As we get closer to the barracks i start to hear the ”Clangs!” of steel against steel coupled with the “Clacks!” of wood against wood. The sound is almost like hail hitting a metal roof.

Wow they must really be going at it already. I can’t help but being a bit impressed with the knight commander who is supposed to teach us.

As I enter through the low wall surrounding the training area, which is about the size of a football field, what I see is the heroes sitting in a semicircle facing the knight commander. Behind him is the source of the sounds I heard earlier. There soldiers are franticly sparring with swords, bows and spears. At a casual glance they seem to be giving it their all in the sparring; however a closer look reveals that they keep glancing towards the heroes, in other words it’s all a practiced play fight, kind of like WWE does their wrestling. They are just showing off. I stay at the entrance as the soldier gets back to work.

What the hell is this!? Is this how we will learn to wage war? Like a fucking middle school class on a fieldtrip! And what is with the soldiers? They are doing stupid jumps and dancing around like morons! Is this a show? A circus maybe?

I get more and more agitated as I watch the knight commander talk about the use of each basic weapon. Basically what he was saying was that swords cut, spears pierce and bows shoot arrows. Just hearing him explaining it, and the fact that the heroes are listening intently, makes me more embarrassed than anything. I mean seriously this is the basic of the basic; it’s something you learn before ABC and 123. I have a strong urge to face-palm myself.

Eventually the explanation and show sparring comes to an end and the heroes are told to split up and join the soldiers whom they are interested in learning from. It reminds me of something from school. When we went to test different instruments to see if there was any we would enjoy learning to play. I can’t take part in this shit.

With a deep sigh I walk up to the knight commander and pull him aside.

“Excuse me but is there a place where I can practice by myself? Since I am the oldest here and I really don’t have any experience to speak of really, not to mention that my physical condition is at an all-time low. It would be horrible if I embarrassed myself in front of the kids…” I try to sound as mellow as I can.

“Hmm… Of course I understand that there could be some complications what with the age difference and all but I am confident that you will improve quickly through sparring with your fellow heroes.”

“Please understand where I am coming from, sir. If an adult like me were to spar against some of these children then, should I win, I would be considered a bully. However should I lose, I would be looked down upon as a worthless hero. Therefore I wish to train by myself, at least until my physical condition improves to a better state so I will not embarrass myself.”

And I really don’t trust you guys to teach me jack shit.

The knight commander looks a bit troubled by my request but soon gives in.

“Well if you insist…”

“I do.”

“Very well, I’ll show you to a place where you can train in peace. Lieutenant, take over until I return!”

“Yes Sir!”

I let out a big sigh of relief and hurriedly follow the knight commander. If he hadn’t accepted I would have been forced to ask some questions about the suspicious circumstances of our appearance here and the intentions of our “guards” at that time. Frankly I would have been forced to make this entire situation a whole lot complicated.

You may wonder why I would go to such lengths just to be able to train on my own. Well the truth of the matter is that I adore the idea of sword fighting and have, during times I knew beyond a doubt that no one would be able to watch me, been swinging around sticks and decoration swords while pretending to fight. I even did that at my age. It’s something that others would without a doubt look down on me for. After all a grown man playing with sticks and swords is not something that is accepted in today’s days and age, unless you are in a kendo club or something similar.

The knight commander brings me to a smaller enclosed area, about 30 meters square, on the other side of the barracks. It’s filled with different manikins, ranged targets, racks of wooden weapons and bows, a barrel filled with arrows and some benches and water barrels. There is even a ring painted on the ground for sparring.

“This is where the commanders train. There aren’t that many of us so you should be left alone for the most part. Just tell anyone who asks that I let you in here and it should be fine. If you have any questions or if you would like to spar feel free to ask anytime and I would be happy to oblige you.”

“Thank you so much, this place is perfect!” It’s really is above what I had expected. To be honest I would have been happy with just an empty space where I could avoid being seen. Looking around the only place where you can really look in is the balcony on the top floor of the barracks and it should be closed to the general public.

