Kira swung a mace at a target dummy, only to drop the weapon in shock and pain as rattling vibrations shot up her arms on impact. Each subsequent attempt to hit the dummy met with similar results - vertical overhead smashing strike, horizontal swing, she even tried using it like a baseball bat! When the tenth strike was completed, Kira flung the mace away and flexed her aching hands, glaring at the offending weapon. "What am I doing wrong?"

"Everything." The puppet responded, but didn't explain further. "Mace compatibility: 0%. Please choose the next weapon."

Frustrated by the mace, Kira instead tried to use a one-handed shortsword. Swords were easy! Firm grip, swing, and-

"Oops."

The sword flew out of her hands before it even hit the dummy - she hadn't been expecting the way the weight of the sword seemed to change with the momentum of the swing, and her grip wasn't firm enough. It wiggled out of her fingers and flew across the room to join the mace for a brief visit.

Her second attempt with the sword resulted in hitting the dummy with the flat of the blade because she didn't twist her wrist with the swing properly. Once more her arm was assaulted with vibrational shocks that made her drop the weapon.

The third swing, she got the edge of the blade caught in the dummy and spent five minutes trying to dislodge it.

The fourth swing...

The fifth...

And in the end: "One-handed sword compatibility: 0%."

Throwing knives bounced off the dummy one after the other, unerringly hitting exactly where she aimed every time. Even though they hit the target, it never had enough force to stick properly.

The staff she flailed about like she was trying to hit a pinata at a birthday party, similar to her spear attempt.

With the bow she managed to get a rating of 54% compatibility! After hearing a string of zeroes for all the previous attempts, Kira hugged the bow to her chest and sobbed gratefully.

"Why only 54% though?" She wondered, staring at the target dummy that looked like a pincushion. Not a single arrow missed its mark once she figured out how to fire them without having the projectile wobble and fall short a few feet away.

"Incompatibility with student's Class reduces base rating."

"How is a bow incompatible?"

The puppet remained silent, refusing as always to actually offer useful advice.

Battle axe, flail, hammer, claymore... Kira tried weapon after weapon, but the only thing above zero other than the bow was a crossbow at 62%.

Kira sighed as she returned a rapier to the weapon rack. "Alright, I've tried them all. Can I go now?"

"There is one weapon remaining." The puppet said. Kira turned to glare at it, but its carved face remained impassive.

"Like Hell there is! I've tried all of them!"

"There is one weapon remaining."

"Where? Where is the weapon?" Kira gestured to the rows of weapon racks, her face darkened by a scowl.

"Please strike the target ten times with the remaining weapon."

"I don't have any other weapons!"

"You are a weapon." The puppet finally said, turning its head to stare at her hands. Kira followed its gaze and felt her face flush with embarrassment.

"Oh. That's what you meant."

Since it was a combat training course, Kira didn't think it meant her magic. Awkwardly she clenched her fist, approached the target dummies, and tried throwing a punch.

She yelped in pain, the crackling of her knuckle joints filling the air with a sickly crunch. Kira flexed her numb fingers, glaring at the impassive puppet.

Kira punched, slapped, and kicked the dummy nine more times while trying to figure out the best ways not to break her fingers. Her hand turned swollen and red in a surprisingly short amount of time.

"Unarmed compatibility: 72%."

"HOW?!" Kira yelped, waving her swollen hand and skinned knuckles in the puppet's face.

"Assessment complete. Please wait for your mentor to arrive." The puppet retreated into a corner and slumped over, inactive. Sighing, Kira sat with her back to one of the walls and pulled out a handful of quartz marbles to play with.

With Earthshaping she removed all flaws inside and outside the marbles so they resembled small glass spheres, smooth and shiny and satisfying to touch.

Ever since she was small, Kira loved rocks and plants. She collected inexpensive gemstones and interesting rocks, much of her spare time spent tending countless potted plants and herbs at home and the community garden at school. Kira even hated shoes, since she preferred feeling the ground beneath her feet.

Getting an earth-based Class didn't surprise her in the least, and in fact felt validating in an odd sort of way. Now she had an excuse to collect and obsess over all the rocks, and run through fields barefoot!

But that also meant she took it personally when people kept looking down on Geomancers. The flash of pity in everyone's eyes when she proudly proclaimed her Class... It was really frustrating! Don't blame the Class for people lacking persistence or intelligence!

Lost in her thoughts, Kira molded and shaped and twisted the marbles for more than an hour. She failed to notice when a stocky muscular woman entered the room.

