training and experimentation

Day and night, Carlos kept experimenting with his talent wherever and whenever he could. Combining multiple different runes in different ways. Gerand pointed Carlos to a cave nearby where they live and has been doing all his most dangerous experiments there. If it weren't for his makeshift armour made of rock, he would probably have died by now. 

All the while Gerand was doing something unexpected, he was maintaining his blade, equipment and training.

Rey, seeing this, was the happiest person around. She always wondered how her father was when he was an adventurer. She even saw him train on his own. He hasn't trained for the sake of training and getting better for a long time. Only ever training to help Rey.

She can't believe how much of a night and day difference this is. It’s as if life was sucked out of him and he has finally got it back.

But seeing her father regain his vigor wasn't the only thing that got her attention. 

Rey, from time to time, would watch Carlos work on his runes when he was not at the cave. Gerand has forbidden her to go there without him since it’s dangerous. She was in awe at what he could accomplish in such a short amount of time. She found herself watching him for hours, enamored of his creations.

Feeling like she’s been letting everybody down by letting herself get carried away, she trains with everything she has. Hoping that she can help them when the fighting begins.

Rey asks her father to help her train much more vigorously. Gerand nods. He takes out a training sword and begins. 

They both clash and Gerand sees Rey is as enthusiastic as he is and tries his best to keep his level of sword fighting just above hers to keep her on her toes. They fight for hours and stop when Gerand throws in the towel, too tired to keep on fighting. Gerand's age is getting to him. He’s never felt so exhausted.

"You okay, Dad?" Gerand takes a few deep breaths and nods and laughs. "Hahaha...im getting old." Rey then chuckles and holds out her hand to pick him up. He takes her hand and wipes himself off. "Well, I definitely can't stay in the fight for too long. I either need to get better or to work around this." Gerand then goes deep into thought. He imagines what the battle ahead holds. Easy enemies, but a lot of them. Hit and run would probably be best but too slow. Standing and holding the front line would tire him out and make him a liability. All the while having to make sure not to get surrounded, a very difficult puzzle to solve. One that he hopes Carlos can add more pieces and come up with a better strategy.

Rey looks at him and asks what he’s thinking about. He shakes his head and answers. "I’m trying to think of a way to be useful here. I’m old and out of shape." Rey frowns hearing him talk like this. "Don't talk like that, Dad. You'll show em!" She tries to cheer him up, and it works. Gerand smirks and says, "Ohhhh don’t worry about your old man, sweetheart. I'll come up with something; I always do." He then looks in the direction of where Carlos is tinkering and wonders how he’s doing. He then looks at Rey and asks, "Wanna go check up on Carlos?" As he says this, a massive explosion can be heard in his direction. They both look at each and give a collective sigh.

They both head over to the cave. Once they get close, Gerand stops Rey, wanting to check if it is safe. Gerand heads in first to see if it’s safe and sees Carlos. He then nonchalantly walks over to him and lightly kicks him. "You good?" Gerand asks Carlos. Carlos, with his eyes closed nods "Yup...just laying down for a bit, thinking." Carlos gets up and dusts himself off. "Thinking of what?" asks Gerand. "I have an idea, but I don’t want to get your hopes up just yet. I just need a little more time to see if it works, but if it does. We may have a solution to our problems." Rey then walks up behind them and greets Carlos. "Heyyy. You're alive; that’s great!" She then gives him a thumbs-up. Carlos nods at Rey and waves at her. Gerand then blocks Rey from Carlos and stands between them. "Back to business. I’m going to go tomorrow morning to check the front lines and see how its holding up." He turns to look at Rey. "You're coming with me. As for you, keep on doing...whatever it is you're doing." Carlos and Rey both nod. "Come on. Let’s go train some more before dinner." Rey nods and waves goodbye to Carlos. 

Before they head back, Rey remembers she wanted to do something before going. "Oh wait! Right, um, where did I put it hmmm?" She looks through her bag trying to find something. She finds it and takes it out, holding a wrapped bit of food and some water. "Here. You haven't eaten in a while, so you can have my lunch." Carlos looks stunned. As he looks at the food, he holds his stomach and suddenly feels hungry. In his cave experimenting, he gets into such a state of Zen that he forgets about himself and his basic needs. Carlos graciously grabs the food and begins eating. It’s a simple meal, but after not eating for so long, it tastes like heaven. Carlos then sits on the floor to eat and thanks Rey. 

Rey, feeling proud, smiles. She then goes with her father, and they both head back to the training yard. While walking, Gerand notices how happy Rey is. He’s not dumb, but he can't bring himself to let her go.

Back to Carlos. He finishes his meal quickly and drinks every drop of water. He heads into his cave and picks up his chisel stick. It’s a regular stick shaped in the form of a chisel and hardened with the runes. Heading inside, it is brightly lit with lanterns made of runed stone that produce light. Deep inside, he finds his project, rock and mud in the shape of a human.

The goal, make an army.