Zell winced yet again as Nin’s wooden training sword slipped effortlessly past his clumsy parry and jabbed him hard in the belly.

“Recover!” She growled at him, advancing yet again.

Zell had felt that sting and heard that word at least a hundred times in the last hour since they started their morning training. He Dropped back half a step and readied himself for the next strike as commanded. The instant he was settled, in came that same painfully beautiful thrust that he just could not seem to intercept. This time the sting was in his left thigh.

“Recover!” The same tone, the same advance.

“Stop looking at my eyes. The eyes lie. Use your peripheral vision to watch the things that cannot lie. Shoulders, hips, feet. This is a dance. If you cannot learn to read my body then you will always fail as my partner.” Nin double stepped in, suddenly dropped low, and delivered a screeching horizontal slash under Zell’s sword. The blow hit him hard just above the hips, doubling him over.

“Don’t try to anticipate the next move. You aren't anywhere near that level yet. Because I thrust fifty times doesn’t mean I’ll thrust fifty one times. Recover!” Nin wasn’t scolding. Her tone was matter of fact and patient. Again she advanced.

Zell found his breath and once again assumed his ready position. Nin was merciless, and relentless. He tried desperately to follow her advice. How could he possibly pay attention to so much at one time and manage to react instantly before the inevitable blow cracked home? The second his mind wandered Nin struck. To Zell’s (and Nin’s) great surprise, the sound of wood smacking against wood rang out for the first time.

“I blocked it?” The surprised question somehow deflated the accomplishment.

Nin smiled. She had seen the lapse in concentration and sought to punish him for it. He had parried instinctively. So he was an instinctive fighter. His body and reflexes worked better without his foolish brain constantly interfering. An interesting discovery but for the moment mostly useless.

“Recover!” She shouted as she launched a barrage of devilish feints, cuts and thrusts. Zell blocked one by accident and then found himself on the ground clutching his right side. The flat of her wooden blade had hit him hard enough in the liver that it literally shut his body down for a full minute.

“Take a rest if you need it.” Nin remarked, resting her long training sword across her shoulders.

“I’m fine.” Zell finally replied as he settled back into a fighting stance.

An hour passed with Zell absorbing strike after punishing strike. Nin was becoming a bit concerned. She had started striking harder, hoping to drive him to submit and rest. There were now dark red and purple welts covering most of Zell’s arms and certainly his torso. Nin was now breathing out of her mouth and beginning to sweat. Zell on the other hand seemed fresh aside from his many bumps and bruises. In fact he seemed to be reacting more sharply now than when they started. And now after every strike, he showed no reaction other than to mechanically and instantly recover into position.

Nin waded back in. Three viper fast thrusts each poked hard under Zell’s sword arm, digging into his ribs followed by a sudden spinning backhanded slash meant to end the morning practice. Wood rang out against wood a third time as Zell’s body once again reacted and repelled the vicious cut.

“Reco-” Nin began but was cut off as she was forced to parry a hard but clumsy strike from Zell’s sword.

“Good try!” She congratulated, stalking toward him like a hunting tigress.

“Good? Try?” The compliment shook Zell from his trance and he suddenly felt the scores of hot welts riddling his body and saw the imposing fighter stalking in with a dark expression. He didn’t know what he had done well to deserve the compliment but he certainly regretted it very much.

A few seconds later Zell was staring up at the rosy dawn sky, trying to determine if there was any part of his body that didn’t hurt terribly. The last flurry of blows had buckled his left leg, smashed the fingers of his sword hand, blasted the air out his lungs, and knocked him to his back. His eyes drifted downward to see a hand with callouses and long slender fingers offering him help up. He took it and Nin hoisted him to his feet with what would have been surprising strength if Zell hadn’t spent the last two hours experiencing it firsthand.

“There’s a couple more hours before my mom needs help prepping for dinner service. You’re free to do as you please until then. You know the basic cuts and footwork, mastering those motions should be your priority. We’ll work on putting them together this evening after closing if you like. I need to go get cleaned up before I head to the butcher’s stall.” Nin walked towards the back door of the inn but offered one final thought as she opened the door. “I did mean it when I said good try by the way.” She closed the door behind her, leaving Zell to reflect on the training and to decide what to do with the rest of the morning.

He decided to work on his foot movement, since that still felt the most awkward of the things he had been taught. He began by taking a measured step forward, remembering to keep his knees bent and shoulder width apart. Then he reversed the motion exactly to step back. Then forward. Then back. Each time he did it with a tiny bit more confidence and speed. As he moved and settled into the motion, his mind wandered.

He stepped out of his bruised body and into his vivid imagination: the amazing world where Zell could be found vanquishing great evils, soaring through the sky, kissing Nin... He jolted out of his reverie, blushing fiercely at his last fantasy. He focused again on his step, perfecting every tiny detail of it from his breathing to the way he shifted his weight smoothly from one foot to the other. His mind soon left his body to the task once again.

