Steeping out from the large wooden building that smelled like leather which I now almost considered a second home, I turned to my left and started towards the edge of town once more. Soon, the guard’s post was in sight once more.

For the past 5 days this had been my schedule, visiting the library in the morning and studying some books on war and military history followed by heading to the guard’s post to get the snot beaten out of me. I had learned a lot at the library these past days, which would hopefully make my life easier when I got to the training camp.

Today would be my last day of training so the guards apparently had a special day planned for me. I didn’t know what to expect though, the sergeant had been tight-lipped about it.

The man was a good guy who had been running most of my training, but he was rough around the edges and not very talkative. On the other hand, he seemed fantastic with a sword. Oh, and he was the person who helped me get approval for the training in the first place.

Facing him, the main thing I’ve learned so far was that I’m decent with any weapon I pick up thanks to my passive “All-Weapon Mastery.” But even with that cheat, I still have to put in the work to properly get comfortable fighting with all of them.

Walking up to the side door, I knocked twice. Before I had a chance to do anything, the door opened and the sergeant was standing there. “A little early, but fine. Follow.”

Smiling slightly, I followed after the man once he closed the door. We were heading towards the usual training are, a room built into the wall near the top. It was where the guards did their training and part of the roof was open to the elements which provided needed ventilation.

Chasing after the sergeant, we raced down the hallways of the guard’s station quicker than usual. Despite the place normally being bustling, there was nobody in sight. Were all the guards busy with something?

Finding this strange, I continued after the man until we came upon the training room. A moment later, we were inside the room and I had the answer: all the guards were assembled on the seats on one side of the training room. And standing in front of them? The lieutenant.

Grunt loudly, the sergeant passed her and took a seat among the others in the stands. Finishing what she was saying and turning around, she fixed her deep blue eyes on me and flashed an evil grin.

“If it isn’t the boy of the hour. Roik! I hear today is your last day of training before the fools send you off to die, so I figured we should do something special.

“You’re being challenged to two fights: if you win either of them we’ll give you your choice of weapon from our reserves to keep. If you win both, you can choose one from the nice crate. What d’you say?”

A free weapon? This wasn’t what I expected at all… I figured I’d need to fight someone seriously, but a prize if I win? Seems like more than I’d expect. Maybe I should accept the conditions and try to win at least one of the fights…

“Before I accept, can you tell me who the fights are against?”

“Not as brave as I was hoping, but I’ll indulge your curiosity for one of the fights. The first fight will be against three guards: Raen, Ghee, and Erik. You’ll fight with armor and blunted weapons.”

Nodding slowly, I looked at them in the crowd and all three waved with dangerous looks on their faces. I’m not sure I’d win, but I’d love to smash some sense into the three of them. I’ll do it.

“You have yourself a deal, I’ll face your fights.” I nodded once and approached the other side of the fighting room where the training weapons and armor were. Slipping on some loose leather armor across my chest and arms, I stretched and did a few basic exercises to get comfortable in the armor before we started.

When I was done, I grabbed a mace and a small buckler from the pile of weapons neatly organized againt the wall. Turning around, I saw the three of them were armored and ready with their swords in-hand.

Approaching the center of the training hall, I waited for them to take their positions and ignored the hoots, cheers, and bet calls being placed on both sides. If the guards were anything, it was gambling men.

Smiling to myself, I swung my mace a few times and adjusted my grip on the handle. This promised to be a tough fight since there were three of them, I needed to be ready.

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A few minutes later, the betting shouts stopped and everyone kept their eyes fixed on the four of us. A moment later, the lieutenant shouted “go!’ and the three of ‘em charged at me.

Lunging to my right, I smacked my shield against Ghee’s sword and sent him tumbling slightly. While the other two drew back to avoid hitting him, I slid around behind him and smacked Erik in the side with my mace as he tried to block with his sword.

Pressing my shield against his blade and interrupting his swing, I held it to the side while I smacked him a second time with my mace. This time it connected against his knee, and rolled to the right to get away from him. I might’ve disabled him temporarily, but I needed to keep up my momentum.

Turning back towards Ghee, who had regained his footing and was turning around, I charged into his lower body with my shield. As I connected with him, I kicked at a leg with my right foot and sent him sprawling.

