"It's better to let them know early. That way, they can give up early, too. They've been warned multiple times. But from here on out, it'll be ingrained upon them that what we do isn't for the faint of heart." ~Valor'el, on Shallies' training methods

Grace had overestimated herself.

What else is new?

The other two hadn't complained when Shallies had told them to run to the foot of the mountain. A carriage ride, on average speed, would take about ten to twenty minutes, depending on the animal. Running would be about five times that, if they were at full throttle the entire time.

Grace had never sprinted at full speed for that long. Not because she had never wanted to, but because it was simply impossible.

True, she had suspected it would be different, now that Shallies had bestowed on them her Mana Energy Skill. And as she ran, it was now showing what it was worth. She quickly understood what the Godkiller had meant, when she had said to 'find a balance'.

Even at Expert proficiency, the mana exchange into stamina wasn't a one-for-one trade. Or at least, it didn't feel like it. It had been at first, but Grace could feel each exchange gradually increasing, until it reached exponential amounts of mana cost. Her Doubled Minor Mana-Regeneration Food Buff couldn't keep up at all.

That was when Grace stopped using the Skill, and was hit by the impact of rushing fatigue. It felt like her body had betrayed her, and confusion quickly struck her mind.

Isn't Mana Energy supposed to convert my mana into my stamina? Why am I so suddenly tired?

"Grace, you okay?" Tayin's voice pulled the half-orc out of her stupor.

"What? How did I catch up?" Grace asked. She realized she'd stopped running. The other two were also taking a break, but they weren't as exhausted as she was.

"You realized it too, did you?" Ren asked, not exactly answering the half-orc's question. "The sudden mana cost increase, I mean."

"Yeah. It was asking for a fourth of my capacity!"

"I think we misunderstood the Skill's purpose," Tayin said. "It replaces stamina, the energy basically, but just like stamina, it doesn't push back the wear on our bodies in general. The more worn out we are, the more that eats at our stamina, and then it costs more mana to sustain."

"So if we train our actual physical endurance, it'll cost less mana overall?" Grace inquired, surprised at the spark of her own intuition.

"Makes sense, yeah."

Suddenly, screens appeared in front of them. Their System Consoles.

[Excuse me, I'm sure Shallies didn't mention it, but it's supposed to be a given that you're not allowed to stop running, unless you want to give up.]

Tayin, surprised, fell on her butt. Ren as well. And Grace, too, despite having realized what had happened.

I need to get used to this, don't I?

"What the hell!?" the halfling exclaimed, raising an arm to guard herself instinctually. "Wait… Why is my System Console talking like a person?"

"It is!" Ren said, not as scared as the other one.

"Stachie!" Grace proclaimed. "Stop surprising us like that!"

[How else am I supposed to show up? I'll have to make an appearance anyway, since I need to congratulate you all. Congratulations, Grace, Tayin, and Ren, for integrating with Shallies' Mentor System. My name is Stachie. I'm the Godkiller's personal System Assistant.]

[While she is not personally monitoring you all the entire time, I am capable of doing so in her place. And I shall step in whenever I feel the need, in order to help, assist, or correct whatever it is that you're doing. I'll try to not be annoying in doing so, but there's probably no helping with that.]

Beneath the words of the System Console was a digital drawing of Shallies' face winking at them with a cheerful smile. The imitation looked ridiculous. Grace had never seen the Godkiller do such a knowing wink, and seeing it now in this form made her giggle.

"That's amazing!" Tayin said, looking at the half-orc. "Did you know about this?"

"Yeah." Grace turned towards the screen. "Sorry, I forgot about you, Stachie."

[It's okay,] replied the System Assistant. [It tends to happen. I won't take it personally.]

"Nice to meet you, Stachie," Ren said, and Tayin quickly said the same.

[Nice to meet you all, as well. In favor of our first meeting, I'll allow you all to take a breather and try running again. But no more breaks after that.]

