The next morning after breakfast I head out of the room and tell the first guard I see that I want to fight a beast. The guard salutes me and leads me down and out of the castle, we exit through the back and enter into the training yard. The yard is a square box, the castle on one side with stables opposite, the other two sides are barracks for the soldiers.

The training yard is simply a sandlot, raked regularly, and bracketed by a stone walkway. Once word is spread that I am ready to battle fencing is brought out and placed around the edges of the sand creating a pen. I enter the pen and wait as a caged beast is brought out.

The beast they bring out is a monstrous wolf, this one has four legs unlike the six legged ones I've gotten used to. It is bigger than the wolves I have seen so far, well other than Great Mother Wolf. As the soldiers bring the cage to the edge of the pen all I can see in the wolf's eyes is anger.

If it was a pack animal I would expect it to be nervous at being alone, but all it shows is anger. It must be used to being a solitary hunter, meaning it will attack as soon as the cage opens. I could probably kill it quickly by anticipating its attack, but that wouldn't be good training.

As soon as the cage opens, the wolf flies across the pen, even knowing it was coming I just barely get out of the way. The wolf's jaws snap shut where my arm was a second ago, the wolf lands, turns, and bites my leg. It doesn't hurt much, its teeth barely break the skin, but it bites me and moves away before I can even react.

Its next two attacks also land, I can't move fast enough with the manacles on. Even when I react perfectly I am too slow to avoid the wolf's bites. When dodging I have to keep my steps small, if I try to take a full step the chain between my ankles will bring me up short and trip me.

As long as I can keep the wolf away from my throat I think I can handle any damage it deals out. So my main concern is not tripping and guarding my throat. The wolf bites me a dozen more times before I am able to dodge one attack.

Due to intense exercise Str +1!

The only way I can counter the wolf's speed is to anticipate its attacks and start dodging even before it launches the attack. The more I see how the wolf attacks the easier it becomes to dodge. As I start dodging the soldiers, who have been quiet till now, start cheering.

It feels weird having soldiers of Lady Xinun cheering for me to say the least. I feel like I should be slaughtering them, not entertaining them. Even so I keep dodging the wolf's attacks, the only time I get hit is when the manacles cause me to mess up.

Due to intense exercise Str +1!

Eventually I get to the point that I don't feel like I have anything more to learn from dodging the wolf's attacks. So the next time I dodge I summon my mind blade and slash at the wolf using one of the basic moves Vacker taught me. I feel almost no resistance as the blade passes through the wolf, but the wolf's head comes clean off.

I quickly kneel down and cut open the wolf's chest before I dismiss my mind blade. As I reach into its chest to pull out its heart I can hear the soldiers happily discussing my fight with the wolf. From what I can hear it seems I have impressed them, I think of how that could benefit me as I eat the heart in a few bites.

Devour activated! Str +2 Agi +2 End +2 Int +2 Wis +2 Luck +2!

'Luck went up! Why would luck go up? Was it a lucky wolf? Bizzare! But I will take it!'

As I stand up one of the soldiers opens a gate in the fence and offers me a towel and a mug of water. I thank him and down the water and then use the towel to wipe off most of the blood. Lots of the soldiers come over to congratulate me, it takes me a few minutes to get away from them and return to my room.

As soon as I enter the room Vacker bombards me with questions about the fight, he isn't satisfied until I have given him a play by play of the fight. The main reason he didn't go watch is because he was worried his yelling at me would distract me. He makes sure to point out every mistake that I made during the fight.

Once I have rested a bit he makes me act out the fight while he points out alternative moves I hadn't thought of. Instead of sword practice he has me go through a new style of footwork meant to work with the manacles. It is very difficult and trying to learn it has me falling down a lot, but I don't let that stop me and I keep working at it.

Due to intense exercise Agi +1!

So far with the manacles on I have taken several steps each time I have dodged. Now Vacker is trying to teach me to take a single step and lean to dodge. The problem is I am supposed to use my core muscles to change my center of gravity as I lean.

It sounds impossible and I wouldn't have believed it if Vacker didn't demonstrate it several times. It seemed simple at first but the more I try it the more I am convinced that it is a very advanced technique. But the more of it I manage to learn the more I want to master it, using the minimum movement to the greatest effect.

According to Vacker once you master it you can take a blow and not fall even when leaning. Or you can strike while leaning and have the same power as if you were standing upright. The entire thing depends on control of the core muscles, and that is where I am running into problems.

The whole step and lean part of the technique I can do just fine, but every time I try to move my center of gravity I end up falling. It is like trying to clench your gut and then move it around just by willing it. If I am sitting still I can somewhat manage it, but while moving it is proving too difficult for me.

"Vacker, I just can't do it!"

Vacker says "Well, of course not! You are not going to learn in a few hours what it took me years to come up with!"

"Wait, you developed this technique?"

Vacker says "Yes, I came up with it to accompany my swordsmanship."

"This is a master level technique? And you are trying to get me to learn it when I am a beginner by your standards?"

Vacker says "You have physical abilities far beyond any human, you may not be able to master it yet but you should be able to learn the basics."

"Wait, this is just the basics?!?"