Sam jogs across the open fields and occasional pavement that is this training camp, he quickly arrives before a large ancient looking building that is covered with metal plating.

It has a large sign over the front, ‘Weapons Pavilion’ making it rather easy to identify. 

He walks up to the door that seems entirely unguarded; it lights up with green and lets him inside.

Inside is a simple area with seating for hundreds and a row of counters, a single person is manning a single counter but there’s no one else here.

Sam walks in the pavilion when, “Hello, you are early.”

Sam turns towards the voice that has approached through what was a solid wall, it’s the person who was helping the instructor early, the middle-aged woman with glasses. Her hair is tightly tied up in a bun. 

Sam stiffens his back as he turns to face her, “Yes Ma’am. Instructor told me to come, he said that if I don’t hurry, I won’t make something.”

“That guy…,” she mutters under the breath, “that is true. You have about 8 minutes to pick a weapon and then 3 minutes to report at the muster location. So if that’s what you want then, tell me what weapon you want?”

“Pick a weapon? Don’t I have to try out various types and see which one I’m suited for?”

“That’s be ideal but you don’t have time. You… seem to have permission for 18 weapons. That’s odd, well just pick out a few you like and return them when you’re done.”

“That’s it? I can just pick 18?”

“Yes. So what type? Swords? Spears? Bows? Sabres? Ribbons… I could go on.”

“Can we see the daggers?”

Kelli nods her head and leads Sam through the building, they pass through a secure door which reveals the rest of the building. It contains rows and rows of weapons; they pass thousands and thousands of swords and other types of weapons.

They walk pass rows of them and come to a single corner, “Here we are. Daggers.”

“That’s all?” Sam cannot help but ask without candour upon looking at what’s on offer. 

There're thousands and thousands of other types of weapons, there’s even hundreds of types of hammers yet there're only tens of daggers.

“That’s all. Daggers are not very popular as a primary arm, they are a more side arm which everyone carries. These aren’t even special I’ve seen stores sell these for less than 1 silver each.”

“What do you suggest then?”

“You have 18 options, pick some daggers for free and then get some swords. Try them out, you’re running out of time.”

Sam awkwardly smiles as he looks at the rows of daggers, he walks forward and grabs two that already caught his eye. They were made of similar material to his parents daggers.

“Can you show me the swords? A heavy sword and a light sword?”

Kelli nods her head and leads Sam to a particular row, she holds out a standard sword. He cannot tell if there’s anything special about it as he takes it from her.

The sword’s weight is almost thrice the daggers, the balance is good yet the drag through the air isn’t something he has experienced much.

Sam takes a few more practise swings, “Ok?” Kelli asks as he places the sword away.

“Yes, heavy sword next?”

“Well, there’s only one of those… and…”

“And?”

“It has a bit of a history around here, you can have it. I’ll get it but you have to promise one thing.”

“What?”

“On the equinox, do not go outside. Do not go anywhere near the outside with the sword, even stored securely.”

“Seems easy enough, when’s the next one?”

“2 months.”

“Easy, I’ll probably have moved on to my own daggers by then.”

Kelli nods her head and disappears from the spot, Sam couldn’t sense a thing as it happened leaving him stunned and feeling weak before this person. Sam places the light sword on his belt, the government provided an equipment belt which is taking some time to get adjusted to. He starts to wonder if he should be looking at other weapons when, 

*POOF*

Kelli reappears before him, she is holding a long sword.

*THUD*

Kelli is no longer holding the sword as several people look on in this direction, Sam looks at the sword on ground.

Sam looks at the sword covered in a cloth on the ground, Kelli has a small amount of perspiration on her forehead as he looks at him. He suddenly feels guilty for making her do this.

“Uhh, sorry.”

“This is the sword Harbinger, it weighs 4,111kg.”

“What… What?!”

“Shush, this sword has a special material effect reduces 40% of the material by 90%. This is offset by a powered mechanism in the hilt that lowers the weight a further 60%. I think there’s another function to reduce it further, but I’d have to look it up.”