“Don’t mention it. We aim to train for an hour a day this first few weeks starting with basic endurance and strength. This training is essential and will save your life one day so be sure not to slack off!” And with that he returns to the other heroes.

After he left I can’t help but smile. It’s every boys dream to learn how to use a sword, and now I don’t just have a reason to I am more or less forced to do it. Since it’s like that how can I not be happy?

I take off my shirt and do some stretching. After confirming that my body really is stiff as a board I take a look around and wonder what to start with. Although I would love to start shooting some arrows that would not do me any good. I know my body and I am aware of the things I lack. So first things first, I need to train my endurance. First I should do is set a benchmark. I decide to start running. I run as fast as I can from one side of the area to the other and then I turn around and run back, counting each time to see just how long I can keep it up. I am ashamed to say that I only got up to four before I was unable to run anymore.

Disappointed in myself I lay down on the ground panting. A lot of swearing and “If only’s” later I get up and try my hand at basic sit-ups and pushups. Barely managing 20 of each I once again have to lie down and swear a bit. Normally this is the time when I would give up but this time I really have to get into shape if I want to survive in this world. So since I have no real choice I might as well just get to it.

Thinking that I start to alternate between running, sit-ups, push ups, stretching and resting. Now don’t get me wrong here, I am not some super exercise nut. So although I made a decision to focus on training I still rest more than I train. Even so I keep at it thinking that someone will surely come get me when I am supposed to stop I keep training as the sun wanders the sky. Soon enough my arms feel like spaghetti and my stomach feels like it’s been beaten black and blue. As I lie there on the hard ground waiting for my body to be able to move once again I hear footsteps approaching. A shadow falls on my face and the person in question stops behind me blocking the sun.

“That’s an odd way of training…” I hear a clear female voice. “Normally you would swing a weapon to bring up your stamina and strength, not running around like a headless chicken until you collapse.”

So here it’s normal to swing a sword around like an idiot in order to train your body huh? I sourly think to myself as I sit up to take a better look at her.

Contrary to her voice she is not a petite beauty at all. How could I describe her? Big but a bit short, strong while looking a bit overweight? She was not someone you would call pretty, cute or beautiful. She looks more like a bully. Yes that’s it! She looks like a strong, don’t you mess with me or I will crush you into paste, kind of bully. Or a bandit woman. In fact she is kind of dressed like a bandit…

After taking a good look I wobbly stand up.

“…Well, you see…”

What should I tell her? ‘I recently broke my leg and since it has just healed I thought I would do some light training’? Nah too fake… What am I thinking, bad habits of finding excuses for everything even if they are not needed. Just tell her the truth.

I sigh and start to explain to her.

“I am weak and I really don’t know anything about swordsmanship or how to shoot a bow. I have never even been in a fight my whole life. So I thought I should start by getting into reasonable shape before I start to swing around swords and stuff, you know?”

“Then why are you over here training by yourself instead of with the other heroes? Wouldn’t it be better if you had the knight commander’s guidance?”

“Heh, training with a bunch of kids will only make me more embarrassed of how weak I am. Seriously I am 27 years old and there are 12 year olds that have more stamina and strength then me.”

Besides I don’t agree to the way they do things. Like a school gym class rather than the army training that I was expecting.

“I see so your silly pride drove you here to train alone?”

“Yea, pretty much.”

“Ok, keep it up.” She just shrugs and leaves the area.

What the hell was that all about? She just left...

I scratch my head and decided that I can’t really go back to training after that. Not only is my body exhausted, but I am getting hungry too. So I quickly wash my neck with water before putting my shirt back on somewhat, before going to get something to eat.

As I enter the castle I meet with the solder from before who reports that the other heroes had finished their physical training and eaten already and that they were now gathered on the third floor where they were getting instructions in magic. I thank him and move on.

