Star
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Post by Star on Apr 14, 2024 1:44:52 GMT -6
He climbed into the wind tunnel and looked around. It was an odd room shaped like a tube with a few viewing windows and many machines sticking out from the walls. I assumed they were what created the weather, but Sha would not know anything about that. As a creature who had not had much experience with machines in his day, I wondered what he thought of them. Not that I would ever really know.
There was a huge fan at one end of the tunnel, covered by wires that prevented creatures from getting into it. The other end was simply a padded wall. I had a feeling that many creatures, especially smaller ones, simply smacked against that wall as soon as the fan was turned on. I cringed at the thought.
“Are you ready, Sha? Stay. Do you understand me? Stay.” I said it very firmly and pointed to the ground.
[27, 18]
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Star
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Post by Star on Apr 14, 2024 1:45:09 GMT -6
He needed to stay put and resist against the wind for this to work. I then went outside and turned the dial for the fan slowly. It kicked on and started to push Sha. I could tell that it was working at first because he turned his head and squinted into the wind like he was trying to figure out what it was. I let him get acclimated to the slower wind before turning up the dial. He took a step back with the greater force. It would be difficult for him to keep his place as it got stronger.
One more notch. Sha dug another spearlike foot into the ground, only for it to slide off the slick surface. He brought it back again and planted it, this time finding a stable position for it. It was amazing how Sha managed to get around on his stilt-like legs. They were so awkwardly shaped that I doubted he could stand at first, but he managed. Every single thing about him was a mystery, like he was cobbled together out of pure weirdness.
[27.1, 18.2]
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Star
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Post by Star on Apr 14, 2024 1:45:56 GMT -6
The wind tunnel itself was also temperature controlled, so I turned the temperature down and the rain up at the same time. This caused it to snow, looking like a full on blizzard inside. The fluffy snow pelted Sha in big chunks and he constantly shook his head to keep it out of his eyes. I lowered the temperature again and the water went from being snowflakes to freezing instantly into small splinters of ice.
I almost reflexively turned the dial back, but I hesitated. I wanted to see how he coped with the ice shards. Surely a little hail was less than he would be taking in a tournament, right? Again watching his body for any signs of damage, I squinted through the glass to get a good look. The ice was obscuring my view, but not entirely. He seemed largely unharmed, though his posture suggested he was struggling to keep his feet in place on the slick ground.
[27.2, 18.4]
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Star
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Post by Star on Apr 14, 2024 1:46:13 GMT -6
The hailstorm was great for testing his resistance, but I didn’t want it to last for too long. I slowly pushed the heat back up so that what was falling was a moderate temperature rain instead. As someone who has flown in the rain, I knew how much high velocity water could sting, but I had to imagine it was less damaging than the hail. I let it stay that way for some time while I investigated the other options.
I slowly turned the rain dial back and the heat dial up until the air was hot and arid. Constantly changing the environment was going to get him used to a lot of different environments. Perhaps it would help him develop some resistance against elemental magic as well. I knew he was physically tough with his carapace, but I worried about his ability to fend off magic. He could stand plenty of heat, but literal fire? That was a question I was quite worried about.
[27.3, 18.6]
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Star
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Post by Star on Apr 14, 2024 1:46:26 GMT -6
He was likely to encounter a ton of adversity in the tournament. Acid, fire, ice, wind, every element one could think of may be present in his opponents. There was simply no way to tell. I had to boost up his protection against as many elements as I could before he would be ready.
After a few minutes of hot dry air, I flicked yet another switch. This one caused a sandstorm to whip up in the tunnel, instantly filling it with sand. I had to squint again to see inside, but for as long as I could see his glowing vents and eyes, I knew he would survive. This was the toughest thing I had put him through so far, so my anxiety about his condition increased. Though I could have left it on for longer according to the recommendations, I eventually cut the timer early and let him out of the tunnel.
[27.4, 18.8]
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Star
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Post by Star on Apr 14, 2024 1:46:44 GMT -6
“How did you fare, Sha?” I asked. I rubbed the sand from his face and smiled at him. He seemed very pleased to see me. One section at a time, I brushed away the sand and inspected his carapace for damage. By all means, he seemed to fare well. The training seemed to be working.
“Let us rest again,” I said. While I may not need physical rest, I did need some time to relax my mind and consider my next plans.
Sha was doing very well with his training, which I could have expected. Of all my creatures, he was the most devoted. The other golems also stared at me in the same unwavering way, but Sha was the first to grow, not only into the walker stage, but all the way into a stalker. There was something about his element that attracted me to him first as my test subject.
[27.5, 19]
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Star
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Post by Star on Apr 14, 2024 1:47:01 GMT -6
Now we had much more than that, a real bond built through shared experience. It would be difficult, but far from impossible, for the others to catch up. Though I was sure I would find things to like about all of them eventually.
There was one last area of the resistance gym for us to try out. Once we had done that, I could choose which was my favorite and repeat the experience until it felt like Sha hit his peak. “Come along, Sha,” I said. He instantly jumped up and began to follow me.
The final section of the training area was a bunch of pads on springs in varying sizes. The purpose was to push against them as hard as possible. Some even sprung out on their own like a grossly oversized punch from a pillow. Well, it certainly was more active than the other areas, I had to give it that.
[27.6, 19.2]
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Star
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Post by Star on Apr 14, 2024 1:47:22 GMT -6
I looked over the various pads until I found one that seemed to be about the right size for Sha. He was fairly strong, but he would have to put forward a sustained and consistent effort for this exercise. I was unsure if he would figure out how to do it, but there was no way to know without trying.