"Fair enough," said the halfling. "Did we get it right though? The Mana Energy, I mean."

[Yes. You got a part of it right. Mana will be used instead of stamina, but it will not stave off your bodily fatigue. You must learn to balance using both resources.]

"We can track our mana far better than our stamina, because we see a certain visual of it if we tap into our Mana-Affinity," Ren said, nodding along. "I see, so this exercise is also learning about our stamina, endurance, and fatigue as much as it is getting used to the Skill."

[That's technically how you get used to your new Skill, yes. And yes, developing your physical endurance is a big part of this. The longer it naturally takes you to wear out, the more efficient it'll be for your stamina, and the less mana you'll spend overall.]

"There are certain Skills that improve stamina, right?" Grace wondered.

"There are," Ren and Tayin said.

[There are,] Stachie said at the same time. [Physical endurance, too. That reminds me, now that you're Shallies' students, you'll have more Skills available for you to learn with Skill Points than your peers.]

"What!?" Everyone almost shouted at their screens in unison.

[Yes. It's part of your perks as students. And because you're students of the Godkiller, those perks are elevated to far beyond what's widely known.]

"Can we see?" Tayin asked, jumping back up on her feet. "Please? Is that something the Great System Assistant can do?"

[Technically, it's possible. But because Shallies didn't use her authority about this rule, which is a rule against knowing all available Skills for a Class ahead of time, I'm not in any position to do it for any of you. At least, not without bothering other authorities. And that can put us in certain risks or precarious situations.]

"Huh? Why didn't Shallies use her authority on that?" Grace asked. "Or however that works. It seems like a very advantageous thing to have!"

[Because Shallies gets all the Skills of the Class she wants to level up eventually anyway. Her authority as a Godkiller makes it so that she instantly fulfills all the requirements. Even the hidden ones. So they become available to her as soon as possible.]

"Wait," Ren started. "So we're not just getting access to Skills early, but we're also getting access to Skills that shouldn't be technically accessible without Shallies' favor?"

[Yes and no. Favored Class holders will actually also have access to them, because they're backed by a god. This fact actually now applies to all three of you—]

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"Wait, what!?" all three of them exclaimed at the same time once again.

"I feel like this is something Shallies is supposed to tell us, eventually," Grace commented.

[Technically, yes. But I'm just spending a bit of time, so you guys can learn something while you're taking a break. Shallies already gave me permission to talk about this.]

"Oh… All good, then."

[Yes. As I was saying, some Skills require the backing of a god, not the Class holder's Level, or tier, or Skill Proficiency, or whatever else. Of course, a lot of these still require those things, and will not be available to you. But some only really require the backing of a god or earlier levels or tiers, or whatever else. Those, will be available for you as soon as you meet their early requirements.]

"So it's a Skill that only requires a Base Class, for example, but it's locked because the Base Class has no backing of a god?" Tayin inquired. She was being thorough.

[Same as for every tier or level, yes.]

"That's crazy!"

[We've been told that many times before, yes.] Stachie made a cheering imitation of Shallies, complete with arms raised and going from side to side, as if she was dancing. [Now that you know all of that, I think it's time for everyone to resume running.]

"Alright! I'm feeling motivated!" Tayin said, stretching. "I'm winning this, and getting that prize!"

"Just because you have the most mana out of all of us, don't think it'll be easy," Ren said, preparing to run as well.

"I'm not going to lose that easily, either!" Grace proclaimed and did a few squats to loosen up her legs.

[Alright! Everyone ready? Set! Go!]

They were off once again.

Tayin won the marathon.

Shallies waited for the halfling to finish, while the other two rested on the side of the road beside her. They had done a lap each, but Tayin was pushing for her second.

"Yes! I did it! Two laps!" Tayin proclaimed before falling on the street.

"Sit up, Tayin. You'll hurt your head."

"What's my prize?" asked the halfling, pulling herself up.

Shallies opened her System Console and delivered her prize.

