Construction Report ADI-000457802
Status: Complete
Effective Containment: 98%
Engineer’s Comments: The mana barrier I reinforced on the eastern side of the cell is still underperforming, but I know management said that a 95 or above would be fine. I’m just worried, ya know? Like, I can’t help but feel that a subject escaping would probably be catastrophic for information leaks, so shouldn’t we be striving for the best prison we can manage? And yeah, I remember, “the chances of that even happening are astronomical”, but you can’t put my fears to rest that easily man. I’m just saying, if shit hits the fan, I’m letting you and your boss know that I was approved for this level of satisfaction. Don’t come crying to me when it falls apart on ya.
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Sam sat up, groggily looking around at the interior of a canvas tent he didn’t recognize for the first few moments of being awake. The air felt cold against his skin as he rose out of the sleeping bag blanket hybrid he had been given along with the tent. The air felt far colder than he imagined it should have been, and he had to quickly warm his hands to stop himself from feeling the need to shiver.
He had awoken due to the presence of someone standing at the entrance to his humble abode, fumbling with a strap that had been tied into a fumbled mess of a knot, on account of one boy’s lacking knowledge in how to operate such a locking system in the first place. A grunt of dissatisfaction came from the same shadow peeking its way into his tent, at which point Sam got up to help whoever was trying to get inside.
Eventually, Andrew managed to make his way past Sam’s unbreakable barrier. He looked larger than he had the other day, the first time Sam had laid eyes upon him, this being due to the confined space that he found himself in. Andrew gave an appraising look at the confines of Sam’s issued tent, displeased at one thing in particular.
“Have you not found the showers yet?” A shake of the head was his answer, as Sam felt disgusted at his current filth as well. “Well, hopefully I won’t have to keep personally advising you on the minutiae of the camp or the army with this.”
At this, Andrew tossed a small, metallic object at Sam. The size difference led to this almost hitting him in the face, at which Sam glowered. He took a better look at what he held, the sunlight of morning shining on the plain silver he held between his fingers. “And this is?”
He could recognize something similar to the markings that existed on the tent walls surrounding him, images that he had continually looked at as he spent the last couple days primarily in this tent. The necklace or amulet he held appeared to be similarly covered in symbols, but with an entirely different arrangement that seemed far more complex.
The chain that the amulet was composed of seemed to be made up of thousands of tiny different words the closer he got to the surface of the metal, none of them made of languages he recognized. What at first had seemed to be fairly common metal was proving to be far more complicated the closer he peered at it. At the center of the chain’s suspended length rested a small oval of metal, almost like a locket but remaining a solid construction, as opposed to opening to an interior photo or image of something.
“That will be your ticket to getting out of the ol’ canvas prison here.” Andrew scuffed at the rough floor with his dusty boots, seemingly paying no mind to the dirt he left behind. “Standard issue for all other-worlder recruits, but it took a few days for it to get here by supply caravan. We’ve been running low on all equipment for new soldiers recently, but these in particular are rare.”
He gestured at the amulet, then leading Sam’s eyes up to a matching one he had exposed underneath the cuff of his shirt. Under the layers of the uniform he wore, he had hidden it away, possibly to take attention away from the fact that he wore one, or to simply keep it secured on his person.
“This, to put it simply, is a translation device. People here usually call ‘em language artifacts or some other shit. The mage’s guild makes them en masse for people like us, and they normally charge an insane fee despite the fact that they make junior enchanters do most of the work. Considering we are essentially a government-ran and funded operation, we don’t pay a dime.”
“‘Course, it still comes out of the budget for the company, so I reckon I should charge ya to make some money back. You know, to break even at least.” The twinkle in Andrew’s eyes evaded Sam’s glare, leading to a sulking expression that Andrew did not approve of.
“If it’s that displeasing for ya, you can complain to my commanding officer. Good luck finding him.” At this, Andrew turned to leave, which prompted Sam’s mind to scramble as he realized that none of the burning questions he had accumulated during his time here would be answered. “Wait, I’m sorry sir. I can take care of myself, so I’m fine with footing the cost if need be. Please, just let me get some answers before you go.”
