I want them to trust me

(Should I play the amnesia card again? At the very least I can’t tell them I’ve awakened, Gora and the others said it was a bad idea for now. But then again, the way they opened up to me… Don’t I owe them the same level of honesty and trust?)

My prolonged silence is definitely a little suspicious.

“Y-you don’t have to tells us if you’re not comfortable with saying it Mr. Akihiko!” Olivia finally raises her voice a little. She really makes extra efforts to not make others uncomfortable.

“Yeah. No need to force yourself to say it. Specially if its extra unpleasant.” Lafanda adds, with Mimi nodding her head in agreement.

“Hey! Where was all this consideration when it was my turn?” Juni complains.

“Don’t lie Juni. We can tell you were itching to talk about yourself. And you know what they say, lies have short legs.”

“YOU DIDN’T NEED TO SAY IT LIKE THAT!!” Juni stands up again.

(Better say something before the situation gets too hectic. I want to tell the truth, I really do. But the way Volkan said it makes sense. My awakening carries a lot of weight in this time where hope is becoming increasingly scarce.)

Lafanda using every chance she has to brighten the mood, Juni getting worked up every time we poke fun at him, Mimi trying to maintain a certain level of peace between us, and now Olivia silently laughing at all these shenanigans she never experienced before.

Is this what hanging out with friends is like?

Helping each other improve, laughing, butting heads, arguing, even trading blows. But at the end of the day, we all sit at the same table to share a meal.

I could even go as far to say that this is what family is like.

I want to show that I trust them.

But this is beyond what I want right now. Whether I like it or not, right now I’m kind of like an agent for Sonala. My decisions will definitely make an impact on this world’s safety. And that includes their safety.

“Is nothing like that, guys.” I try to play it off. “It’s just that you all have real noble ambitions. The reason I joined is lame compared to yours. I was also attacked by slumberwalkers and saved by resting guild members. You guys probably even seen them around me before.”

“That orc kin girl and her party, right? They were there when you did your not all that impressive feat at the exams right?.” Juni says.

“Yes. I always dreamed of joining a team like the resting guild, but I always believed that it was going to be impossible. But after they saved me, everything I’ve dreamt of became a lot more real. So, I decided to join as a way to repay the favor.”

“You’re right Akihiko. Your reason is really lame” Juni’s blunt way shines through once again.

Mimi smacks the back of his head with such force that his face hits the food on the table.

“Okay, now you’re done!” Juni grabs Mimi who begins to flail him around.

Lafanda just observes the chaos unfold with no effort to separate the two of them.

People around the other tables are beginning to stare now, we must look like a bunch of circus performers.

I have to stand on the chair to reach the both of them. This is beyond ridiculous now.

As I balance myself on the chair Mimi smacks Juni onto me.

Olivia starts laughing.

Not giggling while covering her mouth like all this time, but full on laughing with tears running down her eyes.

“I never laughed this hard before.”

We all stop and look at her for a moment. Watching the shy little Olivia laugh like that puts all of us at ease.

“I truly believe all of you are amazing. No matter the reason, the four of you are training to go to the frontlines of our battle against Umbravar. To protect everyone. Actions like these shows the motivation that all of you possess.” Olivia says with a smile.

We all settle down and resume our dinner. The event of this morning seems like a distant memory now.

We finish eating and Lafanda, Mimi and Juni head to the dormitory first. Me and Olivia head again to the infirmary for a final checkup.

After everything is in order I began to head back when Olivia stops me.

“Mr. Akihiko, thank you so much for inviting me. I haven’t had this much fun in such a long time.” She says with a smile.

“You’re one of us Olivia. We all passed the exam together. If you see us, you better come and greet us. Or else we will have to go and drag you.” I try to say what I would like to hear.

“Yes!”

I can see tears forming around her eyes.

We part ways.

Arriving at my room I see Juni standing by my door.

“Need anything Juni?” I ask.

“Not really I just came to say something to you.”

“And that would be?”

“Your reason to join. You listened to mine and didn’t laugh, so if you ever feel like telling me yours, I’m here to listen.” He has a serious tone.

“But, I already told you. Is nothing that grand believe me.”

“Well, if you ever feel like telling me again, I’m here, ok?” Juni takes his leave.

I head inside and lay on the bed.

Either it was really obvious that I was hiding something or Juni’s intuition is a lot sharper than I gave him credit for.

I go to sleep thinking about his words. I really want to say the real reason why I’m here. When I get the chance, I will.

As I drift into deep sleep I star the dream once again.

I have a dream that I’m running in a dark field flooded in shadow. I had this dream before. When I woke up in the capital.

As the shadows around me morph into forms and shapes to attack me I can once again see the bright field ahead of me. This time there are a lot more figures in there. I can see seven, no, eight of them there.

I run and fast as I can. My lungs are about to burst. My legs are burning up.

The figures all stare at me and start to wave.

As they do, the field of light begins to get closer. I run with everything I have. Even though I’m tired I’m not stopping.

But as the shadows noticed that I’m not stopping they begin to speed up. They catch me and I’m swallowed once again. I have that cold feeling running down my spine once again. And after all my training I’m familiar with it. When I use protections to turn into a monster. It is the same feeling.

I wake up and the sun is already shining. But this time it is different. I feel like I’m doing something right. Maybe I can outrun the shadows the next time I have this dream.

I get up and head to training.

But after last night training stopped being only training.

Seeing Juni, Lafanda and Mimi on the grounds I can’t help but want to run to join them. They all greet me with a smile, and we begin.

Months go by in the blink of an eye.

We would train during the day and after our firsts dinner together, every now and then Olivia would come to watch us too and even practice some healing when sparing got a little too rough.

In blessing training, Lafanda was the clear winner. Her repertoire didn’t have much variation, but her blessings were clearly the most powerful. Her shield was impenetrable. And the buffs she applied on Mimi made the two of them nearly invincible.

In protection training, Juni and Mimi shared the spotlight. Juni was pretty much creating a brand-new type of fighting style by using his smaller stature to his benefit. And Mimi was excellent at using Lafanda back as I blind spot to hide in and attack next, all while also protecting Lafanda from any incoming attacks and dishing out powerful counters.

As for myself? Not to brag too much about it, but my growth was clearly the most notable.

I had a rough start, but the more time it passed the more I got used to this new body and its capabilities. Thanks in no small part to them. They would always help me get a better grasp of the techniques I was lacking.

The 5 of us would spend almost the entire day together. The guild members were always coming and going on sightings, so it was hard to get to know any of them.

I get what Lafanda said about those who passed the exam almost always end up as a team.

A sort of routine was also created before we realized.

We would train together by the morning, eat together and read together by the end of the day. Although Lafanda and Juni would always complain after a while, myself, Olivia and Mimi would read a lot. Even Helga would join us sometime. I also learned how before us, Helga was one of the only ones who Olivia talked to.

I got to know more about them in these past months than I did with my classmates in almost three years back in previous life.

But eventually the routine came to an end. Gulliver and Amari seemed increasingly satisfied with how our training was going. And at the end of this day of training they approached us.

“The progress you guys have been making is really astonishing!” Gulliver says.

“And although I can still beat your guy’s butts, just training every day won’t get you any further in terms of skills. The real thing makes all the difference.” Amari says with a mix of jokes and seriousness.

“Does this mean…” I say.

“Yup, Mr. Tom is calling for you four.” Amari says.

“Is time.” Adds Gulliver.

The four of us looked at each other. We were both looking forward to it and fearing it at the same time.

Our first mission.