“Sir, my name is Christopher, I am here to train”

Portos looked him over from top to bottom, as if judging a prized pig. Some of the people sparring close to him also seemed to have their eyes drawn at his declaration.

“Ah, I see… Do you have any experience fighting the Blight?” He asked with a booming voice and clear doubt on his face. Someone snickered to his left.

“Ah, no, not really. I killed a few Goblins the other day but that is about it. Realizing my own weakness has caused me to want to train and become stronger!” He tried to sound forceful, afraid he would be rejected.

Portos rubbed his chin, while Namir stood watching, as stoic as ever.

“Well, we never reject any person that wishes to join the war. Do you have any experience or preferences when it comes to weapons?”

“Well, I own a sword and a knife, so I suppose I would like to train with a sword.”

“Hmm, how about we test your aptitude for a little, it would be a waste to assign you a teacher with an unsuitable weapon. Namir why don’t you and Christopher over here have a battle.” Namir simply nodded. If the spear wielder disliked the proposal, then there wasn’t any indication. Christopher was somewhat surprised that he already had to fight, but he certainly was not going to refuse the giant warrior.

They moved to an empty area of the training grounds. He already noticed how difficult it was to move through the sand, which was quite warm as well. he guessed that this was an advantageous training method for the Priests. Tamas looked on from the sidelines with amusement, looking like she couldn’t wait to see what would happen now.

“Perfect, now draw your sword and try to attack Namir.”

He had noticed that pretty much all of the priests here were using blunt training weapons, yet he was expected to use his real sword here. Had the giant man already judged him to be no threat to the spear wielder? Disturbingly Namir was also using his real spear.

He was hesitant to use a real weapon against the spear-wielder but quickly decided to get serious. He figured that it was unlikely that he was capable of seriously injuring the stoic warrior, and a protest now might sound like he insulted the man’s strength. He decided that he would do his best to get a single nick in.

He drew his sword and exploded into action, deciding to use some power while swinging the sword straight for Namir’s arm. Unfortunately, the sand made his movements awkward, making his attack seem clumsy. With minimal movement, Namir sidestepped the sword, Letting Christopher overshoot his target. The man simply waited for him to regain his stand with a calm expression.

Wanting to get one hit in, he tried to focus more on swift strikes with his sword, decreasing the power behind each slash. Nevertheless, his sword never really got close to wounding him. This time, Namir did not only dodge but also sometimes deflected the sword with his spear, unsurprisingly all with minimal effort. Disconcertingly, he could have been killed many times over by now. At this point some of the surrounding Priests were snickering and joking at his tribulations, clearly enjoying the spectacle. His old image of priests had really shattered today.

Christopher once again tried to adapt his attacks, this time throwing some feints into the mix, trying to trick Namir into a bad position. But it was to no avail, maybe to simply prove that he had the ability, Namir simply dodged to the other side, not even using his spear to deflect. It was as if the long blade of the sword telegraphed his intention. With each strike, he was seen through completely! Christopher grew increasingly frustrated. It was as if his mind was being read. He had not even managed to force Namir to even deflect his sword once.

“Could be worse!” Portos his voice boomed with great mirth. “Those speedy attacks seem to suit you better. Try using your dagger next.”

Christopher was not that enthusiastic about daggers. It would require him to get very close to his enemies. He preferred to fight from a distance, that way he was less likely to get hurt. Focusing on ranged attacks also increased his chance to use Bookmark in his mind, just giving him that extra second before someone got close enough to chop off his head. If he had the ability, then he would prefer to become a mage, attacking safely from even greater distances. Of course, his current soul force did not seem to suggest great talent in that department.

Not wanting to annoy the bear of a man, he sheathed his sword and drew his dagger. Imitating the slightly crouched position that he had seen in movies.

Someone from the crowd yelled, “You going to take a shit” eliciting some more guffaws.

Having enough, Christopher decided to once again spring into action, forcing himself to get close to the spear wielder. At this point even Namir did not have much of a choice except counterattacking, the shaft of his spear batting away his knife arm. Not too surprised, Christopher immediately followed up, trying to hit him with a tightly clenched left fist. Namir, impossibly fast, sidestepped out of the way. He grabbed and twisted his just healed arm painfully, driving his head against the hot sand. While he was grounded against the sand, one of the red beaked birds let out a loud squawk. Many of the priests still sounded like they had a great time. He was growing increasingly angry.

Portos started laughing. “Nice fighting spirit, but that is enough for today. Why don’t you join Sin’s class, She would be a good fit for your attacking style.” Some of the others seemed somewhat disappointed that their fun was cut short.

I have a style? He thought. He was quite pleased though that he had somehow gotten himself in a trainee class.

“Thank you, sir, where and when does the next class start?”

“hmm, I believe that Sin teaches her students all the way down at the training fields next to the stables.” Namir nodded to confirm. “It should be too late for today, but why don’t you join them there at the sixth hour tomorrow. Just tell her that I sent you.”

“Yes sir, thank you sir” He answered with a formal bow. For some reason again eliciting a few laughs.

“I pray that you will gain the strength to crush the Blight in the future. Train hard.”

“I will sir!” He nodded this time, their talk concluded.

Things were definitely moving in the right direction. He was completely healed, and he had already managed to find someone to train him. He hoped that things would continue to go this smoothly.

Tamas was sarcastically clapping in his direction. “Amazing fight, if you keep this up you will join the rankings in 50 years.”

“The rankings?”

“Ah yes, each larger settlement has its own ranking ladder of the hundred strongest warriors. The rankings are determined by official matches between fighters. These matches are held once every two weeks in the Lumen Arena, which is a popular event among the citizens.”

Together they made their way out of the courtyard.

“What about Portos and Namir? Where are they on the Lumen ladder?” he asked, while they made their way out of the courtyard.

“In Lumen pretty much all of the top hundred are either from the Adenium Church or the City Guard, with more than half from the Adenium Church. Portos is placed fifth on the Lumen ladder, although, in the capital, he might not even make the top hundred. I don't really know about Namir, I had not heard of him before. People on the ladder are treated like hero’s around here, and everyone knows at least the top ten.”

This was really fascinating. It was not surprising that fighting strength was such a big deal here. He wondered how strong the people like Portos on the top of the ladder would be. Maybe he could watch some fights in the Lumen Arena in the future. He was also happy to learn that the strength of the native people of this world was no joke. He and the other summoned would not have to fight the forces of Entropy alone.

Tomorrow it was time to train.