Formidable Training
Phesx Caolia walked to the old man in the small study room. The latter sat on a chair but looked like he was still standing. He was that tall. Frowning, the young boy entered the room and greeted, looking up and down. "S- Are you an Instructor?”
“No,” the old man pressed his lips and looked down at him. Phesx's frown eased a bit. He nodded before asking again, “What do you need of me?”
“Your blood runs funny, and the sound of your body moving is just as fine as any other great… Artista, or so could be said in this organization, boy. But yours is one fine rarity. I know what I’m hearing and what I’m breathing from you, it’s not usual. And boy, let me tell you. I have examined many others’ blood and joints, made bleed as well and saw it for myself, but yours is something.” The old man shut any thoughts Phesx Caolia could have had.
The old man extended his right arm, pointing at Phesx, before poking his heart. “And it does not all come from here. I wonder…”
The old man lifted his head, just a bit, and looked straight into Phesx’s light black eyes, nudging his head upwards. “Do you dare let me train you? I don’t care what your Instructors now might think. You will stay here during your training days, and I’ll guide you for 5 hours each.”
“That’s a lot of time…” Phesx commented. The old man retracted his arm, unhurriedly resting his back on his seat. “I’m training you. Food and sleep can be left for 3 hours. It’s a bit too much, but it should be enough to keep you from bawling.”
“…” Phesx Caolia looked at the old man in silence. Returning the stare, the old man seemed impatient, and his eyes showed eagerness when looking at him. Phesx couldn’t help but ask, “What will you teach me that the other Instructors don’t?”
“I’ll train you, that’s my wager.” The old man nodded and just accommodated his butt on his seat. Phesx Caolia heavily sighed from his nostrils, feeling his sternum heavy as well. But thinking about it, and being weary of old men, Phesx Caolia shrugged his shoulders. The worst could happen was him ending up biting his tongue off.
“Sure, why not.” Phesx Caolia lightly replied, at last, to the old man’s elated ears. He slapped his thighs and threw his head backwards, “Hahaha!”
He returned his attention to Phesx, voicing with a weak, fragile old man’s voice, “Good boy. Call me Emer, I’m your teacher from now on. I don’t care what anyone else says. That Head, or those Instructors. Or even a lover or your family. Your training now belongs to me. You must obey me above everyone else. Your first call is— don’t use any more medicament to heal. I prohibit it.”
“…?” Phesx Caolia tilted his head to the left, feeling lightheaded. The old man, Emer, looked at this and uncaringly added, “Disobey me just once and you’re done, kid. You’ll never see me again unless I turn into a corpse and I either chase you to your bed or you see me being moved outside.”
Phesx Caolia blinked, he blinked very hard. The old man ushered Phesx away, pointing at him with his right index finger. “Go, now! Go have fun, it’s only going to get better for you. On the long run.”
With that, Phesx Caolia felt compelled to leave, almost as if the old man repelled him with an intention of pressure coming from his body. Phesx frowned as he walked away after staring at the closed gate for long, ‘Was that a threat? Or an instinctive reaction? What an old fart.’
Phesx Caolia shook his head and headed to Cala’s hall. Passing by the workshop, he didn’t look inside, but he only heard light sounds from one person working on some weapons, or ammunition. He was not well versed in such things.
Arriving at Cala’s, Phesx Caolia stepped in and saw the Instructor meditating, or just resting his eyes. He didn’t interrupt his Instructor and sat cross-legged on another spot faraway. Getting bored, he lied, spread his arms, and did anything else before time was up.
“Ok. Come here,” the Instructor commanded. Phesx sat up before rising to his feet, only to sit down again in front of Cala. The Instructor opened his eyes and looked at his face. A few seconds later, with Phesx returning the stare, blinking, he voiced. “Are you soul-searching? It seems like you’re planning things in your life.”
“None that complicates my Neophyte life.” Phesx Caolia reassured. Cala shook his head lightly. His shoulders were drooped as he spoke with a ‘brawny’ voice, “Enough stretching. Time for you to learn hits, and finding out your playstyle.”
“Playstyle?” Phesx tilted his head, confused. Cala nodded a bit. “Some only know how to throw their limbs out, others use defense the most, some are fast or slow. You can either hit light, heavy, powerfully, sneakily, and using trickery.”
Instructor Cala got comfortable in his spot, “Indeed. You’ll also know how to run and move just about everywhere. The streets, rooftops, and so on.”
“So, I’m learning the big things now?” Phesx Caolia asked. His eyes shone a bit. Cala destroyed some of his expectations. “Yes, but don’t get excited. Everything will be done here. Usually, many at a time would have their turn as others wait, but you’ll have all the time in these days to learn.”
