Adaptation

Being a hero is surprisingly nice.

I thought it would have a lot of hard training, but with magic involved, it really isn’t that bad. Since I’m a high-value military asset, I’m basically treated like a king as long as I do my part in training. Everywhere I go, I’m surrounded by people doting on my every whim. If I get tired during training, a girl will step forward to relieve my fatigue… well, that sounds kinda bad. Basically, they raise their hands and a green light will fill me with energy.

On my second day here, I started physical training with an instructor. The man, an old guy with a scar, called my physique “pathetic” and a “lost cause”. It turns out though, if you can use magic to cut out recovery time, accelerate growth, support your movements and heal sprains and other small injuries—then you can go from being a lost cause to an average physical level in a pretty short period of time. Yesterday was the first day I was able to start training with a sword, and the instructor said that he was impressed with how far I was able to come in such a short time. He thought it would be at least two weeks before I would even be able to swing a sword.

And well, I definitely couldn’t swing the longsword easily at first! I couldn’t even hold it straight forward for more than a few seconds without my arm shaking. The weight at the end of the length of a sword causes a lot of strain. It’s basic physics that torq ue gets stronger the farther a force is applied from the axis of rotation, my arm. I was completely worn out and needed my first magical recovery after just fifteen minutes. But if it’s just a matter of willpower, then I’m not going to just let someone else look down on me like that!

I was so stubborn that I was outlasting the people using magic to boost my stamina. While I was getting back to training, I noticed that one of the girls fainted after giving me support. Soon after that, about halfway through my training, my instructor demanded that we stop to eat. I was on such a roll that I had forgotten about eating. The instructor tried emphasizing how important it was to be part of a team. Mages had the potential to be lethal at both close and far ranges in combat, so it was only thanks to the protection of our own mages that we would be able to fight at melee range safely. Even the strongest magic knight would be helpless if they had no protection against far range mages.

I have to say, it was pretty heartening to see a stuffy guy so able to put aside his pride and see things rationally. I guess you don’t survive battles and come out with a scar like the one over his eye without learning some valuable lessons. He even said that the training we did was enough and that we could all take it easy for the rest of the day so we would be ready for training tomorrow. What a kind guy, always thinking about my sake and not forcing me to strain myself. I think he said his last name was Wright. I’ll try to remember it.

After he left the cafeteria, a bunch of the women assigned to help me with recovering my stamina also stood as if they were going to leave. I think they were thinking that their work was done just because we were all officially dismissed as a team. They reminded me of the people who didn’t study when they went home, or didn’t care what happened after their part-time job when they weren’t on the clock. Where is the sense of responsibility? Do you have no pride in your work?

“Where are you going?”

“I’m heading home to take care of my children. Marla has to go to magic lessons, Christine needs to help with the stables, and Lauren’s family is leaving for Edgeworth.”

“Hmm… What about the others?”

“What do you mean?”

“I still have a lot of training that I want to do. And I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to be helping the hero with their training, right?”

After giving a clear response about four out of the squad of ten set to help me, the woman responded to my questioning with a grimace. I took her to be something of a leader for the healing girls. It was obvious that she wanted to avoid working. While I spend my time training my body, moving, striking, doing something, anything—these girls just stand there and occasionally raise their hands when asked. They probably thought this job would be easy, and then they’re slacking on top of that!

“Hero Chris… It seems like there’s something that you’re really not understanding about this whole situation.”

“What you’re not understanding is that, like Captain Wright said, we’re all part of a team. The faster I can become a powerful hero, the faster I can start helping out in the war… I’m sure you understand the importance of that, right?”

I felt pretty clever throwing the captain’s words right in her face. The anger in her face revealed that they had definitely struck a chord. One of the other girls put a calming hand on her shoulder and they shared some silent communication. Seeming to make up her mind about something, the woman turned back to me.

“Do you wish to continue training like this every day without rest?”

“Hmm, of course I do.”

