After receiving a beating from Cassie, the recruits were sent to the simulator, located in the main tent at the centre of the base. Between the Comm Center and the dining room, anyone passing through can watch the sparring take place.
Cassie certainly beat that lesson into him- the first thing he’s going to practice in his free time is putting on his PEG. The positioning of his bunk makes him the prime target for Cassie's aggression whenever she decides to storm into their dorm. He’d rather not go through that again.
Before Dante could participate with the others, he made his way to the medical ward to reconcile his HP. Upon entering the tent, he was greeted by Squad 219's Head Doctor- Dr. JiJi. Who proceeded to bring up the notes of Dante's injury and giggle lightly to herself as if Dante wasn’t in the same room.
_HP: 68 (-32)
_NOTE: High-powered wooden spoon penetrated energy shield, colliding with cranium.
"So… She hit you with a wooden spoon?" Dr. Jiji tries to contain her chuckles but ultimately blurts out in laughter.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," She giggles, covering her mouth. "You lost so much HP,"
"I didn't have my PEG on," Dante sighs, feeling his cheeks go flush.
"There's nothing to be embarrassed about," Dr Jiji says, "We were all Fifth tier at some point,"
"I never thought Fifth tiers were so weak," Dante mumbles.
"You're not weak," The Doctor says as she raises the scanner on her wrist to Dante's head before bringing up a holographic image of his brain. "First tiers are just way stronger than you,"
Isn't that the same thing?
"She didn't do any permanent damage," Dr. Jiji reports, "But if she hit any harder, she'd have fractured your cranium,"
"You must have a pretty high pain tolerance," She says as she walks into the store room and starts searching through the shelves, "You don't seem to flustered by losing that much HP,"
"I guess," Dante says, "The Academy didn't mind hurting us,"
"That's good," The Doctor responds, stepping out of the store room and piecing together a syringe, "The Academy used to be way too protective of its students when I was there,"
"I used to think they were just jerks, but I see the value of it now,"
"They are jerks, but they're also almost always right. It's what makes The Academy so damn irritating,"
Dr. Jiji fills the syringe with a purple substance before stepping beside Dante, gesturing her HUD and wiping his shoulder with a disinfectant.
_ENERGY SHIELD DISABLED_
"I'd prefer it didn't fight my needle," Dr. Jiji chuckles before flicking the syringe a few times and then sticking it into Dante's shoulder.
"It will take about ten minutes for you to fully recover. This solution only works because there is no real physical damage- but, despite your tolerance, your body is in extreme pain,"
"What if there was damage?" Dante asks out of curiosity.
"To your cranium?"
"Yeah,"
"Then I'd have to perform surgery," She responds as she removes the needle.
_ENERGY SHIELD ENABLED_
"Why do you have control over my shield?" Dante asks.
"In battle, an injury can render a patient unconscious and in need of surgery or injections. Only myself and the Commander can disable a soldier's shield in the event of an emergency,"
“I see,”
_HP: 88 (+20)
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Dr. Jiji places a few notes into Dante’s file as his HP starts recuperating, Dante can already feel his head clearing up. Only noticing the fog as it dissipates.
“I advise you stay away from any wooden spoons,” The Doctor chuckles, “And more importantly, I advise you stay on Cassie’s good side,”
“And how do I do that?” Dante asks as he gets off of the exam table.
“It’s easier said than done,” She responds, “Just do as she says,”
After thanking Doctor Jiji, Dante makes his way to the main tent to join the other recruits on their first day of training. As he enters the main tent, his stomach drops at the sight of all the soldiers spectating from the cafeteria. Loud cheers and awe from the crowd send a shiver down Dante’s spine as he slowly approaches the sim, where Nadia is currently sparring with Melinda.
_HP: 100 (+12)
_NOTE: Stimulant applied by Dr. Jiji. Health restored.
Nadia dashes away from Melinda in a panic as sweat glistens across her face- This must have been going on for quite a while. I thought Nadia’s stamina was really good.
