„Welcome to Hex Trailblazers Training Center!"
Soothing voices reached the trio's ears as soon as they entered the impressive tower. An objectively beautiful pair of a man and woman greeted the arriving customers. They even kept their professional smiles on their faces when Lilly and Iain unexpectedly greeted them back.
Groob chuckled slightly as he pulled the siblings along. Before registering, Groob took Lilly and Iain to sit down in a luxurious lounge. Since he went a few hours without drinking, Groob grabbed some of the water offered for free and poured a cup for all of them.
The pair of siblings thanked him as they admired the beautiful flora placed in vitrines around them. Noticing their interest, Groob explained with admiration in his voice:
"All those plants you see are first discoveries. Whenever the Trailblazers scout the planet, they bring back new materials. Some of those have never been seen before throughout the universe!"
Iain's eyes sparkled as he listened to Groob.
"Trailblazer sound really impressive!"
"Yes. They are fighting their way through the Frozen Hell, constantly searching for treasures. Afterwards it's us adventurers and mercenaries who bring the bulk of materials home."
Groob spoke the last part with obvious pride, earning him the admiring gazes of Lilly and Iian. The young woman was slightly distracted by the new term Frozen Hell, but since Groob spoke about it with such naturalness, she didn't dare to ask further.
After their short rest the trio made their way over towards a wooden, bluish reception.
It perfectly integrated in the stylish, mostly icy-blue environment.
Lilly also noted an apparent lack of screens or AI. The training center's style so far even reminded her of her home, giving her a comfortable feeling.
As soon as they neared the reception, the female worker's pleasing voice greeted them.
"Welcome to our training center. Nice to see you Groob. Did you hire new recruits?"
"Morning, Tally. Nah, I'm helping a friend to train them. Those are Lilly and Iain."
"Nice to meet you."
"Well then guys, what can I do for you?"
Obviously already knowing what the training center had to offer, Groob replied without thinking much:
"We need two beginner packages for those two and a simple room for me please. We will stay for a week."
Although she was slightly surprised that two adults booked the beginner package, Tally naturally wouldn't show this on her face.
"Alright no problem. That would be 3000 LC per training and 500 for your room."
Watching Groob pull out his ID, Lilly reacted faster this time. The young woman was already slightly embarrassed when Groob paid for their transray, but she didn't really understand the process earlier.
Therefore, Lilly quickly stopped him.
"Thank you, Groob, but we can pay ourselves. Nua left us a lot of money."
Some struggle could be seen in Groob's eyes, but he slowly put down his arm again.
Lilly was slightly surprised by his hesitation. However, she didn't think much about it. As they received their ID's yesterday, the siblings didn't have any concept about the amount of money Nua saved on their ID's.
Only after seeing the prices in those shops did Lilly realize that they were filthy, even suspiciously rich. This only added another layer of mystery over Nua, but unfortunately, they had no one to ask for answers.
Surprise appeared on Tally's face when she took Lilly's ID.
"You are the kids Nua took in?"
"Yes, that would be us."
"I heard you had Malo Disease? So, you overcame it? Congratulations!"
Tally smiled happily as the siblings thanked her. It was always great to see someone winning against Malo.
Those brave children had to struggle hard, but now they had their entire lives before them. Praising words left her lips naturally.
"Praise be the God of Light."
No one noticed how Groob's smile left his face. After Lilly paid for all their expanses, the adventurer led his protégé to an elevator on the right. Since Groob was already more than familiar with the training center, he quickly led the siblings to their designated rooms.
Lilly and Iain followed Groob's instructions, quickly changing into the center's prepared training clothes. Only a few minutes later they took another elevator downwards.
As soon as the doors opened before them, the siblings noticed an obvious drop in temperature.
"Welcome to your first lesson."
Stepping out of the elevator the pair of siblings were slightly surprised. Iain asked with some uneasiness:
"Groob, why are there children here?"
Right, Iain and Lilly were wondering about the number of children. Although they mostly sat on chairs and couches belonging to the lounge area in front of them, the siblings hadn't expected children in a place for training.
