"Attack!"
The tip of the spear split the air, Leta thrusting forward with a grunt as if she was physically attacking an enemy in front of her.
"Attack!" Allister repeated.
Again.
And again.
And again.
After hours of performing the same motion over and over, Leta was thrusting blind because of the sweat that was pouring into her eyes.
They had gone through a few exercises she was quickly learning were 'standard' when it came to Arisen, which were apparently comparable to participating in the Olympics. The nanites she'd put into upping her stats last night had made the strain on her muscles more manageable, though the burn still felt like she'd been rolling in hot coals.
Allister had tapped her shoulders with a quarterstaff and deemed that 'the training wheels were ready to come off'. Apparently, the training wheels meant coming off meant that Talents were now allowed, because when he had her square off with Afra she came at Leta with fists literally flaming.
Objectively, she felt like she'd done a good job keeping the Hearth Maiden from getting past her guard as she started to turn that knowledge of the spear into muscle memory.
That didn't mean she had gone through the ordeal unscathed; she was now missing several inches of hair that would need a trim to even out.
It was harder when Allister gave a whistle and Bonnie the wolf joined the fray, snapping at her heels as she worked to fight off two foes at once.
When Afra slowed down to call Huda, Koa volunteered under the condition that she didn't zap him with a lightning bolt again. An easy enough promise, but after over an hour of parrying sword strokes, she was ready to go back on her word.
Allister gave her a twenty minute brake to use the bathroom and catch her breath before he had her running drills again.
"Attack!"
"Ha!" Leta exhaled with a shout as she thrust forward again, Inimus whistling as it cut the air.
"Stop." Allister commanded with a raised fist.
She shouted a growl of "Aaargh!", her muscles loosening painfully as the spear tip hit the concrete. She felt like she couldn't get enough enough air into her lungs to put out the fire that was burning in her chest.
Leta whipped the sweat from her eyes with the end of her shirt and took several sips of water from the bottle Allister handed her. "What's next?"
"Nothing. We're stopin' here." He replied as he handed her a towel. "It's nearly dinner time."
"Really?" Leta breathed heavily.
"Aye. It's bout' half past five."
They'd been training in the gym for nearly five hours.
Allister took the towel back from her. "Clean up as best ya can. There's some old but clean clothes in the room we showed ya earlier, then come down back ta the main room for supper."
Leta nodded, still out of breath as the Hunter patted her back and sent her on her way.
Just like the rest of the Outpost, the rooms were spartan with minimal furniture and, of course being under ground, no windows. It was very much what she would expect if living in a fallout bunker.
A quick wash off in the sink and changing into the baggy tshirt and gym shorts that had probably been left here in the 1990s she headed to the main area that she and Allister had first come into when they arrived.
The room was quiet and void of company save for Afra who was casually stirring a pot of something that smelled amazing on the stove.
"Oh my gosh, what is that." Leta moaned, taking a deep sniff of the spicy sweet smell.
"Nihari. Ever had it?" Afra asked over her shoulder.
She shook her head. "No, but it smells amazing."
"Thanks. This was a comfort food my mom used to make us when she had a long day. I figured after the day we had and how it's probably going to go, we'd need something comforting to fill us up."
Afra took a ladle and filled up a bowl, handing it to Leta and motioning her to sit.
Leta took one bite and groaned in ecstasy as the spicy beef stew seemed to melt her worries away. "Oh lord… will you marry me?"
Afra chuckled, sitting down herself across the table and scooping stew into her mouth. "Not bad. I usually eat this with naan but it'll do on it's own."
"Is your mom into cooking?"
The Hearth Maiden smiled as if she were remembering fond times, "Yeah. At least, I'm pretty sure she still is. Huda and I had to fake our deaths about ten years ago because it started to get noticeable that we weren't aging like everyone else."
The savory taste of the stew did little to stop the empathic sadness that settled in her stomach.
"Do you mind if I ask what happened?"
Afra chuckled. "My origin story's not as exciting as you'd think. My sister and I's life threatening situation that activated our talents was a bus fire on our way to visit a university. Our mother is from Pakistan and was discouraged by her family from furthering her education, so she really encouraged us to learn. We grew up in Istanbul at a time when women were getting more access to higher education but it still wasn't totally accepted by society at large. Even though our dad was also very supportive his family wasn't, so we didn't tell anyone that we were going to go look at applying for college.
"A small lorrie t-boned the bus and we flipped. The engine caught fire, but we were pinned in the back on our side. Something came over me and I was able to smother the flames but not completely put it out. We were getting out but there was a little girl who probably got seperated from her family and was scared. Huda's ability came on and she was able to persuade the girl to get out with us. We all tumbled out alive and a week later we got a knock on the door from a Weaver with the Istanbul Sect."
"…Wow." Leta said quietly. It almost felt rude to be eating the stew while Afra was talking about literally life altering events.
Afra shrugged. "Not as interesting as being stabbed by coral during archaeological excavation."
It was Leta's turn to chuckle, "Still very interesting. What were you guys planning to study at the university?"
"Nursing for me, law for Huda. One of the good things with joining the Sect was that they paid for our university, so there's that."
"Good to know."
Afra must have heard something in her voice because she glanced up from her stew to see Leta's expression. "Something eating at you?"
Leta shrugged, "I'm… stressed is the only way I can describe it. I have so much in my brain right now; a need to prepare for what's to come, a fear of what the future holds, and… this terrifying suspicion that, while I've been keeping a distance from my family to prevent the Blessed from targeting them, I feel like I've dragged my parents into danger."
Afra nodded her understanding. "I'm going to give it to you straight, girly. Even if you were totally normal without stupidly powerful talents, anyone could find out stuff about you on the internet, that's just the world we live in."
She put her elbows on the table, leaning forward and fixing Leta with a serious stare. "A word of advice? There's nothing you can do to protect someone on the other side of the world, so trust in the Chosen to protect your family. You're one of us, and the Chosen takes care of their own. Focus on what you can do right now, in this moment, to live another day. That's all that any of us can do."