1st day of the 11th month of the year 718 KDC

Oh man. They woke me early this morning. And I really wish they hadn’t.

My head…

MY HEAD!!!!!

And why did they wake me up so early? Couldn’t they see I needed more sleep? The sun was hurting my eyes, even when they were shut, and the noises, oh the noises. This is probably the worst feeling I have ever had to endure that didn’t actually come from me getting an injury.

But up they got me. Before it was even past mid-morning. And they were laughing. Laughing! Even though I am sure they had drunk much, much more than I did I could not see them suffering the same effects that I was. They were all awake bright-eyed, and bushy-tailed. And here I was, shielding my eyes from the light and cringing every time they laughed at me.

BAH! Not drinking ever again! (Though I am sure many people have said that and, in reality, it becomes an untrue statement at some stage)

But, I digress. They got me up, I was suffering, and they started training! Training? The day after what I think is considered ‘heavy’ drinking? They are slave drivers!

Anyway, Hawk took me out himself and gave me a wooden sword in a similar shape to that of the stone one my father had given me (in a very roundabout way).

“The stone one is too dangerous,” he had told me. I don’t really understand what he means at the moment, but my mind was in no mood to press the issue.

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As I have never used a sword before he started me off with the most basics of basics. Such as, sharp edge hits enemy. For quite some time we just practised basic swings, a few different ones, but just the most simple swings there were. He kept correcting me, and eventually even the wooden sword started to feel very, very heavy.

He let me rest a fair bit though. Recovering from drinking and trying to train were not ideal situations.

“But I need you ready for our next assignment,” he had told me. Whatever the ‘next assignment’ was I did not know.

For most of the day I was training. Thankfully later in the day, after I had consumed copious amounts of water, I recovered from the hangover and could focus on the training properly. By the end my body and mind were completely exhausted. But Hawk let me out into the city for the afternoon.

I just walked around a lot, looking at various things, not really trying to think too much because I was still recovering. I looked into the weapon stores, a mixture of imported goods and local blacksmiths, but couldn’t find anything like the stone sword which I had in my possession. Maybe it was special, Hawk seemed to think so.

What was strange though was, that through the whole time I was out of the guild’s compound, I felt eyes on me. My neck was itchy from all the people who seemed to be looking at me. But when I turned around no one was there. Someone was surely following me though. Through the streets of the city they persisted until I was back in the safety of the compound.

I might try and go out tomorrow and see if I get the same feeling. Maybe I should talk to Hawk about it. It’s not exactly an enjoyable feeling, thinking someone is watching you at all times.

But when I returned to the compound all I did was retire to my room. MY room. It feels great to think that way. I always shared at the orphanage, never had anything to myself. I mean, the only reason I have one to myself now is because there are so many spares that I don’t have to double with anyone. I can’t help it if the guild is a lot lower on numbers than it was during the times of my father. It’s not my fault.

Oh, how my muscles ache now though. Everything, from my ankles to my shoulders and out to my wrists. I’ve never felt such an ache. Swinging a sword around really starts to weigh down on you after a while, and uses much more of your body than you initially think. Hopefully they don’t expect me to continue training tomorrow, because I don’t see how I will be moving in the morning after what I have endured.

At least for now my future was secured. And hopefully the next assignment that Hawk was trying to get me ready for didn’t turn out to be anything too dangerous. I don’t like the idea of being put into danger with the little knowledge I have so far obtained.

But tomorrow it another day, so we’ll see how it goes then.