Andrew turned, his large frame blocking out the morning light as he stood right on the exit out of the tent. “I’ll give ya one before I have to get going.” He stepped out, stretching to his full height as he pointed in a direction off to Sam’s right. “If you walk for about a half mile north, you should find the showers.” And with that, Andrew stalked off, already muttering to himself about what Sam could only assume were “important matters”.
Sighing, he turned to the pile of clothes and toiletries he had been given along with the tent, and psyched himself up to find out where salvation from his current lacking hygiene was.
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Sam gulped as he stood in the slick mud surrounding what he could assume to be the showers. Dozens of men stood in line, the majority of them humans along with a smattering of different races he didn’t recognize, all awaiting their turn in the “showers”. Sam had thought that it was early enough in the morning to not have to compete for space or water, but evidently that hadn’t been true.
His apprehension stemmed from the fact that what he currently was looking out could only be called a shower if you applied prison terms. It was a box of gray stone, with an opening facing towards Sam that could accommodate the size of any of the people he had seen up until this point. It led to a common area of slick rock, with a multitude of what appeared to be geodes with small faceted gems sticking out of them attached at high points on each of the walls. These let out jets of what appeared to be ice cold water, with no steam being released into the air from steam visible.
In the middle of the open-topped space, there was a column of similar rock jutting out from the center of the floor, with another assortment of geode shower heads affixed upon it. In total, there were probably several dozen spots at which you could set down your stuff upon a roughly hewn bench that was almost devoid of being in the splash zone, and afterwards thoroughly shower.
Shower. In a fish bowl of a room with a bunch of men he didn’t know. In public. Under the glaring eye of the sun, he would have to go in there, and get himself clean. “Uhhhhhhh…” He groaned a little, feeling that apprehension from before blossom into panic. He wasn’t sure that he could manage what he was supposed to do. He looked behind himself, wondering if there were more options around at which you could find flowing water, only to be met with the image of a dozen men quietly idling behind him. They too held their belongings, eagerly awaiting their turn to get clean.
As the men jostled around and poked fun at each other, obviously more comfortable with the idea of getting naked in front of people they knew, Sam slowly turned forward to face his impending doom. As the line shuffled forward, moving faster than he would have assumed, he got closer to what he assumed to be a fellow human soldier. He stood there in full uniform, but he had his hand placed upon a crystal that Sam didn’t recognize. It wasn’t similar to any kind of rock you would find encased in jewelry, but was a shocking aquamarine color that seemed to shimmer with inner light.
The soldier that Sam had been staring at yawned, moving both of his hands up to wipe his eyes, at which the rock dimmed. At the same time, Sam could hear the roar of water flowing from inside the showers slow for a moment. Until the soldier urgently placed both hands upon the rock, with the sound of the water increasing in intensity once more. Curious, Sam leaned closer, until the man he was looking at peered back at him with similar intensity.
“What are you looking at?” His accent was not one he recognized, but Sam would have guessed it to be similar to somewhere like Scotland. Not that he had a ton of familiarity with such speech patterns. “Sorry, just looking around. Sir.” Sam, having now recognized that he had almost entirely left the line, moved back into place.
“Aye, it’s fine if you want to look. But, don’t look at me so intensely next time.” Sam nodded, feeling bad for making the man uncomfortable. He kept quiet, until he suddenly realized that he had heard and understood the man completely. As had the man heard him when he spoke. The amulet, the translation artifact or whatever it was called, had worked! The excitement over being able to understand another person held over him, up until he finally walked into the showers.
Sam knew upon walking in that his previous assessment of cold water was an understatement. It felt frigid just being near the water, and he had yet to even get under a showerhead. He walked forward to the only empty spot around, and quickly averted his eyes when he almost looked at the men surrounding him.
