“What do you think they’ll make us do?”

“Run? A lot of people are running.”

“Are you serious?”

“Looks like it.”

“I might join Ret then. I don’t think they’ll make him run if he’s there to train animals.”

“You already paid the tuition.”

“I can’t get it back?”

“What do I know?”

Pal and Kom were chatting. They were making their way to breakfast. Sorp had already gone, as he was taking this very seriously.

What he was taking seriously was the food. The food here was a step above the nonsense they had been eating during their long journey.

The trainees in the cafeteria were baffled by the amount of food Sorp was eating. His actions were not slow or fast, but he never seemed to stop.

“Look, Sorp is already here.”

After eating their fill they returned to rooms. In a few moments they have to go to their official instructor and begin their training.

Once they arrived to the training hall labeled training hall sixty five. They see sixty to eighty people lined up. Some still getting in position.

“Is this the right place?”

“The compass has never been wrong before and this hall sixty five.”

The group has dressed in new clothing. The outfits are tight fitted but don’t hamper movement. If anything they are happy to be wearing something different than beginner clothing.

Once the hall’s doors closed a man in a black and dark red uniform walked onto the stage.

“Welcome everyone. Today we welcome six new additions to our squadron.”

The crowd collectively let out a shout. The words ‘third wave’ echoed through the room. The official cry of the Third wave reinforcement camp.

“I expect you to guide our new arrivals. Today we gathered here to greet them.”

The man let his word travel the room for a moment.

“They will be behind you in every aspect of training. I expect you all to show what your worth. To a figure to aim for.”

The crowd shouted once again, making the room feel like it was shaking.

“I want to ask the new arrivals to come up here.”

The group felt a bit odd but no one hesitated to make their way up the stage. Their lineup looked lackluster as only Pal’s and Sorp’s posture was adequate.

“Introduce yourself. Starting with the word trainee.”

Sorp looked at the man. He felt this man would be strong. This was his instincts talking.

“Trainee Sorp.”

“Trainee Pal.”

“Trainee Dart.”

“Trainee Jarem.”

“Trainee Kom.”

“Trainee Daisy.”

Only Sorp and Kom didn’t feel embarrassed shouting their names. One was indifferent to it while the other relished the attention.

“Good! Good! I like your spirit. You can return.”

While they returned the room turned silent, only their footsteps could be heard. Kom looked enthusiastically about. His eyes as wide as his smile.

Pal similarly had a dangerous look in his eyes. Thousands of schemes budding in his mind.

All of them were given the crowd at least a glancing look. Sorp estimated that these people were weak. He only felt that the instructor was worth his time.

Once they got back into formation the instructor gestured everyone to be quiet.

“It is always good remember the Third wave reinforcement motto. Endurance.”

What follows was the same synchronous shouting of ‘Third wave’.

“The Third wave reinforcement focuses on endurance. You will learn all manner of survival but we must build a foundation. And that foundation is one one word. Endurance.”

The man didn’t continue speaking instead he let the room sit in silence.

“You will find your body and will tested.”

With those as his final words he ordered them to the field. The groups split up into groups of fifteen. Summing up to ninety people.

Each group lead by two different instructors. A man and a woman.

The group they were assigned to coincidentally or not had more women than men. They ended up with the ratio of seven women and eight men.

“We’ll begin with a basic B.F.M. exercise.”

The female instructor walks forward. Her B.F.M. projected out a short sword.

“The quickest way to improve your B.F.M. endurance is to push yourself to your limit.”

In front of everyone, her short sword began vibrating. This was hard to detect but once focused on it, was possible to see it with the naked eye.

“B.F.M.’s do not require much to maintain them while they are out. The average person should be able to summon their weapon for hours without rest.”

The people dully nodded and kept listening. This explanation was for Sorp and the guys.

“To expedite this we can a simple trick called shaking. You do this by vibrating your B.F.M. I want you to take out your weapon and practice shaking.”

The guys were looking at the instructor with an odd expression. They felt this was stupid. Sorp did summon his B.F.M.

Seeing as Sorp was following instructions, they couldn’t really stall any longer. Soon everyone's weapon was out and they all stood there trying make vibrate.

“I don’t get it.”

Kom was instantly frustrated. He tried shaking his weapon with his hands. This didn’t result in anything.

“It’s okay. Most people don’t get the first time. Let me help you.”

The female instructor was quick to help Kom. she got behind hand put her hands on his hands.

“You’ve got to make sure you stand perfectly still. It's not about physically shaking, but using your mind to move your B.F.M.”

Kom isn’t inexperienced but feeling the instructors body pressed against his back and her hand on him, he couldn’t help but feel flustered, his face lit red.

Pal’s eyebrows shot up at the sight.

“Miss. I also can’t get it moving, can you help me get it up?”

The words were a bit off. Jarem looked at Pal and laughed. Dart, Daisy and Sorp were focusing on their B.F.M.’s.

When Pal’s word left him he looked expectantly at the female instructor.

