A few hours later, Kryse arrived at the entrance of a looming building. Standing by the entrance was Shaa Kwira, a female Sacrier with long orange hair tied in a ponytail and orange tribal tattoos all over her arms and on her face. She wore a green pointed hat that covered her eyes and a green Spring outfit.

As soon as she saw Kryse approach near her vicinity, she called out, "Oh! A young valiant warrior, just what I need! Can you do me a favor? I want you to get rid of all of the terrible monsters infesting this region. I would have done it myself but, you see,  I've got a lot of things to think about right now. You know...stuff. Loads of it."

"Hello, are you Shaa Kwira?" Kryse asked just to be sure.

"Uh...yes...who are you?" Shaa Kwira peered at Kryse when she heard her name. She slowly moved to a more battle-ready stance.

"Oh, don't misunderstand. I don't mean any ill will. Djaycy Awooare sent me. He said you will be able to help me with my training."

"Ah, Djaycy sent you?...I see. Why didn't you say so before?" Shaa smiled as she loosened up. "Djaycy Awooare...now that is the real deal, a pure hard man, you know...I mean, that's what I think anyways. Hmmm...you're pretty well-built yourself... don't suppose you're looking for a little job to do by any chance? To work up a bit of a sweat that is. Just think of it as the training."

"Sure, I'm in. What do I have to do?"

"You seem like a brave and enthusiastic adventurer. I have always admired courageous and powerful warriors. I'm brave too by the way, though, so you should know I'm not scared of those sticky, creepy, climby, shiny, and dirty beasts I see everywhere. Ugh, if you do complete this training mission, I'll reward the uh...ardor...you have shown for the errand...personally. Got it? Good, go on now, go show me your ardor!

"Okay. What should I hunt? What is the quest requirements?"

"Go kill one Immature Orange Larva, one Fearful Moskito, one Little Gobball, and one Fragile Demonic Rose. Be careful not to fight them all at once. Take on them one at a time, or you'll suffer some dire and even embarrassing consequences."

"Don't worry. I know."

"Oh, before you go, I forgot to mention it but these monsters are pretty uncommon. You may have to spend quite a while before actually finding one of them. Not to mention, each of them is very strong...or at least stronger than what you had probably experienced so far in your adventures. How about you go train a bit here at the Militia? Maybe you can gain some battle knowledge from the trainers inside."

"Okay. I'll do that then." Kryse bid farewell to the female Sacrier and headed towards the two-story building. Upon entering, a Kerub Captain greeted him.

"Welcome to Militia! What can I do for you?" The Feca, with pointed ears and long tied up brown hair, replied. He wore a typical Feca warrior's armor coupled with a captain's cloak.

"I'm here because I heard I can get some training or battle practice done." Kryse explained.

"Ah! Yes, just go up the stairs to the second floor."

"Okay, thank you."

After climbing up the stairs to the second floor, Kryse encounters a large room with four Training Scarecrows. Standing by the scarecrows was a heavy-set Kerub Militiaman by the name of Oover. This Feca dressed in full-body armor and carried an one-sided pole axe.

As the young Masqueraider approached the warrior, he heard the Feca grumble, "Bloody scarecrows, they never stop moving about. They know that there will be young adventurers coming in and about to practice their fighting skills. Them inexperienced bastards...*cough* *cough*...I mean inexperienced fighters can't hurt them, so the scarecrows play hide and seek for laughs. I'd be better off with a pitchfork than this big bloody pole axe here. I'd make a fine haystack out of those bloody straw puppets."

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

"Ahem." Kryse interrupted Kerub Militiaman Oover's thoughts, surprising him so much he dropped his weapon.

"Bloody hell! You scared me. What do you want?" Kerub Militiaman Oover grunted as he struggled to pick up the pole axe.

"I'm here to practice my fighting skills."

"Ah...you heard that eh...well, go ahead then. Try to beat them all. I don't want to see any Training Scarecrows standing in this room."

