Konohora was feeling… anxious. A few days had gone by and now, they had received their training.

Tyler was over the moon. He’d been very, very excited, talking about how his defenses were getting noticeably better and ‘how cool Grant’s punches were’. Truly, to be trained by a descendent of thee legendary general himself… Tyler could be very lucky at times. In a way, they all were.

Riary had come back seeming to be… at peace. She looked better than she had in a very, very long time. That had shocked her more than anything else. Whatever her trainer and her talked about had noticeably improved her mood. Extremely noticeably as she could frequently hear the sounds coming from Tyler’s room at night. That was also another spot of joy and good fortune. She was worried about how it would work out but the two had clearly been close since the moment they met. As far as she knew… it was most likely both of their first relationships. She was unsure with Tyler but absolutely certain with Riary. Young love… it brought a smile to her face.

That was without even mentioning Riary’s increased magical abilities after only a few days. Rather than ‘just’ the training, whatever had helped her become more at peace had had the secondary benefit of drastically increasing her power. Konohora saw with her own eyes how the new ‘magical concept’ Riary had picked up was far better integrated, no longer something separate but more unified. There were fire mages, and ice mages, and sometimes fire and ice mages, but that wasn’t what Riary was. Cold fire threatened to tilt the balance, but she had resolved it, able to freely flow from one state to another.

And then there was herself. She felt… joy. True joy. The reason was obvious. She had gained an advantage. Tyler was a True Hero and Riary was a rarely seen genius. Konohora always knew she would never be able to keep up. At most… she expected to maybe reach B-Grade with them but even that had been a very, very distant dream. A dream that had only grown further away as she had seen how fast Riary and Tyler had kept gaining power. Now she had a small chance due to her change in biology to keep up. And on top of that, the pure power she could now exert and the room for growth… she could feel her entire life force, her vitality, actively getting stronger and more moldable. She had always been granted healing powers above her means due to her close relationship with and delineation of Truth. But that had always been a gifted power shaped by her own use. Now it felt like it had become one with her and it wasn’t just a feeling. Even if she were to lose her relationship with the Goddess Truth, she would still be able to heal. That brought a new perspective of joy. She had always enjoyed becoming more and now it felt like even her healing was a part of that. A part of her.

And yet… she still felt anxious. Worried. The reason was obvious.

“Where’s Derek?” She asked.

Her question was not asked to no one. She asked it to the person who had led him away, three days ago. Their team manager, Kasandra. She had resisted asking at first, understanding it could take time. After all, she didn’t return the first night from training, and missed Tyler the second. Training could follow various forms of time.

But now they were all three here, it had been three days, and no one had seen Derek.

“Busy training, same as you all.” Kasandra answered. A bit of Konohora’s anxiety drained, knowing it was the truth. Her power could be frustrating at times but most of the time, it felt like the blessing it was.

“Yes but-”

“But nothing. Yeah, I know, you’re worried but he’s really just training.” Kasandra answered a bit gruffly. All true but… Konohora had long learned that what’s not said could hide many things. It was even a game she and Derek liked to play at times on those long days or nights.

“Then where is he?” Tyler spoke up, Riary next to him. “I mean… we can just go see for ourselves right?” Tyler frowned.

He had clearly picked up that it wasn’t normal for a teammate to just disappear into an unknown city for three days, one where he is actively targeted, regardless of the reasons. Konohora felt another breath of relief that Tyler was picking up nuance as their journey continued.

The crumpling of Kasandra’s face had them all on guard though. Konohora’s mind immediately swirled. Training could apply to many things, as long as you labeled it as such. If someone got a torture specialist and they truly believed they were training their pain tolerance, or something in a similar nature, she would see it as true. The people Tyler encountered most likely already knew about which religion she followed. If they had used that against her in order to-

“Look, his trainer doesn’t want to be disturbed. Gonna be honest with you kids, ya shouldn’t expect to see him for… maybe a month? Something like that. Maybe longer.”

“What?” Konohora said, fears suddenly peaking. A whole month of not seeing Derek? Already, three days had passed. He could be dead. A month? He could be dead and the body hidden without any evidence. Her eyes firmed, glaring at Kasandra. They couldn’t fight her but-

“Alright, alright, no need to glare like that. Let me nip this in the bud before you all get bent out of sorts. Your teammate’s trainer is….. well….” Kasandra scratched her face. “... a bit of a monster?”

“”“What?””” All three of them asked.

“Yeah, look, she’s pretty terrible. Honestly, I feel bad for your teammate. She’s probably the harshest trainer in this whole City, by a wide margin. If he didn’t have that pain immunity…” Kasandra actually shivered. “Well, let’s just say he’d have something close by the time she got done with him. But she does good work. I ain’t joking about that month thing either. Most people she either refuses or accepts and they run away screaming within an hour or so. Your teammate was still in there after an hour, so he’s probably been accepted. No screaming either.”

“How do we know you’re…” Tyler began to ask, only to shut up, sheepishly looking at Konohora. She just nodded. Nodded and thought.

“Does she usually train people for a month straight?” She asked.

“Longer. Almost definitely longer. Just my gut instinct, which is usually correct.” Kasandra said.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Konohora frowned and sighed, Tyler looked troubled, and Riary… Riary looked pissed.

“I’m not staying stuck in this house for a month.” Riary said, flames whirling in her eyes.

