Soren's alarm dragged him from sleep that felt too short. Every muscle of his body was aching. Enhanced healing had fixed the worst of yesterday's damage, but residual soreness remained.
Jake groaned from his bed. "I can't move."
"Same."
"My legs don't exist anymore. I can't put strength to them properly"
"Mine either."
They lay there for thirty seconds before forcing themselves up. Missing morning drills meant extra punishment drills later they can't afford it in this condition definitely not.
The cafeteria was packed with exhausted first-years. Everyone looked half-dead. Soren grabbed some food while his brain woke up.
His AR wristband showed the schedule. Same as yesterday.
No advanced training today. That was Tuesdays and Fridays only.
He sighed in relief. Small mercy.
Training Facility C was already filling up with students when Soren arrived at 06:55.
Mira walked in and nodded at him. She looked tired but her condition was Better than the most.
At exactly 07:00, Instructor Torren entered the training facility.
"Day two and most of you can barely walk. Good. That means yesterday wasn't wasted."
He gestured to the mats. "Today we're drilling transitions between stances while maintaining form. Your body knows one position now. Time to learn five more."
Stance one to stance two. Hold. Transition. Back to one. Repeat. Over and over until the movements and position burned itself into muscle and Soren's legs screamed.
Instructor Torren corrected constantly. "Cross. Your weight's too far forward. You'll tip during actual combat."
Soren adjusted. Tried again.. again and again.
"Better. Hold it."
Jake was struggling nearby. His reactor heart gave him energy advantages, but foundation work required muscle memory that couldn't be shortcuts with technology.
"Feet wider. You're unstable."
"Yes sir."
They drilled for an hour straight before Instructor Torren called a break.
Everyone collapsed.
"You're doing better than yesterday," Mira said, sitting next to Soren. "Your transitions are smoother."
"They feel terrible."
"That's normal." She stretched her arms. "Give it another week. You will definitely feel the improvement yourself."
"Week even days feels like forever."
Instructor called them to stand up again.
Break ended too fast.
"Pair up fast. You're going to practice transitions while someone tries to disrupt you."
Instructor Torren paired them randomly. Soren ended up with a guy named Chen.
Chen said.
"Go easy on me, I'm dying here."
"I am not doing any better myself." Soren replied with tired voice.
They took turns. Chen would attempt light strikes while Soren transitioned stances. The goal of this exercise was maintaining form under pressure and combat.
Soren's transitions fell apart the moment Chen started attacking. His body wanted to react defensively instead of completing the drill. He struggled to maintain or even perform defence while holding his stance. He was doing very bad.
"Don't break stance," Instructor Torren called out. "The disruption is intentional. Finish your transition, then defend. A proper stance helps you to keep balance when you defend against attacks and even give you enough room to counter attack"
Soren tried. His brain understood the logic but his instinct disagree . His body refused to move that way he intended it to move.
By the end of training session, his success rate was maybe thirty percent. Not great, but better compared to how was his beginning.
Instructor Torren dismissed them at 09:00. "Same time tomorrow. Your transitions better be cleaner."
Soren limped to the cafeteria. Grabbed some light food. His body was demanding calories like he'd run a marathon.
Jake found him. "That was worse than yesterday."
"Yep."
"How many more weeks of this?"
"Torren said foundation takes a month minimum."
"Are they really trying to kill us."
"Probably."
They ate in comfortable silence. Too tired for conversation.
At 13:55, Soren headed to Integration Facility B.
Instructor Mako was already there.
"Integration efficiency training," Instructor Mako announced.
He pulled up holographic displays showing enhancement activation levels. "Full activation is for emergencies. Partial activation is for sustained operations. You have already learnt the difference yesterday practice again what you have learnt ."
Soren and about twenty other DNA users spread out across the training area. Reactor heart users had their own separate session since their power systems worked differently.
Soren triggered his enhanced perception alone. The world sharpened. Information flooded into his brain positions of other students, their distances and their movement patterns.
But still his legs tensed automatically, preparing for burst speed. Even he knew how to do it the success rate was very low.
"Your speed system's still activating," Instructor Mako said. "Relax your legs more."
Soren tried. His instincts fought him. Tiger beetle DNA wanted full predator mode not just partial activation. Even though tiger beetle gets blind while moving cause they move to fast.
