Chapitre 23: Chapter 23 - Getting ready for Grimm Tides
"This is it, kids. Welcome to the Endless Red." They stood on a tall peak, observing everything below. The Sun woke up from its slumber not long ago, and was climbing up to its peak.
Hundreds of houses littered across the ground, people moving around like ants, and no one lazing around.
A magical place that withstood the test of time. They could hear roars of the young, their rough skin glistening with sweat. Gigantic animals carried on the shoulders of adults sent shivers down their spines.
"This place needs reinforcements?"
"Take it as your training, little red."
She nodded, and they descended down.
"Oi kids, ye be tha last ta arrive. That third house be now your home. Need ta talk ta tha adults." An intimidating mountain of muscles is the only description Nephrite could give.
His senses screamed for him to not do something reckless. The two teams scurried away in a flash.
"Kids dinna piss themselves good for ye, they be nae total cowards."
"I too missed you, my friend! Let's finish our game, today is the day you'll lose!" Apollo laughed, and dragged that man away.
"Could you do it?" Sweat trickled down Red's back.
"Not in my dreams, one punch and I'll be a goner."
"They really weren't kidding when they said that frontlines are different."
...
The teams didn't care about the interior of the house and just slammed the door, Nora sat on the ground with others.
"Holy Oum, what was that?!"
"Someone that could stand in one place and defeat us without moving much. " Nephrite said, the feeling he got from that man was still there, lingering.
"He can't be that strong, right?"
"No, he is right. I couldn't see that man's aura. It was shrouded in a gas like aura. Even that gas was multiple times stronger than Nephrite's."
"What do we do now?"
After a hot minute, they calmed down and looked around the house. It was a simple two-story house, 8 beds, 2 empty chests and a toilet.
At a first glance, a shabby, bare minimum place, especially when they lived in the modern city for so long. Even the tents they brought with themselves seemed to have a higher level of luxury than this.
Coco took the girls and occupied the second floor.
"Ooh, the beds are a heaven." Coco said as she sat down on the bed.
"They are like springs too!"
The sheet on the mattress left much to be desired, but the mattress itself was one of the fluffiest beds they had experienced.
While the girls were doing their things, the boys were much more quiet. Nephrite dumped down their luggage, and they slowly unpacked in silence.
Sometime later, Apollo busted through the doors.
"Kids, come and gather here in 2 minutes!" They rewarded his words with a sudden silence.
"If you don't come, Jerry, that big guy will come for you!"
His words were quite effective, and everyone was standing there like a soldier ready to die. Apollo looked at them with a smirk and walked out.
They followed and looked around in curiosity, from the distance it couldn't be seen, but people here were all speed walking.
People were skinning the gigantic animals in broad daylight, children were helping whenever they could. It was weird, but people weren't happy. They were just satisfied.
Soon a gate with a sign on it appeared.
'Training Grounds #8'
"You'll be training here for the next 7 days, before the Grimm tide begins. Have fun!" Apollo said and promptly left.
They looked at each other and entered. Inside, they could see teens punching the air, and the smell of sweat filled the grounds.
"Ugh, do they have separate grounds for ladies?"
"There's nae place for ladies, only warriors. I will be your instructor for the 7 days." Jerry appeared, though the pressure he was excluding was much more tame than before. If someone told him that someone called Jerry could be this intimidating, Nephrite would have laughed and called it a joke.
He took them to a secluded part of the training grounds.
"This is where you will be training. Every morning, 10 sets of 10 squats, situps and pushups. Afternoon 300 swings with your weapon, or a weapon of your own choosing."
"That seems easy?" Nephrite said, bewildered.
"Hahaha, funny young man, if you can stand up by the end of this day, I will give you extra meat! Now disable your aura and let's begin!"
"Even without aur-"
A force suddenly pressed down on them, and everyone fell to the ground. Even Yatsuhashi fell.
"Everyone has a weight, which is their limit. Now, start with squats!" The instructor said and released his pressure.
The draining physical and mental force forced them to use their everything just to stand up. When they fell, instructor's body flashed, and the fallen would stand up.
Soon, even Nephrite couldn't withstand it and fell too.
[Ding! A Semblance ???? is unlocking the user's potential locked by the system...]
[Potential partially unlocked ahead of time, user can now gain stats from training as long the Semblance ???? is in effect.]
A welcome surprise, he followed quite half-heartedly just to gain some EXP for his job, but this changed everything. With a burst of his newfound energy, he stood up and completed another squat.
Time passed, and after 3 gruelling hours, everyone had completed 10 sets. They completed the training at a perfect time, and the lunch was ready.
Their bodies demanded nutrients. Jerry took them to the cafeteria, it was big, filled with tables, and a long line of other youths.
Everyone got the same meal, a slap of an enormous piece of meat, and some vegetables. The line thinned at a lightning pace, everyone was devouring the food like starved beasts, and some went for seconds.
After 10 minutes of waiting, they got their food and sat down. The meat, at a closer glance, was very tender.
Their knives slid through the meat, and when they took a bite, an explosion of flavours happened. It was something that Nephrite could do, but it would need high-quality ingredients.
But the allure of this meat wasn't just its flavour. After two bites Fox had noticed that his and others Aura got more vigorous. Soon others could feel the effects, and their bodies regenerated at a faster pace than ever before.
Once they were done eating, Jerry took them back to the training grounds. He let them rest for half an hour to digest the food, and soon they were back on track.
He took out a long wooden stick and unleashed his aura once again. This time, though, he smacked them with the stick.
"Posture." "Foot more to the left." "Shoulders up."
Commands, sounds of grunts and sounds of the stick were all what others could hear. Hours passed, it was bewildering.
They couldn't even think properly, but every time someone tried to give up or just rest, a flash appeared, and they were right back on track.
He abused their bodies to their limits, whenever someone activated their aura even for a split second, a smack followed on their head.
They didn't think about the correct posture, strength of their swings, etc. They just swung in a way which would feel more comfortable, and let them survive for longer without being hit with a stick.
The Sun got ready to sleep, and the group was almost done with their training for today.
"Good job we are done for today! Dinner is in the cafeteria."
Jerry disabled his semblance and left. Everyone just plopped onto the ground, unmoving for several minutes.
Once Jerry released them, their Aura worked overtime to repair their bodies.
[Aura Strength +1]
[Physique +3.5]
This wasn't the only increase that he got during the day, when he ate the meat, another pop up showed itself.
[Vitality +0.2]
By the time he could move, Nora was already asleep. Ren was meditating, and most were just laying on the ground gathering their energy.
"Meat, I need food!" Nora woke up and startled everyone. Although they wished to just go and sleep, food wasn't a bad idea.
This time the meat was different, and yet as nutritious as the last one. No talking, just eating and even Coco, Velvet, Fox, Ren and Pyrrha, who were more reserved eaters, devoured the meat like barbarians.
Without their knowledge, they had assimilated with the culture of this settlement. Train, eat, sleep, fight.
The four most important words that had kept this place alive. After they dragged their tired bodies back, thanks to the energy that the meat provided, they fell asleep the moment their heads touched the beds.
It was the best sleep they had in their life...
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