"Is that him?"
"Yes, it's him."
"But are you sure you heard right?"
"I didn't hear, I simply saw. He went from the third to the fifth stance in two days."
"Two!? That's impossible."
"I wouldn't believe it either, but I saw with my own eyes how tutor Nilon carried out his test to the fifth stance, and just two days ago he was with me in the group."
"How did he do it?"
"I have no idea, I only know that for half a year he stood somewhere in the corner of the training ground and trained day in and day out by himself."
"Maybe he's a noble, and they let him through faster, or he has connections?"
"I doubt it, I talked to Daren what's in the room with him, and from what he told me, he came from an orphanage like most of us. Anyway, somewhere since the end of spring, he has been winning almost all the sparring matches day after day, although lately I haven't seen him fight anyone."
Such rumors and conversations could be heard late in the evening, when it was already dark outside and the dining hall was lit by the flames of candlesticks. The news of Kane's accomplishment stirred confused feelings of admiration and discontent among the recruits, creating new rumors and theories, including among the Lower Knights present.
Sitting in a corner of the dining hall was Jin, along with those he had managed to recruit into the group. With steel swords at their waists, causing concern among nearby recruits, they watched Kane sip from wooden mugs.
"Jin, do you know him?"
Asked a new member of his group, Renard, the second person to receive the rank of Lower Knight in Byrock.
"Yes, the last time I fought him was in the spring, and then he wasn't something special, but now he's worth attention."
"Then why didn't you offer him to join us?"
"I offered, he refused."
"Really?"
"Really"
"First Lores, now him, I don't know why they don't want to join."
"I don't know either, I thought I made them realize that leaving Byrock alone is stupid."
"Maybe he needs to be pressed?"
"There's no time, there are other recruits or tutors around all the time, and after supper they make sure no one leaves the rooms."
"Ehh... we could use two more people, so that we have at least five."
"We have time, we still have three and a half months until the tests on Knight"
Despite all the confusion, Kane tried to ignore the rumors, whether negative or positive.
His eating was interrupted by the voice of tutor Lorenz.
"Attention everyone!
We have received information from Royal General Nikolas Ronest himself from the capital about sudden changes in plans. Due to the approaching winter, resulting in a temporary withdrawal of Imperial forces and a reduction in the intensity of attacks, we have received orders to take all Lower Knights from Byrock to help the Forsteck kingdom's army help civilians and minimize losses at the border.
We plan to leave Byrock within two weeks, as soon as the temperature drops and the forces reduce the intensity of their operations.
That's all."
Despite such unheard of news, there was a deafening silence among the recruits after tutor Lorenz left. After more than half a year of training, it was only after this speech that they realized they were really in the army, and would someday fight on the front lines.
No excitement, just a bitter silence exposing the sad reality of what they were heading for with their training - a painful death on the front lines.
Hearing the orders the tutors had received, Kane realized that his entire plan had come to nothing.
"Well great... And so much for planning. If I become a Lower Knight in a few days like I planned, they'll send me to the front for the winter, and I won't be able to spend three months training.
But if I stay in the fifth group until spring, so that I can miss it, I won't get used to steel weapons."
He sighed with apparent dissatisfaction, staring blankly at the plate, having to plan anew for the next few months.
"But on the other hand, a little experience will come in handy, from what the tutor said, they send us out in the winter specifically so that we don't run into anyone, meaning collecting civilians and distributing them from under the border to cities like recruits from orphanages.
Are they short of people? All in all, they don't give us information from the front, what the situation is like, everyone in confinement forgets that there is a war going on."
"Kane? What are you thinking about?"
Asked a concerned Auren, seeing that the boy had been staring at his plate for a few minutes without blinking.
"I'm just thinking about what the tutor said, I don't know if it's worth it for me to become a Lower Knight and leave for the winter."
"As far as I'm concerned, it's not worth it, to risk your life on the front lines. Besides, we are 11 years old, and compared to the Knights, we are small, I don't know if they will even have equipment for our height."
After hearing his roommate's opinion, Kane, feeling tired from just thinking about it, started rocking in his chair, staring at the ceiling, feeling as if he was getting more and more tired, physically and mentally, with every breath.
