YOU'RE THE CAUSE OF IT! EVERYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED, EVERYTHING THAT WILL HAPPEN, IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT, YOU ACCURSED CHILD!

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Illia woke up in a cold sweat. She took deep breaths, trying to calm her racing heart.

That dream again...

It was five in the morning and the two other trainees in her room were still asleep. As much as she wanted to resume her sleep, she wouldn't allow herself to have such luxuries.

Don't complain Illia, you've gotten enough sleep already. You've woken up, which means it's time to be productive.

After a quick shower, she brushed her teeth and tied her hair into a ponytail.

I should've brought my cookbook with me here. She thought to herself as she stood in the kitchen while flipping through a notebook filled with recipes. It would've saved me the trouble of needing to copy these onto the book.

She flipped the notebook to the most recent recipe she wrote down before putting on her apron.

At least I have some free time to experiment with new dishes. She smiled to herself.

With her apron on, Illia got to cooking, humming cheery tune while she prepared the ingredients.

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"Mornin Illia." Vesfira yawned while rubbing her eyes. She sniffed the air and her eyes lit up. "Please tell me that aroma is coming from our breakfast."

Illia pulled back a chair with a big grin on her face as she gestured for Vesfira to take a seat.

"One of the locals taught me this dish. It's called Prickberry Stew." Illia said while stirring a pot of green stew. She poured some into a bowl and served it to Vesfira who happily ate a spoonful.

"This sooooo good!" She said as she took another bite of her scrumptious breakfast.

"I'm really glad you liked it. To be honest, I was a little skeptical of the dish at first. I mean, prickberries in a stew? That sounds a little weird doesn't it."

"Uh-huh." Vesfira nodded as she continued eating.

"But to my surprise the dish turned out way better than I thought it would."

"Uh-huh."

"The other ingredients mixed with the pickberries ended up creating that wonderful tangy taste you're enjoying right now, and the spices used really brought out the flavor."

"Uh-huh."

"Whoever came up with this recipe is a genius! Seriously, I-"

"Will you shut the fuck up already!" An awoken Laren growled. He stomped out of the bedroom, glaring at Illia with half-opened eyes. "How the hell am I supposed to sleep if you keep yapping like a loud fucking idiot!"

"Sorry." Illia apologized.

Ugh, he's always like that.

"Calm down dude." Said Vesfira. "Have some stew, it'll make you feel better."

Laren grumbled as he took a seat, still glaring at Illia while she served him a bowl of stew.

"It's edible at least." He mumbled after taking a bite.

A knock on the door alerted Illia of the other trainees next door who have woken up. She opened the door and was greeted by the three other trainees.

"A very good morning to you Illia." Vitren bowed. "I must say, your beauty is like a ten star monster."

Illia raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Wait no! What I meant was, you're like a ten star monster."

"....Thank you?"

"Ah wait, I messed up again!"

"What he meant to say was, you're as beautiful as a ten star monster is strong." Koidra explained while barely containing his laughter. "You kept practicing that line yesterday dude, how did you even mess it up?"

"Oh, uh, that's sweet of you Vitren." Illia said with an awkward smile.

"So will you go out on a date with me?

She answered almost immediately, "I'm sorry but no."

"Will you give it up already! No one here is going to date you!" Bora smacked Vitren's head.

"But master Testra said to never give up!"

"Not on stuff like this you creep!"

"Hey relax, come in and have some breakfast." Illia said as she let the three inside and gave each of them a bowl of stew.

"Man, I wish we could stay in Sadonia a bit longer." Said Vesfira. "It's been so much fun here. Too bad we're already heading back to Mezio tomorrow."

"At least we'll get to meet Reizo's recruits." Koidra added. "I'm really curious to see who they are."

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In the afternoon, the trainees were brought to the training grounds to do some sparring. Every couple days, they would have a small tournament as a way to create a little competition between them. Much to everyone's displeasure, Laren has been the only winner of these tournaments.

The spar between Vesfira and Koidra had just ended with Koidra holding his spear inches away from Vesfira's chest before she could fire another arrow from her bow, making him the victor of the second last match.

"Phew, that was way too close." Koidra pulled his spear back and planted the butt into the ground while catching his breath. He placed a hand on his cheek and healed the cut he received from an arrow he narrowly dodged.

