"To start, Ah'm gonna teach you about the most basic weapon there is. The sword," Mr. Greyson was holding a wooden sword, pointing it to the side.

  "Isn't the most basic weapon out there a stick?" Kenji, a man with short hair and a stocky build, asked.

  "If ye think the stick is better, use it, lad. To me, the sword is the most basic thing there is. greck doesn't make sense, and Ah don't fucking know how to teach you to use that shit," Mr. Greyson grumbled while making a couple of moves with the wooden blade, simple swings and stabs.

  It was all very basic. The type of move you would see in a class. Yet, to Hera, those were all masterfully executed. Slowly but steadily, the teacher started to speed up and change some attacks. Stabs came from different angles, slashes came from the sides. Each movement was faster than the previous until there was just a blur where the sword was located.

  "Now, Ah say it's basic, but that only means to start using it. No weapon is easy to master. And all of you just need to remember one thing. Stick your target with the pointy end, or the sharp side. There is nothing else to it.."

  "If ye ever master the sword or any other weapon, ye can even place own yer will in the weapon, making it even stronger."

  Mr. Greyson then turned to a golden dummy and slashed with all his might. Hera did her best to focus on the movement, but the slight glow that the sword gave caught her attention. The glow seemed to have a form now. It was sharp and jagged, like it was a saw. Hera watched as the sword hit the dummy, and a score of 250 popped on the screen behind it. So far, all his movements felt natural. As if he truly knew how to use the weapon.

  However, that one slash felt different. The glow was heavy. There were no other words to explain it. It wasn't something that should be surrounding a one handed sword. Instead, it felt like it should be on a great sword instead.

  The whole class and even a few other Explorers who were training clapped. Mr. Greyson fidgeted a bit after that, Hera recognized that reaction as the same one she has when someone praised her and couldn't help but smile. Even a seasoned warrior like him could be embarrassed.

  "Now then, what ye need to understand is how to strike with it, gauge the distance, and aim. So, everyone grab a sword and stay in front of a target," the teacher pointed to the side where rows of wooden dummies were placed side by side.

  Everyone seemed to be excited to start combat training. It took just a bit over a minute for all the students to be in front of a dummy with a sword in hand.

  "Very good, now first Ah want ye all to measure the distance between the target and yerself. Touch the tip of the sword in the dummy chest and move as far back as ye can. Then take another step back and swing a few times to understand how much strength ye can put in each attack."

  Hera did as he asked. When her arm was as stretched as it could be, she took a step back. A couple of students misunderstood the idea and were balancing themselves on one foot, trying to be farther away from the dummy. The teacher gave one of them a small scolding, and quickly, the rest understood that they needed to keep their footing while moving away.

  After that, everyone swung their weapons. Leonidas seemed to be used to this type of drill, although his movements weren't as effortless as when he used the spear. Pamella was having some trouble. She was constantly walking closer to the dummy and had to step back. Alex, on the other hand, seemed to have a good grasp of the training. She wasn't moving one inch while doing the same overhead swing over and over.

  Hera did the same. She kept attacking the air with her sword, trying to pay attention to her form and how her body moved. Her mind was trying to figure out which muscle was being used and how to use them more efficiently. It was a weird feeling to analyze herself in such a way. Even stranger was the fact that the idea seemed to be in her head already, as if she didn't need to think about it. Wondering if the reason for that was her increased intelligence stat, she kept swinging.

  Ten minutes had passed since the recruits started the drill when Mr. Greyson gave the next instruction. "All right, now the most basic move is an overhead swing. The same some of ye are doing, use one or both hands to raise the sword above yer head and swipe it down, aiming for the head or neck."

  He showed the move in the air a few times so everyone could see it being done properly. Hera noticed that he didn't shift his weight when doing so, even though in all his other attacks, she had seen had some sort of footwork.

  "Mr. Greyson, should we keep our legs still doing that?" She asked after raising her hand.