[Congrats, Tayin!] Stachie began, opening a second System Console near the halfling. [Your mentor has awarded you with Good Job Experience Points!]

Tayin narrowed her eyes as she looked up how much she earned from it. "It's not much," she said.

"That's a predetermined amount."

"When do we get more?"

"You can get Good Job Experience Points once a day. Some mentors just give them away on a daily basis, but I'll make you three work for it."

Shallies produced three potent mana potions from her Class Inventory. "Good job, everyone. Now drink this and use as much mana as you can to recover your bodies."

"Wait, I thought we couldn't push back the wear?" Grace asked.

"You can, if you can pay for it," Shallies clarified. "Concentrate on the Skill, channel your Focus. You should be able to have a feel for how much mana it requires."

The three closed their eyes for a few seconds and opened them in shock at the same time.

"Oh my, that's absurd!" Tayin exclaimed. "That's half my mana pool!"

"That's my entire pool!" Ren complained.

"About three-fourths of mine," Grace added. "That's crazy!"

"That's because you all worked yourself to the bone," Shallies said, lifting a finger. "It technically costs a lot more, yes, and it's overall a negative sum, if you don't have the proper Skills for Mana-Regeneration and endurance. That's why you have these potions to help you out while you're working on getting those Skills."

The three instantly recovered after consuming the mana potions. They each had their absurd reactions, of course. And Shallies was amused by them, as usual. She was impressed too. She hadn't mentioned any of it, but the ability to accurately gauge one's own costs, the Mana Energy in this case, wasn't something a lot of people could do so early.

She had expected Tayin to be somewhere close. Grace to be a little far off. And for Ren to be completely unable to do so. So when all three of them had accurately pinpointed their own costs, she felt a surge of anticipation.

It was a huge sign that their foundations were steady and well developed. A sign that no one had skipped anything to get where they were. And for Grace, specifically, a sign that she was indeed gifted, and that the trance she had entered into last time was no fluke.

"All good?" Shallies asked the group. "The potion has a potent regenerative effect, so you should still have some spare mana."

"I'm full," Ren reported.

"Same," Grace added.

"About half," Tayin finished.

"Great. Let's get going then." Shallies clapped her hands. "To the field!"

The strongest reactions she got from it were confusion and wonder. No complaints at all. They were no longer tired in the first place. That was all well and good, but Shallies noted that she had to teach them eventually not to overly rely on Mana Energy. A contradictory concept, for sure, but nothing could actually beat a normal, natural rest in terms of recovering from built-up fatigue.

For now, however, it was time to hammer in their training regimen for the week and the next. On the field was one training dummy. A fully fresh one, not the one Gar had beaten up to a pulp.

"So we're fighting a training dummy?" Tayin asked. "I thought for sure we were sparring with you."

"There will be a time for that," Shallies pointed out. "Whether consciously or subconsciously, knowing that I'm the Godkiller will inflict a certain stigma to how you'll approach a spar with me. If you win, you'll think that I took it easy on you. If I win, it'll be only natural."

"But I was fine when I was sparring with you," Grace interjected. "And I knew even then that you're the Godkiller."

"Because you had a certain objective in mind. That's what I meant when I said there'll be a time for you to spar with me." Shallies leaned on the training dummy, facing all of them. "If there are things we need to focus on, to improve in preparation for something in specific, I will be personally involved in your training. It'll be easier to direct you that way. For now, because we're just trying to improve your combat abilities in general, you'll have to deal with this guy."

"What's the goal, then?" Ren asked.

Shallies shrugged at that. "Destroy it, or subdue it, or just fight it until you get tired. You only have one dummy to fight at a time for today. I'll increase it as I see fit, but that'll be for the next day. And again, no consumables. You can use your Class Equipment, of course."

With that, the party readied themselves. In a quick flash of light, everyone was in armor and had their weapons and shields at the ready.

Shallies stepped away from the dummy. "You may begin."

Right away, the training dummy opened with a Crashing Roar.

