Chapter 23: Getting Stronger

Our scientists were very interested in the Great White Dragon, especially because of the immense amount of energy it was giving off; radiation levels greater than a sun. And yet, despite the power within the giant creature, there was no radiation sickness of any kind. As I thought more about the monster and everything we had seen it do up to that point, I somehow got the feeling that it was protecting us. Too bad my theory was not shared by the team of researchers.

Ryan watched the training droids buzz around him in various forms and shapes. Some had wings and tails like Dragons as they flew through the arena with as much grace as Tork. Others crawled on all fours, sniffing the ground with long, metal snouts and pointed wolf ears. One was even a perfect likeness of Thisimius in metal form. Only then did Ryan realize the truth.

“You made all these.”

Thisimius beamed with pride “Of course. I’m responsible for a good 50% of the hardware of this Ministry, lad. Did ya think blacksmiths just dealt with handheld weaponry? Our trade is the advancement of all kinds of weapons. I daresay that as long as me beauties are running properly, even if the Ministry is attacked, the blighters won’t make it near the front door. Why, it would take a full-scale invasion to even scratch the surface of the defenses I have around this dome, and that’s not even including the Elemental traps that Eramar and the others set up.”

“Ahem,” Eramar coughed politely.

The Ogre blushed like he had just said something he shouldn’t have. “But enough about matters that don’t concern a young pup like yerself. Now then, time for a little visualization, eh lad? Tork, me old bosom friend. Would you be so kind as to demonstrate to our young protégé?”

Tork blinked in surprise, but quickly recovered. “Oh, well, if you insist.”

The young Dragon pulled out his buzz-saw shield and strange baton-shaped sword. Ryan was interested to see what the Dragon was capable of. With a flick of Thisy’s switch, all the metal droids turned on Tork with intent to kill, but the Dragon seemed as calm as if he were taking a stroll through the park. There were at least a dozen or so droids on the ground, and half that number flying through the air.

Tork launched into the air swiftly in a grand show of aerial acrobatics. With unparalleled grace that seemed impossible for such a large creature, Tork slashed one droid above him with his sword while simultaneously slashing one below him with his shield and its spinning blades. The move split the two droids completely in half as if they were made of paper. At the same time, two droids jumped from the ground at least thirty feet in the air to attack Tork from his front and his back.

It looked like Tork had been cornered with nowhere to go, but the Dragon was ready for their counterattack. As one droid came from behind, Tork batted it to bits with his tail while sucking in his breath as he charged the second. Just before the droid reached him, Tork unleashed his Dragon’s breath in all its fury. The flames were so hot that the droid’s metal skin began to melt as it dropped to the ground in a torrent of fire and liquid iron. Only then did Ryan realize just how far he had to go to reach that level of mastery with his own flames.

Ryan sat dumbfounded as he watched Tork efficiently and methodically dispatch the remaining droids using various methods. Tork slashed and spun in midair to destroy the last of the aerial enemies while at the same time launching a barrage of flames to pick off the ones on the ground.

A few managed to dodge his attacks, but most would explode as soon as he fired his magnificent breath. Tork didn’t seem prone to one method over the other; every one of his body parts became a lethal weapon almost as deadly as his sword and shield. He used his fangs, the claws on his feet, the horns on his head, and even his wings as both shields and battering rams.

Tork seemed to know what the droids would do before they did. Even when a few droids managed to attack with swords and laser slugs, Tork anticipated their movements and he wielded his shield superbly to block all incoming attacks. The shield itself seemed to be indestructible as its surface remained spotless. Within a few seconds, Tork had dispatched a small army of twenty, and he did it without even breaking a sweat ... that is, if Dragons even could sweat.

Eramar applauded. “Well done, Tork. However, you still leave yourself too open when you swing your right arm or when you use your left wing. You should work on that. And try to use your fangs as a last resort only. It exposes your throat too much which is your most vulnerable area.”

“Thank you, master,” replied Tork. “I still have a lot to learn.”

Ryan was astonished. If Tork is only a student, I wonder what the masters can do.

“Alright, young pup. Yer turn,” said Thisimius as he leaned towards Ryan. “I hope ye were paying attention. Tork has much the same fighting style as you in terms of weapons. Try to do the same, but don’t imitate him. Develop your own unique style.”

