The two adventurers and their Queensguard companion arrived at their destination, just a little before dusk the next day. The village was gathering for their usual communal dinner, a large stew made from a medley of different vegetables along with whatever scraps of meat they could muster. Vegetables were the village’s main source of food. They grew a slew of vegetables from carrots to cabbages to potatoes on the plots of land surrounding the village. The meat came from the wild game that their hunters brought back from the forest. Hares and ducks were the most common bounty. Though sometimes the hunters would be lucky enough to hunt down a large game like a wild boar.

Three faun children sprinted excitedly to greet the visitors. The young girl was named Nerissa, the two boys trailing behind her were the boys Aegeus and Kostas.

“Miss Chelsea! Miss Chelsea!” Nerissa shouted happily, running to greet the half-orc woman. “We missed you so much!”

Chelsea crouched down and caught the girl in a bear-hug, lifting her off the ground and carrying her in one arm, much to the delight of the child.

“How are you, little one?” Chelsea asked, grinning. “Staying out of trouble?”

“Uh huh!” the young faun girl nodded coyly.

“And what of those two?” Chelsea asked, eyeing the two mischievous boys in front of her.

“If those two can’t find trouble, they’ll make trouble,” Nerissa sighed rolling her eyes.

Chelsea burst out in a fit of laughter, giving each boy a pat on the head with her free hand.

Aegeus whispered something in Kostas ear and the two boys darted out of the front gate of the village.

“See what I mean?” Nerissa said.

“Oh, come on you two! Tetsuya is still having nightmares about dire wolves!” Chelsea yelled out.

“You swore you wouldn’t tell anyone!” Tetsuya yelled out indignantly from a distance.

Chelsea set the faun girl back down on the ground and began walking towards the gate to keep an eye on the two boys. To her surprise, the two boys came running back to her with a handful of wildflowers in their hands. They gave Chelsea a big, toothy grin as they offered the flowers to her. Chelsea smiled as she accepted the flowers, bringing them up to her face so that she could smell their sweet scent.

“Quite a hero’s welcome for your friend,” Lord Edward said to Tetsuya.

“Well, my friend is quite a hero,” Tetsuya replied with a smile as he watched Chelsea as she placed a flower in Nerissa’s hair.

“Oh? And what of you?” Lord Edward raised an eyebrow as he studied the boy closely. “You were there that night too, were you not?”

“There’s a reason she’s the one getting flowers and not me,” Tetsuya laughed to himself, a bit embarrassed. “Chelsea and Lady Astrid were the ones who did all of the work. Me, I can barely fight well enough to keep myself alive.”

“I’ve seen my fair share of novice adventurers in my day,” Lord Edward chuckled to himself. “Believe me when I say this, I’ve seen far worse than you could ever imagine.”

“Well, I can’t imagine anyone being a worse adventurer than me,” Tetsuya laughed again. “I’m not strong, I’m not brave, I’m not selfless…” he said, looking out at Chelsea in admiration. “But you know what? That’s okay. Because not everyone can be as strong or as brave or as selfless as her.”

“Those kids can’t stop talking about her,” Jason said, walking over to greet the visitors. “Chelsea the Fierce, that’s what they call her. Aegeus and Kostas spend hours fighting with their wooden swords, saying that they want to grow up as big and strong as her.”

“Chelsea the Fierce, huh?” the boy said, looking over to his friend. “I’m sure she’d get a kick out of that.”

Jason took note of the elderly man’s black tunic with golden embroidery. It was identical to the one Lady Kiera and Lady Astrid wore during their visit, the standard uniform for the members of the Queensguard.

The village chief humbly took a knee to welcome his esteemed guest. Lord Edward smiled warmly, motioning for him to rise back to his feet.

“I don’t believe we’ve met before, my lord,” Jason said.

“Allow me to introduce myself,” the elderly man replied. “Lord Edward Prescott, of the Queensguard. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“My name is Jason Galanis. I’m the chief of this village,” the faun replied. “And to what do we owe this pleasure, my lord?”

“I wish we could have met under more pleasant circumstances…” Lord Edward said, regretfully. “But, I have come to inform you that our scouts have found orc encampments at the Forest of Dionysus. They are within four days march to your village.”

Jason’s expression turned grim. “It’s the worst of my fears,” he said. “I knew the orcs would follow us north one day. I just didn’t think that the day would come so soon.”

“Lady Astrid and a contingent of our soldiers have been dispatched to deal with them,” Lord Edward said, attempting to assuage his fears. “This group of orcs shouldn’t be a problem for you. The real threat is what could come after.”

“Which brings me to why I’m here,” Lord Edward continued. “Princess Deirdre has given me the task of training your village, so that you may be able to defend yourselves from whatever threat looms over the horizon, whether it be dire wolves or orc raiders. We’ve brought a small cache of weapons, with even more to follow soon.

