Bloody Crucible- Lone Wolf

by E C Chii

  As both Xen and Lefful walked away to prepare the mid-day meal, Wolf picked the sheaves of paper up and continued his inventory, trying to figure out how to make the limited supplies they had last longer to the song of his stomach singing its displeasure.

  Chapter 27 – Basic Training and Graduation

  When they were all finished with their evening meal, Wolf called them all into a huddle.

  “Okay, I got some good news, some bad news, and some worse news. Which would you like to hear first?”

  Met with silence Wolf got mildly irritated. His tail swished with annoyance and agitation until Xen spoke up.

  “Wolf, does this have something to do with our food supply?”

  “Finally, yes. If you haven’t already heard from Corporal Lefful, if I ask a question I expect an answer. Even if I don’t like that answer I expect an explanation. Now as to your question, yes, the bad news is that it deals with our food supply. The good news is that I believe I can get you trained into a decent enough fighting squad in three weeks. The bad news is that we only have just over two weeks of food if we keep consuming it at our current pace. The worst news is that I believe I have an idea that will solve our problem with training time needed and still give us about a week or two afterwards to try and find another food supply. Though you may not like how that plan plays out. Since I do not like to be a complete dictator I would like all of your input on our course of action since it will directly affect you all.”

  Grimacing slightly, he continued, “The plan is that for the next three weeks you will either get one or two meals per day. Every other day will be swapped with females eating twice then males eating twice. I will be doing it the same, so no favorites are played. Additionally, we will be starting some basic training on how to be and work together as a cohesive unit. Starting tomorrow, as soon as you, all wake we will do approximately two hours of ‘PT’.” Wolf paused to let that sink in.

  Immediately, Thrak’s hand shot up.

  “Yes Thrak, you have a question?” Wolf asked

  “What is Pee Tee?” he asked confused

  “I guess that answers my unasked question that it is uncommon to try and keep the standing military in physically fit state. To answer your question, physical training or ‘PT’ is essentially building muscle, strength, stamina, and endurance. These are core facets needed by any soldier, whether you need to run twenty kilometers to your next battle field after a retreating enemy, fleeing a battlefield to a more advantageous location, or need to carry my fat ass up a hill to save it.”

  With no other comments about what was going to happen he called the group to attention and began showing them the various exercises that would help build up their basic fitness. An hour passed with him showing them all each exercise and the proper commands for each when it was time to move into running them through them. After an hour of pushups, sit-ups, squats, crunches, and countless other exercises he called them all to a halt. Each person except Thrak were panting and had a light sheen of sweat covering them. Once they were all on their feet he gave them the command ‘right, face’ which pointed them facing the backs of the person next to them.

  “Alright, recruits.” Wolf said cheerily with a sadistic grin. “We are about to go on a little run. I figure ten to twenty laps around the perimeter of the cave would be a good way to end our little work out session. For-urd, Mar-ch!” Quickly followed by, “Double Ti~me, Mar-ch!”

  After he gave the commands he had them pick up a brisk jog, berating them to keep up and stay in formation. While Thrak may have not been fazed much by the muscle workout he was fazed by the run. Within thirty minutes he was wheezing, gasping, and struggling like the best of them. Wolf had gotten them through seven out of eighteen planned laps but due to their inability to keep up and stay together he decided to end it early. At least, that is what he told them, as he was getting winded quickly himself.

  Rapid firing the next few commands he brought them to a halt and facing him. Spitting in mock disgust, in a harsh commanding tone he said, “That was pathetic, the only one who could have kept going was Dinish, and don’t you pretend like you didn’t struggle like the rest of them before the run. You were just as pathetic. You all need to reach deep within yourselves and grab what little willpower you claim to have and do the dam job your given. Corporal Lefful! Take charge and get your squad bathed. You will assign one member who you believe did the worst job today during the PT session to be responsible for washing your nasty ass clothing. After you all wash the funk off yourselves we will begin a class on basic field hygiene. You have thirty minutes to wash up and get dressed.”

  After saying his piece Wolf walked over to the small pools of water to begin giving himself a cold bath when Lefful walked up to him.

  “Wolf will you be heating the water, so we can wash?”

  “No, you all need to become accustomed to washing in cold water and do not deserve hot water yet. I suggest that you hurry otherwise I will cut it down to twenty minutes. If one of you does not make my timeline we will be doing another PT session to help you understand that moving quickly and efficiently is in your best interest.”

  At that comment Lefful scampered off to get them moving. Once Wolf had finished wiping down himself with a cold wet rag he dressed in a light linen tunic and canvas pants. He started preparing a breakfast stew for them while they fumbled around trying to get cleaned as best they could in the limited time. As the time slowly ticked away they came running back in various degrees of damp to being still down right soaked with water and soap. Lining up they held their bowls ready for their meal. Off to the side was Lefful directing traffic ensuring that each was as prepared to get their meal as quickly as possible while maintaining some semblance of discipline. Wolf felt pride in the little goblinette as she was starting to shape up into a fine leader. The nights where they spent on watch together were starting to show some signs of fruit.