Two hours later, Nin returned with the order from the butcher. She glanced outside in the back lot to see Zell stepping forward and backwards with a gait and speed that any swordsman would be proud of. Her mouth dropped open slightly.

“Yeah I don’t think he’s all there.” Her mother Birna chuckled at Nin’s expression.

“He hasn’t done anything but step forward and backward since you left.” Her twin sister Rin added with a chuckle. “You broke him.”

Nin dropped the heavy half boar carcass on the kitchen counter and walked out the back door.

“I think you’ve got that one down.” Nin called.

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Zell didn’t respond. His expression was completely blank and his eyes were vacant.

“Hey! You good?” Nin clapped her hands twice as she spoke.

“What...?” Zell finally snapped out of it. His legs and hips were on fire. How long had he been doing this?

“O-Oh yeah sorry, I’m fine. I zone out sometimes when I’m doing something over and over like this.” Zell stuttered a bit and flushed slightly.

“Well the supplies are here so get cleaned up and head to the kitchen if you want to learn how to break down a side of boar and prep vegetables.” Nin said as she turned back toward the kitchen.

“I’m on it.” Zell replied, stretching and shaking off the soreness in his limbs. He drew a bucket of cold water from the well and took off his shirt. He rinsed the dirt and sweat from his hair and torso and enjoyed the cooling effect the water had on his many welts.

“Dear gods, did he even try to block?” Rin gasped as she looked at Zell from the window. His whole body was a mess of dark welts and bruises. She also noticed that bruises aside, he had a very impressive physique. Each of his muscles was clearly defined and he did have a sort of innocent bumpkin charm to him...

“He tried, but honestly he doesn’t have much talent. He blocked three total hits. There are ten year olds in the club that could embarrass him when it comes to technique. But there’s some weird potential I’ve never seen before. It’s like the more you beat him up, the stronger he gets.” As she spoke Nin also watched Zell gingerly scrubbing his welts, and couldn’t help feeling a little remorse.

After he rinsed himself off, Zell returned to their room to find Agitha still snoring loudly, and Merc waiting for him by the door impatiently.

“Just a second.” He bade the anxiously shifting dire wolf. After Zell put on a clean shirt and pants, he straightened his hair and took Merc outside to relieve himself before reporting to the kitchen. Birna awaited him, holding out a dark apron that matched her own. She was a petite woman, just a little taller than Zell with the same wheat colored hair as her daughters. She was pleasant to look at and talk to most of the time but she definitely had the aura of a dictator in the kitchen.

Birna wasn’t looking forward to teaching a new hand in the kitchen. She had very high standards for her food, and based on his performance learning swordplay earlier she doubted he would be of any use at all. She mostly planned to have him peel a few potatoes and dismiss him at the earliest opportunity.

“Heya boss, how can I help?” Zell asked enthusiastically.

“It’s Chef or Birna, or Chef Birna while we’re in the kitchen. Not Boss if you please.” She corrected tersely. ”Go ahead and rinse off those potatoes and peel them. You know how to peel a potato, yes?”

“Aye Chef.” Zell smiled to himself. Peeling potatoes was the wood chopping of the kitchen after all.

He picked up the tiny knife and set to work with confidence and practiced skill. Birna was pleasantly surprised but still doubtful. He made short work of the potatoes, and asked what was next.

“Well, have you ever done any butchering?” Birna asked him as she honed a large, curved knife on a round piece of steel.

Zell hid his arrogant smile well. He was practically a grand master of butchery thanks to his father’s teaching and his countless hours processing animals as a child growing up on a remote farm.

“I’ve done a little. Mind if I try? If you see me messing up you can take over.” He asked hopefully.

“Very well, but remember my standards are perfection in this kitchen. One miscut and you’re out!” Birna cautioned him

“Aye Chef!” Zell rolled his sleeves past his elbows and took the butcher knife confidently.

Birna was immediately blown away by Zell’s smooth and confident knife work. He glided the blade effortlessly along bone, separated joints with masterful efficiency, switched to the bonesaw without direction, and broke down the entire half boar flawlessly in a time Birna herself would struggle to beat. After he made his final cut, he set the knife down and stepped back smiling. Where once there was a half carcass now rested orderly piles of perfect cuts.

“That was fun, took me right back home!” He grinned as he spoke. “What’s next? Are we gonna brine the ribs?” he asked, wiping his hands with the rag on his belt.

“Yes actually.” Birna couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Was he actually some kind of kitchen prodigy?

“Just a salt, sugar, and water brine or do you do something different?” Zell asked eagerly

“Mostly but we’re also going to add a bit of fermented garlic along with honey to the brine. If you tell anyone that secret I’ll hunt you down and murder you by the way!” Birna was quickly dropping her rude attitude and warming up to the idea of having Zell in the kitchen. “Who taught you to cook?” She asked.

“My dad taught me everything I know. His cooking is legendary. It’s what made my mom fall for him or so the story goes.” Zell reflected fondly. “My sister can’t cook at all. She could poison a goat with her food.” Zell added with a laugh.