He felt fear and nervousness creep their way down his spine, until he finally mustered the courage to set down his belongings and disrobe. There was no laundry basket or something similar to put his now damp and soiled clothing, so he surreptitiously set down his clothing underneath the flow of water, next to a drain he hadn’t previously noticed until his eyes roamed the floor.
It too was constructed of rough stone, but it was still smooth enough to not provide discomfort as he had walked across it. It was actually helpful to have that feeling of grit underneath his feet as well, as it had prevented him from slipping as he made it over here.
Sam felt exposed as he walked towards the waterfall in front of him, wondering if anyone happened to be looking at him. He was afraid of being naked in public, almost as if he had experienced this in a dream. This was, unfortunately, all too real.
But when he raised his head to peek around at who could possibly be looking at him and laughing, he could only make eye contact with the backs of people’s heads. No one paid him any mind, and if anything, he was the odd one trying to peer at what other people were doing. Recognizing this, he immediately focused on entering the water. Slowly, with no small amount of terror, he entered the water.
Shock. It spread through his body, and his lungs seized. I can’t breathe. Everything felt stock still for a moment, his body plunged into a world of ice and death, until his body began to acclimate to the sensation. With stiff fingers, he began to wash himself with a bar of what looked like lye soap, doing his best to wash off. There was no shampoo or conditioner to speak of, so he did his best to work that same bar of soap into his scalp. Can’t be bad for your hair, right?
Within minutes of entering, he was done. Not due to feeling like he had accomplished his goal, but rather because he felt like his body temperature had been rapidly approaching unhealthy levels of cold. Moving towards an exit opposite the entrance he had come through, he came to a realization as he was about to leave.
Yes, he had brought clothes with which to dress himself after the shower, and they were only mildly wet. He was having a hard time keeping the bar of soap in his hands, and he wondered if there was something like a zip lock bag he could put it inside of. Regardless, he had just about everything for during the shower and after the shower with him, save for one thing. He had only brought one pair of shoes. He looked at the sodden garments he held in his hands, and could only sigh. Walking back shouldn’t be too bad. It was grass the whole way, after all.
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Trying to wipe off mud that still stuck in the crevices of his feet, Sam finally made his way back to his tent. He had spent several minutes searching for it, not having left some kind of personal reminder or marking of which one belonged to him. He noted that many other tents had some kind of symbol attached to them in some way to personally claim each tent. A feather here, a carved piece of wood on another. He even saw a knife stabbed through the corner of one tent in place of a stake.
He had finally found his temporary home after realizing that it was the only tent around with an improperly done knot, and he grimaced at his lack of practical knowledge in this aspect. Stooping inside, he set his wet clothes as close to the entrance as possible, placing the soap on top. They might dry out on their own… Who was he kidding? There was no shot in hell their current position wouldn’t lead to mold and a terrible smell.
That’s why when the man looking for him finally located his newest recruit, he found Sam aggressively scrubbing his still dirty clothes downstream of the river being used for all of the army’s needs. He had found his way there after questioning a couple of soldiers he had found lounging in their tents, until he finally got someone who wasn’t apathetic to his plight to point out where to go.
Sam looked up as a shadow blocked out the light reflecting off the flowing water, only to turn and see something he had not expected at all. When he made eye contact with the thing standing behind him, his assumption that maybe Andrew had found him once more was blown apart, and couldn’t stop himself from shivering at the alien gaze.
He was staring at what appeared to be a giant praying mantis. It stood in a bipedal position, with its arms in a parade rest behind his chest or thorax, whichever was anatomically correct in this case. It was well over 6 feet tall, and the pale green coloration of its body appeared to be universal across its exposed chitinous carapace. Its eyes were large and extended past its skull, much like the bug counterpart, and the sight was revolting. It held human-like appendages that still retained the more scythe-like appearance of their lesser brethren.
It had digits on its hands, but the length of its arms were far longer than what he was used to. It seemed like the creature had another elbow or point of articulation on the limbs no less, and it gave him some incredibly creepy vibes. Could its arms assume the praying position the bugs were normally known for?