“Then I will have to put a stop to this. We can not keep putting our lives at risk for an ignorant child.”

Putting their lives at risk by… standing around? Some people really are shameless! Do most of the girl mages in this world seem to go into healing because they want to stand around all day? I guess that’s another thing that Lena has going for her. Though I haven’t seen her since we were first summoned, I hear that she’s been breaking record after record for offensive magic. They’re already saying she is the most dangerous person in the whole town! People from Earth really know how to work hard!

“Fine, I understand you don’t want to keep helping me… So how about the rest of you? Do any of you want to keep working as my healers?” I asked, turning to the younger women.

There was some arguing back and forth, some pulling and shoving. Ultimately, two of the youngest and quietest girls stepped forward. It was a familiar sight of social exclusion. The 60-20-20 rule apparently applied in every dimension. When it comes to work done by a group, 20% tend to be much lazier than the average, while 60% put in an average amount of work, and the remaining percent put in above average work to make up for all the slackers. I guess for the standards of support mages in this world, this was enough to qualify as above average.

--

“Does it look like we’re a little bit shorthanded when it comes to support?”

“It’s a difficult job to keep up with all the healing that you need. Your physical performance and stamina are so poor, I’m surprised that we have this many still able to help.”

Huh? Are support mages usually that lazy? Is he saying that I have something to do with it? It’s them that can’t keep up! The person who collapsed yesterday, plus the two girls who stayed late to help with my sword training, and probably another one or two were all missing from the line-up. The one I identified as the leader was still there, surprisingly.

The instructor loudly announced that we were taking it easy today, clearly meaning to be heard by the entourage of women. My cheeks turned red. I thought he was on my side! Why was he embarrassing me like this? The girls all smiled at each other, and I felt like I was the butt of the joke. After just four hours of training, Wright announced in the same loud voice that the training was over. He didn’t spare a second look to my body as he left for the cafeteria.

All the women followed behind him like a wave. I would have tried to stand, tried to catch one of them or say anything. I was just too exhausted. My stamina was increasing, but it still wasn’t enough. I was being held back by these support mages. I had to do better. I had to get stronger, faster. I had to prove my value…

--

It's common for people summoned in fantasy stories to have a special power. With the other summoned hero, Lena, it’s pretty obvious that she gained an absurd talent for magic. In the time between training, I’ve been trying to find what my special talent might be. A status window like from a video game or a meeting with a pretty goddess to explain what powers I do and don’t have would’ve been really helpful! Until then I’m flying blind…

While I actually do have one lead, I’m unhappy with the direction that it’s pointing me. There’s a trend in some novels of the protagonists getting really crappy abilities, usually a support or information gathering power, like “inspect” or “crafting”. On my end, I think I might have gotten the ability to completely understand the written and spoken language of the locals in this world! Talk about a useless ability, when part of our “starting equipment” included a necklace that let me and Lena speak and hear Verdian. Basically, my power is a completely redundant, besides the ability to read books!

I’m sure whatever useless goddess decided on these powers got a kick out of that irony. If I’m fully going off the theory that this world operates on the same logic of the fantasy novels that I read, then maybe there is some way that I can use the ability to read to become stronger than everyone else… though I’m not sure how the ability to read is supposed to help me do that. Honestly, I kinda always hated that trope…

My break from reading gets interrupted by a knock at my door.

The sun had gone down hours ago, its light being replaced with lanterns and the blue glow of magical lights built into the edges of walls. Instead of being used as a primary light source, the blue lights mainly served to highlight where the walls and ceiling meet. The blue light on its own felt kind of eerie, like being in a horror attraction. Since not everyone was able to freely use magic, carrying lanterns was still the most practical way for many to navigate in the dark.

