The intensity of the training was relentless. Morning until late evening was filled with classes. From sunrise to sunset, I was thrown into a never-ending cycle of classes, and the additional status classes were all designed to test and push my mental and physical limits.

Strength training continued with a series of exercises such as heavy lifting and, in addition to the traditional technique, I had to learn how to use my body's natural weight in order to maximise power output. Activities such as running, swimming, and climbing allowed me to gain better Stamina while also teaching me crucial techniques for Endurance during exercise. Jumping over objects, weaving through poles, and climbing walls were some of the toughest exercises I faced during the training period, but they also greatly improved my Agility and coordination skills.

Intelligence and Willpower classes involved tasks such as problem solving that sharpened my critical thinking skills. Working with puzzles and riddles helped to improve my ability to focus and recall information quickly, while other activities challenged me to think more deeply about the given subject matter. Memorising complex patterns, quickly analysing data sets, and interpreting visual clues trained my Perception. It was harder than I expected and required a lot of Willpower in order to succeed.

Through my Charisma class I worked on how to move with confidence, present myself in a positive light, and command attention when necessary. In addition, the mental conditioning activities developed my ability to think on my feet, respond quickly under pressure, and to resist the influence and Charisma of others.

The classes were intense but rewarding as they were tailored to improve our physical prowess while also teaching us useful techniques for staying focused and disciplined. Through them, I acquired a newfound sense of resilience that stayed with me long after the training period was over.

Strength:

Fair

Agility:

Moderate

Dexterity:

Average

Constitution:

Moderate

Stamina:

Moderate

Toughness:

Moderate

Perception:

Good*

Willpower:

Good

Intelligence:

Good

Charisma:

Fair

After all the training, I felt proud of myself that I had been awarded a Good rating in Perception, Willpower, and Intelligence. I knew I wasn't the smartest kin around, but maybe I was selling myself short. Achieving a Good rating in three statuses was worthy of an achievement, even if there wasn't actually one for it.

For a kid who grew up on the streets, who had to teach himself almost everything, that was significant. The only problem with Good was that to grow beyond it was . . . difficult was an understatement. It was almost normal for one of the kin to get to a Good rating in one or two statuses and never grow beyond it. It was a respectable rating for any stat, impressive even. I couldn’t say if my Handler even had a rating better than Good. For as knowledgeable as he was, I’d witnessed him get taken apart by Cazador Oro with little effort from the baboonman. I wanted to be better than Oro was, which meant I needed to be better than Signore Barducci. Maybe I was getting greedy, but I wanted to be more than Good. I wanted to be Great. I wanted to be Excellent and Outstanding. A badgerboy could dream.

Classes otherwise remained mostly the same, however, there was now a pressure on my lair team that wasn’t there before. The Professors knew us by name, something that couldn’t be said of all the students. They pushed us, questioned us, and held higher expectations of us.

Robin gave an exhausted sigh as she sat down next to me in our Lair Team classroom, a sentiment echoed by Rober. I didn’t respond as I was basking in my own exhaustion. So, she sighed again. I grunted.

“I’m so tired,” she complained.

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I grunted, hoping she would get to the point.

“Getting an Earth Attunement has really crushed me,” Robin said.

“Agreed,” Rober added, unable to hide his excitement at finally getting his second attunement.

I turned my head and gave the pair a wane smile, “Congratulations, now stop making me think. My head hurts.”

Of course, that was when Al came into the room, “And that’s Water, damned I’m good.”

I grunted and glared at the dogboy. I was happy he got his third attunement, but did he really need to be so loud about it? Nevermind the unfairness of it all. I still hadn’t gained my second attunement.

“What’s wrong with him?” Alphonse asked, gesturing towards me.

“Headache,” Rober answered.

“From what?” Al asked.

I groaned. They weren’t going to shut up unless I answered, “If you must know, my eyes hurt from having colourful lights shined in them for an hour.”

“Rub some dirt in it,” Al suggested with a laugh shared by Robin and Rober.

I opened my eyes again and glared at him, “I’m going to suffocate you in your sleep.”

“And end the world? I think not,” Alphonse replied.

I smirked, “At least I’ll outlive you.”

Al opened his mouth to protest, but was silenced as Yui's slender arms wrapped around his waist. Her voice was soft and supple as she spoke, her disappointment palpable as she uttered, "Al, why didn't you let me come with you?"

Alphonse trembled at her touch and tried to push her arms away. “You were still in the box,” he murmured.

“But I called for you to wait for me,” she purred, tightening her grip on Al.

