Training Begins

It was noon by the time Simon found himself finally gifted a break from training. He'd been dragged out to the training yard by the collar near the very second he'd put his spoon down. His first impressions of Orion may have painted him as angrier and more bitter than he was, but he was absolutely as stern, strict, and critical as he first appeared.

"That'll be enough for now, we won't get anywhere with you like this. We'll have to work on your stamina boy. If you can't keep up with something this light for a few hours, you'll never make it a day when they come to our doorstep. You sure you're a Knight with a body like that?"

Orion had been taunting him all day. Every opportunity he found to throw a barb Simon's way, he took. It was incessant. 'I've seen children swing better than you' here 'do you even know what a sword is?' there, and a 'even your mother would be laughing' to top it off. By the time he'd been given his break, Simon was reeling with indignation. Of course, he was smart enough to realise it was all part of the training, to make him angrier and more determined. He was just frustrated it was working so well.

At first he had found it light and playful, it was almost enjoyable being in the place so many characters he loved had once found themselves. But then he continued to fail, his posture torn to shreds, his swings parried with a yawn, and his every attempt to reposition ending with him laying flat on the floor. More than five hours of that had started to add up into a burning desire to prove himself.

At some point Sonia had even come down to watch, clearly trying to gauge where he was starting from. The look in her eyes told him all he needed to know. The bruise to his ego, which he had thought deflated enough to absorb any of these blows, was perhaps even greater than any of the blows to his body. So great in fact that he'd failed to tell Sonia the good news in his focused frustration.

So it was that when he was told to take a break, despite the screaming ache of his previously underused muscles, and the pain of a dozen new bruises, he was somehow more angry than relieved.

"I'm not done yet, let's go again. I know I've got you this time, come on, come at me again."
"Not happening pup. Now go and cool yourself down, with the state you're in we're done for the day. Don't think you could swing even if you tried, and don't want Sonia raining Hethoria's hellfire on me if you can't cast magic later."
"Come on Orion, don't be a coward, what, are you scared I'll manage to get a hit this time, prove you're more bark than bite?"
"Ha, taunts only work one way in this relationship boy. A blind man would be hard pressed to be scared of you. Now go lick your wounds and come back tomorrow with a clearer head."

His taunts deflected with words of clarity, Simon found himself deflated, dropping to sit on the ground with his sparring sword by his side. He couldn't help but look at it with some resentment, it having hit him more than Orion today.

A younger soldier who had been watching from the side-lines approached him with a cup of water which he greedily drunk down. The water helped clear his mind, alleviating some of that frustration and anger that had been built up to now.

"What am I even doing?" Simon sighed. How easily had he gotten riled up and caught in the moment? He'd come here with a purpose, to train and learn so that he could save these people, yet he'd gotten so involved with his feelings and frustrations that he'd completely forgotten about that, fighting more for the sake of his fractured ego than anything else. He wondered briefly if that was part of his training in itself, to keep calm under the taunting of your opponents, or to focus on the actual fight itself rather than what he felt.

Eventually he stood up, dusting off his now dirt stained clothes to the best of his ability. If he didn't need to clean himself earlier he certainly would now. While drinking another cup of water he'd been given, he walked to sit at the yards table again. Sonia had told him to wait for here here after his training was done, that she'd be here to give him magic tutoring afterwards.

The rage gone and given a chance to rest, he couldn't help but notice how dreadfully painful everything was. His body felt like it screamed every time he moved. He hadn't been unfit back at home, but he had been fairly sedentary and hadn't been even close to something this athletic in a very long time. It was an entirely new normal for him, and he'd have to deal with it every day for however many months. He wasn't sure if he shuddered from the pain or at the thought of it.

Orion approached him.

"You were even worse than I thought you'd be, and that's saying something. You're going to want to rest early tonight. You'll be awake bright and early for some stamina training tomorrow. Probably won't be holding a sword again for weeks."
"Weeks? But why? I thought the whole point of this was to make me combat ready?"
"Aye, it is. But it won't matter a lick if you can't keep yourself standing when push comes to shove. Real combat isn't like this, you don't get breaks between rounds, no time to recuperate, it's battle after battle, more draining than anything you could imagine."

It was true, while they had kept training continuously, Orion had always made sure to give him a chance to reset once he'd lost. He couldn't imagine what combat without that could feel like, how much stamina you would need.

"Don't think about it too much for now, that's my job. Sonia should be here in a few minutes. You're going to need all the rest you can get if you're going to be casting again. As you are right now I'd be surprised to see you standing afterwards."

Simon had fainted yesterday after casting his magic. He hadn't even noticed he was so tired, just falling over without even the slightest fanfare. The thought of it happening again irked him, but he knew it was something he'd have to accept if he wanted to be ready in time.

Orion was right about Sonia's arrival. It was only a few minutes later that she walked down the stairs to the courtyard. She didn't say a word to Orion, instead nodding at him, seemingly communicating all they needed to know.

"We will be training in the cloister's garden today Sir Simon, it's best we hurry. You may have cast once, but it does not mean it will be easy to again. This way." Sonia's face was once again impassive, if any of her openness lingered from last night she did not show it. She turned, climbing the staircase yet again, immediately assuming that Simon would follow.

Simon considered telling her about the situation with Varok's forces but decided to wait until the training was complete. He thought it would be best that she could provide all her focus until they were done. There would be plenty of time to strategise later.

Gideon was waiting for them in the garden, smiling characteristically. He was stood before a large table, this time intricately patterned and adorned with several carvings of plants and flowers creeping their ways up its legs. The table in the yard, meanwhile, was completely plain, weathered and worn from time in use outside in the sun.

"I hope you do not think this will be easy Simon. While people believe casting magic for the first time is the hardest, there are a great deal that argue it is the second which proves the biggest barrier. These people find themselves unable to clear their mind as easily, their focus instead absorbed by the sensations they felt on their first success. They fail to fully embrace the magic."

Sonia turned to look around the garden. "That is why I have moved us here today instead. I hope the change in scenery, and its more serene nature will both serve to help you repeat yesterdays achievement. As Gideon proved effective in helping you understand yesterday, he will also be accompanying us, though quietly this time." Sonia glared at him, only causing his smile to deepen as he eagerly nodded.

"That makes sense to me." Simon looked at the table, where a piece of paper had been laid out like yesterday. "Am I meant to do the same thing? Just make the words appear?"

"Yes, that will be all for today. It's best we master the fundamental core of magic before we start escalating, particularly if it caused you to faint yesterday. We will need to take our time. As minor guidance, the message is different from yesterday so you can not simply recall the words to succeed. Do you understand?"

"Yep, let's get to it. Compared to the battle training this'll be nothing at all. Just watch."