20. Survival Training?!
Lance awoke early in the morning. Still really groggy from sleep, he slowly got out of bed and headed to the washroom to relieve himself. Vixen was floating around his view, laying down on thin air with what looked like a white sheet covering her. After finishing, he headed into the kitchen and made himself a coffee. 'I wonder what today's training is gonna be.' He assumed it would be basic stuff he's already been doing, normal training and possible sparing. There was what Elandra had said, about it being a different type of training. But Lance put the thought to bed for now.
While drinking his coffee, he opened his class and level windows and leveled up both with his Experience.
*Trling Trling*
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Player: Lance (Rene Knight)
Level: 8
Experience to Next Level: 2250
Next Level:
+5 Attribute Points
+1 Potential Points
+5 Health Points
+3 Energy Points
+5 Stamina Points
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Class: Squire (8/20)
Experience to Next Level: 2650
Next Level:
+3 Strength
+2 Dexterity
+1 Potential Points
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'No new skills from leveling this time. That kinda sucks'. Lance walked over and looked out the window. The Suns haven't risen yet, and he knows he still has time, so he took this time to enjoy drinking his coffee, pondering about the future and what was in store for him today. He figured the training can't be too hard or dangerous, they are recruits after all, and the officers wouldn't want people to die.
Vixen continued to float around, and Lance could swear he heard soft snoring. He chuckled to himself as he watched her. Suddenly she squeezed her eyes tightly as she began to wake up slowly. "Why are you staring at me". Lance's eyes on her caused her to wake up.
"No reason. Did you sleep well?" Lance took a sip of his coffee as he watched her rubbing her eyes and slowly waking up.
"I would have slept better if you didn't insist on talking in your sleep." Vixen stretched and let out a yawn.
"Oh? what did I talk about?" This is the first he heard that he talked in his sleep. Obviously, he would be curious about what thoughts he was having.
Vixen's eyes went wide. She knew what he was saying, but she didn't want to repeat it. She knew it would horrify him. "Oh! Ummm, I honestly don't know, it sounded like gibberish." Vixen tried her best to hide what she knew.
"Oh really?!" Lance knew she was lying, "Maybe if I take away your sheet you'll tell me." Teasingly he tried to get her to speak.
"What? No! I did tell you!"
"No, you didn't, You're lying." Lance started to slowly reach out and grab the sheet with a big grin.
She grabs the sheet and held it tightly to herself. "I did, I did tell you. It was gibberish." She did a fake cry, full of fake tears, knowing that Lance was only playing around.
"Your hair is unprotected now. Time to give you a new hairdo." Lance smirked as he reached out and started messing up her hair.
"Nooooooo!" She was trying to swat his hand away. Of everything Lance could do, she hated her hair being messed up. "You dream of naughty stuff!" She shouted out to get him to stop.
Lance swallowed hard, and his face became bright red. He completely stopped moving from the embarrassment he felt.
"See!" The tears were real now, "That's why I didn't wanna say anything. I knew you would get embarrassed." She looked at him and pouted.
"I'm sorry. I....." He knows he has those thoughts and with his age, he can't help it sometimes. He shakes his head and smiles. "It's all good Vix, we got a big day ahead of us. Can I count on you?" Lance changed the subject and tried to put it behind him. Though it kinda surprised him that she was hurt at the thought of embarrassing him.
"Mmhmm." Vixen was still embarrassed, but she tried to let it go for now.
"Good!" He smiled at her as he continues drinking his coffee. Lance looks out the window one last time before he had to get ready for the day.
This was the first morning he took the time to admire the view. The city was brightly lit, even in contrast to the blackness of the night. Buildings look like they can reach the clouds, alit like Christmas trees. The streets below still bustling with energy and life. People of many different races walk along, doing whatever they do in the early morning hour.
Lance finished the last of his coffee before pulling himself away from the marvelous view and getting ready for the morning to come. Lance hopped in the shower to be fresh and clean for the day. After he finished, Lance quickly got dressed and headed out the door. As the pair walked through the building, they looked at all the alien life and took in the species. Some they knew from dealing with them, and others were new, like one that Lance noted looked like it was made of sand. Slowly they left through the front doors and into the bustling early morning city.
