Tag Archives: Training Center

Sons of Sword: Tales of Glory – Lost and Found #17

Metcalf grabbed her gear and walked for one of the training center’s exit.  There was nothing left to do there.  She only had about five thousand academy points left.  This amount placed her with the lowest ten percent of the students at the academy; the lower half of the red zone.

It was a little hard to believe.  She had gambled points at the Stream Quarter Training Center for almost a decade.  For the amount of time Metcalf has been lingering in the school.  The final will be extremely had for her to pass.

Sure, she wanted to climb the ranks before midterm.  So did everyone else.  That was the only reason the training centers were packed this time of year.

She passed a few students worriedly looking at their rank on their handhelds.  Unlike them, she knew when to let go of hope.  With the training center’s stiff competition, no one would challenge her except a student in an equal position.  With the scant few points to work with, it would be weeks before she would manage to crawl out of the red zone.  By then; midterm would have passed; she would be on the final exam list; and the training center would be empty again.

She only gambled because it was the only way she could keep enough Academy Points to stay at the school.  It was possible to get points from accomplishing tasks in a class but the classes were boring.  She would prefer not to see Naoh and Koh but if not for them, she would have been out of the school a long time ago.

Exiting the training center, she took of her helmet.  The hue on her beautifully youthful face was split down the middle; red on the right and white on the left.  She still had a slight green tint due to her not quite being of age.  That did little to mask the face of a thinking reasoning warrior.

Strangely she was not upset at her fate.  Sure, she would prefer it to be different.  Leaving a school where students enjoyed everything, free of charge, was a major inconvenience.  Then again, she no longer had to prey on lesser skilled students.

She wanted to participate in real work and use her talents for something real.  Guard duty was in no way glamorous but her actions made a real difference in people’s lives.  With any luck she could land a good placement with a nearby city.

Still with the sudden change, Metcalf felt like she should be angry at someone.  However, no one person seemed to fit the criteria to be stuck with the blame though.

Lance?  Not him.  How would he know how things would end up for her?  He actually looked sad when he saw how many points she was losing.  He had the potential to become a great Protector.  He only had to learn to project more of his skills rather than touch everything.

Herself?  No.  Lance did something that the Quarter Masters had taught against for the longest time.  There was no way to predict that it would actually work.  She simply did what all students in her position would do.  She knew continued gambling would end like this eventually.  Students that gamble eventually lose.  She lost.

Naoh? Koh?  No.  They were heartless sharks, and there was no way they would help her now, but they had nothing to do with this.  They helped her stay afloat in the school until now.  And in the end, she made the decision to challenge Lance not them.

No one was to blame.  The day started like any other and it ended like this.  Metcalf didn’t like it, at all.  However, she lost her say in the matter a few minutes ago.  Her time at school ended at this year’s Final Exam, unless she passed.

Metcalf giggled at the thought, Yeah, Good luck with that.

#1 – Lost and Found #16 – Lost and Found #18

Sons of Sword: Tales of Glory – Lost and Found #16

Metcalf accepted the challenge but first she needed to take a break.  The push drill was short, only thirty seconds, and it didn’t require her to move.  The extreme effort was there none the less.  She was sweating quite a bit.  Her armor wasn’t very good at letting heat out so she’ll be sweating for quite a bit longer.  She made a mental note to modify it later.

On her way to the water tank, students took notice of the push drill area.  It rarely used this time of year.  As such, the sudden air stagnation was new for most of the students there.  Even those used to the push drill would be surprised this time.  The air stopped enough that it was getting hard to breath.

On her way back from the water tank, there were students gathering around the pit to watch the next challenge.  Word spread pretty fast as always.  It was also hard to watch this drill from the bleachers.

The river stones were quite heavy.  Replacing one was a chore for motion skill classes.  It would usually take a team of students to remove an old one and bring out a new one.  This stone had seen a lot less abuse than most.  There was however that new crack down the center.

In years past, it was her trick to break a weakened stone into several pieces then push the pieces in different directions towards her opponent’s zone.  Dividing ones attention among separate targets was difficult especially for male students.

There was now a considerable audience at the motion drill pit.  She disliked showing off but Lance was much stronger than she expected.  She needed a better plan than last time.

Metcalf reached her platform.  To her surprise, all of Lance’s criteria were set already.  As always, if the stone reached the wall the match was over.  But this time, a greater proportion of points were given if the stone reached the wall earlier in the match.  She accepted the terms and their second round began.

At the bell, she pushed as hard as she could expect the same effort from Lance.  There was none, instead the stone moved quickly into Lance’s zone.  The screech was quite loud.  It seemed like Lance wasn’t doing anything this time.  She knew better than to check the other platform though.  She needed to be focused to win as many points as possible.  She may even hit his wall.

