Day 1 of the last week of training.
Everyone was lined up and waiting for their turn. There were about ten instructors supervised by Marcos and Jorge. It was armament training.
When Ralph picked up the rifle, he felt excited, even though he had shot pistols and revolvers before with BD, he never held a rifle. It was a 5.62 caliber M4.
Ralph learned how to load and unload a rifle, and how to handle it safely. Soon after, he had to quickly learn how to disassemble and assemble the rifle parts, with "deserved punishment" if he failed.
Fortunately, the white mass on his head did not disappoint him, and he managed to make everything learn reluctantly.
Others were not so lucky, about half of the Walkers were punished for failing, having to do fifty push-ups.
After all the Walkers were finally able to assemble and disassemble a weapon, they went to an improvised firing range, with targets 10, 20 and 40 meters away.
There would be no punishment for those who missed a target, but it was said that this would be taken into account at the end of the training.
Ralph had no problem hitting shots at 10-meter targets, had a slight difficulty at 20-meter targets, and only hit two shots at 40-meter targets.
Ralph was not disappointed in himself, on the contrary, since this was the first time he had shot a rifle.
Victor and Julio had similar results, but Junior only hit one shot on the twenty-meter target, and missed everyone on the 40-meter target.
After all the Walkers finished shooting it was lunchtime. Everyone went to the cafeteria as usual and helped themselves.
However, something surprised everyone. There was little food. And the real problem was that about half of the Walkers failed to put a spoonful of food on the plate.
What happened next was a confusion between everyone, nobody wanted to give in. But after things got very tense, some women proposed to divide the food evenly. As no one wanted to give in anyway, a short conflict ensued. Fire, water, earth and air, Ralph thought he was in Aang's world.
Despite this, the conflict did not last long and no one was hurt, as the military intervened. Even so, half had to settle for hunger.
During the afternoon, combat training consisted of basic self-defense classes, such as Krav Maga. It was probably the most tiring training of all, by the end of the afternoon, all the Walkers were sweating deeply, and the grudge of the hungry grew even more.
Ralph expected another conflict to occur at dinner, so he tried to be quick enough to secure his own food. Unfortunately, everyone thought the same thing and he didn't get much.
Again, some dissatisfied people fought each other and the sound of skills could be heard throughout the military base.
This time, however, he hears some wounded. Two broke a limb, while five suffered minor injuries. No one was punished, but the two who broke their arm had to abandon training and were preparing to go home.
The night was not calm, everyone was taken to a large pool in a special facility. There, everyone had to spend all night in the cold water, unable to sleep or rest.
Another two days had a similar routine, with the military giving them some rest only at the end of the third day.
20 Walkers abandoned training and went home. But the training was still in the "easy" phase.
The next day, food was further restricted, and internal conflicts intensified. Ralph, with his special ability, managed to avoid a direct fight and secure a small amount of food by creating illusions of himself in different places and camouflaging himself, but others were not so lucky.
Nobody dared a direct conflict with Victor, since he could simply "send any to space."
Júlio and Junior had to fight bravely for their food, Julio went through some difficulties because of his ability, which was not the type to be used in combat, but with Junior's help, he remained intact.
Junior had the ability to accelerate his own speed and that of anything he touches, but according to himself, the essence of the skill was to remove friction from anything with the environment.
When Ralph thinks about the possible uses of this ability, he can't help but tremble.
With each passing day and night, the training intensified even more, and the food and rest were even more restricted.
On the last day of training, only 30% of Walkers remained. Everyone had dark circles and struggled to stand.
The last day, according to Marcos and Jorge, would be special. Walkers would have lessons on how to use their skills more efficiently against beasts.
Everyone was amazed to discover that Marcos alone had achieved the feat of killing thirty beasts with skills alone, since the last time they saw him.
Jorge, to everyone's surprise, had a history of killing 10 beasts alone.
Marcos had 7 skills available, which also proves his luck, since not all dead beasts give skills. Jorge had 4 skills.
"You may think that the number of available skills has increased my fighting ability, but you are wrong!" Marcos shouted as he watched the thirty Walkers in front of him, they were all tired, mentally and physically.
"Since the first time I killed a beast, I have only been using one skill!" Jorge then shouted as he held his hand up.
Blood came out of his hand, but that blood seemed to have solidified and formed a spear.
"This ability allows me to create anything I imagine with my own blood, as well as gradually build up my physique." Jorge explained slowly as he walked towards a mannequin.
"Each skill, as useless as it may seem, has its uses, everything depends on you to make them useful in combat." Jorge spoke as he swung the spear extremely quickly, cutting the mannequin in several pieces in the blink of an eye.