Its eyes appeared to have a pupil that swiveled back and forth to watch him, until he remembered from a biology class a long time ago that it wasn’t a pupil at all. It was diffracted light shining from one of the many lenses composing its compound eyes. He noticed that there appeared to be another three eyes located on its forehead, but far smaller in scale. Its mandibles clicked as the plate covering over the front of its mouth moved aside to let the mandibles freely move.
Sam stood up, shoving his clothes and soap to the side as he went rigid with tension. Then, his mind caught up with what he was actually seeing. He couldn’t see what the rest of the bug looked like because it was wearing a uniform, the exact same one he currently had soaking in the banks of the river. He calmed down, and attempted to make eye contact to be respectful with this… person?
A clicking laugh came from its throat, sounding both completely foreign and yet strangely familiar. All things considered, whatever this was had some similar language habits to humans. Did praying mantises have vocal cords? Would these ones have them? Sam was starting to wish he spent more time researching bugs just so he could understand better what this thing was, until it finally spoke.
Much like the laugh from before, its words were tinged with a vibrating click that seemed to be involuntary. “Samuel, correct? I have been looking for you after our company leader assigned you to my squad, but I couldn’t find you for a while. Ah, I see you’ve taken initiative on the cleaning of your personal belongings. I will note down a merit in your favor.” At this, the mantis took out an unrefined leather bound journal, using a pencil to presumably write down its comment about Sam.
“Call m-me Sam, sir.” He couldn’t stop the stutter from happening, as it was just so disorienting. He felt queasy just looking at the bulbous eyes, the unnatural composition of its body, and the presence it gave off. Hell, Sam was starting to wonder if his eyes really worked. How had he not seen any of these things wandering around camp? Was he blind?
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
He scratched at his eyes, wincing as he accidentally got a bit of soap in them from his sudsy hands. He blinked, trying to clear them, only to jump back when he noticed that the mantis had gotten closer. It peered at him, and he nervously laughed as it seemed to assess him.
“Well Sam, we will begin your training posthaste. You will need to become adept at several concepts, but speed is of the essence. Our squad has already delayed training to locate you, and we will need to fit in the training regimen before the end of the day. Gather your things and follow me.”
Immediately, the mantis wasted no time in turning around and moving away. Sam watched, a little nonplussed, as the locomotion of the creature was different from what he expected as well. As it had turned, he had noted that sections of the cloth on its back were gone entirely, and the reason was made apparent as wings unfolded themselves from their camouflage position on its back. It jumped, its legs exploding with force as the dirt beneath was shoved back in an intense impact. As it reached the apex of its leap, the wings began to drone in a low buzz.
Sam watched in amazement and fear, as the most alien and still human-adjacent being he had ever seen accomplished a feat no human had ever achieved: self-propelled flight. He then considered how that was possible, as flight for a creature the size of the mantis he saw slowly getting smaller should have been impossible. He kept thinking this until he finally realized that he had been given orders, and he was currently not obeying them in the slightest. Scrambling, he grabbed everything in a tangled mess and began to sprint.
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Several dozen men stood in a small portion of a field of massive proportions, surrounded by thousands of groups doing the same thing they were: training. All of these men had a myriad of differences between them, primarily falling into the category of different species if that was all that separated them. Weird races stood side by side, awaiting the command of their leader. Everyone save the mantis and Sam wore what appeared to be a similar version of the uniform that had been stripped down to pants and shirt, as opposed to the coat and extra material on the full one that Sam wore. Seeing this, Sam wearily took off the jacket-gambeson clothing he had been given.
"Take note of our newest addition, Sam.” An abnormally long limb gestured to the side, where a panting Sam was doubled over in exhaustion. He had gotten tired before the training had even begun. “As you’re all aware, a new member means we have to go over the basics again. To cut down on unnecessary time expenditure, I will be having Marik and Touhien take him to the side to instruct him in his first lessons. The rest of you, assume battle formation.” The mantis, one who had still yet to introduce itself, gestured at another two races Sam had never seen before.
