"Well, well, looks like we got a whole new batch of rookies" shouted a tall muscular looking man aloud. He bore tough facial features with his almost long hair being a smooth brown wave that swept across the top of his head. "I swear they look weaker every year." he muttered under his breath. He was standing at the base of an amphitheater with dozens of scrawny young adults and teens looking down towards him.
"Well since all you seem to want to leave the Bastion it's my job to teach the necessary skills and improve you to the point that you don't die immediately out there." He announced loudly, "Everybody has their reason to leave the bastion and explore the many planes this world has to offer. Whether it be because your parents did the same, for fame and fortune, for the simple joy of adventure, OR because you're a lazy bum who can't even get a job." With that last comment the instructor glared at a young man in the middle row of the amphitheater that looked like a weaker version of himself. The young man in question looked shocked for a second but quickly regained his composure. The rest of the people in the amphitheater were simply confused by the instructor's comment.
.....
Nine Blair walked through the marketplace of Western Bastion, making his way to the once place he could stay that his parents weren't, his best friend Wit's place. More accurately the market stall that his parents owned and Wit worked at.
Nine weaved his way through the crowds of people that visit the market place often, even on a sunday. He looked at all the food and items the vendors were selling and could not help but look a little wanting. He turned inside out the pockets of his dirty linen pants only to find that he had no money on him. He let out a soft sigh. It was to be expected, he was broke and jobless after all, even at the age of 20.
Saddened he continued making his way through the marketplace until he stumbled upon a familiar sight. A large cloth canopy sitting above a shop selling kids' toys. hanging above the doors was a large wooden sign that read, "Towen Toys". Nine quickly opened the light wooden door making his way inside. Manning the front desk of the toy store was a tall young man with gray hair and a welcoming smile.
"Hey Wit, can ya take a break." Nine called out to him. Wit turned to him and gave him nod
"Gimme a sec, I'll be on break in little bit." Wit replied
"Ok then, I'll see you outside" expressed Nine joyfully.
Nine left the store through the same way he came and stood outside the entrance careful not to seem weird. Back outside and with nothing to do he found himself tempted once again with the treats and delectables the marketplace had to offer. At one store he saw a dish that looked like stir fry and at another he saw a table full of pastries. He couldn't help but lament his own brokenness and stare longingly at the food.
"Hey," Wit said, coming through the store door. Nine looked away from the food, turning his head toward Wit.
"Hey" he replied calmly, "Took you long enough."
"That's because I got responsibilities," he said smugly. He then turned his head toward the food he'd seen Nine looking at and his face formed a smile. "The food looks pretty good, doesn't it." Wit said playfully. Nine made an annoyed face knowing that Wit knew just how broke he was.
"Not really, I already ate." Nine lied. He really didn't enjoy being taunted.
"C'mon, I got money from my folks for workin at the store, i'll buy you something." Wit getured graciously toward the pastries Nine had been looking at just earlier.
"Tch, fine" Nine replied jokingly with a smile on his face as he walked over to the pastry stand with his friend.
.....
Wit and Nine both sat on the roof of his store chowing down on the pastries Wit had bought them. The sun was starting to set at this point so the air got a little cooler.
"So Nine... have your parents kicked you out onto the streets yet?" Wit asked jokingly.
"Not yet." Nine replied with a slight chuckle.
It wasn't a strange thing for Wit to ask such a question. Nine's parents were serious people and with Nine not pursuing education or getting a job they didn't spare him even a single penny. He was still allowed to stay with his parents for the time but that was pretty much all. In fact most of his meals came from visits to Wit's place.
"Man, you gotta get a job." Wit said with a sigh
"I know I know," Nine replied in a tired tone, "I've tried recently but no one wants to hire me apparently. Can't be like you and get a job through my parents."
"Yeah I get it."
The two young men sat on the rooftop thinking about their situations and how one of them needed to change. They both synonymously let out a sigh and lied down on the roof. It seemed like things would just continue as they had for the past couple of months. Nine's life would eventually spiral downwards and he knew he couldn't just lean on Wit for the rest of his life. He knew this as well as anybody.
"Hey!" Wit exclaimed quickly sitting up
"What?" Nine asked, giving a puzzled expression to his friend's strange actions.
"Don't you have an Uncle that works as an instructor at the Rookies Training Camp?" Wit asked excitedly.
"Yeah...but there's no way he'd give me a job. I'm not even partially qualified." Nine replied sounding rather dejected at his own incompetence.
"That's not what I meant." Wit said quickly, "I mean why don't you leave Bastion." Hearing this Nine was rather shocked.
"L..Leave Bastion?" he stuttered out.
"Yeah!" Wit said excitedly. "You could train at the rookies camp and make something of yourself in another world. I'll even join you."
