Chapter 93

Chapter 93

Lillian sat down hard in the couch with a sigh, a couple breakfast wraps on her plate and a cup of coffee balanced between them. Her eyes sparkled as she looked them over, the food was still good even after that first night. She grinned to herself and took a bite as the others made their way over. Snow sat down on the arm of the couch to her left. While Lillian was in her tank-top and sweatpants, Snow wore a sweatshirt so big one couldn’t see her shorts. Alex and Greg had gone for t-shirts as well while John and Val wore their usual. Ollie appeared at some point and sat down with all of them as they ate.

“Okay, so,” Ollie said, adjusting his glasses, “Roll call will be in an hour, so we got a little time.”

“When do classes start?” Lillian asked, sipping at her coffee.

“Noon, so we gotta get at least our first few days figured out,” Ollie explained.

“It’s ten weeks, right?” Alex asked, licking his thumb and setting down his plate. He leaned forward, “Plenty of time for everything.”

“You’d think,” Ollie said, “Take a closer look at the daily schedules and you might be surprised. Getting your schedule right and tailored to what you need is as much a test as the actual classes.”

Alex scratched his head, “Really? Damn man...”

“Same length of time as basic training,” John mumbled over his same obsessively neat stack of sandwiches, “Soldiers designed this, and the courses.”

“Right on the money,” Ollie said with a grin, “Most of it was organized by Black Lotus herself, she’s ex-military.”

Lillian waved her hands, “We’re getting off track, what’s on for today?”

Ollie nodded, “Right! Of course,” He opened the book, “At noon there are a few options, there’s a physical assessment with Black Lotus for those who are unsure about where to go, followed by drills that take up a good portion of the afternoon,” He said, “There’s also a hand-to-hand basics course with... Miss Chernovna?”

Greg coughed into his cup, “That tiny thing is gonna teach hand to hand combat?”

“That’s what it says,” Ollie said, scratching his head. “I read it last night but it’s still a little hard to believe.”

“I’m going,” Lilly said, “I’m confident in my physical fitness but I wouldn’t mind joining in on the drills later, what else?”

Ollie nodded, “Okay so, there’s a timeslot after that set aside for pretty much the entire camp, it’s about an hour to study policy, criminal law, and pandora regulations with a teacher, no name, at the end of the ten weeks there’s a test,” He said, “Then there’s a scouting course later in the afternoon with Sonya as well, a focus on mapping out and exploring dungeons safely. At the same time we have the option of taking a course on gear and pandora-tech theory.”

<I’m interested in the theory course.> Snow chimed in with the tick-a-tap of her nails against her phone.

“What about going forward?” Lillian asked.

“Let’s see,” Ollie said, flipping through, “A few highlights, battlefield rescue, disaster relief, field first aid training, several combat courses, power theory, you can register to get one on one for certain days with one of the instructors to work on your abilities,” Ollie said, “Oh, and then there’s the monster class.”

Everyone stopped and looked at him, “...monster class?” Val asked, “Like, actual monsters?”

“A course centered around combating the standard two variations of monsters that commonly appear outside dungeons, Hounds and Lurkers. Students will be exposed to live combat with the aforementioned entities after sufficient education,” Ollie read and looked up at him, adjusting his glasses, “Would seem so.”

Lillian leaned back and glanced at Snow who looked uncomfortable, she grinned at her, “It’ll be fine! No biggie, right? Hounds and Lurkers are the least of our concerns. Yeah? We’re heroes!” She said with a big flex of her arm, “We got this.”

The others seemed to relax a little bit after that, Val and Greg even sending her a small smile and a nod. Alex still looked nervous though, he swayed back and forth in the couch before hopping to his feet. “I gotta walk around.”

She dropped him and brushed her hands off, turning to the others. “Everything is a weapon! The light of the sun, the lights above your head, the floor, your feet, your head, your hands, everything. Discounting your surroundings is a sure way to get yourselves killed,” She said sharply. “His opening attack was good, the swaying path was an excellent way to keep the opponent guessing. He even managed to recover quickly from me attempting to blind him. Great form,” She turned and looked down at him, “You need situational awareness, John.”

He got to his feet and bowed, “Yes ma’am!”

“We’ll talk about the specifics of knife fighting later,” She said to him, “You’re suited for it, but you need technique, not just instincts.”

He nodded and walked back over to the group.

Lillian and the others looked at one another. They looked up at the lights over their heads and only just now realized that they’d been set to be extra bright in the room. There was also a switch just a few feet behind Sonya that she could use to turn them all off. Lillian felt a wave of excitement wash up and over her, a heat burning in her chest that just didn’t want to die down. She grinned and bounced on the balls of her feet a few times before stepping forward, I can really learn something from this. She’s good! Crazy good!

Sonya watched her approach and grinned, “Miss Landrey! I’m glad you came to my lesson, you’re wasted on Black Lotus’ drills, aren’t you? Come on! Show me what you got!”

Lillian didn’t have to be asked twice. She darted forward in a low run, crossing the distance in a heartbeat. She let out a huff and dropped as Sonya flicked her blade to shine the light in her face. She stretched her arms out and to the right, catching herself and pivoting into a near breakdance turn, swinging her entire lower half in Sonya’s direction. Sonya took a half step back, guard up as Lillian pushed hard, throwing herself a few meters and landing on her behind where Sonya had been standing.

She didn’t stop moving, she darted forward only to throw her head back as the blade of the knife appeared in front of her face. She kicked out and Sonya wrapped her arm around Lillian’s ankle with a grin, she twirled the knife into a stabbing grip and brought it down towards Lillian’s thigh. Shit! Lillian kicked downward, pulling Sonya with her only for the woman to let go and pivot into a goddamn one-handed handstand on Lillian’s descending leg. Lillian looked up at the the woman’s body as it spun and the knee came down.

Lillian saw stars.

She landed on her back and blinked a few times, an aching spot right between her eyes.

“Ow...” She groaned.

“Seven seconds, but good technique!” Sonya said, “You did parkour and free-running, right? I can see it,” The woman tapped her chin over her, looking thoughtful for a moment, “You need a weapon, something with reach to compliment those dynamic movements. Not too much reach though, polearm would overcomplicate things and you don’t seem the kind to use a gun.”

She turned and pointed at a random aspirant in the crowd, “You, cute one! Jessica Wayne!”

A girl who had dyed the tips of her hair blue pointed at herself, “M-me?”

“Is there another Jessica Wayne?” Sonya asked, putting her hands on her hips.

“R-right! Sorry ma’am!”

Sonya snorted and shook her head, “Right, do you know of any weapons that would work well for her? You practice with weapons too, don’t you?”

The girl mulled it over for a moment, frowning, “A mace might be too heavy if she’s moving at speed, but that momentum would complement it well,” She shook her head, “A sword? Not a short sword, something longer. That or tonfa to extend her reach.”

Sonya nodded, “Good! That’s what I’m looking for,” She turned back to Lillian who had brushed herself off. The brief fight had been exhilarating. She didn’t even feel the pain in her forehead anymore as she looked over at the girl and then back at Sonya, nodding along. “Do you know what I expect of you?”

“Find a weapon that suits me, explore those options first, and come back to you,” Lillian said quickly. This is great!

Sonya glowed with approval. “Right! In the meantime, spar with John, he’s a good match-up for you.”

Lillian beamed, “Yes ma’am!”