Faruk's Relentless Training (Part 1)

Upon reaching the top of the gargantuan roots, Oria sees a dirt road going downhill through the forest. Around the corner, she catches a glimpse of brightness. It's an opening, the way out of the forest.

"Umm... are we still far away, Faruk?"

"Hm. Not anymore, I suppose. If we follow that road down the mountain for an hour or so, we'll reach our destination."

"Oh... i-it's still pretty far, huh... but what about those lights coming from between the leaves from that direction?" Oria pointed her finger to the corner where she saw the source of light, asking curiously.

"To the east, huh... Go there and you'll find yourself on the edge of the Raskiel mountains by the cliff. You certainly DON'T want to go downhill from there."

"Huh... why not?"

"Hmm... It's better to satisfy your curiosity through real-time sightseeing."

"Huh...?"

"Come! Follow me. You'll understand when you see it."

"Okay...?"

Oria follows Faruk going to the east of the road they're supposed to go to. They have to go past a thicket of bushes and overgrown grasses because of that. After a minute of hefty walking through the tree lines and plants, Oria eventually finds the source of light is from the morning sky.

"The sun...!"

"Don't get invested by the sun, Oria. Focus on where you're standing now."

Faruk hovers ahead of her, then stops in front of her face, stopping her move.

"Huh? WHOA!"

She's extremely shocked, pushing herself back as a result. What's in front of her, behind the Observer ball, is the edge of the cliff, revealing a steep dive all the way down to the foot of the mountain.

"Whoa... w-we're really high up, aren't we?"

"Hm. Raskiel mountains stand tall as high as 6,000 meters. Right now, we're at 1,200 meters."

"I, I don't know how tall it is exactly, but judging from those numbers you say, it seems we're really high. What about your cave, Faruk?"

"Huh, that? Well, it's at the height of 2,551 meters."

"We've been going down the mountain, but I don't feel like we're climbing down at all..."

"Hm. That's because Raskiel mountains have an extremely widespread area and many even grounds that has forest growing on it."

"W-Well... almost everywhere around Raskiel are covered by trees..."

"Exactly."

"Ah, but what about Fred Village? The place where Miss Katze lives?"

"Fred Village... hmm... it's not far from my domain. Based on Dux's story, that village is situated at 2,200 meters."

"No wonder Master Dux took me there quite fast..."

"I said that these mountains spread widely, didn't I? When I say that, I didn't mean it as a joke. Raskiel mountains are extremely wide. Even on the map, you can see a place called the 'Raskiel Mountains Region'."

"That's so impressive!"

"Hm. But enough with that, Oria. We should be heading to our destination."

"O-Oh, right."

Without wasting anymore time, they return to the road they're supposed to go to and proceeds on their way to their destination. Along the way, Oria sees some of tiny-sized monsters scrambling around the green forest. It's been some time since she departed and she's always listening to the sound of birds chirping as the sun rises to the sky, enlightening the mountains.

On the road right now, it's much less punishing for her to tread. The road is even and straight going down unlike previous landscape where she had to climb up and down repeatedly. And around past an hour and a few minutes later, Oria and her master reach their destination, out of the forest.

"Here we are."

They reach the foot of the mountain. There, a vast valley spreads through the land. A lone but wide dirt road is spotted snaking over the field, leading to another place.

"I-It's so beautiful...! I don't know if there's such a wonderful sight like this. I was usually locked in a cage covered by a thick sheet back then when I was brought here by them, but I don't know if what's behind that sheet was a view this incredible...!"

"(H-Huh... she just talked about her past there, quite the critical one, too. Hm... glad she's not triggering her trauma, at least.) I understand that sentiment of yours. Though, we're not here to sightseeing. At this place, Oria, we can truly start our training."

"Eh? Oh, yeah. What shall we do here?"

"First, you need to set up a tent. I've asked Dux to pack it up into one roll. It's on your equipment pack there. ...I assume you don't know how to set up one?"

"Oh, don't worry, Faruk. I was well versed in setting up large tents before."

"U-Uh... (I assume THAT is another flag of her past. I could barely say anything, lest I trigger her traumatic disorder syndrome. But still...) Well, good to know."

She grabs the tent bag, all excited to deploy a camp right away.

"Can I do it now, Faruk? Can I?"

"Mm. I want to see how you do it. (For now, I can only watch over her. At least to make sure she's not freaking out all suddenly.)"

"Right on it, Faruk. Heehee."

Her body moves in such agility that it feels surreal an eight-year-old preparing a small tent in such speed. One by one, with a provided hammer, she plants the tent foundation and prepare the ropes. She set up the tent cloth and make sure it stands up well and strong.

"(Impressive ability, I suppose. If I did it with my dragon body, I might end up making her sleeping outside in the cold...)"

