Ken groaned as he awoke to the sound of knocking coming from the large room's door. "One minute," Ken grumbled as he pushed aside the luxurious sheets he was currently under.
He sat up, waiting for his fuzzy vision to come back into focus. As he did, the events from the day before all rushed back to him.
First there was the Jackalope and his death, though he was going to try to pretend that didn't happen. Then he found out his companions could use spells that he could as well, at the cost of them using his own mana somehow.
Then he was detained, interrogated, released, and almost murdered at his home. Fortunately or not, he was saved by that annoying fox girl. Though, he did find himself taking a bit of a liking to the lion woman. She was a lot easier to talk to than that fiery redhead.
He was upset about the home he and his friends had remodeled together and lived in, but he felt that an even better opportunity had presented itself in front of him.
Ken didn't want to feel helpless like he had last night, and he felt that if there were people already trying to kill him, then he'd need all the help he could get. And the help of two kings was definitely a plus.
He didn't really trust anyone except his friends at the moment, he'd take precautions when accepting these 'helping hands'.
Ken didn't get the feeling that the King, Giselle, Lina, or even Hunt were malicious, but he still felt the need to keep his guard up slightly.
Another knock came from the door, disrupting Ken's thoughts. "Sir Hunt is currently awaiting your arrival, sir Kenneth. I was tasked with escorting you there. I have a set of clothes for you as well." a feminine voice came from the other side of the door.
"Uh yeah one moment," Ken called out as he walked to the door, opening it slightly to reveal a cute brown haired maid on the other side of the door.
"Here you go sir Ken," the maid dutifully presented the set of clothes to Ken. Taking them, he said, "Thank you. Just give me one moment while I put these on."
Shutting the door and then donning the simple brown trousers and similarly colored tunic, Ken then put on some worn shoes and stepped back out into the castle's hallways. "I'm ready," He said.
"Right this way," the cute maid bowed as she turned and began to walk.
Soon the duo found themselves near the horse stables. Outside of it stood the large man, who seemed to have been waiting there for a while. "How did you sleep?" the general asked.
"Not too bad," Ken lied as he tried to stifle a yawn. It was pretty early in the morning still, and the few hours of sleep paired with his long day before left him feeling more than a bit tired.
"Good," Hunt nodded, "Now gather your companions. I'm sure it is obvious that their presence is necessary in your training. I'll escort you to the person that will be training you personally."
"You're not going to train me?" Ken raised a brow. "Why would I?" Hunt raised his own brow in response, "I'm a general afterall. I still have other duties that require my attention."
'Makes sense,' Ken thought as he nodded. Turning towards the stables, Ken made his way towards one of the empty stalls that held all his furry companions.
"I miss my home," Dex sobbed to Rex, who was currently rubbing his back. "So do I kid," Fitz replied, "But this is our situation. Oh hey, Ken's here."
"Seems like you guys are all awake. Did you sleep well?" Ken asked, stopping in front of the stall. "Fuck no we didn't sleep well!" Rex shook his fist at Ken, "While you were laying on some royal bed, we had to sleep on top of hay next to horse shit!"
"Sorry guys, this was the best thing that we could get in our situation," Ken shrugged, but internally he did feel a bit bad. But it was as he said, this really was the best thing they could settle for currently. In all honesty he was mostly grateful they were all alive.
"Come on guys, Hunt said you all are going to be training with me," Ken stated. "Huh?" Rex did a double take at Ken, "First we have to sleep outside, then we have to train? What about our life of luxury? I don't want to train!" The brown mouse crossed his arms, giving Ken a glare.
"What about the next time someone tries to kill us?" Ken asked, "I'd like not only me, but you guys to be prepared as well to defend yourselves. I don't want to lose any of you. I think this could be good for all of us."
"Hmm," Fitz rubbed his chin, "I wouldn't mind finding out our limits. To be honest it'd be nice to actually be able to defend ourselves against those bigger than us."
Rex's demeanor dropped as he thought for a moment, then said, "That does make sense. If that's the case then there's a certain dog out there I'd love to get some payback for." Rex rubbed over his missing eye, reminding Ken to ask about that story later on.
"It was pretty cool shooting those fireballs!" Dex said excitedly, mimicking the movement he had used the night prior.
"Alright alright, I thought it was pretty cool too," Ken chuckled, "But General Hunt is waiting on us. We should all get going." Everyone quickly agreed and soon got ready.
Once Ken and his group were ready, they made their way to Hunt. "You all ready?" Hunt asked. "Yup, we're ready to go." Ken replied.
Hunt then began to lead Ken and the large yet small group of creatures towards the training grounds, earning more than a few odd looks from guards and a few yelps from some of the passing maids.
Ken did his best to not chuckle at some of the maid's reactions, but a few escaped his throat, earning him a strange look from Hunt.
Soon they stopped at what Ken assumed was the training grounds. It was a large stone building that was oval shaped. It looked like a smaller colosseum to him. "Let's go in. Your instructor is inside the grounds," Hunt stated.
Nodding, Ken and his friends followed Hunt inside the building and soon emerged in the stone arena. More than a few dozen soldiers were currently training throughout the large space doing workouts, training in hand to hand combat, practicing on dummies, and a multitude of other exercises. There were even a few onlookers in the stands either resting or just watching over the soldiers in the center.
Ken looked around in amazement at not only the size of the building, but the amount of equipment and people that were there in the moment.
"It's about time you arrived Hunt," a woman's voice rang out, causing everyone in the arena to turn their heads upwards towards the voice. Ken squinted as he tilted his head up, trying to see past the sun's rays.
At the very top of the colosseum stood the silhouette of a woman. "Why's that lady all the way up there?" Dex whispered from Ken's right shoulder. Hunt pinched his eyes together with a sigh, already knowing what the woman was up to.
In one swift movement, the woman bent her legs, then launched herself high into the air. Ken and the others watched with wide eyes as the woman flew high into the air until she reached the apex of her flight. At the peak of her jump, the woman then seemed to launch off an invisible platform as she launched her body forward at an incredible speed.
With a boom, the figure landed directly in front of Hunt and Ken with so much force, the stone beneath her caved in, creating a small crater around her. Dust and bits of stone shot outwards, causing Ken and most of the people in the arena to shield their faces.
Hunt however looked annoyed as he spoke, "I see you haven't changed a bit since the last time I saw you." As Ken and the others slowly began to lower their arms, they soon took in the sight of the woman.
She was nearly as tall as the General, though a lot slimmer than the bulky man. Dark green hell fell in waves around her head and shoulders with similarly colored eyes. She was wearing a white and blue military style uniform similar to Hunt's own uniform.
Her alluring figure and face would surely capture any man's attention, but it was clear to Ken that this woman was more than her looks. The crazed smile on her face paired with her dramatic entrance made it more than apparent that she was bat shit insane. Ken gulped as he internally began to question whether or not it was too late to back out.