Jun woke the next morning feeling hungover. Shiori was still sleeping deeply by the time Jun had to leave for her classes. The morning flew by much as the day before, and Jun spent her free time alone, idly poking at the membrane in her core to no discernible effect. Time passed slowly, and Jun couldn't help but wish Aya was in her morning classes with her. Despite only sharing a single class together, they'd gotten along well, and Jun tentatively thought of her as a friend.
The afternoon brought her first Physical Conditioning class, and she was shocked to see a familiar face. Cecilia nodded at her with a serious look on her face from her position behind the teacher. Like the rest of the students, Cecilia and several older students wore training clothes that consisted of durable leather boots, breeches, and a sturdy cotton tunic. The Professor for the course was a gruff older man who looked like he ate bodybuilders as a snack and ordered the students to only refer to him as "Sergeant." Under the Sergeant's barked commands, the older students led the younger in a series of punishing exercises that had everyone gasping for breath by the end of the 2 hour class, though Jun's training with her friends and increased stats were enough that she was able to just about keep up.
After a 15 minute break, the Combat Skills class started, with the Sergeant leading the class was in basic sword and shield drills for an hour before breaking the students up in groups to try different weapons. Jun quickly joined the spear group, thoughts of her war wand driving her to learn how to use such a weapon. After 15 minutes of rapid drilling in stances and basic blows, the Sergeant ordered the groups to switch weapons until each student had a chance to practice with a two-handed sword, spear, glaive, mace, staff, halberd, and daggers. It was only after every group had gone over the different weapons twice that the students were dismissed. Many of them collapsed where they stood. Jun was one of them.
The crunching sound of boots on grass warned Jun that someone was coming in the dim light of dusk. Craning her head, she saw a muscular silhouette crouch down over her. A smile was plastered on Cecilia's face. "So roomie, how's your first week of classes going?" she said with a smirk.
Jun groaned in response as she continued to cycle her mana through her body according to the technique she'd learned from Shiori. The mana circulating through her mana channels slowly repaired and reinforced her body, though it had nothing on a dedicated healing spell.
Chuckling, Cecilia picked Jun up and threw her over her shoulder. "Come on roomie, let's go get some food! You need to eat well to grow big and strong!" Ignoring Jun's weak protests, Cecilia carried her across campus, ignoring the looks students shot at them.
Jun flushed with embarrassment as the buff woman carried her across the campus but stopped struggling, enjoying the free ride on Cecilia's shoulder even as the woman's hard muscles dug into her stomach. It gave her more time to cycle her mana. Once she felt like she'd only ran half a marathon rather than a full one, Jun wiggled free and fell to the ground and shakily landed on her feet to Cecilia's amused chuckling. "Took you long enough to recover Jun," she said as she started moving again.
Jun rushed to catch up to Cecilia, her muscles protesting the movement as she did. "Those classes were insane! Why didn't you warn me?! Or tell me you'd be one of the assistants for my class?!" Jun demanded once she caught up to the woman.
"I just found out this morning. One of the girls dropped out all of a sudden. But you got lucky."
"What? Why?"
"Remember that girl that kicked your ass during your entrance exam?"
Jun winced as she remembered the girl that beat her within an inch of her life. Even with the healer's help, she'd been sore the next day. Luckily between Shiori's soup and the strengthening technique she'd learned, she'd recovered pretty fast. "Was she supposed to be in that class too?"
"Her name's Clara. I got her spot."
"Oh..." Jun shivered at the thought of that Clara girl in charge of training her to use weapons.
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"Yeah."
The two walked the rest of the way to the cafeteria in silence where they met up with Sara and the others. It was the first time in 2 days that Jun got to see her friends for longer than a couple minutes.
"I think you should try to test out of Math and Science," Sara said after hearing how Jun spent those classes.
"Really? But I didn't do that well on the entry tests..."
