The next few days were split between classroom and outdoor activities, but Ted was vaguely surprised to find that the pace wasn’t really that fast; maybe it was the fact that the instructors were taking it easy because of just how new this all was to the recruits, or maybe because they just didn’t have that much to teach. Ted felt like it couldn’t really be the latter, as even the most basic military training at home had always seemed pretty full on and intense; or at least, the TV had always made it look that way. And while the instructors would often give lessons about the new world and way of life that they were due to experience shortly, he often found that it was filled with gaps that the instructors either wouldn’t, or couldn’t explain.
‘Skillsss and Techniquesss.’ the Lizard-man instructor in front of them said. He looked very similar to the other Sassar that Ted had seen in his cohort; short, leathery, and covered in dark purplish scales. However, the way he carried himself told another story, as the confidence and strength with which he carried himself gave off a sense of danger that almost had the class on edge.
‘They are one of the mosssst important thingsss in thisss world. But alssso some of the mossst complicated, and poorly underssstood.’ he continued. Ted had wondered whether these beings ever decided to try and avoid using words with an ‘s’ in them, as they extended the length of any sentence by a significant factor; he suspected that in reality, the Lizardmen actually enjoyed using them. He’d put a shiny pound coin on their regular language being mostly combinations of esses and hissing.
More sheets of paper were handed out, these ones written in a font that Ted was disgusted to recognise as a variant of Comic Sans, and a jolly style that made him think of an over-enthusiastic preschool teacher.
‘Hello, and Welcome to your Ultimate Guide to the Wonderful Skills and Techniques that will Guide you through this World and your battle for Good against Evil’
The Lizard-man introduced himself as Tass, turning to the chalkboard and writing it in the corner.
‘You have all been given some notessss on the fundamentalsss of these topicsss.’ Tass said. ‘But I will run through the bassssicss now, and you can review those later.
‘Sssso.’
He turned and continued writing on a chalkboard.
‘Skills and Techniques’
‘You’ve all already picked up ssssome Ssskillss and Techniquesss, which goes to show how intrinsssic and inssstinctive they are to thissss world.’
‘Seems like it would have made sense to do this lesson before the magic one.’ Ted whispered over to Jerah, who nodded.
‘I must admit that this does all seem a little improvised.’ the tall man hissed back.
‘You all should have the Basssssic Magic Sssskill now.’ Tass said. ‘And it representsss an underssstanding of Basssic Magic, as you might exssspect.’
He wrote ‘Basic Magic’ down on the chalkboard.
‘But what does thissss really mean? And how does it apply to other abilities?’ he continued, not turning round to see if anyone was hoping to answer his question. No one was.
‘The Authority, through the CPSsss has identified hundredsss of Skillsss that cover the fundamentalsss of all actionsss and activitiesss in this world. Obtaining these Ssskillsss in the CPSss can be viewed asss confirmation of your bassssic grasssp of that Ssskill; but alsssso an improvement of that Ssskill. Your enhancssed abilitiesss on thisss world will mean that gaining the Ssskill improvesss it beyond what you were capable of in your previous livesss.
‘Over the nexsst few daysss you will all mossst likely gain movement basssed Skills, such as Agile Manouevresss. You will find that thisss comes with a greater underssstanding of how to move nimbly and more efficiently.
‘Sssome of you will gain Ssskillss in different typesss of magicsss - take, Healing Magic, for exssample. Gaining the Ssskill will give you an inherent underssstanding of how healing and magic interact.
‘The higher your level in the Ssskill, the better your underssstanding and the better you can use that undersssstanding.’
He turned around at this point, having written a series of bullet points on the board that were just legible as covering the points he’d made.They’d been given no pens or pencils to write notes on, not that Ted would have done anyway. Still, it felt like just another case of the instructors forgetting something.
‘Underneath the Ssskillss sit your Techniquesss; in the cassse of Basssic Magic, you will all have the Light ssspell.
‘It is eaasssier to underssstand with magic, but the same prinsssiple applies to all Ssskillss and Techniquesss; the Ssskill can be consssidered the Sssschoool of magic, with the Techniquesss within it being the related ssspellsss.’
That made sense to Ted, as it fit in well with the logic that he felt the CPS and this world were following. It occurred to him, not for the first time that maybe, for the others, it didn’t. Whereas he had died young, playing games and consuming media in which spells and magic and levels were relatively common, if everyone here had died at a late age, and their world had been in a similar level of technological advancement, then this might all sound like chaotically improvised nonsense to them. He’d asked Jerah about it, knowing that Jerah’s world was at least a hundred or so years ahead of his, but Jerah told him that he’d grown up in a monastery, where technology for most purposes was restricted. Ted had immediately assumed that would mean Jerah had grown up in a building lit by candles and warmed by open fires, but apparently Jerah’s world was so far ahead that Jerah didn’t actually consider basic things like lighting, heating, or cleaning robots as ‘advanced technology’.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
‘We’re not luddites.’ he’d said, the meaning of the word obvious to Ted even in the translated language, even if he wouldn’t have recognised it on earth. ‘But we believe technology has reached its peak of usefulness. Anything else just promotes laziness and moving further away from God.’
Ted had thought privately to himself that people who were opposed to new technology always seemed to pick the era of their young or middle years to be the best time to stop progressing, and the same appeared for Jerah’s world; however, Jerah’s world also had combat mechs, so maybe they really had reached the pinnacle.
