Sword Teacher

When I rose for the second time that day, my room bathed in the sunlight pouring in through the window. I sat up in my bed and looked towards my door, the chair still stood guard and was in the same position I had left it in previously. As I looked downwards, I saw that the crimson on my mattress from the night had turned into a brownish hue, and any hopes that it had all been a bad dream were dashed. Feeling drowsy from the little sleep I had managed to get; I groan as I swing my legs over the side of my bed and force myself to stand.

I check under my bed and find that my sword is still secured in its scabbard. Stepping over the crusty brown bedsheets, I go to my wardrobe and open it. Pulling out a shirt that is slightly too big for my figure, I grab a pair of trousers and dress myself. Having got ready and hesitant to deal with the problems that last night presented me, I take a moment to myself and look out of the window. Resting my arms on the windowsill, I lean out and taste the morning air as a gentle breeze strokes my hair. My gaze drifts down to the rooftops of the city, patterned in different colours with the first embers of morning fires beginning to drift upwards from the chimneys.

My peaceful moment is interrupted by a knocking on the door, I sigh and drag myself away from the view, closing the glass pane behind me. I pick up my chair from in front of the door and return it to my desk before unlocking and opening the door. I look down and see Korin stood before me, the fuzzy tip of his red hair springing into the air.

“Morning lad, you ready to start ya trai…” he trails off as his eyes wander into my room and see the bloody mess of my sheets and mattress

“Fucking ‘ell lad, who did ya kill?” he asks, almost sounding impressed

“What?! No one, it might be mine…” I falter, knowing how stupid that would sound, “At least I don’t know where else it could have come from” I try to explain to Korin’s doubtful expression

He forces himself past me and looks around my room , examining the contents of my closet and then looking under my bed. At last, he opens my window and peers down before closing it and making a grumpy harumph sound

“Well there ain’t no body, and weird shit does happen around ya” he says, messing with the tangles in his beard, “guess I’m gonna say I believe ya, someone wants ya dead Aucus”

“Tell me about it” I say with a little groan, “after that speech Zarin gave, I’d bet that half the adventurers in the citadel would be happy to kill me” I complain as I pick up the dirty sheets.

“Ay, you’re proper fucked ain’t ya” he says with a little chuckle, apparently seeing the humorous side of people trying to kill me, “Anyway, ya running late for the training. The others have gone to the training hall and I’m on my way now”

I curse, “alright, I’ll be down soon. I’ve just got to find somewhere to clean these” I say, lifting my sheets up in front of me

The dwarf nods his head and turns to leave, picking up a piece of bread from a plate on the table and chewing on it as he leaves the rooms. With Korin gone, I pull on my boots and step out into the living chamber seeing some food still lying on the plates on the table. I pick up a few items to eat and hungrily chew on them before grabbing my sheets and dashing out of the room.

In the hallway I see one of the citadel maids, she looks startled as she sees the sheets need cleaning already, then her eyes widen as she sees they are covered in blood. I pass her the sheets to clean and thank her quickly before she can say anything, then run back down the hallways. I get lost a few times as I try to grow accustomed to the maze of winding passages but eventually reach a set of wooden doors with the number nine marked onto it.

I push open the doors, eliciting a loud groan from the hinges. The room inside has an elevated wooden platform making up the majority of the room, just a step above the ground, the wooden planks shine from a layer of beeswax that protects the surface. The walls are made of the same polished stone that makes up most of the citadel, with recesses built into the wall as the outline of masonic arches can be seen going up to the ceiling. The training hall is lit by rows of crystals, placed high in the hall, and casting a static light across the room. Across one wall lies an assortment of weapons ranging from swords to spears to maces; the weapons gleam in the light of the crystals, reflecting their glow in a dazzling display. Looking at the sharp edges of the weapons I can’t help but doubt that we will be using those instruments of death today.

Atop the elevated floor are my companions for the coming days; Rayall, Sara, Korin, Cleo, and Sybil. Before them are the three imposing figures of professional adventurers, they look surprisingly young for the task they have been assigned, perhaps in their early 30’s by my guess. Though as I think more about it, it becomes unlikely that many adventurers would reach old age and have the experience to train others. The one in the centre is a man with handsome features, short cropped red hair, not like the fiery ginger of Korin’s but reminding me more of Elsie’s crimson mane. He seems to have a strong figure with his clothes gripping tightly to his chest and a sword attached to his side. Next to him are two women, one of them has a pleasant appeal to her face with long hair in a strange pale blue colour, unlike any I had seen before though I had heard women in the city would sometimes use dyes on their hair. Her eyes are of the same blue and she has an athletic figure with a great number of rings adorning her fingers. The second woman reminds me slightly of Sybil with dark hair tied in a ponytail and dark eyes that seem to be weighed down by bags. Her skin is a pale white and she has a skinny figure that is reflected by her almost flat chest. Where the other two adventurers are dressed in expensive though practical clothing, hers does not seem to be fitted for any form of fighting and makes her appear to be one of the librarians I had seen in the temple of Soras.

