Chapter 11: A Bit Of Training

-Reyha Kingdom; Gallo City; Royal Palace; Hero Living Quarters-

After what he had experienced before, Fritz went to the bedroom immediately, not knowing how to feel about the whole situation. This seemed like a family problem, but at the same time, it was eerie to witness that whole thing. While this relationship with his own family wasn't the best, it was still far from being the worst.

"Hey... Leo." Fritz called out to the currently resting young man on a bed on the other side of the room.

"...." There was no response.

"Leo!" Fritz went off more aggressively this time.

".... What?" Leopold's voice could transmit his tiredness as his voice came out hoarse.

"It's just I saw one of the Princes threaten, Merilyn and she seemed genuinely terrified of him. I mean the guy literally said he would get rid of her if she didn't behave properly... It was very weird... And just left this uneasiness on me." Fritz expressed.

"... Wow... That's pretty crazy... When you called me, I expected something stupid, but damn. I guess we should look out for that prince, do you have any idea which one he is?" Leopold got up from his rest to actually pay attention.

"Hum... They called him Ionis, so I guess that's his name. Do you think it would be worth it to try and talk to the Princess?" Fritz responded before posing his own question.

"Ok, I'll keep that in mind, and tomorrow we'll have to tell the girls to be careful too. As for the Princess, I think that's none of our business. It's their family problem and we shouldn't butt in. Plus it's not like there's anything we can actually do, seeing as both of them have more power than us." Leopold answered still tired and occasionally sighing if tiredness.

"Even still, something about this doesn't stomach right with me. It's been pestering me." Fritz insisted.

"... How about this? We don't get involved but if the princess comes to us about it, we'll be willing to help... But honestly man, you should just get a girlfriend, cause this isn't the healthy way to deal with your 'excitement'." Leopold suggested.

"... I'm not a simp! It's just that Ionis guy just makes me very uncomfortable. Something about him just feels off, but I can't put my finger on what." Fritz retorted.

"Yeah, yeah, I totally believe you dude. Once we can leave the palace, let's go out and I'll be your wingman. If that uneasiness of yours doesn't go away, we can look into it." Leopold was skeptical.

"... Fine... Thanks, man." Fritz's face or feeling of discomfort didn't go away, but he still smiled and thanked Leopold as he felt a bit better about the situation.

"Yeah, I got you. Now get some sleep, we'll have a busy day tomorrow." Leopold advised and soon both fell to sleep.

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-Reyha Kingdom; Gallo City; Royal Palace; Training Area-

After experiencing another day full of lessons, the heroes once again found themselves in the training area with Commander Rana, right in front of them.

"You're, all going to have to do the simple. Exercises, weight, and flexibility training. You won't be touching a weapon until you can make your own body a weapon. This world is plagued with monsters, some bad, some good, and some terrifying. Whenever you go out hunting wild monsters, or dungeon crawling, you never truly know if you'll just have a normal day or face an unlucky encounter and die. That's why weapons can't be your first means to protect yourself and survive, your body has to. Weapons break, rust, got flung out of your hand, maybe they conduct lighting and you get shocked because of it, and so on.

Don't get me wrong, knowing how to use a weapon is very important and can save your life, but my Master used to say 'Before wielding an external weapon, you first must hone your internal one. That's how you become a true master in combat.' and that's something I take to heart. I hope you understand what I'm saying and give your all in this training, cause this will be the foundation for how you develop your fighting style, combat prowess, and combat ability in the future. Do you understand?!" Rana explained with a stern tone and full seriousness.

"Yes! Commander!" They responded in unison.

"Good. Now, you'll begin with the training just like yesterday, and by the end of it, each of one you will spar with me. Your objective is to land a blow on me. Whoever does it first, will get 5 Large silver, full access to the outside world, and permission to skip a training session once per week." Rana laid out the situation with a small smile on his face, accompanied by an unsettling aura around him.

Having that said, the training began, and just like the day before, they were made to exercise until they could no longer move, from more standard stuff like push-ups, sit-ups, squats, running, and jumping jacks, to flexibility-focused ones, and finally, some weight lifting to overkill their long dead muscles. Well, everything except Kymani as even Lavenica found herself beaten by this training regime.

The slime having no muscles to train was instead put to focus on reaction time, mobility, and control over his body, which due to him not needing to rest, excrete or eat at all, would go on much longer than all the others, and would more so become a bit mentally taxing for him.

This way their training continued. Heather performed the best in terms of general exercises, weight lifting, and flexibility.... With the exception of running, which was dominated by Lavenica. Followed by Lavenica, leaving Leopold in third overall, and Fritz as the last one, since Kymani was doing something else entirely.

