"I've got a plan for ye," Ailsa said cheerfully as she dragged Kira away from the classroom the instant courses were over the next day, oblivious to the alarmed stares of the girl's classmates. "Yer weak as sin, ye wee limp noodle child, but ye ain't totally useless. Just lackin' knowledge and experience! Yer foundations ain't bad fer a 1-F but ye don't know how ta use what ye got. Before I can teach ye how ta fight proper-like ye gotta be buildin' yerself up first, right? Gettin' real familiar with yerself, like."
Kira had a bad feeling. A very bad feeling. "Y-yeah?"
"And yer Trial's comin' up soon, so ye don't have time ta dally. We'll be doin' what me folks call a 'Hell Week'! Startin' tomorra, today I'll be teachin' ye the basic daily routine so ye know what ta expect."
The bad feeling got worse. "Hell... Week?"
Ailsa's grin became sinister as she glanced at the thin teenage girl, a glint in her silver eyes. "Aye, kiddo. A whole week of hardcore trainin' non-stop, it's gonna be a blast! I modified it a bit considerin' yer level and all, no worries."
Kira felt like crying, but she couldn't escape the Dwarf woman's vice-like grip on her arm no matter how hard she dug in her heels or how roughly she yanked her captured limb. She could only be dragged toward the Combat Pavilion to a simulation room Ailsa prepared ahead of time.
"But, my courses-" Kira tried to object, but Ailsa cut her off.
"I put in fer permissions and yer teachers and classmates will be alerted, ye'll have to make up yer classwork on yer own but ye'll thank me fer it later! And ye started late already so it's fine ta push off a bit more, eh? Won't make much of a difference in yer grades at this point! I'm yer Master now, my authority outranks yer normal course teachers."
"Master, what Master, I didn't sign a contract..." The girl muttered rebelliously, but Ailsa just laughed.
"Ye did, in a way! Yer a student here, and ye got the assessment of the Combat Pavilion which determined yer abilities were substandard and me services were requested. As a student, ye have a duty ta do yer best in learnin' how ta survive. Which is why a Master is the highest authority for a student! I'm gonna teach ye everythin' I know about fightin' and gettin' strong."
Kira wanted to complain more, but she bit her tongue to resist the urge. As reluctant as she felt... There had to be a reason people like Ailsa and Karl were so strong!
Cities weren't completely safe to live in no matter what era it was, but with the added threat of monsters she had to be able to protect herself against unexpected calamities.
Being strong meant being safe.
Ailsa threw Kira inside the reserved room and locked the door behind them, dusting her hands before turning a malicious grin toward the girl laying face-down on the floor. Inside the vast room were everything from training dummies to weights and sparring equipment alongside a large and intimidating obstacle course full of sharp and pointy objects. One corner of the room was occupied by a pair of cots, a cooking stove, and an outhouse with a rickety shower attached to the side.
"And so it begins," Ailsa cackled, throwing training clothes and some weighted accessories on the ground - a vest, arm bands, and ankle bands. "Change quick. If ye take longer'n a minute, ye'll be sorry!"
Kira ran around the room to start, chased by Ailsa who whacked her legs and feet with a bamboo switch when she slowed down. The weights felt odd and heavy, like her body was being dragged toward the ground, adding difficulty to what would otherwise be a simple jog.
The pain from the switch was just sharp enough for the girl to grit her teeth, but it never broke her skin or even left bruises that would linger. Ailsa controlled the force of impact very well.
Kira ran.
And ran.
And ran some more, until she collapsed from exhaustion while panting for breath, her body soaked in gross sweat. Ailsa gave Kira some fatigue-reduction elixir pills that dissolved on her tongue, dragging the girl to her feet once they kicked in.
Then more running, but through the obstacle course. Crawling under sharp bladed nets, running through rows of tires, dragging herself up a giant wooden wall only to fall before reaching the top.
As punishment for failing the obstacle course Ailsa dragged Kira to the side and had her punch a padded wooden post twenty times, correcting her form with generous use of the bamboo switch alongside carefully chosen words.
Kira had to climb a rope hanging from the ceiling in an attempt to ring the bell at the top. Again she failed to even reach halfway and again she had to attack the unsuspecting wooden post, but with kicks instead of punches.
Then came standing on balance poles, and once she failed she had to practice elbow strikes.
Then chin-ups until she fell from the bars, followed by knee strike practice.
Jumping rope in a sandbox, push-ups, sit-ups, squats, crawling. Every time Kira felt close to collapse, Ailsa gave her another elixir pill and chased her to the next area with the bamboo switch. Every time she failed, she was 'punished' by practicing attack moves on the wooden poles.
Finally, Ailsa announced it was time for dinner. Kira was taught a series of stretches then instructed to complete three rounds as a cool-down while her Master cooked up a meal.
"Do ye have a dream?" Ailsa asked as she handed Kira a plate piled high with meat and vegetables. "Somethin' yer fightin' fer."
