Aidan walked down the staircase of the shuttle. As soon as he got off, the staircase moved upward and entered the vehicle. Then the door closed, and the shuttle drove off. Maninsov told him that the contritum was controlled by Manufactured Consciousness. It also controlled the maid puppet that served as a maid. Which meant they had A.I.
A.I in a magic civilization world! How crazy was that? He had seen golems, puppets, souls, demons, and fiends in fantasy stories. But, to his knowledge, they never had A.I. What next? Video game?
"Come, Aidan. The training field is that way." Maninsov pointed towards a grand staircase that led upward to a circular stage.
Eight marble pillars stood tall and linked with each other as they circled the stage. Carved upon one of them were images of humans fighting against an army of demons with spiked tongues and arrowhead tails. The next pillar had an engraving of a tall man with bulky armor standing still with a giant sword in hand. In front of this man was a giant serpent flicking its tongue.
As Aidan got closer, he discovered that the staircases were also carved with illustrations. At the bottom, bare-chested humans, with only a piece of fabric tied to their waist, carrying a jug with both hands on their shoulders. And on the top, demons snapped out their spike-filled tongue with a whip in their hand.
"What do all these murals mean?" Aidan asked as he climbed the staircase.
"I'm not sure. I don't think we ever fought demons on this continent."
Aidan reached the top of the staircase and stepped onto the stage. Only now did he realize the pillars were thick. It needed six humans the same size as him just to match its diameter. And their height was even more breathtaking. Compare to them, Aidan felt as tiny as ants.
"This is the training field? But there is nobody in here."
"We're not there yet. This is the teleportation array."
"Oh... Okay."
Sure, sure. Back on earth, we had warp gates too, so a teleportation array was normal.
"So how do we use it?"
"That's easy. Watch." Maninsov took a deep breath with faint fate energy entering his nose. "The training field!"
Runes carved themselves on the stage from the center as they twisted and turn like roots. They radiated purple light and extended to the edge of the altar.
Beams of light burst from below, blinding him. Aidan closed his eyes, and he felt weightless. It felt like gravity itself disappeared and he was just a particle floating in space. In a split second, the weight of his body returned as something rough touched his feet.
Opening his eyes, what welcomed him was the sight of a spacious enclosure. It was as flat as a soccer field, but ten times as big. Students sparred among themself on the stages within the grassy land. On the other side, instructors watched the form of their students as they punched a moving dummy. Their shouts reverberated as they struck.
"Good. We're not late yet. Let's go, Aidan."
Aidan followed Maninsov to rows of students standing orderly on a plot of land. Maninsov joined one of the lines and Aidan stood behind him. On his right side, a tall hagur man stood with a weird black axe-hammer on his back. His weapon had the blade of an axe on one side and a hammer on the other. He had got to say. The design was very creative.
A few meters from rows of students were racks for weapons, of which blades, axes, hammers, spears and the like hung in there.
Suddenly, a figure fell from the sky. Spinning in mid-air, he spun the stick in his hands. Setting off ripples of airwave in the sky before he stabbed the ground, leaped and spun before he finally landed at the top of the stick overlooking the rows of students.
Aidan gawked at the grand entrance. He had never seen something like that, even in a movie.
"You'll get used to it, eventually. He does that every time, especially when there is a new student. As for the reason why. You'll know in a few seconds."
"Do you know why I made such an entrance?" Dregard Bunti, the person standing on the stick, said. "It's to remind all of you that you are weak and feeble. You are nothing but a piece of meat on my plate. You can do nothing except be eaten by me. Some of you might have some potential. But potential alone won't bring you to greatness. Only hard work and dedication can. If you want to be strong, you need to become obsessed with power. Train day and night like your life depends on it. Train like tomorrow you're going to war. And I really could bring you to war tomorrow, so listen to what I say and swallow all the excuses that you might have. Do you all understand?!"
The students stomped the ground, clashed their heels together before they brought their chin up, their chest out, and their stomach in. They extended their elbow and put their index and middle finger above the eyebrow as a salute. "Yes, sir!."
Aidan was confused at first, but he immediately followed their movement.
"He also says that same line every time," Maninsov whispered.
"Hmph. Even my nuhod is much better than you lot," Dregard said.
"What's a nuhod?" Aidan whispered to Maninsov.
"It's hard to describe. But imagine an adult doomhound but with fire. Lots of fire," Maninsov whispered.
Aidan shivered. Just the thought of that skeletal beast frightened him. Recalling its arrowhead face and deep red eyes made his body hair stand on edge. And that was only an infant. He imagined the nuhod to be a giant four legged beast bathed in flames like the gatekeeper of hell.
"Let's waste no time," Dregard said." Make a circle and pick your partner to spar with."
The students dispersed and stood, forming a wide circle before sitting cross-legged. Aidan sat beside Maninsov. He didn't know anyone else, so Aidan just followed him like a tail.
