Without wasting time, Zelos began to do the handstands, and he even began to walk around the training grounds while doing that. Heirina felt her head aching… she tried to be a bit nicer, and that was the result of it. Still, she decided to take a deep breath to calm down, since he had the right to be a bit pissed.

Since the recruits were serious about joining the group, they fought hard against each other and some good punches and kicks were landed. At the same time, they endured those for quite a while… as such, only a single round happened there. Everyone had the chance to fight at least once.

“Tomorrow we will test your skills with the spear and the sword, bring wooden swords and spears to be used against each other tomorrow. That is all.”

When Zelos heard that, he couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows… getting fighting experience by sparring with those kids wouldn’t do him any good… he would rather train his body hard, but perhaps that was a good chance…

“Using simple tactics and heavy enough attacks to overpower my opponents is my goal, but I guess this is a good chance to develop my fighting style.”

Zelos had some coins saved up. It was better to spend on something already, otherwise, he will end up spending on food. Lately, two lunch sets weren’t filling him as much as before… It looked like his trait made his body a lot more intense when it came to consuming calories.

In any case, Zelos easily found some wooden weapons, but they didn’t feel right in his hands… They were too light. He could probably make them heavier by using stones or even pieces of wood, but he also had to get used to them with their normal weight.

When he got back to his tent, Zelos checked the wooden sword with a few swings and soon nodded to himself in satisfaction… Despite the difference in weight, his swings were pretty sharp as long as he stuck to the basic, single horizontal and vertical attacks. The wooden sword cut the air while making a powerful whoosh sound that was quite satisfying.

“How about some trusts… or should I just try that with spears?”

Zelos tried that, but he soon confirmed that it was pretty hard. He wasn’t used to that, so his muscles didn’t obey him as they usually would… he had to train them. While he could use them now and then, Zelos decided to focus on a single multipurpose weapon that would fit most of his purposes and be easier to master. The answer was obvious, but he wasn’t sure now if he should follow the path of the sword.

People should feel used to handling enemies with swords… Still, considering that he wanted to improve his strength, vigor , and precision parameters, it seemed the best option for him. After thinking for a while, he decided to gain some experience and then make up his mind soon enough. That was the best option for him for now.

The next day, Zelos went to the training grounds while carrying the wooden sword and spear. For the first time since the training sessions started, everyone looked eager since they wanted to show their skills and there was no better place for them to show how worthy they were in joining the clan. When Heirina arrived, she studied everyone for a moment before speaking her mind.

“As I said yesterday, we will spar with weapons today, but the rules are a bit different. This might take a while, but it doesn’t matter. The winner will stay and face the next challenger, and the challenger will choose their weapon. You two can’t use the same weapon. If you get hit once, you lose. That is the rule that will determine the winner. It doesn’t matter where you get hit.”

That seemed interesting enough. Zelos would be able to get a lot of experience. Even if he doesn’t win, the losers would have the chance to see everyone fighting a lot, and that would be a good experience as well.

“Are you up to join today?”

“Yes, I am.”

“All right… you go first. You go too. Use rock, paper, and scissors to decide who will use which weapon.”

“He is younger, so I am fine with letting him choose.”

That guy was one of the boys Zelos saw talking on the first day he was coming to the training grounds. He was a tall youth with short, spiked black hair. Now that Zelos paid attention to him, he was well-built as well. That would be a good experience, so he accepted and chose the wooden sword.

Zelos had no idea if the other kid would use his trait against him, but he wasn’t going to wait to find out. Soon, they assumed their positions, and Zelos moved his sword to the side while holding it with a single hand. Everyone couldn’t help but frown since any attack he launched with a single hand could easily be blocked with a wooden spear. The other kid couldn’t help but smile. It looked like Zelos was a bit too cheeky, and not only for the instructor.

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“Start.”

Zelos stepped in first while the other kid moved his spear to the side to block Zelos’s very obvious horizontal attack. Still, he lowered his stance when he saw the speed of the wooden sword and the sound of the wind. The weapons collided and the sound of the impact echoed in the area, followed by a snap.

The wooden spear broke, but before Zelos could hit the other kid, the older boy actually stepped back in that fraction of a second and then avoided the hit… that kind of reaction speed was abnormal. Moreover, he looked completely unfazed after Zelos cut that air.

