44 She is actually a devil!
Aliester was quite troubled. He knew how strict his eldest sibling was. He had anticipated that their training will be a bit more intense after they passed the mundane tasks.
It seemed that Anika had finally fixed their routine in order to make their training more efficient.
During the mornings, they were made to do daily tasks to build their endurance. Then, in the afternoons were spent on training in different ninjutsu arts.
In the first week of their weapon training, they have learned how to use a small knife.
"These knives are blunt but they could do severe damage at the hands of a master." Anika discussed and showed to her students how to use the short blade.
The boys examined the knives which were about 4 inches in length.
"These small knives were used by shadows." Anika continued. "They were easy to conceal because of their sizes and mostly they are used for stabbing."
The boys tried their hands in handling them. But the mage got a little careless and wounded his finger.
"Be careful in using them. Though blunt, they could still cut." Aria added as she gave the wizard a band aid.
"Depending on the usage, it may injure or just simple wound your target. The most damage that it can deliver is when you stab your opponent in the eye." Anika explained further.
"In order to avoid that, you have to block the assault, then strike eyes, secure wrist and take down." Then Anika demonstrated it with Aliester as her partner.
Aliester knew he was a bit rusty, but he could still somehow remember the attack pattern from his training years ago.
He tried to stab his elder sibling with the knife but Anika simply blocked the attack and gave a strike on his eyes.
Although, Aliester knew about the counter attack, he was still momentarily distracted by that strike.
Using the opportunity, Anika secured his wrist in a tight grip, then took him down.
"Oww! You really never knew to hold back." Aliester complained as pain traveled through his arm.
Anika just smirked at him before letting him go.
"Your turn." She then gestured to the remaining guys.
The other-worlders partnered up and began sparring. The two Hausen girls examined their stances and the way the trainees execute the moves.
Pointing out the faults and weakness of their forms, they had coached the boys until they managed to master the art of using short blade.
The next few days had pretty much the same pattern, only that they had added another set of weapons to train with.
"These are shuriken." Anika laid the items down on the long table and began giving the boys a little lesson about the throwing weapons.
"Shadows are always equipped with these because they are convenient and portable. There are a lot of types. However, these are the basics."
She held up a round straight iron throwing spike, which looked like an ice pick. "This is a bo. Then these are hira." She motioned to the flat wheel like shuriken.
"but the most commonly used are these stars." She showed the four point star shuriken to the males.
After which the woman produced daggers which had an odd shape. "This is a kunai. It is a farm tool but if used by ninjas they can do a lot of things."
They moved outside where Aria and Aliester had set up a bullseye target. "You need to stand a few meters away and hit the target with the shuriken."
Aria demonstrated how to throw the weapons and allowed the boys to practice.
"This is harder than it looks." Blaze complained as he tried hitting his target. However, whenever he threw he would sometimes throw the shuriken off course.
"I was able to throw the bo properly earlier. Why can't I get this one right?" the young king tried throwing a star but it did not even reach the target.
"Shuriken are shaped differently. Meaning the ways, they are thrown differs too." Aria explained before showing to the males the proper way of throwing the star shuriken.
"You hold it like this." she fixed the way the king held the shuriken and then instructed him to throw the weapon.
Although it did not hit the center, the king was happy that he finally managed to hit the target board.
Aliester narrowed his eyes at his twin sister and the king of Thyme. He knew that his majesty is interested with his younger sibling and their proximity somehow unsettles him.
[worried that the princess will be taken by another kingdom's royalty?] Zarame suddenly asked.
'Of course not.' Aliester denied. 'it is kinda awkward to think that my younger sister will be together with Blaze. Though, I have known him in Vervain prison, I don't think it is enough for me to judge if he would be good for her.'
[overprotective twin brother.] Zarame commented.
Aliester ignored Zarame as he tried to help in the training while keeping an eye for his twin.
He had noticed that the other males were struggling with the throwing weapons. That was saved for Daxton who had experience in throwing knives as a knight.
The one who had the most difficulty was the mage.
"Why am I doing this?" Conrad grumbled. "I am a caster. I don't need to train with weapons."
"Quit complaining Conrad." Aliester admonished.
"Besides, you can never tell. You may run out of mana and might get into physical combat." Aria backed her brother up.
"But why do I have to be blindfolded and pressured to throw these shuriken into lines?" he whined like a child.
"It is for accuracy. Think that the shuriken are the spells that you needed to throw at your opponent." Anika joined in the fray.
"It does make sense… but how can I throw accurately when I am blindfolded?" Conrad almost yelled in frustration.
"trust your instincts." The eldest Hausen coached.
Trust his instincts, he did… and he almost hit Daxton with the first shuriken he threw.
"Hey, watch it!" Daxton yelled as the shuriken whizzed past him.
"Sorry!"
"Conrad do it properly." Anika shouted. "If you fail again, you have to run thirty laps around the dojo."
Conrad tried for the nth time and still did not hit the target. As a result, he had to be punished.
"I am a caster. Why do I have to do this?" He grumbled. "I thought that she was beautiful for her angelic face. I did not know that she is actually a devil!"
