Gun-wo glanced at our hunter's watch and burst into giggles. "Do you really expect us to finish this task in a day? Realistically, it's impossible!" Ren tried to voice his opinion but was met with a slap from a rubber chicken.

"Now, I'm not interested in being realistic this or that. What matters to me is that you did not complete my tasks, which means it is time for you to face the consequences. A fight with another S-rank monster." We were no longer in front of him, nor in the private training facility after he said monster.

We were within a school.

His abilities were starting to irritate me. Is it time, or is he creating illusions that become reality?

It must be one of the two options.

"Where the hell are we?" Asked Gabrielle.

We looked around for any clues until I noticed some Japanese-style writing on the walls. "Judging by the writing, we are somewhere in Japan, but that doesn't narrow our location," I said.

Ren looked genuinely happy, saying, "So this is the place where my parents were born. They told me many stories about Japan and how beautiful it is." He resembled a child getting excited after discovering a new toy.

"We will have plenty of time to explore the surroundings once we survive the punishment, so Gun-wo can send us back-" I stopped myself after I felt Gabrielle tugging my robes, her face pale with terror at the sight looming behind us.

We didn't notice it at first, but when we did, we were stunned by how horrifying that girl's face looked. It was an endless spiral.

The three of us began to back away from her, but that only caused her to move forward, dragging her feet while growling like a mindless zombie., "HELL NO!" Gabrielle wasted no time kicking her soccer ball against the monster girl's head, which instantly destroyed the head of the monster girl.

But that wasn't enough; the monster girl's headless body started crab-walking towards us.

I dashed and leaped onto the girl's chest and immediately followed up by grabbing her legs and tossing her outside.

We all sighed in relief until we heard the classroom doors open with multiple students covered in spirals all over their bodies.

"We are surrounded." Ren's observations were spot on due to both exits being closed off.

The three of us stood back-to-back, trying to figure out a plan. "So, are we fighting our way out?" asked Gabrielle, already juggling her ball.

I disrobed and assumed my fighting stance, "Seems like it. Otherwise, they will kill us all. Ren, buff me up." I said, prompting Ren to trace something on my back.

My body felt like it was burning up inside, "I gave you fire aspects. That should end them off quickly." he said.

Despite feeling pretty confident, why is this supposed to be a punishment if these things are easy?

These can't be the S-rank monsters that Gun-wo hypes up to us.

Are we overlooking something? Maybe we are supposed to figure out something about this place.

Regardless, I made the first assault by dashing toward the group on the right and laying waste by using my boxing skills to push forward. Each strike applied a burning after effected to their bodies.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Gabrielle used her soccer ball to strike multiple targets simultaneously on the left side.

Ren provided morale support by cheering for our successes, which helped keep us motivated.

(A few hours later)

We finished what felt like an endless battle. Gabrielle and I lay on the ground, gasping for air.

"It's...over." I said in relief, trying to gasp for breath.

In response to my comment, "Yeah...I guess the punishment was that we were going to...sweat like hell." Said Gabrielle, who was as exhausted as I was.

Despite the challenges we faced, our number one cheerleader continued to support us, shouting, "We are number one. We are number one. Yeah, yeah. We are!" Suddenly, his voice trailed off, replaced by the strange sound of liquid droplets hitting the floor.

We open our eyes and turn our heads to look at him.

His face became a spiral as his blood dripped from the centre.

...

"Ren?" Both Gabrielle and I slowly got to our feet, completely stunned that he hadn't responded.

The spiral kept on going till the point his head burst into countless pieces. At that moment, his body just dropped in front of us.

...

I stood there in total silence, trying to wrap my head around why he had suddenly passed away.

However, Gabrielle interpreted it completely differently. Tears streamed down her face as she slowly approached to check if he was alright, "Ren, this isn't funny. Stop playing around," she said, furiously shaking his body.

"Gabrielle, he is dead. You know that." I said, accepting his death already.

However, Gabrielle refused to listen to me, "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU, YOU DAMN MONSTER!" she yelled as she continued to clutch tightly onto his chest.

It was painful to watch, but when I closed my eyes to give a short prayer, my instincts kicked in, and I quickly dodged to the left and glanced at what was behind me.

A skinny white figure with a spiral tongue and fingers retracting backward.

Gabrielle's response was spot on, "BASTARD!" Instead of kicking her soccer ball, she dashed towards it and opened her palms in front of it. A symbol formed on her palms before a burst of fire ignited the monster.

However, that was inefficient. The fire turned into a spiral. The creature walked through the fire and tried to reach her, but she dodged its attempt to grab her and immediately sidekick it.

Which turned out to be her biggest mistake. Her legs began to spiral forward, causing Gabrielle to experience unbearable levels of pain.

I was frozen and speechless, but I came to my senses when I saw her crawling towards me with her tears rapidly being shed as she could only say one word, "HELP-" Her lower body continued to spiral until her spine was bent and her organs were destroyed.

Her hands reaching out to me filled me with painful memories, "I'm all alone again." I turned my head to the figure who was now moving towards me.

Ultimately, it was a great life after all. I made friends and had fun once again. For a brief moment, I believed I had a purpose. It now appears it was all just smoke and mirrors.

I dashed forward and sidekick it against the wall. Following up, I beat the living hell out of it with multiple punches until my body couldn't anymore.

After landing my final punch, my arms and legs were already bending into a spiral.

....

My eyes open again on the floor of the training facility, with Ren sitting next to me.

After noticing my eyes, he said, "Thank God you are awake."

Was that all a dream?

Ren helped me to my feet, saying, "Gun-wo used a spell to trap us in a joint simulation. He said that this will be our punishment until our tasks are complete."

"Where is Gabrielle?" I asked, but when he pointed to the left, she looked mentally broken.

"Whatever happened in there affected her. She came and hugged me tightly while crying for a few minutes before saying that she needed to lay down for a bit." He explained.

I looked around for the man in question. "Where is he?" I asked.

"He left, he said that we must complete our task otherwise, we will face punishment, just like today." he said, not entirely pleased.

The morale has dropped. However, I believe there’s always a reason for everything. Perhaps the punishment serves as a reminder that if we don’t train ourselves, something out there could threaten us when we are unprepared. Since Gun-woo might not make it in time, we need to stay ready.

I sat down and began to meditate, hoping to progress to the next stage of sorcery, "Why are you doing this?" asked Ren.

"Honestly, it's simple. I don't want to see any of you die. Whether it's real or not, I need to be strong enough to prevent you guys from becoming mentally broken or any of you from feeling desperate. I’m a selfish man who doesn’t want to be alone, so if you were to ask me that question again, I would say that I'm motivated. Are you motivated to protect the person you care about?" I asked as my golden aura erupted around me.

I closed my eyes to rid my thoughts of negativity and focused.

Seconds later, I heard somebody grunting as he tried his best to do five push-ups. Minutes later, there was an impact on the training bag as somebody was training hard against it.