  Once all the troops were served did he serve Lefful and took the remainder for himself. He did this for two reasons; it showed that he did not see himself above his subordinates, and showed his prioritization of their wellbeing over his. Lead by example was the mantra that he lectured into Lefful’s skull, and to not do this would contradict his intended lessons. Quickly finishing his meager meal, he went ahead and called their attention while they continued eating.

  “Okay recruits, today will be basic field hygiene…” Wolf started as he began teaching the basics of being a soldier.

  The days began to blur in routine as they would go from one activity to the next. The first week and much of the second was a combination of mostly lecture and PT. During the days he would work with the various goblins understanding their role and purpose in the squad while also working on how to cooperate with each other. In the latter half of the second week Frong had managed to make some decent armor from the salvaged materials they had. This to the dismay of the others was then used to further enhance the PT sessions as they were now required to be wearing everything they would normally carry when on the road.

  Walking at a brisk pace around the perimeter of the large room carrying stone laden burlap sacks was not what they would deem a ‘Sunday stroll’ as Wolf seemed to call it. If they had any complaints, they were quickly silenced when they saw the tangible progress that they made each day through their stats. It was at the end of the second week when Wolf decided to start training them with weapons. These goblins would never be able to fight like he did simply because it would take much too long to properly train them. They needed to be a fully functional unit without any fancy tactics or heroics. Xen was shaping up to be the squad’s medic and while she enjoyed patching up the minor wounds, bruises and scrapes, she had yet to see anything more life threatening than a fractured bone.

  Xen further had an insatiable taste for hand to hand combat. Once Wolf showed several of them a few Jiujutsu and Aikido techniques she was all but smitten by the fighting form. Wolf didn’t see a problem with it as she justified it by saying
, ‘if I am working on a patient and an enemy comes within range to strike me down. Picking up a weapon or shield while in the middle of treatment would only delay me and likely result in my death.’ Wolf couldn’t fault her logic and relented in giving her the specialized training, though not without him getting a bonus of his own body becoming reconditioned to the fighting style as well.

  Frong had managed to make several medium round shields. To him they were medium but to the goblins they were large round shields. He got them practicing a simple shield walls where they overlapped their shields with each other to prevent a break through by the enemy. It was slow progress, but they were starting to become effective between switching from a shield wall defense to having their spears out ready to impale any would be attacker. The training was brutal, but by the time Wolf was satisfied they wouldn’t die in their first battle. When he was finished all members had managed to unlock the spear and shield progressive skills as well as basic formation skills.

  At the end of the third week, the goblins of this pack would not be the world’s special forces, but they would easily beat any village militia hands down. Telling them that no watch shifts would be held that night and they should all get some sleep as the next day would be a long and quite possibly the hardest day of their lives. What they didn’t know was Wolf was preparing their graduation gifts. Each would be receiving a pendant denoting their position in the squad as well as acting as their version of dog tags. For Frong he carved the image of crossed hammers overlaying a spool of cloth, for Dinish cross arrows overlaying a hooded figure, Thrak a cuirass with cross swords, Xen a quill overlaying a cross, and finally Lefful received a castle overlaid by three chevrons. When he was finished, he stared at the emblems for a good long while feeling that there was something missing with them.

  Hours flew by while he simply stared at them unable to figure out what was missing. He ran through the list of things that would be needed on them. Position, age, name, even a service number and location where sergeant stripes could be clipped on when they needed. Wondering and racking his brain as to what was missing a prompt interrupted his thought process.

  Would you like to begin ‘Týr’s Rite’?

  YN

  Thinking to himself sure why the hell not and selected yes.

  Attention, you have allowed Týr to assume control of your body until the preparations for the Rite are complete.

  Congratulation! You have unlocked the trait ‘War Trainer (Týr) at Beginner Level 1

  War Trainer (Týr) Level 1 (Passive, Trait) – All beings trained or being trained by you receive a +10% permanent increase in stats. In battle you receive a +1 increase in damage dealt for each subordinate that you trained in a 10-meter radius.

  Wolf lost complete control of his body. Confusion, fear, and of course anger pulsed through him until he felt that a higher being flexed some sort of muscle and squashed his willpower as though it was tissue paper. His body continued to move taking him for a ride. Throughout this entire ride he watched himself use all his MP to create a large blackened marble bowl. Each time he thought he would pass out from using all his MP a rush of strength would fill him restoring his MP bar to full only to be used again in the same fashion.

  By the time the large black marble bowl was finished he stood completely exhausted from MP usage. Looking around he saw that the entire of squad of goblins had already risen and were staring in awe at him.