"Who are you going to pick?" Maninsov asked.
Aidan looked around the field. Everyone didn't seem to be different from the others because their clothes were the same. He could only use the weapons they brought, and the built of their body to determine their strength. But considering that this was the world of magic, such identification could be unreliable. Though, he could determine what pathways someone had with that. The rule was simple, if they have strong built or brought a heavy weapon, then they were surely an internal pathway user.
His eyes landed on the hagur man with the weird axe. That guy was probably too strong for him, so Aidan averted his gaze and looked for someone else.
"I pick you!"
Aidan looked around to find where the voice come from and who will fight who. The hagur man with the weird axe stood and pointed at him.
"Come and fight!"
Aidan inhaled a sharp breath. Me? Dude, pick a guy your own size. Why would you pick me?
The hagur man walked to the center of the circle and beckoned at him.
Aidan tightened his lips. This hairy hagur man had the built of a tiger. Coupled with his weight, strength, and weapons, Aidan had no chance of winning. Heck, he didn't even have the chance of touching him. This guy had an axe, for god's sake, while he only had his pair of fists.
"You have an axe with you. Isn't that unfair?"
"We have practice weapons hanging on the rack over there. In battle, there is no fairness. But for the sake of this practice, both of you need to replace your weapon," Dregard said.
The hagur man frowned. "Sir, the axe stays with me. Keep it on my back. Use fists."
"Fine, but if I see you use it in any way. I will hit you with my stick."
The hagur man nodded and jutted his chin towards Aidan. "Pick your weapon, tiny human."
Aidan shook his head. "I'll just use my fists."
Aidan walked to the center of the circle. Under the gaze of the other students, he approached the lion-like man standing two centimeters taller than him. His golden eyes stared at Aidan like he was a long-time enemy of his.
"Kalukaga Nalakulane," the hagur man said.
"Aidan Henderson."
Aidan stood on the ball of his foot. He eyed the shoulder line of his opponent and watch out for the thigh. He didn't look Kalukaga in the eye. Not because he was scared, but because the eye couldn't hurt him.
"Kill!" Dregard shouted.
Kalukaga approached and swung his right fist while his foot was firmly planted on the ground as an anchor to add more power. Fortunately for Aidan, Kalukaga did not protect his chin.
[Perfect Uppercut]
Aidan involuntarily stepped forward, tilted his body to the side, and hit the chin with an uppercut.
Kalukaga's head abruptly shot backward, and his legs lost their balance. He took two steps back and shook his head.
Aidan let out a breath as he jumped around on his feet. He needed to keep the heat in his body for maximum performance. But as he eyed Kalukaga, Aidan realized that when he activated the skill, his body moved by itself and performed the technique. It was like he was a video game character controlled by a program to do a certain action. He had doubts within, so he wanted to try it again.
Kalukaga charged and barrelled Aidan with punches.
[Perfect Defense]
Aidan's body moved according to the skillbook. Dodging and rolling with the punches. He used his forearm, elbow, and arm to divert the power of the blows. And he used head movement to dodge punches that went to his head. Like a boxer, Aidan bopped his head left and right, up and down as the fist missed his face just by an inch.
Kalukaga caught his head and gripped it. Using his body as leverage, he kneed Aidan in the face. Blood spurted out of Aidan's nose and his eyes turn blurry.
Still holding his head, Kalukaga strike again with a knee on his abdomen. Aidan spat out blood, and Kalukaga punched him in the face, throwing him backward.
[Internal Healing]
The pain dissipated, and his vision cleared. Aidan wiped out the blood on his lip and stood. Kalukaga charged at him again and send a kick towards his abdomen.
[Hard Muscle] Aidan received the kick in full force, but it only budged him. He used [Blinding Jab] and his left fist struck Kalukaga's face like a snake. Making him closed his eyes.
Using that opportunity, Aidan hit Kalukaga's chin with another [Perfect Uppercut] and followed it with a [Knockout punch] staggering the huge man backward. Even with such a combo, this man hadn't gone down yet.
Kalukaga gritted his teeth and growled. He snapped forward and attacked with his fist. Controlled by rage, his punches were easily countered with [Perfect Defense].
Slipping through his blind spot, Aidan used [Powered kick]. His left leg surged with fate energy, glowing in purple color like an amethyst crystal. It struck Kalukaga's left calf. He didn't stop there. Aidan used another [Knockout Punch]. His right hand shone with purple energy that surged and condensed on his fist. He punched at Kalukaga's face.
Kalukaga's eyes had a tinge of red as he spun under his fist and hit his ribcage. Throwing him to the ground.
Aidan rolled and stood up. He lowered his body stance, one hand guarding his face while the other guarding his rib. It throbbed painfully, begging him to lie down and rest. He didn't want to. He wanted to do his best. But throughout the fight, something made Aidan feel uncomfortable—Kalukaga never used his fate energy.