"Not anymore," Kira answered honestly.
"Ye don't?" The Dwarf woman's face showed clear surprise. Then what the hell was the girl trying so hard for?! Ailsa kept waiting for the girl to try and quit, pushing her to see how much Kira could endure before calling it quits on day one, yet despite her many vocal and creative complaints she never actually refused orders.
Which meant Kira hadn't hit her bottom limit yet. That kind of tenacity... Was it something an aimless teenage girl without a dream would really have?
Kira glanced at her confused Master and raised her eyebrows. "How much did you hear about me from Mister Karl?"
"Ah, let me think... I know ye ain't really a Demi-Elf, but he wouldn't say what. He said ye lived in a Training Gate fer a long time, too, which is why yer masteries fer skills and spells are high but yer level's pitiful."
Nodding, Kira turned her eyes toward her plate. Maybe it was exhaustion, but for some reason she felt an urge to share the truth. "As a little kid I wanted to be a geologist. I wanted to study rocks and stuff, since I think they're really cool. But when I got older I wanted to be a doctor. My mom was sick and I wanted to help!
"If I could treat her, or at least make enough money for someone else to treat her, we could have many years of happy family gatherings and celebrations and I'd grow up and get married and have tons of kids so she could hug all her grandchildren!
"But I was in the Gate so long she's already dead. Along with my dad, and my siblings, and everyone else I ever knew. My dream was my family, see. They adopted me, saved me, and all I wanted was their happiness. And they're all gone."
Ailsa couldn't find the appropriate words to respond. The thin teenage girl said everything with apparent nonchalance, but her face was lowered and her narrow shoulders shook visibly even from a distance.
Loss was something everyone experienced to different degrees, and Gaea was a dangerous world where almost everyone had memories of losing loved ones. Poignant grief was familiar to all, making it even more difficult for a stranger like Ailsa to find words of comfort for her new little disciple without risking making matters worse for the girl's young heart.
If she said the wrong thing she might rip open those clearly fresh wounds. So she chose silence, giving Kira space to breathe rather than spitting out reckless platitudes.
After a few minutes of silence, Kira composed herself and continued eating slowly. "I don't have a dream, but I wanna get strong. Cuz my family wouldn't be happy if I let something happen to me. They got seriously mad every time I came home with a skinned knee or black eye!
"Right now, I wanna get strong enough to live my life well without worrying every day whether a random monster's gonna wreck it all. At least until I figure out what I want to do next."
Ailsa gave a genuine warm smile. "I can respect that."
.....
Though the daily training for Hell Week was the same routine, it increased in difficulty every time Kira successfully improved in an area.
Kira complained vocally but she wasn't truly bothered. Training wasn't a competition, there was no 'winning'. As long as it kept getting more difficult, she had room to improve. As long as she had room to improve, she'd keep working hard.
Her family died without knowing what happened to her because she was lazy and wanted a vacation, not bothering to find out what was going on until two hundred thousand years passed by on the outside.
She already decided to stop being lazy. Once Kira made a decision she threw her full effort into it! Even if she wanted to nap and eat and roll around on a soft bed, that could wait until she wasn't busy getting stronger.
Small doses of sloth could be forgiven, right? As long as she worked hard enough the rest of the time!
Ailsa smacked the girl across her shoulders with the bamboo switch. "Lost in thought are ye? Then yer not being worked hard enough! Pick up the pace, kiddo!"
Kira groaned, obeying with a grimace, consoled only by Ailsa keeping pace through all the training. She was the only one suffering through the training, but at least the Dwarf was taking part and showing she could do it too!
That felt much better than being yelled at by someone standing at the side with a whistle in their mouth.
Ugh, P.E. class...
Train, collapse, elixir. Train, collapse, elixir.
Kira got four hours of sleep a day, two meals, and one opportunity to shower before bed.
On the third day, Kira got an unexpected voice call from Brigit while climbing on one of the ropes. Kira groaned and opened the call, arms shaking as she pulled herself inch by inch up the rough rope.
[Brigit: Kira, I forgot I was supposed to take you to the doctor today for a check-up, or she'll report us to the Council!]
Kira eased her grip in surprise, losing a significant amount of upward progress as punishment. She grit her teeth and sent a response - this wasn't any time to be stingy with her MP. [Kira: Have Mister Karl contact her about the situation, I'll be done with this training in four days and we can meet her then if she still wants to.]
Her voice came out between tense pained gasps and grunts of exertion which also got sent through as part of the voice message. Hearing Kira visibly struggling while trying to respond, Brigit swallowed several complaints regarding contacting Sir Karl and composed herself.
[Brigit: ...Hmm, okay then. Good luck!]
Since Kira was doing her best, how could Brigit slack off? The Drakke clenched her fists and hyped herself up before sending a message to the Archmage.
