Lianna woke up well before the sun had come out.
It was still quite cold. Sleeping on the couch had been rather uncomfortable, but not quite as bad as Lianna thought it would be. Sure, she would have preferred to share that bed with Enverna, but she wouldn't have been able to stand the guaranteed awkwardness that would have produced.
[Maybe she'll get more comfortable around me,] Lianna hoped. [Might save me a bit of back pain if she does sooner rather than later.]
Already feeling quite energetic, Lianna got up and began her usual routine. That routine consisted of a quick shower, some breakfast using whatever was in that fridge (assuming it had been stocked before their arrival), and then, she planned to go out and have herself a walk before the time came to go to her weekly course.
Throughout this small amount of normalcy, however, the Constellation's words bounced around in her mind.
[Those events... A "King of Fiends", the president being assassinated, the destruction of Garriden... Is that all really going to happen?]
Suddenly, there was so much more pressure on Lianna. And yet, she couldn't tell anyone about it since it was all quest-related information.
Lianna closed her eyes in the shower, thinking to herself:
[I wish I could talk to someone about this.]
The rest of her routine was pretty much the usual, save for the fact that, then, her shower was interrupted.
See, Lianna normally showered with the door wide open. Ever since Miss Taylor had bought that house for her, she'd never had to worry about anyone walking in on her, so keeping it closed was something she didn't really think about.
And, unfortunately, her new roommate, who had woken up halfway through Lianna's shower, learned about that habit in the worst way.
"BY SAREN'S GRAC- LIANNA!"
"AHHH!" Both girls took turns shrieking at each other. Lianna's shriek, however, quickly turned into giggles. "Sorry, sorry! My bad," she apologized as Enverna closed the door for her.
[Ah, she's gonna fucking hate me,] Lianna thought, in between her laughs.
---
Half an hour later, both girls were sitting on the couch, fully dressed in the facility's uniform, with mugs full of coffee in their hands.
It turned out that the fridge had been stocked just a day before the girls' arrival, judging by the expiration dates on the items inside.
Enverna still had her lips in a pout and her cheeks were slightly flushed.
She had yet to meet Lianna's eyes since the girl stepped out of that shower.
"H-How are you not embarrassed?" Enverna asked. "I saw... I-I saw quite a lot..."
"I'm proud of my body," Lianna responded with a shrug. "If anything, you're the weird one, getting all embarrassed seeing your own wife like that~"
"W-WE ARE NOT-"
She was about to shout something but Lianna stopped her, gently placing a hand on her wrist.
"I know," she quickly said with a little smile. "I was just joking."
"..."
Enverna let out a big sigh. Lianna giggled a bit.
"I'll try to be more mindful of you," Lianna stated. "It's just that, you know... I've never actually had someone at home. Or, well, someone at home who I didn't bring specifically so they could see me naked."
"Thank you," Enverna replied quietly.
Lianna stood up, off the couch. She stood before Enverna, hands on her hips.
"So, first day, huh? I wonder what they're going to have us do."
"I imagine we'll have to fight," Enverna stated, calming down noticeably as a result of the topic change. "If I was them, I'd give us a test of sorts, just to see where everyone is skill-wise."
In Enverna's case, that ended up being true. In Lianna's, it wasn't.
---
Lianna and Enverna walked side-by-side through the halls. Other students passed them by, chatting as Enverna looked down at the pamphlet she and Lianna had been given on their first day here.
"Ah, so... My section of the facility is over there," Enverna said, pointing out the open corridor at a building that was bigger and looked a lot more regal, standing quite a long walk away. "Yours is this one, so, luckily, you do not have to go too far. On my end, however, it does seem like I will be walking quite a bit on a daily basis. Oh well, I don't mind too much."
Lianna was barely listening. Her attention was mostly taken up by the next quest that had appeared for her.
As she and Enverna had been walking through the halls, Lianna saw this:
Quest: Give Enverna a kiss on the cheek before the end of the day.
Reward: 5 RP
[Good grief,] Lianna thought, sighing. [You know, I'm not exactly inexperienced... I don't need the play-by-play coaching. If anything, Miss Constellation, I kinda disagree. Isn't this just gonna make Enverna even less comfortable around me?]