  "Aye, but just for this exercise. In a fight, the place where yer weight is keeps shifting. So ye must move yer legs to be sure not to fall. But for now, Ah want ye all to understand how ye strike properly before we move on to footwork. Can't have any of ye poking an eye out on the first day of training."

  Hera nodded, as much as she wanted to try some other moves. Moving around with a sword in hand, even a wooden one, was a recipe for disaster. That went double if she was surrounded by people doing the same.

  After another 10 minutes, the teacher showed a couple more attacks, a slash from side to side, and an upward strike close to what an uppercut would look. All the recruits mirrored the movements, but after half an hour without stopping, it was hard to maintain their concentration. Hera's mind wandered off the same way it did when she had to organize the shelves in her old job.

  However, unlike the way it was back then, her thoughts weren't about what she could do if she were an explorer, but about how her life would be inside the MAZE.

  Eventually, Mr. Greyson told everyone to start attacking the dummies. A command that was almost immediately followed. Hera aimed at the neck of the wooden puppet with the overhead swing followed by targeting under the armpit with the uppercut and a bit above the hips with the side swings.

  It took a few tries, but after a while, Hera was striking the same spot with almost every hit. Just like a lumberjack has to focus on a single place. She also needed to do that. Or at least that is what she believed at that moment.

  After one hour of this exercise, Mr. Greyson decided the class was familiar enough to move around.

  "Next, ye are going to attack and move around. Do an attack, step in any direction, and do another, don't try to attack while moving ye need to be familiar with the range of the weapon. Don't worry about damaging it. It's a tool, it's made to take a beating." He then gave a demonstration, making one of the attacks he taught the class, taking a step to the side, and making another attack.

  Then another step and a strike. He kept going like this for a few seconds to be sure everyone understood what he was expecting. It was simple, but the key aspect was to attack just after moving. As that was something they would need to learn in the future.

  "But Mr. Greyson, sir, if we see the sword like an extension of ourselves, we will be able to know the range better, won't we?" Mark had asked, Hera felt a little bad for him. He already was on Mr. Greyson's bad side, and she doubted that question would help with that.

  The teacher rolled his eyes and let out a long sigh.

  "Yes laddie, if ye can do something that even the great masters take decades to figure out, ye can certainly do it. Now, if ye don't have a shitting clue on how to swing a sword, then just do the damn training."

  Mark lowered his head and gave a weak, "Yes sir," before turning around and starting his practice.

  In a way, Hera could understand the question. Movies and comics always talked about how a sword should be an extension of the wielder. At the same time, it made no sense to try to make it work like that from the get go.

  They kept going with this exercise for another hour. It was easier for Hera to keep her focus when she had to move around thinking about where she was going next. Eventually, she started to get a good rhythm, not spending over ten seconds in the same place before moving.

  Leonidas was even better. He was taking a step every five seconds, Pamella was still having trouble not to move while attacking, but her movements were bigger and wider. Alex took some time between each strike, but her attacks hit the same spot every time, even if her position was different every time.

  Another hour went by before Mr. Greyson changed things again. This time, he taught them all how to defend. Just holding the sword on its side to block an incoming attack. He first blocked the blow, which made the wooden target just pull back and try again.

  Next, he timed his defense and showed that, if the weapon was at an angle, he could guide the attack along the sword, making the dummy almost fall to the ground. That was a parry, a way to not just defend but also increase the opening created by your opponent once they tried to attack you.

  It was a good ability to learn, but Hera felt it was too advanced. She could barely defend properly, much less guide the attack away from her.

  On the other hand, unlike when they were attacking Pamella was steady. She waited to move when the dummy was going to strike, making sure the chop impacted with the sword at the right time to send the dummy's arm sliding down. That was a real parry. What the rest of the class was doing was barely a block.

  Hera did her best to copy Pamella, but she still wasn't able to do a proper parry. The times she got close, the dummy ended up hitting her head. Even though the attack didn't have much force behind it, it still hurt.

  It was five o'clock, one hour before the end of the class, when Mr. Greyson spoke to the recruits again.

