BANG!!!
"And that's how you are supposed to slash with the sword, do you all see the angle of the slash mark left on the mannequin?" Asked Gerald, who Jack later found out was the name of the instructor.
Gerald left a deep, half a meter long scar on the huge wooden mannequin. The children around him were all in awe of his strength. Jack sat on the grass at the back of the group. The kids all came from the red-light district so he recognized a few but he didn't really have friends except for one who he strangely didn't see in the morning. The rest of the kids here were all penniless thieves, orphans, street thugs and whatnot. Even at such a tender age these kids required strength to survive and they found such things in small groups, gangs or even bigger and more dangerous shadow organisations that thrived in the dark side of the town.
Jack snapped out of his thoughts and acutely observed the angle of the slash and tried to recall and overlay upon it the figure of Gerald executing his technique. This was Jack's way to learn, recall and understand the smaller details of the techniques Gerald used to slash the mannequins with. Gerald had used only muscle force and no inner force was used during the attack. Gerald had already specified at the start of the lesson that inner force was the energy that knights and warriors cultivated to become stronger, while elemental energy was the one cultivated by the wizards.
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Gerald looked at the kids with a stern face. He slid his cracked wooden sword back into its sheath and exhaled.
'Fuck, I broke another wooden sword. I hope the higher ups won't make me buy a shit load of them again as a punishment' he thought as he wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead.
"Alright everyone, now that you understood the basics of what cultivation is, and the way to properly use a sword technique, I will let you all get a wooden sword and everyone has to demonstrate the basic slashes that I've shown to you all.
Jack rose and went towards the weapon racks to the left of the mannequins. Looking at all the weapons that were there Jack felt a bit dizzy. He quietly took a wooden sword that wasn't too heavy for him and slid away from the frightening older kids. Jack knew he was no match to any of the older kids, and he knew that he had to become stronger faster. But the problem was that he didn't really know how to do so until now. This was the first time he participated in the exam and he was happy to find out that he could learn so many things for free.
The kids all took their preferred wooden weapons and gathered together again at the mannequin field.
"Alright, now find a mannequin and start practicing the slashes. During the next ten minutes I will check everyone's strength, dexterity and technique. After that I will teach those who have passed, a basic inner force cultivation method that is rather simple, and will help strengthen your constitution as well as make you stronger and sharper minded." Jack perked his ears while paying attention to Gerald's speech. When he heard that they could learn a basic cultivation method after the training Jack felt like he was slowly being lifted into the heavens. He quietly thanked all of his ancestors and reminded himself to burn incense sticks at any shrine he could find.
"Begin!"
Jack quickly found himself a mannequin that was far to the right side of the field. Taking a stance and pulling the sword in front of him he closed his eyes. He thought the Gerald's each moves and slowly began to replace Gerald from his imagination with himself. Time slowly went by and in what seemed no time at all three minutes already passed.
Jack suddenly opened his blue eyes with hidden glint in them. The sword in his hand began moving, slowing down his breathing Jack brought his sword up above his head and cut down.
Skree!
The sword hid the wooden mannequin and the impact made Jack's arms and hands numb. He overlooked the pain and quickly followed up with a horizontal slash.
Skree!
The same pain radiated through his arms and hands in a stronger way. Jack sucked it up and continued with the slashes. Each slash was almost perfectly executed. The sword whizzed in the air at every strike.
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Gerald slowly walked around the mannequin field looking at each of the thirty six kids that showed up today. A lot of them were quite strong, a result of the many street fights and manual life they lived in their district.
The requirements for passing were having enough strength to penetrate the wood by at least a cm and a half, having a decent technique and the last one was having a good flow. The first two requirement were not that hard to get by but the third was harder. Having a good flow meant that you had to have capabilities to switch from stances and slashes to different ones all the while without stopping. This might not necessarily be a hard thing to accomplish but it was really hard for someone that has just come in contact with the technique and has not even practiced it for a full hour yet. Although the kids were able to come for six years straight for one time a year, it still only produced a few knight trainees per district each year at maximum.
Gerald passed another kid who didn't quite have the strength to continue slashing and set his eyes upon a kid with white hair whom was using his all to slash the mannequin. As Gerald got closer he noticed that it was the same kid who came first and started meditating during his meditation. The kid had quite a good technique and the flow was also there but being so small the cuts made to the mannequin were barely scratches. Gerald sighed with emotion as he some good talent, but fate must have set his good luck for another year. Gerald shook his head helplessly and went on to the next kid.
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"Alright everyone! The ten minutes have passed and the results for the passing kids have been decided! The number of the mannequin that I call will represent the person at the mannequin. Number 3; number 8; number 20; number 22 and number 35 step forward!"
Jack felt his heart stop for a moment. His mannequin's number was 36.