Chapter 9: Sword Training for Former Dragons

Little author's note: My right hand is nearly completly fine again! BUT I actually managed to hurt my left hand. It's pretty funny if you think about it, but it suuuucks. Well since I am right-handed everything is now easier. Have fun with the new chapter length, even though it is not as long as it will be after my hands are fine again, as the left hand isn't really that hurt and my bandage on my right hand can be taken off tomorrow. A big thanks to Bokuboy who made the cover for this fiction!

-------------------------------- 3rd Person, all-knowing

Since it was getting late, the streets weren't as lively as in the beginning of the evening. A few drunk and tired people who made their way back home were to be seen. Yet there also were Vor, Marie and Lisa, those three didn't really fit into the scenery of drunken and tired people. On the way to Markus' home, Vor questioned Marie about the knights academy, because he toyed with the notion of trying to learn there. If everything worked out, he would get educated as a servant of Serayana and he would have to learn how to use weapons to protect his new 'mistress'.

He wasn't eager to serve somebody, but he had planned to aquire neccessary knowledge to move upwards in the human ranks. He was sure it would work differently than the ranking system of the beasts, but also different from the gods. He had to aquire basic knowledge and rise in social status, he now had a goal, but he also had a duty. Thus he has to find a balance between his duty and goals.

While Vor was deep in thought after questioning Marie, the three were already nearly at Markus house. Marie still wanted to spar against Vor, as she walked beside him. Lisa was silently following Marie, keeping a safe distance to the huge man called Vor, yet not too far away as she was scared from being too far away. She was in the awkward position of not wanting to be too far away, but she also didn't want to get too near. Therefore, the meek girl was stuck inbetween these two states.

When they finally had arrived at Markus home, he was already outside waiting for them. Serayana was not yet to be seen.

-------------------------------- Vor's view (3rd Person)

'Where is my new short mistress?' thought Vor, as he drew closer to Markus. He decided to search for her aura, which magicans didn't seem to be able to hide in this world. Perhaps they hadn't found out how to do it yet, but since it was so simple it just couldn't be just mere coincidence. Vor was able to sense any person with mana inside them, the people with bigger innitiate talent and those who were trained would naturally stand out. 'She sleeps... Well, I cannot blame her, as I wouldn't mind to sleep either.'

"Where did you run off to? And why are you dragging Marie and Lisa along?" asked Markus, he seemed tired and there was a tinge of sadness in his eyes.

"I was exploring the village and met these two. Also the guy who took over for you, Maximilian. He wanted me to escort Lisa." replied Vor while he was watching Lisa who hugged Markus and went inside.

"I knew I shouldn't have trusted that geezer. He send Lisa away with a guy he just met? I bet he is currently drinking!" complained Markus, he didn't seem like a person who goes out to drink alcohol.

"Hey! I was there too, so it was safe." pouted Marie.

"What are you even doing here, Marie? Your home is at the other side Tavin!" scolded Markus, even if everybody in Tavin knew each other, one still should not run alone in the dark.

"Calm down, I have to ask Serayana if I could come with them towards Medeth. Where is she?" responded Marie, she was used to being scolded.

"...She is asleep. She has gone through a lot and surpressed her feelings, as if a fourteen-year-old child could handle the shock of nearly dying." he sent an accusing gaze towards Vor.

'What did I do wrong now? I knew she wasn't showing it, but I don't even understand what they are thinking.' complained Vor in his mind while watching the exchange of Marie and Markus.

"You may accompany them, Marie. I don't think Serayana would mind and it wouldn't be for that long anyway. I hope you can find home yourself, I have a feeling that if I send Vor with you, he wouldn't find back here." said Markus.

'He sure has unbroken faith in me.' mused Vor as he watched Marie nodding to Markus words.

"I going to be here tomorrow morning. I will wait for you guys." said Marie as she waved at them, slowly disappearing in the shadows.

"You should go to sleep too, Serayana trusts you, but I won't, don't do anything stupid. Your room is at the second floor, the second one on the right." declared Markus, even his eyes were showing his doubts.

'I can't blame him, I wouldn't trust me either.' thought Vor, he went inside not responding to Markus words. He found the stairs and was surprised as he had never really seen them. 'So this is how humans get to higher places. One step at a time.' He was awkwardly going up the stairs, nearly tripping over his own feet. It was quite the unique experience for the dragon. The steps were not as big as one another, making it easy to slip.

Vor went into the second room as he was told to, he could sense Serayana sleeping in the first room. He opened the old wooden door and went inside, he was met with a sparsely decorated room, with only a bed and a table with a chair inside. He payed no mind, as he did not know what was usual for the humans. 'I really want to learn more about humans, but I am probably only able to fight. Humans create and humans destroy, much like the other races, but dragons? At least I can only destroy, but maybe I can learn to create? My form is at least human now.'

Without undressing he went to bed, noticing his dirty feet. 'I should probably get these cloth for feet.' was all he tought when he went to sleep. The night was uneventful, only when the first rays of the sun shined trough the old window, Vor woke up.

'It's early, I can sense that Serayana, Markus and Lisa are still sleeping, but there is somebody else? A child sleeping there too and Marie is infront of the house already?' the young man stretches his legs, which still feel oddly alien, but that was to be expected if one lived for over a thousand years in another body. His black hair was a mess, but he did not know how to fix it, except cutting it off. 'I still don't know the importance of "hair" , I really have to ask somebody else about it. No rash decisions. I should go down to Marie as she will come with us.'