Sitting like this, he drowned in his own thoughts, closing his eyes. Slowly, the surrounding conversations began to quiet down, and his musings began to enter his head.
"Ehh... Why all these wars, the ever-present death ravaging villages and towns, no good reason, and then we have to die in the fields with spears stuck in our hearts..."
Kane's musings were only interrupted a moment later by Daren, catching him by the arm.
"Kane, supper is over, we have to leave."
"Oh right, thanks."
They all left the dining hall, going to their rooms to sleep, in silence, unsure if they wanted to become Lower Knight this winter.
Only returning to the room, brought Kane back to consciousness and reminded him of what awaits him tomorrow.
"Oh right, the fifth stance, I'd already forgotten. Only is it worth it for me to become a lower knight over the winter?"
He wondered, lying in bed. Only the next day during training, when he could be alone with himself, without listening to the conversations of his roommates, would he be able to think in peace, he decided.
"Okay, I'll lose out on training, but I'll be there in a group with Lower Knight, at most, I'll only do sparring during the winter, unless there's time to train.
Only the tutor said that the intensity of army attacks will decrease, but they will still be there....
Can I survive?"
During the day, rumors and whispers could still be heard behind Kane's back, but he only looked forward to training the fifth stance.
After lunch, he went out to the training ground, but he didn't know who his tutor was, so with his eyes, he looked for where the fifth group was gathering.
Among the talking and laughing recruits, he saw a tutor he didn't know.
An older man with a glowing pipe in his mouth and unusual facial features and clothing, with no armor, which made him stand out from the other tutors. He immediately realized that it must be the fifth group and approached the tutor.
"Tutor Nilon let me through to the fifth stance."
"He? Aaa, he told me something."
He replied, taking a puff on his pipe, in a strange accent unfamiliar to the boy.
"You're practically at the very end now, since you managed to get to the fifth stance, you could say you're closer than further.
But starting with the formalities... My name is Rikimaru Eizo of the rank of Attack General. I'll tell you in advance that I'm not from this kingdom, but through the fall of my country as a result of the Gables War, I became a military officer in this country."
"The Gables War?"
"You haven't heard of it?"
"No."
"Actually, you weren't yet in the world at the time, so it's no surprise. In the north, the natural border of the Forsteck kingdom is a mountain range called Yoman. But it's not just a strip of mountains followed by more lowlands, it's a whole area the size of this country all covered with mountains.
On the Yoman Mountain Range, just twenty years ago, there were five small mountain nations that constantly fought each other for land and influence. It used to be one big mountain kingdom, but after the death of the King, the country was divided into districts among his five children, who began to fight each other for influence. My country lost in this war, as a result of which enemy armies slaughtered my compatriots, so I had no choice but to escape."
"You can see that you are not from here, even after such a long time"
"Fact, I stand out, but that's because I try not to forget my culture."
When Rikimaru's tutor said this, Kane again looked him over from top to bottom with his eyes, and only up close did he notice the unfamiliar weapon at his belt.
"What kind of sword is that? I've never seen one like it."
"Are you going to question me about everything now?"
"May I?"
"No, but as for the sword, it's called a katana, I got it from my master when I was young. It has already passed some, but I take care of it so that I can continue to use it. Among other things, the fifth stance I'll teach you comes from the Yoman area, so listen carefully.
It's basically a combination of everything you've learned so far, speed, strength, sword wielding, and reaction time. Just as the rest of the stances are for defense or simply fighting, this one was created for one purpose only - to kill quickly and efficiently."
When Kane heard this, his body went through sudden chills.
"The fifth stance is a counterattack aimed at killing the enemy quickly and effectively.
At the moment of the enemy's attack, you make a quick and powerful swing of the sword from below to hit his sword, and as soon as you make an upward swing and hit the sword, right away, you can't even wait a second, you turn your wrist or your hands so that the blade is facing the enemy and finish him off with a straight cut down.
Everything takes a second or two during the fight. If you properly make a swing with the sword from the bottom to top at the very beginning, the opponent should lose control of the sword and will be open to attack.
The key then will be to quickly turn your wrists or the sword in your hands so that it is pointed with the blade towards the opponent, because if you don't, you will hit him with the blunt side of the sword, unless the sword blade is double-sided, but this depends on the weapon. My katana, for example, has a blade on one side, the weapon you get as a Lower Knight has a blade on both sides.