Vesfira clicked her tounge in disappointment. "Damn it. If I aimed a little more to the left then that last arrow would've gotten you."

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"That was a good match you two." Testra clapped as she approached them with a proud smile. An opened grimoire with two bottles of water placed on it floated next to her like a magic tray.

"I'm seeing a lot of improvements here, good job you two!" Testra ruffled both of their heads. The grimoire floated down to the two trainees, offering them both water. "Drink up and rest, we'll commence the next spar in five minutes. Do let me know if need more time."

"Welp, I'm gonna lose next round." Koira said with a grim smile. "I just hope I'm not up against Laren."

"Yup, there's no beating those two." Vesfira agreed. "The only difference between them is that Illia isn't so merciless and cruel."

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At the start of the next spar, Koidra breathed a sigh of relief when Illia volunteered to be his next opponent.

"At least I'm not going to get badly beaten up again." He muttered to himself.

When the spar commenced, the two stayed in their positions, waiting for the other to make the first move. Illia had her shield raised while Koidra had his spear aimed at her.

Strange, this is the first time he didn't charge at me straight away.

"Trying out a new strategy?" Illia asked.

"Yeah, I'm testing out a new idea for a defensive fighting style, but I doubt it'll help me get a win."

Come to think of it, I've never fought anyone focused on defence before. This'll be a good experience.

"Don't be so negative. Just believe in yourself and give it your best shot!"

Her words seemed to encourage him a little, prompting him to make the first move. Using his skill, he fired a volley of water bullets from his spear. While not as powerful as a fireball, water bullets required less mana to use and had a lower cooldown, allowing Koidra to fire more of them.

Illia braced herself as the water bullets crashed into her shield. The impact of the attack felt as if Koidra himself was throwing punches against her shield at full force. Getting hit by one wouldn't cause any serious harm to her, but it wouldn't exactly be painless either.

Illia marched forward with her shield raised to block the water bullets. As soon as she entered the range of his spear, Koidra stopped firing water bullets to perform quick jabs with his spear while backing away. With her shield still up, Illia attempted to close the distance between them while blocking his attacks, but the jabs from his spear were pushing her back, preventing her getting close enough to attack with her short sword.

Once he was far enough from Illia, Koidra resumed his water bullet barrage, forcing her back and creating even more distance between them.

"This is turning out even better than I had hoped." Koidra muttered to himself with a faint smirk.

So he's trying to wear me down with water bullets while utilizing the range of his spear to keep me away if I get too close. Not a bad strategy, but it could use some work.

Illia lowered her shield and rushed towards him in a zigzag pattern, rapidly dashing from side to side to make herself harder to hit.

Koidra backed away while firing water bullets in an attempt to maintain distance from Illia who was quickly approaching him. Most of his water bullets missed her and with her shield she parried any that would reach her. It would be easier to keep her shield raised to block them, but the impact from each water bullet would slow her down, where as parrying puts her at risk of getting hit if her timing was off, but it prevented her from getting slowed down. It was a little risky, but it also made for good practice.

Even if Illia reached him, there was still the problem of getting past his spear. In previous spars, Illia would always be on the defensive and parry his attacks to create openings, but with Koidra also on the defensive and constantly trying to keep a distance from her, it was nearly impossible to create an opening.

I need to thank Koidra after this. If he wasn't fighting the way he is right now then I wouldn't have realized that my offence is lacking as a result of my over reliance on my defence. I should be ashamed of myself for needing someone to show me such an obvious flaw in the way I fight. You're still not doing good enough Illia.

Right before she entered the range of his spear, Koidra stopped firing water bullets and prepared to jab at her with his spear to keep her away.

As soon as the barrage of water bullets ceased, Illia threw her shield at Koidra. The flying disk that came speeding towards his face surprised him. In a panic, he quickly pulled his spear back to guard himself, blocking the shield with the shaft of his spear but also leaving himself unable to attack for a second.

Utilizing that one second, Illia used her skill to propel herself forward with a burst of wind, closing the distance between them before Koidra could react. She grabbed his spear with her freehand and pulled it away from his body before placing her blade near his neck.

