The First Real Training.

After lunch was over, the maids collected and brought away the dishes and the used tableware. A knight came and brought the summoned heroes to the training ground.

It appeared that Meld had finished preparing their equipment and wanted them to get there.

After the heroes arrived at the training ground, the summoned heroes saw many knights and court mages already there. Moreover, they saw the equipment that the knights and mages had prepared for them.

"Okay! Everyone, listen!" Meld shouted to get the attention of everyone.

After they all turned their attention to him, Meld continued, "We'll share the equipment we took out from the Royal Treasury with you guys! When your name and job are called out, head to those two guys!"

Meld pointed to a knight in shining armor and a robed male mage standing in front of the piled-up equipment. They nodded at the heroes who turned their heads towards them.

Meld then continued, "They will give you the right equipment for you! Now, Let's start! First, Kouki! Job, Hero!"

Kouki went to the pair and got his equipment before moving away. Some knights approached Kouki to help him don his equipment.

Because of his Hero Job, many knights approached Kouki, and it started an argument between them, which made Kouki perplexed. Those knights finally stopped arguing after Meld rebuked them.

One by one, Meld mentioned the names of the summoned heroes and their Jobs. When someone's turn came, that person immediately went to get their equipment.

Like what happened with Kouki, some knights or mages would help them set up their equipment. If it was a girl, the knights and mages that helped out were women.

The mages had even prepared some makeshift dressing rooms. It appeared that they had used earth magic to raise earth walls.

The summoned heroes all realized the thoughtfulness of Meld and others. They were grateful for that, even Rob.

When it was his turn, the Knight and Mage pair couldn't perceive Rob even though he stood in front of them. They only realized his presence after he had called out to them, startling them so much.

That caused the knight to grab the handle of his sword. Meanwhile, the mage pointed his staff at Rob, who just looked at the flustered knight and mage with a flat gaze.

Of course, that incident grabbed the other heroes' attention. However, it wasn't anything new to them, so they returned to their things.

After the knight and mage pair helped Rob to get his equipment, apologizing to him profusely all the while, Rob went away to try his gear in one of the dressing rooms for the boys.

'This looks like the same equipment the original Kousuke wore in the anime,' Rob remarked inwardly when he checked his equipment.

After changing to a long-sleeved black top and black loose pants with many pockets, Rob came out of the dressing room. He noticed his stats rising as he felt his body getting lighter and more powerful.

When he checked his Status Plate, Rob found that his Strength, Defense, Vitality, and Agility had increased by 5~10%.

'I wonder how much the increase if I wear everything,' Rob thought while pocketing his Status Plate.

After that, Rob searched for some free knights to help him put up the rest of his gear.

However, Rob surprised some knights when he called out to them. They also tried to attack him like the Knight and Mage pair that gave him the equipment.

After experiencing such a thing many times, Rob felt tired. He had enough and decided to ignore the overreaction of other people for his 'sudden appearance' shtick.

After the heroes wore their gear, they split up and had a knight or a mage personally tutor them.

Putting the other heroes aside, Rob learned what kind of exercise would raise his physical stats efficiently. Besides that, he also learned how to use a short sword, a pair of daggers, and some throwing weapons.

Rob and the rest of the summoned heroes practiced until Meld concluded their first training session around 3 pm. After that, they all left the training ground, sweaty and tired.

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A week had passed since Rob Freeman woke up as Kousuke Endou. He and the other heroes had been through a lot in the past week.

Let's talk about what they've been up to over the past week. First of all, the summoned heroes had settled into their new daily routine in the world of Tortus.

Their routine started in the early morning. After waking up, the heroes all would have a workout for a while to warm up.

At the same time, the castle maids would prepare the banquet hall where the heroes would have breakfast and gather.

By the way, this banquet hall had become the place where the heroes gathered together.

Once their light workout and warm-up were over, the heroes had breakfast. After breakfast, they had free time until around 8 am, at which the morning training session with the knights and the court mages started.

From about 8 am until around 11 am, the knights and mages would guide them through their practices. By the way, various activities to improve their skills recently filled their morning training session.

