In the month that followed, Sakuta underwent extensive training under the Myrmidon profession. He worked endlessly for five days a week, and on Saturdays and Sundays he had chores to do and could scarcely get any rest in. It was honestly brutal at times, to the point Sakuta would collapse from exhaustion. Koto-sensei (she insisted to be called this) was a complete and utter sadist. Sakuta could swear that a demon was dormant within that woman because she had fooled him. The moment they started training her demeanour shifted entirely. She showed no mercy, doubly so since Sakuta was her only student.

“You should consider yourself lucky.” Koto-sensei licked her lips. “I hardly ever take on students myself. This is like a once in a lifetime opportunity, you know?”

“...Thank you, Sensei...” Sakuta wheezed. She was sitting on top of his back at the time and he was struggling to breathe. When Sakuta complained, she asked if he was calling her fat and then jumped up and down. Her butt was pretty soft, at least.

It wasn’t that Sakuta was the only trainee there. There were other teachers each with their own students. Sakuta was just the only one training under Koto. Apparently, she rarely ever took anyone in. She wouldn’t tell him why either, but Sakuta suspected it was because she could torment him.

There were times during the training period where Sakuta had even thought of quitting. But Koto-sensei made sure he didn’t, threatening to hurt him in ways that would leave a man scarred for life. She was holding Sakuta hostage against his will.

There was no denying her skills, however. Despite her cruel and intense teaching methods, Koto-sensei was a very talented Myrmidon. She was one of the highest ranking Myrmidons in Altear. So, Sakuta learned a lot from her, even if they were just the basics. He learned how to use a longsword, amateur sword-play, and the Myrmidon skill called Slash.

The month-long training was essentially just showing Sakuta the basics of being a Myrmidon and simple swordplay. Sakuta was what they referred to as a novice, and to rank up required gold and prestige. The next step was to register himself as an adventurer and take on quests to earn money.

It sounded straightforward enough but these quests meant fighting hostile races. Sakuta knew the basics of his class, sure, but applying what he learned in actual combat was a different story.

Is this going to be okay...? Sakuta thought to himself as he headed to his destination.

They'd all agreed to meet up at the Guild Hall after their training, and that was where Sakuta found them standing outside. Yamato was dressed in chain mail armour with a longsword strapped around his waist and a shield attached to his back. Fumiko stood beside him, and she had on a long white robe with a staff in her hands.

“Ah, Sakuta!” Yamato noticed him and gestured Sakuta over.

For some reason, a smile came over Sakuta's face when he saw Yamato and Fumiko.

It was true that his training had been difficult but Sakuta often wondered whether Yamato and Fumiko were also going through the same thing. Thinking that they were all struggling for each other's sakes brought him some solace, which was admittedly weird considering Sakuta barely knew them. But still, it was good to know there were people who were with him in all of this and that he wasn’t entirely alone. Sakuta wondered if it was the same for them.

“It’s good to see you guys,” said Sakuta, smiling sheepishly. “To be honest, I couldn’t wait to see you...”

“I-it's good to see you, too...” Fumiko was using her staff to hide herself. She still seemed pretty shy but that was a welcoming sight to Sakuta.

“You couldn’t wait to see us?” Yamato laughed. “Just how harsh was your training?”

Thinking back on it, Sakuta shuddered. “I don’t want to talk about it. I’m convinced my instructor was a devil posing as a beautiful woman...”

“Well, at least you had a beautiful woman! My instructor was a man who enjoyed picking on me. I wasn’t the strongest among the other trainees, so...”

“I-I also made a lot of mistakes and got shouted at... a lot...”

“You guys had it rough too, huh...?” Knowing that brought Sakuta some relief.

“But we all made it out!” Yamato playfully jabbed Sakuta on his shoulder. “So, I’m the Paladin, Fumiko is the Cleric, and Sakuta you’re the...?”

“Myrmidon. I, uh, ended up joining it through...scouting? Is that all right?”

“That’s perfect, actually. With you, we have a Warrior, a Priest, and an Attacker. I’m not entirely sure how it all works yet but apparently those roles are key for any party.”

“Party...?” Fumiko parroted in a soft voice.

“A party is a term for a group of adventurers, or in our case trainees, who work together and complete quests together. It’s like a team.” Yamato answered her. He seemed pretty knowledgeable about all this stuff already. Unlike Sakuta, who had little to no idea.

“How do you know all this?” Sakuta asked him.

Yamato smiled. “Some of the other trainees in my Trade told me. All of them were just like us, but they happened to know a bit about what was going on.”

“I see...” That made sense. Sakuta didn’t have any other trainees with him. He was Koto-sensei's only student. He could hear others undergo training, though, and he'd even run into a couple of them when running errands, but he never had a conversation with any of them.

Yamato was different, though. He actively searched for information to help better their situation. Sakuta was glad he had someone like that to rely on. If Sakuta had been on his own, he would have been struggling right now.

“So, what’s the plan now?” Sakuta asked.

“Now that we’re here, we should go to the Guild Hall. We can get our quests there.”

“Quests, huh...?” Sakuta scratched the scruff of his neck. “Do you have any idea what to expect?”

“Honestly, not really. I know we’ll be doing fighting, mostly. But that’s about it.”

“Fighting...” murmured Fumiko. “I-I don’t know how well I’ll do. They taught me things but I might struggle in the actual moment, you know...?”

Fumiko made a valid point. Sakuta had felt the same way. Thinking about fighting and doing it were two completely different things. Sakuta had the basic skills but zero field experience. He wondered if there were any quests that required no fighting and, according to Koto-sensei, there were. But, as an adventurer, expecting to make a living out of those quests was unreasonable. So fighting was basically inevitable for them.

“I understand how you guys feel. I feel the same. But we don’t have much of a choice right now. This is something we’re just going to have to do. We can start off small. We won’t do anything we can’t handle. We’ll slowly find our feet together. Okay?”

Yamato's words were comforting. When he said, “together”, it somehow made Sakuta feel at ease. He was sure Fumiko felt the same.

“Sure,” Sakuta said. “We can give it a try.”

Fumiko nodded her head slightly. “O-okay... If we'll do it t-together, then I'll give it a try as well.”

Yamato smiled at them. “Great.”