Karl motioned for the newly chosen Elites to come forward so that he could make a lesson plan.
“First, as I’m being assigned to help train you, I need to know what you know besides the basic combat training of the Church soldiers. What skills did you get from your class, and what do you have available? Other than Nikki, the Tiger Monk, you are all Beast Rangers, so your skills should be similar.” Karl began.
The others gestured for the odd man out, the lone Beast Ranger that had a Moor Cat, to do the explanation.
“Well, Beast Ranger is a ranged combat class, with our teammate as our close combatant. The first skill that I got was [Deadly Accuracy] which boosts my skill with a bow. But I also got a system reward for going first, and it gave me [Shadow Meld], for hiding in the forest to set up an ambush.
If I am reading the class description right, we should all gain extra stats and abilities from the bonded beast that we chose. For certain, my agility and strength have increased substantially.” He explained.
One of the other boys nodded in agreement. “For those of us with a Cerro, it’s our strength and stamina. Jogging over here behind them wasn’t even enough to raise my heart rate. I got the same starting skill, but no bonus.
Once I have a couple of points, however we get those, I can start picking bow skills like Infinite Arrows and Lightning Bolt.”
The others nodded. “The skills seem to be the same for all of us. So, we will be good at working in a group.”
Karl chuckled. “You have no idea how true that is. You see, your Lightning Cerro can learn to extend Refreshing Lightning over you with relative ease, and the whole group with a bit more difficulty. So, you will be excellent at working in a group, as your partner is specialized in team defence.
For the one friend with a Moor Cat, you are clearly the team’s scout, as you specialize in stealth, and I will start training you with the rogue types in my group to build your skills.”
“You have a powerful Rogue in your team?” The Ranger asked.
“Technically no. But I have a Monarch Rank Bloodbath Spider, and if there is anything in this world that knows about ambushing and becoming the reason other species fear the dark, it’s Rae.”
The cadet looked concerned about actually being able to learn anything from a Spider, but Karl hadn’t mentioned that Rae could take on human form yet.
“Now, for the Tiger Monk, what are your skills?” Karl asked.
“I have two basic skills right now, [Energy Strike] and [Merger]. One is self-explanatory, the other lets me boost my power with my Moor Cat’s presence when she is in my mental space. There are skills in my skill tree for us to fight together, so I don’t think it’s supposed to be an all the time thing, but more for when she is recovering, or it isn’t practical for us both to fight.” Nikki replied.
“And you already know basic unarmed combat, so there is no issue there. Your training should be fairly easy. You can train with the warriors, but on a higher level, as the other two that I have in training right now are freshmen.”
[More Pack Members?] One of the Cerro Hatchlings asked.
“Indeed, young Cerro. There are more military pack members there for you to meet, as well as my pack members, and a Monarch Rank Cerro named Thor.”
That was all that the young ones needed to hear to be back at full energy and running around the playground, while the Rangers were shocked that Karl could understand what the Cerro wanted to know.
“Follow me everyone. We’re going to the guard training grounds, where the rest of your fellow trainees are waiting to meet you.
Well, they don’t know you’re coming yet, but they will soon. There are only a few hours left in today’s training routine, but before we call it a night, there is time for you all to get to meet your other specialists.” Karl explained as he waved goodbye to the Headmistress of the Orphans’ school and started to walk toward the training grounds with a pair of Moor Cats circling his feet and a line of Cerro Hatchlings behind him.
“It’s like the pied piper. They will follow him anywhere.” One of the Rangers complained.
And that was what they did, in an odd little procession all the way across the park to the training area.
They had gathered quite the crowd by the time they arrived, all intrigued by the presence of the baby beasts, and eager to find out what sort of thing they were up to at the Cathedral today.
The training areas weren’t precisely off limits to the public, they just weren’t popular visiting spots for anyone without a reason to be there. So, the small crowd followed them back and saw the recruits learning basic combat skills along with Karl’s group of Acolytes, who were using Skills.
That immediately marked them as Elites, who would normally be finishing their first year at the Academy right now.
But those beasts who were following Karl weren’t a year old yet, and that started the rumours that the whole group, nearly a dozen students, had gotten their Classes early.
That was huge gossip for the bored residents of the Capital, even before the group of Cerro Hatchlings raced across the sand to go see Thor. The sight was so adorable that everyone wished there was a reporter here to take proper professional pictures.
Then, Thor began lining them up in a row, while Dana made barriers for them.
The onlookers were confused, but Karl got everyone moving. “Cerro team, head to your partners. You will be practising working together as they charge. Moor Cats, Nikki will be with Ophelia learning offensive coordination, and Pat will be with Lady Rae to practice your stealth skills.”
Karl gestured in the right directions, and Sybil gave a relieved sigh as she saw that there was finally someone to distract Rae’s full attention from her.
Little did she know that the special forces cadet was at a higher standard of basic training than she was, and other than skills, she had a long way to go to catch up.