The woman had broad facial features and curly auburn hair down to her thick waist, an athletic figure clad in studded leather armor that emphasized rippling muscles in a way that made it seem as though she were contained by the clothes rather than simply wearing them. Her skin was a rich metallic bronze that shimmered in the light, narrow eyes a fascinating shade of silver ringed with black paint that matched the sleek black stain on her plump limps.

"Name's Ailsa Reid. Yer my student, are ye? Feh! Mewlin' brat." The woman spoke quickly and with great vigor, her deep coarse voice booming in the previously silent dojo, startling Kira into dropping her marbles.

NOTICE You have been Scanned.

"Isn't Scanning people rude?" Kira muttered, scooping the marbles back into her Inventories.

"Speak up, kiddo! Don't mutter around yer new Master." Ailsa scoffed, dragging the thin girl effortlessly to her feet. Kira wasn't tall by any means, and Ailsa was a full head shorter than her. Even so, the muscular woman's presence was intimidating and authoritative, and Kira shrank under her fierce silver gaze. "Kira Hawthorne, Geomancer, Level 1-F, harhar! Stats ain't bad though, fer what level ye be..."

"I thought I was just getting a mentor?" Kira mumbled, crumpling to her knees when Ailsa smacked her shoulder and laughed.

"Har! Aye, kiddo. The Combat Pavilion assigns mentors ta most, since most already know how ta fight! They just need some guidance. Yer an anomaly. A blank slate like yerself, in the Academia? Embarrassin'!" Ailsa threw her head back and laughed heartily, hands on her hips. "After seein' yer pitiful results in the assessment, that Karl brat sent me an emergency request. Ye'll be me personal student! Call me Master from now on. Ta start, change yer clothes. Ye ain't fightin' in that fancy get-up. Quickly now, be smart with it!"

Ailsa tossed a bundle of plain brown clothes that smacked Kira in the face. She made no move to leave, so Kira had no choice but to swallow her shame and change fast while the woman had her back turned.

Once she was clad in a sleeveless brown tunic and matching loose shorts, Ailsa started the lesson by smacking Kira with a firm palm strike, sending the thin girl flying back. Despite the pain and force her small body experienced, her HP only went down by 1.

The woman smirked as Kira coughed for air. "The best way ta learn is with experience. I got full permissions ta beat ye ragged, so get up and fight ye tiny twig! Do ye wanna be a decent fighter or don't ye?"

Kira staggered to her feet, only to be knocked down by another palm strike. The second time she stood, she managed to clumsily swing her fists and brutalize some empty air before getting knocked down again.

"C'mon kiddo, keep tryin'! Up and attem! Ye think the hungry beasties outside are gonna wait for ye to catch yer breath? Let's go! Show some guts! Ye wanna die?"

Again and again Kira was knocked down without having a chance to fight back.

Wasn't this bullying?

How was this woman supposed to be teaching her anything?!

Kira snarled, staggering to her feet over and over, oblivious to the amused glint in Ailsa's silver eyes. "How is this training?!"

Instead of answering, Ailsa just knocked her down again.

Dropping to 0 HP didn't mean instant death. HP dropping to 0 inflicted the Vulnerable status - HP and MP no longer regenerated, damage taken increased exponentially, and fatal injuries became possible but weren't guaranteed. As long as someone's HP was above 0 they wouldn't die.

Having 0 HP was something Kira never experienced until Ailsa beat her into the ground! She lay on the tatami mats and gasped like a dying fish, body bruised and battered, black fog encroaching on the edges of her vision.

Ailsa flexed her hands and let out a long whistle. She didn't expect a Level 1-F brat with no fighting experience to keep getting up! Ailsa only attacked once Kira stood up again, and the scrawny kid defied expectations to keep standing all the way to the end.

Earth-elemental kids really were the best!

"Well, well, well. Mebbe ye won't waste me time after all. We're done fer today, next time we'll start yer actual trainin'." Seeing the hateful glare Kira sent her way, the stocky woman laughed heartily. "Attagirl! Stoke that fire in ye kiln, bring it with ye. Ye'll need it! Now add me as a Friend so we can meet up easy-like."

【 REQUEST 】 Ailsa Reid wants to be your friend! 《 Accept 》 《 Decline 》

Kira sighed and accepted the request with a growing feeling of dread in her heart. Ailsa just laughed more and tossed over a sturdy clay bottle containing a restorative potion. "Heal up, kiddo. I got the measure of ye now, tomorra won't be so simple!"

Ailsa left, still laughing. Kira drank the potion, grimacing at its bitter flavor but impressed by its effect - she would fully heal in only ten minutes! Her limbs felt heavy and sore in the meantime, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle.