  "Very well, now ye have to do it all at once, the dummy will attack and spin. Ye must hit it from the front and block its attacks. This is the closest that we have to a real monster, so be careful. On the screen behind it, there will be a score. Each hit and block ye do will increase it by the strength or skill of it. If ye can't beat the score in the next hour, ye will be here running laps around the training room for two hours after class. Good luck."

  As soon as the teacher finished his speech, a few dummies tried to hit the recruits. Most managed to step back in time, but a couple got hit by the unexpected attack.

  "Ah forgot to mention, every time ye get hit, the score ye currently have will lower," Mr. Greyson pointed at the screen behind Mark, one of the few who didn't dodge the dummy's attack.

  The screen showed in white letters the word 'Target' and under it 2500. In the bottom half of the screen, another word 'Score' and right below it, the number showing was -25 in glowing red letters.

  "One other thing, the dummy will use three types of moves. So watch out for that," he was finishing his sentence when the training dummy in front of Hera started to move. She wasn't expecting it and noticed a bit late, but still soon enough for her to jump back and barely evade the uppercut aimed at her.

  At this distance, the dummy wasn't able to hit her. She understood that there was a point where she could stay in order to rest. Not only that, but she could also see the attacks that it would use without getting hit. The room quickly got filled with yells and noises of people fighting and getting hit by the dummies.

  Looking at the target in front of her, Hera waited to see its moves. The first was an overhead swing with one hand. It was hard to see when it would start this move, so she would need to be very careful. The second attack, a side hook that was excessively telegraphed, caused the dummy's entire body to spin backward before striking. Even if she got distracted, she probably would have five seconds to get away from it. It seemed a small window, but for a fight, even Hera knew it was a lot.

  The last move is the uppercut, the same move that almost hit her. It is a middle point between the other two. It would give a few indications that it was coming, but they would be very subtle and very fast. Hera would have about 2 and a half seconds to respond to it.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Five minutes had passed when Hera decided she had enough information to attack. She never was one to rush into things, even if the last few days would say otherwise. Waiting until the dummy did one of its hooks, Hera wanted to try an idea on how to rack up some points.

  The three moves that Mr. Greyson had shown could be incorporated in a combo. He had demonstrated that himself. Even though Hera believed that there was no way to move so effortlessly as the teacher, she would get points more easily if she tried to connect the attacks.

  Her dummy finally did its hook attack, hitting the air in front of Hera. Not wasting any time, she lunged forward, stabbing the target in the chest. The sword went downward, scraping the dummy. Taking advantage of the position, Hera did an upward slash. When the weapon reached its peak, she tried to pull down with an overhead swing as fast as she could.

  The impact was stronger than she expected, and her sword went flying backward. Hera quickly jumped, getting away from the dummy before running to get her sword. A few explorers laughed at the scene, not trying to tease her, but because most of them had done the same at some point.

  Grabbing the sword, she raised her head and looked at her score.

  48

  Those three attacks got her almost 50 points. That meant that each strike was worth at least 15 points. With a big smile, she went back to the dummy.

  For the next 20 minutes, Hera continued with the same plan. Wait for the dummy to start the side hook before unleashing her combo. She already had over 1300 points, but she was getting worried. If she kept going like this, she could reach the goal, but that depended on the dummy. As long as it would keep doing its hook, she could get more points.

  However, the dummy was taking too long to make that attack. According to Mr. Greyson, the moves used were all random, so there is a possibility that she wouldn't have enough opportunities to do her combo. Even if staying for longer to train didn't sound awful, she wanted to beat this challenge.

  Looking at the target's movements, she focused on the uppercut, since it was the most frequent of the attacks. The action was quick, but she could see it happening. The target would lower one of its arms, and the other would stay completely still while doing so.

  She waited for another uppercut, but the dummy started to do a hook. Unfortunately, Hera wasn't ready to follow up on the attack. She hastily lunged forward, stabbing the target in the chest, and was about to follow up with an upward slash herself. However, the dummy had already finished its move, and a downward chop aimed at her head was coming.