“I’ll help you buddy.”

Pal froze for a moment. Before he knew what was happening, a muscular hand was on his. The raspy voice made his soul shiver.

Jarem couldn’t hold it in and let out an uncontrolled laugh. This made pal go from pale to red. Someone was going to get hurt, Pal had to regain some face.

Just as Pal was about to lose it, a gasp came from the female instructor. She was looking at Sorp. His sword was vibrating with vigour.

Sorp felt the fatigue build up. It was like he had cut his main artery and he was bleeding out. He felt his head was getting lighter.

“Good! Just like that. When you feel the fog you can stop.”

Kom felt a bit annoyed. He even thought Sorp did it intentionally to snag away the instructor.

was grateful that he wasn’t being held by a man anymore. He was still angry but wasn’t going to step on Sorp’s toes.

Even with Sorp vibrating his sword he was holding on for a while. Dart began vibrating his summon machete B.F.M.

The original B.F.M.’s were designed to be artificial limbs and therefore should be used like one.

When Dart practiced using the navigation system using only his mind, he was using the same mechanic the B.F.M. use. To move something like it was a part of their body.

“A useful trick to is to imagine the weapon to be your hand and then shake it.”

This was Dart speaking. To him it was obvious what to do. But the instructors are virtual humans, their experience with B.F.M. is slightly different.

“What do you mean Dart?”

“Pretend the B.F.M. is your hand and shake it without actually moving your hand.”

“Okay.”

The instructors were baffled. One person succeeding on their own was one thing. Two people is amazing. But to actually instructing people right off the bat was unbelievable.

When Sorp met his limit, Dart was already staggering.

“Good, trainee Dart. What you need to is sit down and focus on your B.F.M.

Dart sat down and held machete with both of his hands.

“You’ll feel yourself lose more and more focus.”

Dart nodded in acknowledgement, his mind was like sieve, constantly losing water.

“We know this is an uncomfortable feeling. The longer you hold your focus the more you improve.”

Sorp was now sitting on the floor with his short sword out. All that existed was this short sword. Both Dart and Sorp lost themselves.

This state was hard not to enter once the fatigue hit them, all they could do was focus on their B.F.M.

In this state, their eyes felt heavier and heavier. A sort of illusory pressure rests on you, like being tucked into a blanket.

“Alright everyone keep going. You’ll get it eventually, everybody does.”

Most of the usual people here were already vibrating their B.F.M. or sitting on the floor. Kom, Pal, Jarem and Daisy were still struggling to get the vibration to work.

Daisy waited for the Male instructor to walk by her to ask for help. He was quick to wrap himself around her and in his raspy voice guide her.

Jarem was surprisingly irritated at this. He had to close his eyes to contain himself. For some reason this helped him focus. His B.F.M. began vibrating.

“I’m doing it! Look! I’m doing it!”

“Great job, Trainee Jarem! We got some really talented people here today.”

Being compliment made Jarem feel ecstatic. His smile so wide it felt a bit painful.

When Sorp and Dart lost their focus, Jarem was just about to enter fog fatigue.

“Good. Trainee Sorp and Dart, you can take some time to rest. If you feel up to it, you should try again. Only through repetition can you improve.”

Sorp forced himself to look up and nod. Dart ignored the instructor. He was thinking this wasn’t worth it. Moreover he didn’t like losing control like that.

It took some doing but eventually Daisy, Pal and Kom succeeded in vibrating their weapons. All of them except for Sorp felt this too taxing.

It wasn’t a pleasant experience. And not even someone as observant as Sorp could feel improvement.

“Remember guys. This exercise is to improve your endurance but you will find it will help you control your B.F.M.’s in the future.”

Most of the crowd had their eyes closed but the two instructors keep talking sporadically.

“This is not a race, but a marathon. Every session will increase your endurance. And that endurance will be you foundation in the future.”

It wasn’t until the afternoon that the group finally stopped. Somehow Sorp found the space for even more food.

After launch they went onto another class. This time around they were exercising their physical body. Beginning with an half hour of running.

“Alright everyone take a few breaths and rest. In a moment we will begin practicing using a weapon of your choice.”

Most of the group was breathing heavily but Dart, Pal, kom and jarem were weezing. Daisy couldn’t help but look down on them.

“In the back you’ll find any variety of basic close combat weapons. There are basic instructions of beginner movements you should follow.”

Sorp went directly to the back. He was familiar with most of the weapons, but he had never trained in any of them.

“What weapons do you guys like?”

“Do I have to like one? Can’t I be a logistic guy or something.”

“Don’t be a bitch Kom.”

“You face is is a bitch. Bitch.”

“Alright, pick a weapon then.”

“I’ll do what I want. Actually this sabre would look good in your face.”

“I won’t lie, that’s a good looking sabre.”

Sorp picked a long sword. He felt his was more satisfying than the short sword.

“We will be inspecting you and helping you practice in the right form. Remember that the right form allows you distribute your strength more efficiently.”