I would love to learn magic but I am way too hungry and way too tired. Let’s just go eat and then take a nap. I think to myself as I go to the kitchen.

The smell of boiling broths and spicy meat surrounding the kitchen really gets my appetite going. Almost drooling I enter the kitchen door.

“Wow!” “Crash! Bang! Slam! Cliir!”

As I entered I immediately ran into a person carrying a tray and cause him to trip and drop it all in a splendid act that ended with me covered with hot soup made of vegetables and finely cut meat. In such a situation I did what I think everyone of us would do.

“Aaahh!! Fuck! It burns! Get me some god damn water! Hurry up! Damn it!” I swear and scream until finally someone comes running with a bucket of water.

“Oh god! Are you alright? Here is the water.” Someone on the staff hands me the bucket and I just tip it upside down on myself to get the hot soup off of me.

“WHAT’S GOING ON HERE!?” A roar is suddenly heard and a giant of a man wobbles forward holding an enormous wooden spoon as if it was a war axe. I could almost feel the ground shake as the giant tub of lard made his way toward us.

“BILLY! Explain yourself!” He demands of the person I had run in to.

“I-I’m sorry sir I was just about to head up to the lady Gray with her dinner when this person ran into me and I lost my balance. Please sir it, it wasn’t my fault!” He quickly explains while eyeing the wooden spoon in near panic.

Since I now have cooled down a bit and am no longer in agonizing pain from the hot soup I calm down and realize that this was obviously my own fault for rushing into the kitchen like that.

“You DROPPED madam grays soup!? That I had prepared so carefully to meet her tastes! YOU IMBECILE!” The Fatty screams out at the top of his lungs and smacks Billy on the side of his head with the spoon, sending him flying across the floor.

“Ah Billy!” the one who brought me the bucket cries out and rushes to his side.

“Don’t help the little rat, Bridgett! Clean up this mess instead before I send you flying as well!”

“OHY! What the fuck you doin fatty!?” I yell out. Normally I am a timid person but this guy is really pissing me off.

At the word fatty the whole kitchen gets deathly quiet. I guess I said the taboo word. They all look at me as if I’m fucked.

“…what did you say?” Fatty whispers out ominously as he turns towards me.

“…I-I was the one at fault here, you should not just jump to conclusions like that and getting violent with the staff is hardly the way to handle things. So just calm down”

Acting as if he didn’t hear me he asks:

“What did you call… me?” He is shaking of anger at this point and the showing his yellow teeth in a grimace.

At this point I dodged a bullet, just as I was about to get my head squashed like a melon by a giant spoon, a man enters the kitchen.

“What’s going on…? Oh Mr. Hero what are you doing in here? What happened, you’re all wet?” It was the soldier from before, the one who guided me to the barracks. He had apparently heard the commotion after I had entered and come to check up on things.

“H-hero?” Fatty suddenly gets awfully pale as her hears the soldier's words.

“Yes, this is one of the 50 heroes who were summoned recently. Shouldn’t you of all people know that?”

“E-ehm, right I-I’m sorry, my lord I didn’t recognize you…” Fatty speaks out with a timid voice.

What’s with the change of tone!? Just a second ago you were about to bash my head in and now you sound as if you just insulted the king, is a hero really that big of a deal?

“Right, well don’t worry about it… In fact it was all my fault so let’s just leave it at that. I got to go change into some new clothes, do you mind sending some food up to my room?” I think it would be best to stay away from the kitchen for a while.

“Certainly my lord I will have it sent up immediately.” The fat man somehow makes a small bow, I doubt he can make a bigger one unless he wants to fall face first on the floor, and turns around to get everyone who was just gawking us. “Billy, get off the floor already! Cate I don’t see your hands moving! Everyone get your asses back to work!” And so everyone quickly gets out of his way and back to work.

Still having pieces of meat and carrots here and there, not to mention that I am soaked, I leave the kitchen to make my way back to my room. The soldier escorts me all the way.

