Grace Period (4)

White left after waking Dean, who was sore, tired, and would rather have been left to sleep. However, once Dean had woken up, he couldn't keep his mind quiet. He has always had trouble falling back to sleep after waking; it was something he got from his father. His face looked pained; he hadn't had that nightmare in ages, and he didn't want to have it again.

Walking through Waterloo, Dean thought it would be best to find the others. He also felt bad that Mary was out there somewhere without her cat. He knew how much she cared about it. He couldn't have just left it, for old times' sake. This was the best thing he could do. He was also worried she would die from sadness without the chubby ginger thing. As he went through the centre of the train station a cold breeze brushed against him. The early mornings had always been cold in London and despite all the things that had changed so far, the weather had seemed to stay the same - wet and cold. Why couldn't the apocalypse be sunny and death free? He moaned, dwelling on the terrible weather. A hearty laugh came from the abandoned restaurant that most people had gathered in.

Dean knew it was Arthur's voice that shook the ground, the man sure liked to be loud. He was like a walking boombox. The man always made an entrance when he came into his classrooms; his students were sure that they could hear him from down the road as he made his way to class. Dean walked into the restaurant, holding his chest. The sore pain still weighed heavily on him.

Arthur was sitting at a table with another burly man. The two were in a funny conversation - evident from the grins and laughs that came from their table. Arthur's friend pointed to Dean after recognising him, the two didn't know each other but Arthur must have told him about Dean. Soon after, before Dean could meet the man with muscles, a couple of other people came and lead him away. Arthur waved to the man and his group and leaned his arm on the chair as he glanced back to Dean.

"Good Morning! How are you feeling boy?" his voice was boisterously loud, the fact that it was early in the morning didn't dampen his energy. Dean grumbled at the deafening voice screaming into his ears. He wished he stayed in bed. Dean weakly replied, "You nearly killed me…" Arthur laughed, dismissing what he said, "A bit of exercise will do you good!"

Arthur was sat alone; Avery and the cat was nowhere in sight. Dean searched the room with his sleepy eyes, "Where's Avery gone with Tabby?"

Arthur raised an eyebrow. He took a moment to search somewhere in his mind. "The girl? The short one with the cat? Saw her a couple of minutes ago. Said something about Mary, and she was going to play with the cat. She's a spritely one." Arthur cupped his cheek, "She reminds me of a pixie." He let out a heavy laugh, the table beneath him shook lightly. Arthur gave Dean a headache, "Would you quieten down, I've just got up." He grumbled; his fingers applied pressure to his head. Dean was happy he didn't have to look for Mary to give her Tabby back. Arthur continued to laugh, "Sit boy! You're going to need to eat if you want energy for your training."

Training again? Dean nearly died the last time he tried to do some push ups with Arthur. However, when he thought about trying to get out of it, the dream he had of his past flashed through his mind. The nightmare was a reminder of what he must do. He couldn't continue to survive off luck. He had to get stronger. He had to make use of the grace period for the Backer selection. It was the perfect time to train; it would be a waste to take it easy now. Dean pulled out a chair and sat at the table and bought an energy ball from his store. Arthur raised out his hand to stop him before he swallowed it. "That wouldn't do you any good, eat this." Arthur bought something from his Contestant Store; a moment later, a large lunchbox landed on the table. Dean's eyes went wide, his mouth slightly ajar. Why would someone eat something this big? Arthur might have been able to finish that amount of food, but Dean wasn't even half his size. It would be more suitable for four people if they had been starving for weeks.

[Sage's Eyes Lv1 Activated]

[Collecting Information]

[Information Collected]

Name: Giant's Lunch

Description: A lunchbox of high protein foods made for a giant. After finishing the lunchbox, a buff will be applied which will add a slight increase to training proficiency for twenty-four hours.

Dean took the off lid; steam rose from the mouth-watering food. The lunchbox had different segments separating the contents. There were golden steamed carrots that had been cut into delicate flowers, two bronze roasted chicken where the meat easily fell off the bone, a huge portion of rice that looked like white sand and sparkled under the steam that emanated from the hot food. It looked amazing, a feist for a king. But it was far too much for one person to eat. Arthur laughed at the surprise on Dean's face; he knew that he would have trouble with the size, but it had a buff if he were to finish it and he knew Dean could use that. He bought a water for Dean. "Eat up boy, I can wait." Arthur laughed; he crossed his arms.

