When Jack woke the next morning, Jenny was already gone. She had folded the blanket he lent to her and left it on the recliner she slept on the previous night. He lazily pulled his phone out of his pocket, and of course it was dead since he went straight to bed without removing his jeans, much less charging his phone. Tossing it on the bed next to him, he sat up and checked his watch, which he kept by his bed, always too scared to wear it due to it’s value. As he admired the golden family heirloom for a moment, before his eyes fell on its face. 8:17 was displayed, which Jack didn’t expect, considering how he didn’t even go to bed until at least 2:00.
“Did Jenny even sleep?”
Jack’s mind drifted to his childhood friend, and how worried she was the night before.
His thoughts were interrupted when the feeling of being immersed in cold water flooded his senses, something was wrong. The drowsiness left his body, as he quickly, but silently crept up to his door, and cracked it open.
‘Ellis, you up?’
(I’m always up!)
Her usual, energetic voice came without hesitation.
‘Are there any monsters nearby?’
(No. Well, not close enough to matter, why?)
Jack checked to make sure nothing was in his line of sight before slipping out his door, closing it silently behind him before crouching.
‘Something’s here.’
Jack was certain now, he could hear light, calculated breaths, and smelled the faint scent of sweat. Whoever it was, they were nervous, and trying to hide it.
‘Whatever it is, it’s waiting for me.’
(Are you sure it isn’t Jenny?)
Ah... Of course. Jenny was sweating last night due to the stress, and she was probably breathing so lightly because she got up to leave and fell asleep somewhere. He really needed to learn how to accurately detect a threat, and soon or it could cost him. Jack let his guard down, but not completely, thinking it never hurts to be safe. It was good he was so alert, because what greeted him when he entered his living room wasn’t the sleeping face of Jenny, but a black blur moving the speed of a bullet. Something grazed his cheek, as he threw himself into the wall to his left. He reached up to touch his right cheek, and felt a slight sting and something wet.
[Impressive, but I won’t miss twice.]
A mechanical voice came from the far corner of the room, sounding calm, but obviously not bluffing. A slim figure leaned against the wall in the corner of the room, flipping a spear while alternating hands slowly. The person(?) was covered in a black military uniform that hid any defining features, though Jack could tell they were slim, and probably male due to the small chest region. It’s face was hidden with a sleek mask that was tinted black, and surrounded their head to allow maximum vision.
Jack stood, and dusted himself off slowly, not making any sudden movements, but not being necessarily cautious either. He wasn’t thinking about the difference in power between them, and he wasn’t being overconfident either. He looked directly at its mask without any particular emotion visible, however his irises had small traces of pink in them and were giving off an intense aura. The dark figure shifted it’s stance to a more defensive position, and stopped twirling it’s spear.
“Where’s Jenny?”
Jack’s voice was soft, but demanding when he inquired, and the figure smiled slightly under the mask.
[Your girlfriend is fine, she left a little while ago. I’m only here for you.]
“She’s not my girlfriend.”
Jack relaxed a little, since they showed no signs of lying. Jack didn’t pursue any further conversation, so the figure continued after a short pause.
[I was sent to observe you, and I do not plan on leaving.]
The voice came, speaking as if stating a well-known and often repeated line, and waited for a response expectantly. Jack hesitated, if this person wanted to kill him, it wouldn’t have stopped after one attack, however, they were not friendly and could hinder his growth. If this person decides he shouldn’t learn to fight, there is not much he could do until he goes through that hellish experience again, and they might not take that well, and kill him in his moment of weakness. He needed an excuse... Jack rubbed his arm, which was healing well, and decided to find out what the figure in front of him knows. He has never been very round-about with his words, and wasn’t very good at conversation, so he just asked bluntly.
“What do you know about me?”
The figure seemed to be taken aback by his blunt question, and considered it’s answer for several seconds before replying.
[I know you are possessed, and you attacked and killed three furies along with their pack leader with your bare hands.]
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“How?”
[The cameras at the restaurant, and your phone.]
‘They must have heard me talking to you... So they are probably with the government, or some agency.’
(I swear, listening to you two talk is like listening to machines swap information.)
Jack noticed Ellis referenced machines, specifically computers, so he figured she spent some more time learning from his memories. Jack decided he should learn some better social skills after that thought. However, this thought process does have it’s benefits, he had come up with a suitable excuse.
“I’m hunting the more hostile monsters.”
It fit well, he had shown no hostility towards anything he didn’t consider a threat, and he really did plan to kill more monsters in the future. The most effective lies are usually half true.
[You are too weak to fight on equal grounds with anything but the lowest monsters.]
The response was harsh, but it seemed to believe him, which was Jack’s original goal anyway.
(You are going to die. There is no way it will allow you to train, even if you say it’s to defeat monsters.)
‘Yes it will. Not only will it allow me, it’s going to teach me.’
(What!?)
Jack ignored Ellis’s shout and resumed his conversation with the figure. Judging from his previous experience, he would have to use logic to convince it, which made Jack thank his lucky stars because he didn’t think he had the ability to manipulate something that had emotion.
