Harvested Yelough mushrooms were not perpetual sources of light. As early morning of the third day arrived in the Desolate Lands, the already dimly lit barracks became even dimmer as the stored energy inside the mushrooms kept being constantly depleted.
A figure moved silently through the chilly barracks, casting faint shadows on the surroundings and almost tiptoeing so as to not wake anyone up.
Meanwhile…
A naked Tara wrapped her legs around her Lord's upper body like a koala. Hiro's hips kept moving relentlessly, each of his powerful thrusts letting him penetrate her deeply with his massive member. The surroundings were blurry in Tara's vision.
Low moans occasionally escaped her lips. For some reason, she was trying her best to not make any noise. She did so by sealing her own mouth using Lord Hiro's. Even as they occasionally separated from their kisses, a thick thread of saliva seemed to connect their lips.
Eventually, Hiro unloaded his release inside her. A warm and wet sensation emanated from her lower abdomen. Hiro lowered Tara and laid her back down, but her hands were still wrapped around her Lord's neck.
What was he doing? She wanted more! More!
"It's time to train, Tara," he said instead of going for another round.
"Noo! I want more, don't stop," she muttered absent-mindedly in a low voice.
But Hiro seemed to be ignoring her words. He kept shaking her shoulders while repeating himself instead, an action which only increased Tara's annoyance.
"Tara, wake up. It is time for training."
Training? What is he talking about? Tara wondered in confusion. Then, she watched in horror as her Lord's face slowly started morphing into that of Starius!
What's going on!?
Tara's eyes abruptly shot open. She could see a certain figure kneeling a small distance away from her to the left. She quickly identified him to be Starius, and her rapidly beating heart finally calmed down.
It was a dream… Tara realized with both relief and disappointment.
"Good morning, Tara. Were you having a nightmare?" Starius whispered. Even amidst the dim light, he could see that his childhood friend had opened her eyes.
Nightmare? Tara thought, half amused and half panicking. She could feel that the region around her groin was uncomfortably wet.
I need to clean up, she thought urgently. But first…
"Good morning, Starius. We agreed to train today, didn't we? Did I oversleep?"
"No, it is still early morning. We have plenty of time for our training session," Starius replied reassuringly.
"Alright. Can you wait outside for a little bit? I'll make my bed and join you in a minute."
"Sure!"
After saying so, Starius got up and walked out. Very few people were awake at this time – mainly those on patrol duty and one person manning the Refugee Arrival Station. The temperature was quite low, chilly but not freezing. The snow-capped mountain adjacent to their settlement definitely contributed to such weather.
I wonder what Tara was dreaming about, Starius faintly muttered to himself. She had been sleep talking a little bit. His perceptive hearing could make out the phrases "more" and "don't stop."
After adopting the pose of an ancient philosopher and pondering deeply for a while, Starius arrived at the obvious conclusion.
She must've been training and sparring in her sleep! Starius thought with conviction and a happy smile. He was impressed by Tara's dedication to getting stronger and decided to help her seriously.
Meanwhile, inside the barracks, an embarrassed Tara desperately hoped that she hadn't been shouting something obscene in her sleep.
This is the first time I've had such a lewd dream! She thought while blushing furiously.
Before fully exiting her blanket, she used a towel to discreetly wipe the wetness in her lower region. She was feeling incredibly aroused right now. A part of her just wanted to skip training altogether, barge into Hiro's room and get thoroughly ravaged by him.
Another part of her was surprised that she was even capable of such shameless thoughts!
We haven't had sex for a single day and things have already come to this? Get a grip, Tara! She scolded herself.
Once she was done cleaning herself up, Tara sat up and pulled her hair together, tying it into her trademark ponytail with practiced efficiency. There was a vaguely sensual feel to her actions that many men would probably find mildly arousing if only they had the fortune of witnessing it themselves.
After quickly tidying up her makeshift mattress and neatly folding her blanket, Tara silently exited the barracks, trying not to wake the others up.
"Hey. Ready?" Starius smiled towards Tara and asked once he saw her emerge.
"Yeah!" Tara replied energetically, her voice staying cheerful despite her trying to keep a low volume. "Thanks for doing this by the way, Starius."
Starius merely snorted playfully. "Is our relationship shallow enough for you to thank me over something so trivial?"
"I guess not," Tara chuckled softly. After a brief pause, she asked, "So then, teacher Starius, what exactly are we going to do?"
When he was posed this question, Starius momentarily drew a blank. He was so excited about reuniting with Tara and being able to spend time with her again that he had completely forgotten to create a proper training plan for her. Not to mention, the previous day had been as exhausting as it had been exciting.
Training in Warnath had some significant differences compared to the training of athletes or martial artists back on Earth. The biggest difference is that people here did not place a lot of emphasis on building up a strong physical body.
After all, things like the strength, speed, and flexibility of a person's physique depended primarily on their Level, or more specifically, on their stats.
Yes, things like running or doing push-ups and other basic workouts would cause the XP gauge to slowly rise. But this was one of the most inefficient ways of obtaining XP known to mankind. Even killing a single monster at the Common Rarity would give more XP than exercising for several days, as long as the monster was at an appropriate level relative to the human.
Instead, in this world, training was about a person being able to more efficiently use the stats and skills of their Class.
Starius naturally had his own training regime taught to him by his Teacher, but having Tara blindly follow that training was probably not a good idea. The difference in their current strengths was quite huge after all. Tara had only reached Level 8 after the monster raid yesterday.
Even though he did not have a precise plan, Starius did not panic. He trusted in his own swordsmanship skills and teaching abilities. Coming up with an appropriate plan for Tara shouldn't be too difficult…
"First, let's take a few minutes to warm up properly. I can see that you're feeling quite cold right now. Having some heat in your muscles will make it much easier to move them effectively."
Tara nodded in agreement. "Shall we move away from the barracks?" She did not want to disturb the people who were still sleeping.
Starius was thinking along the same lines. They moved some distance away, into a relatively open space that would give them room to practice.
He dropped a few Yelough mushrooms on the ground for lighting. "I explained to the patrols that we're going to train here. Borrowed these mushrooms from them too."
After giving Tara a brief explanation, the pair got started with their training session.
In the meantime, Hiro, who had just risen from his sleep, used [Inspect Sense] to observe the actions of the duo with curious and intrigued eyes.