"Leader." The huge man spoke in his deep voice, "I don't see any point of this guy being in the harass party. I would like to have him be in the ranged party instead, where he would get in our way less."
"Hm." Luck hummed and glanced at Darren, wanting to see how he's going to react. According to his agreement with Ryn, he didn't need to explicitly give him help and act unbecoming of a brigade leader, so he didn't have to go out of his way to do anything for Darren in this case. Well, at the very least, he wanted to see what the man himself has to say. "What do you think?"
Darren wasn't really any good at ranged things, except for how he could throw rocks quite accurately-- and now that he thought about it, being able to throw things accurately wasn't much good at all. So, if there was anything he could do . . .
Darren inwardly shook his head. He really would get in the way if an unexperienced guy like him were to be in the middle of a melee fight, but what use could he be even if he were part of the ranged party?
While he was thinking, a brigade member part of the ranged party spoke up, "I would also mind if he'd be part of our team. He seems to be complete dead weight at the moment. Maybe he could join us on less important missions unlike this one?"
Nobody in the room voiced a disagreement on that last statement, and it made Darren feel dwarfed. He brought his arms closer to his body and thought of how to respond.
"Wow," Ryn couldn't help but grind her teeth together while maintaining a grin. She zoomed her camera out to look at everybody, "You all are totally right. Darren's dead weight."
Ryn then used her powers to speed up time in her space, effectively slowing down time in the outside world to a crawl.
"But you know . . ." Ryn glanced at everyone coldly, before bringing up her system panels and putting together a quest, "You lot sure are quite the assh*les."
Ryn was planning to let the system's benefits trickle into Darren, so that he would depend on himself more, but Ryn herself was getting impatient.
"Guess I'll have to speed things up a bit and give Darren a proper amount of power and actual experience."
♦♦♦
▬▬▬Notice▬▬▬
It is now recommended that the user do not participate in this hunt. The system has prepared a different curriculum for the user to train in. It will be introduced properly later.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Darren felt pressured by all the presences around him, and by the fact that the system initially told him that 'it doesn't matter as long as he gets to participate,' so when he finished reading the last panel, he was relieved.
Before anything, though, he had to properly tell the brigade leader about his decision. He was going to excuse himself very soon anyway, so he activated [Pokerface] and began talking. "Then that's fine."
Nobody noticed the sudden change in Darren's demeanor, except for two people: Luck and Lyssia. Luck was a little surprised, but Lyssia was shocked. Darren suddenly changed into something she would call enigmatic. 'Is that part of his strange cultivation thing?' She wondered, 'Because that is a terrifying ability.'
"Next time, I'll make sure not to be dead weight." Darren then bowed to Luck slightly, "I'll excuse myself now, leader."
"I hope you do." Luck replied, before letting Darren leave.
Lyssia watched Darren speak those words nonchalantly, with clear resolve present in his eyes. As for Luck, even though he knew there was someone supporting Darren from behind, he was still quite surprised. Was that an ability that grants mental strength and clarity?
The two could only smile inwardly in curiosity though, as they had no way to make sure. There was one thing for sure though-- they found the weak human a little more interesting.
♦♦♦
When Darren arrived at the Naphaela household, the system wasted no time and made a notice panel pop up.
▬▬▬Notice▬▬▬
The system has decided to give the maximum amount of support available to the user currently, seeing as the user's weakness and inexperience has shut down multiple opportunities to gaining power.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
"Oh? So you still have effort to spare?" Darren quipped with a grin. He didn't think of the brigade members finding it difficult to accept him in their mission, as he couldn't absorb or refine flux cores anyway.
▬▬▬Answer to Query▬▬▬
The system has a vast, but limited amount of energy that it can use for the user's improvement. Replenishing energy at the moment is highly inefficient, so budgeting that energy properly is necessary.
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"I was just kidding."
The system just ignored him and continued with its explanations.
▬▬▬Tutorial▬▬▬
[Introduction to the User Reinforcement Camp]
The User Reinforcement Camp is an event that will focus on honing the user's raw abilities. During the event, the following system functions will be deactivated:
►Inventory and Shop
►Skills
►EXP and Level-Up's
►Roam
Once the camp starts, the user cannot choose to quit halfway. The estimated duration of the camp is two months. The duration will depend heavily on the user's ability to grow.