Melinda gives Nadia no space as she quickly closes the gap and swings three powerful punches at Nadia- Each one with far more force than Cassie's attack from earlier.
To catch up to what’s happening, Dante brings up the fight details:
_RANK: FIFTH TIER ZO'AN (RECRUIT)
_ID: NADIA MEHDI
_HP: 32 (-68)
Vs
_RANK: SECOND TIER ZO'AN (HEIR)
_ID: MELINDA KAWASAKI
_HP: 96 (-4)
_FIGHT DURATION: 2 min 57 sec
Nadia uses her energy whips to grab the top of the arena and swing over Melinda. Whilst she’s midair, she lashes one of her whips at Melinda’s head, but she dodges it with a slight tilt of her head and then runs straight to the area where Nadia is going to land. Nadia’s face swells with concern as she notices where Melinda is headed and she casts her free whip to the corner of the arena, hoping to pull herself away the moment she lands.
She’s too slow, and Melinda manages to thrust a punch straight into Nadia’s stomach, throwing her against the side of the cage with a crash that rattles the entire tent- The spectating soldiers all cheer in excitement as they praise Melinda and encourage Nadia to get back up.
_ID: NADIA MEHDI
_HP: 2 (-98)
_NOTE: Multiple severed vertebrae, Fractured ribs, Punctured lung, Severe internal bleeding.
_FIGHT DURATION: 3 min 16 sec (End)
“No, no,” Melinda says to the viewers as she waves them off, “That’s enough,”
She walks over to Nadia, who is groaning in pain and frozen in place against the side of the cage with tears in her eyes.
“You managed to survive the longest in the arena, but you dealt the least damage. Despite your range and versatility. You need to fight with more aggression. Use that brain of yours to fight around your opponent's weakness,”
Nadia glares at Melinda with pain-filled eyes, trying her best to mumble in confirmation of Melinda’s lesson.
“Remember this pain,” Melinda says, “If this were in the field, you would have lost your life,”
The sim deactivates, and Nadia’s entire body relaxes as she sighs to the relief of pain.
_ID: NADIA MEHDI
_HP: 100
“You all need to realize that your strength is your advantage. Consider it your opponent's weakness until you’re able to determine more information. Fighting around your opponent's strength like Nadia did puts your opponent in control of the battlefield,” Melinda says to the entire class before glancing over to Dante.
“Welcome back kiddo, you ready to get in the sim?” She asks.
Dante nods his head as anxiety washes over him. This is the first time he’s going to spar with someone above the fourth tier. He’s never even won a fight against a fourth-tier Zo’an before so how could he possibly win this?
No, the point of the class is to get stronger. And there’s no better way to do it than fight someone stronger. All he needs to do is learn from this.
Dante steps into the arena, prompting the soldiers to cheer in anticipation- calling out for Dante to show them what he’s got. It seems like a good opportunity for the soldiers to learn about the new recruits and see what future Zo’ans have to offer. Which is understandable considering the Zo’ans do the heavy lifting in these squadrons. The soldiers probably want to know that they’re in good hands.
The arena closes and no environment is selected. Placing Dante and Melinda at opposite ends of the grey, spacious arena.
_ARENA: SIMULATION ENABLED
A countdown appears in the centre of Dante’s HUD, starting at ten. Dante tries his best to recall his training and the advice Melinda had just distilled to the class. He quickly brings up her profile-
_RANK: SECOND TIER ZO'AN (HEIR)
_ID: MELINDA KAWASAKI
_AGE: 42
_ABILITY: ENHANCED STRENGTH
_SCORE: 2.8
_EXPAND FOR STATS_
He briefly considers expanding the stats, but the countdown reaches five and he hurriedly swipes the window away. If strength is her advantage, Dante will have to do everything in his power to not get hit- but that would mean he’s giving her control.
Focus on your strength. He mumbles to himself, Focus on your strength.