We stepped through the door into a fairly blank room about fifty feet in each dimension. The walls were solid concrete with reinforced plates scattered throughout, and the ceiling seemed to be glowing softly with the same amount of light as typical florescent bulbs. The room was marked out with an oval running lane that stretched to about three feet from the walls. Phil took a look around and nodded before saying, “Okay, they used Nightingale’s training hall; I can work with this to train you.”

He stepped over to one of the walls and placed his hand against one of the plates. It folded down and a holographic display appeared over it. A line of light scanned the huge man for a moment before the display shifted. I couldn’t see much of what it showed him but he seemed satisfied as he said, “Switch to voice control. Give me a target dummy in the center of the room.”

At his statement a wooden training dummy materialized in the center of the room. It just seemed to coalesce out of a fog and I was prompted to ask, “Nightingale’s training room?”

“Another mentor, she has the ability to create solid objects out of natural materials. She created a training facility and enchanted it to create different objects from the patterns she knew. It works great for basic physical training. Now Savira told me about your technique selections, so this is where we get you used to using them,” he responded.

“Let me guess, you are only going to help me figure those ones out?” I asked.

He shook his head, “No, I’m going to help you figure out how to use them properly. Just knowing how to use them isn’t good enough.”

His tone of voice had changed from the football coach into the drill sergeant and I was suddenly a little worried about how well I would fare in this. I pointed out, “If the target dummy is for the projectile then I’m going to require ammo, I can’t actually conjure a kinetic blast.”

He nodded, but before he said anything a long table appeared with various hand held objects ranging from ball bearings, to knives, to even some improvised weapons. The improvised weapon selection was a mixed bag that included bricks, different shapes of rubble, a chair, a toaster, and even a kitchen sink.

“Since this is your tutorial, you get to request objects. The room has a limited ability to interpret your requests so if you want something complicated be sure to specify. For now I want you to start with the ball bearings and try and use your projectile technique. The file Savira gave me indicated that at full power it should have force roughly comparable to a 9mm bullet,” he said.

I nodded. Part of my research the night before hand included doing some math on the amount of force imparted by my techniques. The force was variable since it would depend on how hard I threw the ball bearing. The technique increased the velocity by a multiple of ten. Since the average throwing speed of a fit person who knew how to throw a baseball was between 60 to 70 miles per hour, which would mean that a proper throw would be around 600 mph. Ball bearings would travel a bit faster as they were both denser and smaller which would create less drag. I hadn’t done the math for that specifically, but it should still impact pretty nicely.

I grabbed a handful of ball bearings and selected one to start with. Before I threw it though Phil interrupted, “Focus on what you want to do, the system needs to map the synapse pattern to your intent to activate the ability.”

Interesting system, mapping the synapse firing would be the best way to use a free form system that didn’t have locked in skills. Plus it would track with the Second World Systems design of being based around a user’s own abilities; just with an extra edge.

It took a few tries before the technique actually activated on a standard overhand throw. I was going to try a few of the other ammo types when Phil stopped me. “No, try some different ways of launching the projectile before you switch ammo types. That will narrow down the activation sequence and allow you more flexibility.”

That was unexpected; I thought he was here to help me figure out how to use the system. I asked, “How much are you supposed to be a trainer?”

He grinned, “The problem with asking a thinking being to help out with a training program is that they get to decide how to help out. The basic tutorial program most of the others are getting just shows them how to use their abilities and advises to try out different methods. Returning alpha testers and your group of beta testers are getting actual teachers. Now get to it!”

That last part was an obvious order, and I found myself doing a side arm throw before I could consciously think about it. It only took three tries to get the technique to activate, and I worked through the different ways I could think of to launch a ball bearing down range. After four different throws the technique began to activate on the first try. I thought about it for a second and then tried to throw with reduced power, and it took me a while to get the hang of adjusting how much force a throw would create.

A beep from the holographic display interrupted my practice, and Phil looked at the screen and grinned before saying, “Good, figuring out how to adjust your power is important.”

