiar set of ridges and flats at the top of the mountain that, at the right angle, looked exactly as if some monstrously large being had leaned over and bitten off the top of the mountain.
By the time the rookies dragged themselves on to the beach they were both drenched and incensed, Juya Tianlong immediately storming off into the woods, intent on ripping out Instructor Sergei’s heart and burning it to a crisp.
The others, though still quite mad, had at least the presence of mind to try and figure out where they were going before trying to mutilate the instructor. Sadly, this bore no fruits as there was no sign of a sign, contrary to what Sergei said. The break did have the effect of letting the more cautious among them take a moment to cool off, which led to them remembering Sergei’s dominating presence. This then led to them thinking that perhaps attacking Sergei would not be the best idea. The smart ones among them had a similar experience but rather than deciding not to attack Sergei they instead decided to let the more … boisterous among them take the lead before making their own attempt.
The group trudged into the forest with mixed moods; some angry, some anxious and some hungry. Johann, seeing no one else volunteering, put himself on Henri duty. The young man was nice enough, if painfully awkward both physically and conversationally. In between helping him up when he tripped over literally everything and fetching hi when he wandered off in the wrong direction Johann managed to learn a bit about the Warrior.
Henri Gut-Koch was, by his own words, a walking calamity. Despite his best efforts Henri was extremely clumsy. It was as if he was born with two left feet and two left hands that were all thumbs and covered in butter. Once, in an attempt to gain the mystical quality of ‘grace’, Henri tried to join a dance class. Ten minutes into the first lesson he had managed to break both of the instructors feet, accidentally pantsed pretty much everyone and somehow set fire to the stage despite there having been no lit flames on the property.
It was only once he picked up a sword that his curse seemingly vanished, his movements becoming fluid and precise. Or at least that was what Henri claimed. Watching him trip over yet another root Johann found it hard to believe and would have likely written the young man off as a liar if it weren’t for both his earnestness and the simple fact that he was here. With the struggle Johann had to get here he couldn’t for a moment believe that Henri got in by accident so there must be some truth to the story.
Still, it would have to be seen to be believed.
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The rookies managed to eventually find their way. Torin used his class and high agility to scout ahead and eventually discovered a sign post. It wasn’t a good one, being out in the woods and half buried in vegetation, but it was enough for them to get their bearings. Eager to get out of the forest and back to civilization the fourteen sprinted through the trees, their stats making the journey relatively easy.
When they emerged from the woods they were greeted with what would have been a majestic sight if you were a die hard fan of extreme minimalism. The arena was more of a pit in the ground, tiered seating that started at ground level and went down three levels before flattening out into the main arena. The only good part about it was that there was plenty of space.
Behind the arena squatted a building that looked as if its designers were told to make the perfect example of ‘an ugly warehouse’. Short and squat, it was made of some kind of grayish brown rock that would have to be intensely magical in order to make up for the awful color. With no windows and only one small door it seemed like the sort of prison you would associate with the phrase ‘lock him up and throw away the key’. The absolute worst part of it wasn’t the color, nor was it the terrible design, it was the sign above the door that said ‘Barracks’ in stumpy, ugly letters.
Besides the horror of the barracks was a lovely little inn, so picturesque that the sheer contrast between it and the barracks was jarring to the mind. In fact, if one were to look at both at the same time for more than five minutes 99% of people would simply pass out. The gloriously beautiful inn had the sign ‘Mess Hall’ written above the door in a flourishing cursive writing.
The fourteen rookies hurried to the arena, partly to get their minds off the horror of the barracks and partly to investigate the commotion. They weren’t the first to arrive, several dozen people having already arrived and seated themselves. The other people consisted of various different races and sported various different armor and weapon combinations.
On the arena floor itself there were piles of bodies strewn about, the hulking form of Instructor Sergei in the middle of them, a large and vicious grin on his face. Johann was about ready to turn tail and run for the hills when he realized that, though there were plenty of bruises, broken bones and blood, non of the bodies were dead. Many might have wished they were but they most certainly weren’t.
After finishing his last opponent with a brutal backhanded slap that sent the armored woman tumbling through the arena Sergei looked up at the crowd that were watching him and shouted “Is there anyone else who wishes to take part in the early graduation test? I’m quite tired from all these weaklings, now might be your only chance to beat me.”
Despite his words the grin on his face said otherwise. Fortunately for the rookies no one was foolish enough to believe him, thanks in no small part to the fact that all the hot-headed or foolish rookies were currently strewn about on the arena floor in various states of consciousness.
Despite the lack of targets Sergei’s grin did not vanish as he stepped forward and shouted “Very well then, I would like to formally welcome you all to your first year in the Adventurers Guild, or as most know it as-”
“Rookies Hell”