Sergei stayed true to his word, he didn’t disturb them for the rest of the day, leaving them to do what they wanted. Well, Slugface had to finish his punishment, but other than that the rookies had an uneventful evening. So, to make up for it, Sergei decided to introduce them to the joys of a midnight hike.
“WAKE UP ROOKIES, RISE AND SHINE!! TODAY’S A NEW DAY AND A NEW OPPORTUNITY FOR SOME TRAINING!! WHO WANTS TO JOIN ME ON A NICE LITTLE HIKE? EVERYONE? WELL OKAY THEN, IF YOU INSIST!!”
Most of them hadn’t even woken up yet when they discovered an interesting feature of their room. With a whir a section of the wall behind their bed lowered near instantly, creating a large opening. At the same time their beds levered upwards, catapulting them and their bedding onto the grass, bushes and trees outside.
After Sergei managed to get his laughter under control he bellowed “ALL RIGHT, IF YOU LOOK TO MY LEFT YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO SEE A GLOWING FLAG!! THAT MARKS THE START OF THE MOUNTAIN TRAIL, THE END OF WHICH LIES ON TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN!! YOU HAVE UNTIL DAY BREAK TO REACH IT, ANYONE WHO’S LATE GETS TO ENJOY PUNISHMENT EXERCISES WHILE THE REST OF US EAT BREAKFAST!!”
As soon as he finished bellowing he disappeared, a good thing as more than one person had some decidedly rude suggestions involving Sergei performing sexual acts with various objects and animals, some of which would involve breaking the laws of physics or time travel.
The hike might have been enjoyable if it weren’t the middle of the night, they weren’t in their pajamas, they didn’t have a time limit and they could actually see the ground. As it was the going was slow, tiredness and darkness making them lose the trail over a dozen times.
Funnily enough, despite the events of the previous day, Johann was actually in the best position. After his ordeal yesterday he had collapsed, dead to the world, and actually managed to get about seven hours sleep, which was about six hours more than anyone else.
There was also the fact that this whole ordeal, minus the torturous Punishment Gauntlet, was eerily similar to the training his dad had put them through in the last few months. It made Johann wonder if that was just a coincidence or if his dad had gone through the guild training before.
As far as he knew his father had never been an adventurer, he certainly never acted like it and he had never mentioned anything. His dad had worked as a high level Farm Hunter, going out to local farms and helping to kill their high level animals in preparation for butchering. A high level Farmer or Rancher might be able to raise high level animals to produce mana rich meat but that didn’t mean they necessarily had the power to kill them, that was were men like Kern Alltud came in.
It was one of the few jobs that required someone with a fighting class outside of the Adventurers Guild and the Guards, but now Johann was wondering if his father had merely been lying about what he did. After all, neither of the boys had been out with Kern on one of his jobs, so it was entirely possible, Johann just couldn’t think of a reason why his dad would lie.
Johann was shaken from his thoughts by the sight of the summit. Sadly, his ability to see the summit wasn’t due to proximity or suddenly gaining night vision, but due to the increase of light from the coming dawn.
Still, it was in sight, which was enough of an incentive for Johann to push himself. Thanks to their Kern’s training Johann, Torin and Gloria were in better shape than most of the rookies, or at least more used to middle of the night hikes. As such they were near the front of the pack with only a handful of people in front of them.
Reaching the top they were unsurprised to find Instructor Sergei already there, though they were surprised to find him seated on a comfy armchair in front of a roaring fire on which he was toasting some marshmallows. The three stared at the marshmallows enviously, the hike having built up and intensified their hunger. Torin began to unconsciously walk forwards before Gloria grabbed him by the collar and yanked him backwards.
“Well, looks like you lot made it just in time.”
The fourteen rookies that were at the summit were confused for a moment until Sergei motioned over to an outcrop of rock that currently had the very tip of it light up by sunlight. With a small chuckle at the relieved expression on the rookies expressions Sergei popped the last marshmallow in his mouth before pulling out a sign from his dimensional pouch and driving it into the ground. A few of the rookies flinched from his sudden action making Sergei smile as he reached down and pushed his mana into a device he’d previously placed on the ground.
With a small flash of light and a big flash of mana the group disappeared from the summit, appearing a few feet in the air above a similar device that Sergei had placed outside the mess hall earlier in the morning.
“Alright, two hours for breakfast and then meet up in front of the barracks for today’s exercises. Anyone not there in time will have to do the entire set under double gravity. Oh, and just so you know how fortunate you bastards are to have reached the summit in time, those instructions are for the rest of you who are still on the mountain.”
