Chapter 52: Week

Nicole’s first day was something ‘new,’ but it also made her see flaws in areas that seemed unnecessary to her.

She never thought of being stealthy but realized the importance and its necessity.

However, the second day was exhausting.

Early in the morning, they had to get ready to take on some missions.

She was tasked with a mission to ‘stabilize’ an area with Érica.

This particular mission was to resolve the conflict in a small area where some magical beasts declared their homes.

Magical beasts usually disturbed the habitat of other non-magical species, and it was a big problem, but that problem was reduced if the magical beasts were herbivores.

Unfortunately, everything changed when those magical beasts fought for territory, and at that time, they had to ‘stabilize’ the area before a risk was created for the nearby villages.

Causing migrations of some wild animals that could be dangerous to ordinary civilians was a serious matter.

Their companion for this mission was Alice, and the way they resolved the situation was, to say the least... Extravagant.

Alice had her and Érica fight the magical creature to show her their strength, then after defeating one, they went and defeated the other.

Nicole couldn’t help but notice her serious problem when it came to fighting magical beasts.

Her fighting style was more specialized to humans, and she lacked experience in adapting to different beasts, but mostly it was difficult to coordinate with Érica, with whom she had had no practice.

Of course, her problems did not end there.

After defeating both herbivorous beasts, Alice sprayed them with some potions to cure them, and a third magical beast arrived.

All three were of the magical ‘Addax’ species, an African antelope, and it turned out that this whole conflict was because both territorial males found a female and were in a conflict over her.

Nicole had been reading bestiaries that Aurora had sent to the whole group, but realized that her knowledge was still lacking.

As these herbivorous magical beasts defended their territory and did not harm humans, they were let go after calming the situation with a few blows.

Alice explained that there were some territories where non-magical animals were protected, and these magical beasts were their protectors.

A beast tamer with his skills could get these beasts to act that way after communicating, getting them all to leave.

The magical beasts got a small territory they could call home, and the non-magical animals went on with their lives while the villages were spared the local danger.

When she returned to Zerzura City, in the building that was temporarily her residence, Nicole realized that she was not the only one who had gone through a different mission.

Clémentine had to stop some poachers, along with Leslie.

These individuals did not reach D-Rank but were looking to hunt some animals to make money.

Aurora had them stopped quickly because the hunters were heading into a dangerous area where they would surely die.

Clementine could adapt to the concept of ‘holding back,’ but Leslie could not, since their weapons were focused on damage and were going to be deadly to their opponents.

There were no injuries, but Clémentine and Leslie commented that it was pretty new for them to fight humans with weapons, although they were quite weak.

Andrés went on a hunting mission with Liam and ended up losing two of his three drones because of the difficulty.

In the afternoon, after training, studying, and resting, they went out again, only this time more prepared.

Nicole herself had been training with Aurora, who taught her how to fight intelligent magical beasts that could pick up on the normal movements of humans.

Leslie got new ammunition.

Magic bullets, elemental bullets, stun bullets, sleep bullets... Each of them had magical engravings, and there were both lethal bullets and those that only served to contain or suppress.

While Andrés received a customized and advanced AI with some drones created by himself after being invited to the second-floor room for drone creation by Liam.

After the afternoon mission, they finished their second day.

******

The third day for Érica was tiring.

As an ice mage, being in the desert was the worst environment to be in.

The ice element was ephemeral in the environment, and if converting her magical energy into that element, it was exhausting because of the natural resistance of the environment.

It was one matter to use her magical energy to cast an ice spell in Antarctica and another in a desert... The former was easier than the latter.

If she was an S-Rank mage, she could use the water in the environment and turn it into ice or simply sense the ice element and gather it, but she was only a B-Rank mage who had to follow predetermined spells, and that exhausted her.

That day in the morning, they had a group mission which was to take care of a pack of ‘Lycaon.’

A type of magical beast that evolved from the normal animal ‘Lycaon pictus’, also known colloquially as ‘African wild dog’.

That magical beast was predatory and wild by nature, attacking human groups as well as other magical beasts alike, being one of the most frequent creatures.

The herd numbered thirty lycaons with two B Rank herd leaders and the other magical beasts of C or D Rank.

The battle was intense.

They had been training their coordination the day before, fighting each other to test themselves and even inviting Aurora or Alice, both of whom showed no mercy unless they asked for advice, into the fray.

However, their coordination had problems.

Clémentine, Nicole, and Leslie worked well together, but Érica and Andrés had trouble coordinating with the group.

It was not so extreme, as they had gained some experience at the academy, but there were small, non-serious problems.

Andrés could adapt thanks to his new AI and his stun drones that released lightning that affected an area while moving quickly.

