PHASE 2

Chapter 19: Bad Training

Miguel’s eyes flicked open. He held one hand up in front of his face, and then groaned. His body ached.

As he sat up in bed in the plain and unfamiliar room, the previous day came flooding back. His surroundings were white – white sheets, white walls, and a soft white carpet on the floor.

He was still at Dana Kampion’s compound. His body ached; this was, he now remembered, because he had spent several hours training with sword, shield and spear in a vast and beautifully-equipped gymnasium. He and around a dozen of Kampion’s heavies had sparred under the crime boss’s watchful eye. And he was expected to report back there any time now.

In fact, he was probably already late.

Miguel groaned several more times as he got up, and pulled on his pants, undershirt and the same long poncho that he had been wearing on his arrival the previous day.

He paused, and sniffed at his armpit. He could do with washing, after all of that training. And why were they so keen to get him to practice sword-fighting, anyway? Wouldn’t a professional team in Demon Hunters be better equipped?

He unclicked the lock of the chamber and exited. The door led directly outside, into the vast, roughly-circular compound. It all looked very different from how it did from the city. Tranquil, peaceful. You’d barely even realize that there was a city full of grade C and D apartments, and poor, hungry people out there. Not to mention the wretched refugees at the gates.

Ahead was a long lake which was ringed with lily pads near its banks, and Miguel began to walk along it, smiling for a moment when he noticed a frog on one of the pads which leaped expertly into the water as he approached. This really was a hell of a place to live, he reflected. He’d never seen anything like it before.

He glanced over his shoulder at the main mansion where he had entered the previous day. Kampion’s home. He had only gotten a chance to look around at the entranceway, interior corridor and rear door, but it had been enough to know that the dwelling was almost impossibly luxurious and opulent.

Crime paid in the city, clearly.

After a few minutes of walking along the lakeside, Miguel turned at a building with a small platform and some moored boats, and headed towards the next-largest structure in the entire compound.

The simulation inside Demon Hunters had been very realistic, at least other than the times when the surroundings had faded from one setting to another. He briefly pondered how someone would know if they were in a simulation all of the time...

With a shrug, he dismissed this thought, then cleared his throat and pushed open the door to the gym.

Inside, three figures were already hard at work at the far end of the space. The furthest away of the three was very familiar: Tarja, dressed in a tight black long-sleeved top and leggings, leaping from one obstacle to the next. As Miguel watched on, she vaulted over two tall metal hurdles and then flung herself to the ground, pistol in hand.

The other two distant figures were a bulky man and a muscular woman, both in combat fatigues, and sparring with long wooden poles. A much reduced contingent of local fighters compared the day before – why? Miguel couldn’t be sure.

One thing he did feel fairly sure of was that both of the pair looked familiar – he had seen them around the compound. In fact, though Miguel wasn’t certain, it occurred to him that the man strongly resembled one of the two heavies who had accompanied Dana Kampion when she had met him at the city’s edge.

At least there was no sign of the vile and dangerous Rishi.

Close by, and not training with the other three, stood Bratislav. As Miguel entered, his friend gave him a terse smile and then beckoned, a metal clipboard in his other hand. Miguel hurried over and then paused, waiting for his friend to speak. Instead, Bratislav pointed to one long side wall, which was lined with weapons of all kinds. The opposite wall had crash-mats and archery targets leaning against it.

“They’re keen for you to try everything,” said Bratislav, now beginning to lead the way towards the weapons with not so much as a ‘good morning’. “In the future challenges, you could be thrown some wildcards. You have to know every possible combination of weapon and tactics. You have to be ready.”

“Okay, man, okay,” said Miguel, following and stifling a yawn as he went. This all sounded tiring. “Hey, Brat – are we able to improve our stats? Hit points, and all that? Agility?”

“Mmm, yes, but only to a degree,” replied Bratislav, stopping a yard from the wall and peering at his clipboard rather than at the weapons. “The pattern that you first chose has been set, and you can increase each statistic in proportion. But as you probably realized during your trials, your previous experience made a difference, too.”

Miguel nodded, gazing at the nearby array of bows. “Yeah. I think playing shooting games helped me a lot.”

Bratislav nodded curtly. “Exactly. And for that reason, further training before you engage with Demon Hunters again will pay dividends. And ongoing training – as long as you last.”

“Are you in charge here?”

Bratislav hesitated before replying. “To an extent. They’ve decided I have the right skills to supervise the team. But it’s more of a leadership thing. I’m not a fighter, obviously. In fact, Sid has been given that role.”

