An Unlikely Friend. part 1

Chapter 27: Practice Makes Perfect

Iona

Korbin jumps up from doing pushups when Sosimo enters the training room.

Sosimo pulls the toothpick from his mouth and raises an eyebrow. “Doing a bit of extra exercise Korbin?”

“Uh, yeah. Just trying to get stronger, ” Korbin says with a bright red face.

“This wouldn’t have anything to do with getting your butt kicked by Natina, would it?”

Korbin turns his face down. “No…” He looks up at Sosimo and his face is even more red. “Maybe a little. I can’t be beat by a girl!”

Sosimo pats him on the back. “Well you better get used to it because it’ll happen again. I promise. Natina is a well trained Borukin, there’s nothing to be ashamed of.” He turns to the rest and claps his hands. “Alright let’s get started. Over the next few weeks we’ll become familiar with some skills and tools Grebson and I figure you’ll be using.” Sosimo moves next to the artifact rack and grabs a Moltrik lepisent. “The most important skill we’ll be working with is using Moltrik lepisents to stun someone. We’ll also practice using team work to focus your attacks on a single target to drastically increase your stunning capabilities.” Sosimo places the lepisent down and picks up a bracelet hanging on the wall with others. “These are invisibility talismans. You’ll be using these and a Moltrik type that tricks the security system to help you sneak through Demeeurj Tower, the massive Erohsian building at the center of Sunta.”

“Oh cool, we’re going to become invisible?” Thea jumps up in excitement.

“It’s more of a trick of the mind, but it accomplishes the same effect,” Sosimo says. “The tricky part is working together when you can’t see each other, which we’ll have to practice. We'll also be training to use doormen.” He grabs a rod with a red pointed end and a blue pointed end. “The Erohsians may have some heavy-duty doors and these little guys will take care of most anything in your way. They’re loud, messy, and take a week or more to recharge, so this is a last resort tool.”

“How do they work?” Iona asks.

“Each one has three components to it.” Sosimo shows the red point and the blue point. “This is the hot end and this is the cold end, which are conveniently labeled. The hot end will melt the locking mechanism while the cold end will cool the metal when you’ve opened the door.”

“Why would we need to cool it down?” Ryder asks.

“Because it gets really hot and you may not have time to let it cool down naturally before you squeeze through. The cold end will also provide a protective shield that will cool any metal that gets flung at you when you’re trying to pry it open.” Sosimo points to the center. “The center is what you use to pull the door apart. It uses Fundamental Aether to latch onto the door so you can open it when the lock is melted and the door is hot.”

“Couldn't we use our own skill to pull it apart?” Iona asks.

Sosimo nods. “You could but the skill required to multitask is still too great for you. Plus this is a Borukin device and we don’t have the Aether reserves to use on such tasks, so we make tools that are self-sufficient. It’ll also be a great way for you all to save Aether. Grebson and I will set up some training exercises for the bracelets and doormen later. For now we’ll start to practice with the Moltrik lepisents.”

“Is Grebson you brother?” Thea blurts out.

Sosimo looks at her and then down. “Yes.”

“I thought your family was killed?”

“They were, and so was his. I tried to save them all… but I failed.” Sosimo crushes a toothpick in his mouth. “If he wasn’t off pursuing his trophies, maybe we could have saved everyone.”

“Fae always said a relationship with a grudge goes bad like a container of milk,” Thea says. “But I’d never forgive him either.”

Sosimo looks at her and frowns. “You’d never forgive him?”

“No. Not ever.”

“But Grebson is his family,” Korbin says. “And Fae always said if you’re always carrying around your baggage you’ll be too tired to live your life.”

“It sounds like Fae was a smart lady.”

“She was.” Thea’s eyes well up.

Sosimo kneels down and hugs Thea. “We can work on this together.”