Sunday ends in a completely relaxed manner otherwise. We have dinner and then go back to sleep. I haven't shown them the garden yet, as I was still working a bit on the lighting. The next morning, we eat a little something for breakfast, then we head into the garden. Everyone except Kira is astonished by what I did yesterday while everyone else was relaxing. We go to the training field, which stands in the back. Around it is small floor lighting that glows at night.
"Wow, this looks wonderful," Suri says with shining eyes. I smile happily at this compliment. After I have prepared everything with self-restoring straw dolls, everyone is first supposed to use their entire mana on these straw dolls. Milo starts by shooting at the straw doll with various elements, but even with his strongest attacks, he cannot destroy it. Then the others try it too, but no one manages. Afterward, I lower the defense of the individual straw dolls.
"Alright, Milo, you attack the straw doll first." Milo nods at this command and gets into a combat stance. This time he wants to try it with daggers coated in fire. He takes only one step and tries to imitate me, but he only makes it halfway, which leads him to simply run normally toward the straw dolls. Nevertheless, with an inhuman speed, he cuts through the straw dolls with effort. I start to clap delightedly while he comes to me with a broad smile on his face. The others also try to destroy the straw dolls. Suri with elemental arrows, Luna with simple magic, Lilly with her greatsword surrounded by a layer of ice, and Kira destroys them with a healing cut, where she can decide whether it heals or kills. A kind of instant death if this cut hits you. Except that it depends on the defense; if it is exactly as high as hers, it is a 100 percent death, but if the defense is higher, it neither kills nor injures.
I nod with satisfaction. The next day, I select an assignment for each of them that is feasible for them alone. For Luna, with her magic and her rapier, I need an assignment based on speed and precision. Therefore, I go to the receptionist, who looks at me grimly.
"Um, hello, I would need an assignment based on precision and speed." The receptionist looks at me grimly and then at my companions. He nods while pulling out a task.
"Here, you have to kill a Speedsnake. Anyone who knows their way around a bit knows how small and fast those bastards can be. But first: adventurer pass," the man at the reception says. We show him our adventurer passes. Afterward, I tell him the remaining assignments I need for the others. Then I let everyone go to their tasks and relax a little.
"I actually need to train too, but how?" I mutter quietly to myself. The man from the reception looks at me.
"You're that alleged hero... do you want to train? Come with me, then maybe I can help you," the man says with an interested smile. I look at him briefly in confusion.
"Oh okay, um, where do you want to let me train?" I still look at him a bit questioningly, whereupon he points to a door with a sign above it: Training Ground. Next to it is a shield symbol, which is meant to show that this shield is of God Class.
"Oh, a God Class protective shield? has anyone ever broken it?" I ask, eager for a positive answer. For if that were the case, they would have to be as strong as a three-quarter god, which is a human or being that has the power of a three-quarter god. At this point in time, I should have twice as much as Thor, the weakest god. At that moment, however, I don't know what is currently happening with the gods. On the day Kronus returns, a bright glow appears in the gods' chamber, which enters every single god, and at that point, I have no idea what is going on with them. I go to the training ground, which is surrounded by this protective shell.
"Why aren't you answering my question?"
"Okay, you won't let it go, but the answer is simple: Yes, 200 years ago, there was one who broke the barrier," he replies to my persistent question. I look at the ground in disappointment. It's a shame for someone who is relatively strong and wants to train that such a person is no longer alive. I train the entire day while waiting for the others. Milo is the first to return from his assignment. His task was to wipe out a small band of assassins or deliver them to the nearby guards. He chose the simple version and just killed them. I let him train for a bit while I rest in a corner. From time to time, the others return as well, while I sleep peacefully in the corner. They just let me sleep while they train in peace. After some time, I wake up, but I pretend to be asleep to let them continue training.
"Milo, what do you think about Min?" Lilly asks with a cheerful yet questioning expression while wasting her last bit of mana.
"He is strong, kind, and always there for you, but somehow there is a void in him. As if something were missing, as if an emotion had vanished that he is currently only faking," Milo replies to her question. He is not entirely wrong with what he says. I really do fake my emotion of joy every now and then. There has been only one moment where I was truly happy since the business with the Star Orc Lord. I stop pretending to be asleep and stand behind Lilly.
"Yeah, I think so too, but sometimes he is also really mean."
"Who is sometimes mean?" I ask with a small smirk on my face. Lilly turns around slowly with a fearful smile and gives a forced laugh.
"No one, Min, no one."
"Ah, okay." I pretend I didn't hear it. After a short time, we go home again. The next day proceeds exactly like Monday. Only on Friday is there something new again. On Friday morning, we eat breakfast first and then go out of the house to the combat field.
"Alright, we are starting with the mini-tournament I came up with," I say while everyone lines up. I announce the entire sequence of the fights, which are five in total, though only three where everyone competes for the first time. In the first fight, it's Milo and Lisa's turn.