The rookies stared after Sergei as he merrily sauntered into the mess hall as the implications of what he just said hit them. They had just spent the last six hours hiking up the mountain, meaning that even if the rest reached the summit just after they left then they would still take four to five hours to get back. Essentially, there was absolutely no way they would get back, meaning they would lose out on breakfast and then get the additional punishment added on top of that.
A few of the rookies looked back at the mountain and felt sorry for the poor bastards who failed to reach the summit but most of them just felt relieved that they weren’t one of them. Johann, Torin and Gloria on the other hand felt something they never thought they would; grateful. Specifically, grateful for the demon trainer that had pushed them through hell the past few months. Without him they would likely still be on the mountain.
The three of them turned around and walked into the mess hall. The cute, quaint little inn was just as cute on the inside, but nowhere near as little. The love child of a high level space enchanter, a high level builder and an eccentric designer named Edna, the Rookies Mess Hall boasted over 10000 square feet of space, ovens that speed up cooking times tenfold and a building wide enchantment that enhanced the flavor and nutrient content of any meal created and consumed within it. Combined with delightful décor that simultaneously engendered an atmosphere of peaceful relaxation and altered the flow of mana in a way that the Feng Shui of Earth unknowingly tried and failed to truly achieve.
The building was an anomaly, much like the rest of the island. The beautiful mess hall was just as beautiful as the rest of the island but the quaint cottage-like beauty was at odds to the fierce untamed beauty its surroundings. The barracks was as ugly as the island was beautiful and deserved would have been far more fitting as the prison of a particularly cruel dictator, not as the accommodation on a tropical island. The arena was somewhat fitting in a remnant of an ancient lost civilisation kind of way, but the Punishment Gauntlet shouldn’t have existed anywhere other than the darkest depths of Hel.
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The entire island was odd, yet Johann couldn’t help but find it oddly charming. The oddity spoke to its character, and the character of its inhabitants. The island refused to bow to social norms, just like the Adventurers Guild itself. Johann still remembered the story of the guild’s founding, how it created policies that were ridiculed by the rest of the guilds yet refused to change in order to fit in.
That steadfast integrity was one of the Adventurers Guilds defining traits, and it was the reason Johann wanted to be an adventurer above all else.
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After a delicious breakfast consisting of some deliciously fluffy waffles drowned in a syrup that was oddly green yet tasted divine Johann walked over to the arena and sat down to meditate. The healers had suggested he meditate on his mana, gently circulating it through his body as slowly as possible to try and help his mana channels recover. He’d only tried it once before, the attempt ending very quickly and very painfully, but Johann hoped it was his inexperience with the method that was to blame. The Healers had said that if he could do the exercise at least once a day it should cut down his healing time by a month or two.
As he was calming his thoughts Johann heard someone approach and sit down near him. He ignored the person, focusing on his mana instead. He ignored them as they shuffled closer, believing it to be either Torin or Gloria. Gloria had been weirdly motherly since he got injured, constantly fussing around him and offering to help him with nearly everything. Johann was just glad she hadn’t offered to help him use the bathroom, that would just be too awkward.
When he felt the person lean over and get uncomfortably close he opened his eyes to snap at Torin, since no one else would do something so annoying to him while he was meditating, when he was startled o find himself face to face with an unfamiliar face. Jerking backwards with a small yelp Johann had to scramble not to fall over backwards.
The girl in front of him cringed, retreating backwards a step but still studying his face with a worrying intensity. Standing at 5 foot 4 inches the girl seemed relatively normal with pink hair and a slight green tinge to her cheeks, but the way she was focusing on him made Johann uncomfortable. Having seen her before at the portal station Johann recognized her as one of the healers from his group but he couldn’t quite remember her name. He though it was Mary something.
“Is there any reason you’re staring at me?” Johann asked.
Mary something continued to stare at him while she answered. “No idea. There’s something about you, something that’s pulling at me.”
Johann started to blush. “It’s not your looks, other than your hair you are actually very plain looking-” the blush disappeared “- and it’s definitely not your intelligence, cracking your mana channels was stupid-” Johann was really starting to get annoyed by this strange girl “but something about you is definitely pulling at me.”
Johann was frowning in annoyance. “Look, I don’t know what you’re going on about but could you please stop staring at me, it’s rude.”
Mary something blinked and cocked her head. “Really? I did not know that.”
Johanns frown became skeptical. “How do you not know that, did you grow up in a cave?”
