₪ 1st of Frost, Year 120, A.o.S ₪
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With everything going on in Siorey's life, his guardian and confidant wanted to take his mind off of it all if only for a moment. Dhasali asked Siorey to join him for some weapons training, which Siorey reluctantly agreed to, saying he has been wanting to toughen himself up just in case Dhasali was not around to protect him. The circle mage was rather curious as to what method of training his bodyguard had planned for him, but he would find out when he arrived.
As Siorey waited, he found the sound of footsteps coming from behind him entering his ears and quickly turned to see Dhasali approaching. "I hope you are ready for today, I will be putting your body through its paces" he greeted, giving his young charge a bow. "I hope you don't mind that we train out here in the wild, I find it's better to train without the distractions of the city." he proposed, not that Siorey could refuse him anyhow.
"Care to tell me what today's training is?" Siorey asked, curiously looking around them, unsure as to what they could possibly do out here. He smirked and looked his charge over, circling him as he inspected him. "The goal is to strengthen your sword arm and your body with some sword drills. By doing this it'll build muscle memory and will make fighting easier for you." he explained, causing Siorey to begin regretting coming out here.
"As a citizen of Kalzasi, you must be able to defend yourself against any threat that may rise up against you. Though you are talented in the ways of magic, you must also be able to fight when magic is not a viable option. You need to be a well-rounded combatant, not stagnant in one particular way of fighting." he added, seeing Siorey's hesitation. Drawing his blade he began to demonstrate basic sword strikes.
"With practice and dedication, I will turn you into a skilled swordsman like myself. You will become good at wielding a sword under my tutelage, getting familiar with its weight until it feels normal in your hands, now begin. This first exercise is called the Power strike. It's an exercise that develops and builds the muscle in your legs, butt, back, shoulders, & arms. Now you give it a go." he explained, his eyes watching his pupil intently for any mistakes that would be made so he could correct them.
Inhaling, Siorey replicated what he was shown, raising his arms over his head, bending his elbows so that the sword was parallel to his back. Exhaling he rotated his torso to the left and extended his arms, striking the sword down to the left. Raising it back to the starting position, he repeated the process but this time rotating to the right, to complete 1 rep. Siorey would continue this for 5 sets of 20 reps for a total of 100 reps or in Siroey's case, till exhaustion, as he was only able to get to half that.
Regrettably, at some point, it felt as if his arms and legs would fall off from his body. Just bending them hurt, and unfortunately, Dhasali wasn't done, as he had more in store for me. He chuckled seeing Siorey's body in such dismay patting the young mage on his back. "To be honest I wasn't expecting you to last this long, let alone 50 reps in total. But that's good, means you are in more shape than I thought and that this won't hurt as badly as you may think it will." he teased, rubbing my back before going on to demonstrate the next exercise.
"Now onto the next one." he continued, a cheerful and enthusiastic glee in his tone. This one, the X-slash, as he called it seemed easy enough, but Siorey's body was already hurting from the previous one, simply just striking the blade down in a diagonal fashion from left to right and vice versa. Once Dhasali was down demonstrating, it was his turn to put it into practice.
Siorey had no choice but to endure this, however, as it would all pay off for his benefit in the long run. After a few minutes of rest and water, he stretched out his soreness and went into the next exercise as instructed. Grabbing the hilt of his sword once again with both hands, he got to work, taking his time and getting used to the motions. Once he was able to get the range of motion down, he repeated what Dhasali had shown him.
Even if it meant burning himself out, he would not falter with each rep. After finishing to exhaustion could feel his muscles ache as he was using muscles he never thought he had to begin with. In truth after this workout, he would need a few days' worth of rest for sure. He couldnt even begin to imagine how soldiers and knights did this on a regular basis, but if it meant being able to fight better then he'd gladly suck it up.
Dhasali couldn't help but be impressed by Siorey's determination, the look of surprise on his face as he came to stand next to his pupil. The young mage couldnt move anymore, his body finally given up and as he rested Siorey looked to Dhasali with a forced smile. "I've got to hand it to you Kozoku, I wasn't expecting you to last this long, but you survived your first day of training. Most soldiers buckle under this kind of regiments." he added, giving Siorey a hand so he could get onto his feet again.
After a few moments, he patted Siroey on the back, flashing a genuine smile at the half-elf. “Once you can do those exercises effortlessly, it will become easier to do later on. I’ve also seen people attach some sort of weight-system to their weapon, but that seems unnecessarily complicated to me. Your endurance will improve automatically if you adhere to this regiment.
I would also encourage that you begin to create your own style of combat with your sword, it will make wielding it far easier in the long run in my opinion.”, he finished and turned to face sky. “Do you have any questions?” he asked.
Listening to his explanation it made sense and Siorey would definitely be creating a rigorous regiment of my own to help fortify his skill and body in order to effective in a fight. This advice was invaluable to the young mage, as it was key knowledge to overall growth. Hearing him ask if Siorey had any questions, the exhausted male shook his head from side to side as he oddly declined. "No, I believe you have given me all the info and knowledge I would need. I can use this to formulate a plan or regiment to help build my strength. I do highly appreciate the time you spent training me, I won't take it in vain." I said with a wave of my hand.
For a moment it was quiet between them. Then Dhasali decided to break that silence with words Siorey didn't expect to hear. “I honestly didn't think you were cut out for swordsmanship, but you show promise. I can see the determination in your eyes, so for that I commend you.” he admitted, causing Siorey to look at him with disappointed eyes. He couldn't believe his own bodyguard held such little faith in his ability, but he couldn't blame him. Siorey was not a fight, at least not directly most of the time.
After enjoying the little break he was afforded, they both decided it was time to get back to the city, Siorey unable to continue given the sheer exhaustion of his body. Try as he might it was a futile effort as the young mage couldn't move a muscle. He could barely lift up his own arm let alone a sword, his body having reached its limit for today. The good thing is that he could try again once he had rested to full recovery.
With a hearty laugh, Dhasali came to his rescue, picking up his charge and carrying him back to the city to get some much needed rest. Siorey had to admit though, he was truly not built for this warrior life, but he would keep at this as giving up was never an option for him, not now nor ever.
However as the two made their way back to the city, Siorey couldn't have sworn he seen someone on the hill in the distance. A dreadful shiver went down his spine and he clung to Dhasali tightly as the two walked, unable to place the figure and if he was actually seeing things.
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"Common Speech"
"Mythrasi Speech"
"Inner Thoughts"