"All done!"

It feels like it happens so quickly. The tent is already set up and ready. Seeing her capability just now shines a ray of hope to Faruk. Quietly, he closes in on her and appraises her status without her knowing.

<ORIA ARGENTORA>

LV: 1

HP: 404/404

MP: 9,997/10,000

CP: 48

ATK: 40

DEF: 24

MAT: 78

MDF: 55

SPD: 11

EVA: 0%

"(Hmph... looking through these statistics, she's absolutely above average, but she's not the strongest. Hm... I guess she'll make it through...)"

"Hm, Faruk?"

Almost instantly, the appraisal screen disappears as she turned around at him.

"—Good job, Oria. With the tent standing, now we can begin our training. Come, let us head to the field. Drop your belongings by the tent."

"Okay! But what about monsters? I saw some of them wander around..."

"Worry not. The tent cloth fiber is imbued with Dux's magic. It'll assure that no monsters will come near this camp you built. Now, come! Follow me to the field!"

The Observer ball goes ahead, hovering towards the open field where monsters is scattered about. Meanwhile, Oria, being a curious girl, turns her attention to the tent and sneakily uses one of her skills on the tent.

"Appraisal...!" she whispered.

A status screen appears.

<TENT>

Desc: A tent.

Again, that abysmal description appears again in her face. But something surprising pops up.

<Appraisal Lv.2 reached!>

"Oh-oh! I got level 2 just by appraising the tent...? How weird... but what happens if I use [Appraisal] on it again now?"

<ADAMANTITE TENT>

Desc: A tent made of adamantine fiber.

"Woooahh! There's more information here! I see, I see... so the tent is made of adamantine fiber. Umm... what's an adamantine fiber?"

"HEY! ORIA! What are you doing!? Get over here already!"

"Eeeek! Right-right-right! I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coooming!"

Faruk's conflagration of furious shout pulled all her attention to him, and she immediately left anything she's doing and headed towards him in full rush towards the field. Faruk's observer eye is furrowed, denoting his sense of upset.

"(What is she doing looking around the tent? Sheesh.)"

"I'm ready, sir!" she declared in high spirit.

"What's with this sudden upheaval of excitement?"

"Heehee. I just can't wait to undergo the training, Faruk."

"(Hrrrm... she HAS to have an ulterior motive there. No matter how she's saying it, she's up to something. I'm sure of it. Hm... better keep that in mind as I train her.) All right, then. We'll start our training of battling monsters."

...

..

.

The debaucherous wizard had told the young Oria that Faruk's training will be far more intense than the lessons he gave to her. The wizard told her this.

"...Please, PLEASE prepare yourself. This big lug here might be a kind and loving father, but he's quite the terrible sla—I mean worker driver."

Oria didn't understand what he's trying to say to her back then.

Now, however...

She fully understands what the 'worker driver' means.

"Be more responsive, Oria! You built that damned tent in one go, but you can't tell whether this rabbit monster is going to attack you!?"

"S-Sorry! I'll try again...!"

The next two hours are spent on trying to get used to fighting one monster at a time. Handicaps are also made for her. She's prohibited from using the Weapon Witchcraft skill. Instead, she's told to use the small steel knife that was provided in her backpack.

"Haaaah! (Come on, Oria... you can do it...!)"

Oria does all she can do. She trains herself in wielding a knife properly and how to defeat level 1 monsters, one at a time. Though, all Faruk has done for her battle training is yelling, yelling, and yelling in that Observer ball of his. He can't practice any form of weaponry to help her improve. As a result, Oria is forced to self-taught herself to her own style of using knife.

<Knife Lv.1 obtained!>

"That swing leaves you too much opening, Oria! Avoid pausing midway after you swing the knife. That rabbit can pierce you right after you swing a knife, so don't do that!"

"G-Got it!"

Oria's patience is tested. But all Faruk's yelling are being used by her to hone her movements to reach an acceptable level where the dragon eventually stops yelling and start praising.

"Good, good! That's how you land a blow to that monster."

Of course, she receives a prize for her hard work for two hours battling monsters with that weapon she was given.

<Knife Lv.2 reached!>

Not long afterwards...

<Knife Lv.3 reached!>

"Phew... haha... (Yes! I did it!)"

In just two hours, she has slain five horned rabbits with a knife. It's not too great but getting to level 3 of a weapon in two hours is absolutely something to be praised for. But still...

"Don't get all too happy, just yet. There's still a line of monsters there."

"Ah, erm... can, can I rest for a moment, please?"

"Hey! In battle, so long as there are opponents, moreover, facing mindless creatures like these rabbit monsters, you can only rest until you vanquished them ALL!"

"W-Whaaaaaaaat? (H-He's jesting, isn't he? Please tell me he is...!)"