"I can’t thank you enough,” Jason said, gratefully.

“No thanks are needed, I am only doing as the princess wishes,” Lord Edward said with a smile. “Gather the men in your village who are of fighting age. Their first lesson begins tonight.”

Lord Edward turned to Tetsuya. “Would you kindly unload the weapons from the wagon? The village chief and I have much to discuss.”

“Of course,” Tetsuya replied. “It’s the least I could do.”

Tetsuya quickly made his way back to the wagon. He was determined to make himself useful, even all he could do was menial tasks. He was happy to help in any way that he could.

The men in the village gathered under the night sky, clamoring with excitement. Normally, they would be heading to bed at this hour. But time was of the essence, orc raiders could strike at any minute. The sooner the villagers were armed and received basic training, the better. The villagers were divided into two groups - archers and swordsmen.

Archers would specialize in ranged defense, manning the walls to take out as many attackers as they can before they can even set foot in the village. Lord Edward gave Jason and Chelsea the task of teaching his group the basics of how to use a bow so that they would have a foundation of knowledge. He planned to teach them later how to perform volley fires, a military technique with a line of archers fired arrows simultaneously to make up for their inaccuracy.

Swordsmen would serve as skirmishers, engaging enemy units that breach the village’s defenses in an irregular attack formation. Instead of teaching this group complex military formations, Lord Edward felt it would be best to combat the orcs’ chaos with chaos of their own. After all, military formations would often become useless if they were broken, and the orcs were excellent at breaking their enemies’ formation. He would work with this group tonight, with Tetsuya serving as his assistant.

“When it comes to swordsmanship, everything begins and ends with your stance.” Lord Edward said as he drew his longsword.

“This is called a high guard,” Lord Edward explained, holding his sword with both of his hands and raising it high above his head with the blade pointed upwards, “From this position you can strike your opponent with a straight downward cut, also called an over cut or a high cut.” He demonstrated the technique several times, raising his sword into a high guard, following up with a downward cut and then raising his sword back into the high guard position.

The crowd watching the demonstration did their best to mimic his movements. Aegeus and Kostas watched from a distance, also practicing the technique with their wooden swords while Nerissa admonished them for not performing the techniques accurately enough.

Lord Edward turned his attention towards Tetsuya, who was unsure what he should do since he was wielding a one-handed sword. “The same principle applies whether you’re using a two-handed sword or a one-handed sword.” The old man demonstrated the same technique, this time only holding his sword with one hand.

Tetsuya nodded and raised his sword into a high guard while using his buckler to protect his body. “Like this?”

“Good.” Lord Edward replied as he studied the boy’s form. “Now try an over cut.”

Tetsuya let out a grunt as he swung his sword down, his sword hand lingering at the end position of his attack. Lord Edward took advantage of the opening and struck the boy’s sword hand hard with the false edge of his longsword, forcing the boy to drop his sword.

“Your sword hand wouldn’t have been exposed if you brought your sword back into a high guard.” Lord Edward explained. “That’s one of the advantages of a high guard. Try it again.”

The boy did as he was told. He picked up his sword and brought it back up into a high guard position. He followed up by executed a swift over cut and finished by bringing his sword back into a high guard.

“Good, good. You’re a quick learner.” Lord Edward smiled.

“From the high guard, you can parry your opponent’s over cut by transitioning into an ox guard,” Lord Edward said, switching his stance by holding his sword high, diagonally outwards from his body with the blade pointed at Tetsuya. “Come at me with an over cut from the high guard position,” he said to the boy.

The two combatants both entered the high guard position, Tetsuya went for an over cut and Lord Edward parried with an ox guard, holding his student at bay with his sword pointed at the boy’s face. “Not only does the ox guard parry your opponent’s attack, but it also puts you in an advantageous position to finish off your opponent with a thrust to the face or neck.”

Lord Edward demonstrated the ox guard a few more times, both the two-handed and one-handed variants. Finally, it was Tetsuya’s turn to demonstrate the technique. The boy watched carefully as the master swordsman calmly advanced towards him. In a split second, Lord Edward brought his blade down fast, far too fast. Tetsuya’s mind went blank and his body moved on its own. Without even realizing it, he blocked the attack with a perfectly executed ox guard. A blink of an eye was all that it took.

Tetsuya laughed nervously as a cold sweat dripped from his brow.

The old man leaned into the boy’s ear. “My deepest apologies. Sometimes I misjudge my own strength,” he said regretfully. “Are you alright?”

The boy nodded, still a bit shaken up. “I’m fine,” he replied.

“Let’s move on shall we,” Lord Edward said to the crowd as he held the hilt of his sword by his waist with the blade pointed upwards toward’s Tetsuya’s face. “This guard is called a plow guard. This is a point forward guard that you can use to parry attacks and it also serves as the starting point for a forward thrust. From the plow guard position you can lift your sword into an ox guard, or you can go from an ox guard and drop your sword into a plow guard.”

