13 A Boon Disguised as Torture?
The sound of someone running and wooden weapons clashing in the training court could only be interrupted by the Commander herself.
"Are you tired, soldier?! Do you want to rest?!"
"No, ma'am!"
"Oh, look! It's time to step up the rhythm again!"
Riwall had been running around the obstacle course while having to deflect all the attacks she would throw at him.
If he tripped, he would be hit at least five times before getting up.
If he failed to deflect or dodge an attack, he would be hit until he was able to do so and keep running.
Eleanor was relentless, she held herself to avoid breaking the wooden weapons, but she quickly learned how to use more strength to hurt Riwall without damaging them.
At first, Riwall made the call to deal with it alone. He did not want to raise his skills and get her attention. But as the training went on, he had to ask Friday for help.
Even his trusty AI was worried, the woman was a monster disguised as a human, Friday started by making his movements slightly more precise to avoid hurting himself, but the commander would immediately notice and "step up the rhythm" as she called it.
Both Riwall and Friday were 100% focused on the task of surviving this training. They even ignored the various notifications that popped up and kept on dodging, deflecting, and running.
When it was time for archery, she threw him a bow and scattered arrows all over the place. His new task would be to run around the obstacle course with his bow in hand, pick all arrows along the way and shoot them at the bullseye. If he missed it, she would just throw the arrow back in the court.
But things would never be so simple. Her job was to hamper his progress, so she would alternate between hitting him with the wood weapons and deflecting the arrows he shot at the wrong time.
That pushed Riwall and Friday to their limits. They had to think fast to snatch an arrow in a position that would favor the shoot while using the obstacle course to kit her around.
If Riwall moved too far from her, she would position herself to deflect his arrows. If he got too close, she would hit him and make him miss the target.
The blunt weapon training was just as ingenious, Riwall had to hit her with the slow two-handed wood hammer as she harassed him using wood daggers.
The pole weapon training was as hard as the archery one. She blindfolded Riwall and rushed to land a hit on him before running away. His job was to use his senses and the long reach of his weapon to strike her before she came in for another attack. The trick was to make use of the obstacle course to limit the angles that she could use to launch an attack, which was only possible to do because Friday had memorized the whole area.
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"Good job, soldier! I am proud of your progress today!" She said while putting the daggers back at the rack.
Riwall just dropped to the ground panting and couldn't even muster enough strength to remove the blindfold. He heard her steps getting closer and that she was saying something, but before he made any sense of what happened, he lost consciousness.
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Eleanor looked at the kid sprawled on the ground and reflected on what she did.
"Dam! I think I dropped all my frustration on the kid's training. He progressed so fast, that halfway through the training, even I was having a hard time keeping up with him without activating my skills."
She let her stoic behavior slip for a few moments as she looked kindly at the mess of a human on the ground.
But it was just for a moment. Eleanor put back her commander persona, got out of the training court and called a healer to save what was left of the kid.
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Riwall woke up in a strange bed. His body was all covered in bandages, but he felt no pain.
[Finally, you are awake! Five more minutes and I would have forcibly woken you up!]
{G, calm down Friday, what's the hurry?}
[What's the hurry? You have been sleeping for 16 hours! We need to talk today with Hector!]
{Oh crap!}
He hurriedly got up from the bed while removing the bandages. Friday had already healed all his wounds exerting her control over his bodily functions.
"What do you think you are doing! Back to bed, now!" A female healer heard some noises and came in to check on the patient. The boy suffered the full might of Eleanor's training and had multiple bruises and fractures all over his body.
"How can you even stand up!? We could only cast some minor healing spells; the fractures in your leg were going to be healed tonight!"
"But I am ok! Mama always said I healed quickly! You can check yourself!"
The woman instructed him to lay on the bed while she cast a diagnosis spell on him. She was surprised to see that he was not lying; he was indeed wholly healed.
"By the gods, you aren't lying!"
"See? Now can you please let me go? I can't miss today's magic class!"
She wanted to keep him in the infirmary to have her superior check on him, but she could always go after him later, it's not like he could leave the place.
"Ok, but after class, you have to come back here, the healer on the night shift is one of our best. I want him to check up on you."
"I promise!"
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On the way to his room, Friday updated him on his progress during the training.
[I know you suffered a lot. But the training was fantastic for us! I have never been challenged to keep up with your surroundings like when Eleanor was going after you!]
{You mean when she was torturing me?}
[It's not torture, not even close to it, we both know it.]
{Ok, fair enough, it doesn't change the fact that it hurt like hell. Tell me, was it worthy?}
[Ha! Worthy? Judge it yourself!]
