Erin lead the group to a vacant area closes to their village. Like many places, this place was unkempt and filled with trash and rubble. He used wind magic to clear out the area in a few seconds. This impressed the kids as they went ooo and ahhh. Erin then turned around to face the group.
"Hello students and welcome to 2 weeks with me. This 2 week long training process will work your brain and your body to the limit. For those 13 to 9 we are trying to build up your stats as much as we can until trial day. For those who already have a class, I will teach you tricks on how to use your class and how to gain skills. First lets get into 3 groups. 9 - 13 is one group. 14 - 18 is another group and 19 - 24 is the last group. " Everyone quickly organised themselves into their group. They had seen a glimpse of Erin's capability and did not want to make a bad first impression.
Erin wasted no time in getting them ready to cram. He took Vince as his assistant in order to help everyone get in order but he was the one mostly doing the teaching. He began by teaching the adult group how to allocate their points depending on their classes and also how to use their skills to the fullest. He gave them the most advice and mostly left them to self study on the main points of the entrance exam. For the teen group, he focused more on combat since they would have more chances in taking the entrance exam and they have little experience in actual combat.
For the trial group, he gave them an all around training schedule that would help them increase their stats overall and find out what they excelled at.
By the end of the first week of training, the students had gotten into the rhythm of things. They knew that what they were learning would have an impact on their futures and so many of them did not slack off. In order to focus on the trial group, Erin gave Vince and Johanne a thorough teaching guide so that they would be able to guide the other two groups. With the pressure off, he trained the trial groups harder to their dismay.
Erin observed the children as they were doing speed training. They were currently doing suicides. Their goal was to do 3 sets as fast as they could. Erin paid close attention to Brook. Not only had he gotten close to the boy in the last week but he also saw a bit of himself in the boy.
As he thought of the warmth he felt in the Sawyer's home, he saw Brook finish his third lap.
"First goes to Brook at 11 minutes 43 seconds. Good job Brook you have improved a lot over this week." Brook's eyes brighten as he heard his idol's praise of him.
"Thank you teacher. I will work hard and take of 2 minutes by the end of next week." Erin smiled as he saw his determination.
"You do that and I will be happy to take you in as my personal student. Haha." As Erin said this jokingly, fire started to ignite in Brook's eyes.
This light continued to burn as he went through strength training, memory training and the others. Although he was not able to get first in these exercises, he scored high on most of the results. As Erin saw this, he could only laugh. The boy was so quick to become serious when he knew he could get something in the end.
The day was almost over and Erin lined everyone together. He would do this everyday in order to record everyone's improvement. The adult's group on average increased their intelligence and wisdom by a good amount and many of them obtained the skill [Recall] which allowed the individual to remember past information more clearly.
Erin had been taking many of the teenagers out to do short raids in a small dungeon a bit away from the village. In the last 5 years Erin had grown accustomed to many of the common fighting styles that people used and so he was able to teach the teens how to fight while controlling the monsters that came their way with ease. Many of the children tried different styles before picking one that suited them the best.
The last group in Erin's mind was the most successful. Many of them started with stats that were only 2s and 3s but with one week of vigorous training, many of them increased their stats to 4s and 5s and some children had stats that had gone up to 6 and 7. This was one of the advantages that kids post year 0 have. Their stats are able to increase much faster than those before that age. This allowed many children from the cities to max their stats (10) at a young age and get skills much easier but due to the fact they they did not go through the tutorial they would not get a chance to be rewarded for maxing their stats.
As Erin was recording the current stats of the trial group, he circled 6 names. Brook, Sally, Dean, Chi, George and Lapis. These 6 had ranked number one in one of the 7 training regiments. Brook was number one in Agility, Dean in Defence, Chi in Intelligence, Lapis in Wisdom, George in Constitution and Sally in Strength and Recovery. Sally was the second person Erin paid close attention to. Sally was different from Brook. She was very hot blooded and liked to pick a fight with everyone she thinks is strong. She had actually picked a fight with Erin first day which caused him a lot of headaches.
Erin could not understand how the mild mannered Luther got such a child from. After another day of training, Erin ended his class with a few wise words.
"Don't be late tomorrow or you will be killed personally by me." This sent chills to the backs of many of his students. Erin always loved to see their reactions. obviously he would not do that. He was training them so that they can survive but having late comers was quite annoying. He could understand why some teachers would hate tardy students.
He smile suddenly dimmed a bit.
"There was a teacher like that too in my school. He was my homeroom teacher but I can't even remember his name..." There were so many that died that day but he could only remember a few. As everyone went to their homes, the yard became more empty. Soon there was only Erin, Brook , Vince and Johanne. The two siblings were waiting for Erin to finish collecting their data before they all went home. Vince was still chatting with Johanne about class so he stayed behind.
"Hey, Mr Silvers. How do I get Wind powers?" Brook asked as Erin started packing all his things.
"You don't 'get' it. It is something within you from the beginning." Brook nodded seriously as he pretended to understand.
"So how do I know if I have Wind mana within me?" Brook continued. Erin sighed as he turned to the boy.
"The trial is in a week. Once you finish the trial, you will know."
"But that is in a week. That is way too long." Brook grumbled as he complained. Erin laughed as he heard this.
"I don't think you should join the military then. The military is all about patience."
"Hmmp. I was never going to join the military anyway. I want to be an adventurer! I want to be able to defeat bad guys in a second, gain lots of money and be a hero like you." Brooks eyes brightened again when he said this. The smile on Erin's face dulled. He quickly put his things in his ring and turned to the boy.
"I am no hero." Brook looked puzzled when he heard this.
"Bu-but you are." Brook stated. Erin shook his head.
"I am just a man Brook. A man who has made many mistakes."
"But you saved me an-and you gave me a silver coin and you are really really strong."
"Just because you are strong does not mean you are good. If that were the case. Many corrupt guilds would be heroes and so would high ranked monsters in your eyes. I did not save you kids because I was a hero. I did it out of convenience since he was blocking my way. I am not a good person Brook. You should look up to your sister or mother but not me." Brook looked heartbroken as he heard this. He could tell by Erin's facial expression that he was being serious.
"B-But." Brook tried to think of something but he could not. His first idol had broken the facade that Brook had created for him.
"Why do you think I am out here in the slums and not in some large heroes guild? I am a wanderer. Wanderers are not good people. We solo dungeons so that we can keep everything for our selves. We are greedy, lonely, egotistic people by heart. I am not the type of person you should be trying to mimic." Brook started to cry as he heard this. The final slap had been given to his short lived dream. He stood up with red spreading through his face.
"You are good! You are!" Brook stubbornly said this before running towards thee village.
"Brook?!" Johanne saw Brook running away and quickly chased after him. Vince was left by himself a little confused. He turned to see Erin looking almost emotionless.
"Heh, you are quite stubborn Brook. Sometimes that trait can lead you into a lot of trouble. Look at me. I have been looking for trouble for 5 years now and I have only gotten a few clues to where he might be. Its a sad life for a wanderer." Erin said this in a ridiculing matter as he looked towards the north. Vince saw that Erin was thinking about something and so he decided to not disturb him. As he left he kept feeling like Erin was always looking that direction. He had always wondered what he was searching for. Vince did not think too much about it as he went home.
Alone in the yard, Erin brought out an old era phone that had cracks all over the screen. In the screen page, there was a picture of him, his mother and his sister smiling for the camera. His face went through many shades as he gripped the phones tightly and brought it to his chest.
"One day..." He said this softly to himself before hugging his phone.
"I'll kill that motherfucker."