Aquaintances?

"Again Leo! The more you perfect the basic strikes the better you will perform more complicated ones."

In front of my humble cabin, I tutored the group of three in the way of martial arts. Make no mistake I was no expert, yet something's come naturally when you've been training for almost four years.

We picked out weapons tailored for the gang. Leo the sword and shield combo, Patrick a heavy war door, and Lester a bow and arrow.

Although neither of them was in perfect shape to wield any weapon, it was beneficial to know what style of combat they would eventually adopt, thus training them in special exercises was not completely a bad idea.

We began the mornings with some running, then some body weight training. The rest of the day we spent practicing with weapons. And for the record, they were just wooden training objects. Besides the bow and arrow, that was quite easy to construct.

Right now Leo was practicing some downward strikes with his sword, Lester was struggling to completely draw the bow in order to shoot a targeted tree, and finally Patrick was learning to block blows with his shield.

Paying attention to Patrick hidden behind the very rough looing shield I braced myself and sent a light blow toward the center of the shield.

My staff strike barely had any force behind it, lest these children might really die.

"UGH"

A grunt sounded from behind the large shield, yet despite that, he held his ground quite well. His legs were posed one in front of the other and slightly crouched. However one fault presents itself, he was practically cowering behind the shield and waiting for the blow rather than receiving it, a mistake that will surely bite him in the ass in the future.

"Patrick, don't hide behind the shield, intercept the blow to your advantage."

A chubby face peeked from behind the wooden bulwark nodding frantically with fear smeared all over it.

"Let's try again" I said, retracting the staff and getting into a thrusting position.

Like a "whack-a-mole" Patrick's face quickly retreated behind the safety of his shield, my advice entering one ear and going out the other.

'Suit yourself'

With a sigh, I decided that making his own mistakes was the only way he would learn, as they say pain is the greatest teacher.

I thrust my staff, this time to the side of the shield with a little more force than before, slipping the shield's handle from his shivering grip and throwing him off balance.

I placed a hand over the extended staff and whipped it inwards towards his open side, eliciting a yelp of pain.

"OUCH!"

Patrick held his stinging rear with his hands as small tears formed at the corner of his eyes. Leo and Lester turned to look at the commotion but were quick to mind their business when I glared their way.

[Take it easy Elias. They are not warriors, they probably haven't held a weapon in their lives]

The black owl perched atop the snow-barren roof admonished me. Sometimes I ponder why this owl knows more about relationships with humans than I do, but I just shelf it as fantasy world logic.

[It's just so frustrating. I just told him what to do but he refuses to listen, this teacher thing is not really fit for me is it?]

The owl shook her head tiredly and landed on my shoulder.

[It's just that you have too short a temper. You need it work on it.]

'I know… just add it to the list'

I walked over to Patrick and gave him a hand, not over his pained area, a hand as in I helped him up. Just in case you were getting any funny ideas.

"Let's try again Patrick. Eset will shoot harmless bursts of wind at your shield, all you have to do is learn how to receive it, okay?"

"If you say so Elias. B-but it's magic, a-are you sure it won't hurt me?"

I shook my head at his cowardice and moved over to Lester, still struggling to draw his bow.

While there was not much I could currently do at his lack of strength, I could help him with technique, no?

"Hey Lester, how's it going"

The shy boy looked at me from under the dark bangs of hair covering his eyes. His mouth wriggled like a noodle as he struggled to from any coherent speech

"N-not great. I can't extend it enough to shoot properly."

Not being able to extend the bow string was sugar coating the situation. The poor boy could not even begin to draw it properly.

"Hmm, I see. How about you try this."

I took out my bow from the dimensional ring and took a shooting stance in order to demonstrate. I nocked an arrow and turned my head to him to explain.

"Hold out your bow straight and tug the string towards your face. Once you've done that, make sure your body forms a "T" figure, and the rest is easy; just shoot."

Putting my sights back at the target, I exhaled and let the arrow loose, ripping through the air and plunging the arrow head deep into the tree's trunk.

Lester looked at me with eyes wide as saucers and a tunneled mouth. His face kept moving to and fro, from the sunken arrow and my bow, as if what I had just performed was miraculous.

I put back my bow and left the boy to his own devices, I 'm sure that must have helped somehow.

###

The morning sun peeked its usual route and glared at us from above. Much of the snow had already melted, only puddles of white were strewn about here and there.

We continued training, with me joining them or guiding their movements frequently. Together we worked on formations. It so happens that all of us have an exact role to fill in one team; Leo the vanguard alongside I, Patrick the shield bearer-the tank, Finally Lester and Eset would hang 'round back and provide support with arrows and magic casting.

It was fun setting up dummies and practicing some attacks and movements. Having fri- acquaintances, was fun.

When we were done Lester and Patrick left their stuff and ran home, apparently they were late. Leo stayed behind and helped me with racking the equipment somewhere.

"Where do I put these Elias?"

He heaved Lester's bow and his own equipment, stacking them between his arms and motioning with his head at them.

We should probably put them inside the house, but I was hesitant to let him in.

'What's the worst that can happen?'

"Come inside, we'll put them somewhere there."

I opened the door and set the training equipment somewhere about in the living room. I looked back at Leo expecting him to do the same, but he was just standing there.

He seemed… shocked? His hands flopped to his sides, dropping the wooden weapons with a thud.

"Hey! What's your deal. I invite you into my home and you do this?"

"You, you live here? Like this…"

I trailed his eyes as they swept over the interior of the cabin, but I could see nothing wrong. I mean yeah sure, it was a bit worse for wear but it's still in good condition.

'Who am I kidding? It's awful. I haven't taken care of it since dad left. I barely sleep in my room, all my time is spent outdoors.'

The wooden logs of the cabin would creak each time my feet would step on the tiles. Vines grew alongside the floor, cobwebs marked territories on every corner and dust covered the room like a thick fog.

I tried to deny the current state of it but the sun light peeked through the cracked walls and made the dust ridden room even more pronounced, much to displeasure.

Leo's eyes looked at me in pity, oh how I hate that look. You're not better than me! I saved you from the damn wolves! I am the one who is stronger! AND I DO NOT NEED YOUR PITY!

My hands itched, and an overwhelming feeling of unrestrained violence rage in my mind.

[Elias.] a voice of sanity called in my mind.

[I know. I am still in control]

Unclenching my fists I looked the rude boy in the eyes

"Yes, I live here. Have a problem with that"

Leo was intimidated by my glare. He took a few steps back and put his hands up defensively.

"N-no I'm sorry. That's not what I-" he stuttered

"What did you mean then? Huh."

The more steps I took towards him the more he took back in return, until he stumbled on a broken piece of furniture.

Leo fell back, covered by the shadow of Elias's figure.

Elias's silhouette was darkened by the sun's light glaring at his back. His hazel eyes peered menacingly into Leo's blue ones.

Leo was given flashbacks into the not so distant past, where the ferryman almost carried him across. In his feeble mind, a round edged staff even materialized itself in front of his head threatening to crush him.