Érica had a more challenging time because it was even hotter that day, and even though Aurora had given her artifacts that could maintain a comfortable temperature in her body, it was tough to change the temperature in the area.

In the end, she could coordinate and supported the group, only she spent a significant amount of her magical energy and came back exhausted when the mission was over.

She asked her magic specialization teacher at the Academy and then her personal teacher at home, and they only replied that this kind of environment could be training for her.

She then received a long explanation that the elements were always active on earth and although in smaller quantities in different areas, they still existed, and it was not a problem of the environment, but a problem of the mages who could not sense and therefore use them.

Her other teacher explained to her that it was good training to convert magical energy to an element in a hostile environment, as it was a type of training for her mental strength and control over her magical energy.

Érica, as a Rank B mage, could not control the ice element at will but was affected if its density was high or if the environment was right.

Nevertheless, she persevered.

If she had to control her magical energy more precisely without wasting anything to survive in these hostile environments, she would do so.

Although she liked to use spells of great power, such as her spectacular ‘Ice Spear,’ she had to resist the temptation and practice her lesser, more versatile spells.

Leading her to practice, making no mistakes and perfecting it as much as she could.

Unlike the others, the mercenary group invited Érica.

She had thought Aurora held a grudge, but she treated her the same as the others... And Érica herself had not forgotten her promise.

She was a heroine, and helping was her duty.

Next time something happened, she didn’t want to be left behind.

******

On the fifth day, Clémentine could feel the atmosphere different.

It wasn’t a bad thing; it was a unique intensity of work and motivation.

On the fourth day, she had been advised that for her efforts, they would have a combat suit as a reward.

It was a fairly advanced, high-quality combat suit.

It had flight capability, stealth, basic scouting, temperature control, magical barriers, and that was just the basic 3D sketch Liam gave them for them to add or change things to their liking, with an application system for custom armor that Clementine had not seen before.

While no signs of value appeared on the combat suit, the group felt the price when they went through the magic runes and found runes that applied to the suit could greatly reduce its weight or enhance its spells.

Even Clémentine found small psionic energy nodes that could be used as reserves to boost her psionic abilities.

She had suits of this style and what’s more, her usual combat clothes that she had brought with her were of high quality, with plenty of protections.

But the customization between magic, technology, and psionic energy was, to say the least... Unique.

If it wasn’t for the Cosmos Company logo being present on the app, Clémentine had thought it was impossible to combine magic, technology, and psionic energy.

As one of the most important multinational companies that was said to have a ‘Sage’ under its command, its advancement in most areas was possible, and it was more advanced than technology, magic, or psionic energies companies.

An excuse was added that it would be paid for with their missions, and another part would be paid for by the group itself... All to appease them.

And before they refused, Aurora made it look like an order so that no one could refuse them, and the quintet had to question themselves the whole fourth day about their weaknesses and strengths after performing their two daily missions.

What they wanted to specialize in and what role was best for them.

At that moment, they realized that they were not ‘enrolled students’; they were for the month part of Aurora’s mercenary group.

They received everything they needed, even though the price and value were high, even for Clémentine, Érica, or Leslie herself.

They came from wealthy families, and they were handling a great deal of money from their parents, but at the end of the day, they were still treated as ‘youths’ and their budgets were well below what was being spent.

They were all being treated as members of the mercenary group and received their unconditional support as a member, even though they were temporary members.

That was the reason they prepared their combat suits and selected their roles as a group.

Unlike Aurora and Alice, who were A-Rank or Liam, who, despite not knowing his rank, could handle dozens of drones... Their group was only B-Ranks.

They had to unite if they wanted to be able to face A-Rank enemies.

It was for such a reason that on the fifth day, their entire group woke up with more energy than before.

They woke up very early in the morning, had breakfast with Alice or Liam, and saw Aurora coming out of the portal earlier than them, giving a silly excuse due to Alice giving her a serious look, as she was doing so much work.

The group knew that while Alice was eating, Aurora was doing some small missions in secret.

Then when they finished their different missions, they rested, studied until noon, and afternoon they went back to take another mission.

When they arrived, they went back for a rest or training and then went out again in the afternoon before dark.

Adding one more mission to their exhausting day.

******

Alice couldn’t help but look amused at the students on their sixth day.

They would get up in the morning, go on a mission, and then come back to rest for a moment and continue training.

They were exhausted and tired from the constant missions.

They had only started doing missions a few days ago; it was clear that it would take some getting used to.

Alice could see that this change was since Liam gave her the application to put together their combat suit.

That pushed them to work hard and increase their effort.

