I really forgot that I've become young again for a moment.
"Yeah... I'm young again."
I muttered the realization to myself, staring at my own hands—smooth, soft, and unscarred. That alone felt surreal.
The kind of youth you don't realize you miss until you're granted it again.
'Since I'm awake anyway, I might as well take a bath.'
According to the trainee guidebook, there's a shared bathhouse just next to the dormitory — a large stone structure divided by gender, and apparently built to help form discipline and camaraderie among trainees.
The water's heated with firewood collected during physical drills.
So, towel over my shoulder, I made my way downstairs through quiet halls, the dawn's early glow barely touching the windows.
When I arrived, the bathhouse was empty — expected, considering how early it was. Lucien was likely already long gone to swing his sword around. That guy might just be made of pure enthusiasm.
Inside, the bath had a furnace designed to heat the water through submerged pipes.
Chopped firewood was stacked neatly nearby, clearly a daily chore for someone. I knelt to light it, and soon steam began to rise.
When the water was finally warm, I slid in.
The silence was... refreshing. Even peaceful.
It wasn't like the luxury bath chambers of noble villas. A raw, stone-carved tranquility.
Submerged up to my chin, I glanced down at myself.
Still a bit chubby from all the monster meat I'd devoured last night. My Essentia Glutton ability had calmed down, but the normal hunger of a human body remains.
Once I was done, I stepped out, dried off, and headed back.
Back in my room, I changed into one of the new shirts I bought in town.
It felt loose — plenty of room for growth. Comfortable, but it probably looked like I was wearing my father's clothes. I chuckled at the image.
After a small stretch, I flipped open the trainee guidebook and reviewed the schedule for the day.
'Since it's the first day, the training can't be that hard,' I told myself.
...As if the universe didn't love proving me wrong.
The first day of training was neatly structured: basic physical conditioning and Essentia cultivation in the morning, followed by an afternoon lecture on the ecology of Veyne County and its most frequently encountered monsters.
Fortunately, I already knew most of this — I've lived and bled through it before. So for me, the opening day felt more like a formality.
The combat instructor for my batch is Instructor Garron, a former B-ranked expeditioner with a reputation for expertise in dungeon diving. The kind of guy who's carved his way up from real hellholes.
Meanwhile, our instructor for monster ecology is Instructor Lydia, herself a former B-ranked expeditioner trained as a monster tamer.
Word was she commands four evolved Copper-Fang Hyenas — vicious but fiercely loyal pack beasts.
These details were all laid out in the guidebook, almost like reassurance: "You are in capable hands, rookie."
B-ranked expeditioners… They're no joke. They're roughly on par with the strength I once had at my peak.
But A-ranked expeditioners, on the other hand — they're a completely different breed.
I can't help but wonder if I'll cross paths with one during my time here.
After closing the guidebook, I decided to stretch my legs and explore the academy grounds. And that's when I realized just how enormous the training area was — nearly a kilometer long. I didn't expect the Expedition Guild to own such vast land behind their headquarters.
The field was neatly divided into ten equal sections, each a hundred meters square, marked with large wooden signs bearing the numbers 1 through 10.
A handful of early risers were already there, practicing something — sword drills, spell focus, hand-to-hand looks, or strange posture-based meditations.
I noticed something else: female expeditioners were in the minority.
For every two or three men, there was maybe one woman preparing for training. Most still clung to the belief that men would take the risk, fight, and bring back coin to support them. No one saw a problem with that — not yet, at least.
But that would change. In less than a decade, the world will demand something different.
When monsters come pouring through the breaches and cities crumble under their advance, no one — man or woman — will escape the reality of survival.
They'll fight. Or toil. Or sell whatever they can to make it through another day.
I strolled toward Training Field 8, the one assigned to new trainees.
It was still an hour before the official start of training, so it wasn't surprising that the field was empty — not a soul in sight.
Only rows of unclaimed practice gear scattered here and there: worn wooden swords, a stack of straw dummies, round wooden shields, and a few sandbags for body conditioning.
Silent, untouched.
I redirected my steps toward the cafeteria. The place was almost deserted, just three people spaced out across the hall, each quietly eating whatever breakfast they'd chosen. No noise, no clattering crowd, no anxious chatter from rookie recruits.
Just peace.
I liked it.
I should wake up this early from now on.
Behind the counter sat Old Man Bronnin, slouched forward and stifling a massive yawn, his expression half-buried in sleep.
That lasted only a moment.
The second he saw me, his eyes shot open in both surprise and joy — like a kid who found his missing toy.
"Oh~ Kael! Didn't know you were a morning person," he said with a booming grin.
"Good morning, Sir Bronnin," I replied, bowing my head slightly. "You're up early as well."
"Agh… just part of the job," he said, stretching his burly arms. "Still can't believe you're up and back here after what you did to my kitchen yesterday. You sure you're not some beast in disguise? You're a real glutton, I'll give you that. Anyway— no new monster meat supplies yet. Same menu as yesterday. Tell me what you want — I'll have it ready."
"Then I'll have two servings of Ash-Bacon and Hearthbread," I said.
"Right away," he grinned, tying on his apron and marching back into the kitchen with an energy.
I sat down and waited. The calm atmosphere felt refreshing.
Not long after, Bronnin returned — food steaming, aroma divine.
I dug in, savoring every bite, chewing slow and steady. The more I ate, the more the fat around my body built up — my body no longer needed immediate nourishment, so it converted the monstrous Essentia-rich meat into stored energy.
Good thing I wore baggy clothes.
After finishing, I got up to thank Bronnin personally.
We chatted a bit about my goal to become an expeditioner, to travel across the
lands. His eyes lit up — I could tell he loved that topic.
Before we parted, he said: "Looking forward to tonight, lad. I promised I'd make something special, didn't I?"
I nodded, again and again, before heading out.
By the time I returned to Field 8, a cluster of kids as same age as my current body had already gathered.
They were swinging wooden swords around, laughing, sweating, some clumsily mimicking hero stances they probably saw in tales or taverns.
One of them, barely twelve year old looking boy, noticed me and elbowed a friend.
"Oi, another one came," he said, not bothering to hide his curious stare.
I smiled him.
****