"But why...?!"

Mika groaned and slouched.

"Well, mainly because, as you saw with recruit 93-F, they don't really control their strength just yet."

Bruiser 97-F punt his hands together and explained as if he had prepared for just that moment.

"Accidents during training happen everyday, usually everything ends up alright because every recruit has high defense and health points so the medics can restore most of the wounds. But if we put you into the mix... you understand, right?"

He asked, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck and glancing at the ashen-haired girl.

"...oh... yeah, that does make a lot of sense actually..."

Mika sighed, disappointed, and visibly deflated.

"But I just so happen to have a day off today. If you want to, we can train together or..."

"WE CAN?!"

Before the boy finished talking, the ashen-haired girl was already in front of him, clenching his hands with her own, and looking up at him with sparkling eyes.

***

******

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*

The thunder of the artillery was booming over the military facilities of the third defense line.

"...dear system... everything hurts... even my eyelids..."

Mika groaned weakly, sprawled on the rooftop of the barracks, looking up at the foggy sky.

"Hey, you kept up really well, honestly I thought you will give up halfway through! Good job!"

Bruiser 97-F, sitting by her side, raised up his fist and cheered for her.

"...and you're saying that you all train like that every day as long as you're not on the frontline...?"

Mika moaned from exhaustion and turned her head to look at the boy - who didn't even seem to break a sweat although he was doing all the exercises together with her the whole time!

"Yes, basically. It's a must if we don't want to let our skill level drop."

The boy shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*

"Eh? What do you mean?"

Mika furrowed her brows and asked.

"Huh? Did I say something weird?"

Bruiser 97-F tilted his head in confusion.

"You have to train to not let your stats drop? You were actually serious about it back then?"

The girl asked in confusion.

"...well, yes... Why would I be lying about that? If we don't train constantly, even the single skill we have may start dropping, you know, the number getting lower."

The boy explained.

"...what...?"

Mika looked at him as if he lost his mind.

"The skill level can drop only if you get hit with a certain debuff, and it's usually not permanent. You cannot lose skill level because of being idle."

She added, looking taken aback.

"No. You definitely can. Ask any medic and they'll tell you - skill levels can drop down if they won't be properly trained."

Bruiser 97-F was no less flabbergasted than Mika was and responded with confidence.

"And it's not like it's only their word. Skills I had before I got brought to the Sloth territory dropped to level one and then disappeared."

He added in a serious voice.

"...?"

Mika blinked a few times and looked down, trying to wrap her head around what she just heard.

Because she was completely sure that what bruiser 97-F had said wasn't right.

It couldn't be.

She was always taught that the skill levels could only go up!

Well, with skills there was that thing that if they merged together with another skill, the newly created skill would be level 1, but still, that wasn't what the buzzcut boy was talking about! He said that his skills have disappeared!

"So... wait... that means that it's not like you don't train other skills because it's a waste of time, but you train only one skill because you don't have anything else?"

She was so utterly shocked that she sat up even though her muscles were screaming from pain.

"Yes. well, technically I have two skills though - my iron fist and Acedia, but you have the right idea."

Bruiser 97-F cleared out and nodded.

"...maybe that's something unique to the Sloth soldiers..."

Mika furrowed her brows and wondered, she face the other way and looked towards the direction of the second and first defense lines.

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*

"I wonder how it's going for them, cannons are shooting a lot more than during the previous waves..."

Mika pulled up her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around them.

"It's going fine. I've heard that only during the previous wave the monsters managed to breach the first line - and that's honestly quite laughable. Which one was that? Fourth already, right?"

Bruiser 97-F asked straightening his back and also facing towards the distant second and first defense lines.

/01:02:23

"Yeah. The fifth one is a bit over an hour from wrapping up."

Mika nodded, glancing at the first timer in the upper right corner of her vision.

"Hey, can I tell you something in secret?"

She tensed up and asked without looking at bruiser 97-F.

"O-of course!"

The boy hurriedly nodded his head, feeling sudden butterflies in his stomach.

"...I think I am kind of... disappointed that the situation isn't more dire..."

The ashen-haired girl confessed and burrowed her face in her knees.

"Huh...?"

Bruiser 97-F gasped, disappointed.

/01:01:19

"...it's really petty of me, I know... but that whole special quest made the situation look so dire... I kind of... you know... thought that I would have to play an important role in all of this... I want to show my worth or whatever..."

/01:00:10

Mika murmured, blushing in shame.

/01:00:01

/01:00:00

/00:59:59

"I'm horrible, I know... and I'm supposed to be Justice's Wrath or whatever..."

Mika raised her head, turned to bruiser 97-F, and smiled weakly, ashamed of herself.

"..."

But the buzzcut boy wasn't looking at her at all.

Instead, he was staring mesmerized at the foggy horizon.

"What are you looking a...?"

Mika tilted her head and leaned forward to see what got bruiser 97-F's attention.

"...?!"

In the mist... there was a shining spot...

A little gold dot that seemed to grow bigger and bigger and...

"WATCH OUT!"

"Kyaaah?!"

Bruiser 97-F shouted and brutally shoved Mika off of the roof, causing her to let out a panicked scream as she fell to the ground.

The next moment...

*$&@»¤¿¡$£¥€£¤«¡¿»¡»%>}¡!¿$£@&$±^>

An enormous beam of golden light passed the barracks, barely nicking the building itself - and evaporated half of the rooftop and one-third of the top floor, killing anyone unlucky enough to get caught in its range.