Kai arose after a satisfying rest. There were many things to attend to today. First, was his afternoon training under Sir Illinor.
As usual, Kai made his way to the city alongside his father. The carriage carried forward, there was at least an hour till they reached Aurora.
Damian seemed to retain a hint of his previously somber state, as he looked out towards the surrounding forests. Kai's concern for his father was ever present, however, he was uncertain about prompting the matter.
As they continued onwards, one of the passengers on the carriage pointed to side of the road, "oh god! Have mercy on those poor souls."
Along the side of the road were the remains of a carriage similar to theirs, and it was broken to smithereens. There was still a burning smell emanating from it. Besides it, lay few mangled carcasses, they had been partially burned, it was difficult to identify any of them, and there was a wretched smell that permeated from the corpses.
Kai's expression immediately dulled, the sight sickened him. Most people on the carriage had similar reactions, everyone was silent, and no one dared to stay and pay their respects.
The carriage immediately moved forward, after a brief stop to look out for any ambushes. Damien had retained a serious look on his face, he was constantly on guard towards his surroundings.
"Those brutal bastards… tho-those conniving bandits, just think they can go around the kingdom and steal from us village folk!" A man sitting in the corner of the carriage mumbled on, he was infuriated by the sight of the corpses.
Damien looked at Kai, "are you alright son?" Kai's face was still ashen, he was processing the scene he had witnessed.
"Ill be reporting this incident at the Keep at the earliest…You know Kai, this Kingdom is a relatively safer environment for it's people, but that does not mean everyone can be trusted easily here. There are many of the deceitful bunch, and as you saw, once they have you, they don't hold back." Damien said with a hint of sadness in his words.
"I hear the neighbouring Kingdoms are even worse than ours. Villages are often ransacked, people travelling without protection, are looted, the men killed and the women raped, and some even indoctrinate children into their band of savages. It's despicable." A man who was sitting next to Damian chimed in.
"I hear Leon is faring the worst, especially since those arcane forests near them have began acting up… in all that chaos, the Kingdom must find it difficult enough to ensure the safety of its citizens from those mutated freaks, yet alone the bandits flocking among the commoners. Bandits are a vicious existences there, they merge in with the people, and strike when they find you at your most vulnerable." A middle aged woman, who had remained silent till now also spoke. She still seemed shaken from before.
"Leon… It is not a place for the weak." Damien also remarked with a sigh.
After arriving at the Capital City, Damian dropped Kai at the training grounds, which was situated to the right of the city, near the Keep. The grounds were a large training area, that was run by the Council of Lords, the army would periodically train here, many lords, knights and vassals also choose to train here occasionally.
The grounds were split into multiple sections each focusing on different attributes of warfare. There were sections that specialised in archery, swordsmanship, armed combat, refinement combat, and the like. The section pertaining to swordsmanship was large and spanned around 800 feet, there were smaller areas for personal training within.
Sir Illinor sat calmly in one of the personal training sections.
He had a mid-sized beard and slightly long dark hair, with hints of white. He had small scars over his arms, one scar seemed to begin at the middle left side of his neck and stretched down to his torso, which was underneath his breastplate.
He was sitting with his legs crossed, on the ground, there was a slightly visible golden glow coming from his body. His eyes were closed, and he seemed to have lost all awareness of his current surroundings.
Kai hurriedly entered the area, and bowed in front of Illinor. "Greeting Sir, I apologise for the tardiness." He had recognised the faint glow as the famous golden glow of a body refiner's cultivation, the golden glow would usually become visible around the early surface refiner stage.
"No need for apologies boy" Illinor slowly opened his eyes, as he spoke. The faint golden hue permeating from his body also disappeared with this action.
"Now pick up that wooden sword, lets observe your form." Sir Illinor said calmly.
A nervous Kai did not waste any time, as he picked up one of the wooden swords form the basket laid out in the side of the room. To the end of the room, there was a dummy model, dressed in minimal armour, and had slight straws sticking out through it's various orifices.
Kai stood himself in front of the dummy, his breathing was still rough, and he swung his sword down. There was a sharp sound, and the sword flung as it ricochet off the steel and out of Kai's grasp.
Sir Illinor had a disappointed expression on his face, he looked towards Kai, "Again."
Kai immediately picked up his sword and repositioned himself, this time his swing had more control to it, but the impact in turn was meagre too. Illinor let Kai continue to swing without interruption for half an hour, only commenting when he found any fault in Kai's form.
Kai's breathing had become rougher during this duration and he seemed to be at his limits.
