Jeff only got a little done before going to bed other than reading more history books and child books that taught the masses some common logic about things. He read till it got dark then turned in. Xilna waking him up did no favors to his nerves, however. After arranging for her to escort him to the training area after an hour for food and a bath, he felt ready for the day.
She leads him to a training area already half full of people training. Sadly not as many otherworlds as he hoped.
“ Sir, this is Sargent Mar. a twenty-year veteran fighting the demons. He has been assigned as a general trainer for those needing one.”
The sergeant looks at what he considers a kid before looking at the two summoned mana constructs. The female one seemed to be in a relaxed stance only paying attention to their creator while the larger male seemed more stiff and ready for action.
“ So, I guess I should hear what you think you need before I tell you how wrong you are.”
Jeff lowered his shoulders and sighed as he shook his head.
“ Honestly, I got no clue what I am doing. I am here as a starting point and I have a general idea of an end goal, or at least a goal. There is a saying in my world. Officers give orders and Sergeants make it happen... if they can keep those same officers from screwing it up. Tell me that is true in this world too.”
Sargent Mar broke into a rare smile as he looked at the kid in front of him.
“ I guess that is something they got right where you come from. So tell me lil’ commander. What is your goal?”
Jeff pointed his thumb behind him to his boss.
“ Teach this one to fight. And maybe learn a little myself. Because I am sure I will need to learn.”
Jeff then turns toward Xilna.
“ And I was hoping you could teach the other one. Either that or have someone better teach her. No offense.”
Xilna opened her mouth to speak but paused and then looked at the construct.
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
“ And I take none. Very well, I shall take your construct under my wing. Come along, there is much still need doing.”
Xilna turns to leave and the female construct follows her.
“ Now that that is done, lil’ commander, I ask you this. How do you plan on getting your summon to fight?”
Jeff looked over his shoulder and thought about it for a moment.
“The first thing needed to be done is to find out what he is capable of. And myself I guess. From there create a plan to work toward my goal.”
The sergeant nods and points toward the track where others are running.
“ I will go easy on you today. Just run in circles till you collapse or throw up. When that happens just sit on a bench till I get to you.”
Jeff looks at his construct and makes a motion for it to lead before the two take off.
-----
Sargent Mar kept an eye on the Cardmancer and his summon as he arranged the next task for the duo, all the while dealing with other otherworlders that were brought to him. Half of them were idealistic idiots and those were the better ones. One arrogant kid had the nerve to throw a punch at him. The damn idiot broke his hand on the sergeant’s chin. Only the Cardmancer admitted he had no idea what he was doing, and had a decent first step to his goal. So much so, that he gave the kid a pass, refraining on sharing his own thoughts. After all, his method would have been much worse otherwise.
The Sargent watched the otherworlders as the trainee squad he called in arrived with the spare gear, he nodded in acknowledgment to the work, but nothing more. Better to not let the rookies get a big head. It did not take much longer before Jeff could no longer keep his balance and half stumbled from exhaustion.
“ Private, fetch the Cardmancer. He is the one with the mana construct that looks like a skeleton.”
One of the privates quickly broke away and soon returned half-carrying the kid as the construct seemed fine. To the Sargent however, he could tell it was mana drained by how sluggish it was moving as well.
“ Right, first off lil’ commander. I have seen summoners like yours before. So I can give you some general information about them. For example, your constructs do not have stamina like you and me but run purely on mana. If I had to guess, they also have it as their life gauge. How much mana would this fella take to summon?”
Jeff coughed and wiped his mouth with his arm.
“ Ten points...”
Sargent Mar nods to that.
“ Sounds about right. Since you probably spent about fifty stam in running. What's your mana at now?”
“ Ninety-three.”
Mars nods and does some quick math.
“ Spend at least forty of it but no more than sixty.”
Jeff raises his hand and makes four more cards with clothing and summoned them and immediately after went to his knees and threw up.
“ That is what we call mana drain. It hits a lot harder when your stam is low as well. Get used to this feeling, because when you fight the demons you will be in this state a lot. Private, get him to the bench and some water.”
The private that was holding onto Jeff led him to the nearby bench as the sergeant followed.
“ I see they can wear clothing. What about armor? Can they use weapons? I would hate to hear I have to train a bunch of martial artists.”
Jeff shook his head.
“ Won’t know till I can get some to turn into a card and equip them. Unless someone wants to put armor on him.”
The sergeant looked at the boss before pointing to a bag containing a set of training gear.
“ Why not both, we got to test the limits of your class.”
Jeff nods understanding fearing turning the armor into a card. Just to waste it.