"Interesting outcome, different from what I originally expected," mused Dorian.
After Al had decided, his captain handed him his uniform, a black robe with the emblem on the back, before heading back to the front of the outpost where he took him to a row of archery stands on the grassy plane.
The stands stood at increasing distances. Their targets, made of hay, had strands blowing in the wind while a blond, fat guard was practicing his archery.
"We use these for bow practice, but it will work just as well for your revolver," Dorian said to him as they walked over. Al was getting a little excited to see how this 'deadly weapon' worked.
"Hey Fatty Kai, being productive today?"
"Yeah, cap, had to do something. The wife kicked me out again," said the big man whose face was too small for his body, especially his little nose.
"Still snore too much, huh? I'm sorry." Dorian patted his shoulder. "Anyway, going to teach Alexander here the basics of shooting a revolver."
Fatty Kay looked at Al, noticing the black box in his hands, "That revolver?!" Al saw a little envy arise in his eyes.
"Yes, his father found it back then, so it belongs to him now."
"I always wanted that..."
"Here let me show you how it works," Dorian said, taking the black case from Al.
He took out the revolver and black pouch. "These are bullets, it's what you shoot," he said as he took a round bullet from the bag. Afterward, he popped out the small cylinder and inserted the bullets into the six holes.
Dorian then pointed at a small object at the end of the pipe. "This is the hammer, it is what activates the gun by hitting this Wind crystal." He showed Al a small green crystal placed right where the end of the bullet would be when shot.
Dorian then aimed the revolver, and said, "Hitting this crystal creates a strong wind that shoots the bullet, and to activate the hammer just squeeze the trigger, and..."
"Whoosh!" Al couldn't follow. He only heard a whistling sound before one of the stands was knocked back two steps, a small hole in its middle.
"Wow."
"You try," Dorian took ou the remaining bullets and handed it to Al. Al reproduced what he just saw. He popped out the cylinder, put the bullets in, aimed the gun, and shot.
The whistling resounded, just like with Dorian, only that Al was sent tumbling backward, the recoil of the blast was too strong for him. The gun fell to the ground while Al onto his behind which made Dorian chuckle a bit.
"Owch." Al's arm tingled from firing the revolver.
"It seems it's too early for this," Fatty Kay said.
"Fatty's right, you need some training first," He took the revolver away.
"Training?"
"Yup, wanna help Fatty?" Dorian said, a devilish smile on his face, a smile Al would come to dread.
"With pleasure."
***
"..., 16, 17, 1-"
Al collapsed his whole body aching. A twenty-mile run, Pull-ups, sit-ups, squats, and now push-ups, Dorian had made him do it all. His heart raced and he breathed heavily.
The smell of grass, sweat, and dirt inundated him as he laid face-first in the field in front of the outpost. His red-haired and brand new uniform now resembled were drenched. All the while, Dorian and Fatty were snacking on some apples while reclined on their chairs next to him.
"So, you ready for the next exercise?" Dorian said, stroking his brown beard.
"Another?!" Al sat up. He was physically and mentally done, for the past two hours, his body had been driven to its limit.
Fatty and Dorian looked at each other and snickered. "I'm just kidding, you're done. But, you need to drink this." Dorian threw Al a gourd.
Curious as to what it was, Al popped the cork revealing a nasty green liquid, that smelled like rotten vegetables. "Ew! What is this?"
"You'll see."
"Can't you just tell?"
"It's easier to explain once you see the effects for yourself."
"Not for me."
"But for ME."
Seeing his captain wasn't going to budge, Al gave up. He set the gourd to his lips and took a sip of the concoction. Only to spit it back out. "Blergh! I can't drink this!"
"Either drink it or do twenty more push-ups.". What a demon! Al sighed and downed the whole bottle. It tasted like rotten, moldy milk. After drinking he had to give his all to not throw it all up again.
"So, what should this do?"
"Nothing, its effects will only become noticeable over time."
