In the heat of training, Instructor Mako gives Aldric a reality check.
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"I understand your problem now."
With a backhand swipe of his wooden blade, Aldric collapsed at the counter from the Armed Combat Instructor Mako. His guard collapsing beneath decades of experience. Quickly jumping back into a shaking stance, the assault continued.
CRACK
The sound of the two wooden swords meeting, with one dominating the other.
And he did not stop there.
"You are arrogant. You genuinely believe that you are special in some shape or form. Well, let me teach you something."
Blows rained down on Aldric as he tried to recover his guard. Yet the reality of a true battle slowed him down and drenched him in hesitation.
'What the hell? I trained so much... I conquered my first nightmare and got a divine aspect! So why am I losing so badly?'
Aldric thought as his guard never recovered, blows raining down on his body as he tried to dodge.
"There. I see it in your face. That is your ego speaking to you. Let me guess, 'I conquered my first nightmare, so I am special.' It's the same with all of you sleepers. Let me tell you something: it was pure luck."
He emphasised his words as he struck one last heavy blow on his solar plexus, knocking the wind out of Aldric.
Dry heaving, he tried to breathe, but air would not grace his lungs.
All of the trials and tribulations that he had conquered deep within that cavern rushed through his mind, trials that would have spelt guaranteed death for anyone else.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Aldric played to his strengths and calmed his mind. Now relying on [Insight] and not on what he believed combat should look like between two humans, he readied his guard.
He could hear Mako continue to deride him, but Aldric could not focus on it. It was hard enough to deal with his own negative thoughts.
'He's right! Get those dumb thoughts out of your head... But it does not change anything now. You need to fight. You are not used to fighting humans, especially awakened ones. And you will learn.'
Refuting the chaotic storm of negative thoughts that he had, he steeled his resolve.
Dashing into a lunge, he pierced the wooden blade forward at his instructor. With their height difference being negligible, Aldric aimed at his torso.
Just as Mako began to parry the blow with ease, he did not anticipate a feint.
Just as [Insight] signalled the danger, Aldric knew that this meant his instructor was committed to the attack. And with that, he twisted slightly and angled the attack upwards. Missing the counter that was aimed at his torso. A heavy blunt blow was heading towards Mako's chin.
But it would not be that easy to win over an Awakened.
With a tilt of his head, Mako twisted on his feet. Shifting his blade into an underhand grip as he moved, he bashed the handle of the wooden blade into the side of Aldric's head. Causing him to collapse in pain.
"Not bad, Aldric. But you'll have to try harder than that."
A small smile formed on Mako's face.
With a fresh bruise forming on his head, Aldric stood back up.
The battle continued.
***
Thanks for reading.
Aldric learning the art of human combat.
Any requests for the next one?