"Cheers everyone"

"CHEERS"

The entire cafeteria vibrated under the unanimous shout of hundreds of trainees sitting in the cafeteria. There were four large tables in the cafeteria each one of them seating a barrack and one for the leaders.

Mark slapped Jason's back

"Man, I never thought that you could beat the agility course so easily! it took me 2 years to finish it!"

Ethan joined in

"Yeah, we're all impressed Jason, you did well"

Jason had just met Mark and Ethan but they were treating him well. Mark was blond-haired at Jason's height, he was looked like a movie star with his long blond hair and blue eyes. Ethan was just like Mark except that his hair and eye color were different. Instead of Blond and blue eyes, his hair was a mix of black and brown with green eyes. After Jason had finished the course he was guided by his comrades to the cafeteria to eat his fill.

The cafeteria was a simple building that had tiles for its floor and wooden walls. Compared to the training centers that the rose knights had the cafeteria was laughable compared to them. Jason looked at the notifications he got when he finished the course

[you have successfully cleared the agility and wisdom course on your first try]

[+3 agility]

[+2 wisdom]

[you have received the title oneshot]

[oneshot: your strength and agility rise by 2 points when you try a new trial or dungeon for the first time]

Before Jason could think about the uses of the title or even his extra stat points a big loud voice was heard right behind him and a firm hand clasped his shoulder.

"Ey! it's the newbie!"

Jason turned around to see a Redbearded man, he had thick muscles and short trimmed hair. Jason's first impression of him was 'strong', the grip on his shoulder was no joke. But before he could say anything his teammates jumped in.

Charlie being the first to speak up

"back down Jitsuryoku"

Jitsuryoku turned to Charlie ridicule on his face.

"aww does the newbie need somebody to stand up for him,"

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Mark chimed in

"well this "newbie" just beat the agility trial on his first try"

Jitsuryoku evidently had surprise written on his face but he managed to reign it in he took a swig of water and paused to say.

"so what, it just means that he's fast on his feet, it won't help if he only uses it to run"

Ethan grinned like he was waiting for that exact moment

"It was against the demon mage"

Jitsuryoku spat out his water luckily onto the floor, but the look that he gave after was priceless.

His jaw was wide open his eyes bulging with a bit of spit/water rolling down his cheek and mixing into his beard.

"Y-you said the demon mage, right? THE demon mage"

Ethan nodded in confirmation, Jitsuryoku looked at Jason as if processing the information in his head. He nodded once his gaze changed from ridicule to a bit of respect. He then walked back to his seat, Jason couldn't help but notice that his walk seemed a bit happy...

Jason turned around to look at the person who he hopped could provide Jason an explanation.

Charlie sensed Jason's gaze and gave Jason the answer,

"That's Jitsuryoku, he's a member of the red barrack. The red barrack is known for being the strongest group in terms of fighting power, and he was once one of the strongest members"

"once?"

"Yeah, he was a really nice guy and was set to graduate being a trainee and into a fully-fledged knight a while ago but during the final trial, he was betrayed by one of his comrades. That comrade just happened to be part of the blue barrack and the friendly, welcoming Jitsuryoku that had once welcomed me when I came into the camp started to change for the worse."

Lyle sat down next to Jason continuing the story

"Jitsuryoku, when I got to the camp, was completely different then what Charlie insists he was before. He was rude and picked on people especially people from the blue barrack for obvious reasons. He wouldn't accept any of them until they proved themselves whether it be in strength or intellect."

Lyle nodded his head toward Jason

"you did that by passing the agility course, which is notorious for being difficult, he must be happy that there is somebody who is finally skilled enough to help him pass."

Charlie interrupted Lyle

"Yeah but even if he is impressed by your skill you need to earn his trust, he can be a great partner, I can promise you that."

Jason started thinking from what he had gathered Jitsuryoku had trust issues. And trust issues were very hard to break without lots of time. Jason didn't think he could help him anytime soon. Jason started to think about the person who had made Jitsuryoku go through all of this pain. He looked up and asked the squad who were all solemnly sitting at the table.

"So what happened to the person who betrayed Jitsuryoku?"

Mark thought for a while and answered

"ah him, last I heard he was bought off by a noble in some country and is serving as his private guard for him"

He looked at Jason's annoyed expression

"yeah, he was scum, but that was a lesson for all of us. We made sure to tighten how we recruited people and try to catch the people who are like that before they even come into the camp."

"why catch them even before they enter the camp?"

Ethan grinned and pointed to the gym, to the training field through the windows and then in the direction of the agility course

"Because of the facilities dude, these are some of the most treasured training grounds in the world! I mean, just training with all of these equipment makes us so much stronger than your average knight "

Jason thought to himself

'Ah that must mean the stat increases you get, so that means it's not normal to get stat points when you train huh, interesting'

Boops started talking

'Jason this had the potential to be one of the best tools for us if we get our hands on it'

'Yeah that's true but more importantly, WHERE THE HECK HAVE YOU BEEN'