Dean gulped, if he had to eat the whole thing at five in the morning to help him get stronger, he would. Dean pulled a wing off the whole roasted chicken and took a bite from it. The meat smoothly slid down his throat. The chicken tasted wonderful and felt as if it had been slow roasted for days. It wasn't dry either, it still held its juices. Its taste was truly magical.

Arthur grinned, "Atta boy!" The food tasted out of this world, especially compared to the small vitamin balls. Still, this was going to take a while. Dean took a moment before continuing to devour the food.

It had been an hour and a half until Dean had made his way through the large lunchbox. His stomach felt like it was going to burst. It was surprising how he could fit it all in his small stomach. Dean felt like he wouldn't be able to move, but Arthur guided him. "The bloated feeling will die down soon; you just need to work it off"

Arthur took Dean to the mission board. Dean had trouble moving around, the feeling of being bloated and sore from yesterday was not a pleasant mix. "Give me a minute." Dean asked, his cheeks puffed as he tried to refrain from throwing up. Arthur laughed and pulled a piece of paper from the board. "You need real experience; you never had a chance to start your training in the second year. I'm going to condense it into two days as much as a I can and then you're on your own." Arthur's training was known to be rough, but the way he said it made Dean worry that yesterday's ordeal, and how he would push other students after class, would have been a walk in the park compared to what he now had planned.

"Hold onto my back." Dean, still painfully bloated, listened and placed his palm on Arthur's back, his other around his stomach. As Dean placed his fingers down Arthur tore the paper in two. Both were then covered in light, the sign they were being sent to the chosen Mission.

They found themselves teleported to an open field. Small rock graves were spread across the short, grassy plains. A small outcrop of trees could be seen standing at the far ends of the fields; the sun was setting ready to welcome dusk. Arthur pulled his large sword from his back, gripping it with both hands. He readied himself for what was about to start.

And then the ground started to rumble, the dirt that was flat in front of the graves began to waver, as if something from within the soil was climbing out. A skeleton hand shot out of the ground, piercing the smooth soil that buried it. More hands started to shoot out, they used the exposed hands to pull themselves out fully. More bones kept leaving the ground. The skeletons were moving as if they were tied together by magic. After they left their graves, they pulled a variety of weapons from the ground: short swords, long swords and some even had maces. A few of the skeletons – the ones that came out of the graves at the far back - held out old, crooked bows. It was astounding that they could still use the weapons, they were aged and decayed by centuries of time.

Arthur patted Dean on the back, the force from his gentle pat made him slightly tumble. The man was heavy handed. "Prepare yourself, you're going to fight them all. Don't worry, I'll make sure you won't die." Dean's mouth dropped, he thought Arthur would help him at least, "I'm fighting all of them?"

An opaque window appeared in front of them both as soon as all of the skeletons stood ready for battle. The plain, that was once smooth land, now had its soil picked up and ruined.

[Side Mission: Skeleton Surprise]

Difficulty: F

Clear Conditions:

Defeat 100 Skeleton Soldiers: Incomplete (0/100)

Defeat 20 Skeleton Archers: Incomplete (0/20)

Time Limit: None

Rewards: 200 Points, Returning to Waterloo, ???

Failure: Death

Dean's eyes went wider after reading the mission. "There's a hundred and twenty of them, are you serious?" Arthur looked him in the eye, he didn't need to reply. The look from his eyes was the only reply he needed. It's live or die. Dean knew he had to do this if he was going to survive and continue to search for his sister. This was the best he could do now.

[Gallantry Lv1 has been activated]

[Your mind has prepared for battle; your courage has increased]

Dean readied his pipe. The onslaught of skeletons stood in front of him with their hollow eyes, a red light glowing from the inside. "Screw it!" He shouted at the top of his lungs and then he charged. "Atta boy!" Arthur roared as he followed. He didn't plan to fight, but he would be there to watch Dean's back.