Of course, some people had no problems with using magic or felt bothered by the unnatural feeling blue lighting. Opening the door at 10 PM, I was reminded of that fact by a short woman holding a brightly glowing crystal in her hand. She had traded her hoodie for a dark cloak, but it was still easy to recognize the person who showed up in my thoughts so frequently. If we could work together, then I’m sure that it would be mutually beneficial. It had only been a few days, but from looks alone, it seemed like she was taking to the world of Verdia even more quickly than I was.

“Wh-What is it?” I ask, feeling a little bit nervous.

Lena doesn’t immediately answer, not even really seeming to react to my question. She looks at me for a few seconds, and then, seeming to have reached a conclusion, turns away. What the hell. I can’t figure out what’s going through this woman’s head. She mutters something under her breath, and then starts walking away.

“… hey! Where are you going?”

She turns back around and cocks her head.

“Come with me, I said.”

She apparently repeats herself, though I hadn’t heard her the first time.

“We’re going to share information.”

“Huh? Why would I do that?”

I think it’s a good idea to be honest. Two people in a foreign land with could have a lot of blind spots. Knowledge is power, and could mean the difference between life or death here. Since we are basically high level military assets, it’s likely that we could get wrapped up in political controversies if we don’t keep our eyes open. Considering our uniquely shared circumstances, we have plenty of reason to look out for one another.

So, the idea I’ve had for the past few days was that I would approach Lena with the idea of sharing information. After helping each other by sharing information, further cooperation would be a no-brainer. The problem was, I had no idea how to approach Lena. The magic classes and knight dorms are on the opposite side of town from one another. There are socially acceptable ways that one can visit the other, like the case of the support mages aiding in my training, but as two completely fresh trainees, we lacked any specialized social role that could let us do that. Not wanting to draw attention to the two of us, I had no safe way to reach out to her…

So why did Lena just randomly show up at my door asking me to come share information? People will obviously see us leaving. See, I can already see, there’s already two guys talking about us at the end of the hall. Ugh, this is not going how it was supposed to go in my head! Why is she just assuming that I would want to share information with her?

“Well, are you coming?”

“…”

I weigh my options. The main problem is the context, but ultimately this is something that I’ve wanted. If I could come up with a better context then maybe I would be able to say no here. But I have to be realistic here. It’s been almost two weeks here and I haven’t been able to create the ideal circumstances that I’ve desired. I can say no as long as I can imagine a realistic circumstance in which I am able to approach her and be the one in control…

“… Fine, I’m coming.”

I hung my head in defeat, and followed along after the cloaked woman.

--

“Do you recognize this place?”

“… No, this is the women’s dorm.”

“I thought you would at least know this much. Do you know why I brought you here?”

Is this some kind of test? I guess before exchanging information, she wants to know how capable I am. We couldn’t really discuss anything complicated or secretive if I was a loose-lipped idiot—but why would I know where anything is in the women’s dorm? Hmm… maybe instead of being a test of preexisting knowledge, it could be more of a test of perception. If I assume that, then this should be a place where the function is obvious just from looking at it. I close my eyes and think about it.

I hear a sharp intake of breath from Lena. It was weird hearing a sound like that from someone so unexpressive. Opening my eyes, I see her glaring at me. Oh, I see. Finally catching on, I understood that I was misunderstanding the test and had already turned in the wrong answer. I assumed that it was a test of intellect or knowledge, but truthfully, this was a test of character. A test where the only wrong answer was the one I just gave—to hesitate.

“It’s an infirmary, right?”

Some of the tension left Lena’s face, but it remained quite serious. I answered that way based on the writing on the door, and that seemed like it was a correct answer. There was another infirmary on the other side of the town that I had been shown, mainly used for knights in training. So, what secrets does this infirmary on the other side of town hold? What was it that Lena wanted to show me?

“And?”

“And… what?”

“… Nevermind,” Lena said, turning away from me again. “There’s no point if you don’t understand on your own.”

Leaving me emptyhanded with nothing but a newfound sense of dissatisfaction, my second encounter with Lena ended abruptly.