Avryn’s squad had finished another training. Tvira was the clincher that time. They had gained more experience facing Corpse mutts and wolves.

  “Good job today, guys, same time tomorrow?” Avryn’s breathing was abnormally labored.

  His surroundings started to twist and spin in his eyes. He struggled keeping balance. His consciousness was fading no matter how focused his breathing was. Sweat was running down from all over his face. Rinna came up and checked on him,

  “Hey, are you feeling okay?” she voiced her concerns.

  “Yeah, just feeling a little…winded,” he tried speaking.

  Avryn collapsed but was caught by her. He woke up in a white room, fazed by its blinding lights. Pain and dizziness were still in his head. He held his hand on his head. He awoke to the nurse and Rinna conversing about him.

  “He’ll be alright. Just a few days of rest and he’ll be back in tip top shape,” She handed her a document. “This certificate should exempt him from any physical activities.”

  “Thank you, ma’am, we’ll monitor his condition daily,” Rinna took it.

  She came up to Avryn now that he was up,

  “Nurse Hrita said you collapsing was a result from overexerting yourself. You train too much,” she scolded him.

  Avryn chuckled at that, which caused her to get a tad angrier. He made a fist with his hand, testing the strength of his fingers. They were weak and numb. He could barely feel his own skin.

  “You’re right, I should take a few days of rest,” he relented.

  “A week if you have to, we need our leader at a hundred percent when he comes back,” she helped him up.

  The two returned to the dorm and gave the others the medical update.

  “Did you remember anything before you fainted?” Tvira put the back of her hand on his head.

  Avryn shook his head.

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  “No fever, at least,” she cheered him up.

  “Nurse said no physical stuff for a while,” Rinna updated them. “Tvira, would you mind keeping a watch on him to make sure he doesn’t?”

  “Sure,” she was unexpectedly eager.

  Her body language almost frightened Avryn. He knew what she was capable of if he fooled around.

  “I-I’ll be in you care, then,” he made an equally frightened chuckle.

  “Rest well, friend,” Valoche encouraged him on.

  A few days passed by, and Avryn slowly regained most of his strength back. Having to do nothing for all this time was the most excruciating pain. It reminded him of home, of life back in Kuldrin. Maddening was the exact words he described it. Having Tvira looking out for him made it slightly more bearable, at least.

  He felt good enough to walk. He told the team he would certainly be back to training in a couple of days. Reading was an option, at least. He had caught up with all the lectures and homework he had missed during the time out. He put his papers and pen down after finishing the last of the homework. There was still a lot of sunlight left.

  Tvira and Rinna gave him the permission to take a walk. He chose to ride into Storia, the nearby capital city. It was bustling as ever. Nothing had piqued his interest despite having spent an hour exploring the city. It was then he bumped into Jenilah.

  She expressed her sympathies after she heard the news from the others on his condition. He was not accustomed to the city life, Avryn explained. This sparked an idea in Jenilah. She offered to take him to a nature walk, just on the outskirts of the city.

  He was intrigued by the idea and obliged. Away they went from the fast and noisy city and back into the roots of nature itself. Avryn had never seen such verdent grasslands and mountains in Kuldrin. Jenilah took him into a common hiking trail up the nearby mountain.

  The plant life was plentiful. Small animals and critters scattered away from their presence, and into the deep holes and high trees. Avryn looked back, the city was tiny in the horizon, almost the size of his hand. They were greeted by fellow hikers along the way.

  A good sized camping area was set up the halfway point of the mountains. It was established by the city as a getaway from the stresses of the fast life. Rangers patrolled the areas and served to guide all hikers who came to visit. Jenilah eagerly relayed its history.

  They set up a couple chairs, near the edge of the camping grounds, overlooking the city.

  “My brother and I frequented here whenever we visited with our father,” she explained.

  Avryn was still awestruck at the sight,

  “I could get used to this,” he smiled.

  Jenilah was gladdened to hear his praise. She asked about his backstory, of his life before all this. Avryn caught her up with it. He also told her of his old work, being the young quartermaster for the town guard in Middsborough, his hometown.

  “Middsborough, huh,” she pondered.

  “Yep, also known as the middle of nowhere in a bigger middle of nowhere, Kuldrin,” he joked.

  He had dreamt of having a getaway such as this back there, but no such thing really existed. Fresh air helped put him at ease. This kind of nothing wasn’t so bad after all.

  “But enough of my boring old life. What about you? I’m sure you have plenty of stories with you and your brother,” he changed the topic.

  She took a few moments to think of some good stories, of which there were in abundance. She told him a few of the hunting trips she and her brother had with her father. They were particularly gifted with firearms even in a young age. She and her brother knew how to assemble a standard rifle by age ten and eleven, respectively.

  Avryn replied he was around that age, too. He loved tinkering with guns. Firstly, it was to kill the boredom, and secondly, he liked the process of learning how certain things worked. They bonded over that shared interest.

  “If my brother was here, he would kill to continue the last conversation you two had,” she chuckled.

  Avryn remarked that he would like to show the two his guns next time. Both were modified, one to take stronger caliber ammo, the other to accept a larger magazine.

  “The first one’s Olga, the second’s Wiseman Jadkins,” he told her.

  “Wiseman Jadkins?” her curiosity piqued.

  “Because if some baddies don’t listen to Olga, they’ll definitely listen to the Wiseman,” Avryn laughed.

  Vivid were his memories of having his second pistol named. He would share that story for another time. Time had passed by quickly. The sun was at its apex of the day. The two returned to the Academy.

  Avryn thanked Jenilah for taking her time to show him the place, and was eager for their next meeting. He barely caught it, but he swore she blushed before bidding her farewell. His energy renewed, Avryn returned more determined than ever.