The next week passed by at a crawl. It didn’t help that I never asked to leave Persephonia’s quarters, stepping outside into the training grounds only when the woman guaranteed that nobody would see me. That was my entire routine; fiddle with my interface, talk to Jun, and train in the courtyard. I couldn’t read any of the books Persephonia offered me, didn’t want to risk anyone seeing me and asking questions, and didn’t want to see if Okeria had actually saved the eel’s corpse for us like he’d said he would.

So the arrival–or more accurately, the return–of the recruits was both terrifying and more than welcome. The news set Jun on edge, like I’d expected from the stories she’d told me about how she was antagonized by her peers, but she was stronger than they were now. I was sure of it. Yet she refused to believe me until she saw it with her own four eyes.

Which led to a very tense breakfast. I would have loved to say that was a first for me, but it was almost too nostalgic for its own good. Except for the fact it was just the two of us sitting at a square table instead of a dozen of us sitting around a campfire.

“I know you’re worried, but don’t let it make your worries come true.” I warned, but the pastry I was stuffing my face with that tasted like sweet grass might have diminished it ever so slightly. “You’re better than those assholes that made fun of you, so don’t let them get under your skin.”

Jun chuckled while using a spoon to push thick orange and white slurry around a lacquered coral bowl. “You’ve said that a few times now, but it doesn’t make me feel any better. And I don’t technically have skin, you know.”

She didn’t? I raised an eyebrow, getting another laugh out of Jun as she pushed her untouched breakfast out of the way. “Jun. I’m being serious here; if you go out there thinking that they’re going to walk all over you, you’re going to let them walk all over you. I’ve seen it happen plenty of times before, and a few of them were either to or by me. Even if you don’t believe it, you can’t show them that that’s what you believe.”

“I’ll try, but no promises.” Jun said with a shrug, donning her armor as she walked towards the glass doors that Persephonia had darkened earlier that morning. “You don’t know these people like I do. You didn’t have to spend years working with them, dealing with them, and trying not to let them get, as you said, ‘under your skin’.”

I nodded and shoved the last two bites of pastry into my mouth, my armor snapping into place as I went to follow Jun. I’d tried to argue that it was safer for me to stay in here, but Persphonia hadn’t been having any of that. Something about me being a recruit now, and needing to support Jun through this. I agreed with point number two, but definitely not point number one. I had plans, and none of them involved throwing away years of my life in this training program.

Buf if Jun needed help, either with confidence or busting skulls, I would be there. At least until I abandoned her to go find my family. I wasn’t going to abandon my parents and brother this time around, and I couldn’t do that if I was tied down to Jun and Persephonia.

Persephonia glared back at us as we emerged from her quarters, her intimidating visage accented by angular black plates that hovered around her shoulders and hips. I couldn’t tell if they were part of her armor or a trinket she’d picked up along the way, but if she could move them as quickly as she moved herself, then it would be damn near impossible to get a hit in on her.

“Recruit Keratily. Recruit Blue. Stand on the marks.” She ordered, waving an arm at two marks that looked like crescent moons split in half by a thin line. We stood where she directed us to, and she nodded before turning back to the mob of recruits. “As you recruits are aware, recruit Keratily went missing the moment you all arrived on this world. After a lengthy investigation, I’ve determined that there was no foul play involved.”

A wave of relief spread through the crowd, signified by sagging shoulders and barely audible sighs that only served to stoke Persephonia’s irritation.

“Yes, yes, be relieved for all the wrong reasons.” She spat, and the relief instantly dried up. “You self-serving abyss-dwellers couldn’t see loyalty if it started spitting into your wide-open mouths. And if I catch a single liar among you stepping up for my next question, you’ll be praying for the abyss to claim you once I’m done with you.”

The warning hung in the air for the moments of silence Persephonia allowed, then her plates snapped together with a loud metallic clang. “If you spent even a single minute of your time searching for recruit Keratily, stand your ground. Otherwise, take a step back.”

Mutterings among the group, a mass of shared glances, and a few annoyed outburst preceded two handfuls of people stepping back. Nine in total out of the fifty-ish recruits. I was expecting far worse, honestly.

“Now those of you that kept searching after you arrived at Walkalong.” Persephonia ordered, and I saw what I’d initially expected. Two people didn’t step back; a shorter, stockier suit of pale green armor with patterns like ink blots, and a suit slightly shorter than I was that had an iridescent shimmer to their armor along with clear crystal accents. Like someone had made a snowman out of an oilslick and quartz crystals.

“Recruits Harvester and Scalovera. You two are assigned to recruit Keratily and Blue as a unit. The rest of you are dismissed.” Persephonia decreed, and the relief I saw from the other recruits’ body language was almost comical. They really were terrified of Persephonia. “Harvester and Scalovera. Once the training area is clear, you will be staging a practice combat against Keratily and Blue.”

