Chapter 167 - Training Camp

Tomorrow came without delay. "Would you look at that, the three of us are now of the same ranks!" Suna said happily but with a slightly annoyed manner. If she actually won the Slayer Tournament, she would have been an A Rank Slayer now, the same as Cosette Akim, but because of its postponement, now Zach and Yin have caught up to her, not that she was angry about it.

"Damn I kind of jumped up a couple ranks from a rookie, eh? Isn't that impressive?" Zach flaunted in a joking manner, meant to provoke Yin and Suna. None of the two went on and took his bait, however. Yin was still worried about the time he had left, but he was thankful for the opportunity to rise up in ranks.

The Serpent Summoner walked in. "Still, that is no reason that you should be content with your current rank and strength, Zach, I am sure you know that as well, right?" Gavin asked him. "Of course, I have no intention of losing to Yin nor Suna, even though we are of the same side." Zachary Lancaster was as intense as ever.

"I am going to have other Slayers in your peer group and ranks to come over to train with you. That includes some names you have already known throughout the months prior, including the A Rank Earth Slayer, Cosette Akim, and even Hector Incendium, the prodigal A Rank Fire Slayer of the Inferno Garden.. I suggested this idea to Ignis Silva and his stubbornness could not dismiss how important it shall be. We currently have five months to train our assess off for hopefully, the final battle mankind will ever have. It is going to be all or nothing. Make sure you have no regrets such as 'I should have trained more' or other such ideas. I expect a lot from you three." Gavin ended his speech with that.

The young core trio of the Six Blades got up and saluted him. "Yes, sir!" they said. "So, it is going to be like the Slayer Tournament but unofficial and without the winning rewards, eh?" Suna rubbed her hands together. "I want to fight that Hector guy. I will show the Commander that we will not lose to the Inferno Garden so easily." The B Rank Slayer was excited for it. 

"I have not seen Cosette ever since we took down Pugna." Yin said. "The last time I have seen her was when we were deployed to you first ever mission, Yin." Suna inserted. "I am surprised she did not get recruited to the Sword of Alacrity mission at all, considering her strength and renown as an up and coming Slayer." Zachary said as he was reading the papers about potential Slayers who could be taking on the role of the 'Commander' when the time comes. There were only three names listed, though. Hector Incendium of the Inferno Garden, Cosette Akim, who has no organization, and Yin Sohaya of the Six Blades. Zachary choked on the water he was drinking and wiped his nose off of it. "What the…why are you here?" He exclaimed as he stared at Yin.

"Huh?" Yin was confused, he took the paper off of Zach's hand and saw that he was indeed listed there. "Those pages were written by the journalists and media people, although those are not official papers and it is not a concrete list released by the Corps, it is still impressive for you to be among the likes of those two, Yin." Luken said from behind them, surprising the three as he was by the window, lighting a cigarette.

They all stared at him and was wondering how and why he ended up there. "Did he just pull a 'Vale' for no reason?" Zach asked Yin, referring to the time that Vale Ashford snuck up on the two of them back at the Grand Castle as she recruited them for a mission. "I think so, but I still do not understand what the purpose of it was, seems like a lot of work to climb up a window just to look cool, is it not?" Yin asked cluelessly.

"I did not do it to be cool!" Luken reacted in a guilty manner. "You sound defensive right now, Luken." Gavin added. "He is right, Commander." Suna said as she shrugged her shoulders. "Alright, I am out of here." Luken said as he jumped out of the window from where he came from.

The Serpent Summoner sighed. "Bear with him for a bit, he is quite bored. I do hope you understand." Gavin said while massaging his temple with a tired expression. "Anyway, Hector and Cosette will be coming in an hour, Kai Xin will accompany them, I will join you here when they arrive, to greet them and such. For now, prepare your weapons and grimoires for a hard training session." 

Suna, Yin, Zach, and Oliver all went outside to meet them an hour after. Some time has passed and they were still not here. "Where the hell are they?" Suna asked impatiently as Oliver was nibbling on her feet. "Stop that, Oli!" Suna shook her head and gently tapped the baby panda's head. "All this waiting has got me hungry, man." Yin sighed. "Are you some sort of vacuum once it comes to food? I swear I have never seen you eat only what you actually need." Zachary said. "Mind your own business, beansprout." Yin retorted back. "You do know I am taller and older than you, right?" Zachary face palmed.

After ten more minutes, they finally showed up. Kai Xin was waving at them from afar. In his hand was a basket full of bread and sweets. "Oh. So that is why they are late…" Gavin said. "What do you mean, sir?" Suna was confused. "Those two, Cosette and Hector, they probably got caught up in this glutton's eating spree." Gavin said jokingly.

The Serpent Summoner welcomed them to the Khalil family's manor and led them to where the training room was. "How are you doing, Gav?" Kai Xin asked him after a hug. "I am doing what I can right now. As much as I miss my brother, I am sure he would not have wanted his loss to be a detriment to the Slayer Corps' development." The Serpent summoner responded back. Cosette and Hector took turns in telling Gavin how sorry they were for his loss. "I am fine." Gavin smiled. "But thank you for your concerns, it is good to know that you have my back." 

Kai Xin asked Zach a question. "Do you think you can take Hector on for a friendly spar?" He asked with a smug grin. It would be an opportunity for two of Kai Xin's students to face off against each other, he was not going to let this pass. "Yo, Yin, Suna. How have you two been?" Cosette wanted to catch up with the two of them.

"I do not see Luken anywhere, do you know where he is?" Kai Xin asked Gavin. "No, I do not. He is just around here, I bet. He said he would come here when you guys arrive, let us kill time and commence training. First match up, Zachary Lancaster and Hector Incendium!" The Serpent Summoner exclaimed.

Their training camp went on for many months, even having Fen Kaori and Ignis Silva visiting from time to time, as well as other 'weaker' Slayers being shown the ropes by Yin and the others. 

"How does it feel to be on the side that has to teach others, Yin?" Kai asked the white haired Slayer. "It really is a pain, but I can handle it, Kai." Yin replied back with a confident smile. Throughout the months, the Slayers in their ranks learned so much from each other's varying fighting style. This would not have happened if not for Gavin Khalil's initiative of making some sort of 'Slayer Training Camp' ranging from D to A Rank Slayers in preparation for the fated mission.

Yin Sohaya now had only six months left to live, after the entirety of the four months passed by in a flash. The Slayer Corps did not encourage the young Slayers to partake in missions during these times, instead, focusing on their training camp. The missions were taken by the S and higher rank Slayers in order to avoid losing potential future generation Slayers for no reason, if their final push did not work out, that is.

There was an itching sense of worry that was prevalent in the Commander's head. "Can we really do this? What if we mess up?" Thoughts just like that plagued his mind and was knocking on his self confidence, that was pretty rare for someone like Luken Regalia. "One month more. The others have had some significant improvements because of the makeshift camp devised by Gavin. Heh. I am truly lucky to have him by my side. I do not think I would have been able to think of such an initiative by myself."