In the town of Porta, there was a public training grounds which was used typically by the soldiers underneath the Senator, however it was open for any people who wished to train their combat skills. Many cities had similar facilities throughout the Empire, as this was one of the many efforts of Percius to strengthen the Empire.
"We should never force our civilians to remain powerless, placing their lives in the hands of the military. Rather, we should give them equal opportunity to our soldiers to train themselves on their own in case some disaster strikes. We should, as a government entity, never be scared of our people gaining power. If we fear the people gaining power, then we are clearly doing something wrong as leaders."
-Emperor Percius IV.
As such, the group of 5 headed over to the training ground to prepare themselves, and begin their training.
"We've already finished plowing our allotted section of the fields for the entire week, so we can spend the rest of the week training ourselves! If we continue to apply ourselves and get our work done early, then we will be able to continue using the extra time to train ourselves, until we become strong enough to leave this town and go on adventures!", Walter exclaimed, excited to begin.
"Don't get too ahead of yourself. What if you end up learning that you have no fighting talent?", Logan asked.
"Ah, don't be so hardheaded, Logan. Lighten up a bit!", Byron chuckled while slapping him on the back.
"Says the meathead who always thinks that everything is gonna be alright. I know you guys aren't idiots, but you need to be taking this seriously. If we become mercenaries, we could get killed easily. I'm not saying that we shouldn't try. No, on the contrary. All I'm saying is that we can't let our guard down. We can't get caught up in dreams and stuff. We have to focus on what's right in front of us."
"Alright, I get it. But it's fine to dream a little, right?", Walter asked.
Logan sighed in response.
"Yeah, I suppose...."
"Great! So, when we get to these training ground, what should we do first?? You got that new set of armor and those daggers. I wasn't able to get a set of armor, but I have this shield, so I should be fine for now!"
"Sorry, Walter.... should I have not spent so much money on these magical equipment?", Abel asked.
"No no!!! I lost that bet fair and square, and you won it. What would I do if I had to go back on my word? And magic equipment is more expensive than regular equipment anyways! When we make a little bit of money, we can return to that merchant and I'll purchase myself a set of armor for cheap, but for those magic items.... well, we wouldn't have been able to get them either way unless you had the most money to spend. So it's fine! It's actually better things ended up this way! If you didn't get those when we had that discount, who knows how long it woulda taken to save up enough?"
"Oh... I see. Thanks, Walter.", Abel replied timidly.
"No problem!"
The five made their way through the town, and over to the training grounds.
Looking around, there were a whole bunch of different stations. There was an open field, an archery target area, an area with training dummies, and some fenced rings for sparring. There were even a couple of guards practicing their swordsmanship against each other inside the ring right now, with another soldier outside the ring who seemed to be reffing the fight.
"Oh!! Let's go watch them!!", Walter shouted as he ran over excitedly.
"Haha! Let's go boys! By watching some professionals, maybe we can pick up a thing or two!", Byron exclaimed.
"Sounds good!", Cody replied.
The five rushed over to the area, to see the soldiers in a deadlock, holding their swords to one another, trying to overpower each other with physical strength. They leaned back and forth, one person gaining the edge only to lose it soon after, until eventually the swords both swiped away to the side, breaking the deadlock.
The soldiers were wearing heavy sets of armor. This was for protection as they didn't want to injure themselves during training, but also because they needed to train while carrying the weight of their armor.
One man reeled back defensively, while trying to catch his breath. The other, who was also panting, took this opportunity to chase after the other.
"If you go on the defensive, you're already admitting your loss! So long as I have the stamina left to chase you, this fight is over!"
"As if it were so easy.", the other one whispered behind his breath.
He prepared a defensive stance, and the other one came at him with a downward thrust.
"You fell for it."
The man parried the thrust so that it slid to the side of him, hitting the ground. The other man was now left wide open for attack.
The man who parried the thrust then lightly tapped the side of the man who had attacked him with a chuckle.
"Heh heh. That's it for today."
The man who was reffing called out the end of the match.
"Match over! Zachary has won!"
The other man who lost seemed to be a little shocked and disappointed, but he quickly picked up his sword and made his way out of the arena, walking by the side of Zachary.
"Man! I really thought I had you there. But it looks like after all, you're more experienced than me."
"Experience is everything, Frank. Everyone always says stuff like 'oh, this one is a genius'. 'This one has real talent.' But talent can only get you to the starting line. At the end of the day, an experienced soldier could beat a green genius any day of the week."
"I see..."
"It's as he said.", the one who was reffing said. "You need to keep practicing. Why don't you go ahead and keep on practicing your swings and thrusts on the dummies, and continue sparring at least once or twice a day. When you enter the real battlefield, we want your body to be able to move without you even having to think. It should be instinctual. Until you've been trained in battle that much, you won't have a chance against a truly strong foe."