One appeared to be a regular man, if men were composed of rock and stone. His frame was wide and tall, standing half again as large as Andrew if Sam had to guess. His limbs were proportional to that of a normal human as well, so to say that he was imposing would be putting it lightly. He kind of looked like a certain someone from some fictional works Sam had seen, but he was still different from any depictions of rock people he had met. For one, the stone he was made of was smooth in most places on his body, with some rough patches where the material seemed to have broken slightly.
Sam immediately had some questions about how such a person could be considered alive or biological, or if that even was the case, until he turned to the rock person’s side. Standing there, at a proud four feet tall at the most, was what Sam could only describe as a dwarf. Not a tiny human, but a fantastical dwarf, complete with an overly robust beard. Upon realizing that it was a dwarf, he immediately internally snickered at the thought of a dwarf being paired up with a giant rock, but obviously his face didn’t get the memo. As he had felt a slight smile at the sight of the two together, he could see that the dwarf had noticed his expression.
“Got something amusing you want to inform us about?” His voice wasn’t the stereotype he had expected, but rather a more refined pattern of speech, like that of a nobleman. If anything, it sounded kind of haughty. Like the way elves were supposed to talk…
The dwarf elbowed the knee of the rock man standing next to him, and gestured at Sam. “What do you say Marik? You want to give him the full experience?” A grin cracked across Marik’s previously stony features, as a grinding of stone heralded his chuckle. “That would be fitting, I think. We ought to give the newbie a warm welcome.” His voice was deep, like being down inside of a cave in the dark and hearing the voice of a nightmare deep. It resonated his bones just a little bit, until Sam fought past his exhaustion at the run here to realize what they meant.
“What do you mean?” Sam felt small in front of both of these people, not primarily due to presence on Touhien’s part. He felt apprehension and no small amount of wariness, until Touhien clapped him on the shoulder jovially. “Why, my good friend, we’ll be learning some very important skills together. The first lesson is how to fall.” With that, Sam felt his world tilt as with the lightest touch, he twisted toward the ground.
Spluttering in the dirt he had found with his face, Sam immediately got up. “What the hell! Shouldn’t there be a debriefing or something? I have no idea what we’re supposed to be doing!” This time, Sam attempted a dodge as a stony digit gently pushed him over, causing him to once more make contact with blades of grass.
Laughing at the fun they had been able to experience for a moment, both the dwarf and rock man settled down. “Aye, we have to at least inform him of why we’re doing this.” Touhien settled his demeanor and looked at Sam with appraising eyes.
“Safe to assume you possess no combat experience. Would I be safe in presuming that you’ve never held a weapon before, my good fellow?” The dwarf was crouching next to him, and the contradictory tone of his voice coupled with the overly large beard on his squat frame delayed Sam’s mind for a moment. “Yeah, that’s right. I mean, I’ve used a knife before for like cooking, but I haven’t ever hurt somebody.”
The dwarf nodded as his suspicions were confirmed, and stepped back to stand to the side of Marik. “Well, the best approach when breaking in new recruits is to learn some very essential skills. One of them, to begin with, is learning how to let your body take an impact.”
“The best way to do this is to progressively fall from higher and higher heights. We start off with groundwork, and then eventually, Marik here is going to drop you from all the way up there.” Touhien pointed at Marik’s imposing height, the stone man lifting his arm to demonstrate where he could hold something above his head.
If Sam had to evaluate how high that was, it was well over fifteen feet in the air. He gulped. A grinding chuckle thundered out as Marik let his opinion on the matter be known. “Let’s get to work.”
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Sam, to put it frankly, was in hell. His body was battered, and it felt as if he fallen a thousand times or more. The sun had progressively moved throughout the day, and he had noticed that the other soldiers around him had been practicing with spears and shields, usually doing one-on-one combat spars, but also sometimes practicing moving as a group. His training could be refined to one word: fall.
