Rick had been ruthless with his training. Apparently, the lucky shot to the head of the mage was not considered good enough. So Jet was doing his morning shooting practice. He was not so lucky right now, even with arrows wrapped in his wind magic didn't help.

"Jet why are you frustrated? You have a natural talent with that bow." Rick was sitting by a tree watching.

"I'm not even close to hitting the center of the target." Jet complained.

Rick got up and looked at one of the guards around. "You." He pointed at one of them and the man came over. "Have you ever shot a bow?"

"No, Sir." The man answered.

"Ok, go shoot that target." Rick pointed towards the target Jet had been practicing on. The man took the bow and took three arrows. They missed, by a lot.

Jet just sighed. "Ok, I get your point." So he kept practicing with the bow. He got worse as time went on, may have to do with his arm starting to hurt.

"Ok Jet, you best get your stuff around in a hurry we're about to leave." Rick pointed at everyone getting ready to roll out.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner. I haven't even eaten." Jet complained.

Rick shrugged and just walked off. So Jet run over to his makeshift camp and grabbed up his stuff. Grabbing some beef jerky for breakfast he headed after them. They actually left him behind while he got ready. After running to catch up with them he stopped when he almost caught up and groaned. He had forgotten to pick up his arrows around the target. So he again run back and collected the arrows. Then had to run back to them. Looking at Rick he could see a smile on his face.

"Glad you could join us. Now run around the group." Rick said while sitting back on the carriage.

Jet just sighed and started to jog around the group they had joined. Rick told him it was to build muscle and character. He wasn't sure what was wrong with his character. Rick told him he was too gloomy. Maybe Jet needed to change, he used to be more positive. But after what had happened, his personality had changed.

Once they stopped for lunch Rick immediately started sword practice. He really didn't believe in rest. Jet ducked under a swing, then tried to hit Rick on the side. He easily sidestepped Jet's swing. He swung up to block Rick's swing. After Jet blocked the attack Rick stepped back. Jet took this time to rub his wrists.

"Kid you got good instincts with a sword. But you got a habit you need to break." Rick stopped suddenly.

Jet waited a moment then asked. "What's the habit?"

"First who taught you to use swords?" Rick asked.

Jet had no clue how to answer this question. How do you tell a person that doesn't play games, that you learned swordplay from them? "Beat Saber." He answered honestly.

"So a relative?" Rick looked at him.

"No, it's a game."

"So they still use swords in your world?"

Jet raised an eyebrow then realized what was wrong. "No, well yes they have swords." Then Jet tried to explain what a game was.

"Your world is confusing. Anyways, your biggest issue is your upswing."

"What's wrong with my upswing." Jet was confused.

"You need to stop doing that. It is a habit we need to break. I'll give an example. Coal can I borrow a couple of your men." Rick yelled to the man currently eating.

Jet just watched as to of the guards walked over, a man and woman. Rick told the guy to use underhand swings to duel. They both shrugged and started sparring. After a few minutes Jet caught on to what Rick wanted him to see. They both walked away after Rick thanked them.

"So did you see the problem?" Rick asked.

"Yes, the underhand swing not only makes you tired faster, but you also have to waste more energy and force to stop an swing." Jet answered.

"Well, you at least get the rough idea. If someone swings down at you try to sidestep or hit the swing from the side. Not only that your apt to get yourself killed trying to block some swords with an upswing. Remember this well, most fights are decided on who gets exhausted first or makes a mistake. But you my young friend are going to learn how to fight smart. Which means you can't have a fighting style."

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Jet interrupted Rick. "No fighting style?" He was getting confused. If he fought with Rick he would learn his fighting style.

Rick raised an eyebrow then smacked Jet on the arm with the wooden sword. "Don't interrupt me while I'm speaking." He watched as Jet raised an eyebrow. "Look if you get into a pattern the other guy can use that to their advantage. But you can also use that to your own advantage, tricking them instead. However, that would be an extended fight. Try not to get into those."

"Ok, sorry to interrupt again. But I got to ask, why don't I just use magic?" Jet's thoughts were why use weapons if you have magic.

"Simple, magic can take time to cast. So you need to be able to defend yourself. Anything else you want to ask before interrupting me again?" Rick asked.

"No, I'm good."

"Well, that's all I had to say anyway. Pack up and get ready to move." Rick walked off to take a seat on a carriage.

'Really is he even going to let me sit and eat." Jet got things around again and ate while moving.