"It feels wrong," Soren said.
"It's supposed to. You're fighting your integration's natural state." Instructor Mako walked over. "But in extended missions, you'll need to use your abilities for hours sometimes. Full activation will drain you in twenty minutes. Choose which you prefer. Die cause you can't handle your abilities properly or train hard to control your abilities."
After saying this Instructor Mako walked away without even hearing his answer. Because the answer was same for everyone.
Soren practiced for an hour. Perception only. Speed only. Both together. Learning to split his enhancement into components instead of using everything at once.
By 15:00, he could maintain perception-only for ten minutes without accidentally triggering speed.
"Adequate improvement," Instructor Mako said at the session's end. "Today's training ends here."
Soren grabbed a quick snack before weapons training at 16:00.
Training Facility A. This was where Instructor Hayes ran her sessions.
She was already there, cybernetic arms gleaming under the white lights of training facility. Former combat operative who'd lost both arms in a mission. But technology had given her replacements that were arguably equal or even better than originals.
"Weapons fundamentals," Instructor Hayes announced. "You've all held training weapons before. Now you're going to learn not to drop them when someone's trying to kill you. Losing weapons while fighting is like throwing your own life away by your hand."
She moved across the big hall giving pointers how to hold and move their weapons. After something she reached Soren. She demonstrated how to hold a baton so it didn't slip during impact. How to transition between weapons without fumbling. How to maintain awareness while armed.
Then they drilled. On their own.
Soren worked with training batons first. Basic strikes against combat dummies. His grip kept slipping. His swings lacked power. His recovery positioning was terrible.
"Cross. You're holding it too loosely. Grip tighter or it'll fly out of your hand."
He adjusted his grip and tried again after hours of training he somewhat was able to do proper strikes.
Better. Still not good, but better.
Two hours of weapons drills left his hands trembling and his arms exhausted. Yes he has enhanced healing but that doesn't mean it is not going to hurt.
Instructor Hayes dismissed them at 18:00. "Tomorrow we add movement to weapons work."
Soren headed back to the dorm. Jake was again already there.
"Day two complete," Jake said. "Only infinity more days to go."
"Just don't jinx it."
Soren collapsed on his bed. Too tired to shower. Too sore to care.
His AR wristband pinged. Message from Lyra.
**Lyra: How was day two?**
**Soren: not any better then yesterday**
**Lyra: Good. You're supposed to suffer**
**Lyra: That's how you get better**
**Soren: I'm aware**
**Lyra: Friday's our next advanced session**
**Soren: Yes i have already checked my schedule.**
**Lyra: Do better this time on practice that's all I ask beetle boy**
**Soren: I always do my best.**
**Lyra: Didn't felt that way.**
**Soren: Don't compare me to beast like yourself.**
**Lyra: You are not much different than me.**
**Soren: No… i am not.**
Lyra this time used some laughing emoji
**Lyra: Yes you are , you are no lesser than a monster yourself.**
The conversation ended.
[She's checking on you regularly now,] the System observed.
*Is that significant?*
[She's first-ranked. She doesn't check on random people. Either she likes you or she's sizing you up as competition.]
*Which one?*
[Both, probably. Even immortals don't know what a woman truly wants.]
*Helpful analysis.*
[I do what I can. Which is apparently providing relationship advice to someone who died for beetles.]
*Never letting that go, are you?*
[Never. It's too good.]
Soren closed his eyes. His body demanded sleep. Two days of intensive training had pushed him harder than anything in his previous life.
But he was surviving. Getting marginally less terrible at basic combat skills.
[Enhanced healing is working overtime tonight,] the System noted. [Your integration percentage might tick up slightly from all this physical stress.]
*That's good, right?*
[Depends. Higher integration means more power. But it also means more strain on your body. You're at 10% now. Getting to 15% will take weeks of this kind of training.]
*And when will i be able to utilise full extent of my abilities?*
[Months. Maybe six or more. Things will get interesting when you reach that point.]
*Interesting how?*
[You'll see. Sleep now.]
Sleep took him fast.
Somewhere in the darkness, his body processed the day's damage. Enhanced healing knitted torn muscle fibers, reduced inflammation, prepared him for tomorrow's punishment.