“That was definitely his trait…”

A trait that allowed him to read and perhaps dodge attacks like that would certainly be useful for melee fighters. No wonder he looked confident about using a spear instead of a sword… actually, any weapon would do it for him since he could dodge them all and focus on the counterattack.

“You didn’t hit him. What are you waiting for?”

Zelos stepped in to hit the other kid without hesitation and swung his sword from one side to the other, but the other kid stepped away at the exact time and just enough to avoid the hit… There was no tension in his eyes and body, and he was in total control of himself.

After cutting the air a few times, Zelos stopped and squinted his eyes while studying the other kid. It looked like he was planning to recover his wooden spear to turn things around, but Zelos didn’t have to wait for it.

In the next moment, Zelos raised his sword a bit and then prepared to swing it down at the other kid. After he stepped in, his opponent moved away, but then Zelos weakened his grip, and then the wooden sword left his hand, and the tip hit the stomach of the other kid… he didn’t expect that Zelos would let go of his sword.

“The match is over… still, would you throw your weapon in a battle where you have to deal with other enemies?”

“I would find another way to deal with it.”

“Like how?”

“I probably would kick a weapon on the ground at them.”

Heirina raised her eyebrows, imagining that Zelos was joking or trying to be funny, but there were no signs of that in his expression; he was serious. The other kid left the training ground while massaging his stomach… he felt really bothered about losing like that against someone so much younger, but at least he was smart enough to recognize the good experience and the fact that he underestimated Zelos a fair bit.

The next kid was a shorter boy than the previous one, and he chose the sword, and then Zelos was forced to take his spear. He practiced a bit with it the previous night, but the weapon truly didn’t feel right… maybe it was a matter of getting used to it, but he somehow doubted that.

Once again, Zelos grabbed the spear with his single hand and lowered his stance. He almost looked like he was copying the posture of the previous kid, so it was weird that he wasn’t using both hands.

“Start.”

Both of them stepped in at the same time and then swung their weapons. Zelos used a trust since he had the advantage of range. Thanks to that, the other kid adjusted his aim and then blocked Zelos thrust with the tip of his sword. His stance didn’t break since he was using both weapons, but he was still pushed backward somehow.

The other kid opened his eyes widely at that, but soon had to recover his focus since Zelos stepped in and then thrusted his spear at the stomach of the other kid. This time, he repelled the attack to the side with his sword and stepped in, only to be welcomed by Zelos, head-butt on his chin. The kid’s eyes turned white, and he fell backward like a puppet that had its strings cut off.

“I thought that it was obvious, but I guess I need to tell you that you can only use your weapons. Anyway, next.”

Things were getting more interesting than Zelos had expected. One kid had a trait that improved his reaction speed, another had one that increased his precision quite a lot… the varieties were quite something. Still, while they had those traits and they had trained a bit already, they lacked a lot of experience that they could only obtain by sparring with those that weren’t related to them or in real combat.

As it turned out, Zelos was able to spar with three other kids and then he was hit in the sixth spar. His adversary was a girl that had shoulder-length brown hair and green eyes. She was supposed to look quite cute, but since she glared at him as if she had some sort of grudge against him, she looked like a person who had grown among the beasts of a forest.. That was weird since Zelos couldn’t recall meeting her before… Regardless, when the spar started he was suddenly hit in the stomach and he grunted in pain… the girl suddenly appeared in front of him as well.

“... The spar is over.”

The girl glared at Zelos for a few seconds, but soon, she turned around and then left. At least his wooden sword didn’t break, so he didn’t have to spend extra money, extra money that he could use to buy food.

“A trait that makes her pretty fast? That seems to be the case… Anyway, with this kind of trait, her family should have become pretty famous. They must be pretty old allies with Hei’s family… but he didn’t have anyone particularly close to him during that battle. Well, that’s not my problem. If traits like this exist, I need to find a way to counter them.”

Zelos left to watch the next match of the girl, but while she proved herself to be quite fast, she didn’t show anything on the same level as before. Despite that, after five matches, she was completely exhausted and breathing roughly while covered in sweat.