Rina stood in front of the training center of the camp.
It was a building that looked to have been a dojo in the past. It had large windows and she could see through them that inside a small number of people of were training in a wide space.
Her blond hair whipped in the air with the wind as she just stood there for a moment.
"Okay I can do this"
After muttering to herself she pushed open the doors and entered inside.
The air was hot in the place and the smell of sweat was heavy.
There quite the number of people who were throwing out their fists, stretching and there were even others that were training with sticks.
Walking around from time to time to either check or to correct some of the stances the people were making was a man who appeared to be in his late fifties. He had a head of greying hair and he wore what appeared to be a police uniform of sorts.
Since his back was to her, she could see words written in bold white on the back of his tank top.
'SWAT' she read and just when she was about to think more about that. The man turned to face her.
In that moment it felt as though she was standing in front of an insurmountable mountain, one that could easily crush her.
He was a man with a tall back and broad shoulders and his arms were large and muscular to the point that she could see the veins threatening to pop out of them.
The man had a small beard and slight wrinkles at the corners of his sharp eyes.
When she locked eyes with him she entertained the idea of running away that instant however she clenched her fists as she remembered why she was here in the first place. This might be the only chance she would ever have at getting stronger.
'I don't want what happened with Jordan at the Supermarket to happened again' she thought with clenched fists.
Back then all she could do was helplessly watch as Jordan who at that time had been weak and exhausted was using the last of his strength to fend off against Damien. She didn't usually say it but sometimes she would beat herself up in her own thoughts about how things would have played out had she been a little bit stronger.
Currently her main combat skill
So when she heard about the basic combat training that was taught to the evolvers as well as those who wished to defend themselves somewhat in this apocalyptic world.
She decided that this would be her destination.
So after filling out the form Huey had handed out this morning she came straight here and she wouldn't just run away just because of some intimidating old man.
The man smiled when he saw the resolve shinning in her eyes.
"Good" he said walking up to her. "My name's Lieutenant Pike welcome to the Hell house"
Lieutenant Pike had a smile on his face as he saw the determination burning within Rina's eyes. Another fine student had walked in
***
Mordecai and Dulton decided to join the hunting team for the day. They didn't really have much to do either way and they both felt the urge to grow stronger as quickly as possible. After they had filled forms as required they had both had the idea of going out to level up even if it meant being exposed to danger.
Mordecai had a short dagger and Dulton had one of the common swords that the group had in their possession.
"What? You want to join the Hunting party for today?" the man who stood in front of them asked with a raised eyebrow. "Didn't you guys just arrive yesterday?"
The man didn't really understand what these two men standing in front of him were doing. Surely they were coming from the outside world which was filled with numerous dangers that could keep a man awake day and night.
And the people coming from such a place would usually want to take at least a break from all the fighting and then come to join one of the teams in the camp. It was process that could two to three days for most people.
So seeing these two who had just joined them willingly want to go out this soon was something he just couldn't understand.
Still though it was something that he appreciated and he couldn't help but smile. Afterall the more people they had the better their chances of being alive.
Like that the hunting team that was usually made up of ten evolvers now had twelve as they went out of the gates and headed towards the Woodlands Forest half a kilometer away.
***
Back at the house where the girls of the group were settled everyone seemed to have gone out leaving only Lydia who was currently in her room sitting on the floor in with her legs crossed and her hands resting on top of her knees. Her eyes were closed but if one took a closer look at her face they could see that it was etched with deep concentration.
She was in a deep state of meditation and in this state she could feel the mana more clearly. Her breaths were slow and steady. This was something that was taught to her by her father back home.
'It was a way to attune with the world' he had said. To bring one closer to the natural energy called mana.
The air around the room shifted as a slight breeze ruffled the sheets on the bed as well as the curtains by the open window. She had been here for as long as thirty minutes, during which she did nothing other than visualize and mentally practice her control over mana as well as the volatile usage of her It was a slow process one that needed patience. Something that was hard to find especially during the current state of the world. And this was very much so for Huey who was either trying to grow his skills or trying to become strong as fast as possible.
It was also clear by his actions that the boy was in a hurry to get to his mother and he barely had any rest. The only time that she could say he had truly rested was during the first week of the apocalypse when he was recovering from his injuries and still he had taken on the role to explore the outside world and find some help without having fully recovered himself.
The same could be said about her. She barely had time take a breath and fully try to figure out her strengths as well as work on her weaknesses.
It was always one thing after the other.
However for now while they were here she would take as much time as she possibly could to maximize her skills. For now she would work on her control over mana and Suddenly there was a rush of wind all around her and then it calmed. The air all around the room was as still as water in a calm lake. The winds that had been rustling the sheets and the curtains were no more. It was almost as though everything had stopped.
Within her mind Lydia could see the system message as though it was right in front of her eyes. A smile formed on her lips.
[ Her proficiency when it came to the using the skill had grown meaning that she had far more control and mastery over it than before and the best part was that the numbers were rising continuously.
[68%…69%…70%…71%….79%]
It was only after reaching 79% proficiency that the numbers stopped climbing and reached a halt. And no matter how much time she spent it didn't rise again.
It saddened her a bit but still Lydia was satisfied with the results of her meditation.
Her emerald eyes opened and the air around resumed its normal pace.
"Good enough I guess" she said with a helpless smile. She rose from her position on the floor and made her way to the bed.
She stood at the edge of it and began to undress.
She started with her shoes followed by her shirt and soon her pants. She hadn't been wearing the [Battle robe] during her meditation session. It hadn't felt necessary and she seriously doubted that anyone would sneak up to her and attack her.
She wrapped herself in a towel before stepping out of the room and into a corridor of sorts. They had doors on either side of the room and then at he far end they had a single door that led to the bathroom of the house.
She made her way towards it. Her bare feet touching the cool floorboards. It was an oddly comfortable feeling to be honest.
She reached the door and with a gentle push she was inside. The bathroom was clean to say the least. There was a bathtub on one side of the room, a shower, a sink and a bunch of soaps and some shampoo. Of course all these were shared among the girls and though it was slightly uncomfortable for them, what could they truly do in the current situation.
It wasn't as if they could just go to the grocery store and get some new items now could they.
Lydia sighed helplessly at the thought as she ran the water to fill up the tub.
She really missed the old days