The Ghost Shepherd

First Day of Training

“The Puppeteer? Are there any other files of her fighting against Argonians?”

“There are a few” said K.C

Every single video started the same, a leisure walk through different areas with different Argonians, some used long range abilities, others tried to ambush her through various means but none of them were able to put up a fight or even dirty her clothes.

“Amazing!! … There is a video for every single monster I saw in the book, Guide to the Argonians of Planet Alpha”

“Yes, It almost looks like a tutorial for new hunters”

“Why do you say that K.C”

“That is easy, even if a hunter is vastly superior to an enemy, they will always be a little surprised when they encounter them. The Puppeteer acts like she knows what is coming and the most optimal way to defeat them every time. Either she has an ability to sense the enemy or she already knows what is coming using previously recorded information. Take a look at this...”

K.C displayed a map of the hunting areas highlighting the probability of finding the different species and the environment in each of the sections. She was right on point, environment and species match exactly with the videos he saw before.

"I need all the help I can get but l am starving, Let's go get some steaks"

Sly headed for the door and swung it open and then screamed in pain while he rolled on the floor like he was caught on fire.

My eyes … It hurts …

I told you, didn't I.

There was no rebuttal from Sly, just the sounds of something slithering on the floor and then of a door closing.

It took a while but the pain finally subsided and he removed his hands from his eyes to check.

"I can see… oh thank the heavens"

Sly had been opening his eyes to see his whole life so keeping them close was very hard to do. There was no other way to solve the problem but to improvise a blindfold with an old shirt which he made into a long ribbon that went over his eyes a few times.

The increase in height was also an issue, he looked like he was using his younger brother's clothes on laundry day but he was too broke to do anything about it.

Sly opened the door a bit frightened but with the blindfold there were no issues. Everytime he opened his eyes behind the blindfold, he was able to see clearly but if he closed them, he was completely blind. It was a weird phenomena that even the mother AI was trying to solve but for the time being the blindfold worked like a charm.

"This hunger is awful, I feel like a can eat an oversized draco"

"You might need to start hunting soon, with the way you are eating the government coupons are not going to last you until the end of the month"

Sly scratched his head but he couldn't stop thinking about tearing into a juicy, and rare piece of steak.

The streets were brightly lit and the moment he stepped into the street something interesting happened. He was not only able to see the people but also from time to time he saw spirits. They looked distorted and almost amorphous, they were an accumulation of some type of gas and for the most part, they didn't resemble any creature at all.

Sly kept walking towards his destination and found out that every time he walked past one, it was absorbed by the core of the Abyssal Demon like a vacuum. The gas was then processed and from a dark color changed into an ethereal blue that was then sent into his body via the connections created by the Nanotrons giving him the feeling that he was becoming lightheaded. The gas went once around and finally ended up in the middle of his eyebrows and stopped there. The change was infinitesimally small but he couldn't deny it had happened nonetheless.

Every now and again he saw more completed spirits that actually resembled a creature but he still couldn't stop the core from absorbing them and they didn't struggle at all.

K.C was able to tell that there were changes happening by evaluating Sly's brainwaves but she actually couldn't detect the energy gathering on his forehead.

"Hey... Sly wait up! "

Sly looked back and saw Millie walking towards him while waving her hand constantly like trying to show a blind person that she was there.

"I can see you, no problem"

"Ah great… you were gone for three days and I can barely recognize you. If it wasn't for your slouching walk, I would have passed you by"

" My enhancement went a little faster than I anticipated and I slept through it. I am starving though"

" I guess, I can go with you. Where are you going?"

" Moe's, I still got some coupons"

"You ballin 'tonight’ … ha"

" Not really, but is all you can eat steak night"

"I heard a rumour that the roddens in the city had been disappearing"

"And I am going to enjoy every one of them," said Sly showing his pearly whites.

"Holy s**t, what are those"

Sly quickly close his mouth and turned around before he walked away but Millie quickly caught up and said, "Let me see… let me see"

"Wow … not one molar. All razor sharp. I see why you are eating meat. You can probably rip it from a corpse"

"Sigh… small price to pay"

"Is a gain in my book. If you want to be a hunter, they could be another weapon you could use in a tight spot"

Sly remembered how the dracos attacked and thought that it made sense.

"Did you check out the videos?"

"Yes, I did. They were really helpful. Thank you"

"When are you going to hunt your quota"

Shrug!

"When I am ready, I guess. I need to train with my new weapon and find out more about my new abilities. That reminds me, do you know other Umdalis here on planet Alpha?"

"A couple, why do you ask?"

"There was this amazing hunter, her code name was the Puppeteer. She was definitely an Umdali and was really awesome"

"Nope, never heard of her"

"I see, no biggy"

Millie and Sly arrived at Moe's to see the place packed with students eating from the buffet with gusto but the moment Sly took a look at the meat being cooked and the slicing station, he cringed. It was the first time since he left his room that he was able to see complete spirits and they were still hanging around that area. They had the shape of an oversized posson.

"I guess the rumors were true," said Sly under his breath.

"What was that"

"Nothing" (show teeth)

Gasp!!

The students around immediately took pictures and memes with captions such as "When enhancements go wrong", and " it is only funny until you are next" spread like wildfire.

Knowing what was for dinner didn't change his appetite one bit and he happily put away 6 pounds of rare meat before he parted ways with Millie and headed to the training facilities of the school.

The use of all the facilities in the school were free to students and they were state of the art. K.C made the arrangements beforehand and Sly went to room 10. The room was one of the bigger ones on campus and it was necessary in order for him to swing around a 7 ft scythe without any problems.

The Nanotrons left Sly's body like a dark gas and took with it the core from his chest before arranging itself into a weapon in his hands.

The Scythe was light, he could hold it with one hand like one would hold a staff and unlike two handed axes that were heavy, his weapon was one of finesse that could be used to cut cleanly with its sharp blade or used the sharp tip to impale the enemies.

K.C created Sly’s training program starting with swing practice and the proper way to use the weapon. She sent images of an attack and then he had to replicate it while she measured the degree of accuracy until it reached one hundred percent. Being able to copy an attack to 100 percent did not mean mastery over the technique but it at least ensured that the weapon could do its job with a high degree of accuracy.

Low cuts, high cuts, stab to the head, distance management were the first to be studied followed by two/three move combos and counter attacks. Sly started slow but quickly got the hang of it and instinctively put together some attacks that were supposed to be a little more advanced for a first session.

"I guess all that government training did pay off"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, virtual combat is next" said K.C

It was called virtual combat because the room generated holograms that would attack him depending on the level of difficulty chosen prior to the exercise to check his progress.

Time flew by and before Sly realized it, he had been training for 2 days straight. It was a feat that was impossible to do before his enhancement.

The room interrupted his training for safety reasons and the lack of stimuli made him realize that the session was done and that somehow he was once again starving.

"Let's take a break"

K.C was amazed by the changes, she could see that the last two days of training were not Sly’s limit but she didn't want to push him too hard from the get go.

"You need to eat and get some sleep. Well done"

Sly was surprised, it was the first time his chip didn't make a remark about his lack of talent and actually gave him props. The room opened and Sly stepped through into a blazing sun that pricked his skin.

He looked at the sky and said, "I haven't seen you in a while"