That said, she did feel that having a hand guiding her gently was nice.
Given that she was now working to save the world and all.
"Back home, these sorts of facilities only operate in the open air. People believe that Saren himself should watch over your training."
"So, if it rained, did you guys take that to mean Saren was laughing at you or something?" Lianna asked.
Enverna blinked twice. Then, she burst out laughing.
"I-I suppose you could say that!" She put a hand over her mouth, covering it as she cackled. "I guess, if we apply that philosophy to this city, the people here may be somewhat ashamed of themselves, hehe... No offense, of course."
It was hard to believe but the homesick girl who'd just delivered that slightly offensive remark could become the world's hero one day.
Along with Lianna herself, apparently.
"Well... Looks like we're here."
Lianna snapped out of her thoughts. Enverna was looking over at a dimly lit room where new recruits were walking in slowly and an instructor, a tall man with a tophat, was waiting for the room to fill.
[That guy kinda looks like the evaluator... But, different. Like his brother, or something.]
"Have a good session, Lianna," Enverna said with a polite smile, waving goodbye. "All that, you know," she whispered, "Constellation stuff aside, we are here to learn to become good Players. Let's make the most of it."
"Agreed," Lianna replied, giving her a big smile. "I'm gonna look forward to hearing about what all the prodigies on your side are doing."
"I will certainly let you know. Goodbye."
With that, the two of them parted ways for the first time in a couple of days.
Lianna brought up her status to see how long it took before their connection wasn't active anymore.
[Hm... Okay,] she thought, once her buff went away. [Looks like the maximum distance is basically the size of a small house. So, as long as we're in each other's general vicinity when we're out on the field, we'll-]
"Agh!"
Someone bumped into her from behind.
A pair of books fell to the floor. Lianna turned around, finding a girl with light, grey skin, bright, purple eyes, and hair so long it almost touched the ground, matching the same color, looking back at her with great worry.
Everyone around them had stopped as well, watching on with anticipation.
[What? Do they think I'm gonna start a fight or something?]
With an amused smirk, Lianna crouched and picked up the girl's books.
In doing so, she noticed that she had a strange anklet, one that was emitting a tiny red light.
As Lianna straightened back up, she saw that the girl was even more worried now.
"...orry." She spoke so quietly that Lianna almost didn't hear her.
But, the flame-haired girl quickly put her fears to rest.
"Here," Lianna said, holding the books up. As though she only just recalled that they existed, the girl grabbed them. "Damn. I get that I look good from the back but, please, watch where you're going~"
The girl just remained there, frozen and blinking, though she did put her hands out at least.
[Too much? Oh well.]
Setting that aside, Lianna dropped the books in her arms and walked into the half-full room, making sure to go as far back as possible.
[Hopefully, I won't have to do too much actual physical exercise... I mean, without Enverna nearby, my potential is piss and my stats are shit. Any real Players would take one look at my status and throw up.]
At some point, it seemed as though everyone had made it inside. From where she stood, Lianna could only really see the others who'd chosen to stay near her position, the others who probably didn't want to be noticed.
Though, Lianna guessed most of them were going to have a hard time at that.
One was a girl so tall she could probably see the instructor clearly all the way from there. She had dark skin and light orange hair, along with multiple scars across her face, like she'd gotten into a few too many bar fights. Her sleeves were cut off, proudly showcasing some thick biceps.
Right next to her was a boy whose head was dropping, like he was struggling to remain awake. He was so pretty, with silky, short, white hair and big, blue eyes that Lianna almost confused him for a girl as well, until he yawned and muttered to himself, revealing a surprisingly deep voice.
Finally, that girl who'd run into Lianna before was standing next to her. Lianna hadn't even noticed her making her way there. And, from the way she kept her head low, it seemed like she had intended not to be noticed.
"Howdy!" The man in the tophat said once everyone was in, closing the door. "My name's Walker, and I welcome you to the Rejects Course On How Not To Suck! Taught by yours truly," He bowed before them. "So, here's the deal. If you're here, in this room right now, it's because our analysts have very, very, very little hope that you will be able to amount to much."
[Ouch.]
