Apparently, days in the Sect start at daybreak. Alvin wasn’t certain if it was training, or maybe the people just woke up then, but it may have something to do with the unholy sound that shattered the peaceful morning. The sound was like a mix of a rooster crowing and a whale having sex, put through a blender and then microwaved. He wasn’t sure what creature could make such an abomination of noise, but figured that it was probably in a lot of pain.

Alvin contemplated going back to sleep, but knew that he was already too awake, and might as well just get on with his day. The Sect not only provided furniture for the rooms, but there were robes in the dresser as well. The robes he was provided were undecorated, and an unhealthy greenish blue, which was not a good color on anyone. Thankfully, fashion crimes aside, the robe fit well, covering him from shoulder to ankle, and with loose sleeves.

Alvin ate a cold breakfast, and just sat and watched the sunrise, until he heard knocking on his door. When he opened it, he was surprised to see Oriana.

“Good morning. What brings you to see me?” Alvin greeted her, if a bit awkwardly.

“Elder Song wants everyone awake and outside in 15 minutes, so that we can start training.” Oriana announced, before promptly turning and continuing on to the next room.

Alvin just stared at the empty door for a second, trying to process that strange interaction, before stepping out into the hallway, closing the door behind him, and heading towards the front of the building.

When he arrived, most of the other recruits were already there, and Oriana joined soon, having finished her mission to harass everyone. Elder Song stood in front of the group, patiently waiting for the stragglers to join. Once they did, he spoke.

“As you have already been told, as a mortal, the highest your stats can go is currently F+. To go beyond that point, you would need to advance your Cultivation. Before we teach you how to Cultivate, first we will train your stats to their peak. This will give you better results when you start Cultivating, as a strong foundation is integral to success later on. Once you have advanced, the requirements for Path will be opened to you. By and large, the lowest requirements are a mortal with F+ in every stat. Some of the more demanding ones may require E+ in every stat. Now, follow me so you can begin getting you to that point.”

Many of the recruits who were eager to start training visibly deflated when Elder Song revealed how high the requirements to practice some of the paths could be. All Alvin could think about was how hellish the training would have to be to get all of them to the peak of what mortal humans were capable of. If 15 minutes of sprints for Coach Boldenshorts was hell, would this be extra hell? Hell with hot sauce?

While Alvin had been considering how to make hell more torturous, Elder Song had led the group to what seemed to be some form of arena. There was a large oval shaped, sandy area, surrounded by tall stone and wood bleachers. It was like someone put the floor of the Coliseum in a professional football stadium. There were several target dummies set up, alongside weights, an obstacle course, a few different climbing walls, and some tables with puzzles, chess boards, and strategy games set up to the side. It looked like everyone would be doing something at any given time. Thankfully, there were several barrels full of water, as well as a few tables with chairs. Recovery is the most important part of exercise, because that is when the body actually makes the changes from the training.

Once everyone had a good look around the arena, Elder Song clapped his hands to catch everyone’s attention. He laid out the training regimen for the day. Each activity, from the obstacle course to the chess boards, was a station. As today was just to establish a baseline of everyone’s capabilities, each set of stations was given 30 minutes before people had to change stations, and the recruits were expected to go to every station. In the future, time would be more limited, or the stations would be more competitive, so it was important to establish an accurate baseline. With that, they set off to put it into practice.

Alvin was sore everywhere, even his brain. Not only was everything designed to be challenging, but each station focused on certain muscle groups or thought processes. He was stiff and had pain, even in muscles he didn’t know could feel pain. Especially those muscles.

Elder Song said that most of the food and water that was available to the recruits had trace amounts of Qi in them. Not enough for an actual Cultivator, or enough to push them towards advancing, but enough to hasten the healing and growth of the body and mind. Alvin barely managed to eat something resembling dinner, before stumbling to his room, and collapsing on his bed. He was asleep before his head even hit the pillow.

Alvin woke up to the same horrendous crime against sound and anything with the ability to hear, much like every day for the past 3 weeks. He rolled out of bed, got dressed, and was on his way to the arena before Oriana could even start knocking on doors. While he was walking, Alvin decided to check on his Status sheet before the training for the day began.

Name: Alvin Stoker

Affinity: Ocean(8)

Race: Human(1)

Faction: Boundless Sea Sect

Age: 23

Master: None

Cultivation

Mortal

Stats:

Strength

F

Dexterity

F+

Constitution

F+

Wisdom

F

Intelligence

F+

Charisma

F

Skills:

Athletics(5), Unarmed Combat(3), Learning(4), Sword Mastery(1), Spear Mastery(1), Shield Mastery(2)

All of his stats except for charisma and constitution went up by one, charisma saw no increase and constitution went up by 2. The training was very much endurance and physical toughness intensive, which only increased once the training moved on to the basics of combat. Alvin was proud of his combat skills, they would help him if he ever used any of those weapons in a fight. Athletics and Learning primarily boosted stat growth, but also helped him learn quicker and improve his general physical ability.

The Sect was just as concerned about making sure that all of the recruits had the basic weapon masteries as it was making sure that their stats were high enough. As a mercenary Sect, all of the members needed to be at least familiar, and preferably capable, with many forms of weapons, and without them. Elder Song was of the mind that knowing how to wield the weapons not only made them more versatile, but also made it easier to fight other people who use the weapons.

Alvin closed his Status sheet as he arrived at the arena, ready for the day’s training. The training that day would focus on using bows and arrows, something he was vaguely familiar with from Boy Scouts. But a week's worth of playing with low level bows 8 years ago would likely not be very helpful today, as the standards in the Sect were far beyond that of Boy Scouts.

Waiting in the arena were Masters Ibu and Alihava. Master Ibu was proficient in almost every weapon the Sect had to offer, and the bow was no exception. Master Alihava’s weapon of choice was the bow, as was the case for most guides, who often filled the roles of scout or assassin. There was already a group of the recruits, and even a few of the younger disciples, gathered around the Masters, so Alvin just joined the back of the group. Once everyone arrived, the training began.

Most of the training was spent on proper stance. Some of the recruits wanted to jump ahead to the running, jumping and sliding shots, but Master Alihava was adamant that the basics should be mastered before even thinking about attempting those stunts. Alvin got the stances easy enough, but the actual hitting the target part eluded him. It didn’t help that the target was 70 meters away, but Master Alihava insisted on practicing from that distance.

Alvin didn’t get the Archery skill that day, but went home sore and barely conscious like any other day. There was always the next day.