The adventurer however answered in bewilderment:
"Why shouldn't there be children here? This is the basic level. Children also need to increase their resistances as soon as their vault connection is established."
A few seconds of silence ensured. Lilly and Iain suddenly had a clearer picture of what it means to have a vault connection. Even young children already had to train in order to navigate this society.
"However, only wealthy children come here. The poor have to find their own means of training, while the super-rich have their own training grounds or simply eat medicine to raise skills."
Noticing the wry smiles on Lilly and Iain's faces, Groob thought for a second before he added:
"Don't feel too bad for coming here. Every year when the big convoy suppling Hex arrives, thousands of new adventurers come here. Many of them don't have the necessary cold resistance, so they also have to train here. The center is packed every time this happens."
Those sentiments indeed helped Lilly and Iain to feel slightly less out of place. Some estrangement couldn't be prevented though.
The pair of siblings watched children playing on various devices or discussing shows they had never heard of. Of course, Lilly and Iain didn't feel like they could fit in here.
[Don't worry so much. You are already doing great!]
Their parents' voices sounded in their minds just at the right time. Those simple sentences managed to take a lot of pressure from them.
As Groob led Lilly and Iain through the lounge area towards some hallways, he was surprised by their apparent shift in mood. Not knowing what was on their mind, the adventurer took it as a good sign and continued to do his job.
The young Rottals followed Groob until he came to a standstill in front of two doors. In this sparsely furnished hallway, the signs next to those doors easily caught ones eye.
The two rooms were simply titled cold chamber #25 and #26 respectively. Green lights underneath the signs signaled their availability.
Groob nodded at the siblings, before encouragingly telling them:
"That's it guys. Enter one cold chamber each. The voice in there will tell you what to do. If you can't endure it anymore, you can come out.
We are aiming for cold resistance level 7 in 3 days. Afterwards we will work on your heat resistance any questions?"
Lilly and Iain had blank looks on their faces. They expected some high intensity training and not sitting down in some chambers. The young woman especially looked at her level 5 healing magic as she asked in confusion:
"We will reach level 7 in 3 days just by entering this chamber? Isn't this a bit too fast?"
Groob blinked at Lilly, almost not comprehending the question:
"Too fast? It's normal to advance rapidly below level 10. Especially as an adult. That's what the vault was built for."
The young redhead only let out an 'Oh' as she realized she asked a stupid question. By now the siblings had gathered quite a few things they should study at home. Unfortunately, the training would occupy them for the next two months.
Trying to hide her embarrassment, Lilly quickly put her room keycard on the door, before hastily entering the chamber. Iain naturally followed suit, leaving Groob alone in the hallway.
As soon as he entered the chamber, Iain shuddered lightly. Obviously, the small room was even colder than outside.
The curious smith observed his surroundings, trying to learn more about the technology here. Sadly, he didn't see anything other than smooth metal and a blueish light shining from the ceiling.
Suddenly a mechanical voice began talking.
"Hello, Customer. I am #25. I will assist you in your training."
"Ahh.. Hello #25."
Iain hadn't figured out yet how to deal with those artificial voices. Was it alright to answer them normally? Did the need precise orders or not? Since the young man didn't know, he simply opted to stay polite. Nothing should go wrong this way.
"Please choose the intensity of your training."
"Sorry, this is my first time here. How should I start?"
"Since this is your first training, I recommend cold resistance level 1. If your endurance stat has surpassed 30, you can also start with cold resistance level 2."
Iain remembered the status screen. His endurance was 37, so he should be fine.
"Then I choose level 2."
"Accepted. Please take on a comfortable position, customer. Training will commence on your signal."
Since the chamber didn't contain any furniture, Iain sat down cross-legged before loudly saying 'start'.
A few seconds after the word left his mouth, small holes opened on the wall opposite him. Suddenly the coldest air Iain had ever felt hit his body like a truck, making him quickly regret his confidence.