Spirit

The next morning, Eres' body screamed at him. Climbing out of bed had his legs and lower back roaring in pain, and washing his face made his arms howl in agony. He had expected it somewhat, but it was still incredibly uncomfortable. Knowing he had likely another lesson of the same today, a cloud had seemed to settle over him. Eres knew that this was necessary, he knew that building up a body's foundations was one of the most important steps. That was common knowledge in this world and was confirmed by all of the memories he had as Adrien. Still, that didn't stop him from groaning through every step down the short length of the corridor to the study.

Once there, his morning went as usual. Research and learning. He knew he would have these physical lessons almost every day, so that meant he needed to fit in time to practice magic either before or after, but right now with the state of his body, he could barely summon the energy to even lift his arms, let alone concentrate on an image and circulate his Mana.

A light meal and more cups of tea than he would like to admit manage to get him past midday and slowly inching his way out to the field. Freya had hovered slightly behind him for most of the day, concerned but unable to heal him. Eres had told him about Brom's order to not heal until the lesson which had caused her no small amount of worry, having to watch her Young Master wander around like the oldest of servants and not a boy of ten.

Eres managed the walk across the far side of the courtyard where he had started his lesson with Brom the previous day and slumped onto the floor. He let out a long sigh as the cramping in his body started to subside.

"Bits of me hurt that I didn't even know could hurt. Gods I can't wait until I am a bit stronger and less prone to this," Eres mumbled as he leaned forward and slowly tried to stretch his legs.

"That's good, Kid. That's when you know it's working," Brom spoke, standing just a few paces from the two of them, "though I reckon that is probably enough development for this run. Miss Maid, would you mind healing him? Something simple should do the trick for muscle soreness."

Eres and Freya had both jumped out of their skins at his sudden appearance. He certainly hadn't been there when they walked across the courtyard, and Eres had been slumped staring at the door.

"How did you-"

"Kid, the things you know wouldn't fill a page in a book of things I have learned in the last year. If I wasn't surprising you then I would be doing something wrong. Now come on, heal him so we can get to it."

"Heal!" intoned Freya, a soft golden light falling from her hands onto Eres' body. Where he had been struggling to stand, now his muscles moved easily and without complaint, and any fatigue felt washed away.

"Thank you, Freya! I feel better already," Eres grinned as he hopped on the balls of his feet.

Brom was squinting his eyes at Freya, tapping a finger on his chin.

"How old are you, Miss Maid-" Brom started, before catching Eres' glare, "Alright, alright, Miss Freya wasn't it?"

"Nearly 13, Sir."

"Not even 13 and you can shorten a mid-level Divine Chant to one word, without screwing up your own reserve of Divine power?" Brom let out a long, low whistle, "You should stay. Having a proper healer on hand will let me train him a little more, without worrying about injury."

Freya began to complain, but Eres gave her a short nod and a smile. Brom's face split with a grin at the boy's attitude.

"Alright then Kid, time to learn. Today is physical combat. I will be here five days a week, three of those days will be purely physical training for the first few months, just like you did yesterday. The other two days will be like today. Your muscles will get worked, but it will be combat training, we will start with hand to hand and when I think you are ready we will move onto weapons, but not until I think you are ready. Any questions?"

Eres slowly shook his head. Three days a week of that training?! Gods, I am going to need to get fit fast, or I might not survive to learn any weapons, he thought, grimacing at the thought.

"Alright then, no questions or complaints, that is what I like to hear. First, you need to understand that if you are fighting someone with a weapon and you don't have one, you are at a disadvantage," Brom spoke while settling into a fighting stance, his hands raised just below eye level with the palms facing out, legs shoulder width apart with the left leg slightly forward. "I can teach you to fight on an even playing field with anyone without a weapon, but once they have a weapon in hand..."

"Can you win? If someone has a weapon I mean," Eres asked.

"Can you win?" Brom scoffed, "Sure, you can win, but it isn't just down to your skill. Luck, environment, weapon type, their level of skill with it and a hundred other factors will go into it. So to start, we are assuming you are fighting someone with no weapons. Copy my stance."

Eres took up the same stance, studying it carefully. Brom broke his position and walked a quick circle around Eres, kicking his front leg out slightly further and pushing his elbows down slightly so his arms weren't nearly straight.

"Remember how this feels. This is going to be your home now. Every single movement I am going to be teaching you for quite a while yet will come from this position. When you finish a movement you will settle here. You are going to spend so much time in this position I half expect you to shuffle to the bathroom still nearly asleep in it, got it?

"Alright, good. So, tell me. What do you think you are going to be learning first?"

"I don't know," Eres replied honestly. He already knew that Brom would teach him in his way, and he didn't see the point in pretending he knew more than he did. "Maybe how to throw a simple punch?"

"Not bad. Wrong, but not bad. You didn't start thinking about how to kill a man with one blow or kicking through a tree," Brom laughed, "Before you can punch you are going to learn to step."

"To step?"

"Yes, to step. Footwork is important, how you move your feet controls the power you generate in your attacks, how open you are, and how many lines of attack you can cover. If you learn one thing today, make it that footwork is one of the most important things in all fighting, hand to hand or swords, even mages should concentrate on their footwork so as not to get caught off guard."

