Just before the yellowed teeth shining with saliva gnawed through the flesh, its head just separated from the body. Roy looked at the corpse in confusion, but he didn’t have time to question it as Rin’s voice laced with a metal edge shouted, “Get up and focus!”

  Without thinking, he obeyed, pulling his foot free and getting Rodge’s attention to move the fight back to a more advantageous spot. They slowly controlled the flow of battle, steadily retreating to better ground.

  They were just about finished, over two dozen of the creatures now dead and surrounding were a mess of fire and destruction. The boys were leaning over their weapons panting for dear life. They wanted nothing more than to collapse on the ground and close their eyes, but their new instructor Rin walked over.

  “Sloppy. It was just a tiny group of Iron Rats and you almost get yourselves killed. What would’ve happened if I wasn’t here today? Who would break the news to Ms. Alren that they found your corpses just a few miles into the depths of the forest?”

  Rin grew louder and more emotional the longer she spoke, Rodge who didn’t see the accident part way through their fight, grew red from the way Rin was talking, like she was so much older and more experienced, as if they weren’t the same age.

  “What do you know!? Roy and I handled it just fine, we’ve gotten away from worse just fine too. Just because you got to go to the capital, got a fancy education at the Academy, and were handed an Adventurer rank on a silver platter you think you can treat us like children!? Like we’re below you!?”

  “RODGE!”

  Roy was trying to stop him, elbowing Rodge, but the boy seemed to not even feel it continuing his tirade. When he yelled, Roy was truly livid, he knew Rodge was a little less mature than him, quicker to anger. But he didn’t think he would get so worked up over their deserved critiques, especially since it was all true. If Rin hadn’t somehow stopped that one rat, Rodge would’ve had a crippled leg and odds were the two would become overwhelmed while he tried defending his brother.

  He wanted to smack his little brother and tell him exactly how much they owed Rin, but she held up a hand, her face neutral bordering on cold, with her eyes trying furiously to hide the very beginnings of tears.

  “You think I was just on a vacation all these years? That the Academy is a cake walk? That I was happy to drop everything and everyone I know? Fine, Adrest could you keep an eye on them for just half an hour or so?”

  Adrest kept a neutral face as he nodded, “Be safe Rin.”

  she turned to leave and flashed him her usual goofy smile. With a single step she disappeared, showing off, Adrest thought. At the impossible scene the duo were flabbergasted, though Roy less so, recovering far quicker and using his free hand to hit Rodge in the side of the head almost as hard as he could.

  “You Fucking Idiot! You say that after she saved your leg and probably your life. And what do you know about what she’s been through. Think of all the stories we’ve heard about A rank missions, how they’re a danger to entire cities and how many parties are wiped out every year because of them. I asked about the Academy when I drank with an adventurer from the capital, he said they aren’t even allowed to leave the Academy unsupervised before they’re able to handle an A rank mission themselves, or if they’re kicked out in their first year.”

  Rodge was stunned by his brother’s estimation of Rin’s power, and he shuddered at the thought of it being true. how could someone their age be as strong as those calamities?

  The possibility didn’t stop him from defending the last bit of his pride, face flushed red, “She’s the reason we’re even here. Otherwise we’d be twenty miles closer to the town.”

  The rebuttal was met with another violent clang to the other side of his head, sending the boy sputtering and crouching with his head cradled in his hands.

  “You know full well we’d have tested our luck in at most a month by wandering in here. Stop making excuses, and look your mistakes in the eye for once!”

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Roy sighed seeing his downtrodden brother, crouched on the ground, unmoving. He knew the boy was smarter than this, he’s just too stubborn for his own good. Better to just leave him be for the time being.

  He stepped over to the side, where Adrest and Belle were trying to politely ignore the family drama happening feet away.

  “Sorry about Rodge, he didn’t mean what he said, just stressed and seeing Rin brought up a lot of old memories. Growing up like we did, you don’t have many people who will even bother looking at you, let alone people you’d call friends, that’s why we’re so close to our own. Losing Rin was like having our sister disappear, just vanished a few hours after she was dragged away to be tested.”