Kira glanced at her Friend List while waiting for her HP to tick up, a scowl on her face.

Ailsa Reid, Level 20-B Shaman, Bronzen Dwarf.

F, E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, and SSS were the ascending order of Ranks from common civilians to the realm of legends. Each Rank consisted of 20 levels, and a Rank Up reset the level back to 1. Jumping the gap between Ranks during combat was as difficult as attempting space travel without computers! 20-F would almost never stand a chance against 1-E.

Or so claimed the System.

While B seemed like merely the middle Rank, it was no easy feat to achieve! Each Rank Up was exponentially more difficult yet more rewarding than the last, giving a large one-time stat increase and doubling the amount of base stat points received while leveling up.

If someone got +1 to all stats when they leveled up in Rank F, they'd get +2 in Rank E, and +4 in Rank D. Hence the difficulty in either climbing up or bridging across Ranks!

Karl DuFeu, the Archmage Dragon who had a seat on the city's prestigious Council, was 5-A. And Ailsa was just a few steps below!

Kira sighed, wincing when sharp pain shot through her ribs. 'Right now, I'm Rank 1-F. During class earlier the teacher said B is the average monster level across the world taking into account areas like this one we're in which have relatively weak monsters, and the big roaming Bosses who are scary unpredictable existences. So if I want to not die from an unfriendly stray sneeze in the future, I have to be... At least Rank A? How long does it take to level I wonder...'

Restorative potions recovered HP but didn't remove the feeling of fatigue or muscle aches that sank into one's body after a work-out. Basically they recovered harmful injuries, but beneficial injuries that would make one stronger after healing wouldn't be fixed.

Kira groaned and dragged herself back to the dorm once she was strong enough to stand again. Seeing the girl's exhaustion upon entering the common room, Ribbon put the book in her paws down and gathered her courage.

Aside from introducing herself where appropriate, the fluffy Kobold Acolyte had yet to speak with any of her classmates. But the common room at the moment was empty aside from the two of them, and the Geomancer seemed like a nice girl!

When she wasn't casting 【 Throw Rock 】...

Plus, compared to the other classmates, Kira was much smaller! Ribbon wouldn't have to practically topple over backwards in order to see the other's face. And she didn't feel nearly so nervous trying to approach a fellow small girl, compared to the scarier ladies or larger guys in their class...

After hyping herself, Ribbon scurried over. "Miss Kira!"

Kira blinked slowly, rubbing the back of her neck as she yawned. "Just Kira is fine... Um. Ribbon, right?"

"Yes, I am Ribbon!" Ribbon blushed, the white parts of her fur turning rose pink. Kira remembered her name! She was nice, after all! "Would you... Mind if I healed you?"

"You can heal?" Kira asked, her eyes lighting up with interest. "Sure, lemme see!"

A very excited Ribbon instructed Kira to sit on a stool, then cast 【 Refresh 】. Usually used during combat to increase HP regeneration, when used outside of combat Refresh had the added benefit of reducing fatigue and aches, giving it a huge advantage over HP potions.

Kira sighed with relief as the green light filled her body with warm, soothing away the pain. "This is amazing! Healing magic is really too cool."

Ribbon grinned, her poofy curled tail wagging with delight at a speed that turned it into a little blur. "If... If you need healing in the future... Y-you can ask me! I'll be glad to help!"

"Thanks! I started combat training so I'll probably look for you a lot in the near future," Kira smiled, only to grimace when her stomach growled. "Have you eaten dinner yet?"

"N-no, not yet..."

"Alright, let's get dinner together then. It's always better to eat with other people, right?" Kira went to a tablet screen installed by the dorm's front door to browse the list of cafeterias, completely missing the Kobold putting up V's for victory with her paws. "What do you want to eat?"

"Oh, I'm not picky! I like everything!" Ribbon was just excited to have a friend to eat with, after all! Ribbon felt like she was floating on cloud nine. She gathered her courage, and it worked! Friend, get!

"Is there anything you can't eat? Like... Chocolate or grapes or something..."

"Um... I... I'm allergic to blueberries, but... other than that I think anything's fine!"

Kira nodded and, after glancing sideways at the little dog girl, ordered a bunch of different meat dishes from Ninth Heaven.

She spoke with Ribbon about healing magic, gemstones, and Kobolds in general until dinner arrived. Kira made sure to set food aside for Brigit then they devoured the rest with enthusiasm while chattering away.

That night as she fell asleep in her still unfamiliar bed, Kira had a bright smile on her face as though the experience in the dojo was already forgotten. It was so nice making new friends!