There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 391

Chapter 391: Chapter 383. Taste of Poison

"Yes, yes--you can whine all you want," Zein responded nonchalantly to the cry of lament that his kids produced.

The guides sighed in their premature excitement. The younger ones especially pursed their lips in an attempt to look pitiful. Nadine chuckled inwardly and shook her head. "What kind of training would it be, Captain? It must be different from before, right?"

"Right," Zein nodded, assessing the guides one by one. "As you know, we will start marching to the Deathzone in two batches; in June to establish a headquarters, and in August. In other words, there’s not much time anymore for us to prepare."

Now that Zein had mentioned the Deathzone, the guides became more serious, straightening their back and stopping their whining. Even those who weren’t chosen to go there kept rapt attention.

They already knew that the first batch was sent to establish a safe zone; a headquarters where they would rally their forces and expand little by little. Thus, the first batch would face the most danger, with no place to fall back into, where they had to enter the unpenetrable darkness and be surrounded by toxic air. That was why Zein had chosen his best pupils to go with him for the first campaign.

That being said, it was imperative for all of the chosen guides to receive the training. Depending on how the campaign progressed, there might be a time when all guides needed to be mobilized.

"You don’t have to go through rigorous endurance training anymore--I think you all have built sufficient stamina to follow the espers around," Zein continued. "What you still lack, instead, is also what you need to have the most--defensive skills."

Some of the guides’ widened eyes had sparkles on them now. Defensive skills. Skills that set Zein apart from the other guides; skills that made him thrive as a combat guide.

"How to dodge attacks efficiently, how to utilize shields better, and of course," Zein raised his palm, where a white knife materialized, and promoted even more sparkling eyes. "How to handle a weapon so you don’t have to be passively waiting for a rescue."

"So...so you’ll finally allow us to use weapons, Captain?"

"Eventually."

"Whaaaat--"

"Sush--listen to him first," Nadine scolded the overly eager younger guides, who thought wielding weapons was cool just because Zein looked cool while doing it.

She bet they would revisit this eagerness when they finally did the training and had to kill a miasmic beast for real. Even the rookie espers sometimes had a difficult time on their first hunt. And where did they think those callouses and scars in Zein’s fingers came from? Would they still be so energetic after their skin peeled and chaffed and bleeding from weapon training?

"You seemed to be excited, but I have to remind you that attacking is your last option," Zein told them sternly. "An inexperienced attempt more often only leads to even more accidents, because it prompts you to abandon parts--in not all--of your defense."

"So you’re telling us we should focus on mastering how to dodge and deploy shield properly first," Nadine concluded.

"Exactly," Zein nodded. "I will still let you train with weapons once a week, but you’ll have to train in the other two twice a week each."

"Like what you usually do, Captain? Dodging projectiles and such?"

"Yes. We’ll employ the espers who will stay in Althrea to provide the training. There--Alice has put the training schedule for all of you."

Their gaze shifted toward the screen, where there were two timetables. Just as Zein had mentioned, their endurance training had been replaced with reflex training and shield utility. There was something different between the two timetables, however.

"Captain, are those schedules divided between those who stay and those who will go to the Deathzone?" asked Nadine.

"Yes."

"So...only those who join the campaign will receive simulation training? The other doesn’t have to do it anymore?"

Zein glanced at the screen with a rather grim expression that stirred tension among the guides. "This simulation will be different," he said. "I’ve been letting you experience what it feels like inside various dungeons, but this time," he swept his gaze across the room, "you will experience what it would feel like inside the Deathzone."

Another thing they would feel immediately was the heavy air as they breathed through the filtering mask. It would feel so different from the dungeon they had been raided before. Even with Mortix’s high-grade filtering mask, first-timers would feel like they were breathing on top of the tallest mountain.

And that was what Dheera felt. She wheezed, feeling like she was thrown into a box and being locked, trying to survive with a limited supply of air. Her body felt heavy, as if there was a giant pressing on her shoulder. Eventually, she crouched on the floor with bated breath, and only after a few minutes did she manage to remember that she was supposed to activate her goggles.

So she did, pressing the button on the side. But if she hoped for relief, she would be mistaken. She could see now, somewhat, recognize the shapes of things. But what she saw was almost worse than the total darkness.

She found herself in a forest--or at least she thought she was. Dheera was sure what surrounded her were trees, and yet they didn’t look like trees. The barks looked like flayed human skins piled upon melted body parts. The branches and the foliage looked like a grotesque sculpture contrived by psychopathic artists.

"Ugh...!" she wanted to hurl, but there was a mask covering her mouth and nose. Taking a deep breath to calm her down didn’t work as the air felt so heavy, and she almost felt like drowning.

As if it wasn’t enough, the pressure she felt on her shoulder seemed to spread to her whole body. Her skin felt like they were being pricked even though she was supposed to be wearing a protective uniform.

Scared. She was so scared. She knew it was just a simulation, that everything was fake. But her brain, which could sense everything, clouded her rational mind, and sent her nerves into an overdrive. The heightened senses prompted her heartbeat to soar, and she was promptly ejected from the system.

It had been less than five minutes since she entered the simulation.

But even after the pod opened and a staff helped her out, she couldn’t stop trembling. She wasn’t the only one, though. More than half of the guides were in the same state as her, lasting only a few minutes before panicking and triggering the pod’s safety guidelines. The ones who held on the longest were Dean and Brisk, who had been raiding harsh dungeons with [Hagalaz] squad, and Nadine, who was known for her mental fortitude. Even then, they looked like they were just woken up from a terrible nightmare when they joined the other on the lounge.

Not long after, their Captain came out, looking unfazed as usual. No--he actually looked rather disappointed. And Dheera felt like she was indeed disappointing. They had been acting big just because they could raid dungeons with the espers.

But the reality was just as harsh as the Deathzone itself.

Zein sighed, wordlessly patted Dheera’s head. And she burst out crying, hugging her tall and sturdy Captain.