Al applied more pressure, "Oh, did you? I must not have been paying attention."

“Maybe I should check your hearing,” she offered, her lips curled up in a sly smirk.

I just smiled and enjoyed watching his discomfort. So far, she’d seemed mostly harmless aside from making Al uncomfortable. If anything, she'd become more genuinely interested in Alphonse and even a little protective of him after she learned he more or less saved her from that poison.

Her behaviour was actually reassuring to me. Especially after I failed to learn more about her when I unsuccessfully tried to break into her house, nearly losing a hand in the process. Who has an enchanted twenty-tumbler lock? And did she really need that many traps on the exterior of her home? And what was with those beasts I saw through the windows, roaming around the first floor like that?

To make up for this, I turned my personal skill improvement time into working on advancing Meditation. The skill was quickly becoming one of my favourites. I practised it between every class that used even the smallest amount of mana.

I was tempted to ask for help advancing some of my base Job skills like Lockpicking and Espionage, but I felt the latter was a nonstarter. Still, if I ran out of stuff to work on, Lockpicking couldn’t have been too bad, right? I was tempted to ask Yui about the lock on her home so I could buy one to practise on, but then she would know I tried to break into her home and that just wouldn’t end well.

Somehow, with all the extra classes, all the extra work, the litany of instructors that pushed us, we all thrived. I don’t know if it was something to do with the Heroic Presence that Al and I both seemed to exude or if there was something else pushing us to grow.

We trained and we trained hard. A side effect of which saw me spending less and less time on my personal projects. I barely practised Mana Circulation anymore, not that I was getting anywhere with even learning the skill . . . if there was a skill. I rarely cooked anymore except in class and with my one private tutoring session with Chef Mustafa and he was getting frustrated with me as well because I clearly wasn’t advancing as quickly as he wanted me to. Any free time in the evenings was dedicated to the dozen or so exercises given to us for Status growth and any other homework I had. It left me with five to six hours of sleep per night. It truly was a gruelling pace being set.

“We’re going to crack if this pace keeps going on like this,” Al said one morning before classes, sitting heavily into his seat in the carriage across from Esteban and myself.

“I think Yui is more likely to break you,” I teased.

“I’m serious,” Alphonse replied. “Don’t think too much of this, but aside from you and I, I think the rest of the team is on the verge of breaking down.”

I sat up a little straighter and smirked.

“Stop, you’re still annoying and definitely not as good as me,” Al said, trying and failing to deflate my ego.

I had to agree with him - we were a week away from the next lair and the strain was starting to show. Robin's tears after she failed a simple mana control exercise, when she had aced it the day before. Han's exhaustion after pushing himself too far during a Martial Training spar. Yui's nervous twitches every time someone mentioned the upcoming lair. It was getting harder and harder to ignore the signs of what was obviously becoming a detrimental situation.

“I think we should throw a party,” Alphonse said after a few minutes of quiet. “If you and Esteban cook, I’ll handle the rest. What do you think?”

“Where would we have this party?” Esteban asked, looking between the two of us.

Al answered quickly, “We can have it in my apartment. It would just be us and the Lair Team. What do you think? It should be fun, right?”

I saw the mischievous glint in his eye that said the party was happening whether we liked it or not. I shrugged. “I do not see why not. Maybe we can have a game or two as well, something for me to beat you at?”

Al rolled his eyes, “Sometimes I think you take this rivalry thing a little too seriously. Honestly, how long do you think you’ll be able to keep up with me? I am the Hero after all.”

“Keep up? I am doing better than you,” I said with a laugh.

Al snorted, “In your dreams.”

I may have laughed at the statement, but he wasn’t wrong. His growth had started to accelerate. I hadn’t given it much thought honestly. He was the Hero. He was supposed to get stronger faster than the rest of us. My Job dictated my mission, pushing him to grow and to reject any overtures from Rychania. I thought I’d been rather successful up to this point. Still, it irked part of me that he was starting to pull ahead.

I took note of Esteban’s reaction to Al stating he was the hero, or rather his lack of reaction. Al must have already told him.

“So, when do you want to do this party?” Esteban asked. “I’ll need time to prepare. And will there be any girls there? More than just those on your team? If not, can I invite some?”

Al grinned. “Esteban, I knew there was a good reason I liked you. Please, invite all the girls you can, just not mentioning the Hero thing, yeah? As for when, how about the day before our next lair run?”

That was just a class cycle away. It would be good to have some fun before we go into the next lair.

“Sounds like fun,” I said, agreeing with the plan.