Tetsuya did his best to follow along, but something was gnawing away at his mind and distracting him.

“Keep your blade raised,” Lord Edward said as he used his sword to lift Tetsuya’s sword up to the proper position. “You won’t be able to parry effectively if your blade is too low.”

“The final guard I’ll be teaching you all tonight is called a wrath guard,” Lord Edward rested the strong of his blade on his right shoulder, the blade pointing upwards and behind him. “This is the starting point for a downward diagonal cut called a wrath cut. He demonstrated the wrath cut, then returned to the wrath guard, followed by another wrath cut. "Make sure to twist your torso, the torque from the twist of your body is what generates the destructive power of this cut.”

“The key to combat is transitioning effectively between guards. For example, you can start with a high guard, execute an over cut and pulling back into a plow guard, following up with a forward thrust, advance with a forward step while raising your blade into a wrath guard and finish up with a wrath cut.” Lord Edward demonstrated the complex string of techniques slowly while everyone else attempted to follow along. He watched with a stoic expression on his face as Tetsuya attempted to perform the sequence of techniques.

“High guard to over cut… Plow guard to forward thrust… Forward step and wrath guard… Finish with a wrath cut…” Tetsuya muttered to himself. The boy struggled at first but managed to perform the sequence correctly, though his form was far from perfect.

“Alright, everyone pair off and practice what you’ve learned.” Lord Edward said to the crowd. “Once you’ve had enough, you’re free to retire for the night.”

The crowd murmured excitedly as everyone paired off to put the lessons that they learned into practice. Soon the night was filled with the sound of steel clashing together.

“Are you ready?” Lord Edward asked as he gave Tetsuya his undivided attention.

“I’m ready,” Tetsuya replied as he raised his blade into a wrath guard. He watched Lord Edward cautiously as he readied his sword into a plow guard.

Tetsuya took the initiative and swung his blade down into a wrath cut. Lord Edward parried the attack and followed through with a straight thrust. Thinking quickly, Tetsuya parried the thrust with a swing of his buckler, then followed up with an over cut from a high guard. The old man back stepped to evade the attack and put a bit of distance between him and the boy.

Lord Edward swung for Tetsuya’s exposed sword hand, but this time the boy blocked the attack with his buckler. The old man back stepped again before the could follow up with an attack of his own.

“Learning from your mistakes, on your own no less.” Lord Edward chuckled to himself as he readied his sword in an ox guard. “You could have gone back to high guard as I taught you. But you realized on your own that you could protect your sword hand with your buckler. I must admit, I’m a little impressed.”

Tetsuya grinned as he raised his sword into a plow guard. The two combatants lunged forward, locking blades. It was just like how the two of them met for the first time at Roland’s Workshop. He remembered how they locked blades and how quickly Lord Edward disarmed him like it was nothing. This time, it was Tetsuya’s turn to back step into safety.

“Is something the matter?” the old man goaded him playfully.

“Just remembering the first time we locked blades,” Tetsuya replied.

“And you remembered what came after.” Lord Edward said with a laugh. “Now, I really am impressed.”

Lord Edward lifted his sword into a wrath guard. Tetsuya quickly went into a plow guard. The old man brought his sword down and smirked, a feint, he quickly switched into an over cut. He caught the boy by surprise, Tetsuya barely lifted his sword up quick enough to parry the over cut with an ox guard.

“Tell me, Tetsuya,” Lord Edward said as he back stepped into safety once again. “Why do you want to learn how to fight?”

“Because it’s Chelsea’s dream to join the Queensguard,” Tetsuya replied, going for an over cut, but being parried effortlessly with Lord Edward’s ox guard.

“I never really had any dreams of my own. No goals. No ambitions,” Tetsuya went for a second over cut, once again, parried easily by an ox guard.

“All I know is that I don’t want her to leave me behind,” Tetsuya’s third over cut clashed with Lord Edward’s under cut, their swords caught in another lock.

“And that I don’t want her to travel down that road ahead of her alone,” the boy said as he back stepped into a safe distance.

“I guess what I’m trying to say,” Tetsuya closed his eyes as Lord Edward brought his blade down in a wrath cut. It had the same speed and killing intent as his earlier attack.

“Is that I want to join the Queensguard!” Tetsuya opened his eyes and instinctively parried the attack again with a perfect plow guard.

Without thinking, the boy quickly followed up with a forward thrust, stopping the point of his blade an inch away from Lord Edward’s throat. "Because my dream is to stand beside her when her dreams come true!”

“Tetsuya…” Chelsea called out in a soft voice.

The boy turned around to see his friend smiling at him. It was the first time he saw her smile like that.