“Powered mechanism?”

“It will feed off either your mana reserve or a power crystal.”

Sam places his hand on the hilt, instantly his hand feels sucked on the handle yet he’s able to hold on the sword just as well as he held the light sword. Sam swings the sword about several times without difficulty before placing it down.

“That felt fine.. Did you do anything to it?”

“No, it has not been touched in over 8 years. It’s only touched when new intakes from the ceremony come in…”

“Weird, it felt fine for me?”

“Well make sure you return it when you do not want it. There is a special scabbard for it that I will retrieve later. Is there any other weapon?”

“Umm…”

Sam spends several more minutes with this female Kelli before he is rushed towards the nearby muster point, Sam is simply told to be on his best behaviour and follow all instructions.

They left him awkwardly standing alone in a field with no signs of life for several minutes when suddenly from above, 

*WHOWHOHOHOHOHHOHHO*

A large thing almost falls from the sky scaring him, Sam takes several steps to run away when he stops and stands in awe at what is happening in the sky.

The large thing is falling from the sky, it suddenly pauses as a strange shimmer falls away from it and blends in to the atmosphere. A loud roaring sound comes from above as hundreds of tiny little creatures appear from the sky in the direction the craft appeared.

The creature disappears almost as soon as they appear as the strange sound echos across the field as the gets lower, the craft with strange fields that are floating on each corner of it. It doesn’t seem like it should be able to float, yet it can.

The sound gets louder and louder before it stops just a hundred metres above the ground. The fields on the edges disappear, revealings thousands of tiny spinning blades. Many of them slow down as the craft touches the ground.

Sam doesn’t know what to do, and is left standing there when one door opens, several people pile out at the same time. He walks forward, unsure of what he’s doing. His only instruction is to talk to the person wearing purple named Wellis, so his only option is to approach the group while looking out for this person.

A problem occurs though, as all of them are wearing purple, Sam takes several moments to look over the group before one of them approaches him as if they noticed him standing awkwardly to the side.

“What are you doing here? Are you a newbie?”

Sam looks at this person, a person slightly older than him who looks like he has been through a rough day, “I was told by Kelli and Instructor Kelle to talk to Wellis.”

“Really? Wow, didn’t think we’d pick one of you up. We’ll be dropped off somewhere in 4 minutes, we’re just catching our breaths as the engines cool down.”

“I… was told very little, can you tell me what’s going on?”

The person Sam’s talking to pauses for a moment and looks over him, he looks at the large sword slung over his back and smirks, “Ah.”

“What?” Sam asks.

“Nothing. Just, uhh, bug killing.”

“Bug killing?”

“Yup, bug killing.”

Sam looks around at all the other people, they’re checking their equipment quickly. Various types of swords, spears and other types of weapons.

“1 MINUTE, NEWBIE GET ‘ERE” a loud announcement comes from the craft.

Sam looks at it, the person near him speaks, “You better go, captain sounds annoyed ‘bout somethin’.”

Sam thanks them and runs over towards the craft. It looks like an armoured box with engines on the 8 corners. It seems entirely unaerodynamic yet the movements Sam saw from it before show that it’s capable of much more than it appears. 

He approaches the only thing that looks like an opening, a single ramp way that leads upwards where two people are standing. A tall man and bearded man, Sam approaches them and clears his throat.

“I was told to introduce myself.”

“Took yer time” the bearded man says.

The tall man speaks with a concise tone, “We have precisely 84 seconds until we need to start the next phase. Hurry up.”

“Hurry up?”

“What can you do?”

“I was recommended by Instructor Kelle.”

The two of them change in expression, they suddenly group together and murmur amongst one another for a moment.

“We’ll take you for this run, but we aren’t returning early until objectives are complete.”

“What objectives?”

“Reach designated kill target.”

“Ok, against insects right?”

“Yes…” the tall man says without sounding too sure of his words.

“Get onboard, we need to strap you in since you aint prepared,” the bearded man points to the craft and walks towards it.

