Training II

The trio who were going to the dining hall was strolling along casually talking about current events until they bumped into a certain knight who had long white hair it was none other than Ezari who was quietly listening in on their conversation before the sudden and "unexpected" meeting

"Oh might I ask where you 3 are going?" Ezari asked in a playful tone

"My my look who it is, if it isn't the oh holy and mighty royal guard commander and for our destination we were simply going to have dinner at the dine hall" Kanied said

"Oh I was going their just as well, do you mind if I join you gentlemen on your trip?" Ezari asked

"Go right ahead it's not like we mind at all" Eredeti said

"Why thank you kind sir" Ezari said as she took a slight bow

"Please theirs no need for thanks it is but a small matter" Eredeti said

"Whatever you say sir Eredeti " Ezari said as she stood straight once more and made a slight smirk

As the 4 made their way towards the reception hall once they got their they saw an extremely large and exquisite room filled with tables of pleasantries and bottles of fine wine however when they looked towards the only table that had a waiter on standby was someone stuffing their face to the brim full of food from small cookies to whole plates of meat

It was none other than Steve who was enjoying himself quite well just as much if not even more compared to when they were at Balderic's house as Balderic sighed a sigh of relief to know his food stock wouldn't be depleted within hours once more

"My god Steve how much are you going to eat?" Eredeti asked

"Please this is nothing compared to you when we stopped at Balderic's house" Steve said

"Well! that was under different circumstances I was literally dying of starvation!" Eredeti said trying to convince other wise

"Psh Yeah right" Steve retorted

As Eredeti and Steve were bickering Kanied found it rather comforting and amusing while Balderic just found it rather annoying Ezari however looked like she was struggiling to hold in her laughter

"Pft hhahhahha My god are you guys really bickering over how much food you eat? Please! I could eat twice as much and still not be full although I would prefer not too" Ezari said

"As if! However I do agree you have a tough build and a sturdy body I bet however these mucusless of mine take up three quarters if not more of the food I eat so if I don't eat a adequate amount then I'll starve to death" Steve stated

"Please what mucusless, if you keep eating like that I doubt you'll have much left" Balderic said as he flexed his arms

"Now these are mucusless look well Steve for this is the unachievable mountain that will push you further in your mission to gain even half of this" Balderic exclaimed flexing his arm even further

"Hahahha! you are funny my friend for you don't even have half of mine" Kanied stated

"Shut up old fool I'm talking about this bastard over here not you!" Balderic said

"That's interesting and all but can we all sit down and eat now?" Ezari said

As all three of them looked at each other and started laughing like maniacs'

"No honestly all of you stop being so foolish with your arrogant jokes and lets sit down and eat" Eredeti said

"Very well my boy, Now let us feast" Kanied said

"Agreed" Balderic said

"Finally" Ezari exclaimed

"Tell me about" Eredeti said

As the group gathered around the table Ezari waved over a few more waiter and waitresses to bring more food and drink as they all told each other of their journeys here what they went through and as such however every time it was Eredeti's turn to speak he would always say they knew everything to tell already

"Oh c'mon my boy you don't have to hide anything from us were your comrades after all and after a hard few months of travel tonight is finally the day we rest and enjoy all the pleasantries this place has to offer to our hearts content" Kanied said

"Well I meant it you should know of everything I've been through before we arrived here now shouldn't you" Eredeti said

"Hmph, very well I see your life was very boring one before coming into contact with me" Kanied said

"Well honestly it was extremely so even" Eredeti said

"Well that's a story for another time, I'm full as can be so I shall head to my quarters first good night to you all and farewell till daybreak" Eredeti exclaimed

"Hah killing the mood like that, That guy sometimes pisses me off" Steve said

"As if you should be the one saying that you obnoxious bastard" Balderic replied

"Oh c'mon now I'm not that bad am I?" Steve asked

"No your worse" Balderic said

"Ok now calm down but foremost the boy saved your life and has undoubtedly been through hard times give him his well earned rest besides he was the one to save your life from that war troll" Kanied said

"Yeah I guess your right, Well it's not like I was trying to say he wasn't a good guy just simply he is well- how should I put this, He's been rather distant as of late although he seems to be the same person he feels different" Steve said

"I see what you mean he seems to have a rather aggressive feeling to him as if he feels aggravated every other second of the day" Balderic said

"I agree I don't know why but I had this feeling that he didn't like being around me and talking so I kept quite" Ezari said

"Who knows what's wrong with the boy it's probably just the things he's been through lately give him some space and I'm sure he'll come around" Kanied said

"Very well however we are going to go explore the capital even further and enjoy more of those pleasantries we were talking of before" Balderic said

"I couldn't agree more my friend" Steve agreed

"You guys don't mind if I join right?" Ezari asked

"Sorry to tell you little miss but I fear they wish to do more crude things that men would usually crave for I fear it would make you look at them differently afterwards however you are welcomed to join me" Kanied said

"Hmmm ok I guess I get the memo and I would rather enjoy that" Ezari said

"Now I wonder who Eredeti would rather go with me and Balderic or you 2" Steve said with a wicked smile

"Please the boy isn't like you two in fact I doubt he'll even go with either of us but we never know so we can try and ask him once morning breaks" Kanied said

"Agreed" Ezari said

"Very well we shall see till then" Balderic said

As Eredeti was walking to his room he stumbled slightly as he breathed an unsteady breath as an hint of orange was seen in his eyes and once again he could tell something was wrong he grabbed his chest as it felt like it was constantly heating up as he felt his lungs constricting and constantly breathing heavy breaths