For the next few days, Jet did the same routine. Morning archery practice, afternoon sword practice. As for his nights, lots of muscle training. Which didn't bother him too much, he had let himself get out of shape the last few months. His father would be upset. Something interesting happened on the fourth day. One of the archers of the group walked up to Jet during archery practice.

"Hey, Jet want some pointers." Someone said with a heavy accent. Jet thought she was Russian, but they're not in this world.

Jet turned to the woman, her name is Charlotte. He had learned all their names by now. "Hey Charlotte, I'll take any pointers you got."

"I noticed you're a good shot. But your form is terrible." Charlotte said and also had him stop using his magic.

Rick let Charlotte take over the morning training. However, he did not let anyone else take over sword practice. Now he would let others spar with Jet, but he would spar the most. Jet had many bruises on his body. Because every time he started to fall into a pattern, Rick would hit him hard. Just to remind Jet not to anymore.

After a few weeks, Rick smiled at Jet one morning. Jet had shivers go down his spine as he looked at that smile. "You are moving up to the next stage. Today you start dueling two people at a time. Don't worry about volunteers, most the soldiers want a go at you."

Jet stood there wide-eyed. Taking a look around the soldiers gave him huge grins and thumbs up. "Why am I dueling with two people?"

"Jet I have trained a few people. You have this gift of learning too quickly. I have been dueling you for three weeks now, and I am impressed. Not only that, Charlotte says you're making good progress. This is without using magic." Rick frowned when Jet interrupted again.

"Speaking of magic, when do I get to learn more?" Jet asked.

Rick just sighed and rubbed his face. "You really have a one-track mind. But yes we will be starting that tonight. Your body muscle has increased enough to start magic practice again."

Charlotte grabbed Jet's shoulder and smiled. "It's still morning, so I get you first." Then she walked off with him. Rick did not care, since it would be better for her to teach him archery. He was a closeup fighter, but he was more known for being a silent killer.

When they walked up to the targets, Jet noticed they were twice as far out now. "Uh, how am I supposed to hit those targets."

"Rick said we can use magic, and I feel you got a good grasp on archery. He isn't lying, you are a fast learner. Now you know the basic spells for making an arrow fly straighter and further. So we will start there." Charlotte had Jet fire a few arrows and then started to give him new pointers.

Jet had gotten down about two hundred and fifty yards. Charlotte had doubled that to five hundred yards. She expected him to use magic to get that to two thousand yards within the month. He spent the morning with Charlotte, but something caught his attention.

"I see you noticed too, act like you saw nothing while I tell Captain Coal." She walked off as Jet acted like he didn't see anything.

Jet had a small problem, he was down to his last arrow. Something told him he shouldn't walk over and collect the others. But, that would look suspicious. On another note, now he wished his sword was on his back. It would look suspicious if he grabbed the sword then walked over to collect the arrows. So he decided after today he would wear the sword at all times. So he just started to do his usual jog to grab the arrows.

While Jet jogged to the targets, he looked out of the corner of his eye at the people hiding. Then realized there was only one person. So it had to be a scout. After he picked up all the arrows, Jet headed back to camp. It had already got late enough for them to head out.

'But why? They're not going to do anything about the person following us?' Jet thought as he jogged back. He immediately grabbed up his sword and put it on. Now he had planned on keeping the blade close by. Keeping his mind off the scout he got all his stuff around. After doing this for a few weeks he got the hang of stuff. Not only that the cook always got him meals now that he helped hunt. Turns out Rick didn't make him skip meals with the others for no reason. It just took Jet a week to figure this out.

Jet walked over to Rick after they headed out. "So what is going to happen to the scout following us?"

"Don't worry about that, just keep doing your training," Rick said as he threw a scroll at Jet.

Jet opened the scroll up realizing it had a few spells on the page. "What am I learning?"

"Those are basic body enhancing spells. I can't help you with them since I don't use water magic. However, I have a friend in Hope that will teach you more." Rick explained.

Jet just nodded and tried to cast the spells. His body felt weird as his magic run through his body. But he could tell his body had strengthened. He clenched his fists feeling the magic running through his muscles.

"Seriously, you got that on your first try." Rick looked at Jet in disbelief.

"I don't know. But it feels like I can guide the magic myself." Jet felt the flow of magic in his body. The more he used magic, the more he felt control over it.

"He was right, you are unique," Rick said softly.

"What?" Jet asked since he didn't hear Rick.

"Nothing, just keep practicing the spells." Rick leaned back and closed his eyes.

Jet just shrugged and walked off. If Rick said the scout would be handled, then Jet would let it be. Of course, that didn't mean he would just ignore the guy. It would make good practice for tracking people.