Lost Origins: SS Ranked Awakening-Chapter 75: Whoop His Ass

"This might just be a way of putting some pressure on you. Regardless of whether he truly is watching or not, you’re still a recruit of this camp and we have things to do. You can’t be sulking away while the rest of us are waiting!"

Each word felt like a dagger twisting in Liam’s heart as he spoke.

He had tried to make his voice as absolute as possible, hoping that he could make her see that it wasn’t over yet and she could pull herself out of her current state.

Luckily it seemed like his plan had worked, somewhat!

She was no longer sobbing and shaking like she was in the middle of a breakdown. Her eyes still bore the sorrow and fear that he hurt to see, but there was a faint light of determination within them.

Standing up, Sabrina said to Liam in a clearer tone than before, looking away from him.

"Can you give me a few minutes?"

"Alright! I’ll be outside if you need anything!"

He said, removing himself from the room.

"He’s right! I still have a lot to do. There is no way I’m backing down now!"

Sabrina said with dedicated eyes, searching through her bed to pull out a short knife and make her way to the bathroom.

....

"Huh?"

Liam exclaimed in shock, almost unable to recognize who had just stepped out of the room.

"What?"

Sabrina asked in an edgy tone, but the faint blush on her cheeks showed that she was only putting up a front.

"Y-yo-your hair!" Liam finally managed to voice out what had managed to leave him speechless.

Her once long, flowing hair had been cut short, just above her shoulders. It wasn’t just the haircut that stood out – there was a new air of resolve surrounding her.

She didn’t have the small smile she always carried on her face any longer, all that was left was the expression of a dedicated person, no longer carried away by the distractions this place had to offer.

It hurt him to see this look on her face. It felt like the look she had given him moments ago, but different. All he wanted deep down was to see her happy and smiling, just as she had been ever since she came to the camp, and although she didn’t show it, he knew she was. It was especially evident whenever she came across.... him!

Liam’s face soured thinking of Kieran. She had only ever shown that side of her’s openly when she was with him.

"What is it?"

Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts, as she noticed the dark expression on his face.

"It’s nothing!"

He waved it off, noticing her complete change in attitude and way of speaking. She was starting to feel like....

’No! There’s no way she is going to become that. I won’t let her!’

Liam silently vowed to himself, looking at the lonely back of the person he had chosen to follow.

"What are you standing there for? Let’s go. Call the others while we are on our way, we need to get busy."

Sabrina called out to Liam who rushed to catch up with her. He was glad. She was filly back on her feet and she was determined.

’Let’s see how things go from now!’

....

"Time up! Let’s begin!"

WACK!

"Ugh!!"

"Seriously, how did you take on three group of beasts. That’s almost on the level of a small horde!"

August voice could be heard from outside the unit building, reprimanding Kieran who was panting on the floor, his whole attire soaked with sweat.

Coughing some more, Kieran noticed some blood droplets splattering on the floor.

"Time’s up! Again!"

Kieran eyes constricted upon August’s words, and his body moved almost instantly rolling to the left, but it was like August could foresee his movements as he sent his hand to the left aiming to strike him on the back with the wooden cane.

Kieran, after getting beat up multiple times had come to accept that the instructor could somehow read into his next movements, so he tried to catch him off guard.

Placing his strength into his neck, he pushed forward with his hands, using his head as a pivot to twist his body, narrowly avoiding August’s strike, and with the same momentum, he pushed off the ground with his hands, making a small flip to land on his feet. But that was all he could do as he felt the pain of the instructor’s cane hitting him on his neck.

’How?’

Kieran wondered struggling to understand how August had changed the direction of his attack in such a short moment!

"You managed to dodge past the first strike. That’s nice, but can you do it again!"

August’s voice took on an edge as he took another jab without announcing, aiming to catch the tired recruit off guard.

Still in a heightened state, Kieran turned just in time to deflect the cane with his forearm, narrowly dodging the strike. That was the second successful evasion of the day!

Unfortunately, it seemed the instructor didn’t like to take losses as he continued, putting more pressure on Kieran who was barely hanging and it wasn’t long before a loud sound was heard.

WHACK!

"Ughh!"

And another pained groan was heard from Kieran as he used one of his had to rub his butt which had just been victimized by August’s cane.

’It’s going to swell’ Kieran thought, not knowing whether to cry or shout.

"Tsssss! You’re going to need some ointment after that. You wouldn’t want to be standing all day for the next week, would you!"

August joked, feigning a pained appearance when he had heard Kieran’s groan of pain along with his reddened face.

"Alright! That’s enough ass wiping for now!"

August waved his hands and Kieran collapsed face up onto the floor, letting out another pained groan when his ass hit the ground.

He had been going through this hellish process since be got back from his first mission with Ruby.

All he had been given was a few hours of sleep before being summoned into this world with an unnatural pain that came from the cane in the instructor’s hands.

Ever since then, August had been indulging himself in the game of "wiping his ass". Challenging him to dodge his attacks and his still sleepy mind had failed miserably at first.

But as time went on, the pain continuously shot him farther away from sleep and he started to get into a heightened state, still unable to dodge any of his attacks.

He only managed to make progress towards the ending of the hellish game. Even then, he didn’t dodge more than four hits before getting his ass harassed once more by August’s cane.

"You lost!"

August announced once his figure was towering over Kieran’s laying body.

"What do you mean? I managed to dodge some of them" Kieran struggled to pull out those few words.

"Yes, you did. But just like in every game, there are rules and there is a path to winning. The path to winning this one was not to dodge, but to land a single hit on me!"

August gleeful voice could be heard coming from his mask as he bent close to Kieran who could now see the crescent curves the instructor’s eyes had taken.

’Devil!’

Kieran thought.

The instructor in front of him was far worse than the creature he had encountered in the swamp. The creature had even fed him some good stuff, but August was here taunting him to do the impossible and deriving every bit of joy he could from it.

Kieran once again wished he could land a solid punch on the irritable face in front of him, but he could barely lift his hand.

Before this, his body was filling like it was on a hyper engine, so much energy was flowing through his body. So much that he felt like he wouldn’t be getting physically tired for a few days, but here he was just hours later, struggling to lift his hand.

Kieran stared at the green cane in the instructor’s hand from the edge of his eye in deep contemplation. Whatever that cane or the instructor did wasn’t normal.

Each strike seemed to push his energy back, suppressing it until he felt as depleted as he had been before the mission.

He could still feel the large amount of energy stored somewhere within his bones, faintly pulsating within him, but he couldn’t reach it.

Luckily, whatever was inside what the creature had fed him, did more than just overloading his body with pure energy, it also increased his rate of recovery as he could slowly feel the feeling of lethargy fade away from his arms and legs, and his strength returning.

’It’s definitely improved!’

"Are you done talking to yourself?!"

August asked when he felt Kieran’s gaze finally back on him again.