"Got it, Sir!"
The ref then looked over to the boys who were watching the fight.
"How are you all doing, sons? What brings you to the training grounds? No, should I even need to ask? You're obviously here to do some training. Am I right?"
"Of course, Sir!", Walter replied.
The man smiled. He was tall and well built, and currently only wore a light set of chain-mail, with a weapon that looked like a hatchet on his side.
The man named Frank turned to the boys.
"Oh? Let me ask you a question, boys. Why are you here to train yourselves? Is it to become strong enough to protect yourselves and your loved ones, or is there something else you have in mind?"
Walter replied confidently.
"Sir, while becoming strong enough to protect ourselves and our loved ones is a side effect of the training, that isn't the reason we're here! We've come in order to train ourselves so that we can set out for new lives as mercenaries. We would like to become the worlds strongest some day!"
The ref walked over to Walter and slapped him on the shoulder.
"Haha! You've got spunk, kid! I like it. Aiming high. Let's see here...."
The man seemed to be taking a look into each of the eyes of the five.
"Some of your looks could use a bit of tuning, but you know what? Why don't you all train under me? I can show you a thing or two about combat. Well, I don't know much about magic or archery, but I know a guy who might want to teach the kid with the bow. What do you all say?"
"That would be great, Sir!", Walter replied hastily.
"We'll be in your care.", Logan stated.
The other three smiled and nodded. Abel looked somewhat frightened when the man said the word magic out loud, but he decided to train as well on his own while the others were learning from this man.
'I can't allow myself to fall behind them. I need to be able to do more than lift a piece of dirt.'
"Alright then! Your equipment isn't exactly the best, but it will do for the light training. As a matter of fact, if it's the very basics, I can even show you a bit with the bow for now, and I knew a magic caster back in the day, so I could probably at least get you started on how to use that wand. He was an odd fellow, but I don't think he's a bad guy. He sure has a bad reputation though... but I'm sure that's just because everyone seems to be afraid of magic casters! I'll try to see if I can get into contact with him as well. Maybe he could show you some things."
"Thank you, Sir!"
"Don't thank me yet. Thank me once what I've taught you has saved your lives. After all, if you don't learn anything, then there isn't anything to thank me for as a teacher."
The five were eager to learn.
"You three. Come over here. I want to see your postures and critique your stances. Has anyone here even held a blade before?"
The three nodded no.
"I see.... first time ever then. It might take quite a while, and a fair amount of practice just for you all to learn the basics. But don't worry! I'll drill them into you!"
"Thank you, Sir!"
"Now come line up here next to a training dummy. As for the one with the bow and the magician, head over to the archery practice area. I'll help you two as soon as I've seen what these three can do."
"Got it.", Cody and Abel responded as they walked off.
Byron, Walter, and Logan all headed over to the practice area with the mentor, and Zachary followed.
"I'd like to see this. Mind if I watch, Sir?"
"Not at all."
Zachary grabbed a chair and took a seat, leaning on the hilt of his sword as he wiped his sweat.
The three lined up, each in front of a practice dummy, and unsheathed their weapons.
Logan took out his daggers, Byron held his metal club with both hands, and Walter grabbed his sword and shield.
"Alright.... now then, I want you all to be tense yet loose at the same time. What do I mean by that? Allow yourself to move around. Don't be so stiff that if someone gets a hit on you that it will hurt you more than if you swayed back a bit. Maintain your ground, but don't be scared to give a bit in order to reduce damage. Always understand that your power can and will be used against you. If you make a clunky swing like Frank did, then if it's parried you won't have time to reel back. That isn't to even mention counter attacks, where the forward motion of your own body might be used to drive a blade into you. You need to always keep your eyes on your opponent. But not on their hands or their bodies. Those, you need to see with your peripheral vision. You need to look at your opponent's eyes. Where are they aiming for? What can you do against it?"
As the man was lecturing the three, he went from each student, correcting their posture and stances.
"Hold your blade firmly, son. Make sure that your shield isn't covering your line of sight, but that you're always ready to move it to the location of attack. As for your daggers... keep them close. Go for quick, short strikes when you attack. Go in and out. Your feet are your ally. If you can run around your opponent because they're wearing clunky armor, then it's your win- but if you get hit, it's all over. You got it? You're taking a risk by using that style, but it's a risk that will pay off if you do it right."
Logan and Walter nodded and corrected themselves as they were lectured by the man.
