Legend of the Flaming phantom

Chapter 9: Proper training

After leaving Jericho's room, I decided to walk around some more and find my way around the place. As I was walking, I saw Dakota walking down the hall. According to what I had just heard from Jericho, she knew Ashley before when James was alive. Jericho told me to talk to her if I had anymore questions about Ashley. I wanted to know more, so I walked over to Dakota.

"Dakota!" I called.

Dakota turned to face me.

"What is it, new guy?" She asked.

"My name is Cyrus. Jericho said you could tell me more about Ashley."

"What do you mean, more about Ashley?"

"Well, Jericho told me how Ashley used to be an entirely different person a long time ago."

"It's only your second day, and Jericho has already told you that? He must really trust you. Anyway, why do you want to know more about Ashley?"

"Because I want to know the person who decided to let me stay here."

Dakota smiled.

"Good answer.," She said. "Alright, I'll tell you, but don't let Ashley know I told you any of this."

"No problem," I replied. "I won't say a word."

"Follow me," Dakota said, walking down the hall.

I followed Dakota down the hall. She stopped at a door and took a key out of her pocket. She inserted the key into the keyhole on the doorknob and unlocked the door. She opened the door and entered the room, with me following. When we got in the room, she locked closed the door and locked it again.

I looked around the room a bit. There was a bunk bed in the corner of the room, along with a dresser next to it. There was an open door that led into a bathroom.

"Is this your room?" I asked.

"I share it with April," Dakota replied. "Anyway, is there anything specific you want to know?"

"I want to know everything you can tell me."

"In that case, I'll start from the beginning. After I escaped my village, I found the city that we're in now. I was walking around the streets, and I must have looked scared, because Ashley noticed me right away and asked what was wrong. I told her my entire situation, since I didn't know not to give out my information, but luckily, she had been in the same situation. She was so kind, I instantly admired her. I'm assuming Jericho told you about James?"

"He did," I said.

"Well, James was a great guy too. He was kind, fun, and willing to give his life to save someone else. One day, they left, and only Ashley came back. She had been shot in the leg, and she was crying, but not from the pain. She was crying because of James' death. She stayed in her room for three days straight with very little food or water. I wanted to help, but I didn't know how to talk to her. After those three days, she finally came out of her room, but she wasn't the same."

"She was how she is now?"

"No, she just stared into space. She would only speak if she had to. She started speaking a month later when April came. That was when she began changing into the person she is now. She began training intensely and had everyone else do the same. She didn't want the situation with James to ever happen again."

"Is that everything?"

"Yes, now remember, do not bring this up to Ashley. I don't want to awaken old feelings or memories."

"Don't worry, I won't."

"Good, now if you'll kindly leave my room, I have some things to do. I'll see you later."

"Alright," I said, walking toward the door. "Thank you for telling me everything, I'll see you around."

"Goodbye."

I exited the room and closed the door behind me. I began walking down the hall, when Ashley turned the corner. She saw me and walked up to me.

"I've finished setting up your training," She said when she reached me.

"That was quick," I said.

"It always is, now follow me."

I followed Ashley down the hall and back to the training room. She led me to an area that had targets shaped like humans, and those strange things that shot metal. Ashley picked up one of the metal shooters.

"I'm assuming you don't really know what these are?"

"All I know, is one of those things sent a piece of metal in my shoulder," I replied.

"Well, these are called guns. There are many different types, such as shotguns, rifles, machine guns, and a few others. This is called a pistol. It's light weight, but a little harder to aim and not quite as powerful as the bigger guns."

She turned to the targets behind her and fired at a target. The bullet hit the target in the chest, inches away from where the heart would be.

"I'm not a perfect shot," She said. "But I'm a pretty good one. Considering you said one of your abilities is increased learning speed, you should get this one down pretty quick."

She turned and placed the pistol on the table. She grabbed a bigger gun up from a stand and turned back to me.

"This is a semi automatic rifle. It fires off rounds as quickly as you can pull the trigger. The magazines we use, hold up thirty rounds. Now, I understand much of what I said, probably flew right over your head, but I'll explain it all, thoroughly later. This is the gun we will start you out with."

She pressed the butt of the gun to her shoulder and looked down the sights.

"This is how you need to hold the gun for an accurate shot," She said.

She pointed at a little switch like thing on the gun.

"This is the trigger," She said. "Keep your finger off of it until you are ready to fire, and never point a gun at someone unless you are willing to take their life. Do you understand?"

"I understand," I replied.

"Good, then we can get you started."

She handed the rifle to me. I took it and turned to the targets.

"Aim at a vital area on the middle target," She said.

I held the gun the way I remembered her doing it and pointed it at the middle target's chest.

"There is a thin piece of metal at the end of your gun," She said. "Line your sight up so it's right between the other metal pieces that are closer to your eye."

I did as she said and adjusted my aim to the target's chest.

"Now, put your finger on the trigger, and squeeze it down," She said.

I did just that, and a piece of metal fired out of the gun's barrel with a loud bang, while the gun kicked back. The metal struck just above where I was aiming.

"Were you aiming there?" Ashley asked.

"Well, I aimed a little lower," I admitted.

"Either way, that was a good shot, especially for your first time shooting. Do it again."

For the rest of the day, she had me firing at the targets. At first she kept me on the rifle, but she eventually moved me to other guns as well. I learned more about the different parts of the guns and found out that the pieces of metal that they fire were called bullets. It came quicker than I thought, but soon, training for the day was over.

"You did very well today," Ashley said. "I may not have to worry about how much time it will take to completely train you. Anyway, get some rest. You'll need it. Tomorrow, we train your soul."

Ashley walked out of the training room and went to her room. I left as well to get prepare for the next day.