The Strongest Spellblade

I woke up early, which had become a habit and got changed in a fresh set of armor and clothing that had been laid out for me. The room to my door opened and the largest Squire entered my room.

“Good, you are up. I like people with energy and hate sloth. I am Squire Sabin,” the large muscular man declared. His hair was cut very short, and he looked like he was all muscle under his clothes. His arms were almost as thick as my waist.

“Morning, so back to the dungeon?” I asked.

“No. Squire Jessica’s talent lies in her survival ability. But that is also what got her into trouble. My training is best done when there is a Healer nearby. I am going to beat you into the ground over and over, and you will get up and keep trying,” he replied.

“That’s it?” I asked.

“Yep. As for the mental training stuff, your old tutor has been tasked to oversee that in the evenings. We are going to fight all day.”

“All…day?” I asked nervously and Squire Sabin grinned at me with shining white teeth.

“Yep. All day. That is my preferred training method. Since I will be doing the fighting, I can strictly control how much pain and suffering you are forced to endure, pushing you to the limit. Now come, the sun is coming up and we have training!” Squire Sabin had way too much energy as I followed him out of my room to an isolated part of the estate that looked quite messed up.

“A training ground for the elite guards here at the estate, we will be using it for the next three months,” Sabin said. I noted a weapons rack set up under a pavilion and an older man sitting there. “Ah, Healer Castelle, up already, welcome.” I followed Sabin to the old man.

“Waking me up so early. You are lucky the Supreme Warlady is paying a considerable fee for my services and that I owe her a debt,” the old man muttered as two servants were busy preparing tea and breakfast nearby for the old man.

“Healer Castelle, you will keep an eye on things,” Squire Sabin said.

“I will make sure he doesn’t die and monitor his healing reserves. If I say stop, stop. I don’t want any accidents. Also keep his stamina topped off, but you know my limits. I don’t want to take potions, so don’t go overboard,” Healer Castelle said to Squire Sabin, completely ignoring me.

“Perfect. Hopefully I won’t go overboard, but I just love training and fighting!” he was shouting at the end of that sentence, which did not build confidence in his restraint. I felt a lot of danger and tried to move backwards. A hand grazed my armor and I went spinning into the dirt.

“Always keep your guard up! But good job dodging a bit there.” Squire Sabin then rushed forward and I rolled out of the way as he tried to stomp on me. “Don’t just lay there on the ground. Dodge, dodge, dodge!” he kept shouting as he moved towards me swinging his open palms at me.

“Don’t over dodge. Just enough to avoid the attack and the danger. Then strike back. Don’t cross your feet, ever. That is a good way to trip and die. Saw that happen once, completely embarrassing for the adventurer.” I was breathing heavily after ten minutes.

“That was a good warmup. Now grab a weapon. We will go through all of them. I am going to use this padded pain stick, mimicking the forms of monsters. It will help push your skills. It might look silly, but if you get hit, it won’t be pleasant. The enchantment…well you will figure it out,” Squire Sabin said with a grin.

After two minutes of swinging and dodging, I was hit. “Ah!” I shouted as pain wracked my body.

“Learn to push through the pain. It is a distraction. It is weakness leaving your body. Move or die!” I was struck again. The force behind the blow wasn’t hard, but pain wracked my body once more.

“Dodge or die!”

“Endure and eliminate!”

“Focus or fail!”

“Guard and get up!”

One phrase after another was thrown at me as we continued sparring for an hour. During the sparring Sabin would change his fighting style completely so I couldn’t just memorize his moves, I had to adapt. From jabbing, to running around and slashing. It was a struggle to keep up, as I felt my body tremble after every touch of the pain stick.

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“Good, good. We are taking a break now. Have breakfast, recover. And we will continue after that. Oh, one question, did you notice anything about the phrases I was shouting?” Sabin asked me while staring at me intently.

I tried to recall, but my body was exhausted and I was breathing heavily. “They were alphabetical?” I finally said and he grinned at me.

“Good, very good. Many people miss that. Always pay attention in combat to the details. It is easy to get caught up in the fighting, but that is a good way to be lured into the pace of your enemy. You need to be thinking and setting your own pace. Now eat and rest,” he said. The servants had prepared a breakfast table.

