Principal Varchaswa's Unorthodox Training

After a good night's sleep Varchaswa felt refreshed. He wanted an early start to the day. He was pretty excited as well. This time, Khyaati and Vaibhavi were not waiting for him at the Soma Palace Gate. They had already left for the Royal Military Camps. All candidates except for these two were staying at the Royal Military Camps. Only these two ladies stayed at the Soma Palace.

After becoming the Principal, Varchaswa decided to get a name for his palace and named it 'Soma Palace'. The Private Palaces were usually called by their owner's title, for example, the Crown Prince's Palace.

However, they could be renamed after achieving results that were approved by the Royal Court. Varchaswa becoming Principal of the National Academy of Magic, Martial Arts & Military Warfare at the age of 16, was one such achievement and hence he got to name his Palace.

He was not only recognized by the Royal Court but the citizens of the Kingdom as well. He had become idol of the younger generation and many children had essentially become fans and formed fan clubs as well.

He left for the National Academy of Magic, Martial Arts & Military Warfare on his Flying Chariot driven by Sanjaya. The Academy was located on the outskirts of the Capital. On the other hand, the Royal Military Camps were located near to the Royal Palace. Thus, Khyaati and Vaibhavi could use non-flying Royal Chariot for their transportation to and from the Royal Military Camps.

On his arrival, he began with the Assembly once again and stated, "My dear students and proud citizens of Dwaarkaa, today you begin your new journey. I promise to lead you to glory. I know very well that the past 5 years have not been well for us, especially the last two years when we were ranked second last amongst all participating Kingdoms and Empires of the Sub-continent.

I promise you; we will perform much better than the last five years. Rewards will be provided for those who perform well not only during the matches but during training as well. What we are focusing on is the overall combat effectiveness both as an individual and as a unit.

So, starting today from 8 AM to 11 AM you will start with running and basic exercises. Mages may start with Walking and Brisk walking. Yes, you have guessed it right, the idea is to improve the stamina of everybody here. This will be followed by a two-hour break from 11 AM to 1 PM. You may take a bath, lunch and rest as per your wishes.

On the second half, starting at 1 PM you will practice meditation for 1 hour. This will be followed by 2 hours of Physical Combat Training using Martial Arts. Mages will practice only basic self-defence. On the other hand, Martial Artists and Warriors will practice their advanced arts. This will be guided by various Instructors and Senior Instructors.

You have to choose two arts to practice – a primary and a secondary. For example, one can choose Swordsmanship and Spearman-ship, or one can chose Archery and Hand to Hand Combat. Since you will choose your own Arts as the Primary, you may want to practice your second and newly chosen art to practice first.

I will be attending the Royal Military Camps and the National Academy of Magic, Martial Arts and Military Warfare on alternate days. When I am not here, Vice-Principal Bheeshma will be in-charge.

The respective representatives of Final Year and Pre-final Year, that is, Vijaya, Lakshmee, Rajata and Savitaa will be in-charges for their respective students. They may select one student for each of the department for better coordination. If you have any doubts, please feel free to ask."

After giving this long speech cum explanation, Varchaswa looked at the crowd from left to right. He was expecting a few people to raise some contradictory opinion. However, he had underestimated the power of Royal Court and the Royal Decree. No one objected to anything.

Varchaswa said once again, "If you have any suggestions, please always feel free to advise. Also, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask anytime. I assure you, if it isn't mal-intentioned, no one will be penalized." It was as this moment that he felt the atmosphere changed a bit. Finally, a student asked a question.

"Principal Varchaswa, I am a Pre-final year student. My name is Darpana. I am a mage and I do not have much stamina. I am worried that I can't continue to exercise for all 3 hours of the morning. What should I do?"

Varchaswa replied, "Darpana, I thank you for making up the courage to ask a question that I am sure most mages had in mind. The answer to your question is simple, try your best. The thing about stamina building is, once you are completely exhausted and you are sure that you can't continue any more, you should exercise for five to ten minutes more. Not more than that.

Once you have exhausted yourself, you just push yourself by five to ten minutes. That is the key to stamina building. But you must remain faithful to yourself. You can't overdo it. You can't give up early either.

Let's say you exhausted after an hour. You rest for sufficient time and then start again. This time it will be lesser than an hour. May be half and hour or 45 minutes depending on the physique and ability of the student. However, the key point is to remain true to yourself.

I hope it satisfies the curiosity of most of the Mages present here."

"Yes, Principal Varchaswa. Thank you for the detailed explanation." Darpana responded enthusiastically.

"For displaying this courage, I award Darpana with a low-tier Magical Weapon of his choice from the treasury of the Academy. Well, not every student who asks question will get it, but he was the first, so he will get it this time.

As I said earlier, performances during the training will be awarded as well. Some will be pre-announced others will be spontaneous." Varchaswa declared. He did that to boost their moods and morale. Darpana was ecstatic while other students were appalled.

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Chapter End.