"Dragonewt? Isn't that your Sub-Division team?" a question mark seems to appear above Narukami's head as he starts to tilt his head. Noticed that the other party was confused with the offer, Ryu begins to clear his throat.

"Yeah, but we planned to continue even after graduating from the academy."

Out of sudden, Ryu directed his hand curled into fist towards Narukami before raising two of his finger out of it.

"Within two months, I'm sure that all of our members are already qualified to enter the Dungeon."

"I see..." Understanding his intention, Narukami puts his hand on its chin. Before long, he started to shake his head slowly. "Sorry beforehand, but it's hard for me to accept this idea."

"The reason was?" Ryu appeared to expect this kind of reply as he continued to march forward without having any intention to gave up on the matter.

"To be blunt, I don't have any confidence to get the Hunter qualification with that tight schedule of yours."

Hearing the comment, Ryu spontaneously burst into laughter while placing its hand on his forehead. His previous expression was nowhere to be seen. "That's what troubling you? I didn't think it would be that simple."

"Hey, I'm being serious here!" Narukami can't help but feel agitated when Ryu thought that he was joking.

"Pal, you've got me in your back."

"Did you have a way to make me gain that kind of skill within that period?"

"You don't need to ask!" Ryu taps his chest with its fist, confidence in his ability to make his brother stronger in a short period of time. "Knowing your personality, with some daily training, you can barely pass the test in a month, and will easily pass it in another month."

Narukami unconsciously gulping his throat down, based on the statement, he got a foresight that the process will be more tasking than the goal itself. "Can you slightly tell me about that training of yours?"

"Relax, it's just 6-hour of doing something beyond impossible routinely."

"I'm surprised that you can say such a cruel thing with a straight face."

Narukami gives out a loud sigh before nodding its head. "Well, in the end. it's for my good, let's hear your so-called hellish training."

Smiling, Ryu begins to explain his plan about his daily training that he's prepared for his best friend. To put it simply, it's about the same as what Verdi currently does, but a step harder.

"I didn't know you can still call that training..." Narukami is in utter disbelief with the list of things that he just heard, it even leaves his mouth open in awe for a while.

"I'm sure you're gonna survive with that routine."

"Can I take that as someone else may die if they execute this schedule?"

"Of course, to begin with, it's not for anybody."

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Narukami's expression turned into a grieve when Ryu answered his question without blinking at all, did he take this as a stupid question?

"By the way, what you distribute your free stats on?" Ryu inquired.

Narukami started to narrowed his eye together. The other party seems to not giving a damn about his turmoil thoughts. Before long, he leaks out another mouthful breath from its throat.

"It's all on strength, I'm planning to save agility points for the last."

"That's good!" Ryu immediately rose from his seat and grabs Narukami's shoulder with both of its hands.

"Please become a brute for me!"

"What's that even supposed to mean!?"

Narukami's raised his voice as his mind can't keep up anymore with what Ryu has been said all this time. He throws his back to the couch, breaking free from Ryu grips and chilling his thoughts a bit.

"Dude, did you ever consider what it's like to be if you're in my shoe?"

"I know that it sounds absurd, but I simply want you to reap the best reward from your hard works."

"It's not some kind of trick, right?"

Narukami stares deeply at Ryu with his round brown eyes. There's a possibility that his best friend was joking all this time, knowing his (past) mischievous side.

"I'm not that kind of person anymore."

Following the gesture, Ryu also gazes into his buddy eyes with a genuine and earnest expression. The pair continued to maintain their sights at each other before Narukami started to scratched his head roughly.

"Damn, it's hard for me to refuse when you're being so sincere like that..."

In the following seconds, he places his palm on the couch grip, shifting his entire weight on it before jumping up from his position. "I've decided! I'm in your game!"

Narukami raises its hand, clutched toward Ryu.

"I will make you pay if you make me regret my choice."

Realizing the motion, Ryu bumped his fist against the other party before wearing a big grin on his face.

"You can trust me. I'll not disappoint you."

"So, when and where will the training be held?"

"We'll start tomorrow at 6 P.M in my residence backyard. While at it, I'll introduce you to the other members as well."

"I'm concerned if they want to accept me or not."

Narukami rubs his chin with its finger, he begins to think how awkward the situation will be on D-day, he's basically an outsider after all.

"You don't need to worry about that, both of them are over-friendly, although the other one seems to be shy at first."

When he said that, Ryu unconsciously imagined how the green-haired boy will hide behind his back and speculate about how Mizuha will welcome Narukami instantly.

"I'm worried for nothing then." Narukami places its palm on his chest, sighing out a breath of relief.

"So be it, I must take my leave now."

"Did you came here only to persuade me about those things?"

"It's also for paying respect, send my goodbye toward uncle and auntie. Oh yeah, here, it's for you."

Throwing something small while his back already faced toward Narukami, Ryu then strides out, leaving his bestie bewildered in his place. "When did he starts to become a busy body like that?"

"And, isn't this a storage ring?" Checking the circular thing he caught with one hand before, Narukami began to close his eyes to inspects its content;

Somehow, after the actions had been executed, Narukami's ear can be seen reddening off a bit.

'Why did he uses this precious item to store such things...'

***

Ryu was automatically grinning when he arrived at his destination, the Dungeon. It's the place where he spends the majority of his time training his body. "Finally, I have the time to thoroughly explore the fourth floor!"

With his tight schedule, Ryu could only barely scan through the fourth floor. So far, he had encountered the worm accompanied by two ladybugs, a pair of a Worm, and a treant followed by two ladybugs.

"Honestly, it's really annoying when different monsters start to band together like that. Also, I didn't yet encounter the most dangerous combi out of that floor." Thanks to his expertise in exploring, Ryu can roughly guess the hardest monster on the floor. Stretching up, Ryu puts his hand on its waist. "Well, let's break a leg today!"

Done getting checked by the guard, Ryu moved his feet toward the Dungeon. Because he's already mapped out the first 3 floors, Ryu has already arrived at his destination in a mere 2 hours.

"I guess I'm being greeted by the annoying pair, huh."

At the end of his sight, there's a pair of greens Worm, busy eating the moss in the wall, one is on the right while the other is at his left.

"It really gave me a headache when I first fought them."

Ryu grabbed his head, remembering how hard his fight at that time was.