Rise Of The Hunters - Chapter 60

“While Xun is gone, all of the hunters are to train with the newcomers,” said Rick patiently to Alex.

Hayden stood behind him, with Willow by his side. They didn’t have any problems doing what Xun wanted, in fact, they were excited by the chance to actually learn how to do their jobs and how to survive any monsters they might encounter. Alex, though, wasn’t thrilled to be put under an outsider. It was obvious, the hatred and prejudice his father had for the outsiders had bled through to him. Perhaps that was why he picked on them so much outside of the compound?

“I don’t care what that snot-nosed brat decided. Until my dad tells me I have to stoop to learning from some migrant, I’m not attending!” He sneered at them and left the gym. Gavyn and Nathan had shown up with him, and now had the awkward decision to stay or go. They looked at each other, then turned to leave with Alex, never saying a word to them.

Rick just shook his head and turned back to the three people who had shown up from the newcomers.

“You don’t have to apologize for them. When the time comes, they will wish they had participated,” said a soft-spoken woman to him. He smiled at her, but took Willow’s hand as he stood next to her.

“Why are you here?” asked Hayden, surprised.

“I figured it was about time I stop hiding in the library and actually do something. This is where I was born, and I keep missing all of the action because I’ve been stuck in there with the books.”

“You??” exclaimed a man, one of the other newcomers. “With all those muscles, you’ve been in the library?? Don’t tell me you don’t have any training at all?”

Rick blushed and rubbed his head in embarrassment.

“We can start by introducing ourselves,” said the woman. “I am Sara, this is Blake, and that is Derek. Where we are from, we were the ones who trained the children to learn how to find, sense, perceive, whatever word you want to use, the monsters before they could attack. The fight is already over if you don’t even know they are there.

“Then, once you know they are there, we will teach you what to do next. However, we are used to teaching little kids, who don’t already have preconceived ideas. So, we’ll have to go about this a little differently.”

She stepped back, and the tall dark man, named Blake, stepped forward. “We are going to start by evaluating your current abilities. Since you are almost grown, you should already have areas of interest developed, so we need to work off of those areas to develop them further to ensure your survival.”

Derek stepped up to Rick, being the one who couldn’t believe he had no training, “How do you have so many muscles if you’ve never had any training? They don’t just appear like that on their own!”

“I was going to be a guard, so I worked out in the gym to get pumped like this, then my dad reassigned me to the library and books are heavy, so I guess they stuck?” Rick still looked embarrassed as Derek stepped back, shaking his head in disbelief.

“I want all of you to run on the track until you can’t run anymore,” said Blake, motioning to the track that circled the room.

“Run, as if a werewolf were chasing you, as fast as you possibly can. When you think you’re going to fall down, I want you to think they are about to bite you.” Sara may have been soft-spoken in the beginning, but her words were chilling now.

All three of them took off like arrows, sprinting with all they were worth. Willow actually outran both of the boys. Once they caught their breath, they worked on building their senses up. They were blindfolded and put in the center of the room. They had to notice when someone came near them. Again, Willow did the best, listening for the sounds of their footsteps.

The hours passed as the three trainers put them through one obstacle after another, trying to judge where they were and what needed to be done to make them better. By the time they finally let them rest, all three were covered in sweat, breathing hard, bȧrėly able to move on the mat they were laying on.

The three trainers were talking to each other in the corner, whispering so that they couldn’t be overheard. A few people had come to watch out of curiosity, but not many, since everyone had jobs to be doing.

“Hayden is best at range attacks, we need to build on that, but he also needs something in case the monsters get too close. Otherwise, he’ll be killed the first time something charges him. Willow would make a great sword fighter, using her speed and dexterity to slash and cut, instead of strength. The problem is she won’t do much damage with the speed that most of the monsters heal at. Rick has so much strength, we really need to build on his endurance, or he’ll be useless. If we can get them trained right, they’ll make a great team.” The two guys nodded at Sara’s overview of the day’s observations.

“I’ll take training Rick,” said Derek. “I have the best understanding of heavy fighting.”

“All right. Then I’ll take Hayden and work on his archery and close combat abilities,” said Sara.

“That leaves me with Willow,” said Blake, glancing at the girl on the floor. “I just hope I can survive her sarcasm.”

“If she gets to be too much for you, just let me know and I’ll step in,” chuckled Sara.

Blake rolled his eyes. “She can’t be worse then my two daughters. They could argue you right up a tree and make you jump.”

They smiled, but no one chuckled. The pain in Blake’s eyes was still too fresh. His daughters hadn’t survived the trip here. They all hoped he could train Willow without too much anguish.