Chapter 11: Hell

It has been a week since Gael and Fortis started their training inside the Willow Forest, and the whole week is like hell on earth, the little goblin Fortis is whipped into shape like a madman by Gael, other than running and lifting heavy stones Fortis has also undergone a beating when he and Gael sparred during their swordsmanship training, Fortis trains his body during morning and after a one-hour lunch break, he trains his swordsmanship under Gael's guidance.

The first week of Fortis' hellish training yielded visible results, Fortis' body is now stronger, and his stamina is also better since he can now run five laps without getting extremely exhausted, though he is having a hard time training his swordsmanship Fortis never complained and diligently trains which greatly impressed and satisfied Gael.

Fortis is having a hard time in his swordsmanship training because Goblins never really learned a disciplined fighting style they just usually swing their blunt weapons towards their enemies they just use their great number to win fights, but Gael is not worried about Fortis since he knows what is Fortis' desire and he knows that this little Goblin will never stop until he reached that goal, Gael knows that after a few more days of training Fortis will get used to using swords and will greatly improve his progress in his swordsmanship.

One early morning a young man in his twenties is sitting under the shade of a tree near an open plain, the young man has both his eyes closed and is in a meditative state, the young man is Gael he is doing his morning routine which is meditating, and on the wide plain you can see a small green creature running around, it is Fortis he is in his final lap.

The pair of men and goblin continued their morning training and when lunchtime came both of them took a break from their training, Fortis just finished lifting the heavy stone a hundred times and is extremely hungry.

" good job, here take this " Gael pat Fortis' head and handed him a big piece of monster meat, Gael managed to hunt an E rank Tusked Boar and it serves as their food for the day, Fortis bit off a generous amount of meat from the boar leg that Gael gave him, while Gael cooked his portion before eating it.

Monster meat is beneficial to a monster since they gain soul energy from them which boost their growth and increases their strength.

After an hour Gael stood up holding a steel sword.

" break time's over, let's start your swordsmanship training, " Gael said, the little Goblin followed behind him while holding a wooden sword.

" now take position! " Gael ordered and Fortis followed.

The small green Goblin holding a wooden sword took up a fighting position as per Gael's orders.

" Slash! Stab! Parry! " Gael said.

Fortis performed the movements Gael mentioned in the same order as well.

Gael ordered Fortis to perform the same movement a few more times, the movements that Fortis did are the three basic movements of the swordsmanship that Gael mastered, just like any other swordsmanship the foundation is the most important that is why mastering the basics is a must even for Fortis, Gael wants his familiar to master the basics before teaching him the advance moves of the swordsmanship.

Fortis must learn to fight using the three basic moves before learning the advanced moves.

" that's enough, " Gael said making Fortis stop swinging his sword.

" Now it is time to train your footwork, do what I taught you " Gael instructed Fortis to train his footwork.

And as Gael ordered Fortis started to perform the footwork that he was taught, he advanced and step backwards, moved from left to right strangely and swiftly, and he spun around to jump from time to time.

The strange movements that Fortis performed are the accompanying footwork of the swordsmanship that Gael taught him, footwork is the second most important aspect of sword training, one must learn when to advance and attack when to retreat and block, and when to dodge incoming attacks, just knowing how to swing a sword properly without accompanying footwork is useless, a person who's trained in the way of the sword but lacks mastery in his footwork will never be recognized as a swordsman.

Fortis performed a few sets of the footwork before Gael ordered him to stop, though Fortis is a little sloppy on his footwork and made a few mistakes Gael let it go since Fortis was only training for a week and he will be able to perfect it as he trains more.

" now use the sword moves along with the footwork "

This will be the first time that Fortis will perform the sword moves along with the footwork.

" kiiik? " Fortis said in confusion, he is asking Gael if he is serious. Fortis feels like it is too early for him to combine the sword moves with footwork.

" It is fine, I don't expect you to perform it perfectly, I just want to see how is your body coordination " Gael explained.

Fortis turned its head in confusion, he didn't understand a word from Gael, seeing the confused Fortis, Gael sighed.

" just do what I told you, it will help you increase your strength "

Hearing that performing the sword moves along with the footwork will increase his strength Fortis immediately slashed his wooden sword while using his footwork to advance making a forward slash, he step backwards and performed a parry, he strides forward again but this time he performed a stab, Fortis mixed up the sword moves with the footwork and it looks like he is dancing which is the very essence of the swordsmanship that Gael uses and taught him, it is also called Grey Wind Sword Dance a low-level sword technique that can be found anywhere, though it is accessible by anyone, not a lot of people trained using this sword technique since they see it as weak swordsmanship since it focuses on the harmony and gracefulness of the movements other than offense.

Being a swordsmanship that focuses on harmony and gracefulness Fortis' display of the swordsmanship is satisfactory despite training for only a week.

Seeing Fortis' moves Gael smiled and nodded.

" Good Job, though it is messy, it is passable, your hard work has paid off, and you've become stronger than you were a week ago "

Hearing Gael's compliment and words of affirmation Fortis let out excited sounds.

" kiiik! Kiiik! Kiiiiik! "

" no you can't it is still too early for you! Didn't you hear me you have just been training for a week and you already want to fight another monster " Fortis excitedly asked Gael if he can go fight another monster since he's become stronger according to him.

Hearing Gael's firm refusal Fortis' face turned into a frown.

" don't worry you will eventually fight other monsters and not just normal monsters we will one day challenge those who are stronger than us and we will kick their asses, " Gael said.

" kiiiik! Kiiik! " Fortis excitedly agreed with Gael. It seems like both of them are battle junkies.

" now continue performing the sword moves and footwork " Gael commanded Fortis, which Fortis followed.

The two of them spent the whole afternoon training swordsmanship, other than basic training for Fortis they also sparred a couple of rounds, Fortis was destroyed by Gael but he is slowly gaining experience fighting, if he continues to work hard for the rest of their three months he will be a new and improved Goblin.

When the night time came they call it a day and headed back to the old wooden shack that they treat as their home.

They entered the old shack and Fortis immediately lies down on the floor, he is extremely tired from training the whole day but despite his exhaustion, his eyes are full of life and happiness.

" Take a rest, I will prepare our dinner " Gael then picked up his bag and headed straight to the small kitchen, he took out some kitchen tools and utensils from his bag and there is still some leftover meat from their lunch, Gael planned on cooking it, he learned how to cook because he got tired of eating military rations, that is why every time he's on a battlefield along with weapons, armors, and various medicines, he carries cooking utensils.

In the kitchen, Gael used his knife skills to cut some of the ingredients such as vegetables and other spices, the smell of the food he was cooking attracted the small green Goblin lying on the floor, Fortis followed the scent, when he saw what Gael is cooking he started to drool, although monsters normally eat raw food Fortis is different, because of Gael's influence Fortis now prefers cooked food than raw, Gael still feeds him raw food from time to time just like earlier when they had lunch, he does it because raw monster meat contains more nutrients and soul energy that Fortis needs.