We entered the church and walked into an office on the opposite side of the hall that lead to the library, there sitting at his desk was billy reading a book on the church fathers.
"Bill-" see Lisa as we walked in.
"Hmm? Good your here."
The old man got up from his seat and stood in front of us, he looked at me and put his hands on his hips. "You ready for your first day of training?"
"Yes Sir." I sed quickly.
"Good. Take a seat son, before we do anything I need to give you a lesson on how arc-craft works."
I have a nod and took a seat by the desk, Lisa looked at Billy for a moment then spoke up.
"Bill I'm gonna head into the library, you don't need me here right?"
"Nope, go on Lisa."
She gave a nod and then looked at me.
"Good luck Jack, make sure to pay attention instead of drifting off like you do in class ok?"
I let out a sigh.
"Geez I'm not that much of a slacker-"
"Suuure."
She gave a smug grin and walked away.
As she walked I couldn't help but stare at her hips as she moved, damn even the way she walks is hot... She left the room through the open door and walked down the hall.
I looked back at Billy who was giving me a strange look. "Hmm?"
"Ya know son, I know your a young man and all. But it's not good for you to be checking out girls in church."
I flushed.
"Wha-! I- i- i- I wasn't! I didn't I um-"
He let out a chuckle.
"Young'n."
My face was beat red, I grumbled in my seat.
After a few seconds Billy walked over to the middle of the room near the fireplace and pulled a green chalkboard over to his desk.
"Alright... Let's get started."
I regained my composure and turned my chair towards him. "Right."
"So... First off, we what is arc-craft? That's the first question."
"Well you sed it was the modern equivalent of alchemy right?"
"I did. But it's much more then that... You see alchemy was originally just a form of pseudo-chemistry, however when are founder William bathazar discovered arc-metel. It became so much more.... Lisa told me she already told you about William by the way."
"Yeah... "
He began to draw what looked like a hunk of metal, he was actually a good artist. I was pretty impressed. And he did it in a short amount of time too.
"Simply put, arc-craft is the harnessing of the planets life force."
"The planets life force?"
He nodded.
"You see son, we may not be able to see it but the planet radiates arc-energy, it's in everything and everyone, everywhere."
"So... Like the force from Star wars?"
He just looked at me with a deadpan expression.
"No. Nothing like the force from Star wars."
"Oh."
"Now, arc-metel is an alloy that can be found deep within the planet-" he once again drew a quick illustration of the planet. And what what was bellow it's crust.
"Specifically within hollow earth."
"Wait- hollow earth? The hollow earth theory is real?"
"Yep. The church has been going there for years. We've found that most supernatural entities that are physical live there. Such as goblins, orc's, wolven, fairy's, skin Walker's-"
"There real too!?... Wait what's a wolven?"
"A giant wolf."
"You mean like a werewolf?"
"No. Two completely different things."
He didn't elaborate any further.
"After I teach you the basics of arc-craft I'll give you a lesson on supernatural creatures, but right now we need to address this first."
"Right."
He bagan to draw circuit like patterns on the board. "Now, arc-metel is the only kind of alloy on the planet that can conduct arc-energy... That's why it's needed to use it. Once we've retrieved it from Hollow earth he refine it and turn them into Arc-circuits... Then we implant them into are body's, Linking them with are nerves...."
He turned back to me.
"Any questions?"
"I think I got the gist of it, the arc-metel pretty much turns your body into ilving energy conducter."
He gave me a grin.
"Correct."
He continued.
"And with that energy you can enhance the human body to a superhuman degree, you can move faster, you can make yourself stronger, you can bend the energy and use it to create objects. And even blast the energy... Though if you use too much of it you'll burn your circuits out. And then you'll have to let them rest, if your energy after that it could be fatal."
"Really?"
"Boy, your channeling the planets life force through your body. Did you really think it would be one hundred percent safe for a mere human?"
"I guess not."
Billy looked back at me and put his chalk down. "So. That's all you need to know... Now we can begin your training."
I stood up and grinned.
"Hell yeah. Let's do it"
He smiled at me.
"Your pretty eager."