He had fallen from different heights, from different positions and with varying amounts of different orientations. The goal, as he had been informed earlier that day, was to learn how to fall. This meant he had to learn how to adapt to the height he was falling from, and turn his body the ways they wanted him to. He needed to turn so that he would always land on his side, bunch up his body so his limbs wouldn't break, but also stay loose and relaxed so that his naturally tense body didn't get injured from the impact.
He had to spread the hit across his whole body, and protect his head if he could to avoid any damage to his cranium. Once they had started getting higher into the air, he had to learn how to tuck himself and roll to lessen the wear and tear on his body, but this still resulted in more injuries than it was worth. Several times, he considered how bad his current condition would be if he had fallen on a surface other than soft grass and loamy soil, and shivered at the prospect of personal damage.
Personally, Sam wasn't pleased. He felt that despite the fact that he had taken to the task with reluctance, he had made an incredible amount of progress since the beginning of the day. He could reliably follow all of the steps in place to prevent major injury, and yet the duo of taskmaster and tormenter had not ceased their "training regimen". Now, as he laid down in the heat of the sun, he couldn't help but feel that he wouldn't be able to move for the next day, even if he was prodded.
"I think you might've pushed him a little too hard there. Ya think we oughta ask Sakir for a potion?" Marik seemed concerned about Sam's current condition, but Touhien scoffed at his small body laying still in the grass. "I think there's more to accomplish with his technique, but we'll have to come back to it later if we want to see it become instinctual. Sam, tell me, can you stand?" A groan, muffled by the wonderfully soft grass beneath Sam, managed to make its way to Touhien's ears.
"Good, you are still conscious enough to complain. We will now move on to something more active, and I think that you will appreciate it more than falling. It is time for you to acquire some more comprehensive knowledge on how to stand. Oh, and Marik, I changed my mind. Go grab one from Sakir or from supplies, which ever you prefer." With that, Marik trotted off to find the potion he spoken on before.
"To put it in simple terms, the point of these lessons is to increase survival rates. Any bum with a sword can teach someone some effective methods at chopping off heads, and might even fancy to teach you how to participate in swordplay. Not that real combat ever entertains swordplay, but you get the idea. The reason why you need to learn how to fall, and will now be required to learn how to stand-"; at this, Touhien jerked Sam up to a standing position, stabilizing him until he was able to make eye contact with him, "is because you need to know how to adapt."
"There will not always be a clear choice on what you should do in any given life or death situation, so adaptability when rocks are falling on your head and you need to dodge, or rather in your case when a goblin is about to brain you with a mace, is paramount to living through the fight. I have seen many of my fellow soldiers, both in this world and out of it, die to mistakes made in duress. The mind becomes clouded by dirt and dust, as my father used to say, when a dangerous situation occurs. It's hard to realize what the correct choice is to ensure your survival. You cannot always choose the best path forward actively, so you must rely upon the more unconscious mind to guide you through the dust while you are in danger."
"When we come back for training tomorrow, you will practice the falling a bit more." At this, Sam grimaced in discomfort, thinking about going through what he just did yet again. "You need to ingrain your responses to such dangers with as fervor as you can manage. Eventually, we will only have to revisit this every so often so you feel comfortable with the muscles involved, not so that you need to practice it any longer. And that brings me back to my previous point: you need to know how to stand." At this, the dwarf pushed forward, his body held low and wide as he pushed forward. Caught off guard, Sam was pushed over.
His mind instantly kicked into drive past the weariness, and he slowly but surely tucked himself into a somersault to prevent the impact from doing any damage. "Get up." Groggily and with a large amount of vertigo, Sam found his way to his feet. "In a fight, you die if you cannot stand up again. The ability to apply pressure and prevent your death must come from rock-solid foundations, and you can consider those foundations gone if you stay on the ground."