"You know people die out there?" Nine asked solemnly
"Yeah I know," Wit said, admitting to the reality of Nine's fears, " But be honest with yourself. You gotta do something. Haven't you always wanted a taste of adventure cus' I know I have."
"Well don't forget you're the one who suggested it." Nine replied with a slight chuckle
"So are we gonna do it?" Wit asked as he reached his hand forward for a handshake.
"Yeah!" Nine cheered, taking up Wit's handshake.
Both the Boy's eyes burned with determination. It was a heat of the moment decision but the prospect of something new exited them both. Nine could not help but look forward to the future
"Man, your parents are gonna hate me for getting you to do this." Nine muttered.
...
Back in the amphitheater the Instructor continued to lecture the dozens of people that attended the Rookies Training Camp. " You can call me Instructor Blair." He announced, "During the next week I will train you to the point where one of my sneezes won't immediately kill you. Understood."
"Yes sir." the rookies replied.
"For starters let's get everybody's name. Answer when I call your name out." He proceeded to take out a clipboard and started calling out unfamiliar names. Everytime a name was called a person in the audience would say "here" or "hello" or "I".
"You think this is gonna be hard?" Wit asked, sitting next to Nine.
"Nah. I'm sure Uncle Alex will go easy on us." Nine replied confidently
"Nine Blair." Alex Blair called out, giving Nine a sharp scowl knowing full well he was talking. Nine nearly jumped in surprise and said here in a high pitch squeak. The other attendees began whispering amongst themselves after hearing he shared a last name with the instructor.
"Are they related?" "What if he goes easy on him?" "This can't be fair"
It seemed as if this caused some animosity to be directed toward Nine and he could almost feel the glares pointed toward him. He simply sat there and tried not to pay attention to such people as Instructor Blair continued to list off names. Finally he reached the end of the list affirming everyone was present.
"Well now that I can put a name to a face it's time for your first training session." Instructor Blair said with a smile on his face, "Follow me." With that he started making his way toward the exit of the amphitheater and the rest of the people up in the seats began getting up and following him. Of course Nine and Wit got up as well and joined the crowd of rising people. Instructor Blair led the rookies through a series of archways to a large open field of grass. Surrounding the grass field was a circular dirt path. Nine, Wit, and the rest of the people congregated in front of Instructor Blair waiting for him to give out his next orders.
"Now that I got you all out here I want you to give me 20 laps around this track." He announced. Everybody winced hearing this. 20 laps around that track had to be more than 10 kilometers and a lot of them were not avid runners. "Except for Nine Blair." Everyone paused hearing this, "He has to run 30 laps for talking during roll call." Nine was flabbergasted at his statement. The rest of the group merely chuckled realizing they didn't have to worry about nepotism. Nine let out a small groan as he shuffled his way over to the track with the rest of the group.
"Hey don't worry about it." Wit said walking beside him, "It'll just make you tougher than the rest of them." He let out a small laugh and began jogging away to get started on his laps. With a sigh Nine lifted his chin up and began jogging at a slightly slower pace than Wit. He was sure he would be exhausted after this.
Nearing his last lap Nine's legs felt dead. His breath was ragged and he felt like collapsing. As he neared the final stretch he could hear Wit jokingly cheering him on on the sidelines like he was in some sort of competition. Finally he reached the end and right there he collapsed.
"Get up." Instructor Blair ordered without a hint of mercy. Nine with his breath steadying slowly got up and stood on his feet. The rest of the students had finished long before him and were standing around waiting for him to finish. A few people stood out specifically to Nine. There was a girl who didn't even have a single bead of sweat on her, A large man with glistening skin who looked like he could snap a smaller person in half, and a pretty boy type who, similar to the girl, didn't show an ounce of exhaustion. In contrast, Nine was breathing heavily and almost looked like he was going to collapse. Despite not having to run 30 laps like Nine the rest of the rookies looked extremely tired as well.
"Well now that I got you all exhausted I guess I can teach you the secret to getting stronger in a world of monsters." Instructor Blair announced. This statement piqued everyone's interest as they eagerly turned their heads toward the instructor. "Though some of you might already know this," He said while glancing at the 3 trainees that stood out, "the key to getting stronger in a world of monsters is lesser healing magic." At his words most of the rookies had a confused look on their face.
"Magic? That's only used by those wizard and mage types that leave the Bastion, right?" Wit asked Nine
"Yeah I'm pretty sure." Nine replied. He, like the rest of trainees, couldn't make the connection between learning lesser healing magic and becoming stronger unless of course you wanted to become a mage specialized in healing.
"Now I know most of you must be pretty confused but it isn't any big secret." The rookies listened closely, waiting for him to explain how they could grow stronger by learning healing magic. The only ones who didn't look confused were the 3 from earlier who simply watched the instructor as he explained.