The place was so beautiful that it almost took Fedyenka's breath. It was decorated with flowers beautifully. It had many kinds of plants and trees. There was a table which was full of fancy dishes. There sat one ugly among the beauties, Miss Charlotte. But even Miss Charlotte's fake warmth was enough to make one feel comfortable. That is probably why everyone adores her so much, Fedyenka thought. Seeing various plants and seeing the seashore, a thought crossed her mind,
"What if someone plants an endangered plant on something they wants to hide? Or...what if someone throws a body after filling it with heavy things so that it won't float? Wait...where did I get the thoughts from?"
"You finally came. I have already called your brother. Though he won't come anytime soon Heh heh..." said Yuri.
"Welcome Dear. How are you doing lately? I bet you are starving, in case you have gotten your sense of touch yet." said Miss Charlotte.
"So you are awake, Fedyenka. Come, sit here." said the man sitting next to Miss Charlotte.
She sat on the chair the man pulled for her.
"By the way, I am Mr. Spencer. You can simply call me Spencer if you would like to." said the man.
"Alright, Mr. Spencer.
She started eating. While eating she choked after taking a look at the man for a bit. The man was also looking hideous like Miss Charlotte. Miss Charlotte handed her a glass of water.
"Are you alright, dear?" asked Miss Charlotte with a worried face.
"I'm okay." said Fedyenka.
"My goodness. What made you choke, Fed?" said Yuri.
Fedyenka replied, "I just thought of something funny. I'm sorry to make you all worry about me."
"And what was that funny thing?"
"What if your personal assistant asks you about-"
"Okay I get it. Now shut up and start eating."
Yuri stopped Fedyenka from saying a thing. They started eating again. They had a lively chat while eating. Fedyenka still kept faking her emotions. Whenever she got a chance to space out, she pondered about the meaning about it. In the middle of their lively conversation, Phantom came and interrupted.
"So lively. It's annoying." said Phantom.
"Ah, Phantom. It's you dear. Mind taking a seat and have breakfast together?" said Miss Charlotte.
"No thanks. I just grabbed something from the vending machine."
"Are you that full?"
"Yes. I rather eat scrap rather than eating with you guys and especially that eyesore." said Phantom while looking at Fedyenka.
Phantom started going toward the seashore. Fedyenka followed him and caught up with him.
"Why do you act like this all the time? Give me a clear answer at least." said Fedyenka.
"Because you are an eyesore in my perfect life." said Phantom and left.
Fedyenka showed no expression toward him as if she is used to it. She went back to the table and asked, "Are we going to have our meals here each time?"
"Yes Fed. We are pretty much like a family." said Yuri.
"Then, why were you guys acting earlier like you guys don't like me?"
"It is a long story. But we've got our reasons."
Fedyenka observed Mr. Spencer a bit. He seemed to be silent the whole time except the time he introduced himself. He suddenly rose a topic about her training.
"How is your training going?" asked Mr. Spencer.
"It's...well it's only been a day of my training so I don't know...good I guess." said Fedyenka.
"I see. Tried arrows yet?"
"No not yet. Yuri told me to practice with swords for now."
"Sword I said. Not swords." said Yuri.
"Yeah, that." said Fedyenka.
After they finished their meal, Yuri told Fedyenka to come with him to train. Fedyenka nodded and said goodbye to everyone else. Then, she headed off with Yuri. Like last time, Yuri told her to practice like last time. Like last time, he slacked off and slept on the chair.
"Yuri dude, you always slack off." said Fedyenka when she saw him sleeping. Some tennis balls hit her but she didn't pay any heed to it.
"I never slack off." said Yuri then closed his eyes again.
Fedyenka kept doing her practice again.
It kept on going like this for four days. Then suddenly Yuri told her,
"There is gonna be a special training. The counselor is gonna be yours and other trainee's mentor for one week."
"There are other trainees. Damn I never knew." said Fedyenka.
"Yes there are. You will meet them soon. They are a bit hostile so be careful around them. You are the newest trainee. It doesn't matter there if you have the potential, sometimes potential loses to experience."
"Okay, I will be careful."
"Good. Now I gotta teach you a little about arrows."
Yuri handed her a bow and told her to do as he does and says. When she held the bow tight and pulled the string she complained, "The position is so uncomfortable dude, how do you guys do it?"
"It is how it is. Now, take an arrow and hold it like this." said Yuri. He saw that Fedyenka couldn't place the arrow in the right way so he corrected her.
"Okay now, pull the string along with the arrow. Aim to the bullseye. Now shoot!" said Yuri.
Yuri's arrow hit the bullseye while Fedyenka's arrow hit the board at least.
"Well it's not half bad for a newbie. Keep practicing with arrows for now. You need to know how to use three things at least to enter the training seminar. Sword, guns and bows. You are master of none but you at least have to keep my name as it is or else you are gonna get a punishment."
"Why?"
Someone came in the hall and told Yuri that some technical problems have shown up in all of a sudden. Yuri told her to keep practicing and left the person to guide her.
"So, Fedyenka how has things been going?" said the person. The person was a tall female wearing an unusual medical apron. Her apron seemed woolly.
"Things have been going fine, which is boring. Are you from the Hibernation Wing? Your clothes seems like they were made to protect you from getting hibernated." said Fedyenka.
"Your guess is correct. I am indeed from that wing." said the woman.
"Are you a sage?"
"No I'm just a researcher. Still, I know some self defense...and stuffs. That's all."
"Oh...Do you know how to use this thing?" asked Fedyenka showing her the computer in the room.
"Yes I do of course. By the way, it's called a computer. Do you want to know how to use that thing?"
"Yes I want to."
The woman told Fedyenka to sit with her. Fedyenka already knew how to start it and use it surprisingly. But she didn't show any of her computer skill in front of her. Rather, she acted as if she knows nothing about the machine. The researcher taught her how to start it and open applications. Seeing her adapting the things she was teaching her, she was pleased. She started teaching her about more things. After an hour, she even moved to the topic about coding.
"Ma'am is it abnormal?" said fedyenka.
"What is?" said the researcher.
"That I'm adapting things this fast."
"You are born special with many modification of your body. It is only normal if you adapt things quickly."
Then she taught her about some basics of python. After some time the researcher stared behind Fedyenka and said,
"Uh oh."
"What is it?" said Fedyenka.
"We have completely forgotten about you training."
Hearing that she stared at the bow and in the blink of an eye, she went there to start practicing again.
"Please keep this as a secret or else I'm gonna get yelled at by Yuri." said the researcher.
"Okay. I won't tell him. But in exchange, you have to teach me more."
"Ha ha. I enjoyed that so it's a double win for me. Sure thing."
The researcher sat on the chair. Fedyenka kept practicing. She was still a far cry from hitting a bullseye. At least she could shoot on the board.
"By the way miss, what's your name?"
"It's Ling. You can call me just Ling."
"Okay Miss Ling."
Yuri came in the room in all of a sudden without any sound. When he saw them having a chat, he got angry and scolded at Ling. Ling heard every words of him like she is used to it. Fedyenka thought, "If this is the way she is used to then what would Yuri do if he knew I haven't practiced that much after he left..."
Miss Ling left the room after that scolding, saying goodbye to Fedyenka. Fedyenka simply nodded with a smile. She suddenly remembered that she hasn't seen Bea in two days. Beside being her companion, Bea is a great support for her to find a way to her goal. Her one and only goal at the moment was nothing else but pursuing the answers of her questions.