Fighting

Will woke up in the afternoon with a splitting headache.

"Argh, my head is killing me," Will said.

"You spell terrible!" Nisha said.

Will smelled his breath and clothes, she was right he did smell terrible.

"Oh, goddess my head hurts," Will said washing his face in cold water.

"I hope you had fun because You snored like a dire bear last night," Nisha said.

"Oh, what did you do?" Will asked her

"I went out to hunt last night," she said.

"Any success?" Will asked getting dressed.

"Some, my black coat stands out against the white snow. Thankfully, I found good camouflage. I was able to kill a mountain goat before a snow panther caught me invading her territory," Nisha said.

"What did you do about the now panther?" Will asked.

"I left, I could tell she had cubs to feed," Nisha said.

"That was nice of you not to kill," Will said finishing up.

"I thought so," Nisha said.

Will circulated his mana to see if that could get rid of his hangover but to no avail.

"What are your plans today?" Will asked Nisha.

"I'll come with you to the training grounds," she said.

"Do you don't want to spend time with Archimedes?" Will asked.

"No, he's not feeling well. Ever since Elder Thaddeus returned from the Temple of Nyx, I could sense something wrong with him and Archimedes," Nisha said.

"Have you asked him about it?" Will asked.

"I asked Archimedes, but he said Elder Thaddeus would share more in due time," she said.

"Yes, he's been much quieter and less aggressive. Should we be worried?" Will asked.

"I don't know. Maybe?" Nisha said.

"I'll confront him after we return to Yorkshire," Will said.

A knock rapped on the door.

"Oi, lad you ready to go?" Master Duncan called out.

"Yes, lead the way," Will said wearing his old cadet uniform and scabbard.

Master Duncan led Will to a small training room, with fine dirt floors.

In the room were six other dwarfs. Who waits with shields and axes, speaking to each other in the middle of the training ground.

"Will this be our Introductory Stalwart Shield Bearer class? These young lads and lassies are about your age," Master Duncan said.

"We greet Lord Doric," the young dwarfs bowed.

"Will make sure to pay attention to the instructor, I'll escort you back to your room after this is over," he said before leaving.

Just as Master Duncan left, a short strong dwarf with tree stumps for arms walked into the facility.

"It's good to see namby-pamby return. Oh look, someone new joined my class.

You don't belong here, I train the best shield bearers. This is not a class for wannabe weak knights. Why don't you join another class?" the instructor asked.

"With due respect, I am just here to observe. Unlike you all here, I fought in a war. I saw good people, good knights die," Will said.

"If that's the case let's spar, without magic," the instructor said.

"That works for me," Will said unsheathing his katana Āsudoragon.

"What a beautiful sword. I remember that sword was forged, from the spine of an Earth Dragon, now fight!" the dwarf ordered.

The battle was short. On the offensive, Will swung at the dwarf attacking quickly and with focus. Years of fighting Elder Thaddeus and battles honed his combat skills.

However in less, than 10 minutes, after a volley of exchanges. The instructor used the full side of his one-handed ace to sweep Will's legs and press the sharp end against Will's jugular vein.

"Names, Henmok Axehead. You got some decent skills. But, you don't fight like an earth mage. Terramancers fight stead firm. Imagine a tree standing against a storm, that's how you need to battle. You fight like a tree with no roots!" Hemlock chided.

"Let's begin! Grab a shield and everyone stand shoulder length apart," Henmok ordered.

Dwarf shields looked like rectangular Roman shields with curved groves at the bottom, except these shields were heavier.

"You will hold a shield and weapon," Henmok said leaving the arena.

"If you drop your shield you'll be assigned to latrine duty. Every time you drop your shield it's a day of latrine duty," Henmok smiled wickedly. 'What the hell did I get myself into?' Will asked himself grabbing a shield.

All the shields were stuck with their groves stuck into the ground. Will picked up the shield, it weighed a hundred pounds easily.

"Back straight, now lean forward, squat down, right foot flat, left foot rise on your toes, arms bent at the elbow.

If you do this right, now even a troll should push you back.

Focus on your mana, and swirl it through your meridians. If you do it right, it shouldn't hurt as much" Henmok instructed.

"Isn't this too much? I thought I came for a friendly spar?!" Will asked.

"Quiet, recruit. In a Warband, you live in discomfort. Your shield and sword are your constant companions. You will hold them until they are ripped from you and you are dead," Henmok commanded.

The Henmok hit Will on the top of the head from a wooden side of his ax.

Will held his sword and the heavy shield, arm's length from his face.

After the trainees stood in place, Henmok walked away.

By the fifth minute, Will's body started to shake from the strain.

He quickly fed mana into his own body and circulated it, and soon the pain eased away.

Will could tell the other dwarves we're struggling as well.

Will could hear them breathing heavily, he saw the veins on their struggling faces.

"Compared to this mining is easy," said the dwarf.

The others laughed.

"Old man Henmok trained by father and grandfather, they say he's the best Stalwart Shield-Bearer this kingdom's ever had," another dwarf said.

"Yeah, he's a hard ass, but you can tell he cares," said another.

"Yeah, but his breath smells like a latrine," said a dwarf, and the others laughed including Will.

