Christopher looked at the old man standing in front of them on the pink moss mat.

This ancient man really was supposed to teach him how to fight?

It was no wonder that Netello Brave did not fight in the Arena, a single Soul Powered blow would surely end his life. He had imagined many things but this was outside of his expectations.

He started to doubt the recommendation from Zalla, but realized that there was no sense in judging too early, the noble might be an amazing teacher with decades of experience.

Netello Brave started lecturing. “The quarterstaff is a weapon that had been used by the strong for generations. It lends itself well to combatants that hope to reach the apex of fighters. It becomes more deadly as the abilities of the wielder develop.”

They all stood at attention on the pink moss, listening intently. The soft lapping sound of water and the rustling of plants audible in the background. It was a very tranquil environment.

“Now, I know that all of you are still beginners, but you are not to worry, I will lay a foundation for you that will provide benefits for years to come.” The instructor looked at them for a while, cold eyes boring into every one of them. “I expect your full dedication in the lessons ahead, anything less, and don’t bother coming back.”

Netello Brave certainly gave an air of competence, maybe Christopher had worried for nothing after all. He would give the training a chance and put his best foot forward.

“Those that don’t have a weapon, grab a wooden practice staff of the weapons rack.”

Christopher and Vila did as they were told. Beteb stayed put, and when he turned around, he saw that he had been wrong to presume that the guy did not have a weapon. Beteb materialized a golden quarterstaff from his Soul, it shone as it reflected the light of the sun. He had not expected that a beginner would have a Soul Bound weapon. The summoning of the quarterstaff understandingly garnered all the attention of the students. Even Netello Brave seemed to observe the weapon with interest.

Christopher and Vila quickly returned with a well-polished and solid wooden staff. He hoped that they were not expected to fight, he did not want to get hit in the head with one of those expensive metal weapons that the others wielded.

“I will show you the basic stances only once. Pay close attention since I expect you to replicate them on your own.”

Christopher finally caught on that Netello Brave’s cane was not merely for support, but was also the Nobles quarterstaff.

Christopher paid rapt attention, not wanting to be the first one to screw things up. Netello Brave started with a simple stance in which he put his left foot forward, while his right foot was put back with his toes pointing to the right. His left arm was put straight ahead, gripping the staff a third from the front, while his right arm was bent, gripping the staff a third from the back of the staff. He tried to mask his surprise at the old man being able to pull off the stance seemingly effortlessly.

He and the other trainees did their best to imitate the stance. The pink moss was soft and springy underneath his feet, it made it harder to keep his balance. A strong wind made the task even more difficult. Eventually, it looked as if he had copied the position, his hands and feet should mirror the instructor exactly.

“Hold,” said Netello Brave, as he stopped the stance and walked towards them.

The old man stopped in front of Christopher and he could just barely see the cane racing towards him, it impacted the back of his knees hard. He let out an audible yelp and crashed to the ground. He had not expected the attack at all.

“You need to bend your knees more. Now again.”

He stopped himself from cursing, and remade his stance, this time with his knees slightly more bent. The old man whacked all but two of the trainees for their faulty stances, Beteb was one of the spared. The old man returned to him. Whack! The cane descended hard on his left shoulder this time. God Damn, that was going to bruise.

“Lower your shoulders slightly, now get back in position.”

Netello’s voice was cold all the while, this was seriously nerve-wracking. He made another rotation and whacked all but one other, who had apparently also succeeded, which made only three that had passed.

“Useless. I won’t allow the failures to hold back the others, we will move on to the next stance.”

The old man continued showing off the stances with impeccable form, many he would have thought impossible for a person of his age. All the while he kept whacking the twelve of them vigorously, all of them hard enough to leave bruises. He had seen the pained grimaces on the faces of the others, Even Beteb had been hit plenty of times.

Christopher was starting to feel stiff and his body was blanketed by pain; he had received two whacks with the cane for all of the nine stances, making a total of eighteen bruises on his body, none of them at the same spot. The man had not been satisfied with a single of his stances. He had tried so hard to get at least one right, but the sadistic noble had always found some flaw. Netello had apparently found the sweet spot for hitting someone without doing permanent damage.

“You will show me the stances at the start of each training session. You will get a pass if you can make it through all of the nine stances without the need for a correction. Let’s hope that the bodies of the slow learners can handle it.”

