The next day, Sean was doing his usual training in the morning. He wanted to finish it quickly, as they would have mock drills from today onwards. They would fight in large numbers and employ various tactics to get the other side's flag or a spear that was taken from the racks in this case. It was smaller in scale than the siege they would have to endure, but any training counted. Extra merit points for winning the capture the flag, getting a better deployment in the arctics, or maybe a chance to contact their homes… Everyone had their own motivation to do their best in the upcoming event. Sean, for example, had been wanting to call Ms Hudson and the kids for a while now. Sally must've been restless, she had her aptitude assessment coming the very next year. The other kids were still small, there would be still a few years before they would take the assessment, but Sean only wished the best for them. He continued his weighted 10-minute plank sets with a smile on his face.
After washing up to clean the sweat and grime, Sean went back to his room, refreshed. He would head off to the cafeteria before going back to the training grounds but wanted to meditate before he did so. His day had become too packed with physical training, with his exercises and the drills, and the time they used for meditation and E.V.R. was spent coming up with plans, assigning tasks and other management-related responsibilities. They still had theoretical lessons about Abomination and Gates, but thankfully they would slowly turn into a meditation session for them to improve their Ether control and to form their strings. Tyson would form his last string at the camp, ready to engrave at the Arctic Front. Sean too at the least wanted to from his fifth before they were sent there. They were bound to have accidents in such a chaotic environment, allowing him to Engrave his head cavity first. He could choose not to engrave at the front at all and wait until they served their time and went to Nitefall with Tyson, but it would mean earning fewer resources from the time he served in the front. He wanted to earn a good amount of merit to add armour to his Uni-form or exchange it with credits to have a fat wallet.
After a brief meditation session, he went back to the training grounds for the mock drill. He was in charge of a 30-men squad, attacking in quick succession between the gaps of the other side's formation. They would not stay in one place and would be very active on the battlefield. At the end of the day, Sean concluded that a team moving around all the time, while it could prove effective, it heavily depended on the mobility of the group. While a 30-men squad could, it was hard to pull it off with the five thousand excess the attacker side had. They could always divide it into smaller numbers, but Sean didn't believe they had enough capacity to lead so many groups individually. Of course, he wouldn't scrap the idea but it had become less likely in his mind already. Late into the night, Sean woke up to a glow hitting his face. It was Tyson, who was writing something on a paper on his desk with the desk light open. Sensing the movement, he turned back and saw Sean, who was getting up.
"Did I wake you up? Sorry about that."
"No problem, I'm a light sleeper anyway." He stretched before going to wash his face. When he came back, Tyson was still writing. "What are you writing?" Sean asked, curious.
"Just a draft, I think the other side is rather afraid of us, so they will try to bend together."
"Makes sense."
Sean sat on his bed and took on the lotus position. Since he was awake, he would continue with it.
"You are diligent," Tyson said, with his back facing Sean. He was still working on the draft. "Even back at home, I don't remember some of my cousins being as diligent as you. I guess they could afford the leisure though, having green aptitude and all."
Sean, who couldn't hide his shock, asked. "They had green Aptitudes? I guess they really could afford the leisure, they may already have become First Rank Evolutionaries. Are they the guys you will battle for the succession?"
"Yeah. One of my siblings is Green, while the rest are only Yellow, and I'm an Orange. Father doesn't want the branches to get the position, so he is personally training my big brother. Sis and my other brother are still being trained at home, but I was sent here."
"Do you hate it?"
"I understand it. Maybe I would've done the same too, under the same conditions. Not like they hate me or anything, they are just disappointed. What about you, any regrets?"
"Nah, I'm okay with how my life turned out. It wasn't something in my control, that I know. From the moment I got my aptitude though, from that moment, reins were handed to my hands. I won't let them slip away." Sean closed his eyes and continued his meditation.
{SCRITCH-SCRATCH}
Only the sound of Tyson's pen could be heard, aside from the breathing and slight snores. After only Harsen knows how long, Sean got up and turned to Tyson, who was still working on the draft.
"You wanna hit the E.V.R.?"
The pen Tyson was holding stopped, and he turned to Sean.
"Sure, what will we be fighting?"
"You are familiar with it."
"Sean, we are not taking on the yellow with just the two of us."
"It's not that, I was thinking we should go a bit higher."
Just like that two of them went to the basement while everyone was sleeping, and got inside their capsules. Sean invited Tyson to his virtual world and chose the Abomination they would be fighting. It was a damn Gazelle with horns that glowed in a green hue.