"And for you, always focus on dragging an enemy in. Block the attacks with your weapon if they're already up close. Only strike when they are in mid range and approaching you, but never allow them to evade an attack. If they do, the weight of that club will carry you with it, and it will be all over before you even know it. However, if you can hit them, they're done for. As the tank though, you shouldn't be focusing on defeating your enemies. You should be the one dragging them into close range and taking their attacks, so that your group members can assist you by picking them off. If anyone gets past you, you'll regret it! Especially if your bowman or magician are targeted, they'll be almost defenseless, so it is your duty to absolutely not allow that to happen! That's what your range is for. If someone tries to get around you, you clobber them before they can get to the back row!"
The man corrected Byron's stance as he said this, and Byron changed his footing and grip on the club.
"Yes Sir!"
"Now, why don't you two try to do some practice swings for now on these targets. Get a feel for the weight of your weapons, and don't forget to control your footing. Make sure you're aware of your own position and distance from the target, and where you can best attack."
The three held their weapons, and began taking some light swings at the targets.
"Logan, use some more quick thrusts! Byron, back up a bit and take a good swing! Walter, practice both attacking and defending at the same time! I'll go instruct the other two, but focus on those things for now!"
The man walked off to instruct the other two who were waiting patiently.
"Now then... as for you two, take a look at those targets. Right now, we're only 10 meters away. This is what we call chip shot distance in the military. If you can't hit something at this distance 100% of the time, then you don't even deserve to be in the archer unit! Here... let me see this...."
The man took the bow and an arrow from the quiver which Cody wore, and loaded it, pulling back the string.
"Do you see the way I'm holding it? I may not be a professional, but this is how you hold a bow. From this distance, you don't have to worry too much about the arrow falling, but you have to eventually be able to determine three things. 1. How much power do you need to put- that is, how far do you need to pull back the string to go a certain distance. 2. How much will the arrow fall over that distance, and as such how much higher over the target do you have to aim? And 3. How much will the power of your arrow be reduced over that distance? If it is reduced by too much, you might want to readjust the power and the angle to take this into account. For now though...."
The man let go of the bow and the arrow flew straight into the target. It wasn't perfectly centered, but it was within the bullseye.
"Ah! Well, you get the gist. Now, try for yourself. Once you're able to hit that bullseye every single shot, step back 10 meters and get a feel for how much the arrow falls. The key is practice. Practice every single day. Archery is a field where the situation is constantly changing, and you need to know exactly when and how to account for that. How can you know something like that? By practicing. Practice every single situation, every single shot that you could possibly make, hundreds of times over. Practice high shots, low shots, side shots, every type of shot that you might need to make. Got it son?"
"Yes, Sir!"
"Good. Now, as for the kid with the magic.... well, I don't have too much to teach you, but I'll share what I know for now. I'll have my buddy come and teach you for real if I can get a hold of him. For now, take a look at that staff. Grab it at one end with one hand, and the other end with the other hand. There you go. Make it so that it's like a loop, where the energy can flow through in a circuit."
As Abel did this, he felt power surging through his body. His body was even emanating a light blue glow, though it was just barely visible. Perhaps one could see it better if it was late at night.
"Whoa! I somehow feel stronger...."
"Haha! Looks good, boy. Now why don't you try and see what you can do?"
Abel held the staff forward and closed his eyes, envisioning what would happen.
A ball of soil was displaced from the ground in front of him, and it floated up about 5m into the sky. This ball was about 1 meter in diameter, and it was fairly large.
"Oh my goodness...."
The man who was mentoring Abel had a look of complete shock on his face as he stared at the ball of soil, which began spinning in a circle until it formed a violently spinning disc of clay.
"It's.... this is... kid, you.... you're a genius...."
"Eh?"
On hearing this, Abel's concentration broke, and the disc of clay was released, sending dirt flying in all directions, creating a massive dust cloud in the area.
"Cough! Cough!! Ugh!! Man! That was crazy!! I've only seen a few magicians in my life who can do something like that, and that was after years of practice! Is this really the first time you've ever held a staff??!"
"Well, I've done some smaller magic before, but none with a staff...."
"My goodness.... he'll definitely be interested in teaching you. I need to call him here, that magic freak. I'm sure he will be running here to take a look. Well.... let me think.... why don't you just try to make some smaller balls of dirt, and see if you can shoot them at the target over there?"
"I... I'll do that, Sir."
"I've got some errands to run so I'll have to excuse myself for today. If you all need anything, I'll be in and out of the barracks. Don't hesitate to come by. If you just say that you're an acquaintance of the Colonel, then you won't have any problems."
"Sir, you're a Colonel!?!"
"Ah, yes. But ranks and things like that, they don't really matter. All that matters is how you use the power you have."