The Metaphorical Key Book I- Call of the Raven

Chapter IV

Of all the things Aiden had been expecting to see upon walking into the room designated for training... this wasn't one of them.
He'd expected workout equipment, stuff he'd find in the gym near his home in Vecuria. Dumbbells, treadmills, punching bags, that sort of thing.

But contrary to his expectations, the only thing is the room was a pool that occupied the majority of the space. On the opposite end of the pool was another door, with a thin walkway branching off it that stopped abruptly just a few meters down its length. It wasn't a diving board of anything like that, it was only just above the pool, only raised up enough to keep it dry. Fluorescent light bounced off the pool. The room stank of chlorine. Aiden gulped, he could swim fine but the idea of drowning haunted his nightmares.

There was room to sit down on the pool edge, but not much. Regardless, some of the weight pressing down on Aiden's chest lifted when he spotted Dulcie and Pollux. Dulcie locked eyes with him and waved him over.

Behind the seating area was a fence of sorts, boxing off an area for people to walk as they made their way to spots to sit. Aiden smiled and his chest warmed when he noticed that Pollux was leaning to his left, pressing his palm onto the floor and grinning at Aiden. He'd saved him a spot.

"Why's it a pool?" Aiden asked, lifting his leg up and over the fence to awkwardly lower himself beside Pollux. He swallowed down the rising panic in his chest as he dipped his legs into the water. The pool was deep, he couldn't see the bottom. "I can't think of many exercises that involve a pool."
"It changes every day," Pollux answered, eyes lighting up. "Yesterday it was a pit that we had to climb down - there was a net at the bottom in case we fell,  don't worry!"

Aiden nodded. He was about to question how the room changed every day, then reminded himself of what Dulcie had said earlier about creating new rooms. A wizard did it.

It was a rather unsatisfying handwave, but it made sense.

He was about to strike up a conversation with the twins to conquer the uncomfortable silence, but the door on the opposite side of the room to where he'd come in swung open, interrupting him.
The murmurs and casual conversations in the room fell away into silence as somebody strode into the room.

The person who walked through the door was a woman, somewhere in her mid-twenties, with platinum blonde hair in a chin-length bob. Her small eyes, coloured a deep forest green, flickered around the room as though she were studying every person there. There was a coffee cup in her right hand, and without taking her eyes off the group, she raised it to her lips.

She sported a blue cardigan speckled with small amounts of white that reached her hips over a white tee, and a pleated brown skirt. In contrast to the rather simple and casual clothes, a pair of black military boots covered her feet. She stood so rigidly, back straight and chin tilted ever so slightly up, that had it not been for the fact that she was moving, Aiden would've guessed that she was rooted into the ground like a tree.

She swung one foot in front of the other as though it were natural instinct. Never once lowering her cup of coffee or taking her eyes off the group, she stopped at the very edge of the walkway.
"Alright, I understand there's a new guy here today. Welcome, I'm Regina. This is an important class, so pay attention. It's the one where you learn how to not die." That got a small chuckle from the group. Regina's lips quirked into a smirk. "Yeah, I know, I'm a comedian - that said, more seriously, new guy -"
"Err - it's Aiden."
"New guy. You'll learn survival skills for out in the field in here. You'll repeat classes on occasion, so missing a class due to illness or something isn't the end of the world, and if you really want to, you can come to me whenever if you want to train in... whatever. I'm here to make sure none of you accidently kill yourselves, and I'm happy to provide you with that knowledge whenever I can. Got it?"