Chapter 7: Boot Camp

I stand in practice room eight with Samantha, Denise, Wolf, and Bridget, waiting for the boot camp to start.

It’s 05:45, and even though the day has barely even started, I’m already dead on my feet.

Don’t get me wrong. Usually, I’m a morning person. Back at the orphanage, I woke up at 04:15 every day to do my chores and didn’t have any problems.

But then again, when I was living at the orphanage I always went to bed before 23:15, which meant I always got at least five hours of sleep.

Last night, I wasn’t so lucky. Instead of going to sleep around 23:15 like I usually do, I went to bed at 03:45.

Yup, you heard that right, 03:45.

Why did I go to bed so late, you ask?

Because of the welcome party. I planned to go to bed at 23:15, I really did. But, everyone was having so much fun drinking and talking, and I didn’t want to ruin the mood by leaving, so I ended up staying until the party ended.

I went to bed at 03:45 and woke up at 05:15, so I ended up getting less than an hour and a half of sleep.

Yay, me.

“Good morning,” Samantha says, her brilliant smile lighting up the room. “Did you all get enough sleep last night?”

I swallow the “no” that threatens to escape from my mouth and vigorously nod my head, to dispel my misgivings.

Even though Samantha left the party at the same time as I did, she doesn’t appear to be tired at all. On the contrary, she looks energized and refreshed, like she just woke up from an eight hour beauty sleep.

“Great,” Samantha says. “Before we start, I have a couple of announcements to make.

“First, you already met her last night, but please give a warm welcome to Denise who will helping out with the course for the next eight weeks.

Denise gives the group a small wave, and everyone claps.

“She is very good at her job, so if you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask her.

“Second, please don’t bring weapons to class for the first four weeks of boot camp. We will not be working on any combat related skills during the first half of this course, so you won’t any weapons.

“Are there any questions?”

No one speaks.

“Great,” Samantha says. “Let’s quickly go over the schedule.”

The schedule is as follows.

From 05:45 to 12:45 we have physical training.

From 12:45 to 13:45 we have lunch.

From 13:45 to 15:45 we have magic training.

From 15:45 to 16:45 we have survival skills and personal finance, on alternating days.

And, from 16:45 to 20:45 we have yet another round of physical training.

“After 20:45, you are free to do whatever you want,” Samantha says. “But, I’m supposed to let you know that the Guild has beginner quests which only take a couple of hours to complete, so if you want to earn a little extra money, you might want to at those.”

Sure, extra money definitely sounds good. But, after listening to the schedule, once class is over, I’m sure I won’t be able to stand up straight, let alone take on any extra quests.

“To kick things off, I thought Denise and I would give a little combat demonstration. But, before we begin, I need to stress that what you are about to see is the result of years of practice.

“While I believe that each of you has the potential to reach this level if you put in enough work, don’t be discouraged if you haven’t by the end of this boot camp.

“Now, with that out of the way, let’s get this party started.”

Samantha makes her way to the far corner of the room.

Today, instead of her Guild Adviser uniform, she’s dressed in a sleeveless white tunic and dark brown trousers, the legs of which are tucked into knee length leather boots.

Strapped across the tunic, Samantha wears a lightweight mithril breastplate. On her hands she wears a matching set of mithril gauntlets. Finishing off her equipment, are a pair of mismatched mithril short swords, which she wears across her back in an ‘X’.

Denise takes her place in the opposite corner of the room from Samantha and turns to face her.

Like Samantha, she’s wearing a sleeveless tunic and trousers. But, in addition to the breastplate, she wears a set of mithril faulds, and instead of dual short swords she carries what appears to be the handle of a great sword strapped to her back.

With a rasp of metal, Samantha draws her short swords. The sword she holds in her left hand is half the length of the one she holds in her right.

Samantha tosses the shorter one into the air with a flourish and catches it in a reverse grip. Then, weapons held loosely in her hands, she waits for the duel to start.

Denise grasps the handle strapped to her back with both hands and swings it in an arc in front of her. The handle emits a series of sharp cracks, transforming from a blunt piece of metal into a two meter long great sword.

The two combatants face each other from opposite corners of the room. Tension fills the air. Everyone waits with baited breath for the battle to start.

An instant before the tension snaps, a cry echos through the practice room followed by a loud thump and the sound of a large number of small objects hitting the floor.

I turn and see Bridget, who appears to tripped over air, lying face down on the ground with bronze and silver coins scattered all around her.

“Oh, my Goddess,” Bridget says, scrambling to her feet. “I’m sorry.”

Unfortunately, as she stands up, Bridget loses her grip on the canteen she’s holding, sending it flying across the room.

For a moment, the canteen sails lazily through the air, then it hits the ground and explodes, spraying water everywhere.

“Are you okay?” Samantha asks, jogging over to Bridget and kneeling down next to her.