Grace struggled on the ground, clutching her ears as she tried to get the ringing out of her head. After the dummy roared, her sight had blurred and she had quickly lost her balance. Her brain was having difficulty in understanding what was happening to the rest of her.

She felt someone help her up and pat her cheeks. It helped her recover somehow.

"Good," Tayin said. "We need to fight. If it does another Crashing Roar, make sure you push mana into your ears. It'll help you lessen its effect."

"It's practically Gar!" Ren said, his shield raised to stop the dummy from making any progress. With a sudden push, he tried to shove the giantkin's smaller mannequin form, but it refused to budge. "He's just as strong!"

Gar-mannequin made a guttural roar and pushed back, reaching across the shield and mimicking the same maneuver that his real-life counterpart had done before in the Adventurer's Guild Hall. This time, however, Ren had no reason to hesitate. He swung with his sword, intending to slice off the dummy's arm.

It got stuck in the fake muscle, the same way the Wroth Fell would've taken the hit.

Grace quickly got up on her feet and said the incantation for Haste. In a blink, she was on top of Gar-mannequin's head, her Mana-Edge +3 blazing to life as she swung it into his neck.

To her disbelief, her blade of concentrated mana didn't pass through the dummy's neck in the same way it had with the drillbull before. Her surprise made her pause for too long, letting a backhanded fist graze her lips and nose. The impact alone made the half-orc spin, but she gritted her teeth and recovered before falling to the ground completely, wiping away the blood from her mouth.

The moment of distraction allowed Ren to put all his effort into chopping off the dummy's arm. And it also allowed Tayin to finish her Time Slow. Grace took her chance, investing a hefty amount of mana into using Mana Slash, completely beheading the mannequin.

The realization hit the half-orc just as the dummy went on its knees before completely falling on the grass. She let go of her Mana-Edge.

"This doesn't feel right," she began, looking at her own hands. "It's like I just killed someone…"

She turned to Shallies. She was stoic.

"What if I tell you that some monsters can look like humans?" she began. "Some of them can even look like your loved ones. Are you going to hesitate?"

The Godkiller walked and picked up the Mana-Edge, offering it back to Grace. She looked at it like it was some horrifying murder weapon, but Shallies repeated the motion, insisting.

"You choose who you fight, Grace," the Godkiller started. "When someone's life rests in your hands, then it's you who'll make that choice. Whatever ideals or morals you have, you should stand by them and decide on your own. If killing doesn't go well with your stomach, then it's another reason for you to get stronger."

"Stronger?"

"If you're strong enough, you won't have to fight anyone to the death."

Grace clung on that as she took her weapon from Shallies' hand. The bloody imagination swimming in her head didn't go away. She knew it wasn't real. But she was faced with a very real question.

Do I have what it takes to end someone's life?

The half-orc saw Shallies smile.

"Take your time, Grace. The world out there isn't forgiving. But you don't have to face them now. All you can do is prepare. And all I can do is to help you prepare."

The Godkiller pulled one more mannequin.

"I will keep testing your resolve," she said to everyone. "But I will never tell you to quit. If you can't endure this training, if you can't swallow this truth, and if you can't agree to these methods, then you'll have to leave yourselves.

"You all know what I'm preparing you for. And you all know what they can do isn't limited by your imaginations. If these mad gods find weaknesses in your hearts, they'll stop at nothing to exploit it. If a dummy mimicking Gar can make you hesitate or regret your actions, what will a more realistic illusion do to you?"

Grace didn't have to say it. She tightened her grip on her Mana-Edge and ran her mana through it. Her eyes were focused on the mannequin. She felt Ren and Tayin take her sides, preparing to fight again.

Shallies nodded once. "Before that, though…"

[Congrats, Grace! Shallies has awarded you with Good Job Experience Points! Don't let her words get you down! I believe in you!]

Grace sighed, but accepted the experience. "Thank you."

She saw Shallies sigh as well before stepping away from the new training dummy.

"Begin."

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