[Rank: E]
Those words are displayed by the mana measuring machine.
'…At least it's not F rank. It would be a lie to say I didn't have hopes for something higher.'
"Very well, with this test done all that's left if the combat and exploration ones," the employee says this while he writes down the result.
"Oh, I just noticed you were a porter. Considering that, you will be exempt from the exploration exam. Would you like to take the combat exam now or would you like to receive training?" he asks.
"I'd like to receive training please," I answer.
"Very well, you can choose your schedule at the desk."
With that, he escorts me out of the room, and I head towards the receptionist again.
"Hello, I'd like to choose a combat training schedule," I say.
"Sure thing, we have an intensive weeklong program and a month long normal one. Which one would you like?" asks the receptionist.
'Tom and I can't survive an entire month without any income, intensive it is.'
"I'd prefer the intensive one please," I state.
"Okay, let me sign you up for the next group. They actually begin today, is that okay?" he asks.
"T-today? Uh, yeah sure. It's okay." I reply nervously.
'My heart isn't ready…'
Finishing up the matters of the training, I have some lunch and head towards the training building. 'Considering they provide free training, its reasonable that they'd require you have your own gear. It still stings my wallet though.' I chose a spear because it would allow me to maintain some distance between me and the monsters, they're scary after all. I change into my new training uniform and wait outside the gym. As time passes, more and more people gather around the gym. Most of the new arrivals look as nervous as me. With one exception being a group of 3 snobby looking kids, they are wearing custom made training clothes and they are wielding fancy looking weapons.
After some more time passes, a man with an instructor badge arrived. 'Rather than a man, he looks more like a human Grommok.' An aura like Natalie's can be felt coming off him, but it's not quite up to par. 'He must be at the top of rank B.'
"Alright everyone, my name is irrelevant, you are to call me instructor and you aren't allowed to complain in my class. That is all, let's enter the gym and begin training," says Grom- the instructor.
Everyone enters the gym without complaining, we did sign up for the intensive course after all. The gym is about the size of a football stadium and is completely flat. There's a lot of different sections marked on the floor and some of them have training dummies inside. We follow the instructor up to one of the sections with dummies in it and after we all arrive, he faces us and says,
"The newbies will begin by learning the basic forms for their weapon and practicing on the dummies. Those who already have some experience will spar against each other so I can assess you. Now, newbies to the dummies and the rest wait here a bit."
I obviously make my way to the dummies, I've never held a spear before, or any weapon for that matter. 'Is a skinning knife considered a weapon?' The instructor proceeds to talk to the others in batches of specific weapons. He waves me over when he begins to talk about the spear's techniques.
"For now you should focus on grabbing the spear properly and doing some simple attacks," he says.
"The basic way of holding a spear is with one hand at it's base and another in the middle. While you are holding the spear, you are not to do like this guy over here," the instructor points to me.
Trying to not die from embarrassment, try to figure out what's wrong with my stance. 'Hands at the base and center, then point it forward. What's wrong?'
"The spear shouldn't be perpendicular to your hip. You need to angle the tip of the spear towards your opponent's head. In this case, the dummies are 1.75m tall humans, so you angle the spear upwards towards their head. In most cases, this will also give you the benefit of having the spear closer to your own face. With the spear closer to your face, you can quickly adjust the spear to protect it,"
In his case in particular, the tip of his spear is a little lower than his own head, but its still closer than when pointing it straight forward.
"If your opponent is significantly shorter than you, like goblins, you angle the spear downwards but not all the way. Enemies like that tend to understand that they should attack your torso or neck. If you angle the spear too low, you will open yourself up for attacks. Also, don't just stand there like an idiot, you need to angle your body away from your opponent. By doing this, you make yourself a smaller target and allow for the usage of better footwork."
When the instructor says this, I recall the fight between the hellhounds and the living armors. The hellhounds attacked the living armors' torsos or even leapt at their faces. Imagining a hellhound leaping at my face while my spear is pointing at the floor, I shiver. 'Remember the angle, remember the angle, remember the angle.' While I chant my new mantra, the instructor continues saying,
"The primary attack of the spear is a thrust, not a slash. Slashes are wide and slow attacks that leave you exposed. In contrast, a thrust is quick, precise and doesn't require you to move the spear away from yourself as much. That way, if the attack fails, you can quickly return the spear to protect your body."
