The nights following the massacre at the abandoned village were filled with fear, regret, and nightmares for Varkasan. He wondered just how competent they were to dealing with the Mage threat if there were people like Revain and his subordinates who were magic juggernauts and simply tore through the ranks of countless Paladins. He dreaded that there may come a time where the people he defended would be at the mercy of men like The Azure Sorcerer, and he would be powerless to stop them. When the news reached Varkasan that they would go to the fortress of The Inquisitors for training and promotion, he was actually relieved (despite him knowing it meant more hardships ahead). Because this meant that he had the opportunity to become stronger, and be able to better protect others from powerful Mages. He made a quick return to The Guardians' Guild House to get his supplies packed and say goodbye to his comrades. Aradus wished him good fortune, and even gave him a small blue gemstone, the size of a pebble. "This was given to me by a dwarven smith I saved from some bandits being led by a Mage. He said it was a lucky charm that had worked for him for a long time, and that I had only found him and rescued him because he was carrying it. He gave it to me hoping that it would give me the luck it had given him. I've carried it in my pocket during every assignment I've had, and I'm still alive aren't I? So now I'll give this to you. You're going to need all the help you can get if you're going to be with The Inquisitors." He explained. "Thank you, friend. I promise to put its powers to good use." Varasan answered; touched by the gesture. Kagax was still obviously displeased by the fact that Varkasan had outshone him, but he still managed to force out a few words of congratulations and best wishes. "I'm sure... You will continue to keep surprising us all...And, err.. Try not to do anything foolish and die." Kagax said with pained pauses. Varkasan smiled. "I promise to do so." He replied. Janus was still confined to an infirmary, as the wounds he had sustained were greater than they thought. But with whatever energy he had in him, he spoke to Varkasan. "Do it for the fallen... and for the living..." Janus said. Varkasan nodded. "I shall." The young Paladin replied. After a few more farewells by fellow squads who all gave their words of encouragement, Varkasan was on his way to meet up with the other candidates and a guide back in Liria, before heading together to the Inquisitorial Fortress. ------------------- There wasn't anything notable about the ride up the plateau (aside from a few scary moments as they traversed the tight corners and saw what awaited them at the bottom of the fall), the first thing that had amazed Varkasan was the large spherical Light shield that surrounded the Fortress. He knew such a feat took a great amount of energy and skill (even for the most experienced of Paladins), and that the effects could not only be physical; it probably affected any Magic within it as well. Entering through the shield and past the walls of the Fortress, Varkasan felt safe for the first time in the last few days. This was a place that would not fall easily to even the most determined of Mage attacks. They were then led to their rooms. Varkasan was a little surprised to find that the room was much better than his quarters at their Guild House barracks. [i]"One would think that we would be thrown into much hardship during this training... Perhaps this is meant to be a breather in between the tougher moments we will go through."[/i] Varkasan thought. He then quickly unloaded his luggage and began sorting them out. Seeing the table while he carried his things around, he made a mental note to write to his parents later tonight, as news of his training at the Inquisitorial Fortress may have reached their ears by now. After his room became slightly more personalized with his sorting, he put on his armor and proceeded to the practice range for the first part of his training. ----------- The practice range reminded Varkasan of the shooting gallery used by Aradus and other long-ranged Paladins back at The Guardians' training base, with targets set up in different kinds of positions you would find enemies in battle: Some out in the open, others behind cover with small portions exposed, and others completely protected by cover so that shots had to be done in a perfect arc to hit them. Varkasan once attempted to use bows and crossbows, but he didn't have the finesse to handle a bow, and he found the crossbow to be slow and unwieldy. He felt a little afraid that perhaps that was the kind of ranged warfare that he and the others were to practice. But his fear was immediately replaced with curiosity when they were given a strange bracer-mounted crossbow. The instructor explained to them what "The Stinger" was and how it would be used. It was definitely much faster and allowed more agility than a regular crossbow, and seemed easier to use than a bow and arrow. [i]"Perhaps this will finally allow me to have some ranged capability in anti-Mage combat!"[/i] Varkasan thought excitedly as he secured the bracer to his right arm (his sword-arm) and examined the small weapon. The Dwarves had always impressed him and many others with their ability to not only create machines, but also how intricate and detailed they were with it. He then grabbed a "magazine", as they called it, and attached it to the spot the instructor had shown them. It easily snapped on, and (careful not to trigger the weapon with unnecessary movements) Varkasan very slowly raised his arm to take aim. He decided to start with a fairly easy one: a moderately distant target standing in the open in front of him. He carefully lined up the weapon with the target's middle area and tried to steady his aim using his left arm to hold the right one in place. [i]"Ready... Steady... Aaaaand...-"[/i]. Just as he was about to shoot, a small Stinger bolt whizzed past him, mere inches away from his face. "GAH!" He exclaimed as he fell backwards out of impulse. He watched the bolt embed itself into the wall as he heard Alicia exclaim "Oops!". However, he accidentally triggered his own Stinger during the fall, causing a bolt to fly off over the practice range and onto the top of the wall where a couple of guards were making their rounds. "LOOK OUT!" Varkasan quickly shouted to warn them. They heard him, and looked just in time to get out of the way of the stray bolt. "WATCH WHERE YOU'RE SHOOTING!" One of the guards shouted at the candidates angrily, waving his fist in the air "Sorry!" Varkasan replied with a weaker shout. He got up from the ground and turned to Alicia and the Instructor. He noticed another Stinger bolt sticking out from the ground near Alicia's feet while she herself seemed embarrassed by the effects of the stray shots. "Sir, perhaps we shouldn't have started out with using real bolts..." Varkasan said to the Instructor. After the hair-raising close calls, Varkasan finally managed to get to practice easily with The Stinger as he fired upon different targets. He needed a lot of trial and error experimentation in order to understand how much wrist movement would activate it, and how far he could move his hand without accidental misfires (though he always kept it pointed at walls or targets, just in case). Aiming was an easier affair, though he needed extra effort to steady his arm if he wanted to hit a precise spot on the target. While he could now use it without accidental shots, it would definitely affect his sword technique if he was using The Stinger while wielding a blade. Not to mention being able to be agile in a fight while equipped with it. He would need more practice for that. [b][Varkasan now knows the basics of using The Stinger. However, he will still have trouble when using it while moving quickly, or in conjunction with his sword and shield][/b]