  There was not enough time for her to step back. That attack would definitively hit her. Without letting go of the sword, she tried to block the attack. Even if she intended to block, it looked more like she was just trying to cover her face to everyone else, with her head down and both her arms trying to form a barrier in front of her.

  Raising both her hands, Hera also ducked a bit to the side, trying to make the chop to avoid her face. To an experienced explorer, that was probably the only good move she had made during that exchange. An attack to the head could not only hinder your sight but leave you disoriented for a few seconds.

  Even with all the wrong decisions that were a natural part of the training process, Hera was still gripping the sword even in her panicked state. That was her saving grace. The chop struck the base of the sword as it was rising. The force of the impact sent the dummy's hand back while making Hera fall to the ground. If it were intentional, that would be a beautiful parry, but in this case, it was just a fluke.

  Sitting on the floor, Hera looked at the monitor, worried she would have lost some points. However, above her current score, there was a big 35 showing. That small exchange was enough to give her just a bit under 10 points less than her full three-hit combo.

  Before she could understand what just happened, the dummy started attacking again, hitting Hera in the jaw with an uppercut, making her look up with the impact. It wasn't a strong move, but it still hurt. She quickly moved back to get away from the dummy range and saw 20 points deducted from her total score.

  "Hera! Are you okay?" Pamella just asked, moving away from her dummy and towards Hera.

  "Yeah, I'm fine. It was my mistake," her chin was sore, and talking hurt a bit, but she wasn't angry.

  Not at the dummy, at least. It was a machine, and Hera knew it was her fault for not being careful. Yet, she wanted to try again quickly. Taking a few steps towards the dummy, she waited for her chance.

  "Hera, you should step back," Pamella was looking at the girl.

  However, Hera ignored the words. Each step forward a stomp full of anger and frustration. She was careless. She got way too excited about something and made a mistake. Sure, right now, it wasn't much, but what if that happens during the trial, or when she is fighting a monster?

  She needed to be better.

  She was better.

  Her stats were higher now. Her body could move faster, and her attacks hit harder. Life had shown again and again that every time she got excited, bad things happened. First, when she turned 18, then when she got her level up. And even the first day of class.

  Hera needed to be serious.

  She needed to be focused.

  She got ready to strike at the dummy when a hoarse voice rang behind her.

  "Hera, come here," Mr. Greyson watched everything, and each time a student got hit, he would be sure they were fine. Even if the dummies were weak, the recruits could need a healer if they got hit in the wrong way.

  Hera stepped back and moved towards the teacher, still holding the sword at her side.

  "Gimme yer sword and go drink some water," Mr. Greyson held out his hand with a severe expression on his face.

  "But I'm not thirsty," Hera may have been hit, but other recruits had been struck many times.

  Why was she the only one that the teacher was interfering with? Was she really that bad?

  "Doesn't matter, go drink some water."

  She placed the sword in the teacher's hand and started walking towards the water cooler while clenching her fist.

  Was she really so much worse than the rest?

  Could the guild have been right about her when they rejected her the first time?

  Her mind was filled with questions about what had just happened. The rush of thoughts only stopped when she picked a paper cup and noticed the palms of her hands. There were deep marks there, almost deep enough to draw blood. She could see a few red spots under her skin. Hera closed her fist, and the patterns matched the exact place her nails would dig.

  Since when was she clenching her fist so tight?

  Taking a step back, Hera noticed a slight pain in her ankles. It was the same pain she would have after a long day of carrying boxes and boxes of books from the storage in her old job. Even if that kind of thing shouldn't happen now with her higher attributes.

  She drank some more water and looked around while trying to understand how she got hurt. The training room was busier than usual. Many explorers were either using the small arenas to fight against each other or the training equipment to work out. If it weren’t for the half-dozen people training with weapons, this would look like a gym. There was even a group doing yoga in the corner.

