Chapter 32: Chapter 32 – Gym
After eating they went to the gym. Matthew had his gym clothes waiting for him in his locker. The same model the girls were using when they first met. Light gray with bright green stripes. They fitted him perfectly. Even sneakers were provided.
Matthew was in no way poor. His family made enough money to live a very comfortable life. But this level of luxury he never experienced before. The free food, the expensive clothing, the abundant space. It all felt surreal to him.
The gym was a large complex resembling a huge hangar. Inside, instead of sport courts, there were a series of training grounds. Some students sparred with each other while others trained fighting imaginary enemies. All through the supervision of experienced adventurers.
Matthew walked to the swordsmanship area. The most populated of all the training areas. The master there was a blonde long haired elf with a mean look on his face. The name was Firynn. He was an old servant of the Laufgraan house that came with Farzan when he fled his home world. Firynn was a very experienced warrior that lived through many battles.
Faralynn recognized Matthew with only a nod, betraying her feelings. She was sparing with another student, a bald man in his late 20s with broad shoulders and a faint beard. She was using a wooden sword that was similar to her own sword. The man was using a two-handed wooden sword himself.
Firynn approached Matthew while he watched the bout.
"You’re the new kid." He said.
"Yeah. My first day today." Matthew answered unable to take his eyes off Faralynn. She fought with such grace that it seemed she was dancing instead of battling.
"We don’t separate students here by their school year." Firynn explained also watching Faralynn’s match. "We separate by skill. Do you have any prior training with a sword?"
"No. All I ever did was to hack things away with a machete."
"I heard you got some experience. But a machete is a tool, not a weapon..." Firynn said thinking to himself. "How do you usually fight?"
"I usually shoot things with my gun. And only use the machete when the monsters get close."
Firynn got a wooden sword from the hack, more or less the size of a machete and gave it to Matthew. "Show me." He said picking up a sword himself, the same style as Faralynn.
Matthew looked at the sword in his hand. "What do you mean?"
"Show me how you fight." Firynn said raising his sword. "Attack me."
Matthew hesitated. He never attacked a person before. The memory of the feeling of the demonic mana wanting to hack away his friends came to his mind. He breathed deeply. It was just a memory. He was purified. He breathed again. There was no problem. This was just a spar.
Faralynn ended her bout with quick sweep on her opponent’s feet and a stab at his throat when he was in the ground. After shaking hands with the man on the floor as she helped him get up, she looked at Matthew. He was deep in thought looking at a wooden sword in his hand.
She wanted to say words of encouragement, but she couldn’t bring herself to say them with so many people around. She simply stood still and watched him.
It was then that Matthew saw Faralynn looking at him. Her purple eyes reflecting his own insecurity. He looked at the master with his sword up waiting patiently for him.
Another deep breath.
He attacked. A sharp cut from left to right aiming at Firynn’s ribs. The same way he killed many goblins, dretches, imps. His sword slid on Firynn’s parry and soon he found himself on the ground.
"Again." Firynn said. "Don’t take your feet of the ground when you hit."
Matthew attacked again. This time the downward slash that he cut the werewolf with. Firynn just side stepped making Matthew fumble forward. And soon Matthew was on the ground again after being lightly pushed.
"Again."
After 15 minutes of sparing, and making Matthew fall on the floor, Firynn smiled storing his sword.
Matthew was confused. He was trying to understand what the lesson was. Would the master say he has no way with the sword and send him away? He put down his sword down. And looked up wiping the sweat from his face.
"I get it now." Firynn said coming close. "You are a survivor. You fight betting your life. This is not good. Once you fight more intelligent enemies you will not be able to win."
Matthew sat on the floor feeling defeated.
"We will have to reshape you. You got good instincts. You doge well. You said you use a gun?"
"Yeah. I shoot with my right and cut with my left. Then I change to my right when I’m out of bullets."
"I see... Let’s train you with two weapons. A sword in each hand. I think that will work for you." Firynn said rubbing his chin. "Rest for five, I’ll take a look at the other students, but I’ll soon teach you some of the basics."
"Ok..." Matthew said breathing heavily. A bit more happy that he wasn’t kicked out.
Faralynn got close dropping a towel on his head. "You could never land a hit." She said with a cold voice.
"I know... I suck at this." Matthew recognized using the towel to dry his hair.
"That’s not what I meant. Firynn is a great warrior. If he used the system I think he would be about level 50. You literally could never hit him." She corrected Matthew.
Matthew laughed. "Then why did he make me fight him?"
"To know how you fight. Don’t you see? He picked a fighting style which is perfect for you. If you train diligently, you’ll be very good at this."
"I see..." Matthew said looking at the master while he was instructing other student on how to hit a training target.
"Get up now." Faralynn said. "Help me set up a dummy so I can train."
Matthew quickly got on his feet. He helped Faralynn carry a dummy target, a metal doll fixed on a pole and attacked to the floor, to an empty position.
He fixed his eyes on her posture. Right foot forward, body angled to the side, right hand forward with the blade pointing to the target, left hand hanging behind as a counter weight, left leg sprung ready to charge forward...
While Faralynn repeatedly stabbed the doll, Matthew was timidly trying to imitate her. Trying to do the same movement against an imaginary opponent.
"Good." Firynn said approaching Matthew. He carried another sword with the same length the one Matthew had on his hand. "But you need to lower your stance a bit."
Matthew quickly fixed his posture as if he was caught stealing something. "I..." He searched for words.
Firynn only laughed and handled him the second sword. "Here, let me show you how to use this."
Firynn showed Matthew how to stand. Left sword on front, right sword to the back. The position of the feet, to the side, very similar to Faralynn’s stance. First movement, quick stab with the right sword.
"Keep the left sword up. It’s your shield. Don’t let it fall. Roll your hips. Don’t lift your feet. Get lower on your stance." Firynn kept correcting him until he felt satisfied.
Soon he taught Matthew a series of movements. Stabs, slashes, parries... All the basics.
"Practice these movements everyday. As much as you can. You can take the training sword home if you want." Firynn said before going on to instruct another student.
Matthew kept practicing until the end of the day. He showered and got back into his uniform. He looked himself on the mirror and laughed. The eye patch and the uniform together made him feel like he was dressed like a pirate.
When he got out of the locker rooms he looked for Faralynn or Erin. They seemed to have gone home already. He adjusted his backpack on his back and walked back home.
He was tired. Both mentally and physically. But he was also satisfied. He felt he made a really good progress that day. He felt more ready to go into dungeons.
While waiting for the bus. Two men approached him casually talking with each other about something that Matthew didn’t bother to pay attention. He was with his head in another place. Rethinking about the day. Mentally redoing all the sword exercises Firynn taught him.
It was too late when he felt the cold of a knife pressing on his side. One of the men with a smile on his face just said:
"Give me everything."
Matthew doesn’t understand at first. It takes a few seconds for him to understand he was being robbed.
"Quick kid." the man said pressing the blade against Matthew’s side.
Matthew’s heart raced. He took off his backpack and was handling to the man with the knife when a voice inside of him said:
"Why? Just kill them."