The shorter one, who I gleaned was Harvester from the glance Persephonia shot them when she said the name, shifted nervously from one foot to the other under the older woman’s glare. “I already have a group, Matria. And I don’t want to abandon them.”

Harvester’s voice crackled and popped as they spoke, as if they were speaking with a mouth full of popping candy. And from their subservient tone, the way they fidgeted with their hands, and how they made themselves as small as possible, I knew they were a coward. Not the kind of person I wanted to be ‘on a unit’ with.

Scalovera nodded in agreement, but didn’t say anything. I instantly took them as the smarter one of the pair, but that wasn’t saying much.

“Have you now?” Persephonia said plainly, the demeaning undertone not lost on me. But it was lost on Harvester, who seemed to perk up a little at the opportunity to have nothing to do with us. “Well, then, Harvester; all you have to do is defeat Blue here and I’ll let you get back to them.”

Harvester’s head swiveled over to me so quickly that I thought he’d hurt himself. It took less than a second for me to understand I was being underestimated. “Blue doesn’t even have a weapon. How is that fair?”

I blinked in confusion, then narrowed my eyes at Harvester. They had a weapon on their back. It was a higher quality hammer than I could have spent credits on at the start, since I couldn’t see any dents or cracks in the black-grey metal wrapped with silver wire, but that didn’t mean it was anything special. Scalovera had two swords hanging from her hips, but they were both in scabbards, so I couldn’t glean how strong they were.

I stepped towards the center of the training grounds and nodded at Harvester. “Do you want me to lose on purpose? I wouldn’t want to break apart close friends.”

“W-what? I-I… I don’t…” Harvester stuttered, taken aback by my offer. If he truly wanted to be with their comrades, I would have no trouble losing. Hell, I’d prefer it if it meant I wouldn’t have to deal with him. “Will you really?”

“Of course.” I laughed, turning to walk backwards as I spread my arms to the recruit. “I know what it’s like to lose your friends. But I’m going to warn you; even if I plan to lose, it won’t be because you beat me.”

Harvester tilted his head to the side in confusion as he walked into the other circle opposite me. It was a good thing I’d guessed correctly, or else I’d look like a fool.

“How else would you lose?” Harvester asked, their hands already sneaking towards their warhammer. My words had set them on edge. Good; maybe they weren’t hopeless after all.

I shifted my sword into a hammer, then called it to my hands. Harvester visibly recoiled at that simple motion, and I knew there was no chance that I was about to lose. “How else would I lose, Harvester?” I laughed and shook my head. “With my hammer planted on your stomach, my foot on your neck, and my victory one stomp away.”

Jun snorted off to my left, and I heard an unknown voice snicker at my boast. That had to be Scalovera, but she wouldn’t be laughing once Jun got her turn. Which I was fairly confident was Persephonia’s plan all along.

“Commence.” Persephonia ordered; the words sticking into Harvester like burning metal and spurring him to action. He reached back and grabbed his hammer with one hand, unlatching it from his armor and spinning it around to smack into his other hand in one swift motion. It was obvious that he’d been trained, but the basics wouldn’t be enough to beat me.

I didn’t give them time to gain the upper hand, gleaning that Harvester favoured his left hand from his footing and charged towards that side. He stood his ground, mechanically reading a swing that would take me straight in the shoulder. The basic forms that were being drilled into the recruit were obvious from his perfect but readable motion, which meant my next move was guaranteed to work.

I stopped and unsummoned my hammer, then resummoned it on my back. The extra weight helped my sudden stop as Harvester’s swing went wide and sent him stumbling forward directly into my reach.

For their follow-through to disrupt them that much, they had to have put every ounce of effort into that strike. They were looking to end this as quickly as possible, so I repaid them in kind. I crouched low and began a swing with my hammer still on my back, summoning it to my hands in time to get enough weight behind my blow to do some serious damage to Harvester’s armor.

What I wasn’t expecting was for it to crumple under the weight of my strike, spitting out inky sparks that told me I’d done a little more damage than I was expecting. Harvester slammed to the ground and skidded a few feet while I stood there in shock, eventually bringing my hammer up onto my shoulder as I looked down at the recruit’s immobile form.

I turned to look at Persephonia with confusion. “This is someone who trained years for this?” I asked, letting my hammer fall to the ground with a deafening crack. “I could’ve beaten him bare-handed.”

She nodded in agreement. “There is a reason I try to cull the herd as much as possible. Some simply do not understand the dangers of the world they are about to immerse themselves in until it's far too late.”

Both Persephonia and I turned to look at Jun, who had her arms crossed and was staring at me intently. “These people gave you a hard time, Jun? I know I said that you were better than them, but come on. This is pathetic.” I glanced down at Harvester, who was clutching their side and sobbing in pain. “You don’t need them.”

“You can say that again.” Jun agreed with a nod, her voice warm and happy as she watched Harvester suffer.