Having steeled his conviction, Emantarel slowly put his drawn sword back. He walked towards the side. A plethora of weapons lined up next to the metallic training puppets.

The fresh recruits didn’t have much weapon training yet. Most of them had learned the handling of a certain weapon before they entered the army. Naturally Emantarel was the same as he learned one handed swordsmanship from Captain Kaquir.

The seasoned soldier was of the opinion that Emantarel should focus on training his right arm. After all it was already impressive if his twitching left arm didn’t interfere in his fights.

Naturally Emantarel accepted the soldier’s advice. The man had a lot of experience and went out of his way to help their family. He definitely didn’t have any ill intent when he taught Emantarel.

Over the last few years however, Emantarel’s mindset had slowly changed. Today he finally wanted to leave this darkness that had been looming over him. If he didn’t learn to accept himself, he would surely hit a wall sooner or later.

Therefore, Emantarel stretched out both his arms with a confident face. Two rough hands grabbed the handles of two short swords.

A slight smile appeared on Emantarel’s face for a second. As he made this decision, his thoughts drifted to someone else who loved to dual-wield her weapons. A lighthearted feeling spread through his body when he remembered her smile.

With a variety of emotions Emantarel neared a small metallic stele at the platform’s center. He took a deep breath in as he suppressed his tumultuous mind. As expected from a soldier, the young man effortlessly entered combat mode.

Still slightly unaccustomed to the army’s means, it took Emantarel a few seconds to navigate the options displayed on the stele. After he confirmed his settings one of the puppets to his right slowly began to move.

Emantarel mustered it for a second before calmly taking his position on the grassy plain. The puppet didn’t pay any attention to him yet as it also went towards the weapon rack. Just as Emantarel programmed it, it took out a long sword before positioning itself opposite the young man.

Emantarel observed the lifeless puppets face, which lacked any features. Somehow the black metal’s smooth motions still caused an eerie feeling to rise in the young man.

Knowing that every distraction during a fight would prove detrimental, he hastily put this to the back of his mind. His eyes focused on the puppets sword while he firmly grabbed his own weapons.

His left arm twitched once while small red lights blinked on the puppet’s shoulders. Time seemed to come to a standstill as they blinked once… twice... thrice.

Emantarel’s body tensed up.

Suddenly the red lights switched to green. Runic lines quickly lit up. They snaked along the black metal. A mysterious feeling emanated from the puppet’s streamlined body.

It raised its sharp sword as its feet pushed against the ground. It abruptly accelerated towards Emantarel. The puppet had no troubles reaching the speed of a level 20 swordsman.

Emantarel raised his swords. The feeling was still unfamiliar to him. His swords vaguely leaned inwards as the young man focused on the approaching target.

A moment later three swords collided under a loud metallic ringing. The grass below their feet bent under pressure created by their confrontation.

Emantarel suddenly realized his advantage upon first contact. With his two arms he had more power than his opponent. He hastily buried his foot into the floor. Even the hardened earth gave in slightly. White robes fluttered in the wind.

Making use of his lower body, Emantarel pushed out. He wanted to throw his lifeless opponent off balance.

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Unfortunately, the young soldier’s unfamiliarity led to a slight delay. It was enough for the agile puppet to disengage instantly.

Emantarel was caught off guard. His posture wide open.

The unfeeling puppet didn’t know any hesitation.

It raised its sword as it tried to flank Emantarel. The young man instinctively dropped the weapon in his left hand as he did an acrobatic role forward.

The puppet’s sword missed by a sliver. Sweat formed on Emantarel’s forehead. He felt the sharp winds produced by the sword as it graces past his back.

Emantarel was qualified to be a soldier though. His mind wasn’t disturbed. Although he instinctively switched to one handed combat, he didn’t give up the fight.

Leaning on one knee Emantarel quickly prepared a familiar spell. He hid his left hand in front of his chest as runes formed above his palm.

