Vhalar 6 722
Continued from here
Eternity woke up Melna when morning came with a hard kick to her bed which jolted the woman awake. “You were talking in your sleep all night you know,” Eternity said with drowsiness. She still couldn’t believe she was in the military. The bed was terrible, even compared to the worst inns she’d stayed in. The worst thing was that the recruits were supposed to sleep near one another. So many of them snored that Eternity didn’t think she got more than a few hours of sleep. She was envious of Melna who looked like she slept like a baby despite the noise. Easy sleep was the good part about being utterly exhausted.
Melna opened her eyes and saw Eternity pulling her clothes on. She muttered, “sorry,” but Eternity didn’t even show a sign of having heard her word. She had so much to do in such a short amount of time. She had to get dressed, calm her hair, figure out which area she was supposed to be at today, etc. It was her fault for staying in bed while everyone had gotten up around her. For a while she thought this was all just a bad dream and that she could wish herself back home, but that hadn’t been the case. She was in the military and she was committed. She didn’t even know how to get back home even if she did think she’d be able to sneak out.
Eternity said, “someone came by and said we only have a little while to get ready or we’ll be late for food.”
Melna groaned. “No more food, I spent all of yesterday with food I’m done with it!” She already wanted to quit. She decided she would stay there and pout for a while. She couldn’t imagine another day having to cook the boring meals that were fed to soldiers. There was no finesse, it was basically just throwing whatever vegetables they had into a pot.
Eternity was too tired and annoyed to argue or to take pity on her friend. She left without a second thought. She met up with another one of the recruits who she took a liking to. His name was George and he had a myriad of ideas about how their first day of getting trained would be. He told stories about his father who had been in the military before. Most of the training stories sounded downright made up. Eternity liked George because he provided entertainment in this stressful time. George went on about the people who’d slept near him in the barracks and how he hadn’t slept.
“How’d you sleep,” George asked.
Eternity didn’t answer at first. She leaned back in her chair, far enough to tip over had she not the core strength to balance herself. She rubbed her eyes and let out a loud yawn before giving George a tired look that would explain just how poorly she slept. George laughed. Before they knew it they’d been rushed along, fed, and were told to get to their training areas.
Eternity didn’t think the combat instructor looked as cute as he had been last time she set eyes on him. He walked with a hand on the handle of his sword as if he might draw it at any moment. He looked at everyone, including Eternity, with disdain as if they were all inferior and not worth his time. It was an act he was trying to put on to demand respect. Too many people hassled him for being on the younger side. Eternity felt his gaze linger on her, which she met with her nervous eyes.
The instructor introduced himself as Aegor. He waved his free hand around enthusiastically as he talked. He spoke as if he were reading off bullet points in his head, things that needed to be said before they began. He had an accent that showed that he was not native to this area, yet another hurdle he’d had to overcome in his career. He didn’t wear any armor and wore well fitted clothing, it was easy to see the shape of his body as he walked around. Eternity tried not to pay his appearance too much attention but it was hard not to.
Eternity was glad that she was not the only one with minimal combat experience. Most others looked as silly as she did when they picked up a training weapon and gave it a quick test wave. The instructor took note of those who looked like they knew what they were doing and segregated them while they practiced. Aegor said, “we will learn how to posture your body and learn some stances, after that we will form groups of two.”
Eternity was quick to realize that she didn’t know how to fight but she was not proficient at it. She likened it to being young again before she knew how to pick locks properly. Her hands would be tired from trying over and over again. She remembered how clumsy she’d felt every step of the way and how it’d taken her years to become decent at popping open simple locks. Fighting made her feel the same way, except if she messed up she got hit in the face which was considerably worse than having sore fingers. Eternity was so bad that at one point she tried to hook her elbow around her opponent but they ducked so Eternity ended up punching herself in the nose.
“What in the seven…. Don’t do that!” shouted Aegor as he’d turned his head just in time to witness this sheer stupidity. “you’re doing the enemy’s job for them!” He looked annoyed and angry.
Eternity hid her face behind her hands in embarrassment. She wanted to sit down and be somewhere else. She kept her face hidden until Aegor came over to help her form. He had her put the practice weapon down and work on some simple punches. Eternity couldn’t quite tell if Aegor was angry at her. Aegor waved away Eternity’s sparring partner and told him to find someone else to fight for now. But everyone had already paired off so there was nobody for them to fight, so they stood off to the side and watched.
Aegor stood opposite of Eternity and hit her in the chest with an open palm. It forced Eternity backwards and onto the ground. “Hit my palm,” he said. Eternity got up angrily and smashed her fist into his palm. It felt like she’d just hit a stone. Eternity heard her knuckles pop and quickly pulled her fist back in pain. She waved it around but Aegor demanded that she stop with her silliness and pay attention.
Next, he told her, “when you punch you have to pivot. Do as I do.” He threw a punch and twisted his back foot to give some momentum. It was as close to perfect form as Eternity had ever seen. She copied him as best she could and swung her fist into his palm. She’d put her full strength into it and Aegor didn’t even budge. His body seemed impossibly impervious to damage. She might as well been trying to damage a brick wall with nothing but a spoon.
“Aim head on,” Aegor instructed and he nodded for her to continue. Eternity punched again repeatedly. Aegor had some suggestion to give seemingly with every punch which annoyed Eternity to no end. It made her hit harder and harder until her hand was numb. She could feel her arm pulsating with pain and wondered how many more times she’d have to punch before the whole limb became useless. Aegor seemed to be more focused on how her body moved rather than how good her punch was. It was embarrassing to be looked at like that, but Eternity assumed that this was normal.
Aegor said after many punches, “you did three good ones in a row,” and then he put his palm down. Eternity wasn’t thinking and kept on punching because she was too in the groove to register that she was supposed to stop. Aegor sighed and stepped to the side, grabbing her arm in one quick motion. “don’t even think about it,” he said, thinking Eternity meant to actually hit him. He gripped her arm even harder to the point that it hurt. He pushed Eternity to the side and said, “now get back with your sparring partner.”
Eternity opened her mouth to respond, but she thought it was best to drop it. She watched him turn his back, watched how his clothing hugged his musclebound body. She shuddered at the thought that she might be attracted to him even after he’d treated her that way. She couldn’t tell if he was that way with everyone or if he singled her out. He didn’t seem to be interested in giving anyone else individual attention. She looked at her forearm which was still red from the squeeze and thought, “I’ll get him back, someday,” then she went off to join the recruits in their next exercise.
Continued Here
[Template credit to Pyrre]