“Jesus that was close, I thought he would make me in to the next item on the menu, haha. You really saved my ass there, thanks.” I tell him.

“No thanks necessary my lord. However, if I may be so bold, next time just make it clear who you are and there should be no problems.”

“Yea but, I can’t really walk around telling people that ‘Hey! I’m one of the heroes!” you know? It’s embarrassing. Besides I have only been a hero for no more than a day.”

“…” I guess he didn’t think about that.

We continue walking to my room, I am glad that I had an escort since I really don’t know my way around yet. The maids who see us quickly scurry out of the way while whispering. Tonight there will be more juicy gossip for them to enjoy I bet. Once I arrive at my room the soldier tells me that he will send someone up with a bath so I can clean up.

“Thanks… what your name by the way?” I ask as I realize I don’t know it.

“I’m Hank my lord, Hank Fieldstone.”

“A pleasure to meet you Hank.” I say and shake his hand.

“And, if I may ask, what should call my lord?” Hank asks after an awkward minute.

“Oh I’m… hmm… I don’t know, call me whatever you like.”

“…My lord?” He looks at me confused but as I lead him to the door he gets the point and leaves.

I really have to make a name for myself, literally. If this goes on I will blur out some stupid name at a bad time and be unable to change it. But how do you choose a name? I could take one from some other hero I know of, there are plenty, but that would not really feel right. I’d rather make my own name then take someone else’s. It should be something that fits me and my character. But who am I? Let’s think a little about who I am. I am a bit cynical. I am weak. I am a bit of a coward. I love fantasy. Okay this is getting me nowhere… I can’t really pick a name that will fit in the future either since I don’t know the future. So in the end it has to be something genetic. Something that always works. A name… name…

Deep in thought I start to wash myself of a bit while I await the bath. As expected it is a wooden tub more than a real bath, just big enough to sit down in. The servants who brought it tell me that hot water is on the way. I thank them and undress. A nice hot bath later and I get in to bed for a nap. It’s still in the middle of the day, around 2 pm, so I will just take a short nap and then go find some of the magic instructors to see what I missed.

I awake to the light of the sun, rising over the horizon. After watching it for a while I sigh, I slept all the way to the next morning. Fearing the pain in my body that will surely be there I slowly and carefully get out of bed. After doing some light stretching I am happy to discover no sense of pain. So I get dressed in my new blue outfit that has been delivered while I was sleeping. Or at least I would have been getting dressed if it wasn’t for the outfit itself.

No way in hell am I wearing that!

You know these puffy legs and arms that were popular in the 1600’s? Yea it was just like that.

“Okay I guess I’m going to the tailor to have a nice long chat about what is wearable and what is not.”

I sigh to myself. Yesterday’s clothes have been cleaned so I get dressed in those instead.

Might as well go eat, I think and get going to the great hall. Arriving I notice that there is barely anyone there. It’s still really early and the servants are just about to set the tables so I take a seat out of the way and ask for some bread and tea. After a few minutes one of the cooks comes out with a giant tray and sets it down before me.

“Here you go my lord; I hope it is to your pleasure.” There is more on that tray then I or a whole company could eat.

“What’s this?” I ask wondering if there was a mistake.

“Ah it’s just a little thank you, my lord, as well as an apology, for yesterday. Had you not intervened I would have been out on the street. I am also really sorry for spilling soup on you like that my lord…” The cook was Billy from yesterday, I didn’t recognize him since at the time I was busy trying not to get my face burned off.

“This is not necessary since I was the one at fault after all. Had I been more careful you would have had one less lump on your head.”

“Then please accept it as an apology from the head cook for his behavior towards you.”

I see no where to get myself out of this and since Billy would probably be in trouble if he had to take it all back, I accepted it and start to dig in.

As I eat other people start to trickle in. The nobles and heroes that come in big groups stare at me where I sit alone close to the kitchen with a giant silver tray of food in front of me. I quickly eat my fill and more or less flee from their whispering.

