The sun hadn't even touched the rooftops when the rookies rose.
There was no groaning this time. No dragging feet. Just quiet movement in the dawn, the kind born not from eagerness, but from resolve.
Selena was first, brushing her long silver hair in the mirror before tying it into a simple braid. She moved quietly to avoid waking the others, but to her surprise, Rika was already by the sink, splashing cold water over her face.
"You awake too?" Selena asked, drying her face with a towel.
"Couldn't sleep much anyway," Rika said, brushing her ponytail into place.
Rika: "Might as well not waste the time."
Moments later, the rest followed.
Lio looked groggy but awake, yawning as he carried both of his sisters back to their room before joining the others. Yuzu shuffled out of the washroom with toothpaste still on her chin. Hina emerged last, robes neat and movements graceful despite the lingering soreness in her leg.
One by one, they bathed, brushed, and dressed.
There were no arguments. No complaints.
Only the quiet sound of effort.
By the time the sun's edge broke over Silverhaven's tiled roofs, the table was set. A simple breakfast of bread, boiled eggs, and sliced fruit. Nothing fancy. But it was enough.
They sat down together. All six of them, rookies no longer playing pretend.
Even Greenie, the green slime, had a spot at the corner of the table on a cushioned stool. He bounced happily next to Lio, mimicking him by holding a piece of bread in his gooey little hands, even if it only squished through his body.
"Eat everything," Selena said, glancing around. "We need strength."
"Don't forget water," Hina added softly. "Hydration helps recovery."
Yuzu smiled faintly. "We're starting to sound like real adventurers…"
Lio grinned. "You mean boring?"
"No," Rika said flatly. "I mean alive."
After breakfast, they moved to the backyard.
The grass was dewy beneath their boots, and the training posts stood ready. A few wooden dummies had been set up in rows. Straw-stuffed targets. Crude but effective.
Red stood in the middle of the field, arms crossed, as if he'd been waiting for them since the night before.
He glanced at the sky.
Red: "You're late."
Lio blinked. "But the sun just..."
Red: "You're still late."
They all stood straighter.
Red pointed at the posts. "Formation training. No weapons. Bare hands only. Focus is on positioning and teamwork."
Rika raised an eyebrow. "Hand-to-hand combat? Isn't that kind of… primitive?"
Red ignored her. "Your body is your first weapon. If you can't move in formation without gear, you'll collapse under pressure with it."
Yuzu shifted nervously. "Wh-what if we're not good at… hitting things?"
"Then you'll learn to not get hit." Red pointed again. "Now. Pair off."
They hesitated.
"Selena and Lio," Red ordered. "Frontline. Yuzu and Rika, flanks. Hina, center."
The rookies moved into place as told, facing the rows of dummies.
"Today's lesson," Red said, walking between them, "is spacing, rotation, and fallback."
He tapped each of their shoulders in turn.
Red: "Selena, block. Lio, strike. If one of you falls, rotate left. If both fall, Yuzu and Rika move forward."
He gestured to Hina. "Your job is to stay alive. If the healer falls, the team dies."
Hina nodded solemnly.
Greenie gave a tiny salute.
Red stepped back. "Begin."
Selena moved forward, raising her arms defensively like a shield. Lio followed beside her, fists up in a loose stance. They faced the wooden dummies and struck.
It was clumsy at first.
Lio's punches glanced off. Selena's blocking was stiff. Yuzu almost tripped stepping into position, and Rika got frustrated when her left arm hit the wrong target.
"Too slow," Red called. "Again."
They reset.
Red: "Too wide a gap. Tighten formation."
Again.
Red: "Yuzu, stop staring at Lio. He's not going to propose."
Yuzu squeaked. "I-I wasn't—!"
Red: "Again."
They trained until sweat soaked their backs.
When Lio's leg cramped, Selena stepped in.
When Rika stumbled, Yuzu caught her arm without hesitation.
When Hina misjudged spacing, she adjusted without complaint the next time.
By midday, they were panting, sore, and half-covered in dirt, but their spacing had improved.
Red walked among them, offering short, precise corrections.
"Step with your rear foot first, not your front."
"Block at a diagonal. Never straight."
"Stay in arm's reach of the person beside you."
By the time the sun was overhead, the rookies collapsed to the grass in a heap of limbs and groans.
"That…" Lio gasped, "wasn't... even real combat..."
"It was worse," Yuzu wheezed.
"My everything hurts," Rika muttered.
Red dropped a flask of water between them. "Drink. Ten minutes. Then we go again."
They stared at him like he'd grown a third sword.
"You're joking," Lio said.
Red's expression didn't move.
He wasn't joking.
They got up.
The second half of training was worse, not because of intensity, but because Red added something new: sync movement drills.
Red: "Team A, forward three steps. Shift left. Rear guard, fall back. Frontline rotate."
It was like a choreographed dance with no music and plenty of stepping on toes.
But the more they did it, the cleaner it became.
By late afternoon, they were tired, but not broken.
Red called a halt.
The rookies stood in loose formation, sweat-soaked, panting, but upright.
"Not bad," Red said finally.
It felt like the highest praise they'd received in weeks.
"You have the basics," he added. "That's more than most."
Then, to their surprise, he turned to the side of the yard and pulled out something behind a bush.
A crate.
Red opened it.
Inside were several rows of training dummies made of straw and wood, with painted faces and red dots marked across their "vitals."
Greenie bounced toward them with excitement.
"Tomorrow," Red said,
Red: "you begin live formation combat. With wooden weapons. Rotations will be under time pressure. Anyone who breaks rank, gets the stick."
He produced a long training rod and tapped it on his palm.
The rookies gulped.
But none of them backed down.
"Dismissed," Red said, stepping back.
The rookies bowed slightly, then limped their way back into the house.
Inside, they cleaned themselves, properly this time. Selena helped Yuzu clean her scrapes. Rika showed Lio how to ice his shoulder. Hina made tea from the herbs she'd gathered and passed it around without being asked.
Dinner was simple again.
Boiled eggs, brown rice, salted fish.
No complaints. No waste.
Even Greenie ate something, or tried to, before spitting it out dramatically and flopping over.
Laughter followed. A small one, but real.
That night, as they cleaned the dishes, Yuzu spoke first.
Yuzu: "Today felt… good."
Lio nodded. "Painful. But yeah."
Rika crossed her arms. "We're still not strong."
"But we're getting there," Selena added.
Hina looked out the window toward the training yard.
Hina: "Red said tomorrow we fight."
Yuzu smiled faintly. "Then let's not waste today."
And for the first time, when they went to bed…
They were ready for tomorrow.