Mary something shook her head. “No, I grew up in a commune with the other Anthousai. We didn’t have much interaction with outsiders.”
Johann’s annoyance vanished as curiosity filled him. “What are Anthousai, I’ve never heard of that race before?”
Mary smiled and sat down next to Johann. “Anthousai are plant spirits, like Dryads and Ents, but with a connection to flowers rather than trees.”
Understanding dawned on Johann. “Oh, I thin I know why you’re feeling attrac- uh, pulled towards me, I’m a Druid. When I cracked my mana channels I was using Plant mana, so a bit of the mana flowed into my body at the time. You’re probably sensing the Plant mana left in my body.”
Mary cocked her head as she turned the thought over in her mind before she nodded once. “Yes, that should explain it. I am glad that is all, I would hate to be inexplicably drawn to someone for ever.”
Johann smiled. “Yeah, I can see how that could be annoying. My names Johann by the way, Johann Alltud, and to clarify I pushed myself to the point of cracking my channels cause my brother and best friend both entered the guild with me. I couldn’t let them down.”
“My name is Mary Llidaceae.” Mary said. “I understand not wanting to let down family, but why does that mean you had to push yourself so hard?”
Johann grimaced, memories of the match rising to the surface of his mind. “I was busy fighting for third place and met someone really strong.”
Mary looked confused. “Why couldn’t you just take fourth place?”
Johann looked at Mary, his face mirroring the confusion on hers. “What do you mean, if I had gotten fourth I wouldn’t have gotten in; only the top three in each category get in.”
Mary’s confusion lifted. “Ooh, that is why. I didn’t know there was such a rule. To be fair, I know little to nothing about the guild, or anything from outside the commune. We rarely interacted with the world beyond.”
“Then why did you want to join the Adventurers Guild?” Johann asked.
Mary shrugged. “I didn’t. I was exploring the city and saw a line. I thought it might be for something to eat so I joined it. After that I just followed what people told me to do and ended up here. I was right though, there is good food here.” She smiled, completely oblivious to Johann trying to pick his jaw up from the ground.
“So you joined the guild, going through all those trials, because you thought there might be food? Don’t you have to get back? Won’t your parents be worried?” Johann asked, worried for the naive girl in front of him.
Mary’s smile turned sad for a moment. “No, my parents died when I was young. I’ve been looked after by the commune ever since.” Her smile brightened once again. “It should be fine though. Plenty of people leave the commune every now and then, and I am an adult now. Besides, I’ll have a wonderful story to tell the others when I get back.”
Johann stared at her a moment in disbelief before shaking his head. It wasn’t his problem, either the girl would quit and go back home or she’d go on to be an adventurer. Either way, it wouldn’t be his problem. After all, with ten teams worth of rookies slated to advance what would be the odds she’d be in his?
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Sergei appeared as he always did, out of nowhere. Sergei loved the way his appearance made the rookies jump so he’d gone a long way to making his camouflage spell flawless. Standing just to the right of the barrack’s door he pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and nailed it to the board on the wall.
“All right meat bags, time for your exercise lists. Each day I will put up one of these lists detailing a series of exercises that you have to do at some point during the day. I don’t care when or where, you can do arm curls on the shitter for all I care, you just have to do them before midnight. Whatever you fail to do on one day you’ll have to do the next under double gravity. Miss out two days in a row and it’ll be triple gravity. Miss out three days and your out of here, no exceptions.”
Sergei paused, cocking his head to the side as if listening to something. After a second he grunted and said “Fine, if you are knocked out or physically unable to complete the exercises for the day and even our healers can’t fix you, then you’ll be excused.”
“To be clear, these exercises are on top of whatever else I decide to make you do. If I make you run laps all day but the list says you have to lift weights then I expect you to lift ‘em while running. Got that?”
Everyone, or at least everyone who was there, nodded. The other 134 rookies (two had already quit) still hadn’t gotten back to exactly no ones surprise.
“Good. Now, since I’m a nice and generous person.” Everyone had looks of disbelief at his statement, which he completely ignored. “I’ll give the rest another two hours to get back and then we’ll do some of those laps I mentioned. Anyone who is late gets gauntlet runs. In the meantime, since the others are all going to enjoy the novel experience of double gravity exercises, I’ve decided that I can’t let you all miss out on such a wonderful experience.”
With that he activated another enchantment on his armband, his selection for it having already been keyed in earlier. The rookies in front of him crumpled as everything suddenly doubled in weight.
“All right, since you’re already down there, how about each of you give me twenty push ups.”