[Dragoon Training Grounds] First day is light....

by **Kreig Messer** on June 15th, 2012, 1:47 am

Summer 512 A.V. 37th , 9th Bell 21st chime.

It was another day in the training grounds that belonged to the Dragoons, the Sun’s Berth elite fighting force. Each of these men who were apart of the dragoon were trained to be soldiers, they were thugs with combat training paid to protect Sun’s Birth interests in Sunberth ‘They need a name change in my personal opinion…..’ Kreig thought as he walked through the gated community, the home of the syndicate and its own little fortress, one of the most valuable areas as it was easy to defend. Kreig didn’t like them really, but he needed to be here….. His nightmares were worsening and he had not much to do these days, the more free time he has the more the memories of that day would haunt him, the more he would mummer apologies on something that was an accident, something that was merely an act of self-defense.

His purpose at the training grounds were for his mind to focus on something else, to exhaust his body so that he could sleep easy at night ‘plus it wouldn’t hurt to get better at fighting, even if I am training in a den of wolves’ As it were he was not part of the Dragoons, he had to pay for use of their training services which was one thing ‘understandable enough’ but being an outsider meant snide remarks from the thugs in shining armor and all that Kreig could do was accept these condescending comments because of a simple fact; They are better than him. Kreig only knew how to brawl, but they knew how to use their fists, their weapons and their shields, they wore heavy armor that only the most skilled combatant could hope to take down. Such a thing was standard for the Dragoons, again it differentiated them from the common dregs.

“ Hold it there Shyke, rats like you shouldn’t be in our little piece of paradise” Said a Dragoon, wearing heavy armor and his facial futures hidden by his helmet, an intimidating sight to behold even for Kreig.

“I’m here as to make us of your training services” The Dragoon looked him over, even if his face was hidden by a helmet Kreig had good reason to believe the man was skeptic, after all his head was moving up and down obviously examining Kreig. Kreig was somewhat messy looking as his clothing was worn and had a few small holes and tears. His gauntlets which hung by his waist were equally worn, slightly dented and bits of dry blood covering its surface. He saw that Kreig also carried a longsword in its sheath with its training variants in his arms, two wooden blades and a heavier wooden one bolted with a metal strip. It was only when he noticed the money pouch on Kreig’s waist that he relented and said “ Look for a Benshira named Old Mac, keep your wits about you and we won’t have to gut you like a pig” He said before leaving Kreig to search for the Benshira by the name of Old Mac.
It didn’t take long to find the Benshira as he stood smackdab in the middle of the grounds, slowly turning as he viewed the various Dragoons going through various training exercises’, making sure no one was slacking. Kreig didn’t know what to make of the man, or rather he did, he just couldn’t assert his personality. After a few awkward seconds he made his way to the Benshira, a few condescending eyes upon him “Excuse me there sir, I wish for a moment of your time if you may?”

Old Mac looked at him, unlike the dragoon that examined Kreig earlier, he only examined him briefly as he immediately said “Well your obviously not one of ours, Business or wasting my time?”

“Business” Kreig immediately responded.

“Business, good…. That means I don’t have to have a few of the boys escorting you out stark naked….and possibly dead” Old mac said and without missing a beat he continued “ That longsword your carrying, that the reason you here?”

Kreig never felt so tense in his life, being in a den of lions was a lot different being in a den of dregs, that was obvious “Er….yes, I wan’t to learn how you to use it proper” Kreig looked around, his unease increasing.

“Don’t be a worry wart, if you’re here as a paying man these louses won’t dare harm you ‘less you did something you’re not supposed to. Alright then, before we continue further I want to see your form, helps see how much time I have to put and how many of your mizas I’ll be taking from that pouch” Mac said as Kreig simply nodded “with that heavy practice one, I don’t want to clean up the place of your blood because of incompetence”

“Right away” He felt like he was getting evaluated, well it was an evaluation of his skills, Kreig knew only so few about the blade and he didn’t seem to get used to swinging it and had been slacking since the incident. placing the Longsword and the two light wooden ones on the ground then he held the heavier practice blade and stepped a distance away from his other ones. His grip was firm yet not too firm, with one hand grasping the upper portion of the hilt with his left to bottom near the pommel. The tip of the wooden blade was pointing forwards to some imaginary enemy while he his right leg was placed forward and his left firmly in the back.

“Alright, a rather basic stance, now swing it around for a bit. That was just the stance, the swings will tell me what I need to know” Kreig nodded at his words and swung the blade a few times, left, right, up and down. Also throwing in a few stabbing motions, a thrust here and there “Alright alright, I’ve seen enough…. Work cut out for me, you know how to swing it, but its too rough and your grip on it could use some work. This isn’t a club your holding here boy, it’s a sword for cutting or stabbing people.” Rubbing his temples he looked at Kreig once more “Alright, with what you showed me you’ll be paying me one gold miza daily till you don’t swing that thing like you’re clobbering someone. Also you might want to get some meat on your bones, you got a bit of muscle on you but it can help a great deal, which means one more miza a day, running will also help in that regard, helps with your breathing and builds up the legs muscle. With these three you pay three mizas a day and I guarantee you will be able to live a little bit longer”

“The more the merrier I suppose” Kreig said, contemplating for a moment wether he should accept or not ‘Three a day, one hand a I might lose a good amount of gold if I don’t learn the skills proper…. On the other, it fills my time till I become dead tired’ The last part of that thought was all he needed “All right then, I wish to learn, can we start now?”

