1 year has passed
"once more come at me with all you have got!". Marco was shouting at the top of his voice. He has been sparring with both of the squirts for a while. Their improvement was remarkable when compared to average standards they were now officially the strongest members of the squad after him, peter and Nidar.
Marcus charged at him with two identical kukris. He was practising dual-wielding with all sorts of close combat weapons. Due to the unusual biology of so-called genius in this world their muscle memory was much easier to train when compared to normal humans. While Marcus was comfortable with many different weapons. Leon concentrated only on the sword, he knew the basics of other weapons like spear and shield he was not in the class of genius. But his
expertise in the daggers was remarkable due to the insistent training given by Marco along with the unarmed combat training
But Marcus was different he was able to train and show the same level of expertise in multiple weapons.
Right then Baron entered the training ground and beelined towards Marco's squad.
Marco noticed him from far away and halted the spar. All of the practising soldiers stopped what they were doing and formed into a grid, as usual, The two squirts were already quite tired. But, They followed suit and went into a grid. Due to them being shorter than most of the squad they were placed in the centre Marco stood in the position of the first row, the third column as he was the leader.
Arlo observed all of them. He called Marco out "Squad leader Marco step ahead".
"yes sir!".
Marco took a step forward with military discipline where one stamps their leg on the ground first before whatever they do. Marco marched few steps forward and stood in attention.
"at ease soldier".
Marco relaxed his posture and took his hands to his back and legs spread at an angle.
"report me the progress of the squad".
"yes sir! First, our squad is now extremely capable in forest and mountain terrain sir."
"20 individuals in the squad are capable of basic reconnaissance and scouting in the forest without getting spotted by the humans or wild animals, sir!"
"Nidar is the Tank of the squad sir his strength is on par with a standard stage one warrior sir ".
"as for Leonardo, his talent with swords is phenomenal sir. He is an extraordinary genius in normal standards sir. And Marcus is versatile in terms of weaponry sir he is comfortable with many weapons in long, mid and close range. He is in my opinion the most gifted jack of all trades sir!".
"peter the vice leader of the squad broke through to stage one sir and his improvement in terms of Archery is has put him on par with elven archers of the same stage sir. And I am on the verge of breaking through to stage two sir".
After listening to the report Arlo was quite satisfied. He had a lot of tasks for this squad in the future and their improvement was off the charts in the whole beast guard. The squad was the youngest but it was filled with important strategic resources like scouts and rangers who are important for the barony that his forefathers failed to create a unit like this. But his luck was great he found this Marco who was tutored by an excellent rogue in his youth and his loyalty to them was also unquestionable as his Master was a dear friend of Both Arlo and Derma.
"great progress. Squad leader you are granted 50 gold coins use them to purchase all the necessities of the squad. Collect it from the town hall today".
"yes sir! The squad thanks you for the reward sir we will not disappoint you, sir".
"good disperse and start the training". His gaze turned to the kids in the middle.
"as for you kids come with your practice weapons we will spar for a bit and I will not use aura this is a battle of skill ".
a soldier handed a practice sword to the baron.
He swung it around a few times to get a feel of it.
He looked at Marcus and said, "I heard you are good in sneaky attacks no sneak attacks in this fight all right".
"yes sir".
Marcus took out his practice kukris he has a blunt set of all weapons he trains in and this is one of them. Leon gripped his hand in the practice sword he wielded. Practice swords came without any sheath as they were usually placed in training grounds so they just have to insert them directly in their utility belt.
The soldiers spread out but they were interested in the fight as it was not every day they see a baron fight. Soon they were surrounded by all the soldiers that are present on training grounds And these kids were geniuses of the squad so they silently placed bets among themselves about how long they can last.
Baron was on one side and the kids on the other. What baron expected from them was both of them to charge at him while screaming. But contrary to his expectations they charged at him but they made almost no sound except faint sounds of their footsteps that are reduced to the minimum.
This was quite scary. a silent enemy is always more dangerous than a loud one in almost every scenario especially battlefields where the senses are exploited to the maximum it is difficult to spot an enemy attacking you if he does not shout.
