It was not long before the two of them reached the kobold camp afterward. Every now and then, Rin would look down at her right knuckles, stained with the earlier enemy's dried blood. It wasn't that she regretted what she'd done, or that she pitied the kobold. Rather, it was something on the opposite end of that spectrum.

She was surprised by how easy it had become, by the end, to hit it. After the first few punches, the others were easy to deliver.

"Focus up," Cara said. "We're here."

Rin looked ahead and saw an old stone fortress of some kind. It didn't seem too large, maybe with just four or five rooms inside the building, but outside, there were walls and even an open gate. Atop the walls, there were kobolds carrying bows and arrows, relaxed, sitting down, and looking out into the trees ahead.

[That looks old. Way older than anything else I've seen so far,] Rin thought.

"So... What do I have to do, again?"

"Kill as many of those things as you can," Cara pointed at the kobolds. "That's it. Nothing too complicated. Just fight."

[Simple enough,] Rin thought.

"What can I expect to see in there?" Rin asked.

"Those kobolds at the walls are archers, so, either deal with them first or lure some of the others out of their sight. The other kobolds should all be using clubs or daggers. Nothing you can't handle, even as a beginner."

"Is that all?"

"Yes," Cara replied. "Harriton scouted this place out three days ago. He made sure there wouldn't be anything too strong here."

"... Okay," Rin said, taking a deep breath.

"If you get into too much trouble, I'll run in and help. So, don't worry too much about failing, I just want to see what you can do, as of today. Understand?" Cara asked.

"... Yeah," Rin nodded. "I get it."

"Good. Whenever you're ready, then."

And so, Rin walked forward. With a nervous heart and unsteady hands, but still, she stepped down the small hill she and Cara were on, beginning to make her way to the fortress.

It honestly felt like a dream, that she was out here right now, dragging her shoes through the dirt and moving toward a nest of sorts, filled with enemies, which she needed to clear. However, she didn't feel like it was completely outside of her capability to do this. Maybe that was thanks to her earlier "fight", if it could even be called that, which she had Cara to thank for.

She made a mental note of buying Cara a drink if this went well, in appreciation for what she'd done for her earlier.

However, as she was getting closer to the fortress, she understood that it was time to focus, putting all of her attention into the task at hand.

[Okay,] Rin took a deep breath, [so, what do I do first? Like Cara said, those archers will shoot me down easily if I just walk in, so... Cara had said that I could lure one of them out. How do I do that?]

An idea quickly came to her and Rin looked around, trying to find a rock.

[It's stupidly simple, but it might just work,] she thought as she picked one up. Then, she walked over to the gate, where she could see two kobolds walking around in circles.

[I just need one of them...] Rin told herself as she raised the rock and threw it, at the nearest one.

Before she joined the academy, she doubted she would have even been able to throw this thing with enough strength to actually hurt anyone. Now, though, the stone flew in a straight line, aimed right at the kobold's head, and it hit.

[Yes!] Rin thought as the kobold yelped, looking back to see what had done that. Rin hid, and then waited.

[So... Once it gets here, what do I do?] She wondered as she heard its footsteps approaching. None of the other kobolds had noticed. [I guess I could try to choke it or something? I remember, in one class, I heard these things had bad lungs... Maybe that could work.]

With that in mind, as one unfortunate kobold walked out of the fortress, Rin grabbed it, snaking an arm around its neck. The kobold tried to cry out for help, but Rin quickly squeezed as hard as she could.

It thrashed, trying its hardest to free itself, but no air escaped its mouth for approximately ten seconds before it stopped moving.

Rin didn't let it go just yet, though. She waited until she could no longer feel its heart beating, as she pressed it against her own chest, and then, she let it fall to the ground.

[Holy shit,] Rin thought, breathing heavily.

It almost stunned her how casually she killed this one, as opposed to the first kobold she'd met that day. Maybe that was due to the nature of this situation, but, still. It was perplexing.

[No, focus up,] she told herself. [One down, plenty others to go.]

---

{Cara}

Watching from the hill, Cara liked what she was seeing so far.

This entire test, after all, was a simple measurement of the rookies' potential. She didn't actually expect any good results out of anyone, and neither did the other teachers, but what she wanted to see was hope.

A simple chance that she and the others could turn these adventurers into monster hunters and bandit slayers who were worth a damn. If they saw that potential in these amateurs, then that was good enough.

