Warrior Training System

"Another long night, huh?" Kalso said, as they were assigned to patrol the surroundings of the camp tonight. He’d been on night duty with Cassian for the past two nights, and Cassian nodded with a weary sigh. They started trekking through the forest, a good distance from the camp, tasked with surveilling the area around the mountain beside it.

To their luck, this was the least likely spot for an attack—assaulting from the rugged mountain side was far tougher than the flat, tree-filled approach. "Hope it’s like the last two nights," Cassian muttered, sighing. The previous two nights had been peaceful, with only a few monsters straying near the camp. They’d only had to kill one or two to scare the rest off.

"yeah, it’s been so tiring to stay up all night and keep moving on another, I heard you were also fighting in day too?" kalso asked as he pulled out a ciggrate.

Cassian eyed Kalso’s cigarette, its scent completely different from the harsh ones Lucy smoked after sex. This one was sweet, almost alluring, drawing him in. "Man, you don’t know how fuckin’ irritatin’ it’s been," he grumbled, "barely sleepin’ a few hours before wakin’ up again. I ain’t even tired, just pissed off..." His gaze fixed on the cigarette, intrigued by its aroma. "What’s that thing?"

"Oh, this?" Kalso said, taking a deep drag before blowing out a cloud of smoke and offering it to Cassian. As Cassian took it, Kalso grinned. "Wild herb called Maria, named after some prostitute who’d slip it to her customers before, y’know, doin’ the deed. Sends ’em on quite the trip..."

Cassian had never smoked—mostly ’cause Lucy told him not to—but he wasn’t against trying it. He took a puff, coughing as he exhaled. "What kinda trip?"

Kalso chuckled, snatching the cigarette back. "Trip to heaven..." He took a deep puff, blew out a cloud of sweet smoke, and handed it back to Cassian. "Well, not a literal heaven like they died, just mad pleasure from doin’ the deed. Folks got addicted, went wild for it. When some found out she was druggin’ ’em with this, that prostitute Maria got her head chopped off. But this wild herb, Maria? Became a damn celebrity among low-lifes. Everyone started usin’ it, gettin’ hooked. Don’t worry, though—it don’t hit us Circle Warriors like it does normal folk. Just makes us a bit relaxed..." Cassian exhaled a plume of smoke, passing it back, and nodded. "You might be feelin’ it already..."

Cassian, noticing his body feeling a touch lighter than usual, agreed, "Yeah, I do feel a bit light..."

"Good, but that’s all we’ll get," Kalso said, tossing the cigarette stub to the ground. "Us Circle Warriors’ bodies won’t let us get more intoxicated than this. I just smoke it to chill a bit."

Cassian nodded, intrigued by the cigarette’s relaxing effect—something he only felt when sleeping, but not quite as deep. He glanced around as they trudged up the mountain. "So, how was life back in the Magic Empire? Do they discriminate against us Circle Warriors?"