Kryse eyed the four Training Scarecrows in the four corners of the room. He approached one and switched on his Martelo mask. These Training Scarecrows were pretty sturdy...as strong as a level 2 monster. He wanted to know how strong his attacks were individually. With a front-flip coupled with a heel-kick, Kryse used the skill Martelo on the Training Scarecrow. With a loud thud, the Training Scarecrow collapsed into a heap of wood and straw. Satisfied with the amount of damage he did, Kryse headed to another Training Scarecrow. Taking out his Reinforcement mask, he switched it on and swiped at the Training Scarecrow. One swipe...still standing. Two swipes...still standing. Finally, after three swipes, the Training Scarecrow collapsed. Not the result he had expected, Kryse decided that he need to increase his usage of his Reinforcement skill on the monsters outside. After all, the best way to increase an attack's power was constant usage.

Next, he headed to another Training Scarecrow and switched his Reinforcement mask with his Picada mask. With well aimed kicks, he shot forth a number of air-type piercing attacks. After four hits, the Training Scarecrow collapsed in a pile of broken wood and torn straw. Like the Reinforcement skill, Kryse believed he needed to increase the Picada skill by using it more often against monsters. Finally, Kryse headed towards the last Training Scarecrow. This time, instead of using a skill from one of his masks, he decided to see how strong his base power was. The young Masqueraider pulled out his sword and went into a battle stance. With a strong swing, he struck the Training Scarecrow with the sword, hitting it with all his might. One hit...two hits...three hits...four hits...five hits...six hits! After six hits, he was finally able to cut down the Training Scarecrow. Not good...but not bad either. Kryse knew that he won't have much time to train his base power so the only thing he can depend on was better weapons. But better weapons required lots of money...so Kryse made it his goal to earn a lot of money by doing errands and other jobs in order to buy a good weapon. That way, he will at least be somewhat prepared before he traveled to Amakna.

After knocking down all four Training Scarecrows, he headed towards Kerub Militiaman Oover to report his completion. However, the Feca did not acknowledge his accomplishment.

"What do you mean you finished it? I specifically told you that I don't want to see those four Training Scarecrows standing in this room." Oover replied.

"Yea, I knocked them down like you asked."

"Then, what are those?"

"That...those four Training Scarecrows stood up after I knocked them down! How did that happen?"

"Oh, I forgot to mention it but these Training Scarecrows were basically magical entities possessing regular scarecrows. You got to destroy all four of them before they recover."

"What? Mention that earlier!"

"Well, now you know."

"Damn Fecas!" Kryse muttered under his breath.

"What did you say?" Oover peered over suspiciously.

"Nothing."

Kryse headed towards the first Training Scarecrow and took off his mask. He stored that mask into his bag and brought out two other masks - the Martelo mask and the Bling mask. Putting on the Martelo mask, he heel-kicked the Training Scarecrow and one-hit instant destroyed it. Then, he switched his Martelo mask with his Bling mask and quickly teleported to the next Training Scarecrow. Then, he switched his Bling mask back to his Martelo mask and heel-kicked the next Training Scarecrow. Kryse repeated this process with the third and the fourth Training Scarecrow. Finally, with all four Training Scarecrows destroyed, Kryse headed over to Kerub Militiaman Oover to report his success.

"Eh?! You completed it? Hmph! About time...anyways, well done! At least now you know that the key to victory is speed. Wipe them all out before they have a chance to recover. Anyways, here's the token of completion. Go and hand it to the Kerub Captain downstairs." Oover replied as he handed Kryse a brown coin-like object.

Taking the token, Kryse headed downstairs. There, he was greeted by the Kerub Captain once more, "Hey young adventurer! How did the training go?"

"Very good. I completed it." Kryse said as he gave the token to the Kerub Captain.

After carefully examining and confirming the authenticity of the token, the Kerub Captain flashed a smile and replied, "Great! Good work! I'm proud of you. If you ever decide that you needed more training or if you have obtained a skill you want to try out, do come by."

"Okay. I will. Thanks." Kryse thanked the Kerub Captain for his offer before exiting the building.