The training Stivi had planned for the Newbies was simple. They just had to hunt a Lv7 monster, Yellow Tusk Boar, in teams of five.
The Yellow Tusk Boars were solitary monsters. They had high attack, defense and HP but their attacking frequency was much slower, very much like a mini boss monster. This made them the perfect target to train coordination of the players in preparation for a variety of Boss Raids.
After traveling for nearly one hour, the team reached the Amber Woods. We stopped outside the forest full of dark yellow trees and Stivi stepped forward to address the Trainees.
"Trainees, split up into parties of five. Each team should have at least 1 Mage, 1 healer, and 1 Tanker."
The new recruits rushed to follow her orders. This was an order from their revered RedQueen; How could they not obey?
They shuffled around until they found their desired partners and very quickly 4 teams of 5 were standing in front of us.
"Very good." Stivi said, nodding with satisfaction.
"Your task today is to work together as a team and kill a Yellow Tusk Boar in sixty seconds. Whichever team kills the Boar the fastest will be rewarded with suitable White-Wood Grade equipment."
Her words immediately resulted in a cheer of excitement among the new trainees. As far as they knew, Yellow Tusk Boars were common mobs and killing them under sixty seconds should be no problem for their team.
Little did they know that the devious RedQueen had set up a trap for them.
Seeing their enthusiasm, Zamir and I shared a knowing smile but ultimately kept our lips sealed.
Stivi then pointed towards us and said,"These will be your supervisors inside the forest. They will keep a watch on you and note your time. In case of unexpected situations, defer to their decisions."
As agreed upon, we each picked a party to supervise. Stivi went with Party No. 1, I was assigned the Party no.2 and HardBro was with Party No.3. The only exception Party No.4, had two supervisors, MamaMia and BigSoftie.
Zamir had a different role so he was not assigned a Party. He had to scout the area and make sure Fortune Guild or any other hostile forces did not mess up today's operations.
After we split up and ventured into the forest, the tanker in the party approached me to introduce himself.
"Hello Mentor! I am Romero. Please take good care of our party."
It felt weird to be called a Mentor when just a week ago, I was just an exp baby. I nodded to acknowledge his greeting but did not say another word.
Romero's eyes began to shine as if my aloofness had affirmed some preconceived notion of his. He bowed slightly and excused himself before grouping up the rest of the party and whispering something to them furiously.
His words evoked an intense reaction as I suddenly felt 5 pairs of eyeballs trained at me. They held excitement, respect and slight apprehension.
Then the Party members began to come one after another to introduce themselves.
The very first were a pair of twin brothers.
"Hello Mentor, I am Katsu and this is my brother Latsu."
"Hello Mentor, I am Latsu and this is my brother Katsu."
The two spoke at the same time and then glared at each other. Quickly their faces changed and turned into flattering smiles as they looked at me and said together, "We are a pair of assassins."
"Okay."
I said a single word with slight amusement at their antiques but maintained my cold attitude.
The Brothers were overjoyed by this single word and went back to their party. Whatever they said caused even more hurried whispering but all I could hear was their ruckus.
I could not make out what they were saying and I did not get a chance to as the only two remaining party members, the Healer and the Mage, came forward to introduce themselves.
"Mentor Samar, I am Poh. I know two healing spells."
"Hello Sir, I am Mochi. I know Fireball and Icy Wind."
The two newcomers piqued my interest because they knew two spells each.
It was much harder to find skill books from Treasure Chests than equipment. Even MamaMia and HardBro only knew two spells each.
To think these two ordinary players could match their repertoire meant either their luck was through the roof or they came from a decent background.
I observed them carefully and realized they were still wearing the shabby Ash-Gray grade equipment. They did not even possess a decent White-Wood grade weapon to channel their repertoire of spells.
The observations did not help solve the mystery. I decided to restrain my curiosity and responded to their introduction with a curt nod.
"Good," I said and started walking.
I moved so fast that it was impossible for the team to keep up with my speed. The +10% Movement Speed boost from my Ram Fleece Boots was not just for show.
When they thought I had moved farther into the forest when in fact I was just hiding behind the Amber Yellow trees, they revealed their true thoughts.
"As expected from the R4 member of the Grandeur Guild." Katsu spoke with eyes full of worship.
"Not only does he have a full Black-Stone Grade equipment set, his basic attributes must also be very high!" Mochi the Mage analyzed with narrowed eyes.
"Come on guys! We need to put on our best performance in front of Mentor Samar. Who knows if he is impressed enough, he may even directly invite us to become R1 members of the Grandeur Guild!"
His words injected the other party members with chicken blood and they sped up even more to try and catch up with me.
Meanwhile, I did not know whether to laugh or cry. I was doing my best to become an R1 member; I had even strong-armed my best friend to get that chance and these newbies had mistaken me for an R4 member.
If Stivi knew she would be laughing her ass off.
I thought about correcting their sweet misunderstanding but decided to wait until the end of the challenge.
After all, if the party under my supervision performed the best, it would only look good on my resume, right?