Chapter 86: Emergency Training
"Emergency training exclusively for girls?"
"Um... what kind of training?"
"The emergency kind...?"
"Don’t ever open your mouth again."
Every woman in the building, regardless of their age or job, was present in the courtyard.
Once Milarel successfully infiltrated Joan’s group, Aiden sent the ladies a notification about special training. Meanwhile, the men were asked to make themselves scarce.
Joan’s blade would hesitate to cut women, but not men. That was the only reason for such an arrangement. However, the pseudo system had assigned most women in the apartment building to maintenance or other related jobs.
The few who had a talent for fighting were already members of the enforcers. Hence, the need to train them and be quick about it.
Now that the women had gathered, Karina finally made her appearance. The wolves and enforcers followed behind and dropped over a hundred tree trunks before them, along with a bunch of blades.
"I know you are confused regarding what’s happening," Karina began while the others set things up. "But I assure you, everything is being done for your own good."
"We have received intel that the Butcher Gang is about to make a move on our territory. While the landlord can protect us inside the building, having the enemies camp outside would be a nuisance. It would also affect our lives, even if we stay inside indefinitely."
She continued, "Hence, we have decided to give basic training to every individual regardless of their job or standing within the apartment."
While most women agreed with Karina, a few were unsatisfied with the explanation. It didn’t make sense for only women to train if the butcher gang wanted to attack them.
Besides, if that were true, why didn’t the men have to join the training? Sure, most women could be considered weaker than men, but that didn’t mean that all men were inherently stronger and didn’t need training.
Karina, showing why she was the leader of the survivor camp, immediately sensed the dissatisfaction and raised her hand to calm the crowd before things got rowdy.
"The men will train under the landlord’s supervision," she said. "As for those who are dissatisfied with the arrangement, they can wait for him to add another clause to the tenancy contract."
While Karina didn’t explicitly allude to any punishment, the women understood the underlying meaning behind her mentioning the contract.
Those who disobey will get thrown out.
Now that they had gotten used to the safety and convenience of living in the apartment building, naturally, none of them wanted to get kicked out and return to the camp.
"Anyone has any objections?" Karina asked and nodded when no one said a peep. "The training will be simple. Pick up a sword and keep hitting the bark before you."
"For the next week, swinging that blade should be the only thing on your mind. Swing the blade in your sleep. Even in your dreams. Until the wood before you is chopped in half, you will only swing the blade, nothing else. Is that clear?"
After Karina finished speaking, she grabbed a sword and swung it at the tree bark before her. Her swing was so strong that the block of wood got cut in half diagonally without any resistance.
As expected, the women, even though they were aware of Karina’s abilities, were stunned into silence. However, before they could delude themselves into thinking that they could do the same, Karina shattered their emotions.
"I do not expect the same thing from you," she said, putting the blade down. "However, as long as the wooden block isn’t intact, you will be given a reward voucher of your choice."
"A voucher? For the shop!?"
"I thought such rewards were exclusive for the enforcers and the wolves?"
The little bit of skepticism anyone might have had immediately vanished. Although the women didn’t generally visit the shop often, their husbands and children did.
Even if they didn’t, they could sell the vouchers to those who actually wanted to purchase more than one item from the shop. All that for chopping some wood. Either way, they wouldn’t lose out.
A second later, the courtyard was filled with the sounds of metal clashing against wood and the grunts of women. Meanwhile, Aiden leaned on the terrace railing, watching how things unfolded below with little interest.
"If only it were that simple," he chuckled, turning back.
As soon as he said that, commotion erupted below. Randomly, some women were being asked to step aside. Karina offered no explanations, instead sent them outside the building, where wolves like Elena were already waiting for them.
While the women inside trained in using swords, the ones outside were deemed to not have any talent. Hence, they were asked to help make traps and such around the building, outside the barrier’s range.
"Sir, forgive my rudeness, but why have them train only for a week?" Marcus asked, unable to hold back anymore. "Wouldn’t it be better if they practiced every day without a time limit?"
"It is pretty straightforward if you think about it," Aiden replied. "Jewell said it would take at least a week to test the injector for any side effects. Do you get it now?"
"...I see."
James would be put through hell and monitored for a week. Only if the project was successful would Aiden release the injector as a premium item in the item shop.
It would be the sure-shot way to improve everyone’s stats before Joan inevitably found her way to him. Just in case the injector failed, at least with this training, some of them would live through the battle.
As for why Aiden chose to have them trained with swords and not guns, the reason was simple. Compared to guns, swords were much easier to learn and use.
Besides, the tenants could accidentally hurt one another with guns or by stray bullets. That risk was much higher when compared to playing with swords.
Besides, I haven’t used that many guns since that little stunt I pulled while taming Marcus. How can I let someone else use them first?