"Easy" Beginning

I slept really well that night. Any bed was better than the stuff created by me. 'I missed comfort a lot… Besides, I should be seventeen soon… I think'. We didn't have seasons in the North, therefore we had to count days. From my estimates, I would be seventeen in a few weeks. "I miss my parents…", I said to myself before heading downstairs. "Anna! You are finally awake", Kalim exclaimed when he saw me.

"Sorry guys, the bed was simply too comfortable. Did you wait for long?", I apologised. "Not that long, don't worry about it. There's no rush. Do eat your breakfast, we will wait for you", their mother replied. "Actually, I never asked for your name. Can you tell me your name?", I asked. "Oh, you are right, silly me. My name is Sara Copperboar, and my husband is Tim Copperboar. Just call me Sara, I don't mind", she introduced herself. "In that case, nice to meet you Sara. I'll go grab breakfast now", I replied with a nod.

The owner of the tavern handed me breakfast, which tasted like the best dish in the world. 'I missed proper cooking so much…', I thought while eating. Even Jena told me to slow down, but there was no way I would. "You have no idea how long it's been since I ate a proper meal… I have to get salt and spices for my future travels", I replied while stuffing myself. "Anna, you eat like a boy", Kalim laughed at me. "Yea, yea. Stay in the forest for a few months, and we'll see how you eat a proper meal", I retorted.

After breakfast, Sara offered me to have a look at the village first. "Mom, I want to start learning already…", Kalim complained. "You will get a chance to learn, so don't complain. The village is not that big, and there aren't many things to see. Have some patience. Besides, don't you want to get that sword for your practice?", Sara berated him. Kalim instantly changed his mind, and urged us to visit a few places. "Hehe, kids. Just show me some key locations if you can. I'm not going to stay here for very long", I replied.

We visited a few shops, or rather workshops. They even had a smithy in the village, albeit looking at their weapons, it wasn't anything special. We had to get a wooden sword for Kalim, and a bow for Jena. Smithy wasn't the place to look for such things, we needed a craftsman. Fortunately, there were a few craftsmen in the village. Sara took us to an elder craftsman, and asked about the sword.

"Heh, little Kalim will learn about swords? I didn't think you'd be able to afford the lessons", the old man replied a bit surprised. "Actually, this young lady will teach him", Sara replied, then introduced me. "I'm impressed, young lady. Being a hunter at such a young age, you must be around eighteen years old", he praised. "I'm almost seventeen, but I've been training since nine years of age".

"Your willingness to help them like that, it's commendable. Hunters wouldn't share their craft with others for free. Much less teach them personally. I'll make that wooden sword for little Kalim, and it will only cost you thirty coppers", the old man added. "Mom, what about the bow?", Jena asked. "Jerry, is it possible for you to make a bow for Jena?", Sara asked. "Well, I'm not a bow maker. I could probably shape the bow, it's just that I have no strings. I don't know how to make one either. We don't have any bowmakers in the village unfortunately, but maybe ask in the smithy. If they have a string, we can use it for the bow", Jerry explained.

"I'll take the same amount for carving the bow, you just have to get a string from somewhere", he added. Sara agreed with that proposal, but the problem became a string. "I don't know how to make a string either. I'm not sure which material is useful and which isn't. If the smithy doesn't have it, I'm not sure how we could get it", I said after we left. "Let's check the smithy first, maybe they'll have something", Sara replied.

We asked the blacksmith, but they didn't have any bows or strings. They didn't deal with such things, and therefore couldn't help us. "Does that mean I can't get a bow?", Jena asked, disappointed. "I'll ask around elsewhere, sweetheart. Don't give up hope yet", Sara tried to cheer her up. 'Maybe those stupid masters can come in handy at least once… How do I contact them though?', "We'll think of something. Today, let's focus on exercising, alright?", I proposed.

Sara took us back to their house, which was small indeed. They only had two rooms, a small kitchen as well as a small garden at the front. Their house was closer to the palisade on the east side, and surrounded by a few neighbouring houses. "It's a small house, but it's ours. Would you like something to drink?", Sara asked me. "I'm fine, thank you. Why don't we go straight to exercising?", I proposed instead.

"Yes, let's start already", Kalim replied eagerly. "Alright then, let's start from the first exercise. Every morning, you will do a lap around the village. With time of course, the amount of laps will increase. For safety reasons, you will run inside the village and around the palisade. That will be your morning exercise. Today, we will do one lap", I said.

"Huh? Running? I thought we would do something more… You know, meaningful", Kalim expressed his disappointment. "Hehe, you think running is bad? Don't worry, today is just an introduction. You'll see tomorrow, I wonder whether those complaints will stand. Anyway, follow me", I replied while leading the way. Their breathing was rough after just one lap, but they managed to run the whole way.

"Alright, with this warm up completed, it's time to do something else. We will do fifty squats now, just like that", I explained while demonstrating. "Can't we take a break?", Jena asked. "If you want to get strong? No", I replied while doing squats. They sighed before joining me. This time, they really struggled towards the end. Doing fifty squats wasn't easy, especially after running around the whole village.

They stopped many times, but persevered towards the very end. "Great job you guys, now we can have some rest", I said. "This is so hard, and we have to do this every day?", Kalim asked. "Of course, and that's not the end. We still have a few exercises to take care of", I replied. Their faces changed, probably regretting their decisions.

"I never said it was easy, though let me say this. Your bodies will adapt after a few weeks, then you'll find completing these exercises easier. I've been through this, and it's easy to give up... How about I give you a choice? You can give up now, but I will not teach you anything. Or you can persevere and I'll teach you as much as I can", I proposed to them. If they didn't have the motivation to improve, they'd be wasting their time.

"...I'm just a weak girl… What can I even achieve?", Jena questioned herself. "I was just a little girl as well. If I gave up back then, we wouldn't have met each other. I wouldn't be here talking with you. You could say that I'm teaching you, because I didn't give up. Who knows what opportunity you might create for someone, when you don't give up", I tried to cheer her up.

"I'll do it! I want to be strong as well. Those who became hunters didn't give up, so why should I? I'll grab this chance and do it!", Kalim exclaimed. He didn't need encouragement, which was a good thing. "I'll do it too! I can't be worse than my brother!", Jena added. I smiled and pointed towards the house, "Your mom looks really proud of you. Get something to eat and drink, you will need energy for training".

They ran towards Sara and hugged her. She was reluctant at first, but the resolve her kids displayed made her proud. 'That brings back memories… She has a similar smile to my mom', I thought. "Anna, would you like something as well?", Sara asked. "Nah, I'm fine. I'll wait for them to finish their meal", I replied.

Once their break was over, we did some more exercises. They were dead tired at the end, but I had more bad news. "Tomorrow morning, you'll feel really bad. I'm telling you right now, since your body has to get used to such regime. Even though it will be difficult, we have to train. After a certain period of time, your bodies will get used to it, I promise you. You are free to do whatever you want for the rest of the day. Try to take it easy, and perhaps take a bath. This will help you ease the pain in your muscles", I advised them.

"Anna, you trained like that every day?", Jena asked, exhausted. "Yes, at least for a while. Then my mother made it harder and harder. I'll increase the difficulty of your training, once you get a bit used to it. You are doing very well guys, the determination you have is good. Don't forget about it, and you'll achieve something as well", I replied before bidding them farewell. 'I have to leave the village for a while. Maybe they are hiding around somewhere', I thought.