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------Panel------
-Name: Riwall Madec
-Age: 8
-Level: 01 (0%)
-Mana purity: 100% (Prismatic)
-----BLESSES-----
---Temelth's Bless---
-Languages - MASTERED
-Unknown (locked)
-Unknown (locked)
-Unknown (locked)
-Unknown (locked)
-----ATTRIBUTES-----
--- Mental Attributes---
-Intelligence:10
-Wits:10
-Resolve:10
--- Physical Attributes---
-Strength:10
-Dexterity:10
-Stamina:10
--- Social Attributes---
-Presence:10
-Manipulation:10
-Composure:10
-----SKILLS-----
--- Mental Skills---
--Academics Branch - Level 3--
<Scribing> - Level 8
--Wellbeing Branch - Level 4--
<Meditation> - Level 15
--Elemental Magic Casting Branch - Level 10--
<Fire Magic Casting> - Level 25
<Water Magic Casting> - Level 20
<Wind Magic Casting> - Level 20
<Earth Magic Casting> - Level 15
--- Physical Skills---
--Melee Combat Branch - Level 10--
<Edged Weapon Combat> - Level 16
<Blunt Weapon Combat> - Level 18
<Pole Weapon Combat> - Level 20
<Footwork> - Level 26
--Ranged Combat Branch - Level 10--
<Archery> - Level 22
--Physical Finesse Branch - Level 5--
<Acrobatics> - Level 19
--- Social Skills---
--Negotiation Branch - Level 1--
<Bluff> - Level 5
--Arts Branch - Level 5--
<Drawing> - Level 15
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Riwall stopped walking and spaced out. He did not know what to think about all this progress. On one hand, he was happy to have grown so much in only one day. On the other hand, if word got out, he may end up getting more attention than necessary. He could read the mood, and it became clear that nobles held a lot of power and did not think much about commoners.
{In less than 48 hours we went neck-deep in all this bullshit, if we are not careful, even Hellen and Erika may end up in danger.}
[I was listening to all the gossip the healers were talking about while you were out cold. If their stories check out, our best bet would be to affiliate ourselves with the Farsteels. They hold no prejudice against commoners and are politically influential, Eleanor is not any commander, she is the highest-ranking commander and has the loyalty of more than half of the army's soldiers.]
{I suspected she was someone important, just not THAT important.}
{I missed Edward's training already, and Eleanor will most likely be here tomorrow to instruct the other two, I just hope she has forgiven me. If she has, I will talk to her about getting protection during the next years.}
[Don't worry, she has, I overheard one of the healers saying how she came by twice during the night to make sure you were recovering fine, she only relaxed after a high-level healer came by to diagnose you himself.]
He chuckled to that. He could not imagine that demon worrying about his safety after the hell of training she put him through.
Soon enough, he made his way to Hector to show him his book and return Hector's.
"Hello Riwall, having trouble with the books, I suppose? I think I can help you for some minutes before Anna and Gregory arrive."
"Oh, it's not like that Mr. Hector, I already finished all of them and I brought them with me to return to you."
"Wait, what? You say you finished all 10 of them?"
"Yep, but I found them not to be didactic enough. I cross-referenced all the information that matched up and tried to get rid of all the noise generated by incorrect statements or pure speculation by the authors. I compiled the results of my research in these parchments. I would be honored if you could spare some of your time to evaluate it."
Hector was shocked. This boy's vocabulary and demeanor are not of an eight-year-old at all! Instead of growing suspicious, Hector attributed it all to Riwall's blessings and dropped the matter.
He accepted the bundle of parchments made by Riwall and felt like his world was turned upside down. The impeccable handwriting that made it easier to read; the direct and concise language used; the reliance on examples; the careful and correct use of analogies and the beautiful and informative drawings made this one of the best readings he had ever experienced in his life, and he was already over a century old.
Hector was so engrossed in his reading that he did not even notice the arrival of Anna and Gregory. But at this moment, discussing this book was much more critical.
"What you did here is nothing short of a miracle for an 8-year-old. No scholar who has this level of knowledge about the basics would waste his time writing a book for starters. Do you allow me to publish it? As you are too young, I can do it in my name. Of course, at least 70% of the royalties would go to you, and I would give a hardcover copy to you and your friends here. What do you think?"
[Take the deal, you would never be able to publish it on your own before completing your training. And you could use the money to cement your position in Marsastor Castle.]
"I would gladly accept these terms, Mr. Hector, but may I add a request of mine?"
"Sure, name it."
"I want you to continue lending me books, the more, the merrier."
The elf scratched his chin while thinking.
"Hmm, it should be possible, but I will not be able to lend you books that thread on subjects like massive scale spells, mind control, and other prohibited subjects, and I want to reserve the right of revoking your access to my books if I think you are straying away from a path of virtue."
"I accept these conditions." They shook hands, and Riwall excused himself to his check-up with the healers. He left the room with one delighted teacher and two kids who could not make heads or tails about what just happened.