Phesx Caolia nodded seriously. Cala nodded before standing up, bringing him to the back of the hall. As they walked to there, a section of the floor slid away, revealing a compartment below, with a sort of machinery ascending from underneath.
It looked like a huge rolling pillar, with certain steps going up and down, farther or closer. It didn’t move, simply static there as Phesx watched it with confusion. Cala crossed his arms, already beside his desk, and said with a casual tone, “2 hours moving, and the other 2 while avoiding my punches and kicks. You can choose the time you spend in each. Ready? 3, 2, 1, go.”
Beep- vvvveeem…
Phesx Caolia lifted his left eyebrow as the mechanism began rotating, with all the contraptions and the steps in it flowing in movement. He tilted his head to the left, progressively… Was he meant to get on that?
“Get up!” Cala responded his little thoughts. Well-disciplined, Phesx jumped onto the mechanism but was hit on the abdomen by something. Flying backwards, he saw it was one of the steps meant to jump onto.
Phesx looked at the thing in horror as it kept moving. He could die here! If he was smashed the wrong way by any, he’ll become a rolling circle of meat and broken bones. Furthermore, the speed of this thing wasn’t slow!
“Hahahaha!” Cala offered no words or advice and just stayed at the side. Phesx thought of the 2 hours he had to take the Instructor’s punches and kicks. Feeling the urge to get used to this, Phesx jumped right into it. Half a second later, he was thrown away again…
Phesx Caolia didn’t have it easy, nor was this made perfectly so he could slowly learn. Get hit or get good. The rotatory pillar had railings going up, down, at the sides, blocking the front, above. They were everywhere. On the other hand, those steps had to be evaded for now, as he didn’t have the balance to step onto them.
After an hour of barely able to get 10 seconds on the pillar, Phesx tried to let his brain flow whenever he jumped back onto it again. At best, he managed to double his stay on the rotating thing before he had to step backwards. Cala narrowed his eyes when he saw this.
Then, Phesx Caolia nibbled his lower lips before trying to become hyper sensitive, frowning hard. Cala narrowed his eyes further. When he saw Phesx smoothly get onto the pillar, and go 3 steps forth before standing on the base, then continue for half a minute, he walked forth.
“!” Phesx could hear wind before him but couldn’t do anything as a large palm went to his face and bashed him backwards. After sitting on his bum, he looked at Cala, who sternly looked down at him. “No methods. This is your training, not a showoff stage. Feet, hip, ribs, shoulders, neck… use your body!”
“…!” Phesx Caolia’s eyes widened before he stood up and watched Cala not leave. Phesx breathed hard before gesturing to him, “I’d like 30 minutes with Instructor’s help.”
“Well said,” Cala commented, feeling pleased after becoming dissatisfied with his previous actions. Phesx jumped onto the thing again. Immediately after, he was kicked away with a right heel. He saw the move and could act upon it, but he didn’t expect it.
“Agh…” Phesx groaned as his bum faced the ceiling. Crawling to his feet, he didn’t even look at anything else but ahead and jumped into the machinery. Time and time again, Phesx Caolia saw the Instructor attack him. At first, he couldn’t even remain 2 seconds in the pillar.
Phesx received many punches, unable to truly receive them, and was pushed outside. He was only good with avoiding swinging kicks, but feeling he wasn’t good at receiving punches, and that he should even it out, he began blocking them instead.
The time he put Cala to attack him ran out before he could learn how to block, so Phesx simply asked for an entire hour. While it was still complicated, and too much trial and error occurred, Phesx couldn’t afford to think how fast did other orthodox Neophytes learned this. No wonder Riverlye lets others repeat. They make a fortune just out of them.
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At last, way before the hour went up, Phesx Caolia knew how to block those hits. He didn’t have the stamina to continue doing so for long, but he could now withstand 10 seconds before the pillar itself took him out. After the hour went out, and Phesx Caolia could relax, he felt like his lungs were no longer heaved down by the presence of the Instructor.
It didn’t become easier, as he still fell after 10 seconds, but he felt himself improve. Was this learning? It better be. Phesx used the rest of his alone time before asking for that final half an hour before the lecture with Mel.
When he returned to facing Cala’s attacks, Phesx bested himself and lasted for 12 seconds at the very least each time. Phesx continued to prove new things, using the steps to avoid the Instructor, faking attacks, hitting back, and even trying to deviate those punches and kicks with any parts of his body.
As for Cala, whenever he thought he could see Phesx’s play style, the young boy changed and tried other things, lowering Cala’s spirits. But then, Phesx would go and learn his new way, before changing again. The motherfucker.
