It has been 2 months since our 'Stage 2 Task 4' task began which was 'Basic Mastery' of all the 'major' 'Weapons Wielding' and understanding the weapon you have an 'affinity' with.
Well they call them 'major' weapons because they themselves know that there are many more 'other' useful varities of weapons aside for the ones used in Murim and the Central Plains which are often frowned upon just because they are used by people from 'beyond the Great Wall'
The people from beyond the 'Great Wall' are often called by different names such as Asuras/Demons/Barbarians by people living here even though they are just basically oirats and northern nomads,etc.
Anyway, the major weapons used by people in the Central Plains are the Sword, Spear, Blade, Bow, Dagger and Axe and also hidden weapons.
While there are other weapons too but this are the major weapons most used in the 'Murim' World now by the 'Murim Factions'.
We had to train the 'Basics' on how to 'Wield' all these weapons and understand the 'Weapons' we had an 'affinity' towards from which my 'sister' had an affinity towards the 'Blade' just like our father.
But I surprisingly felt like I had an affinity towards most of them but I chose to go with the same choice as my sister 'for now' after seeing her competitive reaction.
We had already reached 'Inept' proficiency in everything else like 'Martial Arts' and 'Umarmed Combat' so it wasn't surprising if we had to reach 'Inept' proficiency in these too.
Is what we thought, but when we reached 'Novice' mastery in all the 'major' weapons within a month, we were then told we would only need to reach 'Inept' mastery with the weapon we have an 'affinity' with.
They then provided a 'foundation weapon technique' to everyone depending on their choice of weapons and I noticed that it looked like none of the people here had an affinity for bow or just wouldn't accept it because of their pride just because most people looked down on it.
Anyway, now at the end of the 2nd Month we both have already reached 'Inept' mastery in the 'Blade' and now there are less than 550 cadets who would survive till the completion of this task and we can finally leave this cave tomorrow.
I was even secretly practicing with the other weapons and increasing my technique proficiency in my free time which wasn't really much but I still decided to do it just to be careful as it would come in handy.
I was just super excited after imagining about everything I am going to do after leaving this cave and slept while dreaming about them.
....
Then the next day the instructors arrived and we all gathered at the 'Cave Hall' again for the last time and they started speaking.
"Cadets, all of you '545' remaining Cadets here have now reached the '2nd Rate Warrior' Rank and can now leave the cave of latent demons as real 'Demonic Warriors' of the Cult..."
He arrived and gave a short 5 min speech and ordered us to follow behind him and we followed quietly but then suddenly...
I was following the group at the end of the line but as soon as I reached inside the room entrance I smelled a pungent smell and before I would react I fell unconscious without even a moment to react.
.....
*Few Hours Later*
I opened my eyes again and woke up only to see lush greenery all around myself and it looked like.... as if I was stranded in the middle of a 'Forest'.
I got up and looked around once again to see my surroundings better and... I really was inside a 'Forest'
[A/N : I will be repeating the words 'Jungle' and 'Forest' in between at times so I apologise in advance if any of you find it inconvenient]
I started to search myself for any insects or bugs but found a paperball in my pockets instead,
I opened the paperball and started reading.
[Cadets, as promised you won't have to stay in the 'Cave of Latent Demons' after the completion of Stage 2, and the training for Stage 3 Task 1 which is your real life training begins from now on
Starting from Today, for the next 6 months you all have to survive and adapt to living in the 'Wild Forest' by yourself, and don't even think of running away as you will be disqualified and penalised by the Cult if you even try do so,
That's all, May the Blessings of the Heavenly Demon be with you]
It was a message left by the instructors which now clearly explained why I was here and why I suddenly fell unconscious at the time.
I was still seriously pissed though because these people had clearly tricked us all when they said we would leave the cave after Stage 2 and didn't mention that we would be performing Stage 3 out in the 'Wild'
Anyway, so now I have to survive in this forest for the next 6 months and adapt to living here until then,
First thing I have to do now is search for an empty abandoned 'cave' and Second thing I have to search for is Food and Water and I also have to make and lay down traps for wild beasts and the other Cadets.
I started searching for any waterways nearby first as I was feeling thirsty and started wandering around and a few hours later soon I heard the sound of running water from a distance and ran towards it while running with silenced footsteps and reached it soon.
It was a waterfall.
I searched around for a while to see if any wild animals or other Cadets are hiding nearby and after confirming there weren't any nearby I reached towards the waterfall.
.....
After I was finally done with my work I climbed and hid on a nearby tree to search for any animals I would hunt to eat today, but I soon got bored of it and I thought about exploring the nearby region and finding a cave to stay at night and started searching and after searching for a few hours I thankfully even found one,
I searched thoroughly to confirm incase if it was a nest for any kind of wild animal currently, So as to not get attacked suddenly at night and after confirming it wasn't I then decided to hunt for food.
Thankfully, It was taught to us previously during the tasks about how to survive in the wild and how to cook,etc and it was also really useful in real life too unlike most of the syllabus I had learnt in school.
Anyway, I foraged the surroundings for a few hours and found some wild rabbits and also edible fruits and returned to the cave once again and made a bornfire nearby outside to cook.
I had also seen a few cadets along the way and most of them have already settled down, some where playing 'king of the jungle' with the 'other cadets' while the few unlucky ones ran into wild animals instead,
I also tried searching for my sister but I wouldn't find her, so I think she already has settled down somewhere safe just like me.
I finished cooking and eating my food and then decided to now rest for the day.
To Be Continued...