“Ah, you must be Aucus” the red-haired man says as everyone’s attention is drawn to the groaning of the doors, “I hope we didn’t disturb your rest, please if you need another hour go back to bed, we can wait for you” his voice drips with sarcasm as he speaks and makes my face match the colour of his hair.

“Oh… uh sorry, I think I overslept” I mutter as I continue moving to take my place among the others, glancing upwards briefly to get a better view of my trainers

“Oh, you overslept” the man raises his hands in apology, “I’m sure any bandits and monsters that wake you in the night will be understanding and take it easy on you”

I don’t say anything but look up to meet his gaze as I stand with the others and hear a small chuckle coming from Korin’s direction

The red-haired man pauses for a moment, giving me time to make a response. When he sees that it is not coming, he continues

“As I was saying to your friends before you deigned to bestow your presence on us, I am Orion, a disciple of Tallaque and I will be training you in weapons craft and how to fight over these coming weeks” as he speaks, the spirit of a tiger appears besides him, startling me and the others as it runs its gaze over us. “This is Astrid, a disciple of Soras” he goes on, gesturing to the woman at his right with the blue hair, “for those of you who have the ability she will be teaching you how to use magic and focus any magical abilities that you possess” he then gestures to the pale woman at his left, “and this is Anoir, a disciple of Cleonora. She will be teaching you strategies for when you inevitably encounter monsters, and giving you an education in their strengths and weaknesses”

He claps his hands together as he finishes the introductions, “I’m sure you’re all wondering why you’re here in the citadel with us training you and not out in the world, forming parties and taking contracts already like we were at your age” he says, receiving a couple of nods from Sara and Sybil, “Well it’s because new adventures are suicidally stupid”

“Over the past, oh… fifteen years?” he says, glancing at Anoir who gives him a shrug as though to say close enough, “More and more new adventurers have been dying on their first contract, they come to the citadel and get a spirit then take the first high paying contract they can find. And then they die. Adventurers are the Kingdom’s first line of defence against the monsters, if there aren’t enough of you to keep the beasts in line then they will attack settlements.” His face adopts a grim expression, “I’m sure you have all heard the story of the monster army from three hundred years ago; that situation was so bad that the armies had to step forward and defend the cities from them. We don’t want to see it happen again.” His gaze shifts across the six of us, clearly not impressed by what he sees, “So the crown has asked us to train you, give you the ability to survive for more than five minutes out there”

He seems to enjoy having the attention of people that are forced to listen to him as he goes on with the speech that I start to think he must have rehearsed beforehand. “ Don’t think that just because we will teach you a thing or two that you can accept a contract on a dragon, or a leviathan, or enter a Sepulchre. I assure you, you will still die” Astrid lets out a little smirk at that

Korin mutters something quietly, maybe you useless humans would it sounds like to me, Orion raises an eyebrow at the dwarf but ignores his comment

“It makes no difference to me if you listen to us, but I think I’d like to be able to retire at some point and there needs to be some competent adventurers in the world for me to do that” he sighs as he let the pause weigh down on us. He reaches his hand into a barrel of swords next to him, the two other women moving to the side as he pulls one out. He examines the metal before him, looking at the flat of the blade then turning it on its side as he glances at the dulled edges.

“And with that…” he pauses as he raises the sword and throws it in my direction, forcing me to catch it, clumsily fingering the metal before I grab the hilt. The others step away from me as Orion unsheathes his own weapon and starts walking towards me “… I think it’s time to start your training”

I feel the heft of the weapon in my hand, getting a proper grip on the hilt, the weapon reminds me of the ones that I had used to train with my mother back home. I see Orion moving towards me with an eager expression on his face, his footwork still careful on the floor as he flourishes his own blade, the edges seem as sharp as a razor from where I stand. I swallow nervously; clearly, he is a skilled fighter. I’m not actually meant to fight him, am I? I look around the training hall for help but see that everyone else has moved to the sides

“we’re not actually go-“ I cut off and dodge backwards as Orion swings his sword towards me, narrowly missing my cheek and cutting a tear through my new shirt. I stumble for a moment but find my footing in the end, continuing to move backwards from him. “What the hell!” I shout at him, “You’re using an actual weapon, what do you expect me to do with this?” I complain as I raise my dull sword.

“Oh don’t complain, it’s for your own safety. If we give you an actual blade then you’re far more likely to hurt yourself than you are to hit me ” he says as he dances towards me and makes another slash with his blade, an elegant short sword with a handle carved into the head of a tiger. I manage to dodge that attack as well though I still hear the sound of metal slicing through the air next to me.

