Ron ended up sleeping on the roof of the Inn oddly enough, and after some time with Susa, I slept and woke to a lovely morning. Ron was waiting for me, and we had some breakfast before we left. I was worried at first, but he seemed to like eggs.
"Ins't that like cannibalism?"
He pulled his beak from the yolk, and let out two chirps. We'd decided chirps were better than jumps. "Are you a bird?"
One chirp, a pause, then two chirps. Yes and no. I thought about that as he dug back into his boiled egg. We finished up and I said goodbye to Ron who had business or whatever his species did. I knew he'd be back. It was odd how quickly I'd taken to him, but that happened with a lot of people. You were at a shelter and saw it, the one you knew you wanted. I was a pet person, and after getting my apartment, I wanted a pet, but I didn't have enough time.
I wasn't going to get a pet just to make it lonely and lock it inside.
The guild was oddly busy, and people bustled about here and there. I was worried it might take a bit to find him, but I needn't have bothered. He was at the reception desk, hitting on the receptionist. Lex fancied himself a womanizer, but from the look on the receptionist's face, she was unamused.
"C'mon, just me and you," Lex said with a smile.
"Lex."
The half-elf turned. "Oh, Jericho."
"Alara." I nodded to the elf who smiled back.
"Jericho, good to see you," she said. "I heard about what happened. I'm glad you're safe, and so are all the stores."
I chuckled. "I bet they are, get to keep buying from me at a discount."
"I was there too you know," Lex said, leaning forward.
"Oh really? Wow." Her voice was as flat as the look she was giving him.
I pulled Lex away and towards the training hall. He followed but glanced back at the receptionist, then at me. "You know each other?"
"Who me and Alara?" I asked. "Well, of course, she's the receptionist for the guild. I think everyone knows her."
"Not like that," Lex said. "I don't think I've ever seen her smile like that at someone."
"Well maybe if people actually talked to her then she would," I said. Alara had helped me, and it seemed most people just ignored her when they didn't need something. All I had done was hi, how are you doing and goodbye, Alara, have a nice night. Lex was acting like I'd hit on her when all I'd done was be nice. That bullshit about nice guys finishing last was stupid. Oh, sure there were people like that, but the saying itself was idiotic, and this wasn't Earth.
The training hall was just as busy, and the rest of the group save for Eloria was there. Tenna was at the range practicing while Rashid was working out to the max. We said hello, but didn't disturb them, especially not Tenna who looked very focused.
"Alright, let me grab some balls, then we can head into one of the larger mediation chambers." He grabbed a handful of what looked like dodgeballs, and his grin when he saw me looking set me on edge.
"C'mon Jericho," he said with a smile. "Time to train."
I hadn't been aware, but there were two extra large meditation chambers meant for more than one person.
"Alright, stand by the wall, and brace yourself." He picked up a ball and pulled a potion from the bag on his back. "Drink this, and I'll give you five minutes to get ready. Then I start throwing these."
"And I'm meant to sense them?"
"Yes, trust me," he said with a smile that made me not want to trust him. "Your constitution is high so don't be a baby. Just focus, and try and use both active and passive sixth sense. I'll be throwing each ten seconds after the first. Once we get you dodging some, we'll change things up. Although, I doubt you'll see much growth in one session."
The potion tasted like mint, and the effect took a few seconds to take hold. My vision was dark, my hearing faded as did my sense of taste, and smell, and even my touch numbed. I walked back and hit a wall. I quickly tried to quiet my mind, but it was hard as I'd never felt this, empty before. So alone with just my mind, literally backed up against a wall.
I calmed my breathing and slowly but surely my mind began to empty. Once the initial panic faded, it was easy, but then came sensing. I decided to start with active sensing and tried to focus on Lex. If I could picture him throwing, then I could dodge in the right direction, or maybe I'd be able to follow the ball. I doubted it, but it was worth a try.
The first ball hit me dead center and didn't hurt too bad, but the shock sent my mind into a muddle. I was forced to quickly try and set things straight, but then the next came, and the next. I pushed away the frustration and focused even as more hit me. Minutes passed and I was peppered, but then I felt it. I stopped to the side and knew I'd dodged a ball. However, my mind was stretching.
I spent the next few minutes actively sensing, and dodging a few more balls before I switched to passive sensing. It was different as the warnings and information seemed to come at different times. Sometimes seconds before it hit, others times it would be unease, and I'd dodge but still be hit. One time, I felt it right before it hit my face. I was able to get a hand up, but that earned me a ball to my groin.
Hit after hit after hit. But as time passed, I got hit less as I dodged more and I smiled, feeling more confident. Right after I smiled, the balls started coming in without a pattern. Two in two seconds, then nothing for half a minute. Oddly enough, the passive sense didn't just vanish with panic or emotion, and I wondered If my stats had grown. I knew active sensing required a more focused and clear mind, but passive was different and was always there. You simply need to be open to hear it, to sense it.
"Alright stop!" I raised a hand and caught the next ball. My mind felt heavy, and even with my constitution, I knew I had bruised. These balls weren't weak, there were heavy and hurt. More like solid soccer balls than anything.
I felt a hand press something to my mouth. I swallowed the potion and felt life return. My sense began to come back to me, and I sighed before glaring at Lex. He took a step back, narrowly dodging my knee to his groin.
"Calm down, I'm sorry."
"You hit me there six times there," I said. "Six! What if I can't have children now?"
"Oh relax," Lex said. "You should be happy, you did good, and you dodged the others. I didn't expect anywhere near that result."
I had which was good but, I was still a bit pissed. "Let's take a break before anything else."
"Good idea," Lex said. "We've got the stick next."
I shot him a look, but he just smiled. "Hey, you wanted to train. This is training."