AN: Hey everyone just want to send a thank you message for getting me to over 100K views thats just insanity to me considering I just started publicly releasing stuff in mid-June. Thank all of you!!!!
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*1 month earlier*
Alex, Claire, Adelia, and Kyssee arrived in the small village of Haven.
It was a small farming village in the southern part of the Empire. Alex and the group decided to relax here for a few days before heading back on the road to go back to the capital to enroll in the academy.
That's when they did the usual: Adelia and Kyssee went to the local inn to rent rooms, while Alex and Claire went to the mercenary guild to look for jobs.
While walking, Alex noticed something out of the corner of his eye. It was a young boy, aged around 7 or 8, practicing with a wooden sword and fighting a dummy made of straw in the mercenary guild courtyard.
"Hey Claire, could you go check in for us? It's a small town; there can't be too many jobs." Alex said to Claire.
"Uh, sure, Alex I'll tell you if there's a job that's too high for me to take." Claire said to Alex.
"Thanks Claire."
After Claire went inside, Alex walked up to the kid, who was still swinging at the straw dummy.
"Hyah!" The kid screamed as he swung his sword, but his momentum knocked him off balance, and he nearly fell.
Alex chuckled in the background, seeing this, and the kid took notice of him.
"What are you laughing at?" he asked Alex.
"Nothing, just here's a little tip. Since you're smaller, place both hands onto the handle and steady yourself; if that dummy fought back, you'd be pretty easy to disarm and knock off your feet." Alex told the kid.
"Oh yeah? Well, how about this?" The kid swung at Alex in a rage. The kid was upset at being laughed at.
Alex smirked as he grabbed the wooden sword right out of the kid's hands and tripped the kid as he charged.
"See, told you." Alex said.
The kid looked at Alex with an even angrier expression.
"Listen, just take my advice. Both hands on the handle, steady your footing, and aim at the dummy." Alex repeated it to the boy.
The boy with tears in his eyes did as Alex said. He put his left hand on the grip, placed his feet more on the ground, and swung.
"Hyah!"
This time, the boy didn't drop the sword or lose his balance.
"See, I was right." Alex said.
The boy wiped the tears from his eyes and looked at Alex.
"Could you teach me more?" He asked Alex.
"Hm, sure." Alex said.
Alex picked up another wooden sword from a barrel filled with them and took position at a dummy next to the boys.
"Now, since you're small overall when going against someone bigger than you, aim for the legs. If you knock your opponent off balance or even injure the legs, their stance will be weaker, and they will have more tells in combat, such as favoring the leg or weaker strikes because they won't have balance. Some people think power is all there is in combat; they're not completely wrong but also not completely right." Alex explained.
"But all the knights use big swords and armor." The boy said.
"True, but because they are armored, they can afford to focus more on the power side of things. Let's take me. I have no armor, so if I take on a knight with a great sword, for example, head-on, I'll be at a disadvantage, so I'll have to rely on speed to outmaneuver my opponent and take advantage when I see an opening, but if I'm fighting someone and I can't use my speed to outmaneuver, then I'll have to rely on a swordsman's greatest weapon."
"What's that?" the boy asked.
"My brain." Alex told the boy, pointing at the top of his head.
"Your brain? What do you mean by that?" the boy asked.
"Your brain is your greatest weapon. If you can outsmart your opponent, you'll never lose. Even if you're at a disadvantage, if you're smart enough, you can either turn the tables on them or find a way to retreat." Alex said.
"But there's no honor in retreating; a knight told me that." the boy said.
"Knights are always told that, but truth be told, there isn't shame in retreating. If you have two choices: fight until you die or retreat and live to fight another day, always choose the latter. Knights run into battle because a man with a fancy crown or a man with money tells them too. If you're dead because of "honor" what can you protect? If you survive, you can protect those you care about, even in defeat. That's true honor in my book. If you're willing to take personal shame to protect others, that is what makes a true swordsman."
"A true swordsman?" the boy asked.
The boy seemed to be thinking about something, and his eyes lit up as he looked at Alex.
"Will you teach me how to be a true swordsman?" the boy asked.
"I said I would; just a warning, I'm not going to go easy on you." Alex said with a smile.
"That's fine; I'm tough." the boy said, flexing out a tiny muscle.
"Alright, tomorrow at around noon, let's meet back here, alright?" Alex asked the boy.
"Sure thing!" the boy said, but then he realized something. "By the way, what's your name?"
Alex smiled. "Alex, and what about yours?"
"Jacob."
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Jacob." Alex said.
"Same to you, Alex!" Jacob said.
The boy was excited until he heard a voice calling for him.
"Jacob!
A woman in her mid-forties was calling out to Jacob. She had long brown hair with signs of graying and brown eyes.
As the woman approached them, she saw Alex and asked.
"Uhm, who are you, and why are you talking to my son?"
"Oh, hello ma'am, my name is Alex, and I was just teaching Jacob some sword lessons." Alex said.
"You're still trying to learn how to fight?" The mother seems enraged. "Do you remember what happened to your brother? I forbade you from training."
"Yes, I remember, but with both dad and Zach gone, who's going to keep you safe, mom?" Jacob yelled out.
Alex stayed silent watching this as he was putting the pieces of what they were saying together.
Jacob stormed off as they were arguing when the woman approached Alex.
"While I thank you for watching my son, he is not allowed to train with a sword. So would you please not teach him anymore." the mother asked.
"Ma'am, I know we just met, but I got a feeling, whether you forbid it or not, that boy is going to find somewhere to practice. While I'm not arguing your parent style or trying to interfere, wouldn't you think since he's going to do it anyway, he should learn from someone who knows how to instead of hurting himself in the process?" Alex tried to argue, but the mother was hearing none of it.
"I said he was forbidden; I'm not losing another son. Don't let me see your face near him again." the woman said as she marched off with tears in her eyes.
Claire walked up next to Alex and asked him "So do you intend on still training that boy?"
"If he shows up, absolutely." Alex said.
"Well, alright, there aren't really any big-time jobs available—wolf pack or a bodyguard job—nothing major." Claire said.
"Well, we'll just wait; maybe you or the other girls could take those jobs." Alex said.
"It's not often you take notice of a random village kid. What's so interesting about that boy?" Claire asked.
"Nothing, but there was just something in his eyes—rage, hatred. I'm guessing his brother died somehow, and he wants revenge. He's going to pursue his vendetta, no matter what his mom says. Why not give him the basics so he doesn't die within thirty seconds?" Alex said.
"Alright, just be careful; that mom looked ready to stab you with a kitchen knife." Claire teased.
"Yeah, I'll probably train him in a field or something, away from prying eyes...mainly hers." Alex said.
After that, Alex and Claire went back to the inn to meet with Kyssee and Adelia. They slept in their rooms for a peaceful night, and when the sun rose, Alex was at the mercenary guild training field.
He looked out of the corner of his eye and saw Jacob running to him.
"So, are you ready to begin?"
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