“Y-Yes,” Bridget says. “I’ll clean up everything up, just give me a few minutes.”

“Don’t worry,” Samantha says, “we’re not in any rush,” then turning to Denise, she says, “can you grab a mop to clean up the water?”

While practice room eight is being restored to its former glory, I take a moment to survey my surroundings.

Yeah, I know. That’s the first thing you’re supposed to do whenever you enter a new place. But, cut me some slack, I was half asleep when I got here.

Practice room eight is nothing like what I expected. Well, I’m not exactly sure what I expected, but it definitely wasn’t this.

The words “practice room” conjure up images of a dance studio or gymnasium. However, this room is closer in size to an empty airplane hanger.

Cut from solid stone, the room is a giant cube measuring 100 meters to a side.

The walls and floor of the room are made out of a smooth, almost glass like, material, and the entire room is lit by thousands of magic stone lamps, embedded in the ceiling.

According to the brochure Samantha gave me when I registered as an Adventurer, the interior of the practice rooms are made from a special type of material called, Indestructite. This material is supposed be able to, you guessed it, be indestructible.

According to the brochure, Indestructite can even withstand a direct hit from one of the hero’s attacks, which makes it the toughest material in the world.

Legend says that the hero’s power rivals the power of the Goddess.

It is said that with a swing of his sword he cut a mountain in two and with a single arrow he killed a million monsters. But then again, it is also said that whenever he performed magic new stars appeared in the sky and wherever he stepped new oceans sprang forth, so who knows how accurate the legends are.

I mean, can you imagine creating new oceans wherever you walked? Seems like a terrible skill to have.

Anyway, these rooms are strong and fighting in one of these is much better than fighting in a plain old stone cavern that might collapse if something goes wrong. Not that I’d ever be able to collapse a room with my abilities, but there are definitely adventurer who could, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Once Bridget’s mess is cleaned up, Samantha and Denise return to their starting positions.

For a moment, the two of them stare each other down, then at an invisible signal, Denise kicks off from the ground and the battle begins.

In an instant, Denise crosses the entire room and appears in front of Samantha. Grasping her great sword in both hands, she swings it in an arc above her head and brings it down upon Samantha in a diagonal slash.

Samantha steps to the side, and Denise’s sword passes harmlessly in front of her face, before slamming into the floor of the practice room with a resounding crash and a flurry of sparks.

Without hesitation, Denise uses the momentum of her sword to rotate herself around and unleashes a horizontal slash at Samantha’s torso.

Samantha dives over the sword, landing in a roll, and parries Denise’s follow up strike with the sword in her left hand, sending it into the ground.

Breathing heavily, Denise retreats several meters, letting the tip of her great sword drag across the ground.

Anger smolders in her eyes. If looks could kill, Samantha would already be dead several times over.

Samantha vaults lightly to her feet and prepares for Denise’s next attack.

Unlike Denise, she doesn’t appear to be the least bit tired. In fact, she looks energized, her eyes ablaze with excitement.

Denise throws herself at Samantha once again, unleashing a series of strikes towards her abdomen.

Samantha deftly parries each of the strikes with her swords, before slamming her foot into Denise’s gut, sending her flying across the room.

Again and again, Denise throws herself at Samantha, but each time Samantha blocks her strikes and sends her flying, all while avoiding damage.

As the fight wears on, it becomes increasingly clear that while Denise is a skilled fighter, she can’t compete with Samantha. The pauses between each of Denise’s attacks grow longer, and it’s clear she is exhausted.

Finally, while Denise is catching her breath for what seems like the hundredth time, Samantha says, “that’s enough.”

“No,” Denise says. “You still haven’t fulfilled your promise.”

“What do you mean, I haven’t fulfilled your promise. I’ve been fighting you for the last 15 minutes, haven’t I?”

“You promised you would fight me with your full strength, but for this entire fight you’ve just been toying with me.”

“The purpose of this duel is to demonstrate combat skills. If I went all out, this duel would have been over before it even started.”

“Don’t underestimate me,” Denise shouts. I’ve been training my entire life for this moment. Come at me with everything you have.”

“Fine,” Samantha says. “Prepare yourself.” Then, she disappears.

An instant later, the clang of metal echos through the room, followed by an earsplitting crash and the sound of small pieces of Indestructite falling to the ground.

When the dust settles, Samantha is standing in front of Denise. Denise’s hands are empty and the sword in Samantha’s right hand is pressed up against her throat.

Behind Denise is her sword, embedded in the wall of the room up to the hilt. Cracks spiderweb out across the wall from the hilt of the sword, and chunks of Indestructite continue to fall to the ground.

No one moves. No one breathes.

Everyone stares at Denise and Samantha, wondering what will happen next.

Finally, Samantha says, “was that good enough for you?”

“Yes,” Denise croaks. “I surrender.”

“Great,” Samantha says, sheathing her swords. “Then, let’s start the physical fitness test.”