I head outside and, after asking a guard if it was alright this time, I take a walk through the garden. It gives of a nice a fresh feeling. Once I digested my breakfast I head to the training ground to once more get some exercise.

As I stretch I get the feeling that I can already feel a difference from yesterday. Thinking that it’s only my imagination I start to run. I made it 8 times running from wall to wall this time!

Wow! Is this the body of a hero? Is this what they meant with us growing faster than a normal human? If it’s like this… no let’s not get ahead of ourselves now. All I can do is to continue, besides it might be that I was in a worse condition yesterday right? This might just be a fluke.

However I managed to make a full 50 pushups and 60 sit-ups. I also felt that my recovery rate had improved.

T-this… This is amazing! Holy shit this is awesome! If we learn this quickly with everything then… Wait, wait a minute there is never just an upside there has to be a downside to all this too. Apart from the risk of accelerated aging which is highly possible there should also be something else right? Maybe we will get some harsh backlash or maybe our bodies will break down. Hmm, thinking about it there are smaller problems as well. Things like our bodies growing faster than our minds can keep up with. But maybe I am overthinking things. I have only just started after all. But this really makes things a lot more fun!

After thinking about it I pick up one of the wooden swords. It’s probably a good idea to swing a sword in order to keep tabs on my body’s condition. Not to mention the fact that it is kind of fun.

I step inside the sparring ring and take a stance like they do in kendo. Then I imagine that a person is attacking me and I slowly counter them and retaliate. It’s how I always play. I know it’s silly but who gives a fuck, there is no one who will see me and I have heard that it is an excellent way of training how to kill without actually killing. Used in something called Iaido, which is like kendo but with real swords. I’m a bit iffy in my knowledge about such stuff so I just go with it. Since I have decided to do this I might as well do it to the best of my ability.

I visualize my opponent and slash at him, again and again. I counter and slash toward his neck, knee, armpit and stomach. Before I have only done this for a few minutes so it was never really hard and since I never really tried but was just fooling around I never got tired. But this time it’s different and after about 20 minutes I am sweating like hell. As a final effort I try to speed up my swings as fast as I can. In my mind I cut of heads, arms and legs in a flurry of movements that, in my mind, are brilliantly executed. However…

“I see you've stopped running around like a headless chicken.” I hear a familiar voice tell with glee.

I would have gotten red with embarrassment had I not already been red with exhaustion.

“I… took your advice and thought it might not be such a bad idea to swing a sword for a while after all.” A white lie with a bit of truth to make me feel better about the situation.

“Really, then why are you just swinging your sword around like a moron?” Busted…

“Well… to be honest. It’s like I told you yesterday. I don’t know what the hell I am doing. I have never fought before so I am just doing what I can. I am using my imagination and do what I can.”

“Sigh… Why don’t you just ask the knight commander to teach you? He is a great sword fighter and has won many honorable duels. At least get someone whom you can spar with.”

“Well if you can get me a sparring partner I can kill a few hundred times then sure.”

“K-kill!? Why would you kill your sparring partner?” For some reason her confusion ticks me off.

“Why would I train to not kill my opponent? Isn’t that counterproductive since we are supposed to fight a war?” And so my true feelings spill out. “We were not summoned to learn how to be nice to our opponent and how to stay your blade and not deal the finishing blow. Or do you intend to have us fight the demon army with wooden swords and sticks!?”

“…”

“You took us from our homes to have us slaughter hundreds, no thousands of demons, to risk our lives to save you! If I am going to do such a thing then forget about honor in battle that will only get me killed. I would rather learn how to fight dishonorably. We will be fighting for our lives and for yours so why should we care about how my opponent feels? If they feel pain that should be a good thing for me right? If they die that means I am alive and well. So no I really am not going to ask for someone to spar with.”

“You make it sound like you will be alone out there. As if we won’t fight beside you. We will risk our lives just as much as you will risk yours!”

