Chapter 28: Further Beyond

The sun began its slow rise. Leona sat up in her bed, letting out a long yawn as she stretched. She hopped off and got dressed, standing over Ferral while he slept.

“Hey, dumb dumb,” Leona kicked one of the legs of the bed, instantly waking Ferral. He shot his upper body up, whipping his head around. When he saw Leona, he let out a long groan. “Ugh, what could you possibly want at this hour?” He grumbled, throwing his head back down on the pillow. “Let’s do some training, yeah?” She flicked his arm. “No.” Ferral tossed to the side, facing the wall. “Come on, buddy. You used to love training.” “Key word ‘used’ to. Go by yourself.” Leona tapped her right foot, then got an idea. She smirked, “Fine, I guess I’ll just get stronger by myself.” She shrugged, “Maybe even perfect that new form too. Making ME better than YOU.” She slowly began walking off.

Ferral continued to stare at the wall; his left eye twitched. “Hold it!” He tossed himself out of bed. Leona kept her back turned while she heard him fumbling to put on his clothes. “Can’t believe I’m falling for this.” He muttered. Leona covered her mouth, quietly laughing.

They walked their way outside the complex. The guards on the east side stopped them, asking what their business was wandering out at this hour. When Leona told them they needed an open area to train, the guards didn’t trust them, but she reassured them that they wouldn’t go far. “You can watch if you want?” She said. “Yeah, we’ll watch.” One of the guards replied, “Try anything funny, and we’ll put a bullet in both of you.” Another guard opened the gate, and the two started walking out. Ferral stopped by them and scoffed, looking at the guard who made the threat. “You idiots would never even reach the trigger before your blood stained the walls.” Ferral grinned before walking off. The guards grumbled and gave them nasty looks.

They collided shoulders before jumping back. Panting slightly, their breath visible in the cold, crisp air. The sky above them is a vibrant orange and purple. Leona rushed at Ferral, and he blocked a punch and ducked a kick, jabbing her in the jaw. She slid back, then shut her eyes tightly before shooting them open, igniting the golden color. She moved faster, catching Ferral off guard for a moment. He quickly changed to a defensive style, and went an opening was made visible, he struck. A smooth and swift strike, flicking his fist into her face. Leona stumbled back, seeing Ferral’s change in movement and attack.

His stance changed. Leona gasped when she saw it. It was Leonidas’s stance. Ferral charged, his attacks were heavy and relentless, he was copying the fighting style perfectly. But Leona knew how to deal with it, and after she countered each strike, she went for her own attack. Ferral quickly grabbed her wrist and forearm, tossing her to the side. He changed his stance again, lifting his right leg and arm. He mimicked the stance of Belle and Ezekiel. Leona growled, she wouldn’t be able to get past this incredible.

A sharp pain ran through her eyes. She fell to her knees, wincing as she held them, the burning running all the way to her eyes. As Leona slowly uncovered them, blood ran from the ducts as long red tears. Ferral lowered his stance and ran over. The gold in her irises slowly swirled away, but the pain was still immense. “Hey, are you alright?” Ferral slid next to her, genuine concern in his voice. She brushed him away, “I’m fine. Just… it’s hard to maintain it.” She sat down, digging up some of the snow left by the storm and slamming it into her eyes. She sighed with relief as the burning subsided a little.

The two sat together. Leona looked up at the sky, letting the chill wind cool her eyes. “God, this sucks.” She muttered. Ferral asked, “This new form you’re trying to achieve, it’s difficult, isn’t it?” “Well, some of us aren’t spoonfed our strength,” She mocked, “We have to work for it.” Ferral decided to ignore the comment, staring off into the distance. He saw a speck of Berlin, realizing that they weren’t just out in the middle of nowhere. He turned his head back, looking down at the snow. “It’s hard to believe there’s even anything further beyond Super Full Power.” He made a snowball, stood up, and launched it at the guards, hitting the wall but scaring them.

Leona scoffed, “Yeah, I remember a certain someone saying it was impossible to even go beyond our awakened state.” She looked at him with an eyebrow raised. “It was all theoretical. Most experiments can’t, but not us.” Leona tilted her head, “What do you mean?” Ferral knelt in front of her and started drawing in the snow with his finger. “Every experiment generation is split and put into separate groups,” He drew a little diagram. “The very first few generations were put into the Beginner Group, then came another few generations who were labeled as the Hidden Group because they were the first able to conceal their animal features. Then comes the last few generations, including ours, we were known as the Warrior Group because of our combative prowess and ability to evolve and get stronger far faster than the previous groups.”

“So, each of these groups was tailor-made to achieve some purpose?” Leona asked. Ferral nodded, “That’s only a part of it, the main reason is just how the experiment-making process advanced. Of course, when my father took over as leader, that’s when the Warrior Group was given an ACTUAL objective.” “What was it?” Ferral dug his hand into the snow, "Exterminate every human.” Leona was silent for a moment. She chuckled, “Like father, like son, huh?” Ferral didn’t respond, but got up and faced the complex. “We should get going, I’m sure everyone else is starting to wake up.” He stuck out his hand, Leona grabbed it, and he picked her up. While the two started heading back, Leona’s stomach croaked. “Ugh, I’m starving. Let’s see what kind of grub they got.” Ferral nodded, “Yeah.”

Armin, Hannah, and Everett all headed to the dining hall for breakfast. When they entered, everyone was in complete silence. The whole room had its focus locked on one of the far edge tables. That’s when the three saw them. Ferral and Leona were scarfing down food, empty plates stacked all over the table. Ferral chugged down a pitcher of orange juice while Leona stacked several pieces of sliced meat and cheese, shoving them all into her mouth.

Hannah looked on with mixed feelings of shock and awe. Everett sighed, palming her forehead, while Armin chuckled. They made their way to the food line, greeting the chefs. “Morning, Otto.” Armin smiled. The old chef looked at him, irritated. “Schmutzige tiere,” He pointed, “Those friends of yours are going to clean us out.” Armin laughed, “Don’t worry, I’ll talk to them.” He sniffled, “You better.” Otto grumbled.

After the three got their food, they headed to Ferral and Leona’s table. “Seems your appetite hasn’t changed, Ferral,” Everett remarked as she sat next to Leona. Armin and Hannah sat by Ferral. He swallowed a large mouthful of food, “You’re damn right.” “Mmm, I don’t know what you guys put in your food, but this is some good shit.” Leona looked at Armin and Hannah before eating a large spoonful of jam. “Hey, stop hogging.” Ferral snatched the jar from her hand. “DICK! I wasn’t finished!” She reached over the table to grab it, but he kept it out of reach, the two breaking out in an argument.

“Grown adults, by the way.” Everett sighed, embarrassed. Hannah chuckled, not really sure what was going on, but Armin grinned. He was glad to see Ferral acting normal. Well, about as normal as he could’ve hoped.