  Emptying the cup, Hera realized that she was very parched. She poured more water into it and kept drinking. Wondering why she was the only one coming here, she turned her attention to the recruits. No one seemed to have gone outside their small arenas. Could they have a higher resistance to thirst? Or maybe she wasn’t able to get the skill she was supposed to. Only when she saw Bonnie moving away from the dummy and picking up something on the ground she understood.

  'Water bottles, not everything is a skill Hera,' she told herself.

  Forgetting even something so basic, Hera felt even worse than before. Finishing her water, she walked back towards the teacher, who still held her sword.

  "Feeling better, lassie?" Mr. Greyson said while looking at the group fighting the dummies.

  "Yes, thank you I didn’t realize I was a bit dehydrated."

  The teacher stared at her, "Ah didn’t call ye because of that."

  "Am I doing that badly?" Hera responded with a puzzled look.

  Mr. Greyson nodded, "Aye, yer horrible."

  She felt her eyes beginning to water. Was that it? Taking a deep breath, she raised her head and tried to ask as calmly as she could.

  "Am I getting kicked out?" Her voice was cracking, but her face had a serious expression. If she were going to lose a chance at her dream again, she wouldn’t go out crying like last time.

  "Lassie, why do you keep thinking yer getting kicked out? Ah read yer file and know ye tried to be an explorer once before but couldn’t. Is that why?" Mr Greyson raised one eyebrow.

  He was looking at Hera with a serious expression. So much so, the teacher even stopped watching the rest of the class. Having someone focus so much on her was more than enough to make her nervous. Yet, she wasn't going to back down. Not after all of this.

  "Yes, I know the guild only needs the best, and if you can’t reach the standard, the door is the only place for you."

  The way she spoke without missing a beat surprised Greyson. There wasn’t a shred of doubt in her words.

  "Lassie, look yer getting us all wrong. Yes, we ask a minimum to join, but that's just because the fat cats are too scared to let people get stronger inside the MAZE. Yer already doing the training yer one of us for life. Unless ye kill a civilian for no dam reason, no one is kicking ye out."

  That shocked Hera. Yes, the guild was nice, but to her, that’s just for civilians. For explorers, she always expected that the guild was a ruthless place.

  ‘But.. you said I was bad," Hera gave Mr. Greyson a puzzled look.

  The teacher gestured to the rest of the class, "Aside from Leo and Blue, yer all fucking terrible. That‘s the whole bloody point of this month. By the end of it, Ah hope Ah can make ye less awful."

  Hera smiled and nodded. For the teacher, it could seem just a clarification, but to Hera, knowing that she was an explorer for life lifted a huge weight she had on her chest. "Thank you, Mr. Greyson. I hope to be less awful by the end of the month too." She then pointed at her sword. "Can I get it back?"

  "Not until ye tell me why were ye so angry." He pulled back the sword, still staring at the girl.

  "I… I got hit.." she lowered her head.

  Mr. Greyson let out a long sigh.

  "Just for that? Ye got angry because the dummy hit ye? That’s why ye looked like ye wanted to rip the thing out with yer bare hands? Honestly, lassie, it’s a dummy ye don't need to be angry at it."

  "But I wasn’t," Hera almost shouted. The teacher raised one eyebrow again, and that was enough to make her speak in a lower voice. "I was angry at me, I messed up. I should have been more careful. If I’m in the MAZE, I can’t make mistakes like that"

  "Aye, yer right. But here is the thing. This ain’t the MAZE. This is the only place ye can make mistakes, so Ah hope ye make them. Do a wrong move, try a new weapon, give the bloody dummy a hug but use all that to figure out what ye can do when yer inside. And even then, don’t let yer mistakes eat ye up like that. Being angry in a fight only makes it harder for ye. Trust me, Ah know." He gave the sword back to Hera "And for the System's sake, don’t be so stressed all the time. Even if it’s dangerous, yer allowed to have fun."

  With a nod, Hera picked the sword and went back to her dummy. She was still digesting what the teacher said, he seemed right in almost everything. The one mistake was thinking she wasn't enjoying this. Hera couldn't remember the last time she was having this much fun.

