She led the way as we jogged back out.
We headed back towards town but swung to the left at the entrance.
We followed along the wall, towards the west, until we reached a large dusty field.
There were some beat-up dummies and targets set up, and a few adventurers were already there, practicing their skills.
We found an empty dummy and claimed it.
She clapped her hands, getting our attention.
“Okay, Kat just use as much magic as you can to increase your mana.
And Rey, go ahead and take those swords out, I’ll show you the basic stance.” I retreated a few feet away, and practiced making my wand glow as I watched them.
She showed Rey how to stand.
And hold the swords.
Soon he was trembling from effort as he swung a sword to the dummy.
I just continually used my magic until she waved me over.
She had us both stand in front of her.
“Okay, I’ve taught you the basics of swordfighting and foundational drills.
So now, we’re going to do two laps around the training field, yes including you Kat, and call it a day.
Follow me.” Rey groaned before following her, and I had to pick up my feet and rush too.
Her easy jog was a flat-out sprint for both of us.
We both flagged behind, and two laps felt like an eternity.
We ended at the entrance the field, where we both collapsed, wheezing, onto the ground.
She clapped her hands.
“That should be good for a first day.
Alright, time for your homework you two.” “You’re trying to kill us.” Rey sputtered, shooting a glare her way.
She snorted.
“Quite the opposite actually.
Remember kids, the more you sweat in training, the less you bleed on the battlefield.
So… Kat, your job is to practice magic as much as you can and build your mana.
Luckily, it seems like you have a decent mana regeneration rate to me.
You should also run laps with Rey, like you just did.
Stamina is important for all adventurers, regardless of class.
As for you Rey, practice those drills I showed you, at least fifty repetitions every day.” “Fifty!?” “… And an hour of holding your stance.
Plus, laps.
It will build your discipline, which is important for martial adventurers.
The key to mastery is in the foundation, so don’t slack on your training.
Every day, I’ll be here at noon to check on your progress, so I’ll know if you’ve been keeping up on it.
Now, come along.
Let’s head back to the guild and get some lunch.” I was starving after all this exercise.
We tiredly hauled ourselves up and we both followed her out of town.
On the way back, we stopped at another food stall selling delicious sandwiches.
I finished mine up just as we reached the guild, and she brought us up to the receptionist desk.
“Hello Carol, are you free right now?” “Of course, Anna!
These are our two latest members, yes?” The friendly woman smiled down at us.
She had a large pair of round spectacles, and freckles.
Anna nodded.
“Yes, I’m showing them how selling materials to the guild works.
Rey, put the slime core you have on the counter.” “O-Okay.” He rummaged through his bag, getting it out.
He gently set it on the counter, and Carol picked it up.
“Average slime core.
Fresh, and full of magic.
Alright, ten copper.” She put the slime core somewhere behind the desk and pulled out a string of ten copper.
Rey perked up as she handed it over.
She smiled at us, perky.
“Thank you for your service!” “You’re… welcome?” I hesitantly offered.
She was the one who just gave us money, shouldn’t we be thanking her?
“Good job you two.
Remember, you can always sell monster cores and other materials here at the guild for a good price.
But there’s another way to make money here at the guild.” She led us to a large bulletin board, with pieces of paper dotted onto it.
We stared up in awe, as we both already knew what this was.
“The quest board…” Rey scanned the papers, excited.
Anna smiled.
“Yes, the most popular place in any guild.
People come in, and create a quest with the receptionist, giving the conditions they want completed and the reward for doing so.
The receptionists then create a quest paper and stick it on the board.
They also assign the rank of the quests based on their perceived difficulty.
When you want to take a quest, just take a paper down, and bring it to the receptionist.
They’ll then register the quest as yours and give you a time frame in which to complete it.
If you fail to complete the quest within that time frame, they will put the quest back up on the board so any adventurer can take it.
Oh, and you can’t take quests that are a higher rank than you.
Now let’s see…” She scanned the board, until she found what she was looking for.
She reached for the paper, gently ripping it off the pin holding it up.
“Here, a quest for five mana herbs.
This will be a good starting quest for you two.
Here.” She handed the quest to me, and Rey and I looked it over.
The quest was E-Rank, like us.
It asked us to gather five basic mana herbs that grew outside of dungeons.
“I’ll have to read that herb book tonight…” Rey thought out loud, and I nodded in agreement.
I should read it too, so we knew what we were looking for.
But the reward for completing this quest was a whole silver.
Anna brought us back to Carol, and I put the quest on the counter, summoning up my courage.
“We would like to take-take this quest!” Carol smiled, picking it up.
“Good choice.
Have the two of you registered as a party yet?” Oh.
Um… I shook my head.
“No…” “Then I just need your guild cards and the name of your party.
I’ll get you all registered.” Ah.
I pulled my card out of my bag, and Rey proudly did the same, slapping it on the counter.
“Call us the Titans!” There was a snort from behind us.
I turned to see Anna holding in laughter.
Carol was a bit taken back too.
“U-Uh, what a… unique name.
Are you sure the two of you want to go with that?” Not anymore.
I tugged on Rey.
