“Good job. Good form. Your shoulders should should be a bit lower. Raise your right knee a degree.”

The group was seriously questioning what they were doing here. Daisy and Sorp were the only ones feeling good about training themselves.

While Perpetual Power didn’t directly say that the world Perpetuity isn’t just a game, they heavily implied that It was much more.

For many people it was dawning on them. The group right now felt it more than most. It was apparent they were really just training. What did they need to train for? This was how they felt.

“While it is good to master a single weapon, it is good to try out different weapons. Not only to see if you like it but also to expand your horizon.”

Daisy had told the guys she was going to begin recording yesterday. In truth, only Dart didn’t want her to. But it wasn’t as big a deal as he made it out to be.

Her currently following reached thousands on the first day. Because she had reached the Third wave reinforcement camp. And was the only source of information about it.

Today, as the day progressed, she had over a hundred thousand people watching her and thousands spamming her chat. All she did was train She didn’t even interact with her viewers.

“Remember, it's not about power. It’s about form, you want to make sure your actions are efficient. Power comes later.”

Sorp was practicing with different weapons. He leaned towards the heavier weapons, their weight felt right.

The weapons ranged from swords, hammers, axes, spears and staves. The rest wasn’t heavy enough.

There are a few types of weapon within each type of weapon but in the end no one here understood the difference.

The practice lasted about two hours. Leaving the group sweating like pigs. Daisy and Sorp were still alright. Their physical fitness above Pal, Kom, Jarem and Dart.

“I wonder what Ret is doing.”

“Ask him. He’s still in the party.”

Ret couldn’t hear them talking. Had they been talking in an exclusive party chat, he could have. But they were also talking to instructors and it would be inconvenient to switch back and forth.

“Nawh. I’m sure he’s fine.”

“Where are we going now?”

“According to the training schedule, we’re going to study basic survival and then dinner after that.”

For the first time that they entered this world, they saw something that looked high tech. The tables in the room all equipped something exotic.

“What is this?”

“Everybody, pick a table and sit down.”

The tables were smooth, on them is a screen with various icons.

“Because of new arrivals we’ll be splitting the group up a bit. The six of you please follow my instructions. The rest of you can review material or continue where we left of.”

The fist half hour consisted of teaching them how to use this table. This table held thousands of virtual materials they could directly work with.

This means they could practice lighting fires. Create medical compounds. They could learn to cook with meagre supplies. Everything you needed to know, to survive.

These tables would later also serve as a station to practice any of the professions. But that wouldn’t be here.

This institute focused on survival. While you can argue that any profession has its place when the vague term survival comes in, the camp as a very distinct plan.

“If you can stuck at any point, one of us will come assist you.”

The studies ranged from how to to recognize useful materials, how to check if something is etable, how create simple things like gauss to tracking beasts.

Some of these subjects are shallow, but many are in depth and will take months or even years to cover. In all likelihood, only basics will be covered here.

“Guys. What is going on?”

“Are we in school?”

“School?”

“This is school?”

All of them except for Dart were frowning. Even Daisy didn’t like this. Sorp had navigated to a book explaining various hows and whys of treating a wound.

He waved his fingers and the pages began flipping. He had never read something so long. This was tens of pages of solid text.

“If you guys, prefer you can listen to audiobooks. You can also bring up text with video that shows material relevant to the text.”

Everyone of them brought this option up. They were now watching soft fabric, some raw unprocessed materials. A man’s voice was narrating the text.

With images, a voice talking to them and simultaneously reading the text annotation, the group fell into silence. They looked like they were in trance.

This wasn’t because it was so interesting. This is Perpetual Power at work. In a way they have been hypnotised. Another of of Perpetual Power’s questionable tools.

Traditional hypnosis typically requires a willing participant or at least one that listens to and adheres to specific instructions. In the virtual world this isn’t needed.

People that were paranoid that Perpetual Power might be able to mess with their mind were right to be paranoid. This is exactly what they were afraid of.

The only thing they were wrong about, was how it would be used. Perpetual Power used it to educate people.

This is something that came along when they realized that their crafting professions were far to in depth. Almost impossible to study on your own.

While many people with burning ambition would still persevere. Perpetual Power wanted more out of people. And this is one of their most successful solutions.

They also tried installing the information straight into peoples minds. This did not go well. The failure rate was high and on occasion would cause brain hemorrhage.

There were great success. Like a person learning the entire database of languages in a week. But the failure rate wasn’t only high, but also unexplained.

Without an explanation to the failure, they couldn’t do anything to fix it. This forced them into focusing on hypnosis and low levels of data streaming.