"Alright, get into combat readiness," I say encouragingly while they take their combat positions. I hold my hand straight up and create a small fireball, which I then fire off. As soon as it explodes, the fight begins. The fireball explodes. Milo and Lisa run toward each other while we sit on the benches I created just last night. Milo pulls out only one of his two daggers at first, while Lisa pulls out both of hers.
"You will regret underestimating me." Lisa looks at Milo with a confident smile. Milo hesitates briefly and then takes out his second dagger as well. Lisa and Milo strike at each other without thinking, but each parries every single blow. Both leap back a step and take a quick breath.
"How can he hold out so long? I thought he was weak, since he hasn't been in this world for that long," Lisa thinks while running at Milo again. This time Milo is slower.
"Shit, I have to dodge," Milo thinks while trying to parry the second strike. Exactly at the moment Lisa almost catches Milo, he ducks quickly, causing Lisa to lose her balance and fly forward. But she catches herself with her index finger and cuts Milo slightly on the back. I raise my hand.
"Stop, the fight is over. Lisa wins this fight. Kira, heal Milo quickly and then go to the combat area. Luna and Kira, you will compete next," I say. Kira goes to Milo and heals him quickly. Then she stands opposite Luna, who had stretched briefly while Kira was healing Milo. I create the fireball again, which flies into the air and explodes. Kira remains standing calmly in one spot, while Luna runs at Kira with her rapier. Kira casts a reinforcement spell and then draws the one dagger I gave her yesterday. She skillfully dodges Luna's thrusts and then goes for a strike herself. Luna's T-shirt is slightly grazed, but as long as there is no injury, no one has won. Luna quickly recovers. She leaps back a step to avoid being hit. Kira remains persistent and pursues her. Luna stands at the edge of the combat field. "Dammit, leaving the combat field also leads to a victory for the opponent," Luna thinks. She jumps up and back into the center of the field. Kira notices quickly enough and casts a wind-blast spell, which flings Luna out of the combat field. Luna lands in the pool I built here on the first day.
"What? Kira actually won that? Unbelievable," Lilly says in surprise, while she and Suri are already facing each other on the combat field. I let the fight begin again, and both remain standing for a short time at first. Lilly slowly takes her greatsword from her back. Suri uses the disadvantage of the heavy sword and fires a hundred arrows at Lilly in just five seconds; Lilly wants to use her sword as a shield at the same moment, but only a single arrow grazes her.
"The fight is over, Suri has won and thus achieved the fastest victory," I say with a loud clap. But in the first tournament, all fights go very quickly since they are all still very weak. Only Lisa has something to show, just as it is with Milo. Kira heals Lilly quickly, then goes to her position opposite Lisa.
"Alright, are you ready?" I initiate the fight, whereupon both charge at each other. This time Kira casts reinforcement on her movement, then quickly draws her dagger. Lisa is about to strike when Kira parries at the last moment. Lisa quickly leaps back a step to avoid getting an injury. Lisa takes a quick breath. She takes just one step forward, disappears, and reappears exactly behind Kira. She is about to strike when Kira suddenly disappears.
"Where did she go?" Lisa looks around in confusion. Kira suddenly appears behind her with a stabbing motion.
"How simple-minded, you will regret that, my dear," Lisa says confidently. Lisa kicks the dagger out of her hand and then incapacitates her by holding both of her daggers to her throat.
"Alright, Lisa wins for the second time," I say with a cheerful face. We already prepare the next fight: Suri against Lisa. The two are already standing at their positions. I let the fight begin. Suri immediately draws her bow while Lisa is already running at her. I look closely, and there I see a decisive point that is important for the end, and only one person knows about it. Suri starts firing 200 arrows in 10 seconds, but every single arrow is skillfully deflected by Lisa, sometimes with a dagger or sometimes with acrobatics. Lisa finally reaches Suri. Suri stumbles as she dodges. "Dammit, there was an uneven edge here from the last fight," Suri murmurs, but she doesn't notice that it is an advantage for her. Lisa stumbles over Suri's leg and falls down. The arrow I saw behind Lisa at the very beginning, which Suri had placed invisibly while Lisa was distracted, moves behind Lisa again without her noticing. I only smile slightly and look at the ground. No matter how strong Lisa is, against someone who is strategically stronger than oneself, you simply don't have a great chance. Lisa is about to start running when the arrow grazes her from behind. I finally raise my hand.
"And with that, Suri officially wins this tournament. Applause for that!" I say with a concluding voice. "I lost... dammit, I have to get stronger," Lisa thinks with a frustrated face. Everyone claps joyfully while Lisa retreats to her room. We notice it, but we leave her alone, as it was already clear to me that she would be disappointed, since she actually thinks quite highly of herself. We go back inside, as it will soon be evening again. I go into the kitchen and start making food. I finish, and we begin to eat. After the meal, we go to sleep. On Monday, there is normal training again like on Monday, and on Sunday, everyone goes to do something else in the city.