Sam follows behind him, he is led to a single seat that seems to have many more straps than the other seats. He doesn’t have much other option than to sit in it. The seat is surprisingly comfortable but that changes as the straps come down, they pile on at different angles limiting his movement.

“Are you going to gag me too?” Sam mutters.

“Of course not,” the bearded man says, “maybe if this were hazing,” he says before clearing his throat, “we’ll be leaving soon so just learn what you can from the experience.”

Sam sits there strapped in with no choice, he nods his head and the bearded man smiles, walking away then laughing away in the distance. He watches as the people pile in and laugh at him, he opts to remain quiet at their jabs at his situation.

Each of them use a normal seat belt as they sit down, all of them look excited as Sam watches them confused.

“Launching in… 5… 4…”

“Here we go, close your mouth newbie.”

“Don’t puke!”

“If you puke, you’re paying for the cleaning!”

The people in the craft laugh, Sam also smiles at what they’re saying but his reaction shifts quickly as the engines whirl into life.

“3… 2… Go!”

A sudden force pushes Sam downwards, the engines make a strange noise, then the force shifts, and he’s hovering in the air.

Sam’s stomach groans as it almost forces the water he drank back up, he shuts it down with sheer will as the craft hovers on the spot for a moment.

The people on the craft begin to talk, “Will he make it?”

“I don’t know if he’ll make it, it looks like he’s about to burst.”

“Let’s wait and see”

…

Many of them continue talking over what feels like minutes yet is probably moments, a final announcement comes that shuts everyone up, leaving only the sounds of the engine.

“Here it comes, embrace.”

The engines whirl strangely, Sam braces his body for what’s coming as the engines suddenly shriek. A strange smell fills the cabin. He feels like vomiting upon contract with that sound but he doesn’t have the chance to think.

A sudden jolt of force comes over Sam’s body as the craft travels thousands of metres in seconds. It pierces through the air and stops seconds later. This short travel was seconds yet crossed over 8000 metres.

The craft loudly buzzes cutting out most communication, Sam looks at the people able to talk between themselves while he’s stuck here listening to the roar of the engines as the craft hovers in the air for some reason.

This lasts for minutes, then an announcement comes over, “Landing spot found, descent commences in 5… 4…”

The people on the craft look excited, Sam looks on confused as the new sensation comes over his body. As though he’s floating in the air somehow while strapped into this chair.

“3…2…1… Opening”

Sam’s restraints release by themselves slowly as he regains control of his body, his arms and legs regain feeling as he twitches them looking around. The person who Sam talked to earlier comes to help him.

“Easy there… it’s a weird sensation. Most people throw up after their first experience, so you’re doing good.”

“What was that?” Sam says as he cradles his head.

“Electro-De-Gravity-synchronization, it’s a stupid name but it’s a post-ancient technology some researchers found. I don’t really understand it, you just need to wait until your body adapts. It never takes over 4 minutes.”

Sam stands up wobbly, he disguises his difficulty regaining movement with picking up his weapons that were stored on the ground, it only takes a few minutes for him to return to normal placing the weapons on his him.

“What are we doing?” Sam asks, trying to stand by himself.

“Killing… kill whatever moves. They’re all infected. You’ll see them easily when we get out there.”

“Ah. Ok, do I need some protective gear? I feel kind of exposed here” Sam looks at his polo shirt and shorts, compared to these uniformed and armoured soldiers, he is practically naked.

“No, it only infects beasts.”

“Nothing else?”

“Nothing else that you need to worry about, you need to hurry up and get out there. I heard a rumour before we set out, so you should really move it.”

“What?”

He leans in closely, whispering in Sam’s ear, “I heard the Instructor and the leader bet something each. You need to reach 3 checkpoints to succeed.”

“What are they?” Sam asks quietly.

“Join the group, kill a certain amount and kill a certain level. I’m not sure on the levels but the amount is at least 10.”

“Easy..” Sam touches his swords while the person he’s talking to shakes their head, as if mocking Sam’s eagerness.