Will knew why Henmok used these extreme methods, he'd been to many a corporate retreat.

Henmok has made himself the object which to unite this juvenile Warband. Warbands shared a lifelong party bond. For a lifetime, they would learn to work as one and link to one another in a fight. Warbands had to trust that the dwarf was to their right or left. If one shield in the link went down, it could risk all their lives.

They'd fought in mining groups, though they needed equipment. They had first made art; they turned it into weapons as they went farther into the mountains and found harder creatures that spawned and attacked their crews. The mining crews became warbands. Only the strongest were picked. They worked together to mine as much ore as possible. Then, if a monster appeared, they would work together again to defeat the enemy.

From Okdrotir Goldbringer and Ralgar Gemmolder, Will learned that Stalwart Shield Bearers, fought in rows of six dwarfs, a mine shafts wide. The Warband's tactics were simple. They would all face the enemy; six dwarves-wide leaving no room for an enemy to get past them in the mines.

Today, Will learned what he had read. Dwarven warbands' training was intense, think special forces on Earth. These short stocky humans were fanatical in the way they trained shield bearers.

First, not every dwarf could train as a shield bearer. Second, not every dwarf that was accepted made it out of training alive.

It took years of practice, for Warband to learn the fighting techniques in the mines. Add to the complexity of fighting outside the kingdom's walls. Being a Stalwart Shield Bearer required using your shield for possibly hours and then going back to swinging a pick to gather more than their fiefdom needed.

As the day progresses, Will closed his eyes, continuously circled his mana, and cleared his thoughts. Will meditated about what Henmok said, how Will was an unrooted tree.

Will was surprised to find, he could circulate his mana through this body, into the ground, and back into his body.

Moreover, Will felt, he could borrow the mana from the rocks, dirt, metals, and minerals to replenish his body and decrease his mana use.

The more Will circulated his mana, he felt himself falling further and further back into the earth until the earth supplied him with mana and he barely used his mana pool to generate mana.

Instead of generating mana to sustain his body, he was receiving mana.

"He hasn't lowered his shield once," said one dwarf.

"I was touching the ground all the time when I started," said another.

"If you look closely, you'll see he's healing himself, but it's weird. It's very faint," and another of the six dwarves.

During Will's enlightenment, time flew. Suddenly, as if time quickly sped up, mana flowed through his body more easily as information.

Earth-based fighting styles filled his mind.

He learned how to ground himself as he fought.

"Aye, see some grew roots in my absence," Henmok said approvingly.

Will smiled, his epiphany brought clarity to the Dwarven techniques of warriors and mages.

"Master Henmok, may we spar again?" Will asked.

"Oh," said the six dwarves in disbelief.

"Oi, You have one epiphany, and you think you can beat a 298 shield bearer? Bring it junior!"

They fought and moved around the training grounds. With each step, Will felt his feet lock into the earth as a nut does a bolt.

Will's hands tightly gripped his katana, and Henmok's hands gripped his ax.

The two fought a fierce battle, with Henmok bellowing out Will's mistakes.

Finally, after an hour, Hemlock ended the fight with his ax standing inches away from Will's chest.

"You'd make a fine Stalwart Shield Bearer with more practice. You're a good fighter lad. You do a good job, coving your blind spots, and you can parry.

You have good footwork and a nice foundation, but you're too eager. You press when you should pause. Also, you telegraph your moves too easily. I also your feints are too predictable.

I imagine you quite a formidable amount, humans. That's commendable, I don't say those words lightly. But, you need more experience. Not sparing experience, I mean battle experience," Henmok advised.

"Speaking of real-world experience, ho-ho. I have a little fun training for you. Open the gate!" Henmok ordered.

Immediately, Will could hear sounds coming from behind a small door.

Suddenly, more than 100 goblins rush into the training room.

"On me," a stout dwarf said.

Whomp came the sound of the five other shields and Will's lined up on either side of him, shields held formerly.

Like a wave crashing into a boat, the rushing goblins hit the shields.

"Attack," yelled the center dwarf.

The dwarf shields came apart for a moment. In the cracks, the dwarves and Will cut down the nearest dwarves.

"Together!" He yelled. Whomp the shields slammed back into places, as new goblins presses up against the shields, where the first row of goblins lay dead.

Calls of, "attack," "together," "attack," "together," "attack," "together," "attack," and "together," came again and again until all the goblins were dead.

"Well done," clapped Henmok.

"I've seen warbands much better, but well done! Baron William vont Ballard, you pass," Henmok Axehead said.

After finishing, Will saw a flash in his eyes. He quickly checked his stats:

Race: Human

Rank: 1 (Baron)/ Lord of Games/ Gaia's Champion

Class: Merchant

Sub Class: Spellsword

Attributes:

Constitution—55

Strength—54

Dexterity—48

Intellect—66

Charisma—15

Ranks Skills: Management (60), Diplomacy (40), Accounting (52)

Class Skills: Appraisal (15, 100), [Radar]

Abilities: Journeyman Swordsmanship (6+9, 50), Journeyman Terramancer (35+4, 50), Gaia's Blessing (multiplies your spell strength x2), Apprentice Blacksmith (20, 25).