The User Reinforcement Camp can be commenced once the user is in a secluded area. There are no items that the user needs to bring, but if there is something the user needs to do, please do so immediately.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Darren was intrigued by the vague description of the camp, so he wanted to know more about it right away. He talked to his siblings and Naphaela's sibling for a little while and told them that he'd be gone for a good long while. He then bid goodbye and left for the forests, leaving the children to the hired guardian.
With the only requirement met, another panel appeared.
▬▬▬Tutorial▬▬▬
The camp will be by no means easy, but all the abilities the user will learn from it is going to prove essential to the user's overall growth. There will also be separate rewards for completing the camp.
[Begin Camp]
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". . . Not die . . . permanently? Also, what kind of rewards?" Darren scratched at his temples as he meant to ask the system. It didn't seem to plan on answering him though, so Darren just shrugged, 'I guess that's a good thing?'
Darren clicked on the button and closed his eyes, allowing for his consciousness to fade out.
♦♦♦
When Darren's consciousness returned, he was in a huge, rectangular room made completely out of gray bricks. Against one long side of the room were stone tables, with varieties of weapon and armor on them. Opposite the equipment was a darkwood door, with a sign 'Training Area' above it.
On one far side of the room was the stone statue of a woman, holding a bowl full of water in both her hands. The bowl was slightly tilted, causing the water in it to fall down to the pool below the statue. On the other side was a stone altar, with highly intricate engravings adorning it.
And in the middle of the room, right beside Darren, was a huge hourglass. It's height matched the distance between the room's ceiling and floor, and the hourglass seemed to be attached directly to the room. The sand in it seemed to have only begun trickling.
On its four sides were floating numbers, its style in the same fashion as the system texts.
▬▬▬
23:59: 27
▬▬▬
As Darren stared in awe at the strangeness of the room, a pleasant beep rang in his head.
▬▬▬Notice▬▬▬
Welcome to the Breach.
This is the user's preparation room. There are all kinds of weapons and armor here, training equipment, and dummy scrolls which can be used in the Breach's training area. The equipment here needs to be equipped manually, since the inventory is disabled. There is also an unlimited amount of food and water here.
However, the Breach has a timer. Once the timer runs out, the user is automatically sent out into the Wilderness, with all weapons and armor on him.
The user must survive for a consecutive of seven days out at the Wilderness to consider the camp finished. However, as the days progress, beasts will be fiercer and smarter, and nature will be harsher.
When the user dies, he will be ressurected back into the Breach, and the timer will be reset.
The user may also choose to be sent out into the Wilderness ahead of time.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Darren asked a few questions about the Wilderness, but it seemed that the system was adamant about not answering him. As such, he walked around the room and checked everything out.
The flowing water from the woman statue was pure and tasted sweet, and the pool below was probably for baths. There was also a chest nearby full of bread, meat jerky, and a small assortment of condiments.
The weapons and armor all looked standard, but also new. And finally, Darren checked the training area out.
Beyond the darkwood door was a room just about as large as the other room, but it didn't have much stuff in it so it seemed larger. There were only three chests in it; one was filled with dummy scrolls, and the other with weights and mats for work-out.
"Hmm . . . but without seeing the 'wilderness' myself, I don't really know what to prepare for." Darren mumbled to himself as he returned to the main room.
"Guess I'll just prepare whatever." He shrugged and equipped himself with light plate armor, a shortsword, and a bow. He asked the system if he could bring meat or water into the wilderness, but it stated that he couldn't. Meat had to be hunted, but rain will be provided by the system.
With everything ready, Darren approached the hourglass and thought about how he wanted to be sent outside in advance. It prompted for a confirmation panel to appear before him.
▬▬▬Notice▬▬▬
The user will be sent into the Wilderness ahead of time.
[Confirm] [Cancel]
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Darren took a deep breath, feeling sort of snug in his armor, and clicked on [Confirm].