Chapter 11 - Sword and Bow Practice

After Hoatan was satisfied enough that he got his message across, it was time to begin training.

Virtually every male elf would be expected to exercise diligently from a young age otherwise they would be looked down upon in the future. The best way to contribute to the tribe was though strength and all elves respected a capable member of the tribe.

It was less expected for females however they were not discouraged to do so either, though most elven women who became warriors ended up as bow women since they had generally less potential in strength training compared to men making a clash of pure strength with a melee weapon disadvantageous to them.

There were exceptions with very talented elven women who became masters of the sword and axe, but they were not the norm, so in general the men of the tribe was expected to make up most of the combatants.

Ava found there were only seven girls in attendance including her, yet this did not dissuade her from training.

A steely gaze of determination filled her eyes, compared to the six year olds around her who still reflected the innocence of a child it was a oddity, however this went unnoticed to the onlookers who saw nothing but a cute child with a overly serious look on her face.

"How adorable!" One of the female elves next to Loriel couldn't help but exclaim.

Loriel didn't mind the girls outburst, after all she was thinking the same thing when she saw her daughter among the other children looking so focused.

"My daughters still the cutest." She thought her chest puffing up in pride as she saw the other mothers watching their young children guffawing over her daughter.

"Through training we can improve our body condition faster, when we exert ourselves our bodies will soak up the natural energies in the surroundings improving our bodies condition. Now assume this stance, we will work on these simple exercises that have been developed over the years by our tribes ancestors." Hoatan ordered.

The children tried their best to follow Hoatans movements, Ava did not find it too difficult with her stronger memory from the improvement of her soul and her body condition being good from all those years of merging it with Astral Qi.

"Try to concentrate on your breathing, make sure you exert per movement and inhale when you reset." Hoatan said as he walked among the children inspecting their stances.

He only needed a quick look to discern who was using the proper form, he knew that usually among younger aged children they would take a few years to gain proficiency in these movements.

After all they were only children and did not have the maturity to grasp everything just yet, for instance some of them lacked the stability and power in their movements that will come with age compared to the older children.

He rotated around the other groups of children before returning to this one.

'Wonder how his child is doing.' Hoatan thought not having much expectation for the cheeky brat.

She stared at him with the same fiery eyes that reminded him of her father when he knocked him down to the ground many years ago when he was just a young elf with the weight of succeeding his father on his shoulders.

'She's not her Father' Hoatan had to remind himself. Her Father did not pass his bloodline onto the wife chosen for him, she would have had better talent making her more suitable for producing a stronger heir, instead he choose the weakest female in the tribe.

'A mistake, a mistake!' He thought grumpily however what he saw when he returned to the group holding the youngest children he was shocked.

'How is she that proficient already?' He thought looking at Ava, it should have taken a while for a young child to build up the strength needed for some of these movements, yet she was doing far better than the children within her group who had been practicing longer than her.

She was not yet comparable to the older children, but showing this much promise at her age, even her Father did not show it.

'I did you wrong my friend' Hoatan thought, the idea of putting his all into training his friends offspring filled his mind, this is what he needed to fill the gaping hole to be of service to the tribe that was left with being unable to follow his chief into battle.

His eyes glistened however he reminded himself to not get too carried away.

After all she is just too young, children her age lack both strength and wisdom at this age. I can't demand too much of her, but I must ensure she maintains a good habit of exercising. It'll increase her survivability by many fold, and will prove useful even if the old man words are right and she ends up a Mage in the future.

"Attention, stand firm." The young children did their bests to straighten their backs at his sudden orders.

On the other hand the older ones looked practiced by now and was already as straight as an arrow from his orders.

"Alright we'll continue these exercises for a while longer and the finish off with some punching drills. I'll show you a few techniques that won me a Silver Falcon from my service under the Evergreen clan." Hoatan said making the children's eyes shine bright.

Afterwards when the training finished a tired Ava walked to her mother who had a bright smile on her face.

"You did so well darling." Her mother said pleased.

Although Loriel was initially worried the training would be too rough for her young daughter, seeing her daughter throw punches and kicks with such a serious look on her little face was so adorable she decided they'd return if it was what her daughter wished to do.

After all it was good exercise for a young child to pour their energy into.

Ava who was also pleased feeling a warmth spread through her tired muscles let out a satisfied smile as she said, "Let's go tomorrow!"

Henceforth Ava would attend every training session held by Hoatan and veterans of the tribe.

Cense would compliment her progress, saying it would not long until she built a good enough foundation to start training Battle Qi. Her body strength was progressing well.

Soon another few months pass, and the tribe was finally met with some good news.

The Redgrove and Blacktree clans have arrived in full strength to support the Evergreens clan at the borders bolstering their strength greatly.

Now more than half of the elven combat force has gathered to defend against the approaching human army.

Scouts have already confirmed the humans were coming with an army larger than the eyes can see, it was estimated to be five hundred thousand strong. It explained why it took such a long time to prepare, the logistics for an army that size must be extremely complicated.

The tribe felt greatly relieved of the two neighbouring clans support to the Evergreens, however they still felt nervous that the Royal and Darkwood clan have yet to act.

Ava's training has progressed greatly since her first session. She was able to perform the techniques at a better standard than some of the older children.

Hoatan was greatly pleased with her, he was so happy with her he brought her aside and asked if she wanted to do some additional training with him.

Ava straightforwardly accepted, finding out it was sword and bow training.

Usually only the older groups would do this but Hoatan felt she was ready.

Her mother protested at first but when she found it out she would just be practicing the techniques with hardy wooden swords, she was happy with Ava to play sword fighting with the other kids.

Cense was also pleased with this development as it was a good idea to practice with a weapon from a young age as it was a useful skill to have.

And like that she started practicing using a sword and bow with Hoatan on top of her usual training sessions, making her hectic schedule even busier.

On top of this she also made sure to continue her meditation and circulating Qi around her body. It was a tiring schedule but the rewards were evident, so she persisted with her routine.