I sat down and ate while Squire Sabin talked quietly with Healer Castelle. I couldn’t hear what they were saying and didn’t try and listen in. That would have been rude. Once I was done, I forced myself to get up and stretch. After a few minutes Squire Sabin came back over.

“Good, good. Keep your body limber. It is the best weapon after all. Now, it is time more training. I will be throwing stones occasionally. Do your best to dodge them,” Squire Sabin said.

The hell training continued for the rest of the morning. We had another break for lunch and then immediately began after that. Four times Healer Castelle had to replenish my stamina which had bottomed out.

By the time it was afternoon and dinner time, I was completely drained of the will to move, breathe, think, and possibly even live. “Ah that was some enjoyable light training,” Sabin said with a grin while looking at me. I couldn’t even muster up the energy to stare at him in despair.

“Light,” I gasped out between my heavy breathing.

“Light. But it is perfect for your age and stats. The more you sweat here the less you will bleed in the dungeon. You can’t train while you are already in the middle of a fight. And you don’t want to have regrets do you?” he asked me, and I shook my head slowly.

“Exactly. That is why it is best to go all out while you can to get the most out of your time. It isn’t easy, but that is the bare minimum becoming a legend requires,” he told me. I just nodded, too tired to think.

“Hmm. Well you will recover by tomorrow. Healer Castelle has made sure of that. Now off you go to dinner back at the mansion and for your mental skill training,” he said. I shambled off towards dinner.

My siblings hadn’t returned, and my father wasn’t here either at the moment, so I ate by myself. Once I was done, I made my way to the library. “Ah, young Justin, welcome,” my tutor Damian greeted me.

“Hello, Tutor Damian,” I said with as much energy as I could muster.

“Hard physical training?” he asked me, and I nodded.

“Well, just sit here and let’s get to work on copying that dictionary. A great way to breakthrough on your Eldarin Language and hopefully your Writing Skills as well. In fact, why don’t you read what you have already written, and I will correct any mispronunciations,” he said.

For the first time, I was doubting the path I had chosen. The pain stick was absolutely brutal. While getting my stamina filled up again was nice, it only kept my body going. My brain was completely fried after all the pain and physical training.

While I wanted to ask if my mother approved, that wasn’t a real question. Squire Sabin had seen what happened to his fellow Squire who didn’t listen to my mother. He wouldn’t dare disobey her. That meant all of this had her approval.

I had asked to be pushed. To grow my stats and skills, I just didn’t realize how brutal it would be, how painful. “You know, you are lucky, you know. Many people would kill for this type of enhanced training.” I had paused for a long period of time just looking at my partially copied dictionary, my brain was shutting off.

I looked up at Tutor Damian. “Really?” I asked tiredly. I didn’t want to ask but I also didn’t want to talk at the moment and Tutor Damian loved to talk.

“They pay for the privilege. Quite a lot as well. You have basic teachers, since Teaching is a tier 1 skill. Bottom of the barrel. Then you have Tutor, and Empowered Tutor like myself a tier 3 skill, and I specialize in several basic skills that I teach here at the estate. I even taught your siblings you know,” he said.

“Uh huh,” I said tiredly as he continued talking.

“Then you have specialists who can teach specific tier 4 skills. Normally they focus on one or two and get really good at teaching them. After that you have apprenticeships like your mother has with her Squires, teaching higher tier skills. Someone like Squire Sabin would be considered a specialist and cost quite a bit. Not to mention the esteemed Healer on standby who is boosting your stamina. Ah, to be young again and consider fighting as a career. It almost gets my blood boiling too you know,” Damian said. I just gave another affirmative as my brain tried to process what he was saying

“Physical training might seem hard, but just think of the Vitality. They say each point lets you live another year beyond the base 50 all humans get. While some people invest all their free stats into Vitality, I personally think that is a mistake. The Mind is just as important if one wants to keep learning and improving,” he continued speaking.

“I mean just consider your growth. It is nothing short of remarkable and quickly surpassing other children who have received similar opportunities. It is good that you are keeping up your studies,” there was no end to him talking. My brain began to shut down as I couldn’t pay attention to him anymore.

I was just too tired to even think properly. I just nodded along as Damian kept talking. “Oh, it is time to sleep. I will put everything away. You look exhausted,” he said. I nodded at this.

“Thanks,” I muttered and made my way to my room before passing out on my bed. I was too tired to even get changed.