Splash! Splash!
The tide was a bit higher now, and the cadets were still building boats. Disassembling the boats would only create scraps, so they needed to obtain new planks to construct new canoes. After a lot of observation, Ben could now somewhat participate in the boat-building exercise.
'Would rather carry the boats than do this,' Ben thought. He never thought using essence would be so mentally taxing! He felt like he was building up brain fog, which gave him a headache, made his thoughts slower, and also made him more tired. This was still hell week after all!
"Your knot's too loose, number 28. Here, let me teach you how to do the square lashing knot." Number 19 came over and instructed Ben. He was the only one who actually interacted with him.
"Thanks." Ben nodded and copied his method. Luckily, there didn't seem to be any arrogant young masters here. Ben also thought about how he hadn't met many arrogant bully types back on Earth, and concluded that they must be quite rare in reality.
'If this deadweight can be more efficient, we can get first place,' Number 19 thought. There was a lot of competition in this platoon, evident by the fact that they were numbered! Number 19 felt like he was close to being knocked out of the top 20, so he spared no effort in building these boats.
In truth, everyone already had plenty of experience building canoes, having started the craft at a young age. This exercise alone wasn't going to shave much off their build times, as every group finished in roughly twenty minutes, with at most a one-minute difference between them. The real purpose of the task was different: they had only recently become superhumans, and still lacked skill in applying their new abilities to practical tasks like boatbuilding.
Additionally, this exercise served to increase their essence control. Channeling it to one or two fingers requires a lot of mental exertion, as it is quite precise. However, using the idea of progressive overload, when you overly exert yourself, your body will adapt and become better at it next time. Exhausting your essence is therefore like reaching failure when exercising.
Nina's sealant was running out again, so Ben called for her help. This was probably quite the exercise for Nina as well
"Coming…huh, looks like you're getting the hang of it, number 28," Nina said. "This exercise is more useful for you, considering you're Rank 2 now, as you have more essence and higher quality essence to work with. Keep at it!" She seemed to have returned to her bubbly personality.
"Thanks…" Ben lightly responded, feeling quite dizzy from using his essence. It was still quite fun though; a completely new experience that didn't exist on Earth. Repeatedly building boats also wasn't as boring as repeatedly doing the same physical exercise.
All the groups seemed to follow a trend: they get faster initially as they warm up their essence and get in the flow, but slow down gradually when they're exhausted. The cadets seemed to have an unspoken agreement to have a slow round every now and then to recover their essence, which the instructor surprisingly allowed.
'This is cool and all, but when the hell are we going to be done?'
When there is no finish line in sight, people often get anxious and doubtful. How long do they need to keep going? How many more boats do they still need to build before they get to rest? This thought added to the mental exhaustion of the cadets.
"Another boat done, let's smash it apart now," said number 18. They cut the ropes with their hands by using essence, and then used their superhuman strength to break apart the boat, smashing the planks into pieces. The sealant was quite strong, creating rather large pieces that they could potentially reuse.
Seeing this, Ben went to grab some more planks from the shore, which seemed to never run out. He felt kind of bad for the trees, but then realized this was really nothing compared to Earth. Apparently, 27k trees are used to create toilet paper each day! Well, there's toilet paper here too, so who knows which planet kills more trees?
'Since when did I have ADHD?' Ben wondered. He felt like his thoughts were going way off track, then tried to refocus on collecting the planks. He tied them together with some rope to carry them more easily, then ran back to his group.
At least, he tried to run back, but he suddenly felt quite dizzy. The world was spinning, and his vision was darkening. A few seconds later, everything went back to normal.
'The..fuck? Fuck kind of acid trip was that? Sigh, probably too exhausted from hell week.' Ben could only move on and rest after hell week.
The group was building their tenth boat now, and they were the first group to do so! Even though there were no tangible rewards for doing so, the cadets felt quite proud of themselves, and also felt that this improved their chances of ranking up in the future. In fact, their teamwork improved as Ben improved, which really increased their efficiency.
'Can't beat us we're boat crew 2, these wannabe sailors can only turn blue.
Bob the builder meets Scooby-Doo, feel like a fish in water evolved to Mewtwo.
If 10k hours make you an expert my expertise is overdue, only God knows how I made it through!
Imma beat your ass motherfucker, beat it, motherfucker, beat it! Flew to this world to beat your ass motherfucker! Ya sucker! Ducker! Mucker! Tucker!'
Ben made some crappy lyrics in his head, which quickly turned into deranged insults. It helped ward off boredom.
The waves were getting bigger now, so they moved further up on the shore to continue building. This wasted some time, but they were used to it already. This also avoided the latchers that would come at night.
"Up we go! Yippee!" Number 18 was the most energetic of them all, while number 31 and 25 hadn't spoken once the whole time. They look too depressed to talk.
"Looks like some groups are finally on their 10th boat! This time, don't destroy it, we'll be doing something else with it." The bald instructor commanded. This gave everyone present an instant boost in motivation.
"Final boat, let's make it a little nicer," said number 2. "We'll probably be modifying it for something else."
"Good idea. Number 28, since you're not too experienced yet, you should leave the rest to us. Just help pass the materials," said number 19.
