5 Physical Training

Cipherus picked up his newly found weapons. In his hands lie two old, rustic daggers that seemed older than he was.

"This is it! This is the weapon right for me!" Ciperhus exclaimed proudly.

The daggers were nowhere near the size of a pocketknife, however, they were certainly large enough to use as a ranged or melee weapon.

Mrs. Ruth watched in awe as the boy's quicksilver blue eyes lit up with excitment and she spoke, "Let's go try them out at the training grounds."

She picked up a standard battleaxe from the barrels and told the boys that this was the weapon she used before she retired to own an orphanage.

"We're going to start with some tests ya'll," Mrs. Ruth muttered and continued, "Specifically, we need to figure out whether this is truly the correct weapon for Cipherus."

Mrs. Ruth was on the edge. It was almost unheard of for anyone to find the correct weapon in the miscellaneous group. However, it just so happened, that many top Knights actually wielded miscellaneous weapons. These weapons were less common and less practiced against. This made countering these weapons far more difficult than the normal five.

The three now stood at the battle grounds, and Mrs. Ruth began explaining.

"I'm going to lunge at you with this battleaxe, Cipherus. I'd like you to try to block it. Don't worry, I'll use the blunt side of the axe to make sure there is no danger. If this is truly the weapon that suits you best, blocking should not be an issue," Mrs. Ruth said.

She ran and jumped at Cipherus with the battleaxe's blunt side. She stopped in midair. Cipherus had made an X pattern with the two bronze daggers to abruptly stop the battleaxe.

"Amazing... this wouldn't be a possibility if you were meant for something else. I'm just suprised because it has always been such a low chance for someone to have to pick out of the miscellaneous barrel at any training ground." Mrs. Ruth muttered.

Cipherus looked at Joseph and made a gesture which he understood as "We need to find out what's next."

Joseph then spoke, "When are we able to learn the second step you mentioned earlier, Mrs. Ruth?"

"Oh no no no... Those cannot come until much later. For now, we have other things we must focus on. For one thing, your physical strength, agility, and flexibility, as well as truly connecting you and your weapon as one." said Mrs. Ruth

"So uhm, not to be rude, but how do we do that?" Cipherus said quietly.

"Seeing your talant, I have the opportunity to notify The Citadel and have a personal Agent come and train you two. They would find your strengths and weaknesses, and, if possible, they would have weapons and skills best to train you two. This will take a couple days or so for me to get into order." said Mrs. Ruth

The three went back to the orphange. As Joseph and Cipherus had went to bed that night, they got numerous questions from the other boys as to where they had gone and what they had done. They simply told the other boys that they had been reprimanded for leaving spots on the dishes. This was actually very believable.

Joseph and Cipherus still talked in private though.

"Man, you're so cool! You're weapon is completely unique compared to others, you're lucky. I bet you could rise to the top at some point with it." squealed Joseph.

"Yeah, but you got some really good long range on your side! I'm sure it'll be very useful at some point." Ciperhus exclaimed.

Around three of four days past. After their normal routine of dishes and laundry, Mrs. Ruth approached them both. Once again, they began making their way to the local training grounds.

Upon arrival, Cipherus noticed Mrs. Ruth talking to rather large men and approached them.

"On my left is Mr. Fawn. He will be responsible for the training of Joseph. He is a skilled in archery and has been a Citadel Agent for the last four years," said Mrs. Ruth.

Joseph stuck out his hand and shook Mr. Fawn's. He was relatively excited to be working with him.

"And on my right is Mr. Seth. Unfortunately, there were no Citadel agents or knoghts available skilled in using daggers. He, however, is able to dual wield swords and I believe he should he a good fit for you, Cipherus," assured Mrs. Ruth.

Before the five seperated, Mrs. Ruth had to explain living arrangements during their training.

"For the next year, until you boys turn 14, you will be living and training with your selected Citadel Agent. During this year of training, you are expected to master your weapons within physical strength and agility. There will be a lot more than just targets to hit or a singular axe to block. You also will learn how to counter some enhancements without using your own."

The boys agreed. They took time to say their goodbyes, and headed off with their respective trainer.

Joseph wondering where he and Mr. Fawn were headed to. Eventually, he gather the courage and spoke, "Where are going?"

Mr. Fawn responded by saying "to my home. It's the woods. Plenty of living hunting material there for you to master the bow and arrow. Of course, I'll also join and it will be perfectly safe."

Joseph grinned and the two continued. Mr. Fawn's place was around 10 miles away from the closest small town or city, and they rode on horseback to make it in time for dinner that evening.

Cipherus and Mr. Seth also began. With a different mindset than Joseph, Cipherus asked a different question. "Mr. Seth, how do you plan to train me?"

Mr. Seth quickly answered the question. "It's simple. If you can beat me in a one versus one with your two daggers while I am using two swords, then you are surely fit to be a knight. Oh, and don't expect me not to use my enhancements against you."