The blackhaired man got up and went outside his room, down the uneven stairs and finally outside the house. There he saw Marie sitting on a rock, she was daydreaming or probably not even really awake. She was didn't react towards the low noise which Vor was creating by slowly walking outside the house. He eyed Marie, she actually had equipped a chainmail and her cloth seemed somewhat more sturdy than yesterday. She was wearing trousers which were made by some kind of black fabric which is why it shouldn't grant too much protection, yet it was certainly easier to move in. She also had two woodenswords strapped onto her back. Her athletic built was emphasised and her auburn rather short hair was tied into a knot, so that it doesn't get in her way. Vor's hair was the total opposite, a total mess and unbelieveably long.

"You got up very early." said Vor as he made his way towards the rock Marie sat on. She jolted upwards and looked at him in shock. 'She totally did not pay attention to her surroundings...'

"O-Oh, yes but you are quite early too! Say, are you strong?" responded Marie, trying to distract Vor from her shock.

'What does she want now?' mused Vor. "Yes, you could say I am quite capable."

"Would you mind to spar against me? Everybody seems to sleep, so we should kill the remaining time." declared Marie, the look in her blue eyes was eager, outrageously eager.

"What is a spar?" asked Vor, completly dumbfounding Marie, his lack of common sense was leaking out.

"What? A spar. A fight where we don't try to kill each other, but try our techniques and learn from each other." explained the confused cute young girl.

"Techniques? I am not sure whether I even have 'techniques'." said Vor, he wasn't sure if he could hold his strenght back in a fight.

"You don't have any? Do you have any experience with weapons?" asked Marie, she was doubting Vor as he looked nothing like a pushover.

"No, I fight with my fists and my feet." answered Vor. 'And Magic, but I better don't tell her that.'

"But you should do martial arts then? Techniques with your fists are still a technique, or are you only using brute force?" Marie was not sure what she should think of Vor. He certainly was mesmerizing and looked very strong as he was quite athletic and tall, yet such a person claimed to know nothing of weapons. He had no visible scars which were unsusual for fighters but that body didn't look like it was made solely to farm crops.

"Yes, you could say I use my strength to fight." responded Vor. "But I would like to learn how to use a sword or other weapons."

"I see, I can teach you the basics of sword fighting, but you have to show me your strength afterwards." proposed Marie, she had to see him in a fight to assess his ability.

Marie handed Vor one wooden sword and signaled him to follow her to Markus front yard, which basically was just a meadow.

"You have to hold your sword like this." she held her wooden swords in two hands putting up a guard. The sword was in a position that ran from the bottom of her torso to the top of her head. A middle position, easy for beginners but also useful for veterans. It enables you to respond to an attack with speed and also gives you many different angles to place your own strikes. "Be relaxed and take a stance in which you can maintain a good balance. Always remain calm or it could cost your head, try to control the flow of a battle. Aim for fatal blows, don't throw swings that probably will miss, because your opponent will be taking advantage of missed swings and end your life with a fatal blow."

Thus Marie tutored Vor in the way of fighting with a sword, only the basics as she didn't knew how to do more herself. It was all she could have learned in a village which was protected by the neighboring city. After explaining the basics to Vor she declared. "Now try to parry and evade my blows."

'Swordfighting seems very interesting, it could be unexpectetly funny.' thought Vor, usually swordfighters would not think fighting in life or death situations would be enjoyable, but Vor would probably not run into a situation in which swordfighting would turn into a threat. He took his stance as he was told to and waited for Marie's blows. They were unexpecetly fast for somebody of Marie's stature, the first blow hit Vor as he was his body was stiff anticipating the blow.

"You have to evade my blows! Relax and evade or parry, didn't that hurt?" scolded Marie, even though she wasn't too different when she first took up the sword.

'My body went stiff by itself, that's weird.' thought Vor as he relaxed his tensed up body. "No it didn't particularly hurt."

As Marie felt her pride taking a blow, she swung the wooden sword with her full strength in Vor's direction. It didn't connect, she wasn't even sure if he had moved and threw another blow. Once again it was evaded, she now saw his miniscule movements. She grew agitated and threw more reckless blows at him, yet she only hit air.

"Don't get angry, relax!" teased Vor as a revenge for her scolding, only resulting in even more blows. He was forced to take steps back as Marie moved forewards and thus they ran through the whole meadow but Vor never even once used his sword to parry. After a while Marie was too tired to even lift a sword, yet not a single drop of sweat was to be seen at Vor's head.

"Your...footwork...is..unbelievable." said Marie while panting due to the strain. After regaining her composure she asked. "I refuse to believe you didn't know that fancy footwork beforehand, who trained you?"

"I never had somebody who trained me in martial arts." answered Vor truthfully, he wasn't sure if he would hurt Marie's pride with that answer.

"Life sure isn't fair. Some people are way too gifted." complained Marie while she looked enviously at Vor.

"I still want to know your strength, you didn't even parry once. Could you hit this tree over there with you full strength?." requested Marie, she knew that strong martial artist could probably leave a deep mark in a tree if they hit hard enough. The tree was located in Markus back yard, right infront of the wooden palisade, it looked like a healthy and sturdy tree.

Vor went positioned himself in front of the tree and got ready to punch. 'How much strength should I use, a little bit more than against the bandits? That should be the norm for humans of my build, right?'

Vor tensed his muscles a little and punched the tree, it bursted into pieces which flew backwards. They would have hit the palisade if the shockwave from his punch hadn't destroyed the palisade. Vor looked at the hole he had created and then looked back at Marie, whose eyes were full of unbelief.

'Did I screw up again?' was all Vor thought as he saw her expression.