The Ghost Shepherd

Unexpected Meeting

Sly was getting better and better everyday while the training sessions were getting longer and longer.  

Everytime he left the training grounds, he absorbed as many spirits as he could after he realized that his mind improved and that he was more focused thanks to the weird gas that accumulated in the middle of his eyebrows.  K.C definitely noticed the difference but since it was nothing detrimental, she let it slide and instead concentrated in analyzing Sly's data and coming up with better ways to fight the different types of Argonians.

The only drawback to the training sessions was the lack of a way to simulate the killing intent displayed by the Argonians and that the pattern of the holograms was more restricted than what a real scenario could bring. 

As Sly proficiency with the weapon increased, the schedule changed to have him train dodging and defensive maneuvers in the laser room.   The lasers were calibrated to burn the skin but they didn't inflict any lethal damage to the students. The room set up was simple, many floating orbs capable of shooting lasers in any direction went around the room doing what they do best and Sly tried to avoid or deflect them.

After the physical training was done, it was time to watch videos.  Sly's understanding of strategy grew and he discovered that compared to true range fighters, the ability he had gained from the Abyssal Demon was pretty weak and that standard issue plasma guns sold in the weapon stores inflicted more damage.

It was one of the drawbacks of the E.F.S, the skills were fairly weak at the beginning and since there was technology that could take care of the small fry more efficiently, hunters intuitively were drawn to neglect the system and used the available weaponry such as laser and plasma guns to kill their foes.

The problem arose when they fought Commander and Lord class beings and their plasma weaponry didn't act as intended.  E.F.S was evolutionary and that meant that after upgrading it, not only the weapon but the hunter could be capable of amazing feats.

The ability Sly acquired could be called an energy blade. When he used it, a replica of his scythe made out of ethereal blue energy flew in a straight line towards the target and attempted to cut it or so they thought but it turned out, it didn't cut.  Every time it hit the target, it just went inside and disappeared without leaving a scratch.

K.C was not discouraged one bit but was jealous of the Nanotrons that could cover the edge of the blade with energy particles that vibrate at high speeds increasing the cutting power of the weapon.  

Metal targets that were harder to penetrate than any Argonian in planet Alpha were cut clean without the need for a second swing.  

Sly was like sponge absorbing everything he could, as Millie said, "maybe being a hunter was his call"  

A month went by in a flash and the transformation was incredible, Sly knew that he somehow had advanced by leaps and bounds but the videos he watched every day show what real combat was like, brutal and merciless.  

It was time to head to the forest and find out if he really had what it took.  Sly opened the door and was startled by the person that was passing by, it was serendipitous.  Pink Kimono, Metal Mask, elegant demeanor...it was, the Puppeteer.

Blindfold and mask stare at each other for a couple of seconds before the distorted voice of a girl said, "are you a student?"

Sly nodded his head but remained silent.

"Are you done with this room?" 

Nod

The Puppeteer walked past Sly towards the inside as he moved out of the way almost by reflex.  There were so many things he wanted to ask, but couldn't get the words out.  Sly hesitated a bit and all he managed to do was look uncomfortable.

Sigh… Sly just turned away but then he was stopped in his tracks by yet another question.

"I never seen anybody with your enhancement before. Let me see what you got"

The Puppeteer kept walking until she was in the middle of the room and stood there waiting.

"What a lucky bastard, this is perfect...GO!" said K.C

Sly saw his chance and quickly went in before the door closed. He observed every little detail of his opponent and realized that compared to the videos she was really tall.  In the videos she looked tiny but the person in front was at least a foot taller than Millie and her hair was a metallic red instead.

The Puppeteer bent her knees a little and to the side to do a Martial Bow and proceeded to create her trusty assistant.  Sly was getting really excited, the puppet was amazing and he couldn't wait to go against it.

His Nanotrons also came out and took form while he reciprocated the bow, the way he was taught to.

The next moment the intercom sounded.  Difficulty level set to level 10. There is a High risk of injury.... please make your preparations.  

Challenge will start in... 5..4..3..2..1.

“Hey wait a sec”

The spheres started to spin and sent hundreds of lasers towards both of them, Sly had cleared the stage already and started running around avoiding and defending himself from the lasers whenever he needed to.  The Puppeteer on the other hand had Nanotrons form small shields all around her that stop the lasers in their tracks while the puppet launched itself towards Sly at full speed before appearing by his side and punched him in the ribs.

Crack

Sly lost his balance and fell a couple of feet away and was then bombarded by the lasers.  

“Challenge terminated”

Sly was trying to catch his breath and he was burned all over. He was pissed at the girl in front of him that had no conscience.  

“How could she attacked me when I was trying to dodge the stupid lasers, it’s...it’s unfair” he thought.

The Puppeteer took out a syringe from her own space folder and approached Sly who was looking perplexed by her actions but could not stop thinking about how he wanted to strangle her and how he could have done better if he was giving a warning of what was about to happen.   

The girl came really close to Sly and without warning plunged the syringe to the side of his chest where his ribs had cracked and released the contents.  The Medicine in the Syringe had two effects, the first was that of a powerful analgesic and the other was to provide the material necessary for the Nanotros to heal the broken cells.  

Sly weapon disappeared and the crystal and nanotrons went inside his chest boosting his own recovery even more. 

“10%” Said the Puppeteer

“Hmm?”

“There is only a 10% chance you will survive in the forest.  You have such high specs, it will be a waste to lose such an asset.  It is your luck we met, I have a week before my next assignment so I will see to it that you can make it in this planet”   

If K.C had a body, she would be nodding her head.  She had been contemplating the problem of Sly’s lack of fighting experience and now the opportunity to solve it had just shown at their front door.

“Quickly! Say `thank you’ ” said K.C

“Thank you”

“You have 1 minute to stand up and We will start”

The Puppeteer didn’t wait for his response and went towards her previous position and so did her doll.  

Difficulty level set to 1.  Challenge will commence in 5…

Sly grabbed his weapon and waited for the countdown to finish before attacking with a horizontal sweep but it was stopped by the arm of the doll that was transformed into a lance and very skillfully deflected it.

Pew!

AHHH.

Sly looked at his stomach and saw a hole the size of a thumb all the way through and when he looked at his opponent, there was a tiny gun in her hand.    

“What the...Cheater”

Sly fell backwards and his Nanotrons went inside his body to take care of the wound.

“Not everyone that has an E.F.S weapon uses it and what are you going to do if you are injured in a fight, recall your weapon? Take a look at this”

The puppeteer created some of the shields she used to stop the lasers before and show Sly their source. It was her Puppet.  She was making parts of her weapon thinner and using those nanotrons for another purpose.

“This is Nanotron Handling 101, take your weapon as an example, the extreme sharpness of your weapon must be related to your nanotrons reinforcing the edge.  Although it might be on the weapon’s specs to do it, for that small wound you can take some of them back into your body so they can work on the wound.  Your weapon will be slightly dull depending on how many you took but with the abilities of the Argonian core you can compensate for the loss”.

Sly tried it and was amazed by its utility, even though the healing was reduced he could still fight and that was especially important during a life or death situation.  

The knowledge came pouring out of the Puppeteer and Sly absorbed it like a sponge, it was the invaluable experience of somebody that had been in the trenches and now she was imparting it to him.  He felt like the luckiest guy on planet Alpha but the pain didn’t stop for a whole week, if anybody were to see the amount of scars he accumulated, they would have thought he had been a hunter for a lifetime.