Free Web NovelChapter 40: Chapter 40 Strength training.
A small sigh escaped her lips, but this time, it wasn’t out of frustration.
It was anticipation.
Ding!
{The package also includes weapons the Host will gradually train with over time, ranging from firearms to spears and bows. These will be revealed when the Host completes the basic training phase.}
Ivy straightened slightly.
"Weapons too..." she whispered, her tone thoughtful.
{Military training is not just about learning how to fight. It is a complete system designed to transform an individual into a disciplined, adaptable, and combat-ready entity.}
That sentence lingered and just like that, a memory surfaced.
Ivy’s expression slowly dimmed as her thoughts drifted away from the present.
She remembered that time.
That shelter.
That group of survivors who had taken her and her children in when Adrian discarded them.
They were always training. Men and women alike.
Day after day, under the scorching sun or in the biting cold, they trained with everything they had.
Makeshift weapons....long wooden sticks sharpened into crude spears.
Guns they were lucky to scavenge... probably abandoned by humans who had already turned into monsters.
Bows and arrows.
Every single one of them had mastered at least one weapon....some even two.
Ivy then remembered being taught how to shoot a bow.
A woman.
"What was her name again...?" Ivy murmured, her brows knitting together as she tried to recall.
Then it clicked.
"Oh... Zara."
The name left her lips like a fragile echo.
Zara.
She had been the one who took the time to teach Ivy how to properly hold the bow, how to steady her breathing, how to aim... freewebnoveℓ.com
And Ivy had been too eager. She had even convinced Zara to take her outside the shelter just to test her skills on real monsters.
"It was supposed to be quick..." Ivy whispered, her voice beginning to tremble. "Just one kill... then we’d run back..."
Her breathing grew uneven.
"But..."
Her eyes slowly widened as the memory replayed vividly before her.
That night.
They didn’t make it back and were trapped as a monster at least ten meters tall loomed over them and its tongue was ten meters as well.
Ivy’s hands trembled slightly.
In front of her...Zara had been caught.
That horrifying tongue shot forward like a spear, piercing straight through Zara’s stomach. The monster lifted her into the air like she weighed nothing.
Blood poured on the floor, poured over Ivy’s head painting her in all red afterwhich the monster began to feed.
Ivy’s breathing hitched. The bow and arrow with her became useless at that point.
"Run! Or it’ll kill you too! Think of your baby!"
Those were Zara’s last words and what finally bought Ivy to her senses before she began running away, not looking back.
The guilt came rushing back, just as suffocating as it had been back then.
"I couldn’t save her..."
Tears slipped down her cheeks before she even realized it.
"I killed her..."
That was what she had believed.
What everyone else had believed too.
The survivors blamed her, looked at her like she was the reason Zara died and Ivy knew they’re right.
"That’s why I left..." Ivy murmured weakly.
Her voice felt distant, as if she were speaking from somewhere far away.
"That’s why... I followed Adrian when he came for me..." she added
Since she was already drowning in guilt... she couldn’t resist Adrian and filled him as she just wanted to escape, to breathe, to stop feeling like she was suffocating under everyone’s judgment.
"But..." she swallowed hard. "This is a new world now..."
Her lips trembled slightly.
"She’s still alive here... right? I hope she is." fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
Ivy raised her hand slowly, brushing away the tears she hadn’t even noticed falling.
Ding!
{Should I continue listing, Host?}
"Yes... please," Ivy replied immediately, swallowing hard as she steadied herself. Her fingers curled slightly at her sides, as though bracing for what was to come.}
{There is always a starting point in every military training program and that is Physical Conditioning. It is the foundation upon which everything else is built.}
Ivy nodded slowly, her gaze focused and attentive.
{Strength Training and this involves push-ups, lifting, and resistance exercises.}
Her brows furrowed slightly.
{Endurance Training and this involves running and long-distance movement.}
A faint exhale escaped her lips.
{Agility Training and this includes jumping, crawling, and obstacle navigation.}
{The purpose of all these is simple and that is to build a body capable of moving, fighting, and surviving under extreme stress.}
"I see..." Ivy murmured softly, her voice quieter now, tinged with memory.
Her eyes dimmed slightly.
"Zara mentioned this too..." she added under her breath. "But I didn’t follow through with it. I skipped straight to weapon training because of my condition back then..."
Her lips pressed together tightly.
"I wasn’t strong enough..." she whispered, more to herself than to the System.
She inhaled slowly, then lifted her head again.
"I believe the next step after this is weapon training, right?" she asked, trying her best to keep her voice steady despite the emotions threatening to rise again.