The instructor acts out the different attacks, highlighting the openings created by slashing.
"I will now show you the short thrust. A short thrust is performed by extending both your arms towards a target. What makes it short, is that you stop the extension when the hand at the base of the spear reaches the middle of your torso. When you are done with the extension, you bring back the spear. Don't forget to reangle it properly when you bring it back."
He repeats the movements a couple more times and says,
"Practice the short thrust a bit on the dummies, I'll start the spars. If you have any questions, don't interrupt the spar, wait until it ends."
I try to mimic the instructor's movements on the dummies. With the first couple of strikes, I feel a strange sense of familiarity. Sadly, my thoughts are interrupted.
"Fuck!" a scream comes from the sparring area.
"That's enough!" the instructor yells.
Everyone turns to look at the commotion, I spot one of the snobby kids standing on top of someone's chest. The instructor pulls them apart and inspects the guy on the ground.
"It's unfair! His weapon is way better than mine!" says the guy on the ground between groans.
"So? Would you like the monsters in the dungeon to dull out their claws? Or would you rather they stop their attacks all together? Nothing is fair in a dungeon. You will face hundreds of monsters; they won't give you time to rest. Your equipment will wear out and they'll fight dirty. That's why we train, to overcome their advantages with skill. Get up and go to the healers, and don't come back, I said there was no complaining allowed." the instructor dismisses the guy, who looks shocked at the words.
"And you," the instructor faces the snobby kid. The kid is not that tall, he is very lean but his defined muscles poke through the uniform. He has fiery red hair, a trait of hunters with extreme affinity to fire. "this is meant to be a spar for me to assess you, not a fight to the death. If you do something like this again you will be kicked out too."
The kid doesn't even acknowledge the instructor's words and returns to his friends.
After the commotion settled, the instructor went on another round of teaching us newbies. He taught us the long thrust, which simply had you extend your arms a bit further. We don't only practice on human dummies, there are some other dummies depicting common monsters. The memory of the hellhounds still haunts me, so I train with the nightmare dummy.
Nightmares are cat sized creatures. They have four legs, although two of them can't really be called legs since they don't have feet. The frontal 'legs' are simply long scythes that they use to move and attack simultaneously. The scythes attach to their small torso, which then has their hideous head connected to the front. The nightmares are eyeless, they see through eco-location. They continuously make clicking sounds with their mouths to aid them with said eco-location. The clicking, combined with the sound of their scythe 'legs' skittering around the ground is what led to their name.
Imagine yourself in a dark dungeon, clicking sounds can be heard bouncing around its walls. Sporadically, small bursts of metal scraping the floor reach your ears. Out of nowhere, you hear a screech and witness a dozen small atrocities leap at your partner from the darkness and watch as he gets cut to ribbons. 'Quite the nightmare. Thank god these dummies don't move… or make noise.'
Trying by best to ignore those thoughts, I practice my attacks on the dummy. The endless thrusting of the spear is making me exhausted. In fact, I would've collapsed long ago if not for the mana that now reinforces my physique. Not soon enough, the instructor gathers our attention and says,
"We are done, be back here at the same time tomorrow. Don't be late." He spoke.
I return home through the bus, as the dungeon in the subway has yet to be cleared. Once I arrive home, I collapse on the living room couch and fall asleep.
"Wake up… wake up!" Tom shakes me around while yelling.
I open my eyes and see Tom stand over me. He is still in his school uniform, so he probably just arrived home.
"What were you up to that tired you out this much?" he asks.
With a face full of pride I say, "This amazing brother of yours… is training to become a hunter!"
"What!? Are you out of your mind!?" Tom's face has a face of utter disbelief.
"Sigh, I guess its my fault. I've tolerated your shenanigans too much," he says seriously.
"B-but you said you trusted me!" I retort.
"Because I thought you were doing something shady! Not something stupid!" he yells back.
"Well, too late! I already spent all our money on an awakening stone and some gear. We can only rely on my hunting revenue now."
"WHAT!" Tom's scream can be heard throughout the country.
He begins to strangle me. Because I'm a hunter, I'm under no danger from his actions, but that doesn't stop me from being scared. 'He is really angry now…'