"And then she LAUGHED at me!" Patricia exclaimed while dumping a bucket of mixed wild greens and ground tree bark into a trough. The mid-sized beetle beasts inside the pen pushed each other to get at their food.
across from her another apprentice was dumping his own bucket of beetle food into a separate pen. "Yeah, I hear what you're saying Pat, but you gotta admit she makes a good point. How are basic stingers going to take down its competitors in an open bracket?" Darek was a friend of Patricia's who had started his apprenticeship earlier that year.
"Why does no one ever trust in my plans?" Patricia groaned, slumping her shoulders in defeat.
"Maybe because they never work?" another apprentice called from across the barn.
"Who asked you, Marty?!" Pat yelled back.
"If you know what's good for you don't let Pat get you involved in her schemes, Darek. she almost got kicked out a year ago for swapping the nutrition plan on one of the leach stalkers in secret." Marty chuckled as he scooped up another bucket of food. Derek smiled sheepishly not wanting to get between the two.
"It was a good idea in theory." Pat said, a little ashamed. "How was I supposed to know that even a little extra fern bud could build up toxins?"
"That's the thing Pat. you aren't supposed to know. you're supposed to learn by following instructions."
"Less chatting, more feeding, you have another 4 barns before lunch." the supervising breeder snapped out from her chair.
The apprentices all fell silent as they continued their duties. As Pat dumped another bucket, she swept her ki empowered senses across the beasts in the pen. People who worked with beasts almost always possessed the ability to augment themselves with ki in certain ways. Most Breeders had the ability to sense the physical or mental state of beasts. Catchers often possessed skills related to detecting or warding off beasts in the field. Tamers usually had a proclivity for instilling emotions into or compelling actions of beasts.
Patricia didn't have an area she was particularly skilled in. however she was capable of reproducing the effect of most skills, albeit only at a low level. another boon, possibly because of her relatively low level abilities, she could maintain her empowered state for far longer than almost anyone else. These two qualities combined to make her a versatile and robust tool for any group.
When her senses touched one of the Beatles she could immediately sense discomfort radiating from the beast. "Hey Derek, can you give 23 a sweep?"
Derek shifted his attention her way. Unlike Patricia, Derek was particularly skilled in sensing the physical condition of a beast. his eyes sparked with the telltale signs of ki empowerment. it didn't take him more than a couple seconds to find the problem. "Third left leg has a carapace lesion between the second and third joint. it's close to the body and hard to spot." he confirmed her suspicions.
She made a note on the sheet hanging near the pen. then called out to the supervisor.
"pen 8? noted. good work you two."
***
The group continued to work through the rest of their assigned barns and made it back to the main building in time for lunch.
Patricia, Marty, and Derek joined up with Emilia and another apprentice from her group Dina. The five of them sat at the end of their usual table and ate the underwhelming meal provided for them from the guild.
"I swear they feed the beasts better than us." Marty said, frowning over his bowl.
"How many times are you going to say that?" Emilia asked, annoyed.
"once every other day until they give me a meal that resembles food," he said with passion.
"jush buy yourshelf a meal if itsh not good enough for you." Dina said, spoon still in her mouth.
no one bothered to comment on Dina's eating habits. they had all long given up on that crusade. "If only. but if I waste my pay on lunch, I'm not going to have enough for our independent study." he said glumly while poking at his food with his spoon.
Everyone nodded in agreement. apprentices didn't make much to begin with since room and board was largely covered by the guild, and the meager pay they did receive usually went directly toward their independent study. Each apprentice was allowed to work as individuals or in groups of no more than three people, on a project of their own choosing. The only real limits were the allocated space granted to them to store their projects, and all the funding needed to come out of pocket. A Lot of students chose to form groups in order to combine their allotment of space and personal funds.
Marty, Emilia, and Dina worked together in this fashion, Derek wasn't senior enough to start his project yet, and Patricia failed to attract any partners for her independent study.
she grumbled about how no one ever supported her ideas while she ate. She mostly kept her complaint to herself this time. her current project was entering a new phase and with any luck she should have something to show for it within a month or two. After her resounding success she hoped she would be able to convince Derek to join her project when he was able to join. she eyed him from across the table now, his skill would be a welcome addition to her work.
Derek noticed her predatory gaze and tried to avoid eye contact. Patricia was a good friend and talented in her own way, but her wild fantasies made her an inconsistent partner at the best of times.
"Pat, quit eyeing up Derek like he's a fresh steak. you'll scare him off." Marty challenged while still eyeing his food glumly.
"I don't think of Derek as meat!" Patricia countered. "I think of him as a highly valuable potential business partner!"
Marty rolled his eyes dramatically. "Poor Derek, he'd be better off as meat. tell you what Derek, when you're ready to start your project i'll break off from team double nerd and we can start a fresh one as a duo." Marty smiled before finally sticking a spoon full of gruel in his mouth. his smile quickly disappeared after that.
Derek looked a bit cheerful and quickly responded. " I'd like that Marty."
"NO FAIR!" Patricia exclaimed. "YOU ALREADY GOT A TEAM!" people in the mess glanced towards the disturbance until they realized its source and went back to their food.
"It's not about fair, Pat. it's about results." Marty said without looking up from staring at his food and willing it to become more appealing. after a moment he sighed and stuck another spoonful into his mouth.
"results." pat muttered under her breath. "I'll show you results, you no good spoiled little..."
"Great, you set her off, Marty. now I'll have to listen to her scheming how to get back at you for days." Emilia said, resigning herself to her fate.
"why are you even roommates with her if you don't want to listen to her scheming?" asked Dina who had long since finished her bowl.
"easy, she spends almost no time in the room, it's basically like having a single 80% of the time. She makes up for it by being extra annoying 15% of the time. oh and i guess she's my friend or whatever."
"What's the last 5%?" asked Derek innocently.
"when she's asleep.'' Everyone at the table laughed while Patricia pretended to be insulted. her friends didn't hesitate to take jabs at her, but they always had her back when things went bad. It had been Marty who managed to convince the guild coordinator that the poisoning of the leach stalkers had been an accident, and Emilia always helped her get caught up on studying when she disappeared on hunts or whatever trouble she was getting herself into. Dina tended to sit back and ride along without putting herself out there too much, but she did a lot of proofreading and calculation checking for everyone. She had an amazing eye for detail and excelled in precision, at least when it came to breeding. The rest of the time she was kind of a slob. Derek was kind and a good listener if a little timid.
Everyone in the group played a part and made sure that no one got left behind. Patricia was happy to call them her friends and loved each and everyone of them. so obviously she couldn't wait to finish her secret project and have them all crawling to her on their hands and knees begging to join her team!
"hehehehehe-keke" Patricia cackled to herself before inhaling the spoonful of gruel she had been chewing.
"Pat's checking again." Dina said without much emotion. "Whose turn is it?"
"mine." Emilia said before standing up and beginning to slap Patricia on the back.
"ok, ok, I'm fine now," Patricia said between gasping breaths.
"When will you learn to swallow and then talk or... laugh menacingly... not everyone can be Dina."
"it takesh alot of practish." Dina said while eating out of Emilia's now abandoned bowl.
"hey! that's mine!" Emilia ran back to her bowl and pulled it away from Dina.
Before they knew it, it was time to do their afternoon work, and after that independent study.