Russel wakes up in the middle of the night in the infirmary.

  Qion, Jack and Theo are also in the high tech medical beds but are still asleep.

  "What was that sudden burst of speed in the fight?!" Russel muses to himself.

  He wills the status screen to come forward.

  --------------------------------------

  Name: Russel Darington

  Trigger: EB (Enhancing Body)

  Passive abilities:

  -Birds Eye

  (You can access information that comes in faster than before. This results in quicker reflexes, faster thought process and general oversight.)

  -Titans Structure

  (Your muscle, skin and bones have been enhanced and are on par with a Mid Fusion Stage body.)

  Active abilities:

  -Killer Point Vision

  (Once activated you can view certain points on something you want to destroy. The spots will be marked red, the redder it is the more impact it has.)

  NEW ACTIVE ABILITY:

  -Burst:

  (Amplifies for an instance a certain aspect of your body to upgrade either your: Attack, Speed or Defense. Costs 30% of your maximum energy per use.)

  --------------------------------------

  Russels eyes widen. He gained another ability by fighting the Trigor! So this is why we risks our lives in a simple combat exercise.

  This ability Russel also likes a lot. It gives him plenty of versatility to empower whatever he needs in a moment. He can't use it too often however since it costs 30% of his maximum energy every time he uses it.

  However the power speaks for itself. Russel estimates that it upgrades him around 2 sub stages when he uses it.

  Now it makes sense how he was able to catch up to the Trigor. While the Trigor was only an Early Initiate it had a body that was on par with an Early Fusion human.

  Meanwhile Russel already has a body on par with a Mid Stage Fusion human! Then with his speed Burst he momentarily possessed speed on par with a PEAK Fusion Stage human.

  While thinking about all the possibilities Russel falls asleep again.

  Then Russel wakes up the next morning he sees Jack in the bed next to him and Jack immediately starts talking to Russel.

  "It's so unfortunate that I could not see your awesome kick against the Trigor!" Jack says with a lot of enthusiasm.

  Russel smiles. "Yeah I don't know what happend. One moment I was far away and was sure I would not be able to catch up and the next I kicked it!."

  The energy is at an all time high in the infirmary.

  Qion is munching on some paprika chips. "Mmfyeah, whis Thrigor wvas swfuper sstrung." he says with his mouth full.

  Theo raises his eye brows in disgust. "Don't be so disgusting man. Talk with your mouth empty." he says. "If you guys held the Trigor off just a little longer my attack would have taken the Trigor out for sure."

  "Yeah who knows" Jack says. Luckily you did not die because of me huh Theo???" Jack pokes Theo in his side.

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  Russel laughs out loud. He really enjoys the sense of comradery. Although the fight with the one eyed Trigor was super scary, it does bring everyone a lot closer.

  They talk a bit more about the fight before the squad leader walks into the infirmary. Everyone quickly salutes him.

  "At ease." Corporal Peterson says with his usual strict tone. His earlier happy demeanor with the fight is totally gone.

  "Today we debrief the fight and we start the training schedule. Follow me." then the Corporal walks out the room. They all quickly follow.

  "What's up with the change in his tone?" Russel asks Jack.

  "You don't know? It's because our squad leader is a total battle maniac." Jack says with a wide grin.

  Russels eyes widen. "What?!"

  "Hahaha yeah. We were all surprised as well. Corporal Peterson only joined the IGA because he wanted to have acces to fighting Trigors as much as he can. He says it's because humans are boring to fight against."

  Jack makes a round with his finger of both hands next to his head. "He is totally crazy. But never say that word to him or he will beat the shit out of you!" he quickly adds after.

  Russel snorts. "Lucky us I guess. Having a battle maniac squad leader. I guess we won't lack any danger."

  Then they arrive in the general meeting room. Everybody has an assigned seat. Russels seat is next to Isa since she is the other all rounder. The people from the infirmary are the last to arrive.

  "All right. Some congratulations are in order I guess. You managed to beat the early Initiate Trigor." the squad leader says.

  Everyone smiles and some high five each other.

  "HOWEVER, you were sloppy and some of you nearly died." the Corporal continues. The basic team work is there but major individual improvements can be made. The overal level of this squad is a joke since we have 7 early Initiates, 2 Mid Initiates and 1 PEAK Initiate. If it weren't for Liams Contributions as the sole PEAK Initiate you would have been doomed from the start.

  Everyone looks at Liam with renewed respect including Russel. Meanwhile Liam is just simply stroking his brown beard as he looks spaced out into the distance.

  "Now the individual points what you did wrong:"

  "Russel, you froze at the start of the battle do not let that happen since you will kill either yourself or your teammates." Russel looks a bit embarrassed and nods profusely.

  "Jack, don't use so much energy that it will incapacitate you."

  Jack smiles awkwardly and scratches the side of his head. Almost like he is saying "Ooooopsiesssss.".

  "Qion, don't assume you can tank an attack in its full power. Redirecting works better." Qion just keeps eating his chips and does not give any reply.

  "Olivia, it's better to dish out attacks than to help your fellow officers getting up."

  "Theo, a weak attack is better than no attack."

  "Manu, save your trump card attack for when you really need it. Starting out with it is a waste." Manu nods with a stoic face.

  "Charlotte, good job starting out with the mental fortitude boost but remember to switch it when it is no longer necessary."

  "Isa, remember to not hit the enemy towards your fellow officers."

  "Lex, distracting is not your only job. Be more aggressive." Lex looks annoyed but smiles nonetheless.

  "Liam, good job." as always Liam does not reply.

  The squad leader then replays the fight from different angles and highlights some minor points in conjecture with the major point he just mentioned for everybody.

  Russel has to admit, while he does not like the Corporal he knows how to fight and the tactics that go along with it.

  After a few hours of more analyzing the battle it's time to talk about training schedules and what their next goal is.

  Corporal Peterson stands in front of everyone and a small smile forms on his face. Russel and everyone of squad 955, except maybe Liam and Qion breaks out in a cold sweat. They know that something dangerous will happen whenever the squad leader become happy.

  "In 2 months you all will fight a Mid Stage Initiate Trigor." the squad leader says.

  Charlotte Everdale, one of the supporters stands up. "What?! That is insane Corporal. We just barely survived against an Early Stage Initiate Trigor. I know for a fact that only the 850-900 squads have to be able to beat a Mid Stage!" she protests loudly.

  The squad leader does not reply immediately and just stares at her until she sits down. Charlotte became visibly very nervous and Russel notices this.

  "You are right Officer Everdale. You all will fight a Late Initiate Trigor." the Corporal then says with a happy tone. It seems like he was hoping someone would protest just so he could up the stakes.

  The whole squad then groans in unison.

  "You will all use the ACM (Arcanite Chamber Method) and DSM (Danger Sense Method) daily. Minimum of 8 hours ACM and 3 hours of DSM. Anyone who slacks off will be punished by sparring against me." the Corporal continued.

  While some of the Officers look scared a few look extremely excited. One of them is Russel of course. He can finally start his training arc!