Chapter 103:Training.
Chapter 103: 103:Training.
Silver eased the vehicle forward, letting the engine settle into a steady rhythm as they rolled onto the cracked highway leading deeper into the Green Zone.
Behind them, the Checkpoint slowly disappeared behind concrete walls and watchtowers. Even from several hundred meters away, cranes were still visible swinging heavy steel beams into place, rebuilding what the Underground Worm had destroyed.
For the first few minutes, neither of them spoke. The road stretched ahead in long, broken sections of asphalt reclaimed by nature. Grass forced its way through cracks in the pavement while vines climbed over rusting guardrails.
Here and there, abandoned civilian cars rested where their owners had left them years ago, their paint faded by countless seasons beneath the open sky.
Morning sunlight filtered through the sparse forest surrounding the road. Bird-like beasts occasionally flew overhead, their cries echoing across the quiet landscape.
Silver kept one hand on the steering wheel while the other rested near the holster strapped beside his seat. His eyes never stopped moving.
He looked from the road, then the treeline to the rear-view mirror, and the road again. It had become instinct. Ravenna watched him for a while before smiling faintly.
"You really don’t relax, do you?"
Silver laughed quietly.
"I am relaxed."
She raised an eyebrow.
"You’ve checked the mirrors twelve times in the last minute," she smiled raising an eyebrow," Don’t look at me like that, I counted."
"...You counted?"
"I was curious... and bored."
Silver couldn’t argue with that.
"Old habits, die hard. I seem unable to shake off the irrational notion that something might happen the moment I let my guard down. We’ve already experienced three attacks that would have led to our deaths," he heavily sighed," my mind can’t find itself relaxing and my body isn’t much better."
She leaned back into her seat.
"I suppose that’s better than being careless."
For a few more kilometers, they simply enjoyed the drive. Unlike inside the Sanctuary, the world outside felt enormous and untamed.
Mountains rose in the distance like sleeping giants. Rivers cut across the landscape, their surfaces glittering beneath the morning sun.
Small herds of deer-like creatures grazed peacefully in open fields before darting into the trees whenever the vehicle approached. Not every beast wanted to kill humans, many simply wanted to be left alone.
Silver found himself appreciating that. After everything they had experienced over the past week, quiet moments like this felt strangely valuable.
Nearly forty minutes later, Ravenna unfolded the updated map across her lap.
"We’re here."
She tapped a section of road with one finger.
"If we continue another fifteen kilometers, there’s an abandoned service village."
Silver nodded.
"Good place to stop?"
"Not to rest." She smiled. "To train."
Silver glanced sideways.
"I was hoping you’d say that."
The village appeared exactly where the map predicted. Roughly thirty buildings lined both sides of the road. Once, it had probably served travelers moving between checkpoints.
Now, nature had reclaimed nearly everything. Storefront windows were shattered, streetlights leaned at awkward angles and trees grew through collapsed rooftops. One gas station canopy had fallen entirely, leaving twisted steel beams protruding toward the sky.
Silver slowed the vehicle.
"We’ll leave the car here."
He parked beside the remains of an old transport truck. The location offered decent cover while still providing a quick escape route back onto the highway.
Ravenna stepped out first, stretching her arms above her head, the cool morning air brushing against her face. She closed her eyes for a second.
"...This feels nice... Aah, nature and clean air."
Silver locked the vehicle.
"It won’t stay peaceful for long."
She drew her sword.
"I certainly hope not."
Before entering the village, Silver crouched and drew a rough map in the dirt using a broken branch.
"We’ve fought together."
Ravenna nodded.
"But we haven’t actually planned how to, we just had an overview of our last fight."
She knelt beside him. Silver marked two circles.
"Bear with me, I’m going to just repeat this just for the sake of both of us," he quietly said," normally, you move independently, which is correct since that’s how you’ve survived."
She nodded again.
"You usually support from range."
"I can, but I don’t have to anymore."
He drew a line between the circles.
"I think that’s our problem."
She studied the drawing.
"As I said earlier, we’re treating every fight as two separate battles."
"Exactly."
Silver erased one circle before redrawing it closer.
"From now on, we move as one unit."
Ravenna nodded her gaze sweeping slightly across the village.
"You want paired movement, yes?"
"Yes."