  Adrest could understand that pain, especially as he saw a reflection of it on Rin when she talked about starting her training.

  “It’s not my place to say anything, but he really should apologize. She’s always been happiest talking about her past when it involves all of you and this town. Rin’s been looking forward to visiting for a very long time.”

  Roy felt even worse off now, the four waiting in an uncomfortable silence that hung in the air. Thankfully, Rin didn’t keep them waiting too long, a half hour just as she said.

  At the thirty minute mark, Adrest put a hand to his blade when he heard movement rushing towards them, uncaring of how much noise it made. He dropped his guard completely though when the presence closed in enough Adrest could sense it was Rin’s unique combination of mana.

  The noise grew in volume until finally an annoyed teen burst through the bushes and trees, the twins jumping in fright at what ambushed their party.

  Rin was covered head to toe in blood, dirt, and viscera. She carried five huge heads tied to chains, at a glance Adrest could tell they had been B ranks during their life. She unwound the chain from her waist, tossing the trophies to the stunned Roy and Rodge, mouths wide open.

  How long has she been gone? And she was able to find so many B ranks monsters? Rin flashed Adrest a bright smile in victory, the sparkling white teeth blinding compared to the rest of her dirtied face.

  She turned her attention to the twins, Roy had recovered from the shock and looked at Rin in awe. On the other hand, Rodge’s eyes were tinged red, refusing to meet Rin’s own.

  “I would’ve saved some time and just killed the local A rank lord, but then everything staying deep in the forest would get pushed out and I’d never hear the end of it. But I think five B ranks proves my point. A task like this would be the bare minimum for your fourth-year graduation. And the difficulty increased every year, some of the Instructors had a screw loose and purposely made their tasks as hard as they could get away with. Did you know at least one person dies almost every year because of these tests?”

  Rodge’s hands were clenched and trembling, his face bright red. Just barely audible, he spoke to the long lost hero.

  “I’m sorry. Roy told me what happened, I shouldn’t have acted so immaturely. It just feels like you’re a completely different person now, someone we can’t even be compared to.”

  Shaking her head, Rin spoke, “No one should use us as goalposts, the God’s Blessings just change too much, and some of them are just natural born freaks. There are even some seniors I’ve heard about that give me the same feeling. You both can be amazing adventurers some day, I just really want you both to live long enough to make it. I’m sorry if I’ve been a little strict, it’s how I was taught and I need you two to learn as much as possible, we only have two days.”

  Rodge was feeling even more embarrassed at his childish temper, he didn’t know what to say, unable to look up from his boots. Until, a hard clap on the shoulder got his attention.

  Roy was giving him a warm smile, “You heard Rin, stop moping and start learning. We’re on a timer now.”

  Adrest found himself smiling at the moment, the longer he stayed here the more he understood why Rin always looked so happy talking about it.

  The remainder of the first day was easy, especially after Rin caused a scene with almost every B ranks in the forest, the C ranks were too busy fighting over new territory, they couldn’t bother with the humans loudly traipsing through. As before Rin was strict, but also patiently explained what exactly to look and listen for, what common dangers kill most adventurers, how to track beasts, and several simple alarms they could make if they had to set up to camp overnight.

  The boys soaked in as much as they could, and when they finally returned to the orphanage well after dark, the boys took two steps through the door before they collapsed into a pile on the floor.

  Alren was rocking in a chair in the room knitting while waiting for her children to return, becoming nervous even though she knew logically nothing would happen to them. When she heard the commotion through the wall she walked out with more speed than she realized.

  She was gratified at the scene that greeted her, her troublesome twins were near dead from exhaustion, while Rin and her companions looked exactly as they had that morning, the sweet demi-human child looking at the scene with drowsy eyes as she rode Adrest’s shoulders.

  “Welcome home.”

  Alren was happy to hear the twins, who were now passed out in the beds she always had ready for them, were able and willing to learn as much as they could. She nodded sadly when Rin spoke about Roy’s outburst, “He was sulking for months after you left. Rodge was the only one he’d talk to. All he did for months was wake up, eat, work in the fields until he was exhausted, and slept. It took half a year for him to start acting like a kid again”