“Sha, ram into it,” I said, punching one of my claws into the other. He stood staring at my hands. No, that would not do. He wasn’t getting it. Perhaps if I showed him myself? “Like this,” I said, pushing against the ram with my shoulder.
“Now is your turn,” I pushed him into place facing the pad, but he continued to look at me with bewilderment. I went through the motions a few more times, showing him how to do it, gently pressing him into the pad, and finally standing behind him and calling his name.
[27.7, 19.4]
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Star
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Post by Star on Apr 14, 2024 1:47:50 GMT -6
Eventually, he seemed to get the point, or at least he did the right motion. He tucked his head down and pressed against the sled, pushing it back as far as he could. I stood behind him encouraging him to keep going. It was about halfway through its spring but I thought he could make it all the way if he tried. “Keep going, Sha, you can do it, come to me, you can reach me if you just keep trying!”
That was a lie of course, but he did not know that. Actually, he did not even understand it. What he did understand was me calling out to him. He wanted to be close to me, and to make me happy. To hear my voice was enough encouragement to get him pressing against the sled with vigor. Finally, the last of the gap in the spring disappeared. He had done it, he got all the way through!
[27.8, 19.6]
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Star
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Post by Star on Apr 14, 2024 1:48:07 GMT -6
“Keep going Sha, you can do it!” I said. It was not long after that that he finally lost his grip and tumbled backwards. “Good job, Sha, that was an amazing effort, now we do it again!”
I had him press into the sled again. He started more quickly this time, since he knew what to do. I kept encouraging him to go further and further until it was all the way back, then had him hold the position for as long as he could. Eventually he fell back again, but he lasted a little bit longer than last time. I gave him some room to recover, but not too much, and we did it again.
Then, we moved on to something a little more passive. The pads required him to push against them, but the ones that popped out on their own would spring into him. The goal was for him to stay in place and take the hit. Then he needed to stand his ground or get knocked over. I knew which one I thought he would do first.
[27.9, 19.8]
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Star
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Post by Star on Apr 14, 2024 1:48:43 GMT -6
I let Sha rest for a bit before we moved on to the boppers. It was best that he came into the activity fresh, and it gave me time to add to my notes about elemental golems. It struck me as quite odd that my first experience at the training gym was with such an unusual creature, but I supposed that made sense. Many of my creatures were unusual in some way or another. I tended to be attracted to what was unique and rare. Normal people must just bring Equillion or Vultici to this sort of thing. Maybe Wiurn, considering how popular they were as battle contestants.
That would present its own set of challenges, of course. The creatures would become exhausted, easily winded, dehydrated, and more. A creature like Sha made such a better test subject with his relative indestructibility. Though he was also more difficult to motivate and it was nearly impossible to tell how he was feeling.
[28, 20]
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Star
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Post by Star on Apr 14, 2024 1:48:59 GMT -6
It was only because I knew him so well that I understood as much about him as I did.
“This will be the last task, Sha,” I explained. He looked happy to hear that, but he was probably just picking up on my body language. As interesting and necessary as the process was, I found myself looking forward to going home. It was exhausting to do this much work. I was starting to understand why the place was so empty, now. It would be hard to motivate oneself to come frequently.
“Stand here, Sha,” I instructed with the telltale point. Sha did as commanded and waited in front of one of the boppers. I did feel a little bad about what happened next, but I knew there was no way to avoid it. I pressed the plunger on the bopper and it popped out in an instant, knocking him over.
[28.1, 20.2]
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Star
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Post by Star on Apr 14, 2024 1:49:13 GMT -6
“Sorry, Sha, let us try again,” I said. I straightened Sha up and reset the bopper. “One more time, are you ready?” No, he wasn’t, but this was the only way for him to learn.
I set off the bopper again and this time it bounced off of him, but he didn’t fall over. He slid back but remained on his feet. “Excellent, Sha,” I praised. He seemed pleased that I was happy with his efforts, so we tried again.
The bopper went off and pushed him back again, but this time it went a little less far. We had to repeat the process dozens of times until he could stiffen himself sufficiently for a direct hit. Soon enough, he was shrugging off the hits like they were nothing at all.
“I am so pleased that you do not bruise, Sha,” I said. That made the bopper one of the most efficient ways to improve his endurance. There was no fear of cracking his shell given how distributed the blows were, and he could seemingly do that all day.
[28.2, 20.4]
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Star
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Post by Star on Apr 14, 2024 1:49:28 GMT -6
Eventually, however, we would need to head back to the lair. Sha and I had both earned a nice long day of rest. I decided that we would go one more round with the sleds before finally calling it quits. I led Sha back over to where they were and encouraged him to crash into them just like last time.
Sha seemed a bit confused, perhaps because the boppers and the sleds looked somewhat alike. “This is the one you push against,” I said. I demonstrated again as I once had.
Sha was so excited that he did not even wait for me to get out of the way before charging forward. He pinned my tail into the sled and smashed into it at full force. The good news was he had perfect form on his training. The bad news was that perfect form included a section of my tail.
[28.3, 20.6]
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Star
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Post by Star on Apr 14, 2024 1:52:51 GMT -6
I yelped loudly and yanked my tail away. I suppressed an urge to scream as loud as possible. I did not want to punish Sha for doing the right thing, even if that thing hurt me a lot. I breathed quickly though my nose, hoping I could start to ignore it if I just breathed it out.
Sha continued to push into the sled until eventually it snapped back and he went stumbling backwards. Those thin legs of his were really not well suited to this task, which was one of the reasons it was so important to strengthen them up. Each time I saw him push against one of the sleds, I could see him get stronger and more determined. Even if it was actually impossible to increase the thickness of his 'skin' or whatever it was, his determination would make a huge difference to how he behaved in a fight.
[28.4, 20.8]
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