I want to reply but he keeps me dodging and focused on avoiding his weapon as slashes and swings of the sharp metal come for me. He speaks up again, this time addressing all six of us, “In our training, you will each fight me with whatever ability you possess until you land a strike on me, or you are unable to continue.” On occasion, I raise the blunt object in my hand to block the incoming blows and feel the reverberation through my bones from the strength of his attacks. There is no way that I would be able to face down this man in a battle, it’s taking everything that I have to avoid being sliced open.

Sweat trickling down my face, I continue moving backwards, raising my sword in defence as blow after blow rains down upon me. I feel my back press against the stone wall and almost take a cut to my face when I turn to see what I bumped into. When the weapon comes towards me, I duck and expect to hear it crash into the stone, but Orion swiftly pulls it back ready to make a stabbing motion for me. In that moment I see an opportunity.

I remember a technique that Cothin had used in our training at the temple of Soras; whilst Orion is preparing to make a stabbing attack, I bring my weapon down hard onto his blade close to the hilt. The attack forces him to hold his sword outwards for a moment and I continue the strike bringing it into his side. Before my training sword can land against his hip, he manages to bring his own weapon back with inhuman speed. He blocks my attack and then swiftly brings his weapon towards me, instead of stabbing or slashing me, he punches my open wrist with a powerful blow. I cry out in pain and drop the sword; taking another punch then jumping back as a slash comes at me, I finally end up on my back, looking down the sharp tip of Orion’s sword.

I swallow as I look at it then reach up a hand to push the point away from my face. Orion smirks as he looks down at me; where my face was dripping in sweat, his seems untouched by our short duel.

“Well, you’re not too bad. You certainly have potential and have had some training before I think. And I’ll admit you did come close in the end; you surprised me with that strike against Glimmer.” He lifts the sword, that he has apparently named, up and examines where I hit it, observing it for scratches or marks that I might have left. “Still you have a lot to learn, you should be able to deflect my blows instead of blocking them. You don’t have the strength or stamina to keep on absorbing them, so you have to be able to knock them aside and turn them into opportunities. You know some basic manoeuvres, but I didn’t see much that was more advanced, I’ll give you some drills that you can practice later on. Overall…. I’ve seen worse” he says with a shrug before offering his hand to help me.

I take it and rise to my feet, brushing my clothing despite it not being dirty. I glance down and see the few cuts in the fabric that he had caused but think better of mentioning it. I pick up the sword from the ground and hold it pointed down.

“Er… thanks, I think?” I say to him, “you weren’t too bad yourself” I add and receive a small grin in response.

He looks back towards the rest of us as I make my way over to them, sitting down on the floor to catch my breath. “You, I think. The one with the mouth” Orion declares, pointing his sword at Korin who lets out a sigh, stretching his arms from side to side. He reaches out a hand towards me and I pass my sword to him, he grins as he takes it in his hand

“I’ll show ya how it’s done” he says, swaggering towards Orion

The rest of the training went much the same as it did with myself; Orion thoroughly thrashes each and every one of us with no one managing to land an attack on him. Korin made strong but reckless attacks that Orion easily avoided and returned with humiliating strikes by the flat of his blade which Korin seemed to shrug off until his exhaustion grew, and he became slower. Orion eventually spanked him with the weapon, hard enough to knock him over before giving his verdict and allowing Korin to rest.

Rayall used both his sword and magical attacks against Orion, dancing around his attacks with little need to block them. He likely came the closest out of all of us to landing a strike but failed all the same when his magic grew weaker as his energy drained and Orion held him hostage with the tip of his sword.

Sara, having an affinity for healing and no experience with weapons, relied on her defensive abilities and dodging. She made some clumsy strikes with the sword, hitting nothing but the air. She was quickly defeated like the rest of us.

Cleo, like Sara had little experience with weapons and relied on her magical ability to defend herself from Orion. Though once her magical shield was broken, she dropped her sword and surrendered.

At last was Sybil’s turn, she was impressive, trying to make good use of her newfound abilities and making vicious strikes with the sword. A sort of mania rose in her eyes as her energy for attacks seemed to have no limits until Orion knocked her to the ground and continued to do so when she persisted in her attempts to rise.

Orion gave his verdict on everyone’s performance, impressed with some and far from it with others. With Sybil having received her criticism, he turned to the group, assessing each one of us in turn before at last parting his lips.

“You all have some potential, some more than others admittedly” he said, throwing a glance towards Cleo who had not even attempted to attack him. “Each day we will duel and test your growing strengths, afterwards you will continue to train with the drills that I give you according to what you need to improve upon”

He steps backwards towards the other trainers and the blue-haired woman stepped forwards. “Okay then, if you’re all quite done playing with each other’s swords, we can start on something more elegant. I will teach you the art of magic, it is far more draining than swinging metal around as I think some of you have learned” she says glancing towards those of us who had been using magic in our attacks, “so I will give you a short break, let’s say ten minutes” she pulls out a pocket watch from her clothing and glances at it, “then the difficult part can begin” she finishes with a wicked smile.