Touhien gestured at himself, pointing both of his hands at his positioning. "I want you to shove me. As hard as you can. Push or pull, doesn't matter which." At this, Sam grinned. "Alright, you got it sir." It was time to turn the tables in his mind. Moving forward, he rammed his shoulder into the dwarf's chest as hard as he could. He had considered just falling over on the man, but it felt unfair to use his height advantage in this context. He was surprised when his body bounced back with no difference in position on the dwarf's part.
Seeing this, Sam abandoned his earlier stance on being honorable and charged while standing up at his full height. He attempted to use his position as leverage on the upper half of the dwarf's body to knock him over, but this resulted in his attempt performing worse than before. With contemptuous ease, he was knocked back, almost falling over of his own accord. He grinned then, realizing that the dwarf was either waiting for him to make progress on his current task or for Marik to come back before he spoke again. So, Sam got to thinking as he attempted similar methods without any luck.
Touhien watched as the boy pranced from side to side, fruitlessly attempting to knock him over. It was a genuinely amusing sight, seeing someone that he knew could be far more capable than he currently was flounder about. He considered giving him tips on what he was doing wrong, but thought better about it. Arguably, the best course of action would be to let him discover this on his own. If he can come up with something unique, it will be better for the learning process overall.
As he had been pondering to himself about the boy's antics, he hadn't noticed that the boy in front of him had suddenly disappeared. Where did he-? His train of thought was interrupted as he felt an abrupt smack of something rushing into his legs, until the sensation of quickly rising into the air settled over him. He shortly made his return to the earth, where he immediately landed after executing a near flawless roll back to his feet. Turning, he saw the grin spreading across the boy's face at his success. This kid...
Sam had done it! He had considered what would work, and settled on using his body's natural height advantage on the dwarf by shoving his shoulders underneath his legs. When he had stood up, carrying a compact man into the air with him, it had sent the small man flying. Grinning in delight, Sam laughed as the dwarf brushed off the grass that had stuck to his clothes. "So, I see you found the only reasonable solution here. Well, what I will tell is that while it may seem juvenile to resort to such methods, it is all too real an action you might make in combat."
"Admittedly, the chances that you would get stabbed to death while you have your hands down by your side trying to shove someone that way are incredibly high, but the concept remains the same. By any means necessary, put your opponent off-balance. This, more than anything else, will lead to victory. Now, we have to move on to preventing you for falling for something like that." At this, Touhien moved forward, showing Sam what position to settle in and how to distribute his weight.
"Much like falling, you have to assume this naturally. It is not instinctual at first, I will give you that, but it is required for your well-being." Adjusting his positioning, Touhien stepped back as he eyed Sam's body. He moved his limbs, primarily his legs but with some minor adjustments to his arms, and made him shift his balance to accommodate a lower center of gravity.
"Knowing how easy it is for someone to push you over, would you say that this leaves you more stable?" "I feel steadier, but I don't think it would matter if Marik knocked me over again." "Well, there is not much you can do against someone like him anyway, so thank Mardouve you will not have to fight anyone like him. Hopefully not ever, if we can help it." Sam felt relieved at that thought, and then let his mind become curious again after the single-minded focus he had practiced during this training.
Why doesn't Touhien use any contractions? I feel like he keeps enunciating the whole length of a word instead of using shortcuts to language like everyone else does. Is that part of the language artifact, or is it because he prefers talking that way? Regardless of the reason, he realized that the dwarf had begun speaking once more. Past his voice, Sam could feel the subtle of vibrations of Marik coming back, supposedly with the potion in hand.
"Now that the walking monument is back, we can finally get some real work done with your stance." Marik handed the potion over to Sam as he passed him by, leaving Sam looking at a glass bottle of shimmering liquid. It was almost as if he was looking at an idealized version of a potion from D&D, but real. He felt the weight of it in his hand, the unnatural glow and aura of power it gave off, the feeling that relief was only a drink away. A maroon color deep with vibrancy, Sam held it up to the light to provide an amazing kaleidoscope effect when small portions of the potion were caught in the light of the midday sun.