I almost scream out to her. Will? You speak as if I have no choice in the matter. So now I am to be forced to fight! You fuckers are treating us as if we are no more than fucking dogs to do as we are told once the fighting begins! But I hold back and just stare at her. I really don’t know why I am arguing with this random person. Guess I needed to vent a little.

I take a deep breath and calm myself down. There is no need to get worked up over nothing.

“Anyway I’d like to get back to swinging my sword like a moron if you don’t mind.” Putting an end to the conversation I turn my back and steps into the sparring ring and start to swing. Rather than the image training I did before, I do some repetition swings. The classic up and down swing while stepping forward from kendo and some side swings where I try to use my entire body to put force into the swings. The woman silently stands where I left her, watching me swing away. After just about 15min or so my hands are getting blistered. Doing repetition swings are really bad for your hands in comparison to free style swings. As I notice that my hands have blisters I give out a curse and go to the water barrel to cool my hands off.

“You hurt yourself?” She suddenly asks and walks up to me.

“Just got a blister.”

“You should see a healer for that; they can fix it in no time.”

Wow so no matter how hard you work you can still have good looking hands and skin. I don’t know if that is a good or a bad thing.

“I’ll do that then.” I tell her and get moving to see if I can find a healer.

“…did you mean it?” I hear from behind me.

“Yea I really meant that I would go find a healer for the blisters, I hate blisters…”

“No, I meant about learning how to fight without honor.”

“Yea, I have no need for honor in battle. If you’re in a battle then someone obviously want you hurt badly or dead, why should you ever hold back against such people? …Why?”

“I have some experience in… such combat. I am no master but I know enough and I have contacts among people who know more. If you really want to learn I could get you started…”

I stop and turn around to look at her.

She sure fits the part of a lowlife thug and I am sure she knows more than a few. Who is she, really? I mean I don’t even know how someone like her got in here in the first place. The barracks may not be guarded but the palace that surrounds it is, very much so. There is also the fact that she walks around as if she owns the place and that this area is the commanders of the army’s training area. So she should be a military officer of some sort.

“What’s your name?” I ask her to sate my curiosity.

“Millie. And you?”

“Haven’t come up with one yet so call me whatever you like until I do. Very well, if you can teach me then I would be happy to learn from you Millie.”

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Late at night there is a gathering of servants, maids and cooks at one of the local pubs. They gather to do as servants do and spread some nice gossip to help them go through their boring day jobs.

They gossip about everything, from what food a noble woman disliked, to a soldier in love and of course the heroes. The servants almost compete with who has the best gossip about them.

They say that some are as young as 10 years old. One of them is a cute little girl who keeps hiding in the skirts of one of the older heroes and who is scared of sleeping alone.

There is talk about three scary heroes who beat up a nobleman who simply tried to give them some directions. Take note to stay away from those three.

Of course there are talks about the most handsome or pretty hero.

Then there are some more specific events. A few of the heroes needed help getting dressed which quickly became a big topic, especially among the men.

One hero didn’t know his own name, was another big story. Was it because of the summoning?

A servant who worked in the kitchen told a story of a hero who all of a sudden sat down next to him and ate breakfast. A hero who ate with servants like it was normal, imagine that.

A cook told a horrible story of how he had tripped and spilled hot soup all over one of the heroes. But not only did the hero not demand for his head on a spit, he also took the blame for the whole incident. Granted now his job for the next few months was to scrub pots and pans but it sure beat getting hanged.

Some stable boy said that the Armorer was really not happy with one of the heroes. He was not only last to pick his armor, he also took a good long while and demanded a bunch of custom changes. Not to mention the fact that when it came for him to choose a weapon he picked a sword that belonged to the queen and refused any other. Eventually he left without picking a weapon at all.

There was some talk of a hero that was too ashamed too weak to keep up with the other heroes in training but it was not as interesting as other gossips.

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