9 Training

The sergeant never told Garrick how long his punishment would last. He thought it wouldn't be more than a day, but it wasn't until a week later that he was finally released. 

A soldier came over and cut the ropes binding him.

"Go clean yourself up and report to Sergeant Jefferstone," the soldier spoke as he quickly left. 

Garrick's body barely worked. He sat in the same place tied up and at first he couldn't move. It took him a while to get up. 

He staggered forward and walked to the barracks. He took off his clothes, showered, and then burned his training uniform. He put on his pajamas and walked to the officers' barrack where the sergeant's office was located. 

People cast odd looks as Garrick walked to the office. 

He entered the office without knocking to find Sergeant Jefferstone looking over some papers. 

Without looking up, the sergeant talked to him, "Have you learned your lesson?" 

"What lesson are you referring to, sir?"

The sergeant looked up at Garrick, "It seems you're still rebellious. Maybe I should tie you back up."

"Do as you wish," Garrick looked at the man in the eyes without turning away. Jefferstone's eyes squinted as he looked into Garrick's unflinching gaze.

"Still not broken." Jefferstone returned to his papers.

"Go get another uniform from logistics, and then meet up with the men on the practice field," Jefferstone dismissed Garrick. Garrick left and hated the way Jefferstone treated him like he was nothing. 

As he walked toward logistics, he took long breaths until the anger on his face finally dissipated. 

From logistics, Garrick went to the barracks and changed into the new training uniform. He sat on his bed for a time until it was lunch. 

This would be his third meal since arriving, the oats and grains they fed the horses didn't count. He could barely consume those things, soaking them in the dirty water he was given with his food barely helped. 

Whispers were exchanged during his time in the mess hall. Once he finished his meal, he joined his fellow trainees on the practice field where they were undergoing martial training. 

The sergeant stood outside his office and looked at the practice field. Dillard stood next to him, watching the trainees with him.

"What did he do after he left?" Sergeant Jefferstone asked.

"He went to logistics, changed, and stayed in his barracks until lunch. Then he went to the mess hall and there he is now," Dillard reported. 

"The boy has a lot of potential, but he's proud. I really don't like him. He's the kind you can't break, you can only kill him," Jefferstone said.

"He's got the makings of an elite, sir." 

"Yeah, maybe that's why I don't like him. I'll keep pressing him and see what happens. Maybe I can't break him, but I can make this the worst experience of his life."

"Why bother?" Dillard asked.

"Because I don't like him," the sergeant responded before returning to his office. Dillard watched Garrick for a while. 

On the field, a combat instructor was showing the trainees combat techniques. It wasn't anything new to Garrick. 

Once the demonstrations were over, the men were told to practice the moves with a partner. 

The rest of the training day was pretty standard, although there was a class in the evening called Beyond Humans that covered beasts, undead, and other races. 

This class was scheduled after dinner. Garrick looked forward to it. None of the guys from his barrack brought up Garrick's experience over the last week.

This world was beyond anything Garrick experienced. Although up to this point, it seemed like this world was a strange version of Earth during the Middle Ages, he soon it wasn't so. 

His eyes were opened by the Beyond Humans class. 

"Human beings are not the only inhabitants of our world. Those of you who come from the region of Fort Merit might think the most dangerous things are those demon beasts. 

Demon beasts aren't the scariest things in the world. The human race is surrounded on all sides by many dangers. 

In our little part of the world, we mostly deal with demon beasts, but as Shirshu, you will come into contact with far more than that. Especially, if you manage to reach the Imperial City. 

There are several categories of beings, but we'll be focused on the more common demon beasts, undead families, and humanoid races. 

While he listened to the instructor, Garrick looked through the three volumes he just received. 

Demon Beasts could become Monster Beasts which could take on a completely human form. Some of the human-like races were composed of evolved Demon Beasts.

"There are also races that have come from other worlds. At our level, we don't even know how big our world is or all the races and creatures that share this world with us. 

Not all of the other races are hostile toward human beings. We have many allies, but sometimes even our friends produce villains. As Shirshu, you are an elite policing force, but you are also like ambassadors. 

Every action you make strengthens and weakens our reputation in the eyes of all the races. You might be shocked to learn that our reputation is so good, that there are even Shirshu from different races. 

The capitol is filled with Shirshu of different races.

The way we maintain this good reputation is through strict adherence to our rules. Any Shirshu who violates the rules will be punished with anything from expulsion to death. 

We can't afford to have arrogant fellows who willfully do things their way."

The instructor's eyes held Garrick's eyes for a little while before moving on. 

"Was I really being willful?" 

The class continued and when Garrick left, he could only let out a deep breath. He held onto the three volumes.

One of the things that shocked him was that the other races that were focused on in the class were the seven other classes of beings he could choose as playable characters. 

There were more detailed descriptions of these races.

"I might need to rethink my choice of the first playable character. 

Garrick walked back to the barracks, cleaned up, cleaned his clothes and made sure everything was ready for the next day. It was lights out not much later. 

"This world is more complicated than I thought, I lack knowledge. I really need to earn those trope points. I wonder if there's a way for me to find them. Maybe I could even trigger them somehow," Garrick thought quietly before finally sleeping.