The two of them enjoyed the next few hours of preparing everything for the evening dinner rush. They worked in sync as though they had been doing it for years.

The menu for the night included: seared pork loin chops, a peppery pork belly and bean soup, Slivered potatoes baked in a goat cheese sauce, and green salad with hard crusted bread. The ham and ribs were brined and placed in the cold storage room in the basement for later use. The ham was rubbed with a dry cure and hung in the smoke shed. Also on the menu was a house favorite dish of spicy mutton sausage with pickled cabbage served on a baked roll.

Simple food elevated to another level was Birna’s specialty, and Zell took to it effortlessly.

Zell’s respect for Birna grew tremendously over the course of the afternoon. She really was masterful in her craft. He learned about different seasonings and knife techniques such as scoring the edges of a pork chop to prevent it from curling in a hot pan. She even taught him her secret apple cider reduction basting sauce recipe which they would use to glaze the ham. He felt very honored indeed and swore solemnly to take the precious recipes to his grave.

The hours flew by and soon the early customers began filtering into the large common room.

“I’m all set in here. Thanks for the help!” Birna said sincerely. If you’ll back up Kel and Rin out front for the rush that would be best.” She clapped him on the shoulder as he started for the door to the main room.

“Aye Chef Birna!” He answered. “I’m on it.” With that he went out to the common room to find Kel and Rin busily seating customers and filling mugs.

“Alright Kel, boss me around!” Zell said as he walked up behind the busy giant bartender.

“You got it Bait! Mostly just keep clearing tables as people finish their food and drinks. If you see a spill or something obvious take care of it. Dirty dishes go in this tub back here, clean rags are here, and if you have any questions ask me or Rin.” Kel finished his instructions and then leaned down to whisper. “Hey what’s your secret by the way? She's actually smiling, and I didn't hear her throw anything at you! That’s the first time anyone’s spent that long in her lair without getting in trouble.”

“I’m not sure. We had fun just cooking and chatting!” Zell replied smiling at the odd compliment.

For the rest of the evening Zell continued to impress. He was like a masterful assassin and dirty plates were his marked targets. With his help, Rin and Kel were able to focus entirely on serving customers, and his easygoing attitude had a clear effect on the overall mood of the busy night.

Roughly an hour into the dinner service Agitha returned from some unknown business and sat at the bar.

“Ohh Bait, looks like you’re more suited to an apron than a suit or armor!” She teased him as he hustled past her with a tray loaded with dirty mugs and bowls.

“This was your idea! You can’t heckle me for something you made me do, can you?” He shot back playfully.

“Whoa one day of training and now he has an attitude! Maybe I’ll have to help out tomorrow and give you a little reminder of who you’re talking to.” Agitha continued the banter.

“Sounds like a party! You gonna find some more wasps to do your dirty work?” Zell had the last word as he stepped around the corner to wash dishes.

Agitha chuckled, glad Zell was finally loosening up and showing some personality. She spoke to Kel as he slid her a mug of mead and bowl of soup.

“How’d he do today?” She asked.

“I’m gonna be serious here.” Kel locked eyes with Agitha. “I might not let you take him away from us. I don’t know if he’s cut out for fighting, you’d have to ask my kid about that. As far as helping here though, he’s a damn goldmine.” He held a mug of his own up for Agitha to cheers with him. They tapped their mugs together and each took a long drink. Agitha then left the team to their work and gave her meal the attention it deserved.

Later that evening after the last dish was washed and the floors were swept, Zell met Nin outside for their second lesson. Zell wasn’t looking forward to more bruises but was excited to try out his improved footwork.

“Instead of sparring we’re going to work on adding a pivot to the step you were working on.” Nin began. “As you step forward, allow a bit more of your weight to settle on your lead foot close to your toes. At the same time swing your trailing foot in the direction you want to pivot. Make it smooth before you think about making it fast.” She demonstrated with a gorgeous long step forward and a lightning fast ninety degree pivot.

“Melee combat is all about distance and angles. You must constantly be seeking a distance and angle of attack that favors your particular range. As a taller fighter I rely on thrusts and distance to make proper use of my height and reach. Against someone like me, you should always seek to be either fully out of my range or deeply inside of it. Crossing that middle ground is the most dangerous moment, but once you are inside, pivoting creates a favorable angle allowing you to attack a weak spot. Begin with a quick step forward and try the pivot I showed you.” She finished, stepping back to give him space.

Zell concentrated. His step was flawless, he smoothly covered the ground and maintained perfect balance. His pivot was a disaster, so sloppy he nearly fell.

“Recover! Again!” Zell practiced the pivot over and over with many small tips and guidance from Nin. Finally after an hour or so he was able to pivot in either direction somewhat well.

“Alright that’s enough for today.” Nin said after the sun had disappeared and it became too dark to see. “Thanks for covering for me and good work. Tomorrow morning same time!”