UNDEAD ARISING

Chapter 12 - A Weakness He Doesn't Know

Chaeyoung followed behind Aris as they took a trail in the woods heading towards Ryujin's location. They haven't even walked that far enough from Jaehyun but neither of the two uttered a word after the match as they traverse through the thickness of the forest.

Their silence together were being accompanied by their own footsteps as the leave crunches underneath their feet and other nocturnal creatures that joined them in the night seem not to enjoy the quiet.

The captain hasn't said anything so she stayed quiet. But deep inside, she wanted to tell him how awesome he was in his match with Jaehyun.

After half a hundred yard walk, Aris then break the silences, peeking at her over his shoulder, "Why are you walking behind me?"

Chaeyoung then hurried to walk beside him and look up at him with a bright smile which made the man ask, "What?"

It's not wrong to try to get closer to him in her little ways of small talks. If he would shut her off again, then, she'd stop, Chaeyoung thought.

"You were awesome," Chaeyoung says, keeping that bright sweet smile on her lips after the genuine compliment.

Despite receiving compliments in the past, this caught the man off-guard once again. Hence, a shy, awkward yet soft smile grew on his lips as he averts his eyes away from her and up ahead.

"Thank you," Aris says but kept his gaze straight the path.

"You're welcome." She chuckles softly and adds, "I wonder what kind of training you went through to be that good..."

A sigh then escaped Aris's lips, "You wouldn't want to know."

"Maybe I do, if I'll get to be as awesome as you."

"We are born and built differently. There are people who'd be the as good as me if they went through the training I had, and there are those who couldn't handle it," The man replied.

"Was it that hard?" The girl asks, never keeping her gaze off from the man.

"For me?" There was a long pause from him, as if he really was thinking it through. Then, he finally answers, "... No."

"It's not a military training right?" She asks, genuinely curious.

"No." Aris nonchallantly responded.

Chaeyoung notices that the soft smile he once had was gone. Somehow, she hesitates to continue asking but since he's still answering even if it's a short answer, she thought she could push on more questions.

"So, the others who trained with you, where are they now? Are they in the military too? Living inside the capitol base?"

"I'm the only one that made it to the base."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Chaeyoung softly apologizes.

"What are you apologizing for? It's not like they're important to me. I don't even know their names."

Chaeyoung's brows instantly furrowed, "Eh? You trained with them so even if they didn't make it like you did, they're supposed to be your comrades."

"We are not taught about comradery... I only learned about it when... I joined the military."

Aris is supposed to be around 13 years old when the apocalypse happened. So if the rumors about him having polished combat skills upon entering the academy were true, that means he was trained at a very young age.

What kind of school does not teach comradery? Why would his parents enrol him in that kind of training? All these went through Chaeyoung's mind, recalling the mother that he mentioned the day he found her. He must have been taught from some martial arts school or something.