I stepped over to look and he moved aside to show me what had appeared:

Technique Modified through training,

Kinetic Projectile – Increase the velocity of a thrown projectile by up to a multiple of X, where X= Elemental (Kinetic) x Projectile, this technique requires ammunition which may be destroyed.

It took me a second to spot the difference in the wording of the power. Before it had stated that the velocity was increased by a flat rate, now it listed that variable as the maximum velocity increase. I went back to my personal range to find the target had been replaced again. I spent a few minutes getting used to how to use the technique with varied power levels. I seemed to be able to throw at certain intervals fairly reliably, but it wasn’t an exact science yet. It was however enough for now. I looked at Phil as I reached for different ammunition; he nodded and I proceeded to work my way down the table of ammunition.

Surprisingly most of the actual throwing weapons were harder for me to use than ball bearings. The throwing knives, stars, and axes were more difficult to get right than anything else, it made some sense as they were designed and balanced to be thrown at normal velocities. The javelins generally blasted through the target and shattered when they impacted the wall beyond the target, their steel tips easily punching through almost two feet of wood. The improvised weapons were a mixed bag as they weren’t well balanced for throwing, but get enough velocity behind anything and it is going to cause some damage.

As I reached for the kitchen sink Phil said, “Really, you are really going to throw the kitchen sink at it?”

I smirked at him as I launched the stainless steel kitchen sink at the target and saw it blast the target apart before I said, “It was there, would you rather I threw the book at them?”

He actually face-palmed at that statement before grumbling, “Okay, you have the basics of your kinetic projectile technique. If we don’t use up all your time today I’ll prep a few training courses into the room before you come back. For now let’s move onto your other techniques.”

The training dummy disappeared as he motioned me to follow him into the center of the room. “Bastion training,” he stated when we reached the center.

A series of automated launchers appeared where we had been standing, the first in the row being one that would launch tennis balls at me. Phil looked to me and I nodded, raising a hand and focusing on my intent to use my technique. It didn’t take long for this one to begin working, and after some practice I managed to adjust the field of force that I created to slightly different shapes like a circular wall or a dome. Unfortunately I found out that while it would reduce the velocity of bullets, the larger calibers and more powerful guns still hurt and would likely bruise. So small arms fire was good, but anything stronger was a temporary solution at best.

We moved on to the Kinetic Armor technique with much the same results, though I found that my body positioning would affect the impact as well, with some of the shots not striking me directly. I actually found that I could block or catch some of the projectiles, like the falling rubble Phil decided to surprise me with. It did make me wonder if I could switch to a launched projectile or somehow pull a Star Wars moment and redirect an attack with my kinetic projectile technique. I would have to try it later when I had time. For now there were two more techniques to figure out and six more hours to work with.

Phil nodded after the machine gun test that had left me wincing slightly and said, “So now you have a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of your defensive techniques. I believe you have a sensory technique and an enhancement technique left?”

I grunted before saying, “Yes, a radar sense and a body enhancement.”

He rubbed his chin and said, “Let’s start with the body enhancement. From the description of the technique it increases your velocity and protects you from the increased force of your own motions.”

I nodded and decided to start by running while focusing on trying to get it to work. It didn’t take that long for me to notice an increased running speed. I wasn’t moving extremely fast, maybe around 30 mph, but it was a noticeable increase. The stop was interesting though, as while I could skid to a stop, I couldn’t stop on a dime; that was something I would need to be careful of. I found that I could deactivate the technique though but it wouldn’t stop my current velocity; this cause a few uncomfortable falls as my body couldn’t keep up with my own velocity at times. Phil asked, “What about anything other than running, or were you just wanting to use this as a way to move faster?”

I shook my head, “No, I had planned for this to be a combat technique; running just seemed the easiest way to start practicing it.”

“Good, then come show me what you can do. The training hall can’t mimic another combatant so you are stuck with me,” he said with a wolfish grin.