Great, and to think that he had been looking forward to this lesson. He supposed that dodging a beating was a great reason to learn quickly though.

Christopher thought that they might be in for some sparring next, but there was nothing of the sort. The next exercise was a variation of the previous one. They would use the same stances and now pair them with actual movements of the quarterstaffs.

Netello Brave told them to return to the first stance that they had attempted. Christopher was pleased that he had already memorized the stances, faulty as they might be. Maybe the beatings had some purpose after all. They were to simply push the quarterstaff forward in a stabbing motion and to keep repeating the exercise indefinitely.

They had to keep up this movement for a long time, and Christopher felt his arms leaden with the effort. When the old man finally bade them to stop the motion, they were only given a short minute break before the pattern repeated all over again. Changing to the next stance with a different movement of the quarterstaff. Christopher felt as if he was dying by the end of it, his body wheezing from the effort. He had received notification during the end of the fifth movement that had alerted him to an attribute increase.

[Congratulations, you have increased your Strength by one point.]

His attributes had come a long way since he had arrived here, and still this training left him wrung out. Christopher checked on his current attributes, noting the changes of the last few days. He was thankful that he kept making these small improvements, and appreciated that he had the confirmation that his work was paying off.

Vitality 16 Endurance 17 Strength 16 (+1) Agility 18 Soul Force 15 (+1)

At this point, all of them were thoroughly exhausted. Nobody had spoken in quite some time, not wanting to expend the energy. So after Netello Brave signaled the end of the ninth movement, they all thankfully collapsed on the pink moss matt, breathing heavily.

The cold and gravelly voice returned. “two-minute break”

Christopher let out a groan, he could only hope that the next part would be less intensive. The two minutes ticked by all too quickly.

“As some of you know, the quarterstaff is popular with people that are skilled with Soul Force. Are any of you unable to use your own inherent Soul Force to produce Soul Effects?”

They all looked at each other, but nobody spoke up. He wondered what the others could do. He was at least starting to get more confident in his own abilities.

“Good, otherwise it would limit your potential growth. I highly recommend that all of you train your Soul Force in tandem with your ability to wield the quarterstaff. You will have to learn Soul Techniques if you are to show any real value in our fight against the Blight. I am willing to set you on the path of learning a Soul technique if you complete the entire training program that I set out for you.”

Well, that certainly grabbed his attention. Learning how to fight with the use of his Soul Force was one of his biggest goals. Mastering the nine stances seemed to be the first step towards receiving this special tutoring. It made him see the grueling training of the day in another light.

“One more hour of archery practice. The bows are in the weapons rack. Get back here if you are unable to draw the bow.”

Christopher was glad that he had progressed with his archery, he did not want to do a training regimen that was thought up by the cold-blooded noble. Shooting a bow strained his arms but it was also kind of relaxing. He still needed to improve his accuracy significantly, he was only able to hit the target half of the time.

Luxurious dummies were placed before a tall wooden board, which was placed to collect any stray arrows. The dummies resembled different creatures of the Blight and were almost too well made for him to want to damage them. He practiced his shots against a dummy that he believed was called a Jumping Bloomer. It was some strange hybrid between a plant and an animal. It was known for the many sharp vines that It could whip around, and it was capable of jumping large distances. He had never seen one in real life, but this one was made with quite some artistry and he could mistake it for a real creature at a passing glance.

He aimed his arrow at the large round protrusion on its plantlike head that he knew was one of its weak points. It was quite small, and he did not manage to hit it during his attempts, only hitting the general area a few times. When he looked at the few that had not been strong enough, he saw that they were put on a tough and punishing regiment.

After the hour was up, they were finally dismissed from the session. Well, that had been a training session from hell. His body could not have continued much longer, and he feared that the session tomorrow would mirror the current one. He had never been this exhausted after any of Sin’s training sessions.

He did like the feeling when he swung the staff. He thought that he should buy the [Staff Flow] skill as well; it would likely prove just as useful as his Daggers Flow. He would buy it when they would actually start some sparring. The skill was cheap with only 600 Soul Points so it would leave him with plenty more to buy. He had taken enough time to weigh his skill options, it was time to make another purchase soon. There were plenty that would prove useful.

Christopher bade his fellow trainees goodbye and set out for the Arena. He was so exhausted that he could hardly gather the energy to make his way there. He wanted to go home and drop himself in the comfortable alcove, but he still needed to see the fights. The excitement should breathe back some life in him.