For another twenty minutes, Kane practiced the basics as Lindsey watched.
"Wow!" Lindsey exclaimed. "You're a lot more talented than I expected. Although it looks like physically speaking, you're quite a bit behind."
Kane, panting, nodded his head as he stopped his movements.
"I." *panting* "I did focus more on my intelligence than my body. It seems to have come back at me now though..."
He sat down on the floor, laying the spear beside him.
"Well then, I suppose we should take a break before we get started with anything more complicated." She said with a smile as she sat down.
Kane laid back onto the floor.
"Kane." Lindsey called.
"Lindsey?"
"I was curious... Where do you come from? And why make the trek to here? It would have been dangerous right?"
Kane went silent.
"It's okay if you don't want to answer. It's private after all, I was just curious."
After a minute of silence passed, Kane let out a sigh.
"I'm from somewhere very, very, far away from here. An amazing place really. Pleasures you might not be able to imagine living in this village."
"Then why did you leave?"
"Why did I leave? Every place has its pleasures. Not every person can enjoy them. My life felt like hell. I had no power to make my own choices. I didn't even get to decide what to do with my time, let alone experience pleasure. I was weak."
"If you're so weak then how did you make it here? Why would you leave knowing you were weak?"
"Luck mainly. I've never been a particularly lucky person honestly. For me to end up where I was, I must've pissed off fate. Me and a whole lot of other people. But even if I was weak. Even if there was a chance of me dying, I'm so glad I wound up coming here. At least I have the chance to get strong enough to fight for what I want. I have a choice. A voice."
He forced himself off of the ground.
"Now then."
He picked up the spear.
"Let's keep going, shall we?"
Lindsey nodded as she got up.
"Well, since you've got the basics down, I suppose we should get started on some techniques."
Kane nodded.
"Then listen up, we're going to start off with a more basic level technique. It's called 'Wind Piercer'"
"Wind Piercer?"
"Yes, it's one of the first techniques the people in this village learn when they join the guards."
"Okay, sounds good."
He took a step back and watched as Lindsey took a stance.
"This move is sort of like a basic thrust, but before you reach the end, you tilt your body further to add additional force. Like a sort of boost to the initial thrust."
She demonstrated.
After doing it, she looked at Kane.
"I'm going to do it two more times, and then I'll have you do it. Okay? So pay close attention."
Kane nodded and began to pay close attention.
Getting in position to thrust the spear, she went through with the motion, but before the motion completed, she pushed harder off of her back foot, adding a quick burst of force to the ending of the motion. It made a short noise like piercing wind.
"Is... Is that why it's called that?"
She smiled lightly without answering before demonstrating the motion again on a training dummy.
As she completed the motion and hit the dummy she looked over at Kane and spoke.
"Well then. I danced, now it's your turn."
"Okay then. Deep breath. In... And out..."
After doing this, Kane took the stance and prepared to thrust his spear. Mid thrust, he pushed harder with his back foot and added the force to his thrust. Although it didn't have the sharp piercing sound, it made a quieter sound that could be compared to a breeze.
Lindsey's eyes widened slightly.
"Pretty good for a first try. You just need to practice some more and you should have it down relatively soon."
Kane nodded and practiced it again and again until thirty minutes had passed.
Panting, Kane attempted to follow through on the motion again but collapsed as he pushed off landing face first.
Lindsey rushed to his side to confirm his condition.
"Kane! Kane are you okay?" She said as she rolled him onto his back
"... yes... It seems I pushed my body a bit too far."
She let out a sigh of relief.
"Luckily you're okay. I thought that your body wasn't able to take it."
Kane chuckled.
"My body is capable of much more than you think."
"Do you need anything?"
Kane closed his eyes for a moment before answering.
"I could use some water."
His stomach grumbled.
"A meal wouldn't hurt either."
Lindsey laughed.
"I can get you the water, but I'll have to swap out with Rylan for my shift in about five minutes or so. You can ask him to help you get there if you need."
Kane shook his head.
"No I'll be fine in a few minutes. Once he gets here I'll see if you wants to head to the inn and get a meal before we spar so I can rest and not collapse again."
"Alright then, I'll be back with water in a moment." She said as she walked inside.
A minute later, Lindsey came back outside with a small wooden jug and two glasses.
"I've got the water." She called out as she filled two glasses.
"Lovely, I'll be able to get up soon."
"Here, I'll help you get some now."
Grabbing the jug, she walked over to Kane and lifted his head before pouring some water from the jug into his mouth.
*gulp* *gulp* *gulp*
In three gulps he had finished what was left of the jug.
"I poured a glass for you here if you want more." She said, gently laying his head back down.
"Thank you very much." Kane said as he lifted his arm and gave a small wave.
After another two minutes, Kane slowly got off of the floor.
Stretching, he smiled at Lindsey who seemed impressed by his recovery speed.
"You recover that quick from a full collapse?"
"I did mention my healing speed no? It's just overall recovery."
Her mouth opened slightly before she closed it.
Letting out a sigh, she began walking to the building.
"I have to finish getting ready for my shift. Rylan will be here soon. You keep resting up and once he's here you two can spar and you can practice what you've learned."
"Got it." He said, closing his eyes.
Ten minutes passed. Lindsey had already left and Kane could move, however he felt that the ground was rather comfortable.
"Are you still exhausted?" Rylan called out.
"No, I've been able to move for a while. The floor just feels nice. Stable."
Rylan chuckled as he walked towards Kane.
"I heard you were hungry."
"Absolutely. I was just going to ask if you wanted to head to The Rusty Scabbard for a meal."
Rylan nodded his head before realizing Kane still had his eyes closed.
"Sure. Let's go."
He offered his had to Kane
Opening his eyes. Kane grabbed his hand.
After helping him up, Rylan stretched.
"Then let's get going." He said.
"Sure. Let me put this back first." Kane responded as he grabbed the training spear off of the ground and put it back.
Afterwards, the pair made their way towards The Rusty Scabbard Inn.
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When they got to the inn, Kane looked and noticed that it was the young man working the counter.
"Hey, could you tell me what the meal is right now?"
"Of course." He responded. "It's a tasty spaghetti dish with pork sausage on the side."
Kane turned to Rylan and said he would pay.
"Two meal tickets please."
"Of course, for you that'll be ten copper total."
As he handed him the money, Kane asked a question.
"The discount applies when I pay for someone else's meal as well?"
"Yes. Within a reasonable limit of course." The man smiled as he handed him the meal tickets.
Handing one to Rylan, the pair made their way to the dining room.
After having their meal, the two made their way back to the guard station.
"Ten minutes rest and then we can start sparring." Rylan said.
Kane nodded in agreement, not wanting to upset his stomach.
After ten minutes had passed, the two had gotten up from their resting positions and begun to stretch.
"Although you won't get this in a real fight, it's very important to stretch before you do workouts like this. You might hurt yourself otherwise." Rylan said.
Kane chuckled in response.
Finishing their stretches, the pair went to grab training spears.
As he grabbed his spear, Kane looked over at the jug and glasses that were still outside.
"We, uh... We should probably put those back right?"
Rylan nodded and brought the cups inside before coming back to bring the jug inside.
"No more postponing this." Rylan said as he came back out and grabbed a spear.
"I agree." Kane responded as he too got into a stance.
A smile made its way onto Rylan's face.
"This oughtta be fun." He said as he got into a stance.
Kane chuckled.
"I agree. Just make sure that you don't take it easy on me." Kane smirked.
"I would never."
Twenty seconds passed as the pair stared at each other in silence.
A light breeze passed through.
They sprinted at each other marking the start of their spar.