The heroes with combat-oriented Jobs had finished learning the basics to use their weapons a few days ago. To be precise, on the third day since their training started. Beyond that, they only needed to hone their technique individually.

Those with some Weapon Proficiency Skills had acquired 'talent' for the weapon associated with their skills. This talent turned them into a sort of genius.

They quickly became more proficient with weapons appointed to them by their Skills even without active and direct guidance from the knights. Hence, they would have a 'gut feeling' to tell them that they'd made a mistake and how to correct it.

Let's use this example to give you an image of how broken such a Skill is: Hajime and Rob (or anyone with the sword proficiency skill) in learning how to use a sword. Hajime had to work hard to get the basics done, while Rob didn't have to work as hard as Hajime but could still improve faster.

By the way, the Assassination Techniques Skill Rob had included proficiency in using a sword. Hence, he didn't need to struggle like Hajime.

Besides that, the more one honed such a Skill, the better the effect. In addition, such a Skill also gave bonus damage against the target when attacking with the predetermined weapons.

In a sense, that kind of Skill was cheating.

Anyway, Rob and the other heroes with close combat-oriented Jobs had to spar against the knights. They started to do so after completing the basics of wielding their weapon.

A student had asked Meld why they had to do that. According to Meld, sparring would help them refine their skills better because they were under pressure.

At that time, Meld said, "There's no better teacher than experience! You will get better under pressure! Go on! Don't worry! My colleagues won't hurt you too much!"

Please pay attention to "won't hurt you too much." That meant the knights still hurt the students even if it wasn't too much.

Anyway, the students with close combat-oriented Jobs had to spar against the knights every day to hone their skills. It also applied to female students.

Compared to boys, the girls who had such a Job were small in numbers. However, the only one who bravely sparred against the knights was Shizuku.

Granted, Shizuku grew up learning swordplay from her family. Therefore, she didn't really have a problem like other girls, who still had some problems with violence.

By the way, the current Shizuku wasn't aware that the Kenjutsu Dojo of her family was just a front, and it was actually a ninja school.

Back on topic, her bravery, combined with her skill in using her scimitar, made Shizuku quite respected and admired by the knights. Especially the female ones.

That even caused Shizuku's fanbase to grow in this world as it did on Earth.

Rob, in fact, had heard several female knights refer to Shizuku as 'Elder Sister' without Shizuku's knowledge. It happened when he took a stroll around the castle under the effect of Presence Isolation.

Therefore, the Cul- ahem! The Sisterhood of the Soul Sisters had spread their wings in the world of Tortus!

Well, it wasn't Rob's problem, though.

By the way, while the heroes with close combat-oriented Jobs sparred against the knights, the ones with magic-oriented Jobs had to hone their spellcasting abilities and aims. They did so under the guidance of the Court Mages.

Apart from fighting and training, they had killed monsters for the first time a few days ago.

The heroes were shaken and even broke down once they had done the deed. Even the tough guys were affected, Rob included.

The girls, well, they openly sobbed. Only a rare few seemed to hold themselves up, such as Shizuku.

However, Rob bet that Shizuku was bawling inside as she was so pale like paper while helping the crying Suzu Taniguchi. Meanwhile, Kaori surprisingly seemed better than Shizuku as she helped Eri Nakamura.

Yeah, Rob was surprised when he saw Eri's shaken state, which seemed genuine.

Rob couldn't believe it. After all, he knew that Eri was crazy.

Aiko, too, was quietly sobbing as she'd taken a life in cold blood like everyone else. Indeed, all heroes had gone through it no matter their Jobs.

It finally dawned in the heroes' minds that they had to murder living beings. No matter how they tried to justify it, they murdered those monsters in cold blood.

They hadn't defended themselves from the monsters as the knights and mages had restrained them. The monsters they'd killed were rabbits, monkeys, and wolves that were bigger than the ones that existed on Earth.

It had upset the heroes. It doesn't matter if it's a non-sentient monster. However, they became better at dealing with it as they got desensitized.

Yes, Meld had kept making the heroes kill monsters every day until they got desensitized.

The heroes ended up justifying their actions with excuses like "they were just monsters!" or "at least, they weren't people!" to ease their guilt and pain.