"That doesn't mean you can't be part of the Watchful's Search and Rescue Division, though! Not all of our responsibilities involve fighting stuff directly, so, that's the sort of thing I, and your other instructors, will be teaching you!"
His smile dropped, though, replaced by a much firmer expression.
"So. uh, I just want it to be painfully clear, you are NOT the main characters, understand?" He asked. "If you got into the S and R Division to get famous, well, that's probably not gonna happen. Understand? Okay, good. So, first things first..."
He clapped his hands.
"Introductions! You," he pointed at someone. "Name and rank."
"Uh, Carter, Rank 160!" The first recruit yelled out.
As more of them said their names, Lianna pulled out her phone.
[Uh, what was my rank again?]
"Zura," the orange-haired girl with the scars said. "Rank 171."
"You," Instructor Walker pointed at the pretty boy.
"Jamie," he replied, putting up peace signs with both hands. "Rank 182."
"You," Instructor Walker aimed at the girl with her head low.
"... M-M-Mel..."
"... And your rank?"
"R-Rank... Rank 192."
[Oh,] Lianna thought, looking down at her phone. On her screen was the Watchful's site, displaying the list of recruits. [Damn.]
"And, you?"
"Lianna... Rank 200."
She was, apparently, the weakest person out of all the new recruits.
"Amazing," the man replied.
Then, he pulled out a backpack from his desk.
"Let's get started. Lesson One: How to Pack Bags Efficiently! Anyone wanna step up and help me out here?"
[Oh...] Lianna thought. [Well, whatever. Like he said, I'm not the main character of the world or whatever, so... Yeah.]
On that note, she walked forward, one hand raised.
---
{Enverna}
Compared to the other building, this one felt like it was in a completely different place. Everything was so fancy, from the spotless floor to the platinum walls, to even the air that was several times colder than it had been in the other building, without any fans to cool the halls.
The people around Enverna also looked rather refined. Recruits with golden jewelry, freshly cut hair, and who looked like they were wearing more skincare products than some of the others in the previous building had seen in their whole lives.
It was all so much more extravagant than she'd expected.
And, that was before she even went into the room where she'd take her courses.
[Oh my goodness...]
There were ten seats with strange props attached to the top, like helmets meant to be put on, facing each other.
Enverna stepped in and sat down. Not too many others came in with her.
There were just a little over ten people in total. A couple of them stood out to Enverna's eyes.
One girl, sitting opposite her, had dark, green hair, and a drawing of some strange animal on her face. Next to her was a bald man carrying a small bird in his hands that he'd apparently been allowed to keep during his stay here.
Each and every one of them looked bigger, and tougher, overall than Enverna herself.
[Hopefully, whatever I lack physically I can make up for with skill... But, it would be nice to have Lianna here... for the buff.]
"Welcome," a woman said, walking in with a stern expression. She was a fairly tall lady wearing a blue dress, with cloth wrapped around her eyes. "My name is Vara. I am a sorceress who's been working with Watchful for the last half-decade. I will be your guide on the path to becoming a savior in this treacherous world of ours."
There was a certain amount of weight in those words. Some of the new recruits shifted uncomfortably.
"It's a heavy reality, is it not? See, this is what separates us from the Search and Destroy Division. As members of Search and Rescue, your job is not to take down the monstrous Fiend putting a small party of hikers at risk in the middle of a forest. Your job is to make sure those hikers get out alive. Of course, being able to kill Fiends is instrumental in doing so. To that end, I will be assisting you as well."
She stepped forward.
"First, however, an assessment. Put on your Virtual Reality headsets, please."
[So, that is what these things are?]
Enverna did as she was asked.
The instant that she had it one, she was transported elsewhere.
Suddenly, she and those other recruits were standing in a black void. Beside each of them were multiple different kinds of weapons.
[What?]
Far, far to the left, other beings began to appear. Monsters, of various shapes and sizes, so abominably strange that Enverna could barely even link them to anything in her mind. All she could think was that they were like massive lumps of flesh and teeth, currently stumbling toward them.
A voice echoed, as though Saren himself were speaking from the heavens.
"This will be a combat test. Your pain receptors have been dimmed significantly. Choose a weapon and kill as many of the Fiends that will appear as possible. That is all you need to do."
[Oh.]
"Begin."