The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]
Chapter 65: Combat Training

Chapter 65: Combat Training

A month passed by. A month of boring office job, where the only highlights of Lane’s days were regular guiding - and making out - sessions with Damien.

He wouldn’t have expected he’d be stuck in the General Stuff for so long... The life of a C-rank Guide at the Association was truly miserable. At least by Lane’s standards.

Eventually though, the time for Basic Combat Training to start finally arrived.

Combat Training for Guides at the Association consisted of three levels: basic, intermediate, and advanced. It was mostly attended by the members of the Association, as well as some freelancers, hoping to improve their employment prospects with the Guilds. Intermediate and advanced courses were held twice a year, if there were enough Guides registered for them, that is. The basic training was the only one always happening once every three months without a fault, as it was compulsory training for all the members of the General Staff.

Lane let out a sigh, entering the familiar gym. It wasn’t the first time he was taking this course, and while it was better than sitting in the office or guiding Espers - well, maybe except for a certain hot S-ranker - he was hoping that he wouldn’t have to do it again... He’d much rather be a field agent, and do harder training with the team.

But his application was still pending.

Aside from him, there were only nine other Guides present. Two he recognized from the office, six must have been freelancers, as they wore civilian clothes, and the last one...

Lane paused for a moment, observing the girl with narrowed eyes.

Long, dark brown hair, tied together in a thick braid, green eyes framed by thick, long lashes, gorgeous face with strong brows, straight nose, well-defined rosy lips, and curvy figure... Where did he see her before?

Ah.

Wasn’t she the shaking girl from the last dungeon break?

But, how come she was still alive?

Lane furrowed his brows, trying to focus. Now that he thought about it... He was somewhat able to recall the scene. After the girl witnessed Lane knocking one of the other Guides out, she seemed to have tried hitting her head against the pillar a few times... At the time, Lane was too preoccupied with planning his own ’demise’ to pay attention, but it seems she must have succeeded.

The corners of his mouth twitched, lightly raising up. He was quite impressed, he had to admit. For the girl who was shaking so badly before they even got to the scene, to be able to smash her head hard enough to fall unconscious... Seems she had some guts, after all.

And the fact that she was still at the Association even after all that was even more intriguing. Plenty of other Guides had quit, so why didn’t she?

Not that Lane could come up to her and ask. First of all, he shouldn’t know about her participation in the dungeon break. And on top of that... She was young, probably not even twenty years old, while Lane’s current body was 36. If he were to go up to her on his own, he might end up looking like a creep, and Lane didn’t want to ruin his reputation before he even got to plant any Fertilizer.

So, he just observed her discreetly as the training started. Was her behavior last time perhaps only the nervousness of a newbie, while in fact she was a hidden gem?

...Or perhaps not.

The training began with an obstacle course as a warm-up. Not the kind of obstacle course Damien’s team trained on though - just a very light version, entirely on the ground level, with easy obstacles and only a few soft, harmless projectiles flying around. It was only Basic training meant for Guides, after all. It was all as easy as it could get...

But Samantha Moore - that was the girl’s name - couldn’t even complete that. She was clumsy as hell, tripping over everything, even just air. And whenever any of the projectiles got remotely close to her, she let out a high-pitched squeak, raising her arms to cover her head...

Eventually, the instructor couldn’t take it anymore. "Miss Moore, please take a seat."

"But..." Samantha looked up, her shoulders still curled up. "I still..."

It seemed that despite her clumsiness and timidness, she at least didn’t lack perseverance.

The trainer, however, only shook his head. "You should take a rest. You can try again tomorrow."

"...Yes." Samantha’s head slumped down, her eyes glazing over with tears, as she dragged her feet toward the benches on the side. Her shoulders were visibly shaking, but she bit on her lip, trying to hold back her tears.

And her eyes were still on the obstacle course, following the movements of the rest of the Guides. As if she was trying to learn from them, memorize the way they passed the obstacles, so that she could do the same later on.

"The rest of you, continue! You have seven more rounds left! Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Baker, you five!"

A satisfied smile blossomed on Lane’s lips, as he jumped lightly over the obstacles. Now that was how it should be. Without even putting in any effort, he was still leading the group.

Picking Aidan’s body really was a good call.

After the warm-up, it was time for the weapon training - for Guides, who didn’t have any abilities suitable for combat, weapons were the only way to defend themselves against the monsters. From distance weapons such as bows and crossbows, to spears, blades, and swords, the instructor introduced them to all weapons in common use among the Awakened. In the Basic Combat Training, they would get a chance to try them all, if they wanted to.

Of course, only try. No one expected them to master them all. To pass the course, they only needed to learn beginner skills for one of the weapons.

As it was the first day of the training, the instructor only presented them with all the options, before letting them off early. Such were the courses for Guides - very easy and leisurely, relaxing even.

The following days weren’t much different. Warm-up on the obstacle course, and then the weapon training... Lane settled for saber this time for a change, supplementing it with a bow, quickly becoming the top student in the group.

He was still downplaying his skills, of course, but he needed to make a good impression, in order to increase his chances of becoming a field agent soon. With the instructor’s recommendation, perhaps his application would finally be accepted?

Samantha, on the other hand, didn’t seem to make any progress. Every day, without fail, she was taken off the obstacle course halfway through. When it came to the weapon training, she remained standing till the end... But her performance was even worse than Lane, when he had been trying to convince Damien he couldn’t handle a sword.

And yet, every day she showed up, undeterred, even though her eyes looked more and more red and swollen. Some people tried talking to her, advising her to ask the Union for help, perhaps become a freelancer instead... However, she only shook her head, and tried again.

It was only at the end of the week, when one of the freelancers invited the whole group out for beer and BBQ, that Lane curiosity would finally be satisfied.