Chương 59: [Something I Can Be Proud Of]

Kai didn't let him rest between repetitions. The pattern was the same each time, stance, movement, strike. The corrections kept coming, each one landing before Leo had finished processing the last. Left foot a pace or two out of place. The blade's angle off on the draw. Too much shoulder in the strike, the power comes from the hips. He wasn't wrong about any of it. Leo kept pushing, trying to internalise all of the changes. He reset and went again.

Across the ground Rika had her group spread out along a line of targets, each of them working through draw and release at a steady pace. She moved between them, adjusting grips, checking anchor points, saying very little. Every few minutes she glanced across at Leo and Kai, then looked away again. Parmo caught her doing it once and raised an eyebrow. She shook her head slightly and went back to the student in front of her.

Torren had Luka working through a similar progression on the other side of the ground, the maul moving as he changed positions and into short controlled strikes. Luka's footwork was already cleaner than it had been yesterday, the weight of the weapon starting to feel familiar. Torren corrected him once, a hand on his shoulder adjusting the angle, and nodded when he repeated it correctly. Nessa had Sam working through the same sequence for the third time.

She stopped him mid movement, adjusted the angle of his lead dagger without a word, and stepped back. He ran it again. She nodded once and pointed forward, telling him to keep going. Phil reset without being asked, off hand coming up a fraction late again. Shai watched it happen and moved to him, repositioning the arm without comment. He tried it again. Better. Further along the ground one of the other trainers had a group of townsfolk running through basic sword grip.

Max was finishing up with Mars on the bleep test, pointing at something on the phone screen, Mars nodding along. A few of the newer trainees were still working through the equipment along the edge, moving between stations. Kai stopped Leo mid movement.

"You're moving and then striking," he said.

"There's a gap. In a real fight that gap is all someone needs. The strike comes out of the movement, not after it. Again." Leo reset and went again. Aldric glanced across from his spear group. His eyes moved from Kai to Leo and back again. He said nothing, turned back to his own students, but the look he exchanged with Bram a moment later said enough. Bram's expression was sympathetic. Kai didn't ease up as the session wore on.

The corrections had shifted from positioning to timing, smaller adjustments now but delivered with the same flat certainty. Leo's shirt was dark with sweat, his arms starting to feel the accumulated weight of the repetitions, but he reset each time without being asked and went again. He still hadn't complained. Across the ground Aldric called a water break for his group and walked the length of the training area, stopping beside Shai. She was watching Leo but so were the other trainers.

None of them knew why Kai was acting this way but they all found it strange. The big wolf-kin was known as a stern trainer but this felt a bit much even for him, given it was the second session.

"Don't know what he did," Aldric said quietly, nodding toward Kai.

"But he's still standing." Shai said nothing.

"Most people start making excuses around now," Aldric said.

"Finding something wrong with the drill, asking questions. He's just getting on with it. It's impressive." Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. She watched Leo reset again, he'd been at it for hours at this point. He found his stance, moved through the sequence. Kai stopped him again, said something, Leo adjusted and went again without a word.

"Mm," Shai said. Aldric looked at her for a moment, then headed back to his group. Rika had drifted slightly closer to the edge of her own area during the exchange, close enough to have heard most of it. She kept her eyes on her students but her wings had shifted, pressed a little tighter than usual. Torren hadn't moved from Luka's side but his eyes had tracked Kai twice in the last ten minutes. Shai called the end of the session.

"Done," Kai said, and turned away. Leo lowered the blade, arms heavy, shirt soaked through. He stood where he was for a moment, breathing steady, not quite ready to move. Aldric passed him on the way back to his own group. He didn't stop or say anything, just caught Leo's eye and gave him a single nod as he went. Leo nodded back. Shai saw it from across the ground. She turned away before Kai could look over.

The other trainers from the first group moved back into position as their groups wrapped up, waiting for the next batch of students to arrive. Shai, Rika and Torren joined the 5 lads, the training ground stayed busy behind them as the eight of them walked away from it.

"So you three just leave after your session?" Phil asked, looking at Shai.

"We're liaisons first," Shai said.

"The others can handle their weapons just as well as we can. We took the first session to get a feel for the students, the others will take our place with the sword, maul and bow. There's other work to do."

"Fair enough," Phil said. They walked for a bit. Rika fell into step beside Parmo. Torren was beside Luka, the two of them talking quietly about something. Sam glanced back at the training ground.

"Kai was going at you pretty hard today."

"Yeah, I noticed." Leo grinned.

"Any idea why?" Leo thought about it for a second.

"I'm his only student. Makes sense he'd push harder with one than with a group." He rolled his shoulder, feeling the ache in it.

"I want to impress him. If training that hard is going to make me into something I can be proud of then I'm not going to complain about it." He paused.

"It's sinking in faster anyway. I can feel it." Phil looked at him.

"You're a madman."

"Probably," Leo said. Rika, a few steps ahead, said nothing. Her wings were very still. They split at the lads flat, the village three heading to their house.

"Give us time to wash up and get changed," Leo said.

"Take your time," Torren said. It took a while for the five to get cleaned up even with two bathrooms. Leo came downstairs still pulling his hoodie on to find Phil already on the couch, Sam in the kitchen, Parmo and Luka arguing quietly about something near the window. Everyone showered and fed, the five welcomed the chance for a sit down. The knock came before anyone had fully relaxed. Leo answered it. Shai, Rika and Torren on the step, Rika already looking past him up the steps that lead into the flat.

"Come in," Leo said, stepping back. They filed in. Torren ducked the frame out of habit now, straightening up and looking around the main room with interest, the higher ceiling standing out straight away. Rika had already moved to the couch, looking at the television, then the shelves, then back at Leo.

"Is this where you've been living?" she said.

"Since we got here yeah," Leo said.

"It's bigger than our place."

"There's five of us living here and it's a flat that would have cost more than the house you guys have." Phil said, from the couch.

"Sit down Rika." She sat. Torren found the armchair. Shai took the end of the couch nearest the window.

"So," Sam said, coming through from the kitchen.

"Magic practice. We've been getting bits done here and there but want a proper session, see if we can finally get those spells to shift."

"What have you been working on?" Shai asked.

"Trying to get the spells to do more than the basic version," Sam said.

"The tab shows these lines coming off each spell, faded out, like there's something connected to it we haven't unlocked yet."

"We've been casting a lot," Parmo said.

"Like, a lot a lot. The mana bar fills back up fast enough that we can get decent sessions in. Just haven't cracked what we're looking for yet."

"What are you hoping for?" Torren asked.

"Ice that actually hits hard," Parmo said.

"At the minute it's improved but still not what I want."

"My lightning still won't fire properly," Leo said.

"It arcs between my fingers fine but getting it to leave my hand is a different thing."

"Phil just wants bigger fireballs," Luka said.

"And?" Phil said, deadpan. Torren looked between them.

"And you think today's the day."

"Worth trying," Leo said.

"We haven't done a proper session since the training started, just bits and pieces. A full one might be what it needs." Rika had been listening with her knees pulled up, wings settled.

"Can we watch?" The boys looked at each other.

"Yeah," Parmo said.

"Just don't laugh when it goes wrong."

"I make no promises," Rika said.