So far, so good. These three were just rushing me blindly, how did they expect this to go well? Did they underestimate me?

Smiling, I looked at Raen and triggered the first active skill I had finally how to use: War Leap. In a moment, I cleared the distance between us, spun at the last moment, and smashed my mace against his chest. As I landed and regained my footing, he was sent flying into one of the walls with a loud crash.

Turning back towards Erik, who had regained his footing, I leaped once more and this time smashed my shield against him from above as hard as I could. As he crumpled to the ground on his still-injured knee, I swung my mace as hard as I could against his chest and aggressively sent him falling backwards.

Picking up the sword he dropped, I threw it across the room and turned back to Ghee. The man was now approaching more cautiously, sword in hand. He seemed to realize they had misjudged me and made an error fighting my shield/mace combo with just swords.

Not wanting to lose my brief advantage, I stepped towards him and swung my mace high in a feint. As he tried to parry, I ducked tight to the ground and smashed into his stomach with my shield. As he recoiled slightly, I took my mace to his knee as he swung down at my head. Moving slightly to the right, I took the slash to the my left shoulder, letting it cut through my armor, dropped my mace, and grabbed the blade.

With my grip on the sword, I kicked at his knee from the side and toppled him over. Pulling the sword from his grasp, I threw it over where I had thrown the last and checked my houlder: the hit had barely broken my skin. If there was anything good about my stats right now, it was my constitution.

Kicking him backwards as he tried to regain his footing, I picked up my mace and swung my shield at his face multiple times before he went limp. Turning around, I saw that neither Raen nor Erik had stood up again. Cracking a smile, I felt a the rush of adrenaline leave my body. My 'War Fiend' class was something else, I could feel what I needed to do and my body responded fluidly. I wouldn't be a match for seasoned warriors anytime soon, but these guards felt like training dummies.

Looking at the lieutenant, I shouted “Does this make it my victory, or should I beat them up a bit more?”

As those words left my mouth, some of the guards in the stands threw other some looks before a roar of laughter broke over the room. With those words, they had broken their silence they’d held for the few minutes the fight had lasted.

“I’d say we can safely declare this your victory, the point goes to Roik. It’s a shame you’re being conscripted, you’d be a fantastic guard or even an adventurer. A damn shame.” Smiling at me, she starting stretching her shoulders and legs.

Realizing what her stretching meant, I turned pale. I had just taken out the three of these guys, sure, but they were low-ranking guards who didn’t know what my preferred combat style was. I hadn’t had enough time to learn good sword forms, so I was more proficient with a shield and a mace. I lacked any true technique, opting for pure brute force and speed. The lieutenant on the other hand? She used to be a well-known adventurer before she retired. This was exactly what I was worried about.

Starting to sweat, I adjusted my armor a bit while I waited for what would come next: the second fight.

bloody divider [https://i.imgur.com/yTIGwtI.png]

After about 10 minutes of waiting, the lieutenant walked over after swapping spots with the sergeant. “Think he has any chance, Groff?” she asked.

“Probably no chance, but he might surprise us.” he grunted.

“Surprise us, huh? I’ll hope for that outcome then.” A deviously look spread across her face as she approached me. “Alright, boy. Looks like you’re not half-bad. Ready for something a little more challenging?”

Taking in a deep breath, I nodded once and readied myself. Letting out a small smile I faced her down. “I suppose I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Good attitude, facing death with a smile. Now's a good time to surrender if you’re not ready to get beaten to a pulp.” She grinned, showing some teeth.

“Respectfully, you wish. The goddess of war demands we face our foes with mythril in our heart and minds.”

“Oho, bringing the goddess into this? Well, she can’t save you from what’s about to happen.” Turning to face me, she rested a large greataxe on her left shoulder. “Whenever you’re ready, Groff. The boy seems ready.”

Gritting my teeth, I took my fighting stance and waited for the fight to begin. Across from me, the lieutenant remained standing casually as if she were going out for a walk on the town. Maybe this would be as easy as that for her, but I wouldn’t go down easy.

As time stretched on forever, a gruff voice finally echoed through the room. “Go!”