“Oh, that’s not at all contradictory,” muttered Ryan to himself. He took a few deep breaths and started bouncing on his feet, getting himself pumped. “Any advice?”

“Try to analyze their movements,” advised Tork. “If you pay attention, they should be pretty easy to predict. They have relatively simple programming, so they shouldn’t be too difficult to overcome, even for a beginner.” That kind of cheered Ryan up.

Then Tork scratched his chin and said, “Although, Thisimius has been known to have a nasty habit of putting in a few random algorithms in the programming that makes some of the droids dangerously unpredictable and twice as deadly. Better watch out for that. Cheerio!” That was not so cheerful.

Taking a deep breath, Ryan stepped into the center of the arena, and instantly confronted at least nine droids. Ryan remembered the first thing that Tork had done. He tried to pick out the ones with more complicated movements. The first rule of combat was to take out the leader, and the rest would dissolve into chaos. That’s what Eramar had taught Ryan. Problem was, Ryan couldn’t pick out the leaders by observing the droids’ movements alone, and they didn’t wait for him.

There were at least three flying droids, and six grounded droids. As the first ground droid reached him, Ryan instinctively raised his left hand with the gauntlet while at the same time pouring psions into it. If Thisimius had been wrong about the weapons, the iron claws would probably blow up.

If that happened, the gauntlet might take a few droids down with the explosion, but it could also incapacitate Ryan, if not kill him. These thoughts ran through Ryan’s head in a flash as he raised the iron claws to defend against the first attack. As the droid’s metal claws clashed with Ryan’s iron claws, the gauntlet burst into flames, and the droid exploded.

I didn’t blow up, thought Ryan, almost shocked.

After seeing the other droids coming at him from behind the first one, Ryan raised his right hand and slashed with his sword while pouring his psions into the blade. A wall of flame erupted from his sword and leapt towards the droids. At least three were instantly destroyed. Ryan felt so overjoyed that he didn’t notice the next wave of droids approaching from his blind spot.

Ryan turned to his left just in time as a large droid kicked him in the stomach. It was the droid that looked just like Thisimius and it had all his strength and speed. Ryan barely managed to recover as a quick droid that looked like a grasshopper jumped on him and tried to pin him down.

The droid managed to keep its foot on Ryan’s sword hand, but his claw hand was still free. Ryan slashed the droid’s head off with the two iron claws on his fist. He got up quickly and launched another slash with his sword, the blade slicing cleanly through an attacking droid’s armor.

This time, the sword only took out one droid while the others dodged, but the machine simply fell to the ground without exploding like the others. The fire seemed weakened somehow, and only then did Ryan notice how tired he felt.

I’m using too many psions in my attacks. I should use physical attacks from now on without psionic aid; otherwise, I’m going to burn out.

As two more droids came from either side, Ryan hopped off the ground, turned sideways, and spun in a circle, swinging his sword and claws like helicopter propellers. Ryan had to use his physical strength alone to slash one droid across the chest with his claws and the other in the head with his sword.

It took nearly all his strength to finish his two swings. Ryan was completely out of breath when the big Thisimius droid came behind him to give him a bear hug. Ryan’s chest became crushed as a sudden pang of fear washed over him.

Eramar quickly commanded the droid to disarm itself with a whistle. The mechanical Ogre let Ryan go and disappeared in a hole that appeared in the ground. Ryan panted furiously with sweat running down his face.

Thisy grinned a toothy smile from ear to ugly ear. “Didn’t I tell you? The lad is a natural with my weapon choice! He even managed to score higher than most rookies on their first try. Most get five out of nine, but our young pup shot a wee bit higher. Just one more droid and he would have got nine out of nine. And all thanks to yours truly.”

Eramar offered Ryan his hand, who took it gratefully. “Not bad for your first try. We will have to work on your technique and psionic control so that you’ll not tire yourself out so quickly. Over time, the amount of power you can unleash will increase as you mature. Until that time, we have to toughen you up. That means that I want you to destroy at least ten droids a day on top of your normal training regime and studies.”

Thisimius looked troubled by that. “Hey, ya know these things aren’t cheap, right? And besides, don’t ya think that’s a wee much for the lad? Most start out with less than half that number for regular training.”