Ashton woke up early, he was somewhat anticipating for the day ahead. He had joined the Demon Slaying Squad - well, the Prepatory Team at least, but it's all the same and today was his first day on the job. He quickly got dressed and headed down to the Adventurer's Guild, where the squad was based.
As he entered the guild, he saw a group of people gathered around a table, talking animatedly. They looked up as he walked in, and one of them stepped forward to greet him.
"Welcome, Ashton," said the tall, muscular man. "My name is Roderick. I'm the leader of the Prepatory Team 7."
Ashton nodded in greeting, taking in the man's impressive physique and no-nonsense demeanor.
"Nice to meet you, Team Leader," he said, his voice sounding neither servile nor arrogant.
Roderick chuckled. "Don't worry, you'll do just fine. Let me introduce you to the rest of the team."
He gestured to the others gathered around the table.
"This is Kaida," he said, indicating a petite woman with short, spiky hair. "She's our resident Fire Mage because specializes in fire magic, so she'll be a big help in taking down any demons that come our way."
Kaida smiled at Ashton, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Nice to meet you," she said. "I'm looking forward to working with you."
Roderick gestured to the next person.
"This is Elias," he said, indicating a tall, lanky man with messy hair. "He's our tracker. He's got a good nose, he'll be able to lead us straight to their lairs."
Elias grinned at Ashton, his eyes gleaming with mischief.
"Hey there," he said. "Don't worry, I'll make sure we find all the best demons to take down."
Roderick gestured to the final member of the team.
"And last but not least, this is Leila," he said, indicating a young woman with long, curly hair. "She's our Weapon Specialist. She's got a way with toys that are made out of steel, she'll be the aggressor of the team."
Leila smiled shyly at Ashton, her eyes darting away from his gaze.
"Hi," she said softly. "It's nice to meet you."
Ashton took in the four members of his team, feeling a sense of camaraderie between them already. He then thought to himself:
'Huh, my addition must be an unexpected thing for them. Okay, let's see how this goes then...'
"And you four, this is Ashton. He just passed the Coming of Age Ceremony a few days ago but he's skilled according to what the Guildmaster told me."
Roderick then turned to Ashton and asked: "Anything you wanna add?"
"Hmm..." Ashton pondered for a bit. "I'll take the role of a medic I guess since the team seems to be lacking one."
"You know Healing Magic!?" Kaida exclaimed, practically jumping from her seat to get close to him, her eyes were sparkling with interest as she looked at him.
"Basic ones...for now at least." Ashton replied, wincing as he leaned back to avoid Kaida's heated gaze.
Roderick cleared his throat, bringing his attention back to the task at hand.
"Alright, team," he said. "Let's get ready. We'll be training together to prepare for the next trials. If you all want to begin slaying demons, you all must become Junior Members first."
The team spent the morning going over the basics of demon slaying, with Roderick leading the training. They covered everything from identifying different types of demons, to the best ways to take them down.
Ashton listened intently, taking notes and asking questions whenever he had one. He was determined to learn as much as he could, and judging from what he learned so far, it seems that the variety of Demons that have showed up here was practically the same as the ones in his memories.
'This familiarity is really giving me some conniptions...' He sighed to himself.
Ashton was wise enough to not show his thoughts through his expressions though. He didn't want to raise any suspicions so he skillfully acted his way out for now at least.
After a quick lunch break, they headed out to the nearby forest to practice their skills. Elias led the way, using his tracking abilities to find a demon lair.
Well, it's not exactly a real Demon Lair. It's an imitation that the Guild formed for newbies like him to use...
Ashton couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic as they approached the lair. He had faced hordes of demons before, and most of it was dealt with by him alone.
This situation triggered precious memories, causing him to miss home again. However, now's not the time for that. He has to focus or else he'll get an earful from Roderick.
He took a deep breath and readied his weapons, waiting for Roderick's signal to attack.
The team sprang into action, each using their unique skills to take down the demon - an Imitation of an Imp. Kaida's fire magic was particularly effective, causing the demon to recoil in pain. Ashton's healing spells and timely assistance came in handy when Elias and Roderick were injured in the fight, and he was able to patch them up quickly.
Leila did her best to contribute, using her agility and speed to dodge the demon's attacks and strike whenever she sees an opening. She was pleased to see that her Fey body gave her an edge in combat, and she was able to hold her own against the demon. Even though it's only an imitation.
After the demon was defeated, the team regrouped to assess their performance.
"Not bad for a first try," said Roderick, nodding in approval. "But we still have a lot of work to do. We'll continue training every day until we're ready to take the test to become Junior Members of the Demon Slaying Squad."
Roderick dismissed the team and they returned to their homes. According to what he said earlier, there will be a Promotion Trial next month, and their Team plans on participating.
When he heard this, Ashton discovered that his teammates looked rather nervous, and he could tell why.
Compared to other Prepatory Teams, their team was obviously at a disadvantage. Not only do they have a newbie joining them, but they also have less time to familiarize themselves with each other.
To top this all off, they weren't as strong as the other Prepatory Teams.
Their Captain, Roderick, was a Master-ranked expert. He's strong of course, but this was the bare minimum requirement to become a Captain. (The injury he received earlier was intentional. He did it to increase the pressure the team faces even in a simulated environment.)
As for the Members, Kaida was the strongest, for she was an Adept-ranked Fey. The rest were just Novice-ranked.
This is what the power-scaling of fey looks like:
Novice - Fey who are just starting to cultivate Mana. They have little to no control over their abilities and can only produce weak magical effects.
Apprentice - Fey who have started to develop their Mana cultivation abilities. They can produce slightly stronger magical effects and have better control over their abilities.
Adept - Fey who have mastered the basics of Mana cultivation. They can produce moderate magical effects and have a good level of control over their abilities.
Master - Fey who have achieved a high level of skill in Mana cultivation. They can produce powerful magical effects and have excellent control over their abilities.
Grandmaster - Fey who have achieved a near-perfect level of mastery in Mana cultivation. They can produce extremely powerful magical effects and have complete control over their abilities
Ashton was certain that there was more but he hadn't encountered anything about that information just yet so he could only drop it for now.
Surprisingly though, his teammates never asked him about how strong he was. Maybe it was due to their nervousness or because he was new to the team and they didn't want to make him uncomfortable. Either way, since they didn't ask, he didn't tell either.
He already created an image of a Healer. So long as he's doing his part properly, nobody should complain about him.
But in truth? Ashton can't truly follow the power-scaling system of the Fey Race since he's an anomaly here.
He might not have a lot of mana right now but he still possesses a load of ways to deal with any kind of bullshit headed his way. Perks of being an expert and having a cheat, really.
Still, this is nice. Being a Healer in a team takes him back to the good ol' days. He doesn't have a lot of memories of his Academic Days since a tragedy happened but still, this setting reminds him of that, and he really enjoys these slow and rather mundane days.
However, this wasn't enough to distract him from his goals. As nice as this was, he doesn't belong here.
Ashton hasn't forgotten about his mission. Not even for a second. There's still a strong sense of urgency within him but he could deal with it for now.
Slow and steady wins the race. He's already expecting to spend a long time here so he might as well use them wisely so that when the time comes that an opportunity presents itself, he'd be ready for it.