“Then help me.”
[Why would I do that?]
The figure seemed to have relaxed a little bit now that Jack’s hostility had been significantly reduced, and had resumed twirling it’s spear.
“Because I’m interesting. I am a monster hunting monsters, not to gain power, but to create a safer environment for humans. This is unprecedented, and not yet explainable by reason. So, in return for teaching me to fight, I will reveal information regarding myself, and my intentions. If you refuse to help, I will just teach myself, and likely die when I confront an enemy stronger than me, and you will be left without any answers. Teaching me is mutually beneficial.”
(You sound like a legal document.)
‘I know, I’m hoping this is enough to convince it.’
The figure shifted it’s weight to it’s opposite foot, and considered his proposal for about a minute before responding.
[I will teach you. However if you do not stay true to your promise, or if I suspect your intentions are hostile, I will not hesitate to kill you.]
Jack nodded nonchalantly, and offered his hand, which was accepted, and their agreement was made.
“You probably already know, but my name is Jack. It’s nice to meet you.”
[Likewise. I am Valkyrie number one.]
(Ooh! I bet it’s a robot! How cool! I wonder if it can shoot lasers!)
Ellis began making laser noises while Jack tried to think of something to call it, not liking the name Valkyrie, and not wanting to call it number one.
“I’ll call you Val. Do you have any complaints?”
Jack broke off the handshake and asked while returning his hand to his side.
[Call me what you like, I have no preference.]
“In that case, I’ll call you Roboto.”
[Please refrain from taunts.]
Jack smiled at Val’s response.
Jack spent the rest of that Saturday training under the relentless supervision and advice of Val, and found that his brain absorbed the information quickly, and he progressed rapidly. Jenny came by to check on him Saturday night, and found him drenched in sweat, and he then had to spend about an hour convincing her that he was not having sex, but just went on a jog. She left after telling him to invite her next time he went on a “jog”, and laughed at Jack’s bland response. On many occasions, Val would spar With Jack, and remind him how far he still has to go, and each time that happened his determination would be reignited. He slept only six hours the first night, and felt completely revived, and Val seemed to sleep as well, but only for about four hours. Jack silently thought Val might be recharging, but decided against asking to avoid pissing Val off.
On Sunday night, Jack had made massive leaps in his combat abilities, and felt decently confident that he could take on a group of about ten furies without getting injured.
“Hey, Val.”
Jack was covered in sweat from training, but had just finished a quick break and had recovered his strength. Val obviously wasn’t effected by the training, though Jack suspected it was because he was the one doing all the work, but was smart enough to keep his mouth shut. Val is already strong, and he was sure it wasn’t easy to get that strong, unless, of course, Val was a robot, in which case Jack considered it cheating.
(You can’t talk.)
Ellis reminded him about his own physical advancements, and how he would only get stronger with time.
[What do you need?]
Val looked at Jack, who had finished his training for the day.
“Let’s have a quick match.”
Jack wanted to test his new abilities one more time before he had to return to school, and which would reduce the time he could spend training. Val nodded in agreement, and took a ready stance, while picking up the spear that was previously leaning against a tree. Because training in his apartment was too risky, they would go out into the woods a short distance to train. Jack followed suit, lowering his center of gravity, shifting so his left while keeping his left hand open, and his right hand in fist. This technique was defensive, and relied on the opponent to attack first. His left hand would parry the attack, and the right hand would deliver a quick blow that would, hopefully, end the fight.
[Ready?]
“Yeah.”
Jack kept his poker face, hiding his thoughts and feelings from his opponent. He didn’t really care if Val knew what he was thinking, but it was a good habit to get into when facing any opponent in a serious fight.
Val wasted no time in attacking head on, relying primarily on speed and skill, but definitely not lacking in strength, swinging the spear around from the side in a blunt attack. Jack barely had time to react as Val closed the distance of about thirty feet in about half a second, but managed to jump a good seven feet in the air, giving Val a massive advantage. Val instantly changed her attack, and jabbed the spear up at Jack’s abdomen with the blunt end of the spear. Jack then did something unexpected, stomped his foot directly on the tip of the spear, and knocked it out of Val’s hands and into the ground. After losing his momentum, Jack stalled in the air for a second, and Val did not let that go to waste, instead of going for the spear, Val grabbed Jack’s ankle, while narrowly avoiding a kick, and slammed him on the ground knocking the air out of him.
The fight was over, and Jack coughed violently while rolling around in pain.
[Well done. You disarmed me.]
Val pulled the spear out of the ground, and sat down, and started cleaning it.
(Hu hu hu. I never get tired of watching your ass get whipped.)
Jack was lying on the ground with his chest heaving while Ellis taunted him. The moon was visible through the trees, reminding him of the time, and that he needed to get back.
“Let’s head back.”
Jack propped himself up on his elbows and looked over at Val, who was cleaning some dirt off her spear. Val nodded, and stood up, swinging the spear around to get the last of the dirt off.
“I have school in the morning.”