[You have acquired the skill <Battle Instincts>]

[Battle Instincts: Whenever you find yourself in battle, you will have a sharp sense of danger and be able to move instinctually to avoid it, as well as have a natural understanding of when to attack or retreat. While not infallible, this skill is the mark of one's beginning on their journey to become a true warrior and something that most could never achieve.]

Seeing the notification, Kymani didn't know how to feel, as once again he just gained a skill rather easily, and this time he wasn't even trying to, it simply happened. This led him to do wonder if he could just as easily improve those skills, and he realized that he doesn't know how skills are improved in this world. Not sticking to the thought too much, he just continued to train.

By the end of it, the heroes were mostly a wreck and just wanted to get some rest. Even still, it was not over as the spar section was yet to happen.

"Do your best, and don't worry about losing, it builds character." Rana commented, before signaling that any of them could come.

The first one to take the challenge was Leopold, who despite looking a bit disheveled because of the training, still seemed to have the spirit for it.

Taking a stance akin to that of kickboxing, he slowly approached Rana, paying attention to every little movement the Commander made, knowing full well that this was unlikely to end in his favor, but unwilling to simply give up in the face of such a trial.

"What are you waiting for? An invitation? If you don't have it in you to be decisive enough to do something, just because your opponent is stronger, you're likely to die. Do something or let someone with a bit more guts get their shot first." Rana taunted.

Unable to just accept that assessment, Leopold just went in for the kill with a right hook.

This was immediately dodged by Rana with ease and then he grabbed Leopold's arm before pushing it up toward his back and twisting it, forcing him to kneel, followed by Rana stepping on Leopold's back to lock him.

"Too rash, you can't just let your opponent talk you into action. Once they start having control of the flow of things, you've already given them a huge advantage. Taunt and other forms of provocation or even manipulation are part of the battlefield too. Some opponents will use whatever crumbs of weakness you give them against you, at the slightest slip-up." Rana explained.

"Ok! Ok! Got it... Now, can you not break my arm?" Leopold responded.

From then on, the second one was Heather.

"Confident, are you? Hope you can back it up." Rana once again signaled that it could start.

No response came from her, and she then went in with a low rotation kick aimed at Rana's legs.

Evasion came as expected and Heather used the fact that she was already on the ground to give herself an extra push, propelling herself at Rana with rotation, like a bullet. Who in response backflipped out of the way.

"Not bad... I didn't expect someone at your level to use your body like... It seems I have underestimated you. I've seen enough for today, better luck next time." Rana was slightly surprised by Heather but didn't let that stop him from locking the now floored girl, after her last move.

In no time, Heather too gave up. Next up was Lavenica.

"I give up. I'm incapable of defeating you in a physical contest, much less in my current state. Our difference in prowess is simply too vast." Lavenica immediately gave up, seeing no point in fighting a losing battle.

"That kind of attitude is dangerous. Many individuals won't give you the chance to surrender, and while I commend you for understanding when to back off, it's not something you can just do. Anyway, you better show progress on the next lesson or you'll have to do triple the work the others do." Rana retorted clearly a bit disappointed but moved on.

Lastly, Fritz was the fastest to lose, not even getting to try attacking as he got too close and was captured in a chokehold, almost instantly.

That marked the end of the lesson, as Kymani's training was already focused on the sparing portion, and it would be redundant to have him go at it again. So, it was wrapped up just then.

Their tiredness was high and they wanted nothing more than a bath, food, and some sleep.

As they were leaving, Fritz came to the girls and informed them of the Ionis situation. Which shocked Heather while Lavenica didn't seem to care much, and Kymani was also surprised by the news.

-Later-

Back at the female living quarters, Heather basically shut down after laying on the bed as they had already taken care of their basic necessities after the training.

{So, I got a new skill while we were training and I got a bit curious, how do you improve on the skills you already have?} Kymani questioned full of curiosity.

{There are two main ways to improve skills. Proficiency and Skill crystals. The first one, requires constant use of the skill to increase mastery and overall power until it naturally just evolves, but it takes a long time as well as a lot of work put in. The second one, just needs you to get skill crystals and use them. They are special crystals that only drop from dungeon monsters and nowhere else.

As for how to get them, there are two ways, one is to go dungeon crawling yourself and kill monsters until one drops, but the drop rates are terrible, and well... Monsters and especially dungeons are dangerous, and for that reason, most go for the second method to get skill crystals, money, more precisely to buy them. Let the strong adventurers do all the work and just buy them, putting yourself in very little danger... For the most part.} Lavenica explained.

{Great! Thanks. Also, I think I've got a grasp of things, and it's about time and try to get a bit of the outside. Tomorrow we'll talk about it with the King or something like that, and if they say no, we'll sneak out.} Kymani declared.

{Finally... I mean, that's good Master. I am most excited about it.} Lavenica was pleased.

The day ended like that, as Lavenica needed physical rest and Kymani wanted psychological rest.