Training for Dummies

With the wide assortment of weapons available, I ended up choosing a spear. The spear that was available for training was wooden and twice the size of myself. The thing was huge! Heda said that it would help me develop my muscles but honestly, I just think he likes seeing me struggle. I always see him smirking at me out of the corner of my eye when I mess up some form or something.

I'm standing in a clear spot large enough for me to swing my spear around without hitting anything or anyone at the moment. Heda told me that I need to learn how to hold the spear before I learn how to wield it. Whatever the heck that means, he also said after I learn to wield it, I may learn to throw it. I was excited to be able to train, but after standing around for a couple hours literally just holding the spear in different positions for different lengths of time over and over again.... I was bored. Super duper bored, but I trust Heda. He is a warrior and survived the conclave for a reason.

I will admit though, it's getting easier to transition from one position to another with the spear. My movements are definitely more fluid at this point. However, I still need experience, no matter if I am good at it or not, experience trumps natural talent.

Apparently the way Heda is teaching me how to hold and move with the spear is the same as with the bo staff, granted the spear has a pointy end, but it's still just a long balanced stick.

Moving from one position to the next just as I was told, I have not stopped. I think it's training on muscle memory honestly. Lost in my thoughts as I was finishing up a set of movements, I hear a soft voice behind me.

"Your form ste very good, ba ai nou think ai've seen yu raun hir fou today. Laik yu a new natblida?"

Nearly dropping my stick in the break of concentration from the voice, I turn around. I'm surprised to see the girl from before, Lexa I believe her name was. Realizing she asked me a question and I've just been staring at her I blush in embarrassment. "What?" I asked stupidly, not yet knowledgeable of trigedasleng.

She had a look of realization on her face as I answered. "I said your form is very good. But I don't think I've seen you around here before today. Are you a new nightblood?"

I tried to hide my pride at her words as best as I could, not wanting her to think of me as cocky. "No I'm not a new nightblood, but I am new here."

She looked confused by my words. "If you aren't a nightblood then why are you here?" She asked perplexed, afterall she had every right to be confused. Only nightbloods and the commander train here.

"I am the Heda's second." I told her calmly, again, I didn't want to sound cocky. It wouldn't leave a very good first impression. Especially on someone as cool as her. She could probably kick my butt no problem.

Her eyes widened as I told her, she seemed at a loss for words for a few seconds before she finally collected her bearings. After she gathered her thoughts, her back straightened and she had this scary glint in her eyes. "Spar with me." She demanded.

My mouth dropped open in surprise, she's out of her freaking mind! She is gonna kill me! I struggled to find an excuse to get out of this. "I-I- What?!"

"Spar with me." She repeated with firmly, determination swirling within her grey eyes. Looking at me with fierce determination I knew I wasn't going to get out of this.

"But I don't know how to wield the spear yet! It's my first time touching a weapon, let alone spar with one!" She remained unwavering at my words and I knew I had no choice. I nodded my head in sorrow and made peace with my demons, for I was going to get annihilated.

Following her across the training grounds, we arrived at a sparing circle. I stopped at the edge of it and she continued walking to the center of the circle. Realizing I wasn't following her, she rolled her eyes at me. "Well are you coming or what? Or are you simply chicken skrish." She challenged, even going as far raising a mocking eyebrow. I don't know what chicken skrish is, but I could definitely tell it was insulting, whatever it was.

Taking the bait, I charge at her and attempt to hit her with my spear in a side swing. Lexa simply ducks under my swing and using my own momentum against me, shoulder flips me. Hitting the ground was not pleasant, wheezing I got up and got into a defensive stance.

Seeing this, Lexa grins and runs at me with her dual swords. She feints right with a sword slash and ends up punching me in the nose with her left hand which sends me to the ground. Again...

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For over an hour I got my butt handed to me by Lexa, but I was getting better. I was learning and I even got a few hits here and there. Nothing to make up for anything that she did to me but it's a start. Every once in a while she would stop the fight and correct me or she would give me pointers and tips after she knocked me down.

Hearing a horn blow, the Natblida start leaving the training area. "Does that mean training is over?" I ask Lexa nasally, as I am trying to stop blood from leaving my nose.

She giggles at my situation before answering. "Yes, that means training is over. But tomorrow we are sparing again." She smiled at me before sheathing her swords and jogging towards the exit.

"Well" I say to myself with a huge grin "I think i just made a new friend."

Wa-limping back to my room was quite the journey. Several guards chuckled at my situation, I'm just thankful I didn't see Heda. He would definitely make fun of me. But overall, today was a good day. I learned quite a lot and I built up quite the pain tolerance after getting beat up for over an hour. Sadly, it sounds like it will be a daily occurrence.

Stripping off my armor hurt but a servant dropped off some healing ointment to help with bruising. The ointment was this red thick paste that was very cool to the touch. It felt so good spreading it over my bruised body.

As soon as I was done with the ointment I went over to my warm bed and passed out instantly, only dreaming of one thing... Beating Lexa in a spar.

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Chicken skrish - Chicken shit