“It’s not that easy. These are swarm creatures, you need to follow our instructions. You will never be parted too far. It’s easy to get overwhelmed, yet they’re also mostly harmless… until they swarm.”

Sam nods at their serious expression, “Let’s go then, I don’t want to keep you inside.”

The person Sam is talking to immediately turns around and leads the two of them outside the ship. The exterior guns are blaring constantly as swarms of creatures in the sky are attracted to the buzzing and glowing engines.

“We’ll have resupply in 2 hours and mission end in 6 hours, if newbie needs to leave early then you can call it while motherbase will remain here at all times to provide a protective layer. Ensure mission objectives are met.”

A blurred announcement comes out over the speakers, Sam cannot understand it information yet the others can as they set about their business. Sam watches them strike at what seems to be the air, strange bursts of blood appear in the ground and spread about on the ground.

Sam stands there unsure what to do, the person he’s been talking to throws him something.

“These are calibrated already, they need recalibration per beast type. Careful.”

Sam puts the goggles on his eyes. They flicker with a bright, almost blinding, shimmer before being replaced by an orange shimmer that reveals points before an animated display of the creature locations comes up.

Sam looks around him, a strange flow is in the air that is causing the creature to attack the aircraft, they look like small flying arrows yet alive somehow. He looks on the ground and can spot in the distance some large worm-like creatures.

It’s all new information revealing a world that he wasn’t aware of yet. It all seems easy to understand just from putting on these goggles. He has heard of them before, yet always dismissed their effect as something only lazy people would opt for.

Sam's eyes stop over the large worm creatures. The display on the goggles is showing various pieces of information on the segments of the worm as if showcasing all the weak points. He ignores all that information and walks over there. The people in the group watch from a distance as they continue their killings.

Sam steps forward. He pulls a sword out of its hilt and looks at one of the worms not too far away.

The strange creature seems to not notice him as he walks up to it without any hint of stealth, he’s only two steps away from it before he stops. The worm-like creature on the ground looks strange, like it doesn’t actually exist but Sam pushes all of that out of mind as he trusts what it shown.

He holds the light sword out before him, the sword shimmers in the sunlight of the afternoon, yet he cannot see that as the computerised display only shows the barest of information except about the target.

Sam takes a deep breath, lowering the sword in a ready position.

This will be his first time using a sword to strike something.

His mind recalls the movements in all the manuals he has looked through. Some of them had some general pointers for swords. One of the primary pointers for light swords like the one he’s holding was, fast strikes as speed is best.

His mind settles, it’s time. 

Sam pulls the sword back before focusing all his energy, letting out a deep yell, “AHH!”.

He slashes forward, the sword slices through the air in a split moment.

The worm on the ground doesn’t react until the sword touches its skin, the sword instantly pierces through the skin and the flesh before continuing onward through another section of the worm.

“SCREE, ”

A loud piercing screech comes from the worm that lasts a moment, Sam cannot block his ears as he finishes his strike, leaving them partially bleeding as a burst of blood appears in the air and on the ground.

The worm is sliced in to many fragments, it only took a moment yet Sam is satisfied. Many hidden on-lookers are nodding their heads too.

Sam brings his sword back before stabbing each chunk of the worm on the ground. The wriggling and writhing piece of flesh doesn’t seem harmful at all yet as Sam looks without the goggles it’s totally invisible to the eye.

No one else in the group is wearing goggles yet he is forced to, Sam wants to ask about this but as he looks around, he spots that most people are busy with their own killings tasks. He thinks back to what was asked of him as the wriggling piece of flesh on the ground stops moving.

Sam looks around him and smiles. He quietly counts to himself, “9… 14… 28… 30… I wonder if there was some sort of bonus involved in the bet if I can kill a certain amount…”

He doesn’t wait as he quickly leaps into action using the light sword to slice through creatures practising moves, practising for the first time on creatures and working his way through the weapons that he collected.

Sam brings out the heavy sword, harbinger, and makes a move with it.

