Percy Jackson's New Side - Order: Reborn To Return

Chapter 22: Training

People rushed around, teaming up with others and sitting at their chosen table. There were eleven teams, and two from each table came forward and picked up a box. Then they headed back to their table and set it down.

"Open the boxes," ordered Silena.

In each box was different materials. Either some string, or a pencil, or a pocket knife, anything. Silena walked up to one table and picked up their materials.

"Create something from the things given, you have two and a half hours. This will test your creativity to use what you have when under the pressure of time, the most common situation to be stuck in when you only have a few seconds." She said while setting the materials down. They trainees got to work.

"Your first test will be choosing what you wear. Clothing is important in stealth, so you make sure that your outfit will not make any noise in a case where you have to stand in a tight space or something like that. You have five minutes to select light, durable and quiet clothing for yourselves, GO!" Charles clicked his stop watch, and everyone rushed forward to get the things they were eyeing.

"Remember, light shoes, light clothing, less noise." said Charles.

Some quickly put their pants and shirt on, and stood back. Others simply wished for their cloaks to become what they wanted it to become. The last people were a bit troubled in finding what they wanted, but eventually they got it.

"Now to practice stealth moves! We'll be walking in silence, and simply doing this movement over and over again. Heel to toe to heel to toe. Side steps, leaps and more. Repeat." Charles demonstrated the movements he talked about, everyone followed. 

First they walked silently on the grass, making slow, small movements. They side stepped, leaped over their obstacles and landed with small noises. 

"Keep working, I'll be checking your movements in ten minutes. Keep it nice and slow. It would be amazing if you could perform it quicker, but the objective is to make no noises. Then we'll move on to tighter spaces."

"And thrust forward!" Castor showed a simple throw by the spear. It flew long and high, even against the winds. Then it disappeared into the skyline.

Everyone followed him, but they didn't get as high or far as Castor. 

"The spear is like your arm. Follow it. Guide it. Make it obey, let it's goal be clear. Once you have guided it and its goal is clear, follow through, and it will reach its goal. The strength is in your arm, that's the key. Step forward thrice, as you will get the build-up you want."

"But won't that sometimes make us miss the goal?" A girl asked.

Castor smiled warmly at her. "Not unless you guide it properly. After you master this, I'll teach you to do a more advanced move; taking one step forward, tilting your body and throwing the spear at a different angle than normal. It's a good tactic, but first you need to do this."

The girl nodded and got back to practice. She took a deep breath and ran her fingers along the spear. She stopped, and gripped it at the balance point with enough force to make sure it would be easy to control but it wouldn't hurt too much to grip it so tightly. Her thumb was on the bottom side, and her fingers curled around. Then she raised the spear equivalent to her ear, and took a step forward. At the second step, she changed her position ever so slightly, her right foot now in forward and just the tiniest bit diagonal. The girl leapt forward like a lion, her left hand outstretched marking the goal. Then she thrust forward, keeping her balance and T-stance. Her eyes watched as the spear hit the target, directly in the bullseye.