*
Lance arrived early at the Training Grounds. Elandra was waiting just outside the gates having a smoke and looking at her phone. Lance quietly walks up and without looking away, Elandra speaks "Took you long enough." She put her phone away, turns, and walks into the training ground. Lance followed closely behind. Elandra seemed eager, and her hasty walking speed made her seem urgent "Today is gonna be survival training. You are all gonna be expected to last out in the wilderness for one night, and make it back here before the next night." She looked back at Lance while continuing to walk, "That shouldn't be too hard for you."
"Thanks? I think."
"Don't get the wrong idea. You are stronger than the rest of the recruits. I don't know how, and honestly don't care." They kept walking until they reached the weapons facility offices. Elandra opened the door and they both headed inside. The office area was much different from where Lance was used to. The front room had a long counter going from one edge of the room, to the other. There were two Galorians behind the counter, one standing just behind, and the other one busily working in the back.
Elandra walked over to the counter with Lance following behind. "This training, it's not uncommon for recruits to die, training and working for the guards is no different." They reached the counter and Elandra reaches into her pocket and pulls out a slip of paper before handing it to the clerk.
"Ok, so why are you telling me all this?" Lance figured today would be another sparring quest, especially with the rewards that he was getting. A survival quest, although intriguing, it didn't seem like he needed much help from his tutor.
"Sigh, I'm telling you this because not all the recruits die because of wild animals. Becoming a guard is basically like having an easy life." Elandra paused and looked Lance in the eyes. Her explanation continued, "You'll get decent pay, and all you have to do is stand around for a few days a week. But the spots to join are limited. Do you understand where I'm going?" As she finished, her voice became grave and she looked at Lance giving him a look that spoke 'You better understand or I'm gonna stab you'.
"So recruits kill each other!" Now that he figured it out, he shuddered at the thought.
"Exactly! And that leads to why I had you come early and why we're here." The clerk came back to the counter and places a handgun and several magazines down. Elandra nodded to Lance and moves aside, waving to the gun.
Lance, in his past life, knew how to handle a gun. His father taught him almost as soon as he could walk. He walked up to the counter and grabbed the gun and a magazine. He loads it in, cocks the gun then unloads the magazine, kicks the loaded bullet out, and places it all back on the counter. Then he looks over to Elandra.
"Good. I know you have void storage. Take those and store them then let's go." Elandra walked over to the door and Lance stores everything and then chases after her. "We don't have much time until the others show up. So let's get through as much as we can." Elandra leads the pair out of the building and through the training grounds.
"Alright, Then where do we start?" Lance began to worry about today's training. He didn't talk to any other recruit before, so he didn't know what to expect. Though he had seen groups of them talking together. But he had Elandra showing him and hopefully looking out to protect him.
"First, the wildlife in the area are strong when fighting them alone, but a group can take them fairly easily. That's where you'll have the advantage. You already have experience fighting the native wildlife." Elandra was leading the group to the far end of the training grounds. She was heading toward the back of the grounds where they had the shooting range.
"Yeah, but what kinds of beasts will there be?" Lance knew how to fight pack animals from the night before, and because of his past life, he could easily take out some weaker animals for food. But he knew better than to fight a bear, and after fighting the Alpha, he knew to run from some other big beast.
"I'm getting to that. Stop being so impatient". Elandra let out a sigh and stopped walking. The couple was just at the edge of the shooting range. They stood just under an awning, with dividers for people to stand between while they practiced shooting. At the far end, there were numerous targets at different distances. "One magazine only. Hit every target," Elandra spoke harshly, but she needed to know that Lance knew how to handle a gun.
Lance looked at the end and counted them all. He had just enough bullets in one magazine to hit each one. "Sigh, and here I thought today would be harder." He headed into the pew, put on a pair of earmuffs, took aim, and...