  She was once again in last place. There was about half an hour to go, and she still needed 1200 points. This time, however, she waited for the hook. She planned to do a few of her combos to get in the zone again. A few seconds passed before the dummy did the move she expected, allowing her to return to her regular flow of battle. If she could call it that.

  All the while, Mr. Greyson kept watching his students, and it was a depressing sight. Almost all of them had terrible stances and absolutely no footwork whatsoever. The only good thing he could say about this group is that no one was complaining.

  Still, he was sure that would change. It was just the first day of training. By the end of the week, he expected all of them to be crying for their mothers.

  The class kept attacking the dummies, Leonidas was the first to reach the 2500 points mark, followed by Pamella. Upon reaching the goal, they stopped attacking and sat down to rest and talk.

  It didn’t take long for more people to join them. Soon Alex, Mark and the rest of the recruits were all sitting by the small arenas chatting about the training and the moves. The only ones who still needed more points to reach the goal were Hera and Bonnie.

  The deadline was still ten minutes away, and Hera was only two hundred points short. She had tried a few times to strike while the dummy did a different attack, but realized that she should focus on her combo. This was a training ground. The best way to improve is to focus on one thing before moving on to the next.

  In a short time, she had the chance to perform two of her combos. She needed one or two more hits to reach 2500 points. Instead of walking back and waiting for the attack, Hera moved around the dummy, hitting it on the sides. It was something close to what Leonidas was doing. Instead of a big combo, the focus were on quicker strikes. After the third blow, she jumped back, almost falling on the floor again to avoid getting hit by one dummy's overhead chops.

  She looked at the screen that showed her current score.

  2506

  Moving towards the rest of the class, she noticed Bonnie panting heavily, and holding herself up with both hands on her knees. Her blond hair stuck to her face, contrasting heavily with her dark skin. You could see the sweat dripping on the ground. Hera looked up at the screen, checking Bonnie’s score. She was 100 points short of the goal, but the girl just stood with her sword on the side.

  Hera knew how it would feel to be the only one left out. Bonnie also seemed to be someone who would be very hard on herself if she failed a test like this. Wanting to help the girl, Hera was thinking about what could she do. There wasn’t enough time to talk about strategy or to ask her to rest. She was still deep in thought when Pamella’s voice rang.

  "C’mon Bonnie! You can do it!"

  The blue-haired girl started to clap her hands and cheer, making a motion for the rest of the recruits to join her.

  In just a few seconds, Hera saw most of the class get up and join in the cheer, even a few explorers who were training chimed in.

  "You are almost there!"

  "Keep it going!"

  "Let’s go, Bonnie!"

  Hera joined in the cheering after seeing Bonnie’s lips curling up in a soft smile.

  She then dashed towards the dummy, avoiding an uppercut and striking it twice in the chest. She stepped to the right and attacked two more times before the dummy started to wind up a hook. Taking a step back and tilting her sword, she managed to parry the blow, making the punch continue without harming her.

  Moving back quickly, Bonnie looked up to the score and smiled.

  2503

  Seeing that she raised a hand in the air to celebrate and looked at the recruits only to see a blue streak coming her way. Pamella tackled her, and both fell to the ground. The whole training room started to laugh and celebrate even Mr. Greyson couldn’t help but smile.

  Outside the training room, two women were watching the new recruits.

  "I guess all recruits are the same in the end. It doesn’t matter what age they are, during the training, they turn into a bunch of kids"

  With a laugh, the dark skinned woman said, "Don’t tell me you weren’t like that, Frostbite."

  The muscular woman smiled "Of course I was, in my training, I’m the one who started most of the tackles, what about you, Helena?"

  "I was the one being cheered on. To me, the physical training was the worst part. But I guess most of the mages would say the same."

  Frostbite nodded and looked inside the training room, analyzing the recruits.

  "I gotta say, I’m excited for next week."

  Helena gave a big smile.

  "I’m sure you are not the only one."

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