Despite the relatively fast traveling speed, it took a whole day for the carriage to arrive at the destination. During the trip no one said a word and Alex spent his time mostly cultivating the force of nature. After lying down motionlessly for days he would’ve loved to run around a bit or go for a swim, but it all had to wait.
After stepping out the carriage Alex stretched and looked around only to realize they were at another garrison, except this time it was a field garrison similar to those made by large armies on the move. There were few symbolic temporary fortifications around what it seemed endless field of tents.
Groups of soldiers kept constantly marching back and forth either training or patrolling and Alex noticed even few civilians further back between tents.
“What the f*ck!” He unconsciously blurted recognizing the snow white robes that chosen usually wore on formal occasions.
Alex lived in the College of evangelism for several years and was so used to the faces of chosen there, he forgot that the Holy empire had hundreds of chosen and only the youngest ones were studying in the college.
Alex’s mood instantly fell realizing there was a whole army of rapists gathered to invade new territories. Unfortunately there was nothing he could do, therefore he shook his head as if trying to get rid of unnecessary thoughts and prepared to play his role of injured and weak, but tenacious prodigy.
It took a while for the bishop to get out the carriage. The man was probably asleep and no one risked to wake him up. Neither Alex nor the holy warrior at his side showed any signs of displeasure and patiently waited.
“Alright! Let’s go!” Bishop Holer said after energetically jumping out the carriage.
Not only his fat, even the earth shook when he landed, but he didn’t care. Clearly in a good mood after taking the long nap he grabbed Alex’s hand and this time slowly, proudly and graciously entered the garrison. Alex did his best to look somber and tired, on every step supported himself on his staff as if it was an oversized walking stick. From the side it looked as if an old priest was guiding the young Moses, but the holy warrior who followed them was more annoyed than amused by the view.
The garrison was huge and it took them over five minutes to reach the center that was marked by a huge golden tent. When approached, even bishop Holer toned his arrogance down.
“I’m here.” He stated the obvious to the two guards at the entrance, but they only silently nodded and one stepped inside the tent, probably to report the arrival.
When few seconds later he came out, he silently nodded again and bishop, without saying a word pulled Alex in.
“Your excellency!” Both bishop and Alex bowed seeing the old man in the golden robes comfortably sitting on a pile of pillows. In one hand he was holding some kind of parchment, but in other – a large, steaming cup.
Although five years had passed, cardinal Isidoro didn’t change much from what Alex remembered. Except now they were on his turf and he was the big boss around here.
“You were successful?” Cardinal rose his eyebrows in surprise.
“Only on the Lord’s whim. Bond was the last one left.” Bishop Holer shortly explained.
“Seriously?” Cardinal’s surprise increased, “That could only mean the pope was right once again.”
But seeing Alex’s somber expression, cardinal added, “Cheer up, James! It’s not all bad. You are safe now and we managed to save few of your friends from the college earlier as well. Unfortunately the disaster that struck college took too many sacrifices, but it’s all according to the will of the Lord!”
‘Ye, right!’ It took a couple of seconds for Alex to process the information, ‘You motherf*cker saved your own chosen to solidify your political position! And later came back for me only because you formally need me to begin this expedition. If I die later it doesn’t matter – my sacrifice would be according to the Lord’s will as well!’
But out loud he only said, “Lord, guide us!”
“Lord, guide us!” As if obligated the two men repeated after him.
Then cardinal continued, “From now on you’ll stay with us. We’ll depart in fifteen days so prepare well.”
“Thank you, your excellency!” Alex slightly bowed, “Am I allowed to continue my combat training?”
“What?” Cardinal was confused.
Alex explained, “Bishop Phelippe didn’t allow me to practice any fighting skills in the college, but in the fortress the Lord brought me a teacher who guided me through the basics. For now I’m too weak so I would like to continue to practice, am I allowed?”
“Seriously?” This time cardinal asked bishop Holer, but the latter only shrugged. They both knew how the chosen were tortured in the fortress, but this guy assumed it was a real training.
Cardinal thought for a bit and said, “Sure, you can do that. My aide will show you where you can stay. Oh, right! One more thing! Before the departure I’ll need you, so don’t wander off.”
Alex bowed and left with the usual ‘Lord, guide us!’, while bishop stayed. Obviously they had more things to talk about.
“Cardinal Isidoro …” Alex tried to explain his orders to the guards at the entrance, but was interrupted by a priest.
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“I know, follow me!” He said.
Alex pointed at the holy warrior, who all this time patiently waited, and said, “There is two of us.”
Priest glanced at the warrior in surprise, then nodded and beckoned for them to follow.
Few minutes later he threw two soldiers out from their tent and told to find another place. Both obviously were not some common folk, but had no choice but to comply.
Afterwards the priest looked around in satisfaction and, in a similar style to the cardinal’s manner, said, “This will do. Don’t wander off.”
And then left.
“Which one do you prefer?” Alex asked his companion pointing at the two bedrolls.
When the warrior only snorted for an answer, Alex continued, “I’m sorry I pulled you out from there, but after what you did you were too much in danger. I don’t ask you for any gratitude, exactly the opposite – I owe you. But since we are stuck here, just to pass time maybe you could show me a trick or two with a sword? They didn’t teach me any combat skills in the college.”