At last, the lecture with Cala ended. A contented, grinning Phesx walked out of the hall with Cala storing the machinery back underneath. Just as the door was closing, Cala narrowed his eyes, looking at the kid. ‘That was fast…’
… Phesx went to Mel, shivering deep inside, and sweating from Cala’s lecture, but still feeling so… excited!
As soon as Phesx entered the hall, he saw Mel stand around her desk, where the needles wouldn’t hit her. Phesx had a bad premonition…
“Chicken!” Mel loudly voiced. Phesx Caolia blinked before cautiously asking, eating some of his neck into his body. “Pardon?”
“This is your coop, a henhouse, if you may.” Mel supported her chin on her left palm, further rested on the table. Phesx Caolia walked to the middle, as she would always instruct with her scary black eyes. Mel elaborated, “This place will become your little tomb every last hour from today on. For now, you will only meet needles, the same as before.”
“?” Phesx Caolia nibbled his lower lip and tilted his head backwards to the left. Mel grinned, “Indeed. You have to survive, vie against them. You’ll have to endure a minute with your body targeted by these needles. You’ll have a break every time for 4 minutes.”
“For now, you’ll learn how to move. Killing is nothing if you can’t measure your distance, speed, and can’t dictate the other party’s possible reaction.” Mel boringly said. She stood up and walked into the ‘coop’. “You will have a few fellows to aid you. 4 of them are other assassins looking to stop you, while 2 of them are civilians, and 1 of them is the target you must kill.”
Artistas showed from his surroundings. Phesx Caolia was nearly scared, for he didn’t see them before, but they were in plain sight. Immediately, with Mel clapping to start the practice, the 7 Artistas stopped looking and walking around him and stared off like they were walking in… an elegant salon? A banquet? A parlor?
Phesx Caolia’s mind suddenly went into wonders. He was about to erase those misconceptions, when he instead welcomed them in. Then, the ‘hunt’ began. Needless to say, Phesx was about to suffer a hell. The indications were clear, but the punishments had to be learnt by him.
When he moved for the first time, trying to dash towards someone he thought acted as a guard, a needle shot to his right arm, stopping him. Mel shouted about the adequate speed and movements an assassin must make to employ any act of theirs, murderous or not. Meanwhile, Phesx Caolia was attacked by that Artista, slammed to the ground with the needle breaking into two.
Thus, not only would his erroneous steps be punished. If he attacked a guard, he would be slammed against the ground. They would break the needle stabbed into him before it fell, though. This helped to get rid of any inconvenience.
After 2 hours of failing nonstop, Phesx seemed to get how to play his role in this circus. While his mind dedicated each round a new, lavish, crowded place, they were synergized in ways he couldn’t comprehend.
When he managed to ‘fool’ the guards, moving around the scene unnoticed, mistaken as any other person, and attacked the only ‘civilian’ who was the target, brought away by other guards before, he was slammed down. They change their roles, something he didn’t notice until then.
Every time a new round started, they would, without looking at each other, nor following a pattern, take different roles. Sometimes, the same people were guards, which beat the shit out of Phesx for the remaining of the hour. However, he had good close calls to kill his target.
Twice, he grabbed a civilian, threatening to kill them if the guards moved. Once, the guards sacrificed the civilian, while the other time, Phesx acted too slow, and a guard neared the target and wouldn’t move away. A checkmate; and he was slammed yet again.
Before the ‘hour of hell’ began, Phesx saw the Artistas leave, barely offering him a glance, exiting the hall and chatting about lunch. Meanwhile, Mel walked to him with a red colored cream already on her index and middle left fingers. She approached Phesx with a smile, “Come, come. Get that body fresh for what’s to ensue.”
“No, thank you, Instructor.” Phesx shook his head lightly, not stepping backwards. Mel narrowed her eyes, “Are you sure? Not even if you get hit in your genitals?”
“…” Phesx Caolia’s face changed. Mel walked forth, but thinking of something, he shook his head. “No, I cannot.”
“Huh… Did someone ask you this? Be careful of dying without the other party making a move.” Mel said, keeping her ointment before turning around. Phesx Caolia silently nodded, thanking her. Also, he cursed her, about to suffer tremendously.
He wasn’t wrong to do so. As soon as she stepped outside the ‘coop’, Phesx’s instincts warned him off, but they were too slow, and so was his body.
From the front, his body was struck by a couple of dozen needles. He was risen into the air before his body was struck continuously. Blood spurted everywhere, leaving Phesx Caolia helpless to move for several seconds. He stood up, almost in a state of shock, when Mel’s voice rang out.
“You have only one chance. If you fall, time’s over. You better rest, or you won’t see the next lecture, and José won’t like that… Which is bad for you.” Mel smiled, but Phesx was looking around with such determination to notice.
