It was the second time for her to stand infront of the Captain's office. Claire breathes deeply while holding on to the document she's about to pass. She first knock before entering. "Please pardon the intrusion, sir."
Captain Wright only glanced at Claire as he was busy handling some papers. "So it's you. It's only been a month and you're already done with the first two stages of training. You must've grown a lot since the last time we fought."
"...may I know what's going to happen for the last stage of my training, sir? Sir Franklin told me that you'll be the one to handle me." She said.
"That's right, but I must apologize right now. As you can see, I've got a lot of shit on my hands." He referred to the documents he was reading and signing.
"T-Then what about my training?... sir."
A smirk plastered on Wright's face. "For the last stage of training, it'll be an actual combat training. Similar from the time we fought, though it'll consist of particular standards you need to meet in order to pass."
"..." Whatever she may encounter, Claire is very determined to push this through.
"I'm sure you'll pass no matter what, but I'll have to send you to a different instructor. But I gotta warn 'ya, he's very rough and ill-tempered." The Captain chuckled and sent Claire off to her new instructor.
Claire headed to the ammunition storage facility, it's a place where her new instructor usually stays at according to Captain Wright. After she enters the place, she asked around to find a man named Zahi Nor.
She was pointed to different directions multiple times until she stumbled upon a man sleeping on top of boxes filled with ammunitions for assault rifles. "E-Erm, is this really... him?" Claire finds it disappointing to see this sloppy-looking man to be the so-called 'Zahi Nor'. And how can he sleep at a place that reeks of the smell of ammos?
Before she can step away, the slumbering man spoke. "...and where do you think you're going?"
"Huh, you're awake!?"
"Is that a way to greet your superior?" Zahi sat upright and glared at Claire. "Wright assigned me to oversee the last stage of your training when I clearly told him I was going to take a break for a while."
"I-Is that—"
"But no! Wright said this trainee holds a lot of potential, that he'll be counting on me to train you!! He just really had to force me to do this shit!!" He began to live up to Wright's description for being ill-tempered, Zahi approached Claire and roughly grabbed her by the collar. "You better be worth my time, I'll crush you to pieces if you dare to disappoint!"
"U-Understood s-sir!"
"Now off to the combat training grounds! NOW!!"
Claire takes back what she thought of this man, Zahi Nor is Menacingly intimidating. Once they reached the training grounds, Claire was attacked without a warning. "W-What the!?" She was fortunate that she was able to dodge his kick in time.
Zahi then tries to grab her on the arm, she quickly jumped back to distance herself from him. From there, she caught up with the situation. The combat training have already started as they entered the training grounds.
She recalled Captain Wright's words. 'The enemy never lets you know when they attack, so one must be prepared at all times!' And that's exactly what's happening to her right now.
But Zahi was fierce. He seemed way more stronger, faster and skilled than Captain Wright, all Claire could do for now was to avoid all of his continuous attacks. Just what is he?! What group does he belong to!? What's his rank!? How is he so fast and strong!? And on top of all that, why isn't he using his shifter!?
Claire's shifter was in a constant form of springer that helps her dodge all Zahi's attacks. She couldn't get the time to retaliate and put a scratch on him.
"The hell are you doing!? When are you going to attack!?" Zahi began to complain. "It's clear you're not ready yet! So how come Wright made you train under me!?"
"—Argh!" On her fourteenth landing with the shifter springer, she unexpectedly twisted her ankle from the high pressure of landing. Zahi finally caught up with her and choked her. "C-Can't... breathe!!" She tried to get his grasp off, but he won't budge a bit.
"You wasted my time. Wright's deluded, there's nothing special about you at all. Go back to Franklin and train some more!" Claire lost consciousness and was sent to the medics. It was really rough to train under Zahi Nor, and their combat training didn't even last for atleast three minutes.
When she regained consciousness and found herself laying on a bed at the medical facilities, she frowns in dismay. "Fuck."
Claire realized that it was going to be difficult dealing with Zahi, but that's a part of the training. Nothing ever goes smoothly, there will always be a bump in the road ahead.
Right when Claire got discharge, she went straight back to Zahi, finding him sleeping over boxes of ammos. She salutes as she spoke, "Sir Zahi, I apologize for disturbing you in your sleep and for the delay in our training due to my recovery! Please train me again, I will do my absolute best to not disappoint you, Sir!"
Her loud voice woke him up. "Mm... mmp?... you again? Haven't I told you to go back to Franklin!?" Zahi badly wants to get rid of her.
"Sir, I'm afraid that's not possible. I've already passed the first two stages of our training, therefore I must proceed to the final stage to complete my training, sir."
Zahi clicks his tongue and suddenly threw a swiss knife at Claire. She was able to move away but the knife scratched her cheeks. "Too slow." He commented. "I think you're still not good enough to proceed to the last stage of training."
"...if I wasn't good enough, then how did I get permission to proceed?" Claire ran out of patience and started glaring at Zahi.
This made him grin. "I like that cocky attitude, it makes me want to crush you into bits."
She steps back as she got intimidated by Zahi once again. "Alright. I'll give you another fucking beating to show how much you're still lacking. To the combat training grounds, immediately." Then the two went to the training grounds once again. How will the outcome of their training go this time around!?