"Okay, okay, you win." Koidra held his hand up in surrender.

Illia pulled her sword away. The serious look she wore on her face throughout the spar quickly turned into a warm smile.

"Thanks for the spar. That strategy of yours is pretty great."

"But it's still not good enough to defeat you." Koidra sighed.

"Just keep working on it. I'm sure that one day you'll be able to best me."

"She's right, it is possible for someone like you to defeat her." An arrogant voice called out behind them. "But me? Hah! Not even in your wildest dream."

Illia rolled her eyes before turning around to face the most obnoxious person she's ever met. "You may not have tasted defeat before Laren, but that doesn't mean you will always remain undefeated."

Laren took a step closer to Illia, attempting to use his height and bulky physique to intimidate her. "Oh what? You think you can beat me?" He snarled.

"Hey now, that's enough." Testra appeared before them, placing herself in-between Laren and Illia. "I don't know what you two were talking about but I'm sure there was no need to get worked up about it." She said while giving Laren a stern look. "Isn't that right Laren?"

Not wanting to get a scolding from his trainer, Laren simply nodded and went back to where everyone else was resting. He glanced back at Illia and gave her an arrogant smile as if he was already guaranteed a victory against her.

"You'll be up against Laren next round Illia." Testra told her. "And remember, winning or losing doesn't matter, just do your best." She beamed at her trainee.

She's right. I still need to work on my offence, and you're going to help me with it Laren.

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After sparring against Laren for over half an hour, Illia dropped to knees while taking deep breaths. Her spar with Laren had left her with a few cuts on her arms.

"I yield." She said.

Ugh, I thought he would last longer.

Laren towered over her with a triumphant grin on his swollen face and was barely keeping himself from collapsing. His body was covered in bruises from kicks, elbows, and shield strikes. Illia could tell that he wanted to mock her over her defeat, but nothing came out of his mouth while it was gasping for air.

"I've never seen her fight so aggressively before." Koidra commented.

"Yeah, I'm honestly surprised that she lost. Too bad her stamina couldn't keep up." Bora added.

"You two did really great today." Testra appeared before the two with a proud smile.

I could've done better, and these cuts are proof of it.

Testra placed a hand on the two and healed them significantly faster than they could heal themselves. Their injuries and fatigue disappeared almost instantly.

"As a reward for all the hard work you guys have been doing, I'll be treating you all to lunch at Buffeast!" Testra announced.

Buffeast was a popular buffet in Sadonia that was often fully booked despite the prices. Hearing that they were going to eat there for free made even someone like Laren rejoice.

"But isn't that place usually full?" Vitren asked.

"Oh don't worry about that, I asked Coronis and Layda to book a reservation for us."

So she would've treated us regardless of how well we did today. Illia chuckled. She's such nice person, too bad I don't deserve any of her generosity.

"Sorry master Testra but I think I'm gonna stay here and do some training instead."

It's such a shame, I really wanted to try the food there.

Her words drew shocked looks from everyone.

"Hah! Look at little miss special over here!" Laren sneered.

"Don't be rude Laren." Testra reprimanded. "Illia, is there something wrong?" She asked concerningly.

"I'm fine. I just feel like doing a little more training here. I might be here for awhile so you guys should go ahead without me, I can manage my own lunch." Illia assured her with a somewhat forced smiled.

"Don't worry about losing the spar. You did your best and just like everyone here, I'm very proud of you."

"I-It's not about the spar. Seriously, I'm fine. I really don't mind staying here at all."

Her trainer still looked at her concerned. Hearing how her own trainee was willing to give up a rare chance to have an amazing feast just to do training filled her with nothing but worry.

"Are you absolutely sure? There's nothing wrong with skipping a little training you know."

"I'm really fine master Testra. I don't mind it at all."

"Well...if that's what you want then I won't force you to come, but remember Illia, if there's anything bothering you just let me know and I'll do my best to help you, or If you ever need someone to talk to you, I'll always be here."

"Thanks master Testra." But someone like me shouldn't be pushing my problems onto to you.

Unable to convince Illia to come, Testra brought the rest of her trainees to enjoy a hearty lunch, leaving Illia alone in the training grounds where she spent several hours honing her swordsmanship skills and training her footwork.