The starting was smooth Leon and Marcus coordinately initiated the attack Leon directly targeted the legs as it is crucial to bring down a larger enemy to give a killing blow. Baron flicked his sword and parried the attack. But as silent as a viper Marcus jumped and released his attack on his father's neck.
The baron was astonished over these boy's moves they were using killing moves right from the start. He bent sideways to dodge a kukri as it slid past his face but another kukri in Marcus's hand was not idle. He swung it towards the baron's chest while he is still in mid-air. Baron noticed it from the corner of his eye. All the spectators thought if he did not use aura to envelop his body the blade might touch him. But what shocked them the most was in that instant the Baron's other hand grabbed Marcus by his throat and flung him away and he kicked Leon right in his stomach. He flew for a meter and landed on his butt. The crowd went into a burst of laughter when they saw it.
But Arlo did not give them time to think. He stepped towards Marcus who was still on the ground. Marcus took note of it and immediately went up on his knees and rolled sideways to gain some distance. Leon stood back up his tummy was screaming due to the kick and the juices in his stomach came to his mouth. He spat on the ground and once again steadied himself. His eyes were scanning Arlo for signs of any weak spot.
Marcus got up and directly charged at Arlo as his weapons were close-quarter combat type he had to slip into range. He took the initiative and swung one of his kukris. The baron parried it with his sword. Marcus did not do the previous mistake of using both weapons in the attack as it was clear Arlo was faster compared to him so he had no speed advantage.
He pushed the kukri along the edge of Arlo's sword and locked it in the slit above the hilt to keep it in check while he moved forward. He reverse gripped the other kukri waiting for any retaliation.
Leon took note of this and took his stance and ran towards Arlo's back.
Arlo's sensitive years took note of the faint tremors from Leon running towards him amidst all the ruckus the audiences were causing. So he took a step sideways and pushed the kukri that was locking his sword with considerable strength, with that Marcus lost one of his weapons. Arlo simultaneously parried the incoming sword from Leon into the ground. Marcus took chance in this distraction and swung his other kukri towards Arlo's side. As if Arlo was waiting for it his hand reached forward and locked onto Marcus's hand and twisted it lightly. But due to the pain, gave Marcus a subconsciously lost grip over his weapon. Arlo lifted his sword that was restricting Leon's sword and swiftly placed it on his throat.
Signifying that the bout was over. Everyone cheered out loud. Arlo signalled them to take up their weapons and get ready for another bout.
They continued their short bouts for another ten minutes. In that minutes Arlo noticed how the kids grew in technique in just a few minutes. He never allowed them to touch in the initial fights. It became difficult to keep them at bay he had to use his inhuman human reflexes and strength and speed. To stay unscathed. The boys were getting tired due to the high intensity of each bout despite its short duration. Everyone was impressed by the kids to keep up with the unsung war hero the Captain of Beast guard and arguably one of the finest knights in stage 3 in the whole Grievaris.
Arlo started to feel the increased pressure from them each strike they make is imprinted into them by Marco's severe training and their muscle memory. Almost all of them are made with an aspect of dealing the opponent with a major injury or divert his attention so that the other teammate can strike the level of accuracy of their strikes was tremendous. Few times even when Arlo punches them to shake them off from continuing the attack. they try their best to follow through so he had to retreat with a swift jump.
In the process of watching the fights, the squad leaders watching the fight were filled with regret. If they had known that the kids were heavenly geniuses they would have even paid to get them into their squads. They already crossed the realm of a normal soldier and they knew that only with pure talent can they improve and gain unimaginable strength at such a tender age. They strongly believed that this was some sort of blessing given by the gods. And especially for Marcus, they attributed this to the incident when he was bitten by a Death Cobra.
After Arlo got satisfied with the performance of the kids. He sent away all the onlookers and ordered Marco to meet him in the evening. And went back to his business in the castle.
That evening Marcus and Leon were the talk of the town and how they were able to take strikes from the Baron and also forced him to use almost all his physical strength.