The Training Begins

The next morning began with a scream after a bucket with cold water in it was hurled into one of the beds. Soon after that incident Barrik was sitting at the kitchen table, leisurely chewing on some bread and bacon. Alex sat beside the dwarf and did the same. Only difference were his dripping wet clothes. After the two of them finished their quick but hearty breakfast, they left the house before Violet or Yaeon even got out of bed. Alex waited outside while Barrik went into the smithy to get something. To his surprise the dwarf emerged a few moments later with two metal hoes swung around his shoulder.

“I thought you said, you’ll teach me how to use an axe?”, asked Alex confused.

“I did.”, answered Barrik with his grumpy voice.

Then he just started walking down the small hill. Alex followed him. The dwarf stopped at the first field they reached. He handed him one of the hoes.

“All these fields have to be ploughed.”, said Barrik and made a waving motion with his open hand describing all of the fields around the small village.

“All of them?”, exclaimed Alex his eyes widening.

“All of them.”

“But, I thought you’ll teach me how to use an axe?”

“I will.”

“And this is going to help?”

“Yes.”

“In what way?”

“It’ll put something to eat on ya table… And now less talking and more ploughing.”

Barrik hoisted the second hoe from his shoulder. Alex noticed that the one the dwarf had was way wider and the metal part a lot thicker. As Barrik stepped onto the dirt he stopped and turned his face to the man.

“Oh, and just as a warning… these fields are the only things that you’re gonna be ploughing around here… you understand?”, said Barrik and stared right into Alex’s eyes.

The man nodded and the dwarf began swinging his hoe without further words. Alex stepped on the dirt and started too. Like that they ploughed side by side. Alex tried his best to catch up to Barrik in speed, but the dwarf always seemed to be a bit faster, but close enough to give him hope. After an hour of intense ploughing, he was a sweaty and exhausted mess. The thick and rigid shaft was drenched and slick. Strength has left his arms, hands, and fingers and his grip weakened. Well used, the hoe fell to the ground and lay there, the head buried into the dirt. Soon after, Alex face was right beside it.

“What’s wrong, boy? A bit of ploughing gets you this exhausted? Haha…”, said Barrik and laughed.

“Ju-…Just a bit… of rest… please…”, said Alex panting and sat himself up.

Barrik looked at the already ploughed area. More than half of the first field was done. More than he expected. Barrik slammed his hoe into the dirt and scratched his long beard.

“Oi! You are not working the man that saved my life to the bone, are you Grandpa Barrik?”, yelled Violet.

She came across the field carrying some waterskins.

“No, no! I would never, my little Violet. We’re just doing some light morning exercise.”, said Barrik, waving his arms defensively.

“Light… morning exercise, huh?”, asked Violet raising an eyebrow.

She looked across the half-ploughed field then to Alex.

“You okay?”, she asked a bit worried.

Alex looked at her, then to Barrik, who glared at him.

“Yeah! I’m… fine. Just some… light… morning exercise.”, he said quickly trying to smile.

Violet looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

“Well.. if you say so… Water or Beer?”, she asked holding up two waterskins.

“Beer!”, yelled Alex without hesitation.

Violet second eyebrow went up and she smirked as she tossed him the skin with the beer.

„Well, would ya look at that! Maybe there is a man hidden in this boy somewhere after all! Nothing beats a good beer after a light sweat, huh? Violet, be a dear and give your gramps some beer too.”, muttered Barrik.

Violet held another waterskin up but paused before tossing it.

“You only get your beer, if you promise to not go overboard with his training at the beginning.”, she demanded.

Barrik muttered some grumpy and unrecognizable words into his beard but then he nodded. Violet smiled and tossed him his beer.

“At the beginning… what about after that?”, Alex thought as he took another swig of his delicious beverage.

Violet also brought some sweetbread with nuts as a snack. Hungrily Alex ate what was given to him. After some rest he and Barrik resumed their ploughing and Violet went back up the hill. The dwarf really did go a bit slower. After two hours they went back up the hill and had lunch together with Violet and Yaeon. They talked a bit and Alex found out that Barrik and Yaeon were once adventurers and now lived here in peace and quiet. Violet is the granddaughter of one of their old adventure buddies and she is studying magic under the tutelage of Yaeon. For some reason, she calls them grandpa. After lunch Alex and Barrik went back to ploughing some fields and Violet went back studying with Yaeon. This daily routine went on for some weeks until one day the last field was tilled. Then it was finally time for Alex to have his first axe lesson.

“Try not to hurt yourself.”, said Barrik as he handed him an axe.

It was the one that Alex found back in the woods. As he took the weapon in hand, he realized what the past weeks of ploughing were about. The axe felt way lighter in his hand, like it weighed nothing more than a feather. Alex did some test swings.

“Okay… looks alright… then let’s get to training. Do it like I do.”, said Barrik.

The dwarf took a bigger axe and did a basic vertical swing. Alex did the same. Barrik grumbled some words into his beard and corrected Alex stance and grip. After a few swings he was satisfied with the form and went back to swinging his weapon too. Like this, they trained the basic vertical swing for hours and days. Then came the horizontal swing in a similar manner. First from left then right.

“Why do I have to practice swings over and over? When do we get to how to to fight some monsters?”, asked Alex after countless days of swinging his axe.

“Before you run, you have to walk, and before you walk, you have to crawl… but before all that you have to stop whining and shitting yourself… so less shitting yourself and whining and more swinging, boy!”, grunted Barrik, while swinging his axe too.

This was Alex training for a good while. He swung his axe in the morning, ate breakfast, and did some more swinging until lunch. After eating he helped in the smithy. Then he had about two hours free time until some swing practice in the evening. Followed by dinner and some reading before bedtime. In his two hours free time he often relaxed in the shade of some tree up on the hill. Violet sometimes spent this time with him until she went back to her magic studies, and he went to his evening training. After a few weeks he graduated from basic swings and started to practice parries, counters, and other basic fight maneuvers.