She considered it.
"What if we’re surrounded?"
"We split and regrouped immediately afterward." Silver continued. "You’ve got better close-range instincts, so you lead inside five meters."
She frowned.
"And beyond that?"
"I take over."
She immediately understood.
"Firearms and the Space Slash skill ."
He nodded.
"If something breaks through your guard... I’ll stop it."
Ravenna rested the tip of her sword against the ground.
"And if something gets past you?"
Silver smiled.
"I trust you."
For some reason, those three words carried more weight than either of them expected. She looked away first.
"Then let’s make sure we don’t disappoint each other."
Ravenna turned to stand but something came to Silver at that moment.
"Wait," she paused and met his gaze," when we fight, we’re bound to find lower Tier beasts, I want us to fully train, not kill them at first glance. I know that might be hard, but ,we’ll increase the difficulty with time, let’s not rush through things just because it’s easy."
She nodded," I know, but it’ll depend. If it’s a type of scavenger I’m going to kill it at first sight, those little things annoy me more than anything."
Silver nodded while dusting his hands.
"No problem with that. I’m mostly saying that for a bit larger beasts or groups."
She nodded. " Sure."
They entered the village cautiously.
[Spatial Sense Lv2 Active]
Silver’s Spatial Sense spread outward like invisible ripples. Everything within range became faintly clearer; buildings, collapsed walls, movement, and empty spaces.
He frowned.
"Three."
Ravenna immediately slowed.
"Direction?"
"Northwest and they’re moving towards our direction."
She nodded then whispered, "No fire."
Silver smiled.
"You read my mind."
"I’ve hunted enough to know that noise attracts noise."
The first beasts emerged from behind an overturned delivery truck. Silver recognized them immediately.
"Ironback Boars."
Three of them, each stood roughly waist-high. Their hides resembled dark stone while thick iron-colored plates covered their shoulders and forehead. Short tusks curved upward from powerful jaws.
Tier One.
They were normally peaceful, unless something entered their territory. One of them pawed the ground, another snorted loudly and the third immediately charged.
Silver didn’t draw his pistol. Instead, his sword left its sheath.
"Let’s try."
Ravenna grinned.
"I was hoping you’d say that."
The boar lowered its head, its armored forehead became a battering ram. Silver stepped sideways but it was too late. The beast clipped his shoulder. It wasn’t enough to injure him but enough to push him off balance.
Ravenna immediately appeared. Her sword swept downward in a clean arc. Steel rang as it met the boar’s armor and sparks flew.
"Hard shell."
She retreated before the second boar reached her. Silver regained his footing.
"No weak points yet."
The three beasts spread out naturally, trying to surround them. Silver instantly noticed.
"Left!"
Ravenna moved without hesitation; instead of retreating, she stepped toward him. The two stood shoulder to shoulder, exactly as they had discussed.
The nearest boar hesitated, for just half a heartbeat.
Silver smiled.
"It worked."
The second charge came from both sides. Silver inhaled slowly.
His body burst forward with surprising speed: instead of meeting the charge directly, he slipped between the two beasts. His sword flashed once and a shallow cut appeared along one boar’s rear leg.
The creature stumbled. Ravenna was already moving, fire spreading across her blade. She drove her sword beneath the loosened shoulder plate and the flame followed.
The boar screamed before collapsing. Silver barely had time to admire the attack when the third beast lunged toward his exposed side.
His Spatial Sense reacted first. He twisted to the side and the tusk grazed his jacket instead of piercing his ribs. Silver’s eyes narrowed before the corner of his lips lifted.
"So that’s the blind spot..."
He grabbed one tusk, primal Strength surged through his body; muscles tightened. With a grunt, he redirected the entire charge.
The Ironback Boar crashed headfirst into a concrete wall. The impact cracked both the wall and its armored skull. Ravenna didn’t hesitate. Her sword pierced directly through its neck.
The final beast froze. Silver expected it to flee; instead, it roared. A surprisingly deep sound for such a small creature.
Ravenna’s expression changed.
"...That’s not good."
Silver had already realized why. His Spatial Sense expanded. It picked up an increasing number of body signatures and footsteps heading their way.
His eyes widened.
"...We woke the herd."
From every side street surrounding the abandoned village, heavy footsteps began echoing through the silence.