The rest of the afternoon passed by uneventfully. The only thing that could measurably change inside was the amount of sweat that had poured off of the inhabitants, and that was almost needed to be done by the litre. After a few hours of trying, most of the canines had given up on trying to replicate the effects that Steph had created with her energy usage. Instead, they started back on their exercises, trying to get to a top physical state. This way, they could feel the burn, and therefore had an idea of the progress based on what they were feeling. In the end, there were only three that continued to try and project energy outwards into an object. Stephanie, as she was the one who originally got it to occur. She had experienced it first hand, and had a pretty good feeling that she should be able to recreate what she did with time. Mike was dragged into doing it, but he wasn't upset about that at all. At least, that was judging by his tail as Steph held him closely with one of her arms while practicing herself. He used his free arm to practice as well, making it turn into a couple activity for the two of them.

The final person still continuing with them was Sierra. She had never been a huge fan of the physical workouts, but she followed along so as to not drag her pack down. She just saw it as a necessary evil so she could continue to read and learn. Seeing the shamans in action, as well as knowing it was possible after Steph did it, she saw that as her preferred path forward. If she could perform with a similar expertise to the shamans, it would level a battlefield far more evenly. It could even slant it in their favour should she outperform her opponents, causing the fight to be advantageous for those she protected. Secretly, Natalie believed that while Steph got the first success, Sierra would be the first to repeatedly succeed in the endeavour. Partially because Sierra was more mentally inclined than the other canines, but mainly because she had more info to draw upon than everyone else. The shapes and objects from the books she read could potentially be used as building blocks for projecting the energy out into a form.

Sophie was not making much progress comparatively. She hadn't eaten properly in the month following the event, keeping fed but malnourished. She had already had the early signs of scurvy when they first found her, and she was still recovering from that. However, since she was still in the recovery period, most of her workout was not doing much for getting stronger. It was mainly contributing to helping her blood flow back around her body, redistributing the vitamin C that Shannon was getting back into her. It was a good thing for her that she had run into the two of them, as the early signs she had were mainly weakness, unexplained exhaustion, and aching legs. Thankfully she still had her appetite, as that made the intake of more food easier. Shannon had originally been surprised by what she first saw, not believing her own diagnosis. After all, before the event, scurvy was incredibly rare for anyone to get. The fact that it started to rear its ugly head when the supply chains of food had all but stopped should not have come as a surprise.

While all of this went on, Shannon was hard at work planning out a new set of routines. The gorillas she had bonded to wanted to work out, just as the canines were. In fact, they had wanted to do more, but Natalie gave a hard no on that until they had each fully recovered from the medical issues they currently had. So, she worked on a simple one, that barely had any weight lifting whatsoever. As she observed their motions while they went through the check-up with Nat, Shannon saw that strength wise they were already far and above where anyone else was in their group. The part that they lacked the most was in dexterity and agility. They were not quick at moving, nor were they able to do small nimble motions with their hands easily. Before the event, this would have been fine, as they were slow but powerful, not much able to take them head on in a fight and come out on top. Since everything changed however, they were now just large targets, that would be easily taken care of should they go up against a shaman or human with black mist. Hell, even against other bonded they would fall prey to advanced tactics and motions, the simple responses they had used against predators in the past failing to keep up with the new levels of aggression.

It wasn't until the sky started to change colors that Shannon finished getting it ready and explaining it to her bonded apes. Thankfully, none of them had an issue with her plan, but it was met with wariness. As far as she could tell, they were treating this as a sort of test. To see if she was fit to guide them forward. Shannon was okay with this idea, but she did have her reservations on how effective her plan for them would work. Just like Natalie, she had no idea on what gorilla biology and physiology was like, so she had no idea what the effectiveness of the routine she gave them would have. It could do nothing, it could hamper them, or it could propel them further ahead. Regardless, she accepted their test before getting supper ready for everyone else. With all of the excitement, she had decided that today would just be a day of leftovers, but everyone was fine with that, save Sophie. She had after all wanted to help with dinner, but she was coaxed to be fine with it by being able to sit on the laps of both of her new mothers.

They hadn't been together long, but they had bonded in a sort already. After all, she got two new mothers, but that would never replace her two fathers who had first adopted her. She knew that they had loved her, and while she wasn't completely sure, she could feel that love from these two. It would take time before she could fully open up to them, but right now, she felt safe and cared for. Even after dinner, the three sat there, cuddled up and watching as the sun set and the stars came out. Those moments together helped dull the fear she had before, letting her bright smile come back upon her face. Eventually, they all retired for the night, with Sophie swinging between Nat and Shannon on their way to the tent, hand in hand in hand.

Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!

 

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