"Hmmm. Well... to start with, I can tell you about how I raised the town's best soldier with my own 2 hands," offered the Sergeant.
"Oooh. I would definitely like to hear about that, sir," replied Moonshine, making sure not to forget the manners.
"Alright then... Let's see." His eyes seemed to gloss over, as he reminisced over the past. "It was 10 years ago; back when I was getting ready to retire. A new squad of unpolished gems were given to me, just like normal. But in this squad, there was a very special soldier who had the potential to become as hard and sharp as a diamond." Hearing the man begin his tale, everyone in the Guild hall seemed to start to quiet down and give their full attention.
The old man continued. "So, I started my training like usual: In the morning, a 4 mile run with each soldier carrying a 50 pound sack. After that, we would begin our exercises. 50 100 yard sprints, done 3 times over. Then, I would tell them to take the sandbags outside of their sacks and attach them to themselves. Then, they would begin their 200 push-ups. By now, the bodies would start dropping and passing out, as I haven't given them a meal yet, and the water that they would all drink would be shared between all of them in 3 canisters. Seeing somebody pass out, I would kick them until they woke up and once again began their push-ups. Then, they would move on to sit-ups."
Almost everyone in the guild had a face of either disgust or shock after hearing about the hellish training regiment. 'Is this old man a Sadist?' wondered Moonshine with a look of bewilderment.
"After the simple calisthenics, the real part of the gem tempering began." He started his disturbing fantasy up again. "After a five mile hike, we would arrive at the training area. Here, I would put 59 people against each other to fight hand-to-hand for their meal of the day; the winners would eat, while the losers would starve. And mind you, they still haven't taken off their sandbags."
"And I personally would fight that diamond in the rough, and beat him until he was black and blue. And for good measure, I made sure to break 1 of his fingers." The old man seemed to be relishing in his past, as his face started to get a bit red. "Once the Battle Royale ended, I would hand them the various weapons in the training ground's shacks: spears, shields, swords, and bows. We would train with each weapon for the rest of the afternoon. At the beginning of each weapon training, I would force the soldiers to pair up and begin attacking each other. They would keep stabbing, or slashing, or...Mmm... smashing into each other until their partner was laid out on the floor.
'Definitely a fucking Sadist.'
"Of course, I would take my precious diamond and make him obsolete. Then, we would start practicing the forms of each weapon: the correct way to hold them, attack with them; the specific stance you need to use all of its power. All of that various garbage."
"After everybody was delight--*cough*" He corrected himself. "--terribly bleeding, we would begin out trek towards the station base that was on the outskirts of the town. There, everybody would either head towards their home or the healing tubs on base. It all depended on their wealth. Well, everybody except my uncompressed carbon, that is," he said with a smile.(Diamonds are just carbon that have gone under extreme pressure and heat, by the way.)
"How horrible," whispered someone.
"Completely disgusting," whispered another.
"No wonder he got forcefully discharged..."
"SILENCE!" Hearing these comments, the Sergeant yelled out for everybody to be quiet. "I am trying to tell this young one about my stories," he said a bit more gently.
"Now, let me continue. The black diamond's extra training was very simple: he would just have to do what he went through again, but faster."
CRSSH!
The waiter's beer mug shattered on the ground, with all of the cheap beer going everywhere. His face was gaping in complete shock, but it wasn't from broken glass.
"Whaaaat? He had a better body than the rest of the group, so I thought he could handle it." The people looking at him still didn't forgive him for his decision.
"Tch. Fine. To make a long story short, they ALL PASSED my training, and became the strong gems they were meant to be. And to talk about the diamond specifically; ever since he became an official soldier, the town had always been at peace," he finished, ending the story.
Finally snapping out of her trance, Moonshine quietly asked, "And is he still patrolling?"
"Nah. He died 2 years ago to a rogue hobgoblin ambush...Haaa; and he just passed Level 130 too," he said with some pity in his voice.
'You've got to be kidding...after all this keener(overachiever) did to train/abuse these guys, in the end the best one died!?' realized Moonshine, disturbed. 'And now I have to ask this guy to train me?' *siiiiiiiiiiiigh*
After all the patrons of the Guild went back to their own business, Moon proceeded to regretfully ask the old man, " After hearing the tales of your shit--- I mean incredible training, I've been wondering: If it isn't too much, is it possible--" she inhaled possibly the last good breath she would have in a while. "--For you to personally train me?"
"Ohoh? So that's why you wanted to hear a story... Well, I personally would be delighted to---"
"Of course you would," she said under her breath.
"But, in all honestly young man, there's really no reason for me to train you."
The world froze.
"...W-what?"
"All the gems I've trained had an average Level of 70, so they were able to reap very splendid benefits from my training. But you on the other hand, are already around my precious diamond's level. If I trained you, you would barely improve! All you would be is a pretty crystal with refined edges!" he finished.
......
"...Now that some Crazy shit."