Meanwhile, Ailsa who was climbing another rope next to Kira's, swatted the girl's legs with the bamboo switch. "Hoi! Got time ta send messages do ye? Think me trainin's easy now, do ye?"
Kira whined, sliding down another few inches of rope. "Aw man..."
The next few days slid past in a blur of activity. Training, training, then training some more, until even Kira was surprised at how she was able to keep moving.
On the sixth night, Ailsa frowned thoughtfully as the thin girl snored peacefully on her cot. She ran a few scenarios over in her head and, seemingly making up her mind, nodded and laid back on her cot for a nap.
Kira woke up after six hours of sleep, feeling more refreshed than she had in a week. Ailsa greeted her with an enormous hearty breakfast and a suspicious grin. "Mornin'! Eat up quick, kiddo. Change of plans today!"
Having spent six days together already, Kira knew better than to take it lightly when the Dwarf said to do something quick. She shoved food in her mouth while managing to mumble: "What's changing?"
"Ah, well. Ye'll find out soon enough!" Ailsa chuckled, her expression doing nothing to soothe Kira's growing discomfort.
Once she finished eating, Ailsa dragged Kira away from the Combat Pavilion, toward a location at the furthest end of the campus. Instead of being thankful she was no longer confined to the horrible training room of suffering, Kira's sense of dread increased exponentially.
Sure enough, Ailsa took her to a vast floating island covered with a protective shimmering barrier of light that resembled a soap bubble. Inside were crowds of people in full armor holding weapons, clustered in groups and conversing casually despite their appearance. A vast billboard stood in the center of the island with several interface pedestals, some of which were in use. Even from a distance Kira could see requests for Parties and various Quests scrolling by on the billboard's transparent crystal surface.
Ailsa pulled Kira through the bubble, mindless of the tingling viscous sensation that rippled across their skin as they passed. At one end of the island was a giant door similar to a Gate door having a more solid and imposing frame using massive gold pillars engraved with thousands of glowing blue runes. The ranking stone was a big green sphere sitting pretty atop the right pillar. A glass Meter occupying an entire segment of the left pillar was partially filled with shining red liquid, and the Rules plaque below it contained several lines in English - Enliss, Kira corrected herself.
"Ain't ye seen a Dungeon door before?" Ailsa asked, seeing Kira standing still with her mouth gaping open.
The girl shook her head. "Is this the, uh. Change of plans, then?"
"Aye! Ye unlock the Quest function at 10-F, so we're gonna level ye up in the Dungeon! Don't ye worry none, I won't be leechin' yer EXP. Ye'll be fightin' everythin' yerself! I'll save ye only if'n things get too dangerous, like."
Kira groaned, only to interrupt herself as a thought occurred. "Wait... EXP?"
"EXP is a hidden stat, see? Ye need a Scan-type skill around Lv.5 ta even see what ye got. It's all very complex, how much ye get and when and fer what comparin' to yer own levels and skills and whatnot." Ailsa waved a hand dismissively and resumed dragging Kira toward the Dungeon door. Once they stood within arm's reach of the door, Ailsa finally stopped her terrifying advance and a window popped up in Kira's view.
-----
[Request]
Ailsa Reid is requesting you join a Team!
-----
"What's a Team?" Kira asked, brows raised.
Ailsa, already expecting that question, chuckled heartily before answering. That brat Karl wasn't kidding when he said the girl wasn't experienced in the world! "Temporary Party. A Party, ye see, is an official arrangement and ye can only be in one at a time. There's contract terms an' whatnot, it's all very business. Ye even see the stats and skills of people in yer Party without usin' Scan! And it allows fer full distribution EXP sharin' if everyone agrees. Teams though, EXP is distributed based on contributions only and members can join or leave at will, as many as they want. Much more convenient!"
Kira accepted, jumping in surprise when a floating screen appeared above Ailsa's head showing HP and MP bars. "Oh! Neat."
She looked up at the big dungeon door and exhaled a breath. The carvings showed dozens of creature types, but with her level of inexperience she couldn't even begin to guess what all of them were. Some looked like familiar beast shapes, or blobby orbs that were probably slimes...
Sighing, Kira resolved to study very hard once she escaped Ailsa's clutches. She needed to know what the carvings represented so she'd never enter a Gate or Dungeon unprepared.
The Rules were simple, at least.
-----
• Initial Level Bracket 5F - 10F
• Floor Tokens in effect
• Instance Separation in effect
• Soul Gems permitted
• Floor Boss death empties Meter 0.1%
• Meter increases 10% daily
• Meter increases 0.1% when a Soul Gem is used
• Dungeon Break occurs when Meter is full
-----
"Dungeon Break...?" Kira whispered. Those two simple words sent chills down her spine. It brought to mind horrible images, of the doors breaking open as hungry monsters tumbled out and razed towns or villages to the ground.
She shivered.
Suddenly, Ailsa's broad hands smacked into Kira's lower back, pushing her forward into the door. White light filled her vision as she teleported into the Dungeon.