Not having any idea what he could do in the game world I asked, “Do your powers transfer into this room, and if they do how much damage am I going to inflict on myself if I were to hit you?”

His grin widened and he answered, “Good questions. Yes, my powers transfer to here because it’s a power training hall. I don’t get access to other worlds as a general rule, so there isn’t anything in place for restricting them. As to whether you will be damaged by hitting me, that depends on if you know how to throw a punch.”

Somehow I suspected that he was a bit more durable than your average flesh and blood opponent, but he was going to make me learn the hard way. He raised his hands to an odd fighting stance as I closed on him and I began to throw basic strikes while trying to use my technique. It took a little longer to get it to work, but I sensed when it activated and focused on that feeling. I spent a few minutes attacking my huge trainer, with him blocking most of my attacks. When my strikes did land on his flesh it felt like I was hitting a heavy bag rather than a soft target. I began to turn off the technique and reactivate it while I moved to get used to rapid activations, which took a while to get the hang of. Phil noticed and gave me a small grunt of approval before he caught one of my kicks and swiftly put me on my ass, hard.

I lay there a moment, feeling the aches of my body and marveling at how real it felt. “It’s kind of funny. I know this is digital for me, but I can’t really tell the difference.”

He sat down next to me, barely even breathing hard, and replied, “I don’t really get the science of it. To me this is my reality and I can’t compare it; as I understand it though your brain interprets the data your nerves send to it. If your brain is being sent the same data how is it different?”

That did raise a concern though, and I asked, “How does death work for us in your world?”

He laughed heartily and said, “It works like death. It isn’t pleasant, but as I understand it for you players it hurts but if you would be inflicted a lethal injury you are kicked out of the game world before it actually happens. Apparently there was concern on how it would affect you, but when the proverbial ejection didn’t work initially there were other safety protocols that did prevent any long term damage.”

I knew that Pandora Interactive had already put safety protocols into place for in game deaths. Various pieces of fiction have existed for years about death in a game causing real death, and it was one of the biggest concerns for full immersion technology. I wasn’t concerned about that so I clarified, “No, I meant to ask how do people from your world see it?”

“Oh, for those of us that already know your coming from another world it’s easy. I’m guessing your actually wondering about the people that don’t know about your world?” he replied.

I nodded and he continued, “It was tricky during the Alpha test, but now most people just think it is one of the healers or magic users either plucking you out of the time stream or your own power resurrecting you to continue on.”

“So they don’t think about it much?” I asked.

“Basically, they know that when the Call goes out the heroes that arrive from outside our society are different. It’s why most of the heroes that are there already move to a mentor or support role. Granted we know you will just come back, but normal people don’t,” he answered.

“Sounds complicated,” I said.

“It can be, but not something you need to trouble yourself about. Just try not to die, from what I understand you more or less start over with your power levels if you do,” he said.

Okay, that sounded like a harsh death penalty. I would need to see if there was a manual for me to look at. I stood up, my body still aching a bit from that test and said, “I probably need to take a break before finishing up the training, unless you want to do the last technique first.”

He stood as well and said, “Let’s see if we can get it figured out so I can check in back home. I left a utility belt and a communicator with your costume back in your room so if you need me for training when you come back you can get a message to me. For now let’s get this done; radar sense training environment.”

The circle changed to a gymnastics obstacle course and Phil handed me a black bag to put over my head. I sighed and used the bag to kill my eyesight. Surprisingly it didn’t take me long to activate the radar sense, though it wasn’t exactly a radar. It seemed to operate somewhere in between a radar and sonar, with a much better sense of anything that moved. I found it easy to pick out Phil when he moved, and the various objects were also fairly clear to my sense, almost like I had a 3D line drawing of my surroundings available. I found that if I focused on what was in front of me the sensation of what was behind me was dulled and I could sense things further away in that direction. I would need to practice with the 360 degree sensory input during the remaining training hall time, as that would likely be the hardest thing to learn.

With that done I bid Phil goodbye and headed for the door to my room, and to log out with another four and a half hours remaining on my training room time.