Although the training puppet didn’t use eyes to observe its surroundings, it perfectly mimicked a human combatant.

Since it couldn’t see the runes Emantarel prepared, this marvel of magical engineering took a step towards Emantarel after it managed to stop its own momentum. Suddenly it perceived fluctuations of mana from its opponent.

Emantarel meanwhile managed to form his most familiar spell in record time. Knowing that the puppet wouldn’t allow him to do anything more, the young man suddenly held his left hand behind him.

He focused his mind to avoid any twitching. The puppet didn’t try to approach him as it focused on its opponent’s gesture.

Emantarel’s perception locked onto the puppet. A short moment of silence ensued. Even the environment seemingly waited with bated breath.

Suddenly a ray of golden light left Emantarel’s hand. It shot towards the puppet’s knee.

The metallic combatant seemed prepared. Being able to guess the rough trajectory of the attack from Emantarel’s hand, its sword was ready to slash down.

In an instant the light appeared in front of the puppet. It swung its sword.

The enhanced weapon cut into the light ray. Scattered rays reflected towards the surroundings. The puppet didn’t feel any impact from the attack, but the sword immediately grew dangerously hot.

Some small flames burned the nearby grass. It could be imagined what damage the light ray would have done to a human’s skin.

Emantarel hastily pushed himself up from the ground. Performing an acrobatic spin, he faced the puppet again. Unfortunately, this didn’t help him to recover from his disadvantaged position.

The puppet didn’t wait for Emantarel to stabilize himself. Ever since the first clash the emotionless machine was bent on pushing its advantage.

As soon as Emantarel turned around he was faced with the puppet’s faceless head. A sword swiftly approached his stomach.

The young soldier felt coldness spreading though his body. He unconsciously knew that his situation was terrible. But a soldier naturally couldn’t give up. Even in a hopeless situation it was his job to take the enemy with him.

Gritting his teeth he ignored the approaching sword. He gathered all his determination. His sword swung from right to left, rapidly approaching his enemy’s throat.

The metallic puppet might have been surprised if it had human emotions. However, since it was only an unfeeling machine it reacted mechanically with a speed suitable for its level.

A sliver of despair appeared in Emantarel’s eyes. He was forced to watch as his opponent ducked under his sword. As its head leaned forward, it pulled its body weight along.

The puppet’s sword shot forth even faster.

Suddenly the runes all over the puppet’s body lit up in a glaring red. They almost resembled veins filled with blood. Such an eerie sight assaulted Emantarel’s eyes.

The young soldier deflated as tension left his body. His eyes followed the puppets body down until they landed on its hand.

There, it held the sword which had abruptly stopped in front of Emantarel’s stomach.

Obviously couldn’t the training puppets be allowed to kill any recruits. Therefore, such an outcome was already counted as Emantarel’s defeat.

In a real fight it was hard to say if such an attack would end deadly. This depended on a warrior’s armor, endurance, defense and vitality.

In training however, the winner had already been decided.

Naturally Emantarel accepted the outcome. What should he do? Complain towards a puppet?

The young recruit knew he had lost. Now it was more important to figure out why.

In the case of this fight however it was apparent what happened. The young soldier was unfamiliar with dual wielding, leading to him already loosing in their first exchange.

A wry smile formed on his lips while the puppet drew back its sword. Emantarel realized how much work laid before him. He tried to overcome a mountain despite just having learned how to walk.

Shaking his head and sorting out his thoughts, Emantarel collected his second sword from the ground. His training partner meanwhile nonchalantly took back its position on the platform. It almost looked like it mocked the young recruit with the way it sauntered towards its resting place.

Emantarel used the meditation taught by the army to reset his mind and relax his muscles. He forced himself to leave this fight behind and focus on the next one. He regulated his breathing as he approached the metallic platform again. Hard times stood before him if he wanted to overcome his limitations. Only if he stood out could he avoid being drowned among the army.