“Sid? Okay... So can you tell me what they actually want me to do here?”

At this point, Bratislav looked around towards the other three, as if concerned about being overheard. When he spoke, it was in a lower voice. “As you’ve been told, Kampion wants to send a team into Demon Hunters. And she wants them to win. Why? That’s not for me to say. Our only job is to do as she says, if we want to stay alive.”

Miguel frowned, nodding. He had at least half-hoped that being taken in by Kampion and her contingent meant that the threat of death was no longer hanging over him. “Right, well... hopefully I showed that I can hold my own in the game. And I’m sure I can do better still, next time.”

Another terse smile. “I’m sure glad you made it through, Miguel. Unfortunately, though, as you didn’t actually win, there is still a lot of work to do if you’re going to prove yourself. I’ll help you as much as I can, but you’re not her only option. She’s got a lot of soldiers working for her, so...” Bratislav trailed off, and then reached for one of the bows, raising it carefully off of its rests with one hand. “Let’s start with composite bow, shall we?”

Miguel took the weapon, but looked further along the wall, where shotguns and swords could be seen. “Since I’m already good at shooting, wouldn’t it make sense to practice the other stuff?”

Bratislav paused, frowning at the sheet, and then looked up again. “Throwing weapons are your strong point, and it’s best to play to your strengths. I’d suggest at least three-quarters of your training should focus on them, as well as general fitness and endurance.”

Miguel nodded, then picked up one of the quivers of arrows that sat on a shelf just below the bows. “Fair enough. But why do we need to work on endurance? Demon Hunters is virtual.”

Bratislav narrowed his eyes, and this time tore the sheet from his clipboard, and held it out to Miguel. “It’s subtle, but our data suggests that physical fitness does make a difference.”

Miguel glanced down at the sheet:

Strength: 14 Speed: 18 Melee: 4 Ranged: 14 Spirit: 1 Agility: 4 Dead lift: no data Time trial: no data Melee bout percentage: 82% Shooting accuracy percentage: no data Magical knowlege: no data Obstacle course: no data

Each category was followed by a row of blanks, leading Miguel to assume that his performance would be tracked over time. The only box completed was the one after sword fighting, which he had engaged in after his arrival the day before.

“Your targets are over there,” said Bratislav, pointing towards the round archery targets on the far side, and then beginning to walk away. “I’ll see you at lunchtime.”

“Not if I see... urk!” Miguel had began to call after his departing friend, but stopped speak to duck a blow from Sid, who had entered the room without him noticing. The big man had approached him from behind, swinging a two-handed sword close to his head.

“Miguel! I almost got your head!” cried Sid with a grin, resting the point of the sword at his booted feet. “That would have left a hell of a bruise.” The tall red-bearded man was wearing loose white martial arts clothing.

“Be careful, you fucking idiot!” cried Miguel, stepping back and glaring at the bearded player.

“This is pretty blunt, you know,” Sid replied, apparently unconcerned with Miguel’s insult. “But I wanted to check that you were paying attention.”

Miguel looked over to where Bratislav was now at the gym door.“Bratislav!” he called out, “tell this guy to stop.”

But Bratislav just shrugged. “As I said, Sid’s been put in charge. Not my call. He’s free to do what he likes. As long as he doesn’t actually lop your head off, I suppose.”

“But...”

“Things to do, Miggy. I’ll be seeing you.”

With that, Bratislav pushed open the door and walked out of the gym.

Miguel looked back at Sid, who narrowed his eyes, nostrils flaring. “So,” said the red-bearded man. “I’m in charge. And I don’t want you to think I’ve forgotten about that throwing star you hit me with.”

“But I...” began Miguel.

“Only kidding!” roared Sid, but his eyes were narrowed again, and he whacked Miguel a little harder than necessary as a slap on the back. “Or am I? Anyhow, time to line up. Tarja! Bring one of the targets to this side.”

Soon Tarja and Miguel were standing on opposite sides of the gym, each one beside one of the round targets. Miguel pulled off his poncho and readied his bow. Tarja was still holding her pistol.

“Now,” call Sid stepping back closer to the center of the area. “Shoot when you are ready.

Miguel looked around at the target not a yard from his elbow. “Are you crazy? If we miss, we could shoot each other. And this time it’s not a simulation.”

Then you both have an incentive to be accurate.

“Don’t you dare hit me, Shmoop,” called out Tarja, levelling her pistol in Miguel’s direction. “I’ll kill you if you do.”