PAIN JUST PAIN.....

This new training is torture, 20 laps jogging around the mansion everyday. This doesn’t sound bad just yet, it’s with weights, 5 kg weights, I am 12,12!! Even the joy of finally reaching puberty did not hold for everything. Though I did get a growth spurt but that did not help one bit when I first collapsed from exhaustion I got doused in water by the head maid, hot water to boot. If I ever manage to complete a full set more than a week in a row then I get the weights increased by another kg. This continued on until it reached 12kg and afterwards they made me continue my weapon training with the weights. Now instead of the wooden sword it is a iron training sword, not sharp but if you sharpened it then it would be an actual weapon, still can easily break a bone or two being more than a kg. If it was not for the fact that they always stop just short of murdering me during sparring then I would not be alive. It probably does not help that I have so many things extra on me at all times, never hurts to be prepared and the extra weight helps me improve faster. There is no gain without a price to be paid for it, and I have been paying it early now instead of later. Pre-emptive advancement, extra practice, early review and study sessions; all strategies from my days before that have helped me in my life. No need to slack off now, being complacent will only lead to trouble later as I know though I might be putting the cart before the horse here. That is what my brain is trying to justify, I know what I need to do inorder to over prepare but my body has other ideas.

Still you just can’t help but be excited to learn how to fight, how to hold a sword, ways to strike. All the ways to clash your blade against someone else, however this is not like dueling or fencing. This is actual real combat grade fighting, clashes of the sword are not fancy or elegant. It is rough, switching between fast strikes or heavy blows quickly. I have lost count of the number of times I have gotten bruised or cut during training not to mention the occasional sprained or broken limb. I have had to practice against the trainee guardsmen, Brad, butler Landon, and rarely my father. Often when father visits I have a training bout with him, I have never gotten close to winning but it is not like he beats me into the earth mercilessly. Usually both during and after the bouts he yells out advice, “Keep your eye on the face and shoulders of your opponent, both will allow you to predict what they do next, where they will strike. While veterans can use feints with this keeping an eye on both makes this hard for them to do. Train your eyes, being unable to see your opponent will result in your death, but keeping too much attention will lead you into traps. Keep an eye on everything and be careful whenever you focus on something”. Very interesting lessons to learn from him, actual battle knowledge instead of the more exercise focused martial arts I knew.

My mothers though...they are way too similar, both just keep slashing at me with their weapons and tell me to keep dodging. There is only the weapon attacks, no advice or other such things to help me or train me. I have gotten very good at surviving, avoiding them in the first place is a good strategy, finding the earliest time to leave if caught is also something that works. But this strategy does have it’s trade offs, for one they are not happy I avoid them, the other well...

“My lady, may I ask why you are doing this?”

“You are my retainer no, now do what I say!”

“But my lady, what exactly do you want us to do?”

“Fight for my honour my knight!”

“But with who my lady?”

“That valet there should be trained no?, now get to it!”

“Very well my lady” ‘Did my parents tell her or does she have good intuition?’

Holding in that sigh I turn to Brad and Cade who also got dragged into this. I had just bailed ahmm strategically retreated from my mother’s training after being attacked for about 20 minutes to a spot near a small copse of woods by the manor. Cade and Brad had finished their early duties and had come over to me when my lady suddenly showed up. I signaled to Brad with my eyes and hands to grab a stick and have a light spar. He was confused for a sec till I managed to pantomime to him to pretend to fight.

Brad swung downward multiple times, no technique in using the momentum or recoil just swings which I blocked in a manner which no respectable swordsmen would do since his sword would be notched very quickly. We kept swinging left, right, straight, and overhead. While this was going on I just realized I am just the third son but I have 2 servants, why is the duke’s daughter alone?

“My lady where are your attendants?”

“They were boring and refused to let me have fun so I left them behind hehehehe”

‘That was ominous, what did you do to them besides leave them behind’

“Now stop playing around and fight seriously, there are practice swords by the wall of the house now FIGHT FOR MY AMUSEMENT!!”

“My lady, how..?”

“This is a martial house no? I felt that it would be a shame if no one could give a display of their martial prowess”

‘Smirking like that, how are you 10. I seriously need to just stick her mental age as above 18 in the see the world burn category of crazy’

“Now show me your strength as a knight, FIGHT!!”

“Yess, my lady” “As you will milady”

Brad is looking depressed right now ‘I know Brad, this is rough but unfortunately we have to do what she says. Sigh this caste system can be a pain, but exploiting it myself is not what I want to be’’

“Full Force now my retainers, any injuries will be healed by me. I see you hold back then I will go to the aunties!”

‘Well fuck she has my weakness in full, pissing them off is a ticket to death by broken limbs. I mouth to Brad to go full force and he nods in understanding. If she is not satisfied we are both dead meat since she can really bring the hammer down with my family’

Cade if I die bury me in my best and plant a fruit tree on top so that future generations can benefit... once again thinking too much philosophy is not helping. Now how to make sure we get through this with the least serious consequences.