Father Suman had become part of the Conduit following his long standing position as trainer and mentor to the rising Warlocks; his position being indispensable to the raising of the ranks of the City’s Warlocks. His eyes reflected his experiences, he was a man clearly touched by the Traveller. This man had been one of the first defenders of the City, before the Titans built the great precipices of the City the few Guardians had to lend their ever availing hand to people fleeing the shattered remains of what was a Golden Age. Battling of hordes of Hive and Fallen as people rushed to be enveloped by the cloak of protection provided by the Traveller. He had seen the worst that this new world had to offer, the snarling enemies in the forests, mountains, deserts and plains, ready to pounce on the weak that is humanity and its friends. Through his guidance we learnt the way of the Warlock, our bodies becoming fused to the power of the Traveller. Chapter 2 I was lucky that I had decided on being a Guardian, I was furnished with a tidy, if not stark bunk-bed and a small, metallic side-table with a simple lamp. There was no wonderful view here, all the light we had was provided from the small domes dotting the ceiling like stars, On the bunk above me sat a quiet soul, staring into the oblivion of the wall opposite, he was cold, he was an Exo. I had heard about the Exo, cold and calculative, but at the same time the quickest to give their life, this was due to their low level of emotion; because of this they normally preferred the class of Titan, but everyone to their own devices as master Suman repeated. In the bunk next to me were a male human & a female awoken, since my youth I had never seen a female awoken, only my mother (that is another story), her young glow giving her an age of about 20-ish, the human on the other hand was in his late twenties, light sideburns forming around an angular jaw. But my gaze always went back to the Awoken, she... she was an angel, or an elf , that is what humans thought of us; ethereal creatures, but we are as weak as they are in these dreaded times. Training was a joy, as well as the arcane arts of the Traveller (magic in other words) which as the secretary told me about my species I did find easy, we were trained in the use of a plethora of weapons, from swords [this can be edited out if they aren’t actually in the game], snipers (a favourite of the keen eyed Hunters), shotguns and pistols. The male human had a great affinity for all arts of war; magic, guns and close combat. The area around the city was mostly free of any great danger; all that you would cross fire with were Dreg, this provided us with ample opportunity to train, master Suman would bring us out into the high forests, the trees seep out the past, bearing scratches of those infernal creatures(Fallen), the trees bear the same appearance as the Captain’s of the Fallen, an ancient pride still lies dormant in the depths of their bark, they are the real remnants of the Golden Age, as old as the Traveller. Father Suman seemed to keep the Dreg away, some kind of aura keeping them in check; he certainly appeared formidable on the field, looking over us as we fired across the forest floor, hurtled infernos from the palms of our hands... Lesson 1:Magic/Arcane Arts. Me and the Awoken female, who’s name I found out was Tama [means globe, ball, perfect] had a special connection with the arcane arts, certainly more than the Exo, but each race still held something that the other didn’t, the Exo(who was still as silent as a monk) had a cold level of accuracy, always producing a spell, but maybe not as powerful as mine and Tama’s. The human on the other hand was a jack-of-all trades, a master of none. Producing middling spells that are less accurate than the Exos, and less damaging than us Awoken. But the Conduit proved this wrong, any man (& woman) could be an equal to any other in all aspects of spell casting. All it took was training and years of experience and you would be as adept at magic as any Awoken. The first part of learning magic was to create a connection between yourself and the Traveller. Hard? Yes it was, you had to go deep into your gut, a soul inducing experience like no other; screams would echo through our skulls, some even escaped our minds and were heard by master Suman. These were the souls of the previous people, people of the Golden Age. Something was amiss, they were screaming, but at the same time there was a cheery feeling that coursed through their voices, they peeled away at our brains. There was no feeling that could match it, they soothed while at the same time screamed into our nerves. And then you were connected, linked to the Traveller, residing in its splendour. As he flowed through us so did we flow in each other, we were one, and we were a pack. With this connection we twisted and used the world around us, while still using basic spells. As we practiced and repeated this method our bond became stronger, the pain became less and the comfort was amplified. There was no need to connect; we would be latched on for the rest of our service to the good of the City and the Traveller. The Dreg burnt at our feet, requiring no need for spells that used our psychic connections with the Traveller; a good inferno ball was all it took, leaving a pile of smouldering ashes. But even the weakest enemy had friends... The Vandals, first time I had come across them; they had four arms, deadlier weapons and more armour, and didn’t fear father Suman as much as the Dreg. From all of this I could surmise that they are between the Dreg and the Captains in the Fallen hierarchy. Suman told us to remain focused on the Vandals even when up close, their extra hands often armed with melee weapons or side-arms... Lesson 2: Weapons While master Suman taught us magic and introduced us to the use of weapons we were handed over to the expert of weaponry in the training complex: Master Gideon. Compared to father Suman, Gideon was taller and less jolly, but I guess after being in training for a while a more serious feel was settling in to our bones(and robotics)[depending on the Exo’s being slightly Cyborgs]. The human, with his jack-of-all trades approach seemed at home with most weapons, reaching from the smallest pistol to the largest rocket launcher; but then there was the Exo, his emotionless resolve helping keep a steadier hand when under the strain of heavy weight and kickback. Me and Tama had a preference for the lighter weapons of choice, handling the pistols and submachine guns with ease. Tama preferred using a sub-machine gun while letting of blasts of the Travellers power while gunning down any foe that got to close for quarters, she also preferred to keep an extra pistol for when her link becomes weak with the Traveller[this is another way of saying you’re running out of magicka] at which point she would become a dual-wielding warrior of fierce malice, a great Awoken companion for me. I wasn’t to shore for myself, going between a sniper rifle and a pistol that father Suman had passed to me for showing persistence in casting destructive spells. It featured a slight magical force that added force to the impact of the ammo. Master Gideon drilled us as if we were in the Titan Core[Core as in group], going over the whole plethora of weapons and mods available to us loyal guardians, from Carl Zeiss[product placement :] scopes to silencers, everything was open to us, allowing us to create the perfect weapon. What Gideon did teach us compared to what they would learn at the Titan Core is how to use our preferred weapon with our spells, moving quickly between firing a weapon and releasing our psychic powers. [The link is to the previous part of the story] [Tell me what you think about any parts] [This part might be boring but its character building and explanations really]