Right now the group was being fed the information. This is a slow process, but its effectiveness is undisputed.

This won’t make them geniuses, they will still have to practice their knowledge. For the most part, they will have to rely on themselves to practice what they learn.

When actually using their knowledge, they require more autonomy, meaning they can’t be under hypnosis.

It wasn’t impossible to practice under the effect of hypnosis but when in the field they had to rely on themselves, and all the practice would fall short of doing it themselves.

“I feel weird.”

“What was that?”

After snapping out of their lesson the six can’t help but feel confused. Never in their lives did they possess things kind of focus.

“Alright everyone. We got about forty minutes before dinner. Until then, you six will try out some practical exercises.”

The instructor began waving his hands. He was navigating through his own table. When he was done, some translucent materials appeared.

It was mostly plant fibres and the like.

“We’re going to assume you have gathered something similar in the wild. What we want to do is process the materials into something more agreeable.”

This was a part of what they had just learned. Majority of it was how to identify the right plants.

“Huh. wait, I can touch these?”

It took them a moment to summon the materials in place. Their hands began working the plants into smaller strips.

“Good everyone. Tomorrow we’ll work on actually using these processed plant fibres to create things like gauss.”

After dinner they still had to train their bodies and train their B.F.M. endurance after that. When they finally had free time it was already dark out.

“This is slave labour.”

“I’m in my prime. I can’t be doing these things. If I see another B.F.M. vibrate I’m going to explode.”

“You’re in your prime? I could at least hold on for entire duration.”

“Pal, you held on because you were slacking. I was keeping up with Sorp.”

“Jarem, You weren’t keeping up with anyone.”

“Don’t but into this Kom. This is between me and Pal.”

“Where did your girlfriend go Jarem?”

“Who knows? Also she dumped me already.”

“That was great, ye.”

“Get up, we’re fighting.”

Despite being dead tired, the guys had the energy to mess about. Dart was resting, reading about the tables they had used earlier.

He found out that he could access them anytime he was free. This meant he could use it to study under its effects. He couldn’t get it out of his mind.

There is a limit to what the table will offer in terms to study materials. If he takes on a profession, he’ll be able to access more. This was how professions will progress in the future.

Once a person reaches a limit in theoretical studies, they’ll have to prove themselves through creating something. This will be done through contracts.

Like all assignments, failing will result in punishment. These assignment require a specific knowledge in the related field. Proven through a written test.

People can have multiple professions, the basic theoretical knowledge is given free. To progress beyond the basics, a person has to complete assignments.

They can also find certain relics that are related to the specific field. This they can turn in for access to higher knowledge. These relics can be sold. Presumably for high price.

It only takes a few months to study all basic professions. It is encouraged, as it could help them survive in the future.

Dart was currently trying to figure out how to receive a profession. All the answers he found lead back to Perpetuity. He was not satisfied with this and went out to find an instructor.

“Where is he going?”

“Poop?”

“Ah probably.”

“Eh, Sorp has to go to?”

“I’m going to the martial arts hall to practice. You can join.”

“No thank you. Jesus. We only just sat down.”

“The man is a beast.”

“Jarem.”

“Ye?”

“That Daisy. She’s on the market right?”

“Forget about it. I’m working on an angle for a booty call.”

“Tsch. Wish Ret was here. Kom want to go check out some of the potential here?”

“Oh? I’m listening. What you thinking?”

“Remember those chicks from launch? I overheard them talking about a gathering.”

“I heard that to. Let’s go. I already marked it on my map.”

“Good man. I’m taking a shower first.”

“I’ll join you.”

“Guys. I’m coming to. I’m not staying here alone.”

“Alright, but we got dibs on the first two.”

“Whatever you want.”

There are multiple places to relax in the camp. The camp assumes people will stay here for months and provides people venues for entertainment.

The main crux of the issue is that these places, while lax at times, are under constant surveillance.

This means that any report of a crime is dealt with fast. Unlike the ambiguity of the city, the camp deals with all internal matters.

They do this because they are a branch of the government, possessing the authority granted to them by the government.

To say there are no crimes would be dishonest. The crimes will go unpunished in cases where the victim or any witnesses report the crime.

There are of course crimes that will be detected, this includes things like theft, vandalism and so on. These do not need to be reported and will most likely be discovered and dealt with.

To say that they are living under a dystopian surveillance state, is not wrong. And in the camp, they are not hampered by the quantity of offences committed.

The guys will have to be careful not to commit acts so heinous that they could be imprisoned for them.

Most minor violations end result in a punishment. This is usually a contract with heavy fines if they are not fulfilled. Sometimes too hard to complete, they can be seen as just fines for many.