“Anyone running a mercenary company needs to prepare a suitable outlet for built-up aggression. By the very nature of their work, mercenaries tend to be people with violent tendencies. If these tendencies are not kept under proper control, risks abound of them flaring up at the worst possible place and time.” - Ingrid Edelstein, Captain of the Free Lances Mercenary Company, circa 524 VA.

“You’re a bit off your game today, Miss Astrid,” said Alycea with that typical politeness of hers even as she mercilessly landed a blow against Astrid’s side. A blow that made Astrid expel the air in her lungs despite how it was cushioned not only by the sheath wrapped around Alycea’s weapon’s blade and by the armor Astrid wore.

Astrid swore even as the breath was violently driven out from her body by the blow. That would leave a bruise, she was certain, even though it was a blow from a padded weapon that landed on armor. The way Alycea uses her polearm with the oddly flexible shaft allowed her hits to be very deceptively heavy despite not looking the part, on top of being tricky and unpredictable.

“Oof!” managed Astrid as she had to take a couple steps to the side. She herself was wielding the more typical weaponry as was used by the army she used to be part of, a kite shield on her left arm with a spear held in her right, and a short sword hanging from her belt. It was a setup more designed for fighting in formation, so it was little surprise that the captain’s adopted daughter beat her up so badly with that glaive of hers. “I guess I am… Dammit. That’s totally going to bruise, isn't it?”

“As Mom likes to say, bruises are the best way to know where you make mistakes during spars. You don’t forget them as easily when they still sting the next day,” replied the girl all too cheerfully. It still sometimes baffled Astrid to think on how the fifteen year old girl was already better trained and likely had seen more bloodshed than herself, despite Astrid being ten years the girl’s senior.

One of the things she also learned very quickly after getting to know the mercenaries was that spars and brawls – some even devolving into real fights – were pretty much daily occasions amongst them. The rowdy mercenaries needed an outlet for their aggression, and such activities helped them keep their edge while at the same time prevented trouble from arising due to pent up aggression.

It was one reason why even when the mercenaries sparred, they typically walked out with at least some bruises on them. Only the really skilled ones like the captain’s wife – who Astrid learned was surprisingly one of the deadliest fighters in the entire company – don’t walk out of such spars with at least a few bruises or cuts here and there.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

In fact, most people watching the mercenaries “spar” would probably mistake the spar for a real fight, given how brutal they could get. Astrid watched the Captain’s older daughter, Erycea, spar against Mischka, the massive bear-therian matron once, and that fight was something that made her feel chills up her spine for a while.

The two had fought with “practice weapons” that were pretty much wooden logs as they were used to using heavy weapons, and “sparred” with such violence that Astrid had little doubt that any errant blow of theirs would likely be able to end the life of a regular person on the spot. The two were clearly made of hardier stuff, though, given the way Erycea landed quite a few blows on Mischka’s body that the larger therian just mostly ignored.

Astrid even saw a blow from the far larger therian matron hurled the captain’s daughter through the air and had her rolling head over tail several times as she landed, only for the girl to right herself immediately and rush straight back into the spar. It was at that moment that she made a mental note to herself to never ask either the matron or the Captain’s daughter for a spar.

Which actually left her few choices to spar with, honestly. It seemed to be a habit of sorts amongst the mercenaries for the platoon leaders to spar against each other on the regular. Against those platoon leaders, Astrid found herself completely out of her depth, as the more experienced and skilled mercenaries would trounce her in mere moments.

Even the small, middle-aged goblin took her down in less than half a minute.

In the end, Astrid found herself with the Captain’s younger daughter as a frequent sparring partner instead. Not because the girl was unskilled. Despite her tender age, the girl was already one of the nastier fighters Astric could think of amongst the mercenaries. Rather, they had Astrid train with Alycea because Alycea’s unpredictable fighting style was excellent for getting people used to dealing with the unexpected.

Which was fitting, given how the mercenaries as a whole loved to subject their foes to the unexpected.

Astrid was somewhat confused by the way the mercenaries fought at first, the way they focused on semi-independent small units, which flew in the face of conventional strategy. The typical combat doctrine of the time called for tight, cohesive formations that fought as one whole and would defeat their enemies through the weight of numbers and discipline.

Of course, the mercenaries had proven their effectiveness repeatedly on the field of battle. Astrid realized after a while that their preferred tactic was designed specifically to counter such tight, cohesive formation by forcibly breaking through their lines and then carving them apart from the inside out. The mercenaries had performed the dangerous feat on several occasions that she heard of, and were clearly well-versed in its execution.

It was something she, along with her people, would still need to learn more about, since as part of the Company, they might well have to execute such tactics themselves in the near future. Fortunately the Company’s current contract promises to remain a peaceful one until it ends early in the next year.