The Earth After Rebirth

He was suddenly in a bad mood when he realised they\'d have to ask for the day off on that Friday. And for that to happen, they\'d have to ask the dean. The dean seemed like a carefree old man, but at the same time very stern. It was a 50/50 chance, they could either get severely punished or let go.

A knock at the door dragged him out of his mind. When he opened the door he wasn\'t surprised to see all of After Dark, ready to go for another training session. They decided to push themselves, break every limit their bodies had before they had to leave.

They decided to use the forest behind their dorms. The path they used to get to the second year campus, it was far enough from curious eyes, nobody would catch them there.

"Come on Ishaan, why are you slower?" Kiro asked with a sinister mocking smile.

Ishaan looked at up at him with utmost distaste, he was kneeling on the ground. He spat a mouthful of blood.

"I\'m not slower, you\'re faster all of a sudden." He complained through gritted teeth.

"That\'s a bad excuse. This is for your own good, this will be dangerous, I don\'t want you dying on us." He told him sincerely.

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"I know that," he told him, still very much feeling pressured. "It just feels weird, using my fists."

"You mean, you need a weapon? I suppose that\'s not a bad idea."

Kiro thought about it, he didn\'t feel strange using his fists. He also didn\'t understand why Ishaan thought they were faster than usual, each of them besides him. He looked up to Nikolai to confirm.

He shrugged, "I don\'t know. But weapons are a good idea. I have no connections though, so don\'t look at me."

He didn\'t answer and simply climbed up a tree, and dropped a couple of branches on their hands. They were within the academy, so these would have to do.

"By the way Felix, did you get the email too?"

"Yes. Though I don\'t know when we can."

"I have an idea." He told him and didn\'t explain any further.

Each of them took a branch, each of them unconsciously crafted weapons they use in-game. They were nothing like the real thing, but they were similar.

Nikolai didn\'t think much of it before, but now that he was holding two short branches on both of his hands, it felt just right.

Ishaan made a makeshift sword. The easiest was making a staff, which all three, Kiro, Hiro and Felix made.

"Do you guys think, the game influenced us, like, the real life us? I mean, with this makeshift staff on my hand, it almost feels like Ryu." He couldn\'t take his eyes off the branch, he was almost admiring it.

"That\'s not possible." Nikolai retorted, though his voice was full of uncertainty.

Ishaan grinned looking most like himself now. The speed was something he couldn\'t do much against, but at least then, he had something to block Kiro\'s nasty attacks.

"Where do you reckon Wilfred learned martial arts anyway?" He made conversation in the middle of the spar.

"Hell if I know, better focus on this first." He said almost cracking his skull with the branch, luckily he jumped out of the way just in time to avoid it.

"Dammit. Do you have to be so hard?"

"We\'re walking into a den of fighters, who\'ve no doubt killed. They won\'t wait for you to catch up to them to attack!" He scolded.

"Yes, but...they\'re...they were kidnapped, surely they will be on our side?" He asked hopefully.

"We don\'t know that. I reckon, getting kidnapped and forced to fight and kill for survival changes people. Let\'s not expect any help from them, you hear?"

He nodded lightly. When the others noticed that Ishaan was getting the hang of it, they joined in. The plan was to attack anyone and everyone. All of them could subconsciously think of attacking the same person and they were ordered not to stop by Wilfred.

He told them, it was a way to teach them the unthinking, the unexpected. A soldier in battle should always be prepared for anything, and never rely on any solid planning.

Unlike in fictional stories, the battlefield was a very dangerous place. It was no place for those who couldn\'t follow through with their decisions, no place for people who can\'t think faster than they could move.

That\'s what Wilfred taught them ontop of how to move, how to incapacitate and how to kill an enemy. He scolded them every time, telling them killing should be the absolute last resort. That\'s something they were required to scream out loud while he was training them to death.

And because of that, those three rules were ingrained deeply, not in their minds but in their hearts.

At first they thought the rules were ridiculous. That they would essentially make them weak, when they couldn\'t beat Wilfred however, while ganging up on them. They learned to shut up and take the lessons.

Which is why the four could be seen going for Ishaan. He couldn\'t block them all, he had two hands and a shabby weapon after all, mostly he didn\'t have his in-game shield.

"That\'s not fair!" He cried.

"They\'re just branches man."

"Yeah, alls fair in war." Felix winked at him.

They continued like this until it was time for dinner. They were all in a sour mood, looking all dishevelled and beaten up.

Walking into the cafeteria, it seemed there was a bit of a scuffle. When Kiro noticed who was at the centre of it all, he wasn\'t surprised.

"He\'ll never change." He scoffed.

"Actually, those kids started it. And why do you guys look like that?" Isla\'s voice came from behind, almost sending them into a coma.

"Roughhousing." He gave her a toothy grin as they went to sit down.

\'So I suppose the kids at this school don\'t see him as a messiah anymore? I\'d feel sorry for him, but it serves him right.\'

"So, when are we seeing the dean?"

Kiro was fished out of his thoughts and simply grunted at the question.