Chapter 3: Introductions in Kind

After getting dressed in what functioned as gym cloths despite the fabric being aggressively shiny. I had been given a short sleeve T shirt and basketball shorts; Anja got a tank top and those, too short, shorts girls wear. "Master Williamson if you could bring the weapon and ammo carrier? Sister Theribus requested I ask for you to bring it with you to the training room." Barry asked after Anja came out of the bathroom. I nodded and put on the chest rig and slung the rifle over my shoulder. "Good, now please follow me." 

We followed Barry though the temple. It was made of stone and very beautifully carved. Statues of various creatures were stood in alcoves. People got out of our way, it was strange. They were acting as if they were afraid. "Barry, are people afraid of us?" I asked as another group of aliens scattered to clear our path. 

"It is likely they are afraid of the weapon you carry Master Williamson. Chemical kinetic weapons are only used by the most dangerous of individuals." Barry replied with out looking at me. That was interesting and concerning. I mulled over that as we walked. I had killed two of those ant-scorpions,  Gubtasians as Theribus had called them, and something else in the firefight. 

"Knights are meant to be dangerous." Anja said, seemingly reading my thoughts. 

"So I'm a knight?" I said flashing her a smile. She responded with a coy smile. I wasn't sure how to take that. My thoughts spun their wheels trying to make sense of both of these statements. Before I realized it we had walked into the training room. 

It was a large gymnasium with a smattering of equipment around. Opposite where we entered there was a firing range. Theribus was talking with a few other people. The largest of the three reminded me of a Machamp wearing dress blues of the USMC. The smallest was a four foot tall mouse. "Madam Sister, Knight General, and Doctor. I have brought Master Williamson, and Ms. Buhl." Barry said introducing us.  "Master Williamson and Ms. Buhl this is Doctor Minh," he gestured to the large mouse, "and this is Knight General Leo Wheat." Barry said gesturing to the large for armed man. "And of course High Sister Therbius." He finished with a nod to Therbius. 

I was expecting something more, but Doctor Minh, and Knight General Leo Wheat were staring at us, shocked. This lead to "How are you two alive?" Doctor Minh finally broke the awkward silence.  I looked at Anja, who looked at me. We both then looked at Barry, and Therbius. 

"You two have more mana than could be reasonably expected from living creatures." General Wheat said, "I am expecting you," he said pointing to me, "to implode or explode. If I didn't know better I'd expect you to be some kind of dragon or demigod. Had we not carried you in such a sorry state I'd suggest we all try and kill you before something horrific happens." he continued Doctor Minh nodding along beside him.

"And you Ms. Buhl are almost as dangerous. We will need to find a way to keep your mana stable otherwise either of you could destroy Circuchron. Thebie, you should have told me the magnitude of our guests." Doctor Minh said absentmindedly looking up at us. Anja squeezed my hand. "Don't worry, you aren't in danger yet. We just need to teach you before you accidentally do something." She continued. 

"Yes think of it like a warrior who doesn't understand his own strength." General Wheat added. Therbius had a look on her face that read of concern. I wasn't sure what they meant. I couldn't have magic, there was no magic back home. "I'll leave the proper magic up to the good Doctor and the Sister, why don't I run you two though the physical assessment and some rifle drills. Miss, you are free to join in with those however I'm not expecting you to participate." General Wheat said after a short awkward pause. 

With that we were put though the wringer. Every muscle group was tested, and we shattered every record. After the strength tests we were told to run laps until we felt like stopping and we fell into a jogging rhythm. At first I thought I was going to leave Anja behind, as I was almost a full foot taller than her, she surprised me by keeping up and pulling me along slightly with her pace. We ran shoulder to shoulder for a while. Lap after lap after lap. 

After a while Therbius and Minh seemed to come to an agreement and Doctor Minh scampered off on all fours. Therbius saw us running conversed with General Wheat and after questioning Barry called out to us "Are you to doing okay? You've been running for a concerningly long time." I glanced at Anja, giving a Done? face. She nodded and we finished our lap. 

"You two are certainly impressive, Human am I saying that correct?" General Wheat said as we came over to the two evaluators. We nodded as we caught our breath. "I do wonder if there are more of you out there. Yet it would be slightly terrifying given your abilities." 

"We... aren't... special..." Anja wheezed, "Well I'm not. He might be, though from what I've heard about Americans he probably isn't." I chuckled at that, and shook my head. 

"Regardless Mr. Williamson when you are ready collect your rifle and lets go though some basic drills." General Wheat said, "I'll take you to the firing range."  I picked up the rifle and followed him towards the back of the gymnasium, Anja was my shadow. "Are you interested in rifle drills Ms. Buhl?" General Wheat said as we left the gymnasium, Therbius and Barry in tow.  

"No, I want to see Bryan in action again. I was scared the last time, and it didn't seem to be testing him much." Anja smirked. 

"Who is paying for the ammo? I don't think I have any money, unless my credit and debit card still work." I turned to Therbius, "Is that possible?"

Therbius shook her head "I doubt any card based currencies would still work. The temple will be supplying the ammunition as this is considered part of your arrival testing. Although that ammunition is rather cheap, seeing as few species can use it." 