Is everything clear?"
"Yes sir!"
With each salute, an unpleasant feeling continued to accompany the boy.
"May I see by example how to perform the fifth stance?"
"You can, but to make you remember better how it works, I'll show this attack on you."
"On me?"
"Yes, but he will use a wooden sword, at most, you will be a little battered".
He grinned in the boy's direction, as if he derived satisfaction from hitting recruits with a piece of wood.
"Position yourself in front of me and attack with the first stance."
Kane was slightly irritated, in truth, it was the first time he had crossed swords with someone so experienced, until now, he had only fought recruits.
He assumed the position for the first stance, and they stood in front of each other without flinching, waiting for his opponent to move.
As soon as he moved, Rikimaru momentarily hit Kane's sword, with such force and speed that it fell out of his hands and fell a few meters behind him. With his hands empty, he watched as the sword came towards his head.
Sensing that he was going to flinch, he closed his eyes and anticipated the inevitable pain.
But despite the passage of several seconds, nothing happened. Slowly and hesitantly, he opened his eyes, and saw the tutor's sword stopped inches in front of his eyes.
"Did you see? That's what it's all about, from a well-aimed strike, you are defenseless and an easy target for your opponent. At this point, you would be dead."
Kane breathed a sigh of relief, falling to the ground as his body's stress left him, beginning to understand how useful this stance is.
"Something else, or can you handle it?"
"Then how do I train the fifth stance? Dummies are suitable?"
"For the fifth stance, we have special equipment instead of dummies. Look behind you at your group, it looks like a hurdle, but it's weighted with boulders near the ground.
You have to hit the horizontal bar from below the hurdle in such a way as to toss it up, then, before it has time to fall, hit the bar from above to bring the hurdle to the ground while it's still in the air.
In this way, you will train both strength and counterattack speed at the same time."
"So you have to use enough force to toss it up long enough to retract the sword and strike from above?"
"Yes"
"Ehh... then how many times do I have to do it to become a Lower Knight?"
"Five times is enough, now to training."
The tutor walked away from Kane, leaving him alone with his sword before the next challenge. Although with his previous stances he was slowly starting to feel monotonous, here he sensed something useful and a new challenge.
"Well, it's time to begin."
Picking up his sword from the ground, he began to look for a free hurdle to practice on. As soon as he approached one, he tried, as usual, to analyze the tutor's movement in his head to learn the stance faster.
"For now, I think I'll hold off until the toss, only then will I start hitting it from above in the air, there's no need to do two things at once to start."
He gripped the sword with all his might with both hands, so hard that the corns from daily training throbbed with their pain, as if someone had sprinkled salt on his wound.
Kane positioned himself and took his first swing from below, but froze in place on strike for one unexpected reason.
Despite using a lot of force and speed, on strike, the fence only lifted slightly off the ground, almost invisible to the eye.
"Just that much? It's now with all your strength."
He made another swing, using the full force of his hands and bracing his wrists, but even so, the hurdle, instead of rising upward, only jumped a few inches from the strike and fell to the ground.
"Am I doing something wrong, or am I too weak?"
He began to wonder, continuing to attack from below, with each strike of the sword, slowly falling into a trance of training.
"I grabbed the sword tightly, my wrists stiffened, I used all my strength and speed, and still almost nothing."
He wondered with each strike what he needed to improve to succeed.
Only after a few minutes of striking, when he had warmed up and felt every muscle and sharpened his senses with each strike, did he begin to notice a problem in his stance.
"With each strike, I feel the same thing, hands, wrists, and arm is strong and sufficient, but the forearm, with each strike, feels like such an empty hole compared to the rest of the arm, not muscles.
It will have to be strengthened somehow in the short term, two days won't take me, and I don't have much time either, in two weeks, the Lower Knights are leaving..."
He stood in front of the hurdle, staring at the ground, pondering a solution to the problem.
"From the strikes alone, my forearm should get stronger, and without exercise, I'll have to waste a week or more.
The hurdle has moved upward slightly, so it's not bad, just need to improve the strength."
As he decided, he began to train the fifth stance with a clear goal - to become a Lower Knight in 2 weeks, which proved more difficult at the very end than he expected.