"You've come a long way since I started tutoring you, and you're forgetting how fast you pick things up. I think a couple weeks of focused study would have you far enough along to test out of both," Sara said confidently.
Shaking her head, Jun opened her mouth to respond before Gareth cut her off.
"Sara's right," he said, fixing Jun with a look. "Those classes are a waste of time anyways, unless you're planning to get into research."
"I don't think I want to do that?" Jun said, unsure of herself. She hadn't truly thought about what she would do for money after her time at the school ended, but the thought of just doing math and reading books all day sounded boring. She wanted to explore!
"Then you should test out of what you can and finish the general requirements as quickly as possible so you can focus on figuring out what you want to do."
"Plus if you test out of the Math and Science classes you can sleep in," Lane said with a smile.
"To sleeping in!" Sara cried with a giggle, raising her glass of juice high.
Everyone clinked their glasses against hers. "To sleeping in!"
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The rest of the week passed by as a repeat of the first two days. Her mornings were spent studying, a new goal in her mind to learn what she could as quickly as possible and test out of the basic classes. Her afternoons were a struggle, each class of Arcana Theory giving her more questions and fewer answers, while spellcasting practice was a constant reminder of her lack of affinities. Several other classmates had successfully cast using [Affinity Layering], and Aya had progressed even further, resulting in many of their classmates asking her to abandon Jun to pair up with them. Despite Jun's own lack of affinities and progression, Aya refused their classmates' offers and insisted on staying by Jun's side. Her physical fitness and combat skills were a repeat of exercise and drills, and Cecilia carried her away on her shoulder again.
Despite several days having passed since Shiori's return, her Master still slept through the days. With her Master indisposed, Jun focused on studying, hoping to put her traits to use in testing out of the morning classes that felt increasingly hostile and a waste of time.
On the morning of Sixth Day, Jun headed to her Introductory Delving class and grabbed an aisle seat in the theater-like classroom. As the classroom slowly filled, she recognized many of the students from her other classes, especially her Combat Skills and Practical Spellcasting courses. To her delight, Aya walked in and, after Jun waved at her, sat next to her. Excited to share another class with her new friend, the two girls chatted happily as the classroom filled. They speculated on what the class would be about. Aya was certain they would be split into teams and sent to delve in the Great Forest, while Jun thought the class would be more academic, teaching them about monsters and things to watch out for. It turned out, both were right.
The room quieted as a large man in heavy armor marched into the room. The large man swept an eye across the room full of students sitting down. "Half of you in this room will die," he said bluntly. "Delving means diving head first into untamed wilds, newly discovered ruins, and dangerous territory to put down monstruous beasts, retrieve rare resources, and recover artifacts. You will have only yourself and your team to rely upon. You will fall into traps and ambushes, get injured, and watch your close friends die. 1 out of 5 new adventurers die within their first year. 1 out of 2 of those who survive die within the first 10. If that is not something you can accept, leave."
The man stared down the students as an oppressive aura seemed to press down on them. The first student to leave was the gold student Myron from Jun's Practical Spellcasting class. Quickly following him was a group of young men and women each with gold or silver medallions. As if their departure broke a dam, more and more students got up and filed out of the room until less than half of the students remained. Jun was heartened to see that her friend Aya still sat next to her, a determined look on her face.
The armored man glared at each remaining student as they sat in the oppressive aura, but no one else budged. Nodding, the man marched to the door and closed it, the lock clicking shut as he did before returning to his position behind the armored man. "Good, those of you that remain, welcome to Introductory Delving. I am Professor Galimond. I am a Platinum ranked adventurer and Vice Commander of the Forest's Edge Chapter of the International Adventurer's Guild. For the next month, we will be meeting in this room to discuss common monsters and phenomena in the area, as well as basic small group tactics and party composition. After that month, you will be split into teams and conduct real bounty missions in the surrounding area. You have the rest of the month to prepare. Failing to do so properly could mean your death. Now, let's begin."