The Monster Tamer

Chapter 11: Becoming a Warrior (1)

After the warriors morning jog and training, all of them go to a canteen where they all go and eat their meals.

"Because I let you wait for us, why don't you join us at breakfast?" Stephen said.

Stephen was just finished with his morning jog and he was all sweaty. I can see drops of sweat at the end of his hair. The white shirt he was wearing was also wet and I could see his proportioned muscled underneath. I gulped hardly and tried my best not to stare.

"Oh no, it's okay." I replied. "I really did not wait that long. I was also amazed seeing all of you train." I smiled.

The training grounds was not that big. Like Stephen had said, there aren't many warriors. I counted the ones I could see here in the training grounds and there were eight in total. I am sure that there are more around the community such as the ones guarding the perimeter walls, the entrance and also the ones doing rounds. They may be small in number but I can say that they are quite skilled seeing them train.

There morning training consists of their routine morning jogging and after training with weapons. Some were using wooden weapons in the form of swords, axes, daggers and the likes. I also saw a firing range at the training grounds were others are training to use firearms.

"I thought normal weapons does not work on daemons?" I asked.

"The guns are a means of training for us so that we can practice our aiming." Stephen replied. "We are also not lacking in ammo for practice because we have a mini R&D unit here."

"Wow, really?" I asked in astonishment. "That's so cool!" I said with excitement. I may be just a normal office lady in the past but I have my likes and hobbies, and one is the passion for guns.

After having been exposed in the firing range were my brother and his friends frequented, my passion to learn about guns started. But I will not say I am an expert or anything. I just know one or two things because of browsing the internet and the ones I learned at the firing range.

"Would you like to try firing?" Stephen asked when he saw my excitement.

"Really? Can I?" I asked in excitement.

"I cannot see why not." Stephen replied with a smile. "I also saw how you handled a gun just a few days ago. I am sure you had some experience. And if you want to become a warrior, this is one of the things that you need to master."

"Then I would love to fire some shots." I replied.

Stephen and I walked towards the firing range area. I saw two men doing some shooting. When they saw Stephen and I coming close they stopped and turned to us.

"Good morning captain." The two greeted.

"Good morning." Stephen replied. "I believe you have heard about Claudia." The two nodded my way and I did the same to acknowledge them.

"This is Howard and that one is Max." Stephen said. "They are our marksmen. Max here is our sniper, one of the best I have ever known." He patted Max's shoulder.

"You flatter me, hehe." Max chuckled. "Nice to meet you Claudia."

"Nice to meet you too." I replied.

"So, I heard you want to join the warriors." Howard said. "Won't you mind us giving you some test."

"Sasha will be the one testing here later." Stephen said with a slight frown.

"Oh come on captain, she just needs to do some firing that's all." Howard said with a smile. "There is no harm done. And if you get our passing grade then that is a plus." He winked at me.

"I think that is a good way to see her skills." Max said while holding his chin in thought. "It will also be good to assess where she will be more efficient. Well that is, if the miss will consent to our little test."

Stephen sighed and nodded with both of their remark.

"What do you think Claudia? Are you up for their test?" Stephen asked me.

"Sure, why not." I replied with a shrug of the shoulder. "I also want to see how far I can go."

"That's great!" Howard replied and handed me a gun. "This is a Glock 19 that are good for beginners. Try using this and shoot the target. Do not worry about the ammo. You can empty the magazine if you like."

Howard handed me the gun. I looked at the gun in my hand and trying to gauge its weight. I opened the gun magazine and saw that it was full. I returned the magazine and tried to aim it towards the paper targets at a distance.

'Fortunately, I have already used this gun in the past.' I thought.

I was surprised that Stephen had put a shooting headphone over me. I smiled as thanks.

I concentrated on my target and started pulling the trigger.

*BANG BANG BANG*

I fired continuously until the gun was empty. I felt satisfied with my firing and smiled.

Howard then pulled the line to pull the target towards us. To there surprise, the holes on the paper target were in just two places, the head and the heart. Not only that, the holes were concentrated at the center most part of the targets.

"Well would you look at that." Howard said with a surprised look. "No wonder she was able to fire a shot directly on one eye of that daemon."

"You know that?!" I was surprised at first but thought that maybe he was there with Stephen's group the time they rescued me.

"Not really, but I saw the dead body of the daemon when they returned." Howard replied. "We use the thick skins of the daemons to create our armors you see. And when we started to dissect the body, we saw the gun shot to the eye."

"That is why we wanted you to test you here." Max said. "Well you passed our test. Congratulations."

"T-Thanks." I said in surprise.

I did not imagine that I would be able to pass the test in just one try. But I felt somewhat weird. I looked at the target and saw the two holes on it. I have stopped going to firing ranges and target practice since I had my daughter. I was confident while firing a while ago but I was surprised that all of my shots were clean at the bulls eye.

"You are good, I will give you credit." Howard said. "How about I show you what I am capable of doing. If you like, I can teach you myself in the future." He winked at me and Stephen shook his head in dismay.

"He just wants to show off." Stephen said.

Howard led us to a site where there are obstacle courses with dummy targets. What got into my mind the first thing I saw the dummies was that place is a tactical firearms training.

Howard stood by the side and took one of the long firearms lying by the table. I scanned the and saw other firearms lying down in different spots.

"Watch me closely." Howard said while readying himself.

I just realized that people started to gather behind us. I can hear them murmuring.

"They also want to see how fast Howard can finish." Stephen explained. "All of us here also tried this course. But Howard still holds the best time."

"Really?!" I asked in amazement and Stephen nodded with a smile.

*BUZZ*

The sound of a horn is heard and the timer started to tick. I saw Howard started to shoot the dummy targets at a fast speed and precision. I was in awe seeing how fast he moved from one place to another, changing guns along points and shooting the dummy targets with high precision. Not long he stopped, indicating that the training course has ended.

"7:30 seconds." Max said.

I heard murmuring behind me once again. Looks like Howard still holds the best record.

"May I try?" I asked raising my hand.

All was silenced with my words. Yes, I know that I have never done this but something inside me is saying it wants to try.

"Are you sure?" Stephen looked at me with wide eyes in shock.

"Well… if it is okay?" I asked.

"Sure, why not." Howard said while getting back.

"Great!" I felt excited wanting to try this course.

I knew I will not be able to do good in my first try, but I still have the inkling to want to do it. I carried the long firearm from the table and examined it closely.

The truth is I do not have any experience holding this kind of weapon, but my body moving on instinct like it knows how to.

"Ready… GO!" Stephen yelled. And with his mark I started to retrace Howards steps.

Edited by: nalyn