*BOOM*

A large portion of the ground disappears after the heavy sword slams down on it, the worm and several others surrounding it have disappeared, including the ground.

“Uhh, maybe stick to heavier targets with this thing…”

Sam opts to stick to the light sword yet he still feels disappointed, he wants to use the daggers like his parents but they don’t have the same function as his parents making them a pain to retrieve. His mind wanders for a moment when in the distance,

“ROAAR”

Sam smiles, ‘I guess the bet is about to be won’ he mutters in his mind as he works his way in that direction. 

It doesn’t take long for him to come across a small clearing, devoid of anything yet with the goggles. A strange scene is unfolding. Sam joins the group of people standing around the exterior of the creature, watching it.

“What’s going on?”

“Watch. You can handle it once it has shifted.”

Sam watches the large creature before him, it’s like a 10 metre long worm with three heads, it seems like it’s splitting in half as one of the heads is coming off of it. An enormous amount of blood and fluids causes the surroundings to bubble away killing off all the grass nearby.

The third head of the worm gets longer and large, it begins to shift colour into a golden colour as the rest of it stays a brown colour. It stops moving as the third head is about 75% off the rest of the body, the other heads curl up as the golden one hovers in the air.

“Looks like it has stopped, alright. Newbie you’re up.”

Sam looks at the person speaking, he hasn’t seen them before but they’re a young man with black hair and glasses, “What do I do?”

“Just strike it, watch out for the third head.”

The people in the surrounding back away as if they’ve confirmed the situation doesn’t need their presence, they leave Sam alone standing there near the large creature that’s over 4 times his size.

Sam gulps, “Am I really doing this? Not even any help?”

He looks at the giant creature before him. It doesn’t seem to be moving or have noticed anything in the surroundings at all. He slowly grabs the harbinger from his back bringing it forward, the weight is increasing the more has used it yet the sword still feels manageable.

His foot steps slowly creep forward, the creature doesn’t notice his approach at all.

Sam reaches the desolate area, the soil changes in to a fine type of sand. His footsteps become slower in the different terrain, yet he reaches beside the creature with no reaction.

He wants to reach out and touch this creature to confirm he’s able to do that, yet he doesn’t. He takes a single step back.

‘There are very few manuals that lay out any heavy sword skills. Only two groups use them are their primary weapons, the Templar Knights and Star Night Wilderness Lodge. They are very selection in who they accept, but there’s one thing that both of them do…’

Sam holds the sword out in front of him, the long and thick sword almost touches the creature.

‘They both use BASH!’

Sam swings the sword back overhead and then slams it forward.

*BOOM*

“SCREEEEE”

Sam is knocked back as the creature flails about, he tumbles through the air and in to some bushes where he coughs up mouthfuls of blood.

He quickly forces himself to stand up and looks at the creature, it’s flailing about but it’s not actually moving. His eyes quickly scan the surface of the creature, he spots a weak point that he could reach if he rushes.

Sam looks at the creature flailing about, he’s lucky that the sword absorbed most of that impact but it still hurt, he wouldn’t be able to take another hit like that.

Sam stands up, in the distance he can hear some rustling but he does not turn around to look at it as he runs towards the large worm again.

Sam suddenly pauses as the third head swings down hitting the ground where he would have been, he grits hit teeth and holds the sword out front of him as a shield and runs towards again.

He’s only 5 steps away.

*BANG*

“AAH..”

The third head makes a metallic sound as it contacts his sword, he’s pushed back a few steps.

Sam shakes his hands and rushes forward again, blood leaks down from his hand as he carries the sword.

He’s two steps away, but he spots the third head coming for him again.

Sam doesn’t have an option, he quickly swings down not having enough time to put much force behind it.

*BOOM*

*BANG*

“SCREEEEE”

Sam’s body tumbles through the air, the sword flies through the air as it leaves his grip yet he has a smile on his face as he spots the worm creature flailing about in four large pieces. 

“OOF”

Sam is knocked unconscious as his body tumbles along the ground, the wind knocked out of his lungs leading him in to a scene of pure darkness.