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"Uh, excuse me," he said, tapping a guard on the shoulder. "Aren\'t I supposed to get my book first?"

The guard grinned. "New system, kid. First, training. Then, book. Then, victory. In that order...

Someone went into the challenge without waiting for training and wasted their life along with the expensive equipment."

Milo blinked, confused. "But I thought we just had to go in and..."

"Die of suffocation?" The guard let out a hearty laugh. "Those days are over, boy. Welcome to the era of Von Elio\'s \'let\'s prepare for everything\'."

♢♢♢♢

That\'s how Milo found himself in a training field, surrounded by other equally confused young people.

The first day was... intense.

"Faster!" the instructor shouted as Milo threw dagger after dagger at the targets. "My grandmother throws faster than you, and she doesn\'t even have arms!"

"Sir," Milo panted, "does your grandmother really not have arms?"

The instructor stared at him blankly. "No, idiot. It\'s an expression. Now, throw like your life depends on it!"

"But, sir," another recruit interjected, "technically, our lives do depend on this."

The instructor facepalmed. "For all the walls... Just... keep throwing."

The following days were a mix of intense physical training and endless repetitions of the strategy to face the level one monster.

"Remember," the instructor said for the thousandth time, "you go in, throw the dagger, and if by some miracle you miss, you throw another. And if you miss that one, you throw another. And if you miss that..."

"Sir," Milo interrupted, "what would happen if we missed all three?"

The instructor looked at him as if he were an idiot. "Kid, if you miss three max-level daggers, with a week of intensive training, against a monster that\'s basically a punching dummy with teeth, clearly throwing isn\'t your thing... But that\'s what the spear is for."

The seventh day arrived, and with it, the final evaluation. Milo found himself being equipped as if he were about to face an army of Locus instead of a single monster in the first challenge.

"Three max-level daggers," the equipment manager listed as he handed them over. "One max-level spear, one max-level fire cloak, one max-level armor, and an oxygen stone, because breathing is great and you should keep doing it."

Milo looked at all the equipment, feeling like an overloaded Christmas tree. "Isn\'t this... a bit excessive?"

The manager looked at him seriously. "Kid, in this new regime, \'excessive\' is our middle name. The first name is \'safety\'... or so Von Ren and Von Kriz told me."

Finally, the moment arrived. Milo entered the challenge chamber. The book floated in front of him, and with a touch, he found himself transported to the monster\'s room.

There it was, the dreaded fire monster. Milo prepared himself, remembering all the lessons, all the strategies. He took a deep breath, aimed carefully, and...

The dagger flew, straight and true.

It impacted the center breaking the core of the monster, which let out a pathetic "squeak" before disintegrating into a cloud of smoke.

Milo stood there, blinking in disbelief.

"Is... is that all?!"

♢♢♢♢

Milo had barely finished celebrating his victory against the fire monster when he found himself being directed back to the training field.

"But what...?" he began to ask, confused.

"You thought you were done, rookie?" The instructor smiled, a grin that promised more sweat and pain. "We\'re just getting started. Welcome to level two training."

The sweat from his first exercise hadn\'t even dried when Von Lucien appeared before him, his frog croaking softly from its usual perch on his head.

"Congratulations on your first victory to all of you," Lucien said with a smile. "But the journey has only begun. It\'s time to prepare for level two."

Lucien performed the core transfer to the new level 1 recruits, finally it was Milo\'s turn.

"I\'ve just transferred 100 cores to you," he explained. "Your salamander should manifest at any moment."

As if on cue, a small flame appeared on Milo\'s shoulder, materializing into a fire salamander. The young man looked at it in awe.

"Welcome to the world of summoners," Lucien said. "Now, to training."

The next seven days were a blur of dagger throwing, strategies, and more dagger throwing.

Milo found himself in a group with two other young people: Kai, a tall, thin boy who barely spoke, and Nessa, a curly-haired girl who seemed incapable of staying still or quiet for more than two seconds.

"This is exciting!" Nessa exclaimed as they practiced dagger throws. "Isn\'t it exciting, Kai?"

Kai simply grunted in response, throwing another dagger with deadly precision.

The instructor watched them with a critical eye. "Remember," he shouted, "the frog moves based on your speed. If you don\'t move, it won\'t move. If you move slowly, it\'ll move slowly. If you move quickly..."

"It\'ll move quickly!" Nessa interrupted.

The instructor stared at her. "Thank you for the interruption, Nessa. Now, less chat and more throwing!"

And so, Milo threw. And threw. And threw some more.

As the days passed, Milo found himself constantly improving.

He learned strategies to trick a frog that, according to all reports, didn\'t need to be tricked since no one ever ran out of daggers. He practiced slow movements to not alert a creature that apparently didn\'t move. He even had lessons on how to hold his breath, in case the frog suddenly decided to become sensitive to sound.

His throws became more accurate, his movements more controlled.

Even Kai seemed to be opening up a bit, occasionally offering a thumbs up when Milo or Nessa made a good shot.

"You know?" Nessa said one night as they rested after a long day of training. "I think we\'re becoming a good team."

Kai nodded silently, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

Milo couldn\'t help but agree. Despite the physical exhaustion, he felt more alive than ever. And having friends by his side made the whole process much more bearable.

♢♢♢♢

Finally, the day of the test arrived. Milo found himself again in the equipment room, this time with Kai and Nessa by his side.

"Five max-level daggers," the manager announced, handing them over. "A water-resistant cloak, because frogs are wet and unpleasant. A max-level armor, a max-level spear, and an oxygen stone. You know, the basics."

Nessa giggled. "The basics? Looks like we\'re preparing for a war against the sea of monsters."

"But last time I only used one," Milo protested weakly.

Kai, for his part, simply took his equipment in silence, though Milo noticed a spark of amusement in his eyes.

Before entering the challenge chamber, the three looked at each other.

"Good luck, guys," Milo said.

"Let\'s destroy them!" Nessa exclaimed.

Kai simply nodded, but there was determination in his gaze.

Milo entered the chamber, his heart pounding with anticipation.

The frog was there, motionless as a statue. Milo took a deep breath, remembering all the lessons about slow movements and deception. Remembering the elaborate strategy of approach in case...

And then he remembered that he could simply throw the daggers first.

The first dagger flew, precise and deadly. It impacted directly in the center breaking the core of the frog, which let out a strange sound of surprise.

In the blink of an eye, it was all over. The frog vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving Milo blinking in disbelief in the middle of the room.

"Seriously?" he muttered to himself. "Seven days of training for this?!"

When he came out, he was greeted by Nessa and an approving nod from Kai. Both had already completed their trials with equal success.