"I thought my ability was useless, that it would only serve to control my blood circulation due to her name. The name of this ability is blood control!"
Jorge's action woke everyone from the tired state they were in, lighting the flame inside them.
"I, despite having seven skills, use only two. The first is the one you already know, the second ..." Marcos said and suddenly disappeared, scaring all the Walkers.
Another mannequin that was on the side of the destroyed, suddenly appeared to have been crushed and went flying.
"The second skill I use is called lighting decay. At first I thought it only served to darken the environment, making them dark. But my hypothesis was proven to be wrong after a short research. This ability allows me to partially interfere with the light itself, allowing me to erase my visible traces for a brief moment. " Marcos spoke as he looked at the excited looks of the Walkers.
Jorge smiled slightly when he saw this, but he was not surprised. To have endured this entire week, they certainly need to have a proper mindset.
"Don't think about who you are going to get to the battlefield and kill all the beasts on the way ... Even I am sometimes in danger against certain beasts, having to use explosives and firearms against the most difficult ones." Jorge decided to pour a bucket of cold water on the Walkers.
"What we are trying to say to you is, no matter how many skills you acquire in the future, never overuse your attention, focus first on what you have in hand, before developing other skills." Marcos spoke and waved to some soldiers in a corner.
"This last day will be divided into two parts. The first part ..."
...
Ralph looked ahead nervously as he walked slowly forward to the inevitable destination.
When he jumped, he felt the air passing, the pressure and speed ...
Ralph looked down carefully, he had jumped off the plane at about two thousand meters.
Ralph could see a few points below him, it must have been other Walkers.
Ralph tried to calm himself, and looked at the device on his wrist, it was an altimeter.
It looked like time was moving slowly, but Ralph didn't lose his focus.
When he was at the right altitude, he opened the parachute. Soon he felt the parachute "pulling" it up.
As he slowly descended, he observed the environment, it was a clearly closed forest, and he would certainly have trouble landing.
When he started to land over the trees, he tried to avoid getting hurt as much as possible, but he couldn't avoid some scratches.
The parachute hooked, but he was prepared for it and slowly released the rope that held him, when he finally set foot on the forest floor, Ralph checked his equipment.
There was a walkie talkie in case of emergency, but if he used it, he would be considered a quitter.
After loading the rifle and unlocking it, Ralph took a compass and started walking in one direction.
While he seemed calm on the outside, Ralph was quite nervous and at the same time irritated.
-Training? What a joke!
They even had to sign a waiver, taking away the responsibility of the armed forces in the event of death.
All Walkers needed to land safely in the forest and find one of the outposts in the region by noon. That was the mission in the first "part of the day".
If someone did not arrive before noon, they would be rescued by a team that was on standby and considered "failed".
There were two main problems, the first being that, apart from a few exceptions that were veterans, none of the Walkers had parachuted in their lives.
Although they heard Marcos and Jorge's explanation of how to safely parachute, that didn't take away the fact that they were inexperienced.
The second problem is that the area they landed on was considered dangerous and there could be beasts!
It is as if the last day of training was actually all or nothing!
While trying to remain calm, Ralph kept a close eye on the environment and walked briskly towards the outpost.
The jungle seemed to be quiet, the birdsong and the light damp wind made Ralph's ride a little less tense.
After an hour of walking, Ralph was starting to feel tired. He was carrying a heavy backpack with supplies and equipment, apart from the assault rifle. The forest floor was muddy and the relief didn't help.
-Luckily, it looks like I didn't land on one of those islands ...
Ralph thought, feeling a little calmer. If he had landed on an island surrounded by rivers, he would have to waste time thinking of a way to cross the river, as he does not know how to make a raft.
As he marched, Ralph began to hear strange and distant sounds. At first he suspected he was a beast in combat with some other beast or military or Walker, but the sound started to become so severe and continuous that a sense of crisis covered him.
Ralph swallowed his own saliva and started to march even faster.
After several hours of walking, and tired, Ralph finally spotted the outpost. But there was a problem, there was a river between him and the post.
-Fuck! How the hell am I going to get through this? It is almost midday.
His skill was not going to help here, since despite influencing the environment, an illusion remains an illusion.
Ralph tried to find tree trunks on the riverbank and nearby, but found nothing.
There were only twenty minutes left until noon and Ralph was starting to get nervous.
Suddenly, he started to hear noises coming from the nearby woods. Ralph was on high alert while on guard with his rifle aiming at the woods.
Sweat started running down Ralph's face and he quickly used an illusion to make him invisible. He is not really invisible, since Ralph still needs to fully synchronize the characteristics of the ability, but it is enough to be almost imperceptible, unless the enemy can perceive his body temperature.
