Episode 12: The training arc has begun!

The town was more active than normal. People were being called and enrolled in all sorts of courses, from patrolling, to first aid, basic armed and unarmed combat, cooking, crafting, etc. those who had to work in the morning went to the courses in the evening and vice versa

Taro and the girls were taking a first aid course at the church. While Sidra was instructing Ari on how to stabilize her hypothetically broken arm with sticks and bandages, Shizuka and Nagye were giggling and covertly wrapping Taro like a mummy

bald priest: remember to make it firm because the travel might be long before you can bring the wounded to a priest that can use the Healing Grace, and if the bones start healing on their own before then, it might be very painful when the Healing Grace is applied, because it will try to revert the badly healed bone to properly fix it

Taro: (didn’t expect for healing magic to have its intricacies, also, how do people get their bones broken in a world where mana enhancement exists?) bone, broke, but, mana enha, uhh, what?

Sidra: Shizuka, stop playing, do it properly, what if, may the goddess not allow it, Taro is hurt for real, would you wrap him like that?

Shizuka: ah we’ve been busted hehehe, sorry

Sidra: Taro, even when mana enhanced, some impacts may be too powerful, such as falling from a very tall place. I heard The Horde is also extremely strong and can break ribs with one fell swoop. may the goddess protect us

Taro: (may the goddess protect us indeed, that sounds terrifying) scary

Turt: excuse me! I'm looking for Shizuka, Taro, Nagye, Sidra, are they here?

bald priest: oh, right this way, young man, what holy mandate compels you?

Turt: the guild wants to assign them to a course, they’re gonna brief them on the details

Taro: Turt!, friend, godes bles

Turt: Taro the man!, how's it going?, ready to go?

Taro: I, good uhh, good life, yez, we go (I forgot how it feels to interact with a friend of my same sex, the girls are nice and we treat each other equal, but there’s just something special about bro-to-bro communication)

the girls removed their wraps and got ready to go

Ari: wait, I’m going too, why didn’t they call me?

Turt: I don’t know, I was just given these names

the guys and ladies went to the guild office, where the guild master and the guild secretary were busy with papers and explanations

Turt: here they are boss!, now if you’ll excuse me, my work for today is finished, I’ll proceed to go enjoy dried salted ciruls with my girlfriend

guild secretary, yep, that’s them, the genius, my best forager, the court mages’ daughter, the priestess, and Ari

guild master: The reason for me summoning you here is because I need you to join in the special training, though you all may not be as familiar or involved with the town affairs, I assume you have come to at least appreciate the peace here. for that I ask for your cooperation

Sidra: we shall do anything within our power and the favor of the goddess

the others just nodded after Sidra

guild master: excellent. For now, I shall assign your teams and brief you on what you’ll do. Shizuka and Taro, you shall be a team, though you may not be as powerful as the heroes, I’m interested to see how a unit of Transported fair

Shizuka: understood, leave it to me, and Taro the rock throw genius heheh

Taro: (for a moment I thought she knew how to be serious)

guild master: the second team will be Nagye and Sidra. you may not be as involved with the town, but I’m aware you have a great potential that I wish to see

Sidra: may the goddess bless us to rise to the occasion

Nagye just nodded nervously

Ari: father!, what about me? I haven't been assigned to any team!

guild master: Ari, about that—

Ari: what, you’re still gonna tell me to be a good girl and stay still while the Horde and enemies surround us?

guild master: Ari, that’s not it, my task for you is also important, you will be in the last line of defense, escorting the people if we have to flee the town—-

Ari: and meanwhile I just get to sit around like a good girl?, I’m not a kid anymore father, stop… humiliating me

Taro, Nagye, and Shizuka were especially surprised

Taro: (Ari is the guild master’s daughter? no wonder she’s the way she is, should have seen it coming, they both have the red hair and that cool aura about them)

guild secretary: hmm, how about this?. I know Ari is a walking manual, she’s also pretty strong. On top of that, she’s always giving me detailed reports of what happens during patrols, so she knows all the weak points our town has. How about she joins the training as one of the “monsters”?

the argument was compelling, the guild master had to ponder it for a bit

Ari: as a “monster”? do I get to play boar while the others get familiar with each other and refine their tactics? is that it?