Seeing the warrior staring back at him, Alex sighed and said, “If you don’t want to, so be it. You can just hang around and chill or say a word and I’ll ask bishop to send you back.”
Then he sat down cross-legged on the bedroll, closed his eyes and began to cultivate the force of nature, but the warrior snorted again and left. After making sure he was really gone Alex fished out another Lord’s seed from his staff and hungrily began to absorb it. He knew he kind of became addicted to those, but the last few days showed he could live without them if needed, so he was not worried.
The next morning the holy warrior woke up at the same time as Alex, with the sunrise, and became annoyed by the fact, but tried not to show it.
He quickly got up, threw a sheathed short sword towards Alex and said, “Let’s go!”
Alex didn’t mind the attitude the slightest. Exactly the opposite – he was fired up to learn real sword skills. Not only his teacher would be one of the empire’s elite soldiers, the combat with swords has been romanticized in his first life and he itched to learn it, especially since he knew he’ll carry the knowledge along after his death.
Of course, Alex knew that the most effective weapon in melee battlefield was a spear, but sword was much ‘cooler’, thus – it was his weapon of choice.
After they reached the practice grounds which already were crowded, the first real lesson began. And the teacher’s first words confirmed Alex’s thoughts, although deflated his enthusiasm a bit as well.
“The first rule – never put yourself in a mass skirmish situation! You’ll die. The second rule – if you are in a mass skirmish, immediately retreat or run! Otherwise you’ll die.”
The warrior stared at Alex after saying it, but didn’t see any change in boy’s facial expression.
He continued, “You are too small and weak. In addition, you’ll never be as strong as a seasoned warrior. If you try to fight an honest battle, you’ll die.”
Alex didn’t have illusions on this part, therefore he said, “Alright, then …”
“Don’t interrupt and listen!” Either the young warrior was or tried to be strict, “Your life depends on it!”
He pointed at the nearby soldiers practicing swordplay and sparring with wooden weapons, “They have done this for hundreds, thousands of hours. The strength of their arm surpasses yours by a mile. You can’t successfully block their attack or break their block. That means you can’t really ‘fight’ anyone!”
‘Or I’ll die!’ Alex inwardly joked, but continued to attentively listen.
The guy definitely had a reason for telling all this.
“You carried the sword I gave you earlier. You can see it’s a small one compared to others or a tiny toothpick compared to mine. Hit that dummy hard a dozen times while trying to feel its weight and don’t worry about any techniques.” Warrior instructed and pointed at a log that served as a target dummy.
Alex drew the sword. It was a simple short sword with even simpler scabbard. He already knew it was light, but after unsheathing it, its own weight was one kilogram at maximum.
Inwardly excited Alex did few swings, then approached the dummy and began to slash it heartily. At he felt exhilaration and joy, but after the six swing for some reason he was already tired and barely managed to hit it the twelfth time. In the end his wrist even hurt a little and that after working half a year as a blacksmith’s apprentice!
“Imagine – someone would hit you back at this moment.” Warrior continued, but Alex already got his point. While fencing in the Olympic games or swordplay in the old samurai movies looked cool, the actual practical sword combat was anything but easy.
“Alright, try to hold this.” Warrior continued to prove his point and unsheathed his own shiny longsword.
It was a simple sword, over one meter long and, probably, around three kilograms heavy. Alex held it for few seconds and then passed back.
“Now – how effectively do you think you can block it?” Warrior asked and Alex nodded in understanding.
“So basically there is no way for me to practice sword, or rather – there is no use of doing it, right?” He asked.
“Wrong! Of course, you’ll defeat weaker opponents easier if you practice the same way how stronger people will defeat you.” The holy warrior answered. Then thought for a moment and said, “What I’m trying to say is, if you want a chance against the stronger opponents, and currently everyone but squirrels and rabbits are such, you need a special approach.”
“Speed?” Alex asked with a smile.
It was an obvious answer to the problem.
“Yes.” Warrior nodded, “But you can’t solve everything with a simple speed. Even if you kill the opponent, he might cut off your arm or leg before he falls if you follow the conventional style of combat. I thought a lot about this during the past days and I think I thought of something that would suit you well.”
‘… a lot? … during the past days?’ Alex froze at the weird piece of information, ‘What kind of samaritan are you? Have you hit the head or something? What is wrong with you? Why do you help people like this by risking your life?’
But the warrior didn’t notice anything and continued, “I developed a simple technique that uses only one move, divided in three parts. It would be hard to master, but if you practice a lot, in a few years you might actually become a real threat to anyone. Well, anyone except for the pope – his speed is faster than a thought.”
Seeing Alex finally showing a reaction on his face, warrior rushed to explain, “It’s not a blasphemy – I’m just explaining the facts.”
Then he awkwardly coughed and continued, “The principle is simple – you’ll end any fight with a single thrust. If you’re unsuccessful, you’ll retreat. I mean, completely retreat from combat – run away. Next – you’ll use a specific step pattern while performing the thrust and the way to unsheathe your sword also will be somewhat peculiar. Of course, we’ll later find you an appropriate sword suited for your style … let’s call it a … ‘the Bond’s style’?”
In the end there was a satisfied grin on warrior’s face, but Alex didn’t care.
He seriously bowed and said, “Thank you, teacher!”
“Hmph! Just practice well!” The holy warrior snorted in reply and turned away. For some reason he seemed to be happy.