Dagon was warming up when George entered the practice yard. He had full leather armor on, and a beautiful sword in his hand. It glistened in the sun, the handle looked to be made of pure gold. On his back were 2 wooden swords.
"Alright, kid, let's start with the basics," George yelled.
"We're going to start off with these wooden swords to see what you know."
He tossed one of them to Dagon before putting his sword down, and grabbing the other one.
Dagon got into stance as he waiting for George to make a move.
"Put your right foot a little forward, your hand is too tight around the hilt, and your body is stiff. Loosen up, your feet are too flat, you should be on the balls of your heels."
Dagon listened carefully as he moved his body to his commands. As he followed the instructions, the weight of the sword seemed to lessen. His body felt much more relaxed, and yet sharper at the same time, as if he could move much quicker.
"Good now come at me."
Dagon stepped forward as he slashed downwards at George. George slightly stepped to the left as he parried the sword, and brought his up to Dagon's throat.
"Too slow. Your attack was strong, but it was predictable and easy to block."
Dagon readied himself again, thinking back to all the sword fights he'd seen in the past. Whether it was anime, tv, or movies, he'd seen plenty.
Dagon's next strike came down at an angle toward George's shoulder.
George smacked it away as he took another side step.
This time, Dagon quickly brought the sword back to his side to block the strike from George coming at his hip. As he blocked the strike, George took a step back preparing for another strike from above.
Dagon pushed his sword away, attempting to put his sword at George's throat, but was quickly stopped by a sword at his. George beat him to it, he sword came from below, the tip right at his throat.
"Better. You need to think more about your opponents moves, while also not limiting your own. From what I can see, there's 3 things you should focus on for right now." George held up his fingers as he took a seat on a bench behind him.
"Reflexes. Sparring is a good way to help with that. Reflexes are something that comes with experience, you should try to spar every day you're not on a job if you can. It's 1 silver for me, or free if you can find a partner, but I'd recommend sticking with me until you find someone good enough to practice with." He lowered his third finger has he finished speaking.
"Your movements are too slow. Another thing that comes with practice. Do you swing your sword daily?" George asked.
"I do 1000 chops and 1000 slashes," Dagon replied.
"Good, but try turning that into one movement. Chop, slash, cut. Do all three in one movement, and do that 1000 times a day until it's as easy as pie. That should help with technique as well, but we'll worry about that at a later time." George lowered the second finger.
"Finally, you're weak. You should spend some time working out as well. Your upper body is stronger than your lower, but you're still weak there too. Your swings lost momentum as we went on. You don't have the stamina or strength to last in a duel. Fighting a monster or two might be okay for you, but multiple or a person would be too much for you. You should be working out daily." George lowered his last finger.
"I recommend doing your sword training every morning when you get up, then going for a run. Eat and get your strength back before working out, every part of the body should get a turn. After that, we'll spar. Doing it back to back will help build your stamina. It's not an easy plan, but if you want to get better, it's the best thing for you."
Dagon nodded his head reluctantly. He knew it wouldn't be easy, but still it was more than he was expecting. His life sounded like it was going to be hell for awhile, but the potential rewards were worth it. He'd do anything to become the person he always dreamed to be.
"If you stick with it, I'm sure you'll be fine. You have potential, it's just a matter of what you do with that potential," George said as he got up. "Now, it's still morning so let's get started. The routine starts today. I'll even spar with you tonight for free, after that it'll be 1 silver a day."
"Yes, sir," Dagon replied as he got back into stance.
George demonstrated the Chop, Slash, and Cut before taking a step back to watch Dagon. After a few adjustments, Dagon had it down. George walked away as Dagon continued.
It took him 3 hours to complete the whole 1000. Adding 2 movements into it took more time and energy, as Dagon was exhausted. He fell flat on his back as usual.
Before he could rest, he had to finish his new routine. Dagon ran for around a mile before making it back to the guild. He'd gotten a few messages but he ignored them. He'd gotten plenty in the forest, but he preferred to wait and see the progress rather then check every time his stats raised.
Dagon dragged his way into the main hall for lunch and a much needed ale. He hadn't tried the ale of this world yet, but the thought of alcohol in his system made his mouth water.
Raj and Lily were waiting for him in the hall. He had completely forgotten about them after the events of this morning.
"Good morning, Dagon, why do you look like shit already?" Raj asked with a sarcastic smile.
Dagon flipped him off before taking a seat.
"I started training today, I think George is trying to kill me before I can ever use my sword again," he replied half jokingly.
"George can be a bit rough, but he's the best trainer in town, you'll be okay," Raj said.
"Did you train with him as well?"
"Yeah, still am. I've spent most of the money I've earned on him, I go every day."
"Maybe Raj can be my sparring partner," Dagon thought to himself.
"Anyway, what's up guys? I've got a few hours until my next session."
"Well, you said you were new here so we figured we'd show you around the city." Lily replied.
"That would be prefect, Ive been meaning to do that anyway. Although, I'm going to need some food and ale first. I've been dreaming about it since this morning." Dagon had a glint in his eyes as he thought about the ale again.
The trio shared a meal, and a few too many ales, before heading out into the city.
It was bigger than he imagined. Raj and Lily took Dagon by all the stalls and stores, noting the ones of importance as they went. The most important were the armory, tailor, and potions shop. Dagon hadn't realized that potions were a thing in this world, although he should've guessed since everything else was already too much like a video game.
There were many different potions for all sorts of things. Healing potions were the most common, they were separated my grade and type. Parties that didn't have a healer always stocked up on potions before a job. They were expensive, but not more so than a life.
The armory had all kinds of different armors and weapons for sale. Everything good was too expensive for him at the moment. His sword already seemed slightly better than the ones he could afford, so there wasn't much point in looking.
The tailor had all different kinds of leather armor, robes, and clothes. He bought some regular clothes to wear while training to keep the condition of his gear as good as possible.
Coming from Earth, it was weird only having one set of clothes anyway. They only cost him 10 coppers, so it was a good investment in his mind.
By the time they visited all of the shops, it was time to head back. According to Raj and Lily, they hadn't even visited half of the city yet. They'd have to see the rest another day.
Raj and Lily said goodbye as they made their way to the guild, and left together.
Dagon changed before heading to the practice hall. It was time to workout, something he hadn't done in 3 years. He was always in good shape, but he didn't really care for his body too well the last couple years.
Dagon worked out for a good hour or two before laying down in the yard. He didn't know what time George would get here, but he planned to rest till then.
After about 30 minutes of rest, he was awoken to a splash of water on his face.
"No sleeping let's get to work," he heard George say as his eyes were closed.
The water felt good honestly, he was savoring it before he had to work his ass off.
George and Dagon sparred for another hour before calling it a night.
It was only the first day of his new routine, and his body felt like the wind could shatter it if it blew too hard.
Dagon checked his stats before bed to see his improvement, he needed the motivation to keep going.
[Dagon]
[Health: 12/12]
[Stamina: 12] [Strength:10]
[Magic: 15] [Agility: 7]
[One-handed sword proficiency: 20%]
[Longbow proficiency: 51%]