Punishment

Lucas followed Asa through the settlement, he was nervous and tried to explain himself, saying the same thing he had said to Lara, but the coach didn't answer or stop his steps. So the young man could only wait to see what would happen.

'It shouldn't be that bad, I already said it wasn't on purpose. In case the punishment is exaggerated, I just have to activate my mutation." He began to formulate plans in his mind to work around this situation.

Before Asa arrived, Lucas planned to leave the settlement to test his techniques. Apparently, Asa was also planning to take him out of the base, but in a different way. They headed in the opposite direction to the entrance gate, past several nearly demolished houses, where some mutants from the construction team were working, either restoring the houses from scratch or reinforcing those that still had a good base.

Again, Lucas did not fail to pay attention to the faces of each one and the same result appeared. Even though it was morning and the sun was blazing, no one was angry or angry, in fact most were talking and laughing. He was even more amazed this time, after all, before he was seeing only those passing around the entrance and training area. These places don't require heavy labor, however here it was different; demolishing and constructing buildings is not an easy task, but even so they were, to say the least, indifferent.

Lucas was very upset about it, it just didn't enter his head that everyone was so happy, even more with the situation in the world. However, neither he nor Asa stopped their steps and quickly reached another gate. This one was very different from the entrance on the opposite side, it was not protected by guards, only the cars and other large debris surround it, forming a small wall 3 meters high. There was nothing but wasteland between the gate and the nearest destroyed house, which was about 200 meters away.

He thought Asa would take him out of the base, but contrary to his expectations, he stopped a few meters from the gate and said:

"You seem to know how your ability works, but you need more control and experience, especially in combat. I won't lie to you, anyone else in your situation would be punished with at least 1 month of heavy construction work. Fortunately for you, your skill is very important to us, so your discipline will be a 'double-edged sword', killing two rabbits with one club."

"Double-edged sword?" Lucas asked confused.

"It means we're going to solve two problems…" The coach responded with doubt, he didn't expect that this new recruit didn't know the meaning of his comparison.

"Anyway, I'm going to give you intensive training, both in controlling your skill and in hand-to-hand combat. Roberto is the most suitable for training in combat, but he is very busy solving other things." He stopped for a while and let Lucas understand his situation, as the young man was wearing a thoughtful expression.

'It's not that bad, actually it's not bad! I can improve my combat overall and still prove that what I did was not on purpose!" Lucas was very happy in his mind. Then, he nodded, agreeing to the 'punishment'.

"Great, first you have to tell me in detail about your ability, only then can I think of how to help you." He sat down on the floor and motioned for Lucas to sit down too.

With the two seated, the young man began his explanation:

"Basically, I can control the blood in and out of my body, I usually think of it as plasticine. So, from that, I can do other things…" He continued talking about his mutation, leaving only one thing hidden, his ability to absorb characteristics of others, as happened with his deceased father and the snake.

After listening carefully and reflecting for a few minutes Asa got up, got into a defensive position and said:

"Okay, first let's start with melee combat, you can't use your skill. Attack me!"

…

Meanwhile, in a classroom reserved for the infirmary, a beautiful girl with black hair was lying on a stretcher, her leg was bandaged by some strange roots, however it didn't bother her. Beside her, a tall young man with shaved hair sat in a chair. He held a bowl of hot soup and periodically brought a spoonful of broth to the mouth of the beautiful girl on the bed.

"I've said it a thousand times, I was the one who asked him to be serious, you have no reason to blame him." The girl complained before a spoonful of soup entered her mouth.

"I don't care, even if you told him that, anyone who knew his mutation would take it easy! Fuck! You only control the light, how are you going to attack with that?" Ace was elated, but he didn't forget there was a bowl in his hands and someone to feed.

"Are you calling me weak?" Ruby replied with a defiant look; unfortunately for her, another spoonful of broth entered her mouth.

"What? Where did you get that from? You know what I'm talking about, what you lose in attack, you gain in stealth. I doubt there's anyone here who can see you when you're invisible. Think! You can enter anywhere without anyone noticing!"

The girl, even though she didn't agree with Ace, started to think about it. Lowering her head and putting on a thoughtful expression, she mumbled some things only she could hear. Then, she raised her head and with a determined look said:

"You're not wrong at all. Lucas seemed to know where I was when I became invisible and even when I absorbed the light. My mutation is not for attacking, unfortunately I figured it out in the worst possible way. But Lucas is not to blame for anything! I'm the one who asked, besides at the beginning he really controlled himself and did everything not to hurt me, so you can't pick a fight with him!" Another spoon went into her mouth when she was done, as Ace, despite not liking what he heard, nodded in agreement.

…

On the night of that same day, a few kilometers from the base, going to the center of the northeast, in a region full of medium-sized trees, a humanoid figure, covered in clothing, was kneeling in front of a tree, which had nothing special at first sight.

The silhouette seemed to have some nervous tics, as in short intervals it moved some part of the body, whether arms, hands, legs or feet. However, their gestures had a certain pattern that resembled a language.

This figure muttered a few words before getting up and walking towards the base. She commented to herself as she walked:

"The time is set, the plan is done and the conditions have been met. I can finally get out of this filthy place."

…

Lucas went back to his room and since Ruby and Ace were still in the infirmary, the room was all his. Unfortunately, he couldn't enjoy this privacy properly, his state being the total opposite of comfortable.

There wasn't a part of his body that wasn't hurting, even his mutation didn't help ease the pain. The punishment was much heavier than he expected, he couldn't use his mutation freely, but he couldn't control his regenerative capacity. Then, every bruise would quickly heal, leaving Coach Asa very happy and the student very sad.

He didn't even have a break to eat, this punishment was basically a fight between Lucas and Asa. However, Asa showed his undisputed superiority in hand-to-hand combat, he wore gauntlets in both hands. They were basically a metal glove cast with an English punch, however it was enough to wreak havoc on Lucas' flesh.

Normally, Asa would never punish someone like that, much less a rookie who was about 20 years old, who would do it was Roberto, he loved to hit hard. However, this case was different, this rookie had practically an immortal life, every wound regenerated almost instantly, so Asa, even though he hated hurting Lucas, still did.

Lucas suffered a lot on his hand, but contrary to all expectations, he was neither sad nor angry. He reflected in his mind:

'I would never learn so much in a single day if I didn't fight him! My God! So much that I do wrong, almost everything I suffered before could be resolved in a few seconds!' He continued pondering everything he could improve, trying to fit everything he learned in simulations of his previous fights.

After reviewing everything, he got ready for bed, because the next day he would have the same schedule and this time, according to Asa, it would be much heavier.