Shortly following our exit from the chiefs house, we arrived at the training grounds. The training grounds were pretty small, only large enough to fit a few dozen people at once. Currently, there were about ten or so people training, who all looked rather young probably around 16-18 years old with a few being about 22-25.

The form they had was not bad they seemed to have been trained fairly well, although, for the young ones their movements showed that they lacked experience. Seeing that I was watching the movements of the one’s training Katie could tell that I was quietly judging them.

“Alright Niko, why don’t we have a little spar to stretch your body a little bit seeing as how you were unconscious for a while?”

“Nods”

Katie flashed a smile before walking to a rack that held some practice swords. On her way back a small group of the younger kids walked up to us, a boy who looked to be the oldest of the group looked down at me before smirking then facing towards Katie, and Erica.

“Good afternoon Captain Erica, and Vice Captain Katie!”

“Hello there Roger, how are all of you doing today?”

“Hello everyone!”

“Good” x3

“Everyone, let me introduce you to Niko. He will be staying with us in the village for a while.”

“Hello” x2

Roger did not bother saying hello, instead he acted as if I did not exist at all.

“Vice Captain, we were wondering if you would give us some guidance in our training?”

“Of course! But, it will have to wait a little bit, I am actually gonna spar a bit with Niko here”

“Don’t you think you will be too much for him? Why waste your time and not have one of the younger kids spar with him? It will be more worth the time since they will both get something out of it, better yet why don’t I spar with him a bit, I don’t mind showing him a few moves, no point in the vice-captain having to bother with something so minor.”

“I don’t think that is a good idea, Roger, Niko is a little bit abnormal I am not sure if you would be able to handle it.”

“Haha seriously, he won’t even make me break a sweat, here watch!”

“Alright, Niko, do you mind?”

“Shakes head”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Alright then, here you go Niko”

Katie handed me a sword that had its edges dulled so that they could not cut anyone. Erica, Katie and the group that was accompanying Roger moved off to the side so they would not hinder our sparring session.

“Are the two of you ready?”

“Yes”

“Nods”

“Alright, BEGIN!”

Immediately after Katie yelled for us to begin, Roger Launched himself while readying his sword. I thought he was gonna go for a more complicated move but, instead stuck with a straightforward attack, it seems he completely underestimated me. I waited for the moment he was directly in front of me then in one swift movement while he was attempting to attack I parried, grabbing his wrist afterward throwing him to the ground.

Seeing how quickly Roger was taken down Katie was trying to hold in her laughter while remembering how cocky he was seconds ago. Erica sat calmly with a face that showed she already expected the outcome. Roger stayed on the ground for some time with a shocked expression before he once again flew onto his feet shouting excuses from his mouth.

“He only won because I was going easy on him. He would not last even a second if I tried! Let’s go again, this time I’ll put some effort into it since it seems like you are not completely useless!”

Somehow Roger managed to continue his cocky attitude, I found it a tad bit interesting but, mainly annoying. Once he finished complaining he once again readied himself, this time his face was more serious, interested to see what Rodger is capable of I also readied myself, standing in anticipation of an interesting battle. Erica looked at me with an apologetic face before collecting herself to watch over the next match.

“Are the both of you ready?”

“Yes”

“Nod”

“BEGIN!”

Once again Roger pounced after the signal, closing the distance, instantly reaching directly in front of me, Roger disappears for a quick second before reappearing right behind me. I easily sensed his location, turning around blocking a kick he aimed for my head. Following Rogers kick, I lightly swiped his other foot out from underneath him sending Roger crashing to the ground.

I was disappointed at the quick ending to our spar, due to his attitude and the way he was acting I got my hopes high expecting him to be a little bit more of an opponent but, I guess we don’t always get what we want.

“Alright Roger that is enough now, we still have some tasks to finish for the day.”

“Ugh…”

With his shoulders slumped and a face full of defeat Roger along with his group walked away going back to the training they were doing beforehand. Of course, Roger did not forget to make some more excuses as well as scowl at me. I was once again shocked at his constant attitude yet confused where the confidence comes from.

Katie continued where we had left off with her and I sparring. Afterward, we walked through the village so they could give me a rundown on where the facilities are located including simple breakdowns of how the jobs are conducted. After an afternoon of sparring finished up with a tour of the village, we all retired to our dwellings for the night.

“Niko, tomorrow we will be leaving the village to hunt so try to rest up so you are ready alright!”

“Okay”

Finishing preparation for tomorrow’s hunt we all sat down for dinner, after eating I went to the room I am using, now that I finally have time to myself I sat on the bed trying to manipulate my mana. In my effort to circulate the mana within my body I was attempting to investigate the injury that is stopping my body from absorbing mana. An hour or so of trying to find some answers with no results I decided to leave it for the night, and get some rest. Tomorrow morning I will bring this up with Erica in hopes that she might have some information on this issue.