At three seconds into the match, the crowd was acting strangely.  They were all focused at Lance’s platform.  Then there was a thud.  Right after the thud the stone stopped cold.  In an unexpected turn, Lance had jumped down into the pit.  He endangered himself to push the stone by hand.  There was no rule against that but it never happened, ever.

To her surprise, the stone started moving quickly towards her zone.  She was using motion skills to push just even harder than before.  The stone refused to respond in the slightest way to her commands.  It kept pace with Lance’s walk as though the stone was on wheels.  With Lance pushing, the stone reached her wall in just under eight seconds.  Still, there was no stress on his face.

A defeat like this could only be devastating.  She calmly checked the platform pad for the amount of points she lost.  She was upset but strangely calm when she realized the truth.  She had lost all but a quarter of her points.  She was almost finished at Spear Mint Academy.

Right there and then, she decided to make the best of what time she had left.

#1 – Lost and Found #15 – Lost and Found #17

Sons of Sword: Tales of Glory – Lost and Found #15

After what seems like a few minutes, Metcalf started getting slightly impatient.  From her screen she sees that Lance is steadily filling out the contest criteria on his platform.  It’s just taking a lot of time.  Watching them from across the thirty foot squared pit she sees that each selection is met with a great deal of discussion mostly among Lance’s companions.

Most of the time, Lance was staring at the computer as though it would fill itself out.  He would turn to ask a question from time to time.  His friends would respond.  Perhaps telling what they knew about the point trade system.  Lance only submitted information when his face showed some hint of confidence.  He was a guy that wanted to know exactly what he was getting into.

Every now and then Lance would point down into the pit at the river stone.  They were too far away for Metcalf to know what they were talking about.  However, his pointing into the pit never got a positive response from his friends.

For all she knew it was Lance’s first drill, ever.  It made sense that it would take him more time to understand what to enter into the system.  Though it was trying, Metcalf tried her best to be patient.

After about a decade, filling out the drill criteria was second nature for her she finished in a few seconds.  She remembered back when she first started gambling Academy Points.  Naoh and Koh filled out the criteria for her to “make things faster.”  The criteria they set didn’t always benefit her.  So, she understood Lance’s desire to know everything about everything.  This was taking a bit of a long time though.

After another few minutes, Lance was finally ready.  His face didn’t beam confidence she was used to seeing but his light was green.  That was good enough for Metcalf.  She had waited long enough, quite long enough to strategize.

After checking the competitors one last time, the drill guard sounds the bell.  It was time to put her strategy into play.  Gripping the railing tightly she stares at the stone from her platform.  The air in the Training Center slowly stills, replaced by the grinding screech of the river stone sliding on the pit’s cement floor.

Metcalf traded the motion in the air flow to move the stone.  Not to push it back or forth but to twist it so that more of the large imperfectly shaped stone would be in Lance’s territory.  Then it was time to counter Lance’s attempt to twist the stone back.

After just seven seconds, Metcalf started sweating and got a minor head ache.  Lance had to be struggling too; she knew better than check.  She had to keep her focus on the stone if she wanted to win.  The stone was steadily moving the way she wanted it to.  As in any contest, it was a struggle.

This push drill felt very different than the others.  She seemed to have more ambient motion to work with.  She was using all that she could.  The air was borderline stagnant.  Even with the extra resources, the stone was barely moving.

Her plan was worked; to a point.  The twist was too much for him to counter and now more of the stone was in his area.  She didn’t have to get the whole stone into his zone.  Just end the time with more of the stone on his side.  Granted, she gets more points if the stone is further in his territory.  She had no time to think of that now though.  She only needed to push harder.

With twenty of the thirty seconds gone, her head was beginning to pound.  Her focus was weakening.  Her temperature was rising; she’ll be sweating a while after this contest.  All the effort she was putting in and almost nothing was happening.  She started to wonder if she was doing anything at all; then the stone started to crack a little from the pressure.

At twenty-five seconds, the time for strategy was ending.  Fancy tactics at this point only caused trouble.  This was where champions thrive.  It was time to refocus her strength and push as hard as she could.  Again, the stone moved oh so slightly but it stayed Lance’s area.  Good enough for Metcalf.

At the final bell she had won.  The large stone almost moved three centimeters into Lance’s area.  Her prize was about three hundred of his Academy Points; plenty of points to end the day.  After the hardest thirty seconds of her life she needed a rest.

Resting by the platform she sees Lance talking to his friends from across the pit.  He wasn’t very upset; then again they were definitely disagreeing.  It doesn’t seem like they come to an agreement but Lance sends a message to Metcalf’s platform.

Metcalf answers the page and hears, “Could we go again?”

#1 – Lost and Found #14 – Lost and Found #16