“Oh that?” Kasandra said. “Nah, y’all are good. Ya got Grant and that monster training your team. Only the absolutely insane would be willing to attack ya. It’d be different if the demon was with ya, but he ain’t, so do whatever ya want. I recommend trying the fish, they’re pretty good. Anyway, I’ll check in with you all later. Group training kinda needs a group and it would throw it all off if I only trained you three together and then tried to slot in your last member. I’ll bring whatever is left of your teammate back after Xilvia is done with him.”

And with that, Kasandra began to walk away, leaving the three of them befuddled.

“What… do we do?” Tyler asked.

“He’s probably fine. Let’s go try the fish.” Riary immediately said, not seeming to care much.

“Everything she said was true… but I am still worried. I will ask around more about this ‘Xilvia’ and try to find her home. Even if she does not want to be bothered… I do not wish to leave Derek at the mercy of a stranger.”

Tyler nodded and even Riary surprisingly huffed and nodded as well.

“In the meantime… you two should go out and enjoy yourselves.” She said with a gentle smile.

Tyler was oblivious… but Riary was not, instantly going red. Konohora chuckled to herself. There may be some concerns and the stronger people in the City might be dangerous… but coming here was undoubtedly positive in a myriad of ways.

Soon, everyone went their separate ways. Konohora searched, up and down, for information on Xilvia. The information was…. Terrifying.

“Her? Don’t even talk about her! I still want to live!”

“Hmm? Girl, are you crazy? Talking about Xilvia like that… she’ll kill you, ya know?”

“Xilvia? The Training Instructor From Hell Itself?! It’s said that those who survive her training are all monsters! All of them leave the City… and the Kingdom… the second they can escape her! It’s said their screams and tears follow them all the way into the afterlife!”

“Listen. I been here a while, since before she arrived. All the rumors? They don’t do her justice. Let me tell you the truth.”

Konohora was instantly glued to the man. He was an old bar man, an old elven bar man, making him possibly one of the best sources of information in the City. Not only that, but what he was saying all rang as truth.

“She arrived about a decado ago. Not long in most ways, but she immediately shook the City in her own way. First thing she did was challenge the Head of the Adventures guild… and beat her into the ground. Next, she started taking students, any and all, no matter the grade.”

“Not a single one of them lasted more than an hour, at first. Some eyewitnesses say they were literally torn to shreds, healing before their eyes. The students all said different things but the consensus was clear… she was a monster. It was said that one of her primary methods of teaching was in teaching pain tolerance. The stories… I refuse to repeat what they said her methods were.”

He looked her in the eye and she could tell he would not budge on this. He continued shortly afterward.

“Some lasted though. Not many. One of the strongest people accepting students for free meant everyone wanted to try… at first. The ones who managed to keep going were some of the strongest Adventurers I’d ever seen. She stopped after only a year or two though. Got tired of it I suppose. Some still tried, despite all the rumors. Some even tried to pay her… in diamond coins.”

Konohora felt herself freeze in shock. Diamond coins?! The bar man nodded.

“Don’t know why, no one said. They knew something we folks didn’t, that was for sure. It got out, on purpose mind you, and apparently, they were gonna reveal some big secret of hers if she didn’t agree to train their young masters.”

“All the people were dead within a day. I’m talking three B-Grades and a dozen B-Grade Guards. The fight was over so fast, most people still don’t believe it. I saw it with my own eyes. One second, one of them was shouting at her, smirk on his face, threatening to announce her secret to the whole city. A minute later, they were all dead.”

Konohora felt her fear and shock rising exponentially. That was… insane. B-Grades didn’t grow on trees… metaphorically speaking. Every B-Grade was either a genius or someone who spent most likely at least half a century, or much more for elves, to reach that far.

“Donated all the Diamond coins to the City. Didn’t take a single one. Ever since that… everyone calls her the Trainer From Hell. Not just cuz of her training… but because none of the older folk want to draw attention to her strength. Ten years may sound like a long time…” The bar man started.

“...But it doesn’t feel that way for older people.” Konohora finished.

The bar man nodded.

“Feels like it still happened yesterday. You won’t find anyone who knows of Xilvia being willing to talk so much. Normally. Still… these old ears hear a lot. I can guess why you want to know.” He said, seeming to peer through her.

“...is my teammate okay?” Konohora finally asked.

“Well… he probably isn’t going to die?” The bar man said, unsure.

Konohora felt her stomach dropping.

******

Days became weeks became a month.

Konohora had found Xilvia’s home and been blocked.

Blocked by a magic barrier. Surrounding the whole house. Seeing that and hearing more stories, she finally stopped and let Derek focus on his training, while she focused on hers. Tyler and Riary had asked if they should do anything but ultimately, no. It’s not that she was more worried than them, well, she may be worried than Riary, but that she was the best at gathering information.

And all her information pointed to the same thing. Derek was actually being trained and not at risk of dying. Knowing that, all three of them focused back on their own training, improving by leaps and bounds, pushing against the B-Grade barrier.

Till finally, the month was over and Kasandra said she ‘Felt like it was about time.’ They stood outside the side, to what led to what looked like a training yard. Massive doors blocked them off, on top of the magic barrier.

“He’s okay right?” Tyler asked, visibly worried. He’d gotten less and less okay as the month had gone by, getting more nervous. Even Riary was now distinctly uncomfortable. Despite their differing goals and sometimes views, all four of them were a team and were arguably stuck together. To have one of their teammates vanish for a whole month without warning… it had started grating on all of them after the first week.

Kasandra didn’t even acknowledge the question she had been asked and answered probably over a hundred times. Even Riary had asked her own variation of it.

The magical barrier flickered for a moment and fell. Kasandra moved forward, opening the doors.

What awaited on the other side nearly gave Konohora a heart attack.