"Sure." Ben had no problems. He really needed a rest right now, and knew that him trying to help would just make the final product worse anyways.
'Sweet contribution points!' Number 19 thought. In his mind, the instructors would determine their rankings based on how much they contributed in this group project. And why does he want to rank up so badly? For more resources of course! Just look at how much Blackrift has invested in Number 1; he's Rank 2 already!
Ben sat down on the sand, focusing on his essence core. He tried to draw all the essence in his body to his core, which created a condensed, warm feeling in his stomach. He then dispersed it throughout his body, which was his state before he even knew about essence. This time though, he was aware of the essence flowing through his body, which felt quite surreal.
'Feels like I can rest more effectively if I channel the essence through my whole body,' Ben thought. 'Although this takes mental energy as well, so I should probably just rest normally.'
Ben started to observe the sea, with his peers building boats behind him. He looked at the night sky, with stars that were intensely sparkling. Ben got lost in the sight; he had never seen anything like this in the cities, where there were tons of light pollution. A sense of relaxation washed over him.
'Maybe this place isn't the worst…but I still want to return home.' Ben thought. He started to miss his family and friends, and also the days when he would search for new webnovels to read. He had been constantly trying to survive, and therefore didn't have much time to think about this stuff. How is he going to return home? Was that even possible? Maybe he has to die again?
'Woah, that's a dangerous train of thought.' With no understanding of how he transmigrated, Ben definitely wasn't going to try anything drastic. It is a comforting thought if he's about to die though.
'Still, the first priority is to survive. Maybe I can enjoy my new life afterward.'
…
The six groups soon finished their boats. Ten canoes stood on the shore, each one being able to fit three people. The bald instructor nodded his head in satisfaction.
"As you all know, frequent skirmishes happen around these parts. Sometimes it's inhumans, sometimes it's the bastards from Dclaptera. Whatever you face, knowing how to build simple boats is a key part of being in the Navy! There are lots of deserted islands around here, meaning if you know how to build boats, you can easily travel between these islands. Whether you're escaping or chasing an enemy down, boats are essential!"
'I'm actually in the fucking Navy?' Ben felt quite depressed. He felt absolutely no loyalty to this place. Why couldn't he be born in an era of peace instead? He was quite good at being peaceful…
"Of course, a lot of times, you don't have the time or material to build boats. That's where rafts come in! It's a place to recuperate your essence, and as a superhuman, you should be able to travel with just your abilities. However, it's quite susceptible to sea monster effects and is also slower than a boat, so it's a last resort. Hell, you can even treat a stray piece of wood as a raft! Well, lecture's over, go get some sleep!"
The cadets were more than glad to oblige, returning inland to their camp. They were also feeling quite excited, learning how to fight (escape) on the sea. Well, most of them.
'Is this how the Koreans feel? Man, mandatory military service even for superhumans? Are superhumans that common? I'm actually about to crash out. Not only do I have to fight against monsters, but I also have to fight inhumans and motherfuckers from Dclaptera? Sounds like a scary place…or organization, I don't know. Either way, fuck.' Ben felt like he had been cursing an abnormal amount this past week.
'I need to escape! Or do I? I know nothing about this world after all. Maybe the best plan is to just raise my strength at this place? But what if I die? But it might be better than exploring an unknown world. I also have to speedrun to Rank 3 so I don't get corrupted by that Godflesh. I guess I also have a family, but they're not my actual family, and I'm not going to forget that. Hmm, what to do…'
With no hellish training, Ben began to contemplate deeply about his situation.
'I think I could first get to Rank 3 before escaping on a boat. I would need to collect more knowledge before I escape, though. Ideally, I find a good legal way to quit the Navy, but that's probably impossible. I also don't know how dangerous these skirmishes with foreign forces are. Maybe their attack is an opportunity to escape? Ah fuck it, I'm too tired to think about this, I'll go to sleep and think about it later.'
Ben was extremely tired from all the physical training and his first essence control exercise. If he hadn't ranked up to Rank 2, he probably would've collapsed during the training.
"Mate, you recovered yet?" Number 32 asked number 31. Number 31 shook his head and went straight to sleep.
"Sigh, I'm also quite tired. At least the essence training won't be as boring." Number 31 went to sleep as well.
Meanwhile, number 1 and number 2 stayed up and circulated their essence throughout their body. They had the best essence control out of the whole platoon, meaning they had enough energy left to use it to rest more efficiently. Everyone else had already fallen asleep from exhaustion.
'This is what separates the great from the good.' Number 2 looked over at number 1. 'Still quite far away from beating that monster though.'
With superior essence control as well as Rank 2 essence, number 1 was definitely far ahead of the game. He had talent, resources, and an extreme work ethic!
'With enough essence control, using this method would actually improve your mental energy. I'm far away from such a stage, though. Right now, I'm simply using minimal mental energy in exchange for a better physical condition. Physical condition is still somewhat important in these exercises, after all.' Number 2 was extremely clear about the situation.
'I should reach the threshold to break through to Rank 2 after hell week. Maybe I can compete with Phil then. Sigh, if only Number 28's resources were given to me…' Number 2 glanced at Ben in envy.
'Whatever, I should focus on myself. Every person has their own strengths and weaknesses. I'll continue to work hard and get stronger! For my country!'