The noises started to intensify, and we killed a figure, it was a Walker, more precisely a woman.
She looked very young and had wavy brown eyes and hair, looking a little uncontrollable ...? Even though they are styled like a ponytail.
Ralph swallowed his own saliva unconsciously, he thought he was a beast, but luckily he's just a person. If he is a person, he can try to communicate!
But something made Ralph instantly change his mind, it is that he soon recalls Victor commenting on a cold girl who can control organic matter as she wishes.
According to Victor, this girl was very unfriendly and vicious, who cares nothing and isolates herself from all other women.
Victor's account of how this girl was matches exactly what Ralph was seeing.
A very beautiful girl, with brown eyes and hair, with a cold look and the ability to control organic matter.
As soon as she left the forest, she started to create a small raft with the abundant organic matter that was in the surroundings. Something of note is that she seemed to need to touch the wood for the skill to work and the wood to slowly transform from a tree to parts of the raft.
After ten minutes, she finally finished and got on the boat. With a newly created paddle, she started to row but suddenly looked back intently.
However, she saw nothing and thought it was her mistake, for a moment she thought there was someone behind her.
Ralph, who got on the ferry unnoticed, was sweating profusely. He had no choice but to take a "ride."
As she was paddling, the girl started to notice something strange, it is as if there was something more above the raft besides her, but she already looked back and had not seen anything and thought it was a mistake.
After five minutes, she finally reached the other side with the raft while sweating deeply.
She jumped off the raft quickly and stepped into the mud of the bank, but after taking a few steps, she looked back and then drew a gun.
"Who are you? Reveal yourself!" She cried out coldly.
Ralph smiled bitterly and dispelled the illusion.
-She must have noticed when I stepped in the mud.
Ralph thought bitterly.
"Why are you following me?" The woman asked.
"I wasn't following you ... I was already on the sidelines when you arrived." Ralph tried to explain.
"But then why didn't you show yourself?" The woman didn't want to leave it at that, she didn't like Ralph's attitude.
Ralph smiled bitterly and said:
"Why don't we leave it for later? It's almost noon!"
The woman thought for a moment and nodded, but did not let her guard down.
Ralph laughed even though he didn't want to and started running towards the station. Soon, the two arrived, but did not see what they expected.
After checking some traces, both came to a conclusion.
"They seem to have left in a hurry."
There were scraps of meals still hot, papers scattered with pens on some tables, and the power generator was running at full steam.
It was past noon already, and the second part of the training should have started, but everything was strange, and Ralph smelled the smell of danger.
"Did you also hear those sounds earlier?" The woman suddenly asked Ralph.
Ralph thought and nodded and said:
"I heard, it gave me the creeps ... It seemed distant, but still ..."
"Lieutenant Marcos said that we would be guided by the military present here, and that the other part of the training would take place under veteran supervision." The woman spoke in a worried tone.
Ralph understood her concern, although this training was never easy, it is impossible for the military to simply drop the Walkers in the forest, since almost everyone does not have much experience.
Ralph didn't hesitate any longer and picked up the walkie talkie.
"Anyone listening? Anyone listening, can you speak?" He said.
"Positive, Walker Ronaldo here." A voice answered, and then another 20 answered.
They were all Walkers, without exception.
Ralph soon noticed something was wrong. In total, there should be 30 Walkers, not just 21.
"You guys figured it out right?" Victor spoke.
"Yes, very quiet ..."
"There is no one at that post."
"Where I am, there is also no."
"Let me guess, it looks like they were in a hurry, right?" Ralph asked.
"Yes ..." Some responded.
"I didn't make it to the post in time ... but I didn't receive any communication." One of the Walkers spoke.
Ralph was silent for a moment and said:
"Even if this is just a test, we don't need to follow their game ... I think we should get together and get out of this forest as soon as possible."
"It is not so simple, the distance between the outposts is not small."
"But the distance to an urban center is even greater."
"Do you have a point ..."
The woman standing next to Ralph looked a little irritated and took the Walkie Talkie out of Ralph's hand.
"What are you ..." Ralph was about to speak but was interrupted.
"Are you guys stupid? If this is a test, do you think they won't get in our way willingly or not?"
"Calm down, by the voice you must be brown ice, huh. Ralph, if you are right beside her, you are screwed." Victor spoke
Ralph twisted the corners of his mouth and sighed.
"Anyway, I think those who haven't reached any outposts should hurry up. If it gets dark and you're in the woods ..." Ralph took the Walkie Talkie back and spoke.
"I agree."
"I think we should all come together and prepare at the outposts."