Meeting People

The dormitories were located in another building right next to the main one.

Its facade was white, with large windows providing ample natural light to the dormitories.

They entered the lobby of the building, where the sergeant detained the group.

"The building divides into five floors, the first three with collective bedrooms and the last two with single bedrooms." The sergeant uttered.

"How is it decided who sleeps in the bedrooms, sir?" Someone questioned.

"The ones with the white badges will be using the bedrooms," He answered, annoying most of the recruits.

Sophie raised her hand and inquired, "Is there any way to get a white badge?"

"Yes, there is, to be at the top positions of the ranking," He began, "Until the first Trial, each group of recruits will have its ranking, but after that, there will be a ranking of the entire base."

"Can you tell us how the rankings will work, sir?" Kayden asked.

The sergeant looked at him and explained, "Sure, depending on your performance and progress in training, you will move up or down in rank."

"What about the ranking of all the recruits in the base? How will it work?" Will questioned.

The sergeant stared at him and said, "Aren't you forgetting something, recruit Will?"

"Sir." Added Will quickly, while Alice looked at him with disdain, making him grind his teeth.

Ignoring the silent conflict between them, the sergeant said, "In order to decide your place, we will value both your position in your respective ranking and your performance in the Trial."

"How do we know which is our bedroom, sir?" a voice asked.

"It's simple, just give your name and show your badge to the receptionists and they will assign you to the corresponding bedroom," The sergeant pointed to a table behind him where a few workers were seated.

Kayden was wondering what his room would be like when the sergeant continued.

"I will leave you now. You can do whatever you want, just remember to be at the fight hall tomorrow at 10 am unless you want to be penalized." He concluded, leaving the building.

Kayden and the others approached the receptionists to discover which dormitory they had been assigned to.

***

Curious about what it would be like inside, Kayden stepped into his new bedroom, looking around in awe.

The room was spacious and had a high ceiling since it was on the top floor. The walls were painted in a cream tone, creating a comfortable atmosphere. The furniture was simple, but it seemed to have everything you might need.

A plush carpet covered part of the hardwood floor, probably in case you wanted to cultivate on the floor and didn't like its hardness.

Kayden couldn't help but smile as he walked around the room, glad to have a single bedroom.

The closet was empty, but the receptionists had said they would send clothes in the next hour to the rooms according to his size.

Without wasting any more time Kayden sat on the floor and set out to continue his training.

Quickly entering the meditation state, he began to perceive the characteristic white and green mana waves.

He pulled the mana towards him and focused on feeling which blocked spots had the biggest pressure.

Locating these points would have been impossible at first. However, thanks to his unlocked nodes, he could draw more mana.

This allowed him to detect the blocked nodes that, otherwise, he wouldn't have been able.

This was what the Nodes Unlocking stage consisted of. The more nodes deblocked, the greater the mana absorption was and, in turn, the greater the ability to detect the blocked nodes.

Although he was in a hurry to move forward, he did not rush and calmly observed the spots that exerted the most pressure.

He didn't know what would happen if he chose the wrong node, but he was sure nothing good.

After a while, he made up his mind and began to draw the mana to that spot with more force.

About three hours later, Kayden breathed a sigh of relief after another node was unlocked.

He had successfully unlocked another five nodes and was noticing how it was taking more and more time.

With this, he had managed to unlock fifteen nodes in less than twenty-four hours, something that would astound everyone.

'Considering how long it took most people to unlock a single node, unlocking fifteen will likely take them about four or five days, and that's if they train diligently.' Kayden thought as his stomach growled.

Making sure his badge was firmly attached to his clothes, he closed the door to his room and headed for the canteen.

As he walked, he was deep in thought, 'Since I don't know if they can detect how many nodes I've unlocked, lying isn't a good idea. I just hope my progress won't draw too much attention.'

***

Kayden entered the canteen, which was considerably crowded.

He was about to order the ordinary menu when he heard a voice.

"Hey, you can choose the second menu if you have a white badge," Said a rich, deep voice, drawing Kayden's attention.

The speaker was an extremely large man. Although he appeared to be in his mid-twenties, like Kayden, he looked older since he had a shaved head.

He was sitting with a young woman at one of the tables closest to the exit.

Unlike the man's charismatic aura, she seemed to be reserved, eating quietly without concern for her surroundings.

Kayden was surprised to see that they both had a white badge on their clothing since, of the approximately two hundred recruits on the base, he believed that not even thirty had a white badge.

"Oh, thanks for telling me," Kayden said.

"No problem. By the way, do you want to sit with us?" The man asked.

Kayden hesitated for a moment before agreeing, "Sure."

Shortly after ordering the menu, his tray was ready. It had an apple and two dishes, one with vegetable puree and the other with roast beef.

He picked it up and headed for the table.

"Hi, I'm Connor, and she is Hannah," the man said, introducing himself and the young woman.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Kayden," He said, taking the opportunity to ask, "Have you guys had the sparring session? Or you've arrived today like me."

"We arrived yesterday late at night," Connor answered.

Kayden waited for him to continue while he tasted the vegetable puree.

"As for the sparring, we had it this morning, but it wasn't too difficult, was it Hannah?" Connor said, bursting out laughing while Hannah simply shrugged and continued eating.

"Could you tell me if there is anything to consider?"

"Not at all, you simply have to defeat the assigned opponents. Otherwise, you will probably say goodbye to that badge you're wearing."

Kayden wasn't surprised by the response as it was what he expected. He was also confident that he could beat any of the recruits in his group.

What struck him most was that they both had won every sparring.

He continued speaking with them about unimportant things until all three had finished eating. They said their goodbyes, and Kayden went back to his bedroom.

During the afternoon, remembering what Sergeant Lee had said about physical training, he went to the gym and trained as hard as he could.

***

With the light of dawn streaming in through the window, Kayden got up, dressed in the clothes the staff had left for him in the room the previous evening, and went to get some breakfast while eagerly awaiting the sparring session.