Tarou helped pull Hitoshi and Sei over to the side, to the land of the Training Course where they'd first crossed to get to the patch of land where they'd fought that huge scorpion monster. The two of them were completely out of breath and laid on their backs, tired out from the fight. They had fought relatively hard. The scorpion was definitely not like anything that normally inhabited this area. It was much tougher. It even proved to be a fair challenge for the three of them, combined. As they rested, Tarou stepped between them and held up his staff.

Closing his eyes, he started chanting to himself and started an incantation. The end of the staff started glowing with a golden radiance as the incantation was sent along, even further. Before long, the glow was matched by a glimmer of light coming from the ground, just beneath where Hitoshi and Sei were laying. “Cure!” Within moments, two barriers of light enveloped the two warriors, each roughly 10 feet in height. They were completely lost in it for a few moments, until it disappeared as Tarou stopped the incantation and let the staff down.

The two warriors immediately pulled themselves up, a newfound energy surging through them. They watched as their bruises and cuts from the previous battle quickly disappeared from view, and their health returned. Re-grasping both their weapons, they looked at each other, and then at Tarou. The three of them grinned, realizing their victory, and that they could now return to the entrance and get out of this place. It had definitely been a good bit of training, with that huge scorpion monster. They weren't exactly sure how something like that could have come into the Training Course, but they weren't complaining. It was gone now, and their little mission for Moriko was done.

Turning around, they began to run back through the Course, making their way back up to the cabin. Filled with a lot of energy, and the experience of fighting that monster, they tore through a few sets of Mandragoras on the way back up, like they were nothing at all. They felt a little stronger after that last fight, and it gave them all a little boost of confidence. After dealing with another wave of monsters, Rivercrabs this time, they finally made it back up to the cabin, where Moriko was there, waiting for them.

They approached her and grinned, hearing her congratulate the three of them for a job well done. She, actually, didn't even bother asking them if they'd found the monster. It was as if she knew they had, like she'd been watching them or something. Of course, for all they knew, she had been watching them. She let out a grin. “You take care of that monster? Not too bad, boys. There will be B-minuses across the board for each of you. Now here, take these as a reward and go get cleaned up. You never know when I'll have a new assignment for you.”

The three held out their hands as they accepted four bottles of medicine from Moriko. They looked at them for a moment, analyzing their contents before pocketing them. Three of the bottles were powerful Potions for gaining back strength, called Quality Potions. The other was something that helped bring back high amounts of energy and resilience, called Mana Nectar. The professor seemed to have nothing else to say to them, so they all just nodded and went on their way., leaving the Training Course and heading back towards main building of the school.

Their side-tracking towards the main building had been caused by Hitoshi. He had seem Hiromi still wandering about, and wanted to boast a little about his fancy, new assignment. Honestly, he wanted to brag to everyone about it, much to Tarou's dislike. However, he and Sei simply followed with Hitoshi, since he was their leader, no matter how side-tracked and off-topic he seemed to get about all of this. Before long, they'd run up to Hiromi and Hitoshi started a conversation with her. “Hey! Hey, Hiromi! Can you guess who the principal chose over you to carry out a very important errand?!”

Hiromi looked at Hitoshi with shock as she realized that Principal Ayuka had wanted to see Hitoshi to give him a mission. She'd always figured that she was one of the top students that would be chosen for a hand-picked assignment, and she couldn't believe that Hitoshi, of all people, had been chosen. “What? Are you kidding? You, Hitoshi?! Hmph...just don't let it go to your head, kiddo. She probably just needs you to-...wait...wait...” She stopped for a moment to calm down her flustered head and keep her cool.

“...what am I getting so worked up about? If she picked you for this errand, then it obviously isn't very important, right? What does Ms. Ayuka have you doing, Hitoshi? Raking leaves, perhaps?” Hiromi's expression had turned into one of confidence, though it was matched with Hitoshi's own acts of confidence and ego. “Actually, my dear teacher's-pet, we are heading up to the beach as representatives of the academy to an old acquaintance of Principal Ayuka. How do you like that?”

Hiromi's jaw dropped for a moment, realizing that he actually had a task with some responsibility attached to it. Afterwards, she got a grin to her face, as if she were happy for him. “So..the little shrimp is finally aspiring to more noble actions and taking on some responsibilities. I hope you're prepared to swim with us big fish, Hitoshi. Ya know I'll make it tough, naturally.” Hiromi's ego-battle with Hitoshi never seemed to end, the two of them trying to intimidate each other.

Hitoshi was feeling a little intimidated from that last statement, though. “Well, uh, it's not like I came up and volunteered myself for it or anything. The principal just has...a way of making you feel scared and afraid to say no.” To this, Hiromi got a laugh out of her system, agreeing with him on that factor of the principal. “That she does! Tell me, though, Hitoshi. Are you really ready for something like this? I don't mean to sound rude, but I always thought you were a little wet behind the ears, and here you are, heading into the wilderness.”

Hitoshi had to take a moment to think about this answer. It had been true that he never had anything this important weighing on his back before, but he thought he was ready, especially with Tarou and Sei with him. “You know it, Hiromi!” His response made Hiromi seem proud of him. “Now that's the kind of optimism I like to see from my underclassmen! Just don't go getting lost out there. You'll make me come out there, myself, and track you down!”

Hitoshi played with the idea of her coming to 'track him down' at the beach, and joked with her. “Are you sure you wouldn't like me to do that? It'd give ya a free excuse to go to the beach during training hours, you know.” This brought a warm smile to Hiromi's face. She dug into a pocket as she spoke to him further. “You know, that sounds nice enough that I think I may have to just sneak out there, anyways. I haven't been to the beach in quite awhile, now. There's no need for you to get lost. In fact, I have something for you.”

Out from her pocket, Hiromi produced a bangle, and handed it to Hitoshi. The young warrior took it and nodded back towards her, thanking her. “Thanks, Hiromi. We will make sure to put this to good use. However, if you'll excuse me, we have some trekking to do and monster to whack.” Hitoshi tried not to wince at his last statement. He was trying to make it sound smooth, but it sounded really corny as it came out of his mouth.

Slipping the bangle onto his arm, Hitoshi and the others continued on, heading towards the garden to visit Umi before heading out...