  “What?” Wolf asked trying to play off his exhaustion

  “Wolf, do you know what just happened?” Lefful asked astounded.

  Sarcastically he replied, “Obviously not, I figured I would just let any old random person, thing, or power just come down and play, ‘Let’s take over this fucker’s body’ it will be fun they said, it will be good they said.”

  Looking down at the large black basin he felt that it would be the right decision to place all the emblems in the basin and fill it full of water. Seeing no reason to deny this idea as it seemed pretty good, he instructed them all to get some clean water from the pond. When the basin was full of water he placed the first pendant in the water. This one was Xen’s emblem, so he called her up. In an act that felt right he withdrew his kukri from its sheath and cut a deep slash into his wrist.

  You have been inflicted with a ‘Bleeding’ debuff, 2 HP damage per second for ten seconds.

  For all ten seconds he let his blood dribble into the basin where the water seemed to turn completely scarlet. Motioning for her to give him her hand he in turn slashed her across the wrist where he had done the same to himself letting the blood flow into the basin. As the last drops fell into the basin something unexpected happened. The water immediately shot out of the basin and started snaking up and around Xen’s arm. A panicked yelp escaped her mouth and fear betrayed her face as the scarlet water began to create a cocoon around her. For some reason Wolf did not feel that her or any of them were in any danger and the cocoon resembled that of an egg. When he used ‘Analyze’ he saw that it was an egg of some sort which would change her into…something different. The gestation period would be about six months and was all but indestructible from the outside.

  Not letting the others have the time to reconsider if they would be the next he told them to get more water for the basin. The next emblem placed into the water was Thrak’s, repeating the process resulted in a similar cocoon. While Xen’s was scarlet, Thrak’s was a beautiful turquoise. Again, the process repeated, this time it was Dinish, who’s cocoon was a pitch black. Frong was the next person to be encased in a pale creamy white cocoon. Finally, Lefful was the final goblin that was not encased. She struggled to fill the basin with water from the pond, Wolf wanted to help her but knew that this was something she needed to do herself.

  He couldn’t tell why he felt that way but knew that this was something that she was supposed to do. Repeating the process like with the others he paused right before he slashed her wrist.

  “Lefful, I want you to know that when this is all over. The pack is yours, do take care of them. There is still much you need to learn but it won’t be from me.” Wolf said somehow knowing that he wouldn’t be here when they finally ‘hatch’.

  When she didn’t respond, but had what looked like a tear in her eye she nodded. With a quick slash of her wrist her blood poured into the basin for the ten seconds. The water took on a deep and vibrant green as it snaked up her arm.

  As it began to encase her, she took this last moment to speak up, “Wolf when we meet I have a feeling that you will be quite surprised at how we look.” When she finished saying that the cocoon was fully encasing her. Of all the soldiers and people, he had trained, somehow, he felt that these ones would have the greatest impact the world he now inhabited.

  You have started the quest ‘Clearing the Way’

  Type: UniqueDifficulty: Variable

  Condition: Find and mark a safe path for the Pack to leave the Underground Structure

  Reward: 100,000EXP, Divine Absolution (Removal of Bounty)

  Penalty: Reduction to Level 1

  Right before he was about to go collapse, something in the basin caught his eye. Reaching down his hand came across a ring that seemed to have come from nowhere. The material was an oaken brown and had a crude and unrefined look to it. Using analysis on it brought up several notifications that absolutely floored him.

  Name: Refreus’ Ring of the Mentor

  Quality: Master-crafted

  Creator: Unknown

  Durability: Indestructible

  Slot: Ring

  Unlockable Quest: Life is Study

  Type: Divine Scalable

  Rarity: Unique Divine

  Weight: .1 kg

  Rafreus, the God of Education had this ring created for his first and most beloved follower. While the name of the follower has been lost to time. He was known for traveling the land riding an odd mechanical steed he called a ‘Miyazuki Go’ constantly chanting his motto “Life is Study”

  Current Owner: Wolf Mikall
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  Divine scalable

  1*Character Level = +9 INT

  1*Character Level = +9 WIS

  .1*Character Level = +.9% Faster Development of Progressive Skills

  Quest: Life is Study; Type: Epic – Learn 3/4 Progressive skills and reach the rank Master in each

  Reward: Unknown

  Congratulations! You have introduced a new method of teaching the denizen of this world. Refreus, the God of Education awards you 10,000 EXP.

  Congratulations! You have attained level 10. You have 4 stat points, 1 skill point, and 1 racial point to distribute.

  Having attained Level 10 you have the option to select a ‘Tier 1’ preferred class. Each class comes with positive and negative effects toward certain activities, skills, and abilities. You will be able to choose a previously unselected class or a ‘Tier 2’ class along the same path as previously selected. *Note* Some classes are only selectable by combining between 2-6 different professions, having the pre-requisite skills, abilities, or traits. You have 1 Hour to make your initial selection or forfeit this choice.