"Ugh…Master, I think I—I think I'm at my limit."
"Come on, only two more."
Luke's arms trembled as he lowered himself again, face inches from the grass. Otto sat squarely on his upper back, knees tucked, perfectly balanced, using his Sorcery to make himself more heavy.
"I—hngh—how are you so heavy…" Luke groaned, sweat dripping onto the lawn.
"Lots of protein," Otto said, deadpan. "Keep going. This is your punishment for exposing me."
Luke let out a strangled growl and forced himself up. His elbows shook like they were trying to file for emancipation.
"One," Otto counted, calm as ever.
Luke collapsed halfway, palms sinking into the soft earth. His breath came in ragged bursts.
"...I forgot you were being targeted."
"However, you certainly seemed to be enjoying the show," said Otto gently. "Don't think I didn't notice your eyes full of amusement."
With a final, desperate push Luke locked his arms and immediately face-planted into the grass, utterly spent.
Otto dispelled his magic, stood up, and left. A long silence followed–only the wind in the fake trees and Luke's labored breathing could be heard.
After that minor incident, Otto took him to an isolated section of the first park he could find. They didn't really need that much privacy, but, fearing that someone might have followed them, Otto chose to train there.
However, the place wasn't bad. It was secluded enough that Otto could feel comfortable, it wasn't far, and it had a small lake that they could use.
'I am glad I stumbled upon this place while I was lost before.'
Turning back to Luke, he nudged him with his feet.
"Hey. You still with me?"
A weak, muddy thumbs-up rose from the ground.
"Good," Otto said, stretching lazily. "Catch your breath. Training starts in a minute."
"That wasn't the training!?"
"Of course not,"
Luke groaned, long and theatrical, loud enough to echo off the ring of trees that hid this corner of the park from the rest of the world.
He lay sprawled on his back now, staring up at the patches of sky between the leaves, chest heaving. Sunlight dappled his face; somewhere far off, a lawnmower droned, but here it was just them and the quiet.
Otto crouched beside him, poking his ribs.
"Dramatic. It was only a few push-ups."
"With you on my back," Luke muttered, spitting out a blade of grass. "You weigh as much as a vending machine. Is that your ability or something?"
Otto's grinned.
"Told you, pure protein."
Luke closed his eyes against the sun.
"So what's next? Are you gonna teach me some secret sword dance? Maybe some weird breathing techniques of your Clan?"
Otto blinked.
"Where are you even getting these ideas?" He sighed, "Learning some fancy swordplay won't help you survive in the Dream World. Do you even know how to make a fire? How to hunt for food? Do you even know how to swim?"
"Swim? Why would I need to learn that?"
Otto shook his head,
"See? You are underprepared. But you are in luck, I am the master of survivalism. I will teach you what you need to know to survive."
'Survive in the Forgotten shore at least.' he added silently.
Luke cracked one eye open, squinting up at Otto through the glare.
"I am already regretting my decision…"
***
The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur of sweat, dirt, and reluctant competence.
Otto showed him how to start a fire with nothing more than a stick and a wad of dry grass. It took three tries until Luke got a flame that lasted longer than ten seconds. He also pointed out two edible plants in the clearing and one that would make him wish he were dead. Nothing of that would help him survive the Forgotten Shore though, he only needed to fill the schedule to look like he was actually teaching him something useful.
What he really needed to learn was how to swim, or more specifically, how not to drown.
Surprisingly, Luke didn't know how to swim. It took them all the remaining time just to make him understand that he shouldn't breath under water under any situation. Somehow that simple fact didn't seem to get into his head.
Almost as if Something were interfering. Fortunately, Otto managed to imprint it on his mind the hard way; there wasn't the slightest chance he would forget it now.
By the time the sun brushed the treetops, Luke was damp, smoky, and too exhausted to complain.
"That's good enough." Otto finally said, "We can continue tomorrow."
Luke just nodded, wondering why he had accepted that.
They walked out of the secluded clearing together, then split at the park gate without ceremony.
An hour later, Otto was back in the large dojo where the combat class took place. Today was the day he was supposed to pick a weapon and be assigned an instructor or group to train. He was currently seated in the back, trying to hide from the other Sleepers that for some reason were looking around like crazy, as if searching for something… or someone.
"Where is that guy?"
"Wasn't he supposed to be here?"
"Did he ran way from the academy?"
Otto wished they weren't talking about him…a futile wish.
However, they didn't seem to know he was right behind them. Which was weird. He was not the master of stealth, in fact, he could say that his skills were pretty poor. If not for Sylas's muscle memory, he wouldn't have any experience whatsoever. So how could they had not seen him?
'Does this have something to do with [Inexistent]?'
But before he could delve into the idea, Instructor Rock entered the room.
"Good evening." His eyes swept the entire room. When his gaze landed on Otto, his expression changed to something weird for a moment before he continued. "As you may know, today you will be choosing your weapons."
He pressed a button on the wall. Instantly the wall started moving, making way to a room full of dull steel weapons.
"Then, let's go in order of the list: Nephis."
"Fuck…" Otto murmured.
Nephis stepped forward. Her expression was indifferent as ever, as she just entered the armory and, without even thinking, took a straight sword. Then she headed back into her place, completely silent.
'Why couldn't you take a few minutes at least? Damn you Nephis.'
"Next."
Otto sighed, then stepped forward. The sleepers' eyes were sudden on him, but he didn't care, in his mind there was only one thought.
'What weapon should I choose?'
Honestly, he had no idea. As an avid reader, his first thought was to pick a sword. They were cool, flexible, cool, straight up the best weapon ever invented and…did I say cool?
But now that he really had to choose, he was suddenly undecided. A spear was also a great weapon, it's long range was really useful and, in its own way, powerful.
'But it isn't cool though…'
He stopped at the threshold of the armory.
Dull steel glinted under the lantern light: racks of straight swords, curved swords, bastard swords, spears, halberds, warhammers, chain-whips, even a few odd hooked blades that looked like they'd been designed by someone who hated arms.
He exhaled through his nose. His fingers twitched. As his eyes passed through each weapon, he suddenly froze.
Without him realizing it, an orange hue invaded his eyes as he gazed at a straight, slender, double-edged Shuang Shou Jian. There was nothing special about it, just another weapon among the many issued to the Sleepers for training.
'Heavy.' That was his first impression. There was no way that he could use it with one hand.
"Next." Instructor Rock said, as Otto stepped out of the armory.