And, up to this point, Cara certainly believed that potential was there.

After Rin had choked the life out of the first kobold, she'd snuck in and done the same with the other one that had been patrolling with it. Even from this distance, Cara could see the fear and anxiety on Rin's face, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that the woman was taking action, and in that regard, she was doing spectacularly.

However, Cara needed to see how she could fight. Stealth was nice and all, but it wouldn't give her any good estimate of how Rin could handle herself in actual fights. So, Cara needed to find a way to get Rin to start fighting.

It didn't take long before she came up with something. However, this would require her to get involved, so, she walked down from the hill and moved up to the fortress as Rin was waiting behind a wooden barricade, trying to spot her next target. Admittedly, Cara could have led with this, but she was glad she didn't, as it allowed Rin to show off her instincts.

As Cara got close enough, she jumped up, putting Essence into her legs, clearing the height of the walls in one massive leap, and she got onto them, surprising one of the kobold archers.

Then, without even taking her sword out, Cara punched the kobold's neck, breaking it with ease, and killing that creature instantly. The other archer saw this and almost gasped, quickly trying to nock an arrow to shoot at Cara, as the other kobolds below noticed her as well.

Instead, Cara charged towards it, grabbed the kobold by the head, and snapped its neck, all in one fluid motion.

All while Rin watched, confused.

"Time to fight, kid!" Cara told her from above, which also let the few remaining kobolds know that Rin was there.

[Come on, show me what you've got,] Cara thought as she watched Rin put her fists up, clearly scared out of her mind, but still willing to fight, which was what Cara wanted to see.

[Three kobolds. Pretty hard for a total beginner, but she can do this. Incapacitate one, then another, and finish the last one off before the first two can get back up. Come on, Rin, show me what Maria's taught you.]

Finally, as they arrived at Rin's position, the woman lifted her right leg and kicked one of them in the side of its head, with enough strength to send the kobold to the ground.

[Good start.]

However, as the other two reached her, Rin froze.

[Crap.]

Seeing that Rin hadn't figured out what she needed to do, Cara quickly jumped down, and, before they were able to harm her, she stepped in and pulled them both to the ground.

Putting her right foot on one's neck, she pointed at the other one, which was getting up.

"Go ahead, take it out."

Rin nodded wordlessly and, recovering, she ran up and punched it in the face with a right hook.

The other kobold struggled under Cara's boot, and it took all of her restraint not to crush it right this moment. She wanted Rin to take this one out after the one she was fighting right now.

Rin dodged out of the way of a knife, showing a bit of agility before she spun in place and managed to land a crescent kick on that kobold's snout, which sent several sharp teeth flying into the air.

[Okay, okay, good stuff,] Cara thought as she couldn't help but smile a little, seeing that. [Maybe she's not completely helpless after all. We might just have some talent here yet.]

Rin then followed up with a couple of punches aimed at the kobold's body, before finally, she gave it a knee to the gut that sent the creature down.

"Good!" Cara called out. "Now, finish..."

Cara trailed off when she saw the doors leading into the fortress open. Rin, however, didn't notice that and instead focused solely on raising her left foot and bringing it down on the kobold's head, killing it.

It wasn't that the doors opened that made Cara stop. It was what she saw come out of the building.

Two kobolds, both of them dressed in black cloth they'd surely stolen from travelers. However, behind them, were several figures in purple and black robes. Figures that looked a hell of a lot like people.

Actual humans.

"What the hell?" Cara muttered as Rin stomped on the kobold a second time, ensuring that it was dead. The one under Cara's foot had died too, as Cara's foot on its neck hadn't allowed it to breathe.

The Rank A adventurer had no idea what was going on. Why were there people walking alongside monsters so casually? It was a sight that simply did not compute in her mind.

However, among the confusion, Cara focused on one thing she did understand.

[Wait... Those are kobold shamans!]

"Rin," she called out, "get behind me."

"W-What?" Rin asked as she finally noticed the people heading their way. When she did, she scurried over to Cara, her eyes darting back and forth from one person to another.

"What's happening?" Rin asked.

"No idea... But," Cara pointed at the two kobolds, "kobold shamans are Rank C creatures. Way above your grade, right now. So, whatever the fuck this is," she said, unsheathing her greatsword, "let me handle it."