"What effects? Come on! You don't have to be a mysterious ass."
"But it's fun to be. Now that you drank that we're done for today," Dorian stood up after Al drank the potion.
"Done? Really?"
"Yup, and we are going to do the same thing tomorrow, alright?"
"Yes, captain." Al wanted to cry.
Afterward, Al dragged his broken body home, it was only noon, but he collapsed into his bed, sleeping until the next morning.
Next, his days followed the same routine: Wake up, sword practice with all of the guards, strength training, disgusting potion, lunch at home, and a free afternoon.
Two months passed like this, while Al felt his body and sword skills grow a little stronger every day. Until one night when Al could barely sleep.
He passed hours in a shallow, unconscious discomfort. It reminded him of a fever dream. The next morning, he woke up with his bed, clothes, and body covered in puss and black goo, it was foul, reeking of rot and blood.
Despite the disgusting scene, Al felt great, better than ever even. Still, being covered in mysterious goo scared him a little. Yet, after giving it some thought, he decided that it had likely to do with the potion he had been downing for months. So, he would just ask Dorian about it later.
The sun hadn't risen yet so he took some time to wash the dirty blanket, sheets, and pillow. The gunk, however, was too enduring. He couldn't get it to wash out, so he left his mom a note with them in the bath.
The sun had risen by then, so Al headed out for his training. As he dashed over the village rooftops he felt lighter, faster. As if a new energy was coursing through his blood.
Once the outpost appeared before him, only Dorian was there. Al had gone so fast that he was the first one there. As his captain looked over joy came onto his face as Al walked up to him he said, "It seems you've broken through."
Those words puzzled Al. "Broken through? What does that mean?"
"It means you've overcome the barrier to the Purification realm," he said.
Al thought back to the grimy gunk of this morning. 'Is that what he's talking about that?' he thought. "I woke up dirty this morning. You mean that?"
"Yup, I do. Don't you feel stronger now? You asked me a while ago how the other guards are so strong. This is why."
It's true that, during the past two months, Al had wondered about that. In their training sessions, everyone else displayed incredible strength, even the other noobies.
One time, he had even seen Rocky lift a boulder twice his size. Nonetheless, when he asked Dorian and the others they had just acted all mysterious. Although, Fatty once told him that was just Dorian messing with him by ordering them to say nothing.
"So, I got stronger? How come?"
"What happened to you this morning is called body purification. It is done by taking in nature's magical energy to purify and unlock the inner strengths of our bodies. It's what I have been indirectly making you do through the potion and strength training."
"Indirectly? What does that mean? Six spirits, you make things complicated."
"Well, usually body purification is done through a process called cultivation. That is the direct route. But, you are still too young for that. Your body is still developing, it would be too extreme of a process. So, I went a roundabout way of letting your body cultivate 'naturally' by digesting and absorbing the magical energy in the potion to repair itself after training. Hence indirect route."
"Oh, so that's why I had to drink that stuff."
"Yes, the impurities you have dispelled this morning were the first of the four steps of the Purification Realm. You are currently in the early stage, after another purification you'll be in the mid stage, then late stage, and then peak stage."
"So I have to continue drinking the potion?" Al pulled a disgusted face.
Dorian looked almost sympathetic, "Yes, you will."
Soon after, the rest of the guards arrived, and everyone immediately noticed Al's improvement. He was congratulated by everyone, after which they went about their training. Al found he could more easily keep up with the other's stamina now. Though, people like Fatty and Rocky were still way stronger than him.
Later, it was time for strength training. 'This is going to be easy,' Al thought after testing out his new body during sword practice.
"I know what you're thinking, but no," Dorian said, as he brought two metal cubes and rope out of the Outpost's storage.
Al's heart sank, "What are those for? I know you wouldn't tie up a twelve-year-old kid with them, right?"
"If you won't put them on, I won't waste my time training you!"
"Alright, captain," Al said dejectedly.