Phesx remained standing before 5 minutes were up. Then, without any notice, another set of needless shot towards him. This time from behind his left. He barely turned his head around, before he felt it lag behind as his body was lifted again and struck severely. He coughed some blood…
“Sigh… it’s been a long time since I had fun,” Mel commented as Phesx Caolia struggled to move his body. The needless immediately fell on the floor after the impact, but he was hurting everywhere. His mind went back to before, ‘Am I supposed to not use anything to heal with this?’
Phesx stood up after 3 minutes, feeling he’d lose consciousness if he didn’t. He prepared for the next attack. It was all he could do. Liberating his mind, he breathed.
When the next row of needles came, Phesx brutally moved to face its direction and used his forearms and shins to bash at them, jumping into the air. His limbs hurt, but his body wasn’t struck as easily as before. Furthermore, with Cala’s previous lecture, he now knew how to block. More or less.
The needless were a few times faster than Cala was with him, which Phesx obviously knew was regulated to his level. But they shot to him from the distance. The hall wasn’t small, if thousands, at most, of Neophytes had to train here, it was enough to give Phesx some diminutive time.
Another train of thought entered Phesx, which he pushed apart fast for now. Other Neophytes had to have a slightly differing training, at the very least.
Round after round, Phesx Caolia became bloodied. At times, he had to use his torso and thighs’ sides to deal with those things. His face was scratched many times as a result, until he learned to avoid them ‘completely’. His clothes and skin were still cut open, even if superficially, and his body hurt.
By then, his time in the hour of hell had finished. Mel said nothing, but Phesx nodded towards her before heading outside. He was seen by many Artistas walking around, some with bions on their face, with the others hiding or showing it with or without their hoods on from their limbs.
Their eyes were dumbstruck, curious, and serious. Was he not getting any medicament? Phesx wasn’t, indeed. He felt all of his body cracked, and each step was like his skin was further torn apart. Like this, he walked to José’s hall.
There, he moved to the side. An auxiliary wall came out from the wall near the entrance to cover him as he changed clothes. Once he limped to José and sat, the latter opened his eyes, letting them half open. His lips seemed cold before he addressed Phesx. “Your attitude is still a problem. I need to take that little boy out of you.”
“How will that happen?” Phesx Caolia asked. José looked at him still, wearing gentle and understanding eyes. “Breaking you how you weren’t fully teared apart.”
“Preut. Yourself. The world.” José looked directly into Phesx’s black eyes. They remained the same as just now, but Phesx somehow couldn’t bring himself to look into them. Something not even Mel is capable of, not with such emotions behind them. “Which do you hate, resent, or despise the most?”
“…” Phesx Caolia was about to respond Preut, just to say something. But with the latter words, he didn’t find it in himself to choose one. And when he thought of the world, there also wasn’t any of the words that could describe it. The reason was simple for Phesx, but he didn’t know how to explain it, at least in a way that others would understand.
“Myself.” Phesx Caolia responded after a minute of silence. José didn’t interrupt, waiting for his answer. When José finally got it, he pressed on. “Which one is it?”
“…I don’t know,” Phesx Caolia responded after thinking for a good while. He lowered his eyes and parted his head further. José moved his head a little, still looking at the young boy.
“What do you keep living, then? Why would you walk here still? No, if there is no word to connect it to, it’s not yourself. Preut? The world? Or are you just sad? Depressed? Maybe the latter, but emotions? Are you even capable of that?” José asked, still gentle.
Phesx frowned, but at least he returned his head to the right position. While he still looked down, he wasn’t fleeing as much as before. Phesx blurted, “Resent.”
“No,” José affirmatively shook his head and crossed his arms. “If you’re going to lie to me, you should’ve said Preut or the world at the start. You’re not sad enough to hide me the full truth after giving me half the truth.”
“Despise.” Phesx Caolia looked up at the Instructor. The latter’s eyes were the same, his expression was the same, and his voice was just as unshaken. José looked down without a ripple through him before opening his lips, formulating words, and then finally saying them slowly. “No, not that one either. Doesn’t your heart get softer as you lie and lie, lie, lie, and lie to yourself?”
“Save me the trouble, we both know it isn’t just ‘I hate myself, you wouldn’t understand!’, so speak up your mind. What does the heart say?” José looked down at the young boy, lowering his head and upper back further. Phesx looked up, not backing away from those eyes.
“You don’t even recognize your own eyes anymore, do you not notice?” José’s words woke Phesx up, relaxing his expression and straightening his back. Before José could say something about it, Phesx realized… 4 hours have passed by. He breathed throughout.
…