chapter 15

now that Arowen got his weapon he was determined to train more, and aside from his regular training where he starts by running, then weight training and some other exercises like push-ups, pull-ups, squats, and some more exercises, then goes to the wilderness outside the base to do some parkour in the forest and some free mountain training with no equipment during which he fell a few times and broke some bones, then come back to the base and do more weight training, the base didn't have varied gym equipment or an obstacle course, so he had to do with nature,

the other training he started to do was with the sword, Arowen was no expert with a sword and only knew some vague info from videos he watched online, what he knew was that for a sword like his there a few basic techniques that are the most important,

'if I remember right, there two main things in sword fighting attack and defense, and it is better to attack, for attack there are two techniques slash and thrust, the slash is mainly made in 8 angles of attack with a sword when cutting - straight down, straight up, diagonally down to the right, diagonally down to the left, diagonally up to the right, diagonally up to the left and left and right strikes horizontally, and while other angles are theoretically possible, they are all pretty much variations of the 8 main attack angles, as for the thrust, it is quite easy just poke them mother-fkers wherever you can, and then there is the defense which you will need to at some point or another but there are 5 main basics,

1: you raise the sword horizontally over your head, it can be used to defend against an overhead attack and should have enough space so that it can absorb the force of the incoming blow. The same basic principle can be used against a rising vertical attack, though with the sword held downwards instead of up.

2: Simply extending the arm outwards and away from the body can parry most downward diagonal cuts or thrusts or high horizontal attacks coming from the left to the right.

3: Conversely, an attack from right to left is parried by swinging the arm across the body.

4: Diagonal rising cuts, cuts directed to the right leg, or low horizontal attacks can be parried by dropping the sword downwards and bracing with enough space to absorb the impact of the blow.

5: Conversely, low attacks directed to the left side of the body are parried by turning the wrist so that it faces outwards and sweeping the attack aside.' (see the images for more clarity)

(AN: the direction of the slash if you my explanation isn't clear :

attack: https://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/images/232xNxangles-of-attack.jpg.pagespeed.ic.GvH-HGpddS.jpg

defense : https://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/images/xBasic-sword-fighting-defence.jpg.pagespeed.ic.H50iXN2wrS.jpg)

those were the basics that he remembers and he got quite a good head over his shoulders, what he remembers is the fundamental basics of swordsmanship and could bring him a long way if he masters them, in a fight you need no flashy moves, especially with swords, if you cut your opponent down first you win

and so he added the new regime to his daily training program, and for that he needed to quit cooking and invest all his time to training so he went to commander tusel to discuss it with him immediately,

*knock knock*

"come in" he enters and salute

"commander sir!"

"oh! what surprise Arowen, what brings you to my office?" then he notices the sword in Arowens hands

"What is that? your new weapon,? it seems to be unique"

"yes sir! this is my new weapon, and it is related to why i have come to meet you today"

"what brings? you can tell me, there is no need to be polite"

"I will be frank with you sir, when I joined this base, I wanted to be a great marine, and join the headquarters, but I was too weak and didn't have the confidence, that is why I was training like mad, in the past few years, but now that I have my own custom weapon, my path is quite clear to me now"

Arowen stopped to gather his thoughts and the commander interjected thinking that he was finished

"I understand! Arowen I really do, but it isn't given to join the Marine HQ, only the best of the best, the elite joins the HQ, and to be honest, even if your progress is impressive compared to others it still falls behind, you are still weak compared to the elite monsters there, me myself am a drop out I thought I was ..." Arowen knows where this is going so he stopped him

"commander sir! sorry to interrupt you but I haven't finished yet, I know that I don't make the cut for now, but in 2 years at most or even less I will be up to standard, and that is why I came here to resign my job as a cook, the others at the kitchen are already good enough to be on there own, and I need the time to focus on my training, especially now that I will start training the sword as well, it would be even better sir if I have special permission to stop doing the drills as well"

after hearing him out, the commanders expression turned serious, he liked the man, he really does, he cooking may have played a role, but the efforts he put into training was no lesser than those elites at the headquarter, and he was impressed by how much he progressed in those 2.5 years, so he thought really well about it before he came to a decision

"you really think, that you can do it in that time frame? I let you know that to be recruited into the HQ, you will need to be at least Lieutenant junior in strength, you spent two years to reach the upper tier of a seaman first class, but to reach the Lieutenant junior from where you are is a big leap, and to claim that in another 2 years you will be able to do it is hardly believable, at the current pace you are growing you will need 7 years to reach that rank of strength and by that time it will be already too late, you are what now 22 or 23, in the HQ people your age are already Lieutenant, do you really think you can make the cut"

"sir! I don't believe I can reach that strength ... I know I WILL!" Arowen said emphasizing his last word

"our base has a captain as a leader, and so we have some spots to recommend some of our recruits to the HQ, and in the recent years extremely few were worthy enough of those spots, not only do they need to have strength but background is also necessary, i will make you a deal, i will indulge your request and if you reach what you have promised me, i will speak to the commander on your behalf"

"thank you sir! I will not disappoint you"

"I hope so as well, you can go now, the timer starts now"

Arowen then salutes and go out, meanwhile, the commander opened one of his cabinets and took out some brown beverage to drink from

"I hope you make it kid, if not then so be it" and he downed his glass