'What is wrong with me?!' Eredeti thought to himself

Eredeti started to have his vision become blurry as he found himself unstable and dizzy making it extremely hard to stand up straight to the point he had to lean his shoulder on the wall to walk straight and not fall over as he held his hand over his chest for him it felt like he had an extreme form of hyperventilating as his hairs stood up from his body feeling more nervous on edge and overall angry for what seemed to be no reason at all

"Aghh! Dammit!" Eredeti screamed out to release some of the pent up rage he was feeling

As the sweat was building up on his forehead and all over his body as he tried to quickly get to his bedroom to at least rest or find out what was wrong with him as he was basically drenched in his own bodily fluid at this point and as he finally reached the door he grabbed it and swung it open and rushed to the bathroom and as he looked into the mirror he noticed the strange liquid pouring out of his eyes and nose as well as his ears like earlier

Eredeti quickly turned on the sink and started to wash his face from the icky goo that refused to stop pouring from his his pours and as he took off his shirt to cool down from the insufferable heat that refused to leave he looked at his body to realize he was also excreting this substance from his body Eredeti then decided to just turn on the bath to cool him down and clean his body off as the cool cold water flowed down the faucet he didn't even wait for it to fill and stripped down to jump straight into the cool and comfortable waters

"Ahhhhh" Eredeti sighed with reliefe

As the cool waters were slowly cooling him down he started to feel the heat not feel as persistent but nevertheless were still their as he felt this cool water wash over him he started to feel a little woozy as if all his fatigue hit him at one time although he didn't know it himself he was plenty tired from all of the traveling and these were one of the few times he could relax as he slowly drifted away into slumber

As Eredeti felt the cold water surround him he opened his eyes to turn the faucet off just to realize he was the dark and empty space with his souls however he noticed a difference they were all slightly bigger and had a slight orange hue to them near the bottom

But as if he woke from a dream he was jolted awake in a familiar place it was the backyard of a decent sized house and the same old man standing at where he was fallen as if all time was frozen here when he was gone

"Once more son, for we shalt not finish today if you don't at least learn the basics" Father said

"And why should I? For what purpose do I have to learn swordsman ship if I'm already better than everyone else at the school!" Eredeti said

"Because my son your vision is to broad you are but a baby bird stuck in the nest that hasn't even looked down yet! You must realize that their will always be someone better or times of need and crisis that would require your strength, So come at me!" Father ordered

"HAH fine!" Eredeti said with annoyance

Eredeti rushed at him like their was no tomorrow he swung his sword from the top of his head down just for it to be blocked by his father as he quickly repositioned and swung from the left as his Father dodged swiftly however Eredeti refused to give up but all of a sudden his father went into a passive aggressive form instead of just mere defending every time Eredeti swung his sword it would be parried instantly and a swift strike would be delivered

Eredeti realized he had to adapt if he were to actually get anywhere so he copied his Father every time he would strike it would be swift yet not to the point he couldn't faint it and go for a different angle Eredeti swung his sword left as and faint then slashed downwards yet his Father could dodge that yet he refused to stop this barrage and slashed up to the opposite direction

"Good my son! Good!" Father said

Every time Eredeti swung at his Father he would parry it however this time when he went in to strike him Eredeti adapted to it and defended against this swift attack noticing a slight pattern between the strikes as every time his Father would strike against him he would lower his sword slightly and aim for his joints to throw him off however he wasn't so stupid as to let his son figure out so he switched things up still on the passive aggressive however instead of holding his sword to his waist he lowered it and took a stance that Eredeti couldn't figure out he was low to the ground with his sword tucked inwards

(*Authors note think of the warden stance for a reference point from for honor)

This time when Eredeti went to strike his fathers left shoulder that looked more exposed he couldn't be more wrong as his father quickly blocked it and swung his sword so hard that Eredeti's sword flew away as he received a swift kick to his stomach although not to hard but enough to send him sliding away

"Aww What how is that fair!" Eredeti said

"You see my son although you did well to read the flow of my movements and even predicted where one of my strikes were coming you were unable to react to the sudden change of my stance and that my son is the power of the Azmardian sword to be able to truly adapt and overcome all circumstances and that is why we learn the sword, bow and spear for we never truly know when we will need any of our weapons when the time comes" Father said

"Hmm yeah I guess that does make a lot of sense however what would happen if you fought someone with the same form of swordsmanship as the Azmardian?" Eredeti said

"Well when that time comes then this country will either be under fire or another banner its either that or you have committed a sin so great that the kingdom itself has decided to cleanse you however I doubt that my son would ever commit atrocities such as that am I right my son" Father said

"Of course I would never think of such things when I have my family here that I have to protect" Eredeti said

"I hope you have the same enthusiasm when the time comes" Father said as he gave a slight smirk

"Now lets continue"

"Hahh Fine" Eredeti sighed

As such the duo continued their training until night befall onto the lands

"My son you have done well to have learned the basics in such a short amount of time I believe when I was your age it took me around 2 years but to think it would only take you a few months astonishes me" Father said as he knelt down and grabbed Eredeti by the arm and pulled him up

"AHH enough of that I'm hungry and tired lets go eat before mother gets mad" Eredeti said

"Indeed that would be a sight to see wouldn't it but worry not for I believe she should have returned not too long ago and should already be preparing for our return, now let us go Ered-"

Before he could finish his sentence Eredeti was almost forcefully pulled out of the happy world he found himself in and as if he remembered a memory he forgot long ago he found all the information of the swordsmanship he was practicing and once again in the dark void with his souls with a familiar sound ringing in his ears as he looked he saw a sight to see