POINTLESS TRAINING

# Orion's house, Five days After Joda struck a deal with the Royal trainer.

"I don't know how you're this skillful for a boy your age but I'm really impressed." Bello, a young rising soldier in the Viking army and Orion's son said as he slashed at Joda who dodged and parried every one of the attacks.

"Thanks," Joda said as he side-stepped a kick aimed at his midsection.

The two had been training since morning without break. Orion had refused to let any other person train Joda except his son who he believed to be the best. He had thought Bello everything he knew and wanted him to impart some of that knowledge to Joda so that his chances of winning will be doubled.

They had started training five days ago and with each training, Bello, the kindly young man of 23 with his curly blonde hair and blue eyes left the training hall more impressed than the last. When his father had tasked him with the job of training the young servant, he had been angry since he thought it was a waste of time. Teaching someone to be as good as he was, was going to take a lot of time that he didn't have.

He had thought of ditching the boy after two or three training sessions. Great was his shock when the boy matched him foot for foot in the hall. He hated to admit it, but the boy didn't even look like he was trying, whereas Bello had to put in all his effort and concentration into each fight to match the boy.

After that first training session, Bello had been hooked. He now looked forward to each and every training session with Joda. The boy's skill far surpassed many of the soldiers he knew and this scared him a little.

He at times wondered at night what Joda would be capable of when he reached his peak. Needless to say, he was really looking forward to Joda's first fight in the gladiating arena which had been scheduled for the following weekend.

He wanted to see how a serious Joda fought. In the past three days, they had practiced with many weapons. Poles, swords, axes, daggers, and even spears.

Joda had found the axes a little heavy for his liking but he had been able to utilize the weight well in his attacks. The spear had been his favorite of all the weapons and Bello had found how Joda handled the long weapon mesmerizing at best. They had also fought hand to hand and Bello had come to learn that Joda was a monster in a kid's skin.

No matter how fast Bello attacked, Joda would dodge, block, parry, or even counter-attack. Every one of his movements was so fluid and beautiful that Bello had to always remind himself that he wasn't at an art show but in a fight that could hurt his pride if he lost. One time, Bello had asked Joda to get serious in a hand-to-hand fight. That day, Bello had to bite his lip to not cry out in frustration.

Joda had one-handled him the entire fight whiles his other arm was behind his back. Bello had failed to even get a hit on Joda whiles the latter had punished him with hit after hit that would be deadly if Joda wasn't holding back. After that fight, Bello swallowed his pride and admitted to himself that he was no match for Joda and that Joda didn't need his training.

He had informed his father who had laughed in his face after hearing of his embarrassing defeat before asking Bello a question.

"Why do you think I spent gold on him when I had no need for new servants?"

Bello had not bothered to answer, and Orion had not seemed to need one. The next day, Orion had gone to register Joda for a gladiating tournament. Joda still didn't know he had been registered and Bello hadn't bothered to tell him. Orion had asked for the registration to be kept a secret until he imparted the news himself.

"Th-that's enough for today." Bello panted as he raised his hands to signal the end of training for the day. He never could get used to seeing Joda's almost infinite stamina. For someone so skinny, Joda always gave him a run for his money every time they sparred.

Bello would be panting and sweating after every session whiles Joda would be looking like he had just woken up from a long nap. This had irked Bello at first until he had finally gotten over it. Joda was no normal human being and he wasn't ready to compete with him.

"Sure. Will you be having lunch here today, or are you leaving for the camp right away?" Joda asked as he dropped his one-handed axe.

"Oh, I'll be dining here. Dad has an important announcement to make to you. He should be here soon." Bello answered as he sauntered off towards the door, followed by Joda.

"What announcement exactly? Does it have anything to do with me?" Joda frowned as he asked this.

"Kind of. I'm not at liberty to say though. My father will tell you everything himself. You should go freshen up and meet us in the dining room when you're done. You don't have to worry about mom, she's gone out with her friends. Again." Bello sighed.

The woman was never home. She was either traveling or visiting friends. Joda had seen her only twice during his stay in the house. Both times she had been too busy to even notice him.

"Alright, I'll meet you two when I'm done washing this sweat off my body," Joda said as he left the training room and made his way toward the bathroom.