In any case, Ted had yet to really ask anyone about their views on the new world and its functions, as conversations had only really focused on the day to day, or the comparisons between worlds and beliefs. He was keen to have a real discussion with someone from earth though, as soon as possible.
His ears perked up as he realised Tass had moved on to talking about weapon skills.
‘You will find that mosssst weapons have a Ssskill that underliesss its ussse.’ he was saying. ‘Though many magesss would say that melee weaponsss are not much more complicated than hitting enemiesss with the pointy end, advansssed Skills with weapons allowssss for incredible featsss, and combinesss with many other Ssskillss for impressssive Techniquesss. You will find that you will learn sssome bassssic Techniquesss very quickly; ssstrike basssed power attackssss, for exsssample. But the better you become, the better, more varied, and more eclectic thossse Techniquessss will be.
‘We have provided a lissst of common Ssskillsss and Techniquesss, but these are not exhaussstive. During your time at Basssic you will gain sssome of these, and gain ssssome proficiensssy in them. Ssssome will be harder or easssier for you to learn because of your Classss. You will have ssseeen what your Classssses are proficient at and require in order to improve; these should be the focussss for your time here.’
Ted looked at the sheets in front of him as the instructor continued to talk. As Tass had said, it was mostly a list of Skills and Techniques, and a pretty short one at that; half of his GateKeeper Skills weren’t even listed. It also seemed to be both an oversimplification and an overcomplication. He could see that ‘Hand to Hand - Striking’ was listed, but wasn’t that a huge box to put every martial art into? Had they just combined all martial arts into one, here?
And why didn’t he get to learn any?
Tass started explaining how Skills were linked to Attributes and Techniques were linked to Skills, but to Ted it all seemed relatively self explanatory, and he found himself zoning out. Not for the first time, and certainly not the last, he thought about how much he was missing his phone and access to the internet. Not in an addict in withdrawal way, but in the small ways where normally he’d kill and fill time by scrolling through social media and random phone games, or messaging people he knew. Though, obviously a lot less of the latter in the last couple of years. He’d never really settled in Bristol, and no one from back up north knew where he was.
But still, he was having to deal with boredom full on. This actually was something that he’d asked the others about, and had been surprised and disappointed to find that it was again, something that he alone suffered; even the humans from his world had been cloistered away in monasteries and in their late eighties when they’d died. They’d never had smart phones, and had instead mastered the art of sitting in quiet contemplation.
Ted, on the other hand, had done the equivalent of reading all the shampoo bottles whilst stuck on the toilet without a phone, and had investigated every single line of the CPS, every single line of help on every screen. He hoped it would give him an edge, or at least a better understanding of the world, but he suspected it would just mean that he’d be more bored in the coming days.
After the lesson was done they were sent to a Basic Strategy Class, where they learnt about the recent troop movements and were given a map of their new world; the first time they’d ever seen it. It did not look like Earth at all, with only three major continents evident, two of which were in the shape of distorted nebulae, with arms made of hundreds of islands spraying out into the sea. Between the two continents sat the third, a long, wide spit of land that nearly went from pole to pole, both showing white as they neared them. Of the poles themselves, they didn’t seem to exist, or at least the map showed no land or even ice.
There were no countries or continents named, and a note at the top stated that the territories of the Authority and the Enemy were in constant flux. Highlighted sections denoted the Authority’s base ground, and the Enemy’s however, which, as Ted had suspected, were the large galaxy-esque continents. He supposed the central land bar was the main battlefront, and this was confirmed by the instructor as the original Front where the forces of Good and Evil had fought. Now, however, the side of Good had made strong advances into enemy territory, and had pushed across the sea to the eastern continent.
‘So boats, aircraft, air and water magic is highly valued.’ the instructor, a stocky Alman woman, continued. ‘Many of you artificers and builders will be creating transport and warships to allow crossing to continue the advance. I don’t believe we have any air or water based magicians here, however?’
Toya raised a hand. ‘I’m an Ice Witch.’ she said.
‘Then you will be highly valued too.’ the instructor. ‘As you will all be.’ she hastily added. ‘Your particular skillsets, and how they will be used, will all be expanded upon when you’re taken to your new regiments or employments.’
There was little strategy that followed after, with the lesson mostly being a short history of the war over the past few years, how the Authority’s side had gained ground, lost some, then regained it. There was very little mention of the Enemy’s actual army until one of the Sassar raised their hand. Or claw.
‘But who actually fightssss for the Enemy? What people?’ he asked. There was a round of nods. Though this class was full of people who felt like they knew everything about Good and Evil, they’d yet to hear anything about what the Enemy looked like. Ted knew that in his world it was supposed to be demons and imps and… was that it? Basically red people with tails and pointy spears. Nothing had quite matched up so far though.
‘The Enemy is known to have humans and Baraye fighting for him, but no Sassar, Molluscae, or Arachnids.’ the instructor said. ‘There is an intelligent avian race, and a number of other unintelligent beast races however. They outnumber us, but our side has truth and right with us. You will learn more about those you will be fighting when you’re on the Front, but know that they are not to be trifled with. They are cunning, untrustworthy, and deadly. Hope that you never see one’
Seems like bad advice for the soldiers you’re sending out to meet them, Ted thought to himself.
Ah well.