Mac gave a slight grin “I was hoping you would say that” Turning his head he called out “Johnson, get over here. I’ve got a dreg I need you to keep an eye on” The Dragoon known as Johnson ran up to mac, the human male looked ten years older than Kreig yet and was just a few years younger than Mac “Alright this fella named….?”

“It’s Kreig sir”

“This Dreg here is new and is a paying customer; I want you to run with him around the grounds. Five bells and no stopping, you understand Dreg” Kreig, who was now a ‘Dreg’ nodded, it wasn’t hard to notice he wanted to punch Mac’s face in at the moment “….And for that look you’ll be carrying weights in your hands and few more weights strapped to your legs Dreg, as long as your under my eyes Dreg, you go by my rules. I don’t care if you decide to stop coming over after this but as long as you come here to train and learn you treat me with respect and follow my words to the letter, waste my time and I will break you, Understood?” Kreig gulped and nodded “Now before I forget…” With an open palm he reached his hand towards Kreig, holding back a groan he pulled three Golden Mizas and placed them in Mac’s hand.

After a few more moments they had Kreig carry small weights to his hands…and wearing his guantlets as well. Small heavy sacks were strapped to his legs, filled with what could only be sand ‘I think a saying about wishing applies here….’ Johnson looked at him pitifully, a grin then appeared as if saying that he was glad he was not in Kreig’s boots

“Alright Dreg, for five chimes will be running around the grounds. I’ll be right behind you” Kreig noted that Johnson also carried small weights in his hands and strapped to his legs “Well what are you waiting for? Get running” Easier said than done, Kreig never really ‘ran’, to be clear he ran before but not run in the sense that he was tiring his body, to build up stamina and leg strength. A few moments he was already breathing heavily “Come on Dreggy Darla, we don’t got all day! Getta a move on before I turn old, die, get reborn and do it all over again” Johnson said as he ran behind Kreig at a brisk pace, unlike the poor brawler he was quite used to runs like these and was in fact slowing himself down.

The run was quite tiring, just five chimes and already he found it difficult moving proper. By the end of it it was more like a struggled walk rather than a proper run “By…Dira….” Breathing heavily he almost collapsed, finding difficulty to stand up straight and lift his arms.

Johnson had stopped close to him and chuckled “Oh dear boy, I honestly sympathize with you at the moment…. Actually no I don’t, I’ll be laughing at you all day, even more tomorrow” Kreig wanted to wring his neck, he really did. His body was just too tired right now “Take a few chimes to rest up” Kreig would have dropped dead right there for more than a few chimes, but something told him that he’d get no such luxury.

Mac approached him and had a wide mocking grin “Well now Betsy” Another girls name ‘How brilliant’ Kreig thought “After your little bit of rest I want you to swing that heavy wooden sword of yours, swing it downwards till I say you stop. I want to see those sloppy swing of yours look like shyke rather than like shyke, Understand”

“Yes….Sir” Kreig really didn’t want to continue, before Chimes end he was handed a mug of water by Johnson, it felt warm on his tongue as he drunk it in one go ‘Dear Dira, just barely begun and already I feel like I’m about to die’ He thought as he carried the heavy wooden blade, his hands sores as he ran earlier while carrying small weights ‘I bet I could have handled those weights easily if I were just carrying up and down’ Indeed Kreig already had some hints of muscles and could have easily carried such a trivial weight, but the weight of his guanltets plus the weights made it heavier and more difficult. His legs were equally as sore ‘Not to self: Do not anger the instructor”

As he swung his heavy wooden blade in a downward motion and repeated the action, his wrists were tired and soon so were his arms, Normally he could swing it for a much longer duration but after fifteen chimes he could feel the entirety of his arms beginning to ache in pain and the wooden blade seemed to have become heavier ‘Can’t stop….would be much worse if I do’ He thought as Old Mac Surveyed from a distance, keeping an eye on the brawler while also surveying the Dragoons he was training. That Johnson fella had left to resume his own training apparently, leaving Kreig to endure the difficult training. Eventually Kreig couldn’t continue swinging as he fell on one knee “Darn….it” He huffed, breathing in and out trying to regain his breath.

Old Mac had approached him with a bemused look on his face “Already dead tired, aren’t ya boy? Bah, We’ll stop here for today. Wouldn’t want to be you tomorrow, that’s for sure” Old Mac said, giving off a light chuckle as he left Kreig to gather his Item’s. Each movement felt like hell as he Carried his items ‘Bloody Petcher…… I don’t want to know what tomorrow will be like’ He thought as he made his way back to his the Crimson Edge Camp and entered his tent, instantly falling asleep as he hit the bedroll in the tent, immediately falling asleep till the wee hours of the next day…….