❝𝐈𝐟 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐬𝐨, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚.❞
Selfishly fascinated with her own strength, Valen Ferreira is willing to do nearly anything and everyth...
Sweat trickled from her forehead, gliding down her skin in the form of beads, and her blood pumped furiously through her veins, working in tandem with her heaving lungs. She sucked in a breath of fresh air through her lips before swinging her fist.
THUD.
The wooden floorboards of the gymnasium squealed under the weight of the swaying dummy. As it steadied itself, she checked the bandaging around her hands, ensuring they were fastened securely. Not even a second after the dummy recovered its balance, she punched it again.
THUD.
Again.
THUD.
And again.
THUD.
She wasn't going to allow her misery to consume her.
THUD.
Not now.
THUD.
And certainly not ever.
THUD.
Because she was strong.
THUD.
Too strong to be concerned with weakness.
THUD.
She would be the one to prevail.
THUD.
Always.
CRASH!
The dummy rolled around on the ground, wheeling to a standstill a couple of meters away from her. She planted her hands on her hips and huffed. Someone from the Garrison had already scolded her earlier because of the way she handled the dummies.
Before she could straighten the dummy, the gymnasium doors swung open, and she cursed internally. Instead of greeting the visitor, she stared ahead, preparing herself for the impending lecture. "What did I say about using the dummies?" She provided no answer, only kneeling to stand the dummy upright. "I understand you want to hone your skills, but we haven't the budget for you to be destroying all our equipment."
Valen straightened the dummy back in its original position. Her eyes scanned over the fake man's head and torso, discovering a small indentation above its right brow bone and a scuff mark running along its left cheekbone: nothing of the severe variety. She turned around and found Rico—the Garrison soldier that'd reprimanded her—standing aways from her, lips pressed into a hard line. Valen saluted the woman, one fist on her chest, the other behind her back. "My apologies."