"You can stop now" Ilinor said calmly. He walked closer to Kai, a wooden sword was loosely clenched behind his back. The breathless Kai had no time to pay attention, as he focused on recovering his breath.
Illinor took an indiscernible breath, and closed in on Kai in an instant.
The moment Illinor released his breath, the sword that was loosely gripped by him swung at Kai at a ridiculous speed.
Kai who had a panicked expression, immediately despaired, but he still attempted to block the strike.
Unfortunately, the effort was in vain.
Kai was flung to the side as the strike landed on him. He seemed to have lost all sensibilities as he felt his arm swell up. The force of the strike had cause his right arm muscles to swell. He just lay helplessly in the dirt.
"To be able to truly protect yourself you must ascertain the mind of your opponent, whether they be a knight, a warrior, a soldier, even a bandit. When pitted against them, it is essential to always be on guard."
"Even the strong have fallen helplessly to the cunning, and if you want to be able to survive in this world, you must learn to react to even the most unpredictable of circumstances."
Illinor arrived in front of the injured Kai. "I am being paid not to teach you how to kill, boy. I am being paid to teach you how to protect yourself, even in the most bleak of circumstances. Your weak but sufficient striking form will have to do, but on my name, I will not let you be weak when it comes to defending against any strike"
Illinor raised his arm, which was loosely holding the sword. "My strikes are well within your capabilities to defend, but only if you're accustomed to the unexpected. Now that you know who your opponent is, it is time for you to begin your training. " He had a smug but satisfied smile on his face, which soon disappeared.
"Heed my words boy, a moments hesitation, and its certain death."
Kai had a despondent expression, he seemed unwilling to continue on with this torture. But, his mothers words were still echoing within his mind. He understood the privilege of this training, so he unwittingly got up.
The instructions were simple, yet painful, Kai had to practice striking the dummy indefinitely. Illinor would occasionally sneak up and strike with the wooden sword, he held in a loose grip.
The strikes would seemingly emerge out of nowhere, this precarious situation caused Kai's body to tense up like never before, he feared the hit that made his muscles pulse in pain, nonetheless the strikes were unrelenting.
He had to persist through half an hour of consistently striking the dummy, while avoiding Illinor's attacks. If he faulted in his form, Illinor would make him start the whole exercise again.
Kai had never noticed his surrounding this intently, every corner of his vision was constantly on alert, if he would feel an ounce of wind fluctuating behind him, he would immediately move to the side and continue to strike.
Much to Kai's dismay even if he was aware of an incoming strike, his body would move much slower. He soon felt numbness spread all over his body.
Sir Illinor, had an expressionless attitude towards Kai's predicament.
Every time Kai would get struck, Illinor would express a hint of disappointment, sometimes he would just click his tongue, other times he would outright berate him.
"Don't be incompetent, get up!"
"I expected more from you boy."
"Does it not bother you that your parents hard earned coin is being wasted like this."
Kai's frustration was slowly churning, but hearing his parents mentioned like this, invoked an ounce of anger in him. Despite his timidness, his perseverance had always been high, perhaps it was a means to make up for his deficits. Moreover, his anger made him forget his timidness, or the pulsating pain all over him, even if it was for a moment.
He got up with momentum and began carefully striking the dummy again.
Seeing Kai's change in demeanour, Illinor's eyes shined for a moment, "Very good boy, let see if you can keep going."
Sir Illinor dashed towards Kai, and swung down diagonally with his loose grip.
Kai carefully waited for the right opportunity and immediately turned his back sideways instead of attempting to completely move out of the way, like previous attempts.
The wooden sword, missed him by a sliver. Kai immediately took this opportunity to continue striking the dummy. However, with that immediate movement, his body began to sore up again, the pain returned throughout his body.
He tried to react to the next oncoming strike, which unfortunately was too fast, and rammed into his left arm. Kai was flung to the ground once again, only for a disappointed Illinor to be standing in his place. "Tch. Again!"
After hours of training, an exhausted and pained Kai, slumped his way to the Keep. He had many things to say about the inconsiderate instructor of his.
'That ruthless son of a bitch! This is no way to treat a 14 year old boy, much less your new student. Perhaps this is why he doesn't have any other students.' Kai's arms were hung down, and he dragged his feet occasionally. He craved rest, but there was one matter that he had to attend to regardless of his state.
Once Kai arrived at the Keep's kitchen, Damian looked at him with a sense of pity, but there was also a slightly noticeable pride on his face.
Kai managed to glimpse his father's expression. He felt rather unwilling to continue on with this brutal training, but his fathers expression made it difficult for him to voice his concern.