"Okay, footwork is key, I get it," Eres rushed the words out as soon as Brom's torrent of explanation on stepping and movement had ended. "So then, how do I move?"

"Start with your front foot. As it lifts you put pressure on your back foot so you can spring if you need to. When the front foot drops, the back foot follows. Keep both feet close to the floor to keep the movement short and quick. Looks like this," Brom showed each movement slowed down, breaking the entire movement into steps, and then showed him stepping forward. It looked smooth and easy.

"Like this?" Eres tried to lift his front foot and stretch it forward but quickly heard a loud THWACK followed by a stinging pain in his back leg calf. With a yelp, he turned to see Brom's sword, still sheathed, grasped in his hand.

"You didn't charge that back foot. No pressure on it. Do it again."

Bewildered, Eres began the movement again before a sharp rap across his forearms stopped him moving.

"I don't remember telling you that you could drop your hands at any point. Do it again."

This was how the next hour of Eres' life passed him by. Every time he tried to step, a minute adjustment was made with a swing of his instructor's blade, and he got closer to moving how it was wanted. After nearly twenty minutes the sharp pain only occurred in the second half of the movement, such as when his foot was going to touch the ground or trying to bring the back foot to follow. He had heard every complaint, he wasn't moving fast enough, he was rushing, too much tension, not enough tension. The information was enough to make his head explode. Yet after almost an hour, he tensed to feel the pain of the scabbard striking his flesh, but there was nothing.

"Not bad, Kid. Now again, forward step," Brom gave a brief smile, before commanding Eres to move again.

A few more adjustments now, but less, lots less. Then none, then two steps in a row, then three. After the entirety of the first hour, Brom called to a halt.

"Alright then, Miss Maid, sorry sorry, Miss Freya, would you mind healing those welts on him?

"Thank you, he looks good as new. Now then, Kid. Time to learn how to step backwards."

The rest of the lesson went quickly for Eres. He picked up the backstep quickly, and the sidesteps only earned him a few blows for crossing his stride before Brom was satisfied. Eres spent the whole time trying to get his body to memorise the feeling of the movements so they would become natural, that he hadn't noticed Brom's look of bewilderment.

"I wouldn't worry, Mister Brom, Sir," Freya whispered as Eres practised a set of steps, "He just does this. His memory is absurdly good and he thinks nothing of completely ignoring boundaries people would usually struggle with.

"That Magic Core you were impressed with? He gathered the mana for it in one sitting and only a day after his Blessing was revealed to him. He had no prior magic training, he just read about it and then did it. I tell you this so you understand that he may surprise you, but also to say that he himself has no idea how unusual his learning ability is."

Brom thought for a moment, and then gave a small bow in the maids direction.

"My gratitude to you," Brom spoke in an oddly formal tone, as if this was something rehearsed, before spinning to Eres and shouting, "Alright then Kid, stop those feet moving. Grab a seat now, I am sure your legs are jelly."

Eres slumped to the floor in a similair position to how he had ended last lesson, nearly spread eagled in the dirt.

"I was just stepping. Not even walking, stepping! Why does it hurt so bloody much," Eres groaned as he rubbed at his thighs.

"You said it yourself when we started, muscles you didn't even know you had. New muscles getting worked, you will get used to it eventually," Brom said, peering at the prone form on the floor, "That will be it for today though, Kid. You got any questions to round the session out?"

"I have one, but it isn't strictly related..." Eres hesitated, but seeing Brom just standing there he hurried on, "Magic users control Mana, Divine users control Divine Power. What about martial artists and warriors? I have read about some of their abilities, but none of the books on Magic I have touched on it."

"Kid... are you stupid?" Brom stared at Eres for a few seconds before sighing deeply, "It isn't magic, so of course it wouldn't be in a magic text. You talk so smart I forget how little you know.

"Alright, listen up, 'cause I am only going through this once today. Martial users, those with the Shield and Knight-type Blessings usually, use Spirit to power their capabilities. I don't know a lot about it in the theoretical sense, other than that it is an internal force, unlike Mana and Divine Power it doesn't have to be pulled in, it has to be pulled out. Some say it is a life force, other willpower, who knows.

"All that matters is that well of Spirit can be channelled into Spirit Arts. These Arts can be anything really, from something as simple as increasing your strength and speed to something as strange as shrouding yourself in shadows or recalling thrown knives to your hands. Some people learn a specific set of Arts, others attempt to create their own, its all a big jumble. But as someone who knows both, let me tell you, its far harder to get a handle on than magic."

"Why? It sounds like you can do nearly anything with it, so why would you even need magic?"

"Well for starters, 'cause learning an Art is harder than learning a spell. A spell is like a sword strike, and an Art is like a sword style. Learning an Art is akin to learning an entire type of spell. Multiple facets in how a Spirit Art can be used make them flexible but hard to learn. Even most capable warriors only learn a few and focus on training around them."

"What about you, Sir?"

"Me? I know a thing or two. Want to see?"

Watching both Eres and Freya nod eagerly, Brom laughs out loud, his head thrown back to the sky. The edges of his form began to waver, as if in a mirage.

"Well then, I will see you two tomorrow," Brom said, before a gust of wind blew through the courtyard, and dispersed his body into mist.

Eres and Freya both stared wide-eyed at the patch his feet had stood on for quite some time before they hurried inside, talking excitedly about how he did it all the while.