"Yep. I'm ready to learn-"
I brought my fist to my chest and clinched it.
"I swear, in gonna give it my all. Teach me whatever it is I need to learn to be a monster hunter."
Billy gesterd for me to come with him.
"Follow me."
We left the office and went down the hall, Lisa came out of the library and walked over to us.
"So I guess you've finished explaining things to him?"
Billy gave a nod.
"Yep... And now we're gonna build his resistance."
Suddenly Lisa's eyes became filled with concern. "Wait... Right now?... Bill... I'm not sure if you should-"
Billy stopped her.
"Lisa, you know this is the first step to learning arc-craft... If he doesn't build up a tolerance to it he'll never be able to be implanted."
She looked down, she let out a sigh.
"Your right."
"What are you guys talking about?"
Lisa looked up at me.
"Well... The human body isn't built to conduct High levels of energy besides its own. Especially arc-energy. So in order to prepare it for Arc-circuits. We have to expose the body to arc-metel in it's purest form... And let's just say touching it with your bare hands is painful... Really painful..."
She shivered.
"I remember when I began my training... It was tough. But it was worth it in the end."
She came a bit closer to me.
"Jack... Be careful ok?... You know what, Bill. Let me tag along during this... Just in case if things get out of hand."
Bill Crossed his arms and gave a nod.
"Alright then. Come on"
And with that all three of us went down the hall and downstairs. We entered the basement of the church, there we walked to the far side of the basement and entered a secret passage.
We walked for what seamed like ten minutes down a long hall and an even longer flight of steps, but eventually we made it to a huge room. Filled with weapons and armor.
Billy walked over to wall, there inside the wall was a small door. He opened it and grabbed a box. He walked over and placed it on the ground. He looked at me and pulled out a key.
"In this box is a hunk of pure, unrefined arc-metel. What you have to do is simple... Yet. Difficult. You have to hold the arc-metal for ten seconds."
"That's all?"
Lisa raised an eyebrow at me.
"It's not that easy Jack. Listen you'll be feeling more pain then you've ever experienced in your life, if things get too hard, Drop it. Because if you don't you might end up having a seizure."
"Seriously!?"
Billy gave a nod
"Yep."
I gritted my teeth. This is what it takes to become a monster hunter?...
And this is only the beginning, what else would I have to do?.
But... If this is what it takes to make my dream a reality, then so be it.
"Alright... Let's do it."
Billy leaned down and slid the key in and unlocked the door. He slowly opened it up, and there glowing with green and blue energy was a ball of metal, it pulsed and hummed with power.
My eyes widened.
"..."
I took in a deep breath.
"Just ten seconds right?"
Billy answered as he stepped back.
"Yes, you will have to do this once a day every day for the next few weeks until your body doesn't feel the pain anymore. Then we'll know your ready."
I took in a deep breath and began to bend down. Jack-" Lisa called to me.
I looked back at her. She looked like her heart was in her throat. "Be careful."
I gave a nod.
I slowly bent down and reached into the box, my hand shook...
I was so nervous I felt a beed of seat roll down my cheek. 'here goes.'
I grabbed it.
"!"
...
...
...
Nothing.
"Uhh... Hey guys. I don't feel anything."
"What?" Billy raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean you feel nothing?" Lisa asked
I pulled the ball of metal out of the box, Lisa and Billy both jumped back.
"Jack are you crazy!?" Lisa exclaimed.
"Boy! what are you doing!?"
I held it in my hand, nothing. Not even a static shock. Sure it was glowing and looked pretty scary. But there was no pain at all.
I tossed it a few times in my hand.
"Yep... This doesn't hurt me at all."
I put it back in.
Lisa and Billy gave me a dumbfounded expression. "Why?... How?... Your not even affected at all?"
I shook my head.
"Yeah... Kind of a let down. I was expecting to be shocked to death or something-"
I say nonchalantly.
Billy and Lisa looked at each other, puzzled.
"Bill, how is this possible?"
The old man furrowed his eyebrows and shrugged. "I have no idea... "
he began to paced back and forth, trying to figure out what was going on.
"..."
He stopped.
"We need an expert. Jack, lisa, were going into the inner city."