Chapter 3

Medium: The Origins finds a young man setting out to avenge the death of a beloved family member and to recover forgotten memories, only to find himself with a new case and a unknown assailant on him.

Chapter 3

           

Once my time in school is done, I come to a place of intense suffering than the school gym. The military academy, where every soldier poses a more brutal threat than the lead jock and his crew at my school, and containing the level of sternness even Mr. Van Horne can’t pass. Though the training is really gruesome on basic exercises like push ups and sit-ups, the stations our general sets up looks more like a playground than an obstacle course. A big crowd is circling around a bunch of eager soldiers brawling each other. I manage to fight a few rounds and win, but I lose one fight to a big guy and now on the sidelines.

“STOP THIS FIGHTING, NOW!!” A loud and rough voice bang my eardrums really hard. Every solder in the room stand row by row, standing straight, facing General Roger Skinner. He looks like a shrimp old man, but he can handle himself physically, like he does with us. Like every general, his jacket is decorated with badges and medals, and also dirt stains from previous wars he fought. I don’t know much about him, I can only tell from the way he looks.

“If you wish to act like animals, at least do it outside or anywhere where society or I myself don’t have to catch you in the act. Nothing puts more weight on my job than to bring you maggots back into my office and give you a damn lecture. I’m your military general, not your damn detention coordinator in an elementary school. You’re men, and I expect you to act like men and think like one. Remain yourself a boy and you’ll never be a man. And this isn’t just for men and boys in this room, you’re all grownups and our future protectors, so act like one. Despite the training you all went through, there’s such a thing called civility, all of you should try it once. Now, all that aside, all of you know you have an exam coming up. If I had the chance, I myself would just give you a go on the obstacle course, but of course the brain needs development as well, so there will be a writing portion. The boring part will come first so all of you maggots finish in time, as we won’t be waiting for you. On the exam day, you’ll all be on your own. Now, we’re going to start with practice. I hope all you maggots are ready, because if you can’t keep up, boy are you in for a push of your life. NOW MOVE IT!”

Jump, roll, run, break, climb! Whatever you have to do, do it to pass all stations. Almost everyone can past with okay results, and I am the last one to give the last performance. Mid-way through, I lost energy. I can’t lose energy now, I got to reach the finish line. I had to push myself to the last station, though I can’t feel my hands or legs, and through each station I slow down. I manage to finish the last station, and laid on the floor. I hear footsteps getting closer to me and once it stop, Skinner is there looking down at me from above.

“Not bad, Raxton. You’ve managed to pass every station with as much effort you can dish out, but you barely passed. I also took note of the alternatives you took to pass each station. It’s one thing you tried to get creative, but mid-way throughout you almost lost balance in each move you did. I hope you understand that once you go to war, executing moves in that fashion won’t help you, which is why you need to maintain proper physical fitness to pass each station only using little to no alternative routes. Also, you need to work more on your stamina & strength. I should’ve recorded it and showed what you look like to you. If you thought you lost stamina mid-way, I should show you what you look like at the beginning stage. It doesn’t look pretty despite the performance, and that shows you have a long way to go. If I see something like that, that only counts as only a pass, but here the standards are high. If you can’t meet those standards, you fail. It’s as simple as that, do you understand?”

“Yes sir!”

“Then I don’t want to see another performance like that again. If you think you got what it takes, then surprise me.” I nodded in agreement, and then I packed my things and get out of here.

Author's Note

Medium: The Origins finds a young man setting out to avenge the death of a beloved family member and to recover forgotten memories. He shuns himself from having a normal social life for the sake of vengeance. Just when he thought he ran out of leads, he was involved in an incident which leads him to start a new case. This particular investigation changes him greatly while he is being hunted by an unknown assailant whose victims never got to see before they met their doom.

Note: This is my first book and I plan to write more. Criticism, praise, or any feedback of some sorts are welcome.
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