"Yes Mr. Williamson, chemical kinetic weapons such as yours have too much recoil to be used by most species. Plasma weapons are the main stays. Lasers are also around but their short ranges leave much to be desired. With your strength and speed I assume you could dodge most plasma weapons outside of the shortest of ranges. If you're half as proficient as described, I may have a commission for you." General Wheat said as we entered the range. 

Unlike the orderly lanes I was used to for indoor ranges. This one was closer to the outdoor shooting range on Leo's property, the flat range, as he called it. A smattering of targets and obstacles were littered around at various ranges. Off to one side there was a glass viewing area. "The women will stay behind the protective glass, I will lead you though the routines." General Wheat said as the door into the range shut behind him.

"Before we start, I don't understand this sight. It is a mess." I stated, as I watched Barry take position adjacent to the viewing area. 

"It was working fine when I looked at it, range drop and lead calculations all where there." General Wheat said giving me a puzzled look. 

"Do you have a red dot? It doesn't have to be red, but a simple dot sight would let me work better." I said hoping to clarify. Instead I got dumbfounded looks from the two aliens. "If these are supers I'd probably want an LPVO, but these don't sound like supers." I continued hoping to break across the assumed language barrier. 

"How would you calculate the range? The drop? All chemical kinetics fire supersonic rounds, that weapon has a magical silencer to negate the sound from the bullet breaking the sound barrier. I can get you a red dot. Are you sure you don't want that sight it's rather expensive." General Wheat said recovering faster than Theribus. 

"I'll trade you for a variable 1 - 6 optic especially if it only needs a battery to light the reticule." I said pulling the sight off the rifle; thankfully pic rail worked like pic rail. General Wheat took the sight walked over to a cabinet and exchanged it for an optic that looked a lot like the Sig Tango I was used to. 

"If you're sure, that sight is worth quite a bit. This one doesn't even adjust to the weapon it's mounted to. If you can score even half on the long range shots I'll break my lower arms." He said handing me the optic. 

I mounted it, "Bet. Let's get started." General Wheat ran me though a good number of drills that were similar to the ones I knew. After a few adjustments to the sight I went from scoring average marks to high marks. A few more adjustments and I got it dialed in, and I got in the flow. Each test went smoother than the last until I ran out of ammo.

 "You are impressive." General Wheat said tallying up my scores. "I haven't seen anyone go faster or be more precise. Usually that is done with lasers. You did it with chemical kinetic. How did you learn to control the recoil?" 

"Practice. After putting a few thousand rounds through different rifles, you get used to it." I said picking up the magazines I dropped around the range.  "You do it enough you get good at it. Especially if you have a good set of teachers like I did. Although the guys who taught me probably don't exist, officially speaking." I smiled thinking of Leo and the crew, "I'll miss those assholes if we can't go back." 

"There is nothing implying the two of you are stuck here. If anything you should have more than enough magic to go anywhere. Speaking of which Doctor Minh says she's ready for the two of you if you are willing to learn some magic." Theribus said emerging from the viewing area. 

"I don't think I want to go back." Anja mused. "At least not right now. It would be a shame to come here and not experience it." I nodded, it was a fair point. It wasn't like we knew how to get home anyway. 

"So learn magic?" I quipped.

Anja shook her head, "Shower, change of cloths. Then magic."  With that Theribus and General Wheat left us to help Doctor Minh with setting up our first lesson. Barry lead us back to our room. Once again people made way for us. 

When we entered the room the medical equipment was gone. A large dresser was now sitting where the bulk of the equipment had been sitting. On top were two baskets of cloths. "I believe that we have the correct sizes for everything now. Likewise the bathroom should be stocked with everything you need. If something is missing please let me know and I will fetch it for you." Barry said before posting up next to the door. 

I looked at Anja and she looked at me. "Ladies first." I said with a shrug, she didn't seem happy about that but she didn't protest. Taking her hamper of clothing into the bathroom with her. I turned my attention to my rifle. It occurred to me that I hadn't spent much time looking at it. I had glanced at it, and ran six mags though it but I hadn't inspected it closely. Sitting down at the table I found it, wasn't exactly the AR platform I had been using it as. The stock folded with the help of a button and the receiver was the wrong shape. Thankfully it was held together with pins. Which helpfully had the indent for the cartage as a punch technique. Unhelpfully I didn't have any cartridges. I'd have to wait to see what was inside. 

"Bryan, can you come in here?" Anja's voice carried out of the bathroom.

"What do you need?" I asked standing up, unsure what it is she could want. I got to the door when a thought hit me, "Would you rather I sent Barry? He's quite helpful." 

"No, grab the other basket and get in here." She said from the other side of the door. I got the other basket and entered the bathroom. "Ah, shut the door." Anja said as I entered, I mentally shrugged as I followed her instructions. Anja came out from the shower, still clothed, which caused a breath of both disappointment and relief to leave my lips. "I grabbed the wrong basket; I don't understand the shower; I want to finish our talk." she said, as if she was ripping off a band-aid. Before looking at me with pleading eyes.