However, what they could see was only a glimpse of what was really going on.

As a mercenary group that had been present since the founding of Zerzura City itself, they had important privileges.

With the protection system that delivered missions, Aurora designated assignments for the students because of the priority of missions given to the group.

She mixed different missions, some of which were missions that could relax the students.

Missions about custody for villagers, missions about supporting villages or towns with their different skills, or even Aurora gave Andrés a mission to guide cattle.

The expression Andrés came with that day for Alice was amusing.

Each of those missions had a certain degree of problems; that was why they were called missions and were given to the protection system.

In the mission of guiding the cattle, wild animals could always appear, and if one was unlucky, one could encounter magical beasts.

By selecting and mixing missions that required seriousness with light missions, it reduced the students’ stress from the constant work and, at the same time, served as a subtle break.

Also, to make them known among the villages and towns, as well as getting to know and see new places... But mostly, getting to know the people they were protecting was one of the extra reasons why Aurora gave ‘civilian’ missions.

Besides, that wasn’t all; although the quintet didn’t know it, most of the meals were created with magical ingredients.

While Aurora was not a professional cook, she could use those ingredients to create delicious meals for the group.

A specific diet was followed to revitalize the students’ bodies and to reduce the negative effects of the daily work and training.

Most of the drinks had some positive effect, and the magical energy in the building was always high, only leaving the psionic energy active when they slept to calm their minds and reduce mental stress.

The students, despite their tiredness, were happy to help.

The fighting was sometimes dangerous, but they were gaining more and more experience to adapt to the situation.

Alice knew that they could not become experts overnight, but her friend only sought to polish them as much as she could.

Not just in skills, but in the ability to help by following their own desires.

As her friend since she was a little girl, Alice knew that helping was Aurora’s job to do willingly.

Even now that she was organizing the students and supporting them, she would get up early in the morning and perform a mission before everyone else.

Then, throughout the day and in emergencies at night, she would go on different missions.

Africa was big, and Zerzura’s area of influence was also big, adding that her group had priority to receive missions; there was always work in Zerzura.

Aurora was always doing five missions at different times... And Alice, as she could not lag behind her dear friend, had to match her.

After all, while she loved to visit restaurants and eat all kinds of food, Aurora liked to help other people.

And as long as Aurora was happy to see the students making an effort, she was happy too.

Looking at Nicole, who was training with Aurora, Alice ate her chips in a good mood.

Tomorrow was the last day of the first week, and heavier work was soon to come.

******

In the training room, Aurora gathered the students who had arrived from their last mission.

“I am quite impressed by your endurance, your effort and dedication to make it to the sixth day without complaint,” Aurora said with a cheerful smile.

When the last mission of the sixth day arrived, Aurora gave them a mission to hunt down a monster that had appeared in the area, and even though it was a B-Rank that had mutated, making it a troublesome enemy, it was defeated by the group.

In these days, despite the missions, the problems, and the injuries they sometimes received, the quintet did not complain and just persevered.

She was proud to have selected such excellent students with such high potential.

How could she not be?

Even when they received little or no pay for all the missions and arrived exhausted, minutes later, they were encouraged to continue training, studying, or just resting.

“Tomorrow you will have no daily missions, as I have reserved the cleaning of a dungeon for you,” Aurora announced in a serious tone.

Aurora could see Nicole rubbing her hands together, looking expectant.

Was that the young woman who, at the test, was acting nervous?

—Maybe she’ll become a real ‘berserk’ fighter.

Aurora read that heartfelt comment from her system, and her lips quivered.

‘Normal’ fighters were lovers of battles, so it was normal, but a battle-crazed ‘berserk’ was too much.

She had to admit that Nicole, with her appearance of a nice shy young girl, didn’t have that quality... In appearances, since when she fought, it was another different matter.

“Also tomorrow you will receive your combat suit, and I would like you to try them on and get fitted in it, so you will be ready for the cleanup,” Aurora ordered calmly, and with a smile, she added. “When you finish this week, you can have your rest time and you can visit the city if you wish.”

“Oh... I had forgotten about that,” Andrés murmured sincerely.

He had forgotten about sightseeing in the ‘Jewel of Africa’... It was certainly possible.

Looking at the students who were retiring wearily, Aurora shook her head.

The week had been so heavy, with constant training and missions, that the students themselves had forgotten that they were in one of the most important cities in Africa.

Sightseeing, going out for fun, or just walking around the city should have been on their to-do list.

Since the first week had to be the heaviest to acclimate and adapt the students for the rest of the month, this week of missions was a must.

And although Aurora felt sorry for them... Pushing them to their limits, it was their duty as a group of mercenaries selected by the academy.