“Maybe we should go with something else.” “What!?
But it’s perfect!
We’re going to be super tall and strong one day!
Like titans!” He puffed himself up.
Hoo.
Okay, I had to come up with the name.
I turned to the receptionist.
“Um, I like the name… Honey.” Rey snorted.
“What, like honey honey?
That doesn’t make sense!” “But your eyes are like honey and gold.
I thought it was a good name…” He stiffened up and his face turned red.
“O-Oh.
Well, I guess it isn’t that bad.
But we’re both a part of the party, so it should reflect both of us.
Your eyes are gray… Honeysilver?” Anna patted our heads.
“Honeysilver is a very good name.
Unique, and it reflects both of you.” The receptionist nodded, taking our guild cards.
“Honeysilver it is!
Let me get you registered and print it on your guild cards!” It only took a few minutes, and she came back, a new line on our guild cards.
She handed them back and registered the quest to us.
We had three days to complete it.
After that, Anna took us to a small, empty table and we all sat down.
“Okay children, we got a lot done today.
Do you have any questions for me?” She looked between us.
Um… “So, you’re going to be at the training field at noon every day, right?” Rey’s eyes sparkled.
She nodded.
“Yes, I need to keep track of your progress.
The mornings are usually when I complete guild work, and the afternoons are when I train in the fields.
I usually arrive around noon, so I’ll check in on you two then.” I fidgeted, nervous.
“Um, what if we need more help?
Like, if something happens.” “Then come to the guild and ask the receptionists to grab either me or the guildmaster.
However, only come if you really need help, okay?
We can’t afford to spend too much time looking after you two.
As much as I hate to admit it, you two have to find a way to make it on your own.” She sighed, glancing at both of us.
“At least the two of you have each other.
Take care of each other, okay?” Rey puffed up again.
“Of course!
Don’t worry, I can protect Kat!” Anna locked eyes with me.
“Keep him from doing anything stupid.” Oh.
Yeah… “I will.” Rey sputtered.
“Wha-What!?
I’m not stupid!” “I never said you were.
However, I do believe you have the capacity to act very stupid, particularly to impress Kat.” Anna stated it flatly.
Rey winced.
“I don’t… do that…” “You once tried to jump off the roof onto a horse.
You broke your leg.” And he had done to prove how brave he was because my brother had called him a sniveling coward in front of me.
He looked at me, shocked.
“That… That was two years ago!
I’m way more mature now!” Heh.
I giggled.
Him, mature.
Yeah right… Anna looked between us and smiled, pushing up.
“I have work I need to get done.
The two of you should probably work out a schedule and a budget so you can keep track of your earnings and stay productive.
If you two get into trouble, feel free to come to the guild and ask for us.
Orick and I… even though the help we can offer is limited, we both want you two to make it.” Oh.
I bowed my head to Anna.
“Thank you for all the help you’ve given us.
We’ll be sure to take it to heart.
And please thank the guildmaster for his help too.” Rey nodded as well.
“Yeah, the two of you are okay for adults.” Anna snorted again and giggled at Rey’s words.
“Oh Rey, I hope you never change.
I’ll see the two of you tomorrow.” She waved to us as she headed to the stairs that go up to the offices.
After she was gone, Rey sighed and thudded his head against the table.
“I trained so much today I think I’m gonna die.
And I have to do it tomorrow too?” I patted his head.
“Sorry Rey.
Um… maybe I can try using a sword—” He suddenly yanked his head up.
“No!
Just focus on magic.
Like Marcus said, it’s um ‘basic team comp.’ I fight the monsters up close, you fight them from far away.
Just focus on growing your magic.
How is that going?” “Um…” I felt the mana inside me and raised it to my finger.
It began glowing again, and this time it lasted nearly a full minute.
“Better.
I’ll probably be able to cast a full mana bolt in… two days?
But I won’t be much help until then…” “That’s fine.
She said we should make a schedule right?
So, here’s our schedule.
When we wake up, we eat breakfast and go to the dungeon.
Then, we walk around the dungeon, and hunt as many slimes and pick as many herbs as we can.
Then we go to the training ground, we should get there around noon, like Anna.
Then we do our training.
Finally, we come back here after training and sell our cores and turn in any quests.
We’ll take more quests we can do and go back to our tent.
We eat dinner and study the books.
Then we go to sleep and do it all again.” He looked proud of this schedule.
There was just one thing… “What about lunch?
We can’t train on empty stomachs.” In his schedule, we wouldn’t be in town, so we couldn’t pick something up from a food stall.
“Uh…” His eyes blanked for a moment, until they lit up again.
He rummaged through his bag and pulled out his mess kit.
“We’ll keep out lunches in these.
Then we can buy them in the morning and eat them at the training ground for lunch.” Oh.
Yeah, that was a good idea.
These really were convenient.
He stuck it back in his bag and hopped up, shouldering it.
“Let’s go back to the tent.
We need to study what mana herbs look like.” “Okay!” I hopped up after him, trailing after him like always.
It hasn’t even been a week since he helped me escape.
But now… Now I felt like I could see a better path forward.
For both of us.