Anger

"I will leave you now with Sergeant Lee." The captain concluded before leaving the room.

"Right, you heard the captain. From this moment on, you are recruits of the stardust base. This also means you will have to address me as sir or Sergeant Lee, got it?" The sergeant uttered.

"Yes, sir." They answered.

"Fine, now I will show you the different places you will be using, including bedrooms, gym, canteen…" He said, heading to one of the hallways.

Kayden and the other recruits followed him while they looked at the different doors.

Noticing this, the sergeant explained, "These are the management offices. The canteen is just down the hallway."

Soon, they reached the end of the hallway, which had stairs on the left side and a large white door on the right.

Pointing the door on the right, Sergeant Lee said. "This is the canteen. It offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner, each with three different menus depending on their nutritional level."

"Why is there this división in the menus, sir?" Edward respectfully asked.

"Although you may haven't realized yet, food is an important factor when talking about mana cultivation."

"How could food help us with the training, sir?" Questioned Sophie.

"I was about to get there. Some foods can provide an increase in mana. This increment can help you slightly facilitate the node unlocking. However, it's even more beneficial at later stages."

Kayden, confused, asked, "Shouldn't it be the opposite, sir? To my understanding, the higher the stage, the higher the mana needed to upgrade."

The sergeant smiled as he did every time he talked to Kayden, and replied, "You aren't wrong. However, some foods have higher amounts of mana, that's why they can help those more advanced."

Kayden frowned and questioned, "Isn't it still the same case, sir?"

"It isn't since lower-stage cultivators aren't able to eat food that is too rich in mana, or they would explode from the overflow of mana."

"Our planet has just passed through the Awakening, how is it possible that we have food rich in manna, sir?" Charles asked as he scratched his beard.

"Good question. Our planet is slowly producing food rich in mana, and our country has created several fields specialized in the production of mana-rich foods." The sergeant uttered before asking, "Any other question about the canteen?"

Audrey emotionlessly said, "Yes, Sergeant Lee. I guess one of the menus will be made with ordinary foods and another with foods from the specialized fields, but what about the last one?"

The sergeant chuckled and answered, "The last menu will be made with foods from outside the Earth, obtained in the dealings with Lord Thasal."

Many of the recruits began to whisper excitedly and curiously when they heard this.

"Excuse me, Sergeant Lee," Alice began in a flattering tone, "Could you tell us what is used to buy the menus?"

"Of course, the ordinary menu is provided to any recruit of the base for free. The other two can be obtained either as a reward for an achievement or through using points."

"What are the points?" Will asked, looking at Alice with a withering look.

The sergeant slightly smiled, and replied, "Points are what you use for almost any purchase within the base. You can obtain them in several ways, but the main one is to have a good position in the ranking. Let's go to the gym now."

Sergeant Lee led the group to the left side, where there were stairs down and stairs up. He went to the ones going down and began to descend, Kayden and the rest following him.

They arrived at a massive hall, filled with training equipment, most of which Kayden had never seen.

To their surprise, the room wasn't empty. Several people were training, half of them with unfriendly looks, which could be related to the bruises covering their bodies.

"This is the place where you will train your body, the equipment has been designed for those who have unlocked mana nodes."

"What is the point of training our body instead of just focusing on our nodes, sir?" A voice said, asking what many of them had in mind.

"Since mana transforms your bodies, muscles are no exception. Thanks to mana, you can increase your physical strength several times, which can help you in an even fight. Our sources also mention that its training is important for your future too."

"When can we train at the gym?" Another one asked.

"You can train at any time as long as you have nothing specific scheduled. Now, let's go to the fight hall." The sergeant uttered, going upstairs.

The sergeant began to explain as they went up the stairs, "The fight hall is where you will practice your combat skills. It's also the place where you'll be having the sparring session."

A wave of nervousness spread through the recruits as the sergeant mentioned the sparring.

'I should be able to all of them thanks to my experience with martial arts and my higher number of unlocked nodes, but I can't forget that my future rivals can be training anywhere in the universe. I mustn't relax.' Kayden thought.

They finally arrived at the fight hall, which had exactly the same dimensions as the gym hall. However, that was the end of the similarities.

The hall had large windows, which made it very luminous. A large part of it seemed to be designed for sparring.

On one of the sides, there were many wooden weapons. Kayden recognized several of them, while others were completely new to him.

On another side, there were targets for practice, either throwing or archery.

Finally, there was a section with dummies to practice your technique, either with a sword, a spear, or whatever you used.

This hall had even more people practicing, some of them also with bruises.

Kayden was relaxed while the sergeant answered some questions when he noticed a familiar figure in a corner of the room.

Her two short swords were relentlessly attacking a dummy, her white clothes undulating with graceful movements.

As if she felt his gaze, she turned and looked in his direction.

Her eyes flashed in surprise for a moment before turning to contempt and mockery. She turned to the dummy to continue her training.

On the other hand, Kayden's expression went from surprise to livid anger in an instant, especially when he saw the woman's reaction.

'Heh, to think I would find you here, Elena. Just wait. I'll be sure to completely crush that look of superiority soon.' He thought as his expression darkened.

Kayden had regretted several times about trying to save her during the earthquakes.

That delay was likely the reason why he ended up hospitalized. What is more, she didn't even call the rescue services to help him.

After seeing that insufferable look of pride on her face, he was determined to crush it completely.

However, Kayden wasn't nervous at all. He knew his talent was extraordinary, especially on a planet that had just gone through the Awakening like the Earth.

To Kayden, Elena was a mere insect destined to be a stepping stone on his path.

While his will to train increased, he followed the sergeant and the other recruits to the dormitories.