guild master: no, the "monsters" are the team of instructors who will plot all sorts of attacks for the people to sort out. perhaps Chone is right, if you know where to attack, then it might be for the benefit of everyone

Ari was disarmed by the proposal her father took so seriously

guild secretary: might not be what you wanted, but hey, you get to teach and to prove why the protocols are important, which is also something you wanted. On top of being a badass, I'm also pretty smart ha-ha!

guild master: I don’t want you to be poisoned by wrath, something I know firsthand, I don’t want you to think the world is full of enemies and danger, that's something I want you to remember. if you can do that, then I will allow— hmm, it will give me peace of mind

Ari: …thank you

guild master: Chone will give you the details of what you’ll do. As for the others, follow me, we shall start right away

they all went to the patrol start point, a place that didn’t bring great memories to Taro

Taro: (I hope we don't have to carry heavy backpacks again)

guild master: I’ve been informed you two were already instructed in the basic patrol class, so you’ll tie this red cloth to your left arm, the mage and the priestess will wear this white cloth, I will teach you the basic course right now. As for the people wearing the red cloth, you will assume to be patrolling in a state of alert, enemies are around and will try to exploit mistakes and attack when least expected

Shizuka: our first real battle against other people!, my special fire mana will not lose hehe

guild master: thanks for reminding me of that. It is the season of the bruo, so the grass is dry, that's why using fire is forbidden. we need the tall grass even if the enemies would hide in it, we know the terrain better, so we can hide better than any enemy could

Shizuka: But that's my most powerful spell!, that takes away most of my plans!

Guild master: adaptation is crucial for survival. Also, you must wear the backpacks full of equipment, we filled those with random utensils, but it's meant to simulate a real-world patrol

Taro and Shizuka looked visibly inconvenienced by the restrictions placed upon them, but when Taro picked up his backpack, he activated his mana by reflex, and he was surprised

Taro: (woah, this barely weights anything now, so mana enhancement IS that big of a deal)

The teams started moving when signaled to do so, and now Taro and Shizuka were on their way, with their hearts beating fast. This time, they were told to walk inside the grass’ edge to follow the usual route while having a degree of concealment

Shizuka: I need to think of a way to use mana at a distance or we’re gonna be in some real trouble, so much for me talking big huh? hehehe

Taro: (Perhaps my knowledge of anime and games could come in handy right now, what can we use Shizuka’s huge mana for, that doesn't start a fire?... The thing we need the most right now is defense, because we’re pretty exposed. What's the word for shield again?) uhh, Shizuka, uhh

Taro started making poses like if he was holding a shield, Shizuka just looked at him in confusion. Then he put his open hand in front of him and started hitting it, simulating a shield blocking an impact

Shizuka: ooh! a shield!, gotcha, let me try

while Shizuka tried making shapes with the dense visible mana on her hands, Taro picked up a rock for each hand

Taro: (I'm confident I can hit someone with these, now I just need to know where they are. I wish there was a way to enhance my hearing with mana, that way I could know where enemies are without having to see them, like a radar… hmm, mana as a radar… I wish I knew where to start, gotta ask Nagye later)

Taro tried to project his mana out, but was too nervous and unfocused to make any progress.

a noise could be heard in the grass, someone was there, the Transported duo communicated in whispers

Shizuka: Taro

Taro: yez

Shizuka enhanced herself, her aura was dense, at that range, she wouldn’t need to use any ranged technique

short guy: oh! it’s just Shizuka and brutaro! hahaha, I thought it was the instructors

spear guy: calm down, we’re on your side, see? we have the red cloth too hehehe

shield guy: don’t laugh man, you’re making us look suspicious hiooohiohio

The 3 adventurers broke out in laughter, and quickly regained composure. Shizuka and Taro just looked at each other and thought the same thing

Shizuka and Taro: (they’re definitely gonna attract the instructors with all their noise)

short guy: not to be a killjoy, but let’s get going, I’m so thirsty, haven’t drank in a long time

shield guy: you drank in the afternoon though. follow us guys, the more we are, the stronger we’ll be

Shizuka: umm, you guys can go first, me and Taro will protect us from behind hehehe

Shizuka and Taro: (we gotta stay away from them as much as possible before the instructors find them!)