In excitement, Sam uncorked the bottle with a minor amount of effort. As he was about to put it to his lips, Touhien stopped him. "I would recommend placing it in small doses around your body, and then drinking a small portion of it. That should be enough, considering what you have experienced today." Following the dwarf's advice, Sam felt instant relief flood across his body. It felt like he had just taken a nap after hours of exercise, and instead of waking up sore with bruises and broken muscles across his body, he was completely whole and stronger than before. He tasted
He stared in amazement at the drink he still held in his hands, having only used a fraction of the liquid inside. "Careful with that stuff." The dwarf lowered a stare his way. "If you had taken anymore, you likely would be feeling ill instead of great. I am unaware of what hack job alchemist they have supplying us, but I am fairly certain a larger dose could be toxic. A word for the wise, if you will." At this, Touhien gestured for Sam to hand it back over. With great reluctance, he did.
"Well, it seems like we have some work to do. You ready, Sam?" He settled into the stance he had been shown before, and got ready for pain to follow. Can't be worse than falling though. That shit hurt. He was unaware of what was in store for him, as he probably wouldn't have assessed it that way at all if had known.
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Sitting down in with some groans and moans, Sam held his bowl of soup as the fire lit up the darkness surrounding him. Around him in similar positions on the same logs he had seen several nights before, the rest of his combat squad settled into their meals. The only exception was Marik, who had to sit on the ground to avoid shattering the logs so carefully placed. To his side, he watched as Marik and Touhien joked about the day's events, and he eventually turned back to his own meal of broth and chunks of unknown origin. The stale bread provided as a side might have been tougher than Marik's skin, but it was almost delectable in the soup's warm embrace.
He felt warm, not only because of the fire, but because of the closeness he already started to feel with both of the men who had mentored him today. It might have been accurate to say that he should feel offended or disparaged due to their attitude, but he had only felt it a kindness when Touhien had described why he was learning what he had. He scooted closer on the log, and joined in the idle chatter that the two of them had settled into. He hoped he wasn't wrong, but for now, it would be better to become more sociable with his teachers.
They talked and chatted about mundane things for a long time, Sam even finding out what the name of Marik's race was, that being Nkumen. He had thought about asking Touhien, but the man hadn't responded negatively when Sam had referred to him as a dwarf, so that at least seemed accurate. Sam looked around at the number of other races around their fire, and wondered about their origins and lives. He had a lot to learn outside of combat it seemed.
As he looked at the motley assortment of people around him, he finally asked a question that had bugged him since he had been "initiated" into the group. "Touhien, why are we all in this squad to begin with? I've seen a bunch of other groups with different races in them, but ours seems particularly odd. Do you know why that is?" "Hmm? Oh, I thought Sakir would have told you. Andrew assigned you to the squad because you're just like the rest of us."
At this, Sam's eyes widened in realization. Of course the rest of the army was composed of almost entirely humans. No wonder he was in this assortment of soldiers to begin with. "We're all from another world?" Marik responded. "Got it in one. I'll admit, I'm impressed you didn't manage to notice a little something we share earlier." At this, he lifted up something, and shining in the light of the bonfire, Sam saw a solid piece of metal slowly dangling back and forth on a small chain.
"Welcome to the club, as Andrew would say." At this, Marik got up from his seated position, and stalked off to his tent as he said goodnight to them both. Groaning, Touhien got up as well. "You ought to get some sleep. We have another day of this in store for you on the morrow. Good night Sam." And with that, the dwarf shuffled off, complaining about a stitch in his side from the day's activities.
When Sam finally got to his own tent, still marked by the poor knot, he sat down and tried to settle in for bed. Halfway through falling asleep, he remembered two important details. For one, he hadn't brushed his teeth with the toiletries he had been given, and his now clean but still wet clothes still lay next to exit of his tent. Where the hell am I gonna dry those? For a moment, he pondered committing himself to either task, and gave up when he felt another wave of weariness settle over him. Maybe he wouldn't be so tired tomorrow. After all, the routine couldn't be that bad. Right?