Improvement

As we prepared to walk back, I could tell they weren't in the best shape. I stopped walking and stared at them. 

"Rest for ten minutes to get your stamina and energy back," I told them. There was no point in having them test out their new weapons if they could even breathe properly. 

After ten minutes we started up again.

Immediately you could tell the difference in their attacks. For example, Liam's stabbing and piercing were much more effective. 

"Hey. Gimme that." I said as I walked up to him and took the spear. Stacy was still accompanying me and she gave a slight smile to him, to which he returned. 

"Alright. The spear is a ranged weapon. It's a weapon you use to stay away from your opponent, to where you have the advantage, therefore you never want to get close to them or let them close the gap."

"When standing with the spear you always want to point the tip, straight at the person's face. This way you'll be guarding your face in case of attack and will also have the option kill shot if you feel confident." I explained to which he nodded. 

"The primary attack of the spear is the stab. The short stab and the long stab." I said demonstrating the movements. 

"Since this is a long spear, the long stab will only be used when there is a significant gap between you and your opponent. 

When moving with the spear you don't want to cross your feet either, keep your footwork coordinated and simple." I showed him. 

"The secondary attack is the slash. Again, when executing this basic slash, you never want to over-commit with it. Always keep it controlled. Being reckless will get you killed. Practise these movements I just showed you." I concluded, throwing him the spear. He seemed like he understood and got right to it.

As they continued to walk they came across Alex. He stood still, watching his weapon as if he was confused. As he noticed me walking toward him he began to talk. 

"You gave me a stick. No tip, no sharp end, nothing. I might as well walk to the forest and tear off a tree branch." He said with a blank expression. 

Not saying anything to him, I snatched the staff and gave a look that said 'watch'. 

I stood in front of the dummy and stared at it for a couple of seconds. After taking a deep breath I quickly jabbed the dummy in the two pecs and stomach, leaving holes that were identical to the tip of the staff. After these hits I swung my body around as I jumped into the air, making a full 360° turn, and slamming the staff down on the dummy. 

BOOM

It made a loud BOOM as everyone looked in the direction of the devastating blow that even cracked the floor below.

As I began to walk out of the large dust cloud I continued talking. 

"Although what you saw there was brute strength, it's not the primary use of the bo staff. The staff is mostly used for self-defence and countering your opponent's attacks." 

"It'll help you control that temper and allow you to utilise it efficiently. There's no such thing as a useless weapon, even the smallest of twigs can be used to cut down the biggest of trees." As I finished my statement, I gave him back his weapon and pointed out another dummy to him, as this one was destroyed. 

"How do you know so much about weapons?'' Stacy couldn't help but ask. For some reason, she was much more talkative than usual. After a pause, I answered, "I had a friend who enjoyed them." 

Aaron seemed to be enjoying his weapon quite well. There wasn't much to teach with the battle shield, it was quite self-explanatory. 

"Use the shield as an extension of yourselves. Don't just limit your attacks to charges and slams." I suggested as I walked by. 

As we made our way to Sophie. She wasn't doing much, just hitting the dummy and doing no damage. 

"I thought you liked to aim for kill shots," I said. 

"I don't know what you're talking about. I don't even know what kill shots are." She said with a scrunched face and sassy tone.

Big surprise, she was clueless as to what she was doing 10 minutes ago. She must've just been doing it instinctively which was quite interesting.

"Listen closely. Kill shots are attacks that are always intended to kill. These shots are usually aimed at the throat, heart and even sometimes the skull. Just as you were doing with the bow earlier." I explained. 

"Even if you miss and don't get your shot, you can always modify your movements to cause as much damage as possible." He said, showing her a series of movements. 

"Repeat what I just showed you." He said leaving her to stare at the dummy. 

Moving on we came across Lia. She was chatting with Johan about her weapon. These two are the only ones who knew each other outside of biscord. They have been friends since childhood. 

As I walked up to them, I could tell from her unpleasant face while looking at the rapier, that she didn't like it. 

"Problem?" I asked. She looked at Johan, then to me. 

"I don't think this is the best weapon for me." She started. 

"I've trained with a lot of weapons while I was here, I can tell when a weapon clicks with me and when it doesn't." She explained. I didn't say much to her and just stared.

"Alright, with these weapons you've trained, have you found any that you've enjoyed or 'clicked' with?" He said without any emotion. 

To this, She had no answer. 

"You haven't found a suitable weapon yet. If you had, you wouldn't be using that longsword you're so terrible at." He stated. 

Lia was rarely the type to stay quiet after someone took a jab at her like that. But to be honest, she didn't know what to say, he was right. All she could do was tighten her fists and take it. 

"Give the rapier a chance. It might grow on you." He said while taking the weapon.

"The rapier is all about speed and precision. You use your weapon to control the opponent's movements to get the advantage. Speed is also key, so that you may rain a devastating amount of blows on your opponent. Observe." I said while getting into a stance. 

In an instant, I stabbed at the dummy multiple times extremely quickly. Once again the audience was left stunned. 

"The rapier isn't like a sword. No matter where the longsword hits you, you'll take significant damage. The rapier can't do that, therefore every attack must be precise and calculated,  allowing you to fight efficiently." I explained.

She seemed to be more determined after my show of technique, so I showed her a few more things and left. Everything was going pretty well. Everyone was somewhat successfully utilising their weapons. 

Except for a familiar loudmouth who kept shouting profanities. 

"Goddammit. Why is this shit so hard?" … 

As he said this, he noticed what was wrong with the sentence and decided to play it off. 

I noticed his clumsily applied hand wraps on his fists. 

"You haven't even applied it right," I told him. He seemed to be confused so I lent him a hand. 

"I'll only be showing you once so pay attention. This is very important. Without it, you could injure your weak hands by just training." I showed him how to wrap the hand wraps nice and tight so that he wouldn't hurt himself. 

"Great, while you're at it can you show me some moves?" He asked, to which I did. 

"Alright look here. This will be your stance. With it, you will be able to protect both your body, with your elbows, and also your face, with your hands."

"Your feet should be in an L shape, with your dominant leg back facing diagonally, and your other foot should be in front with your toes facing your opponent." I went on to show him the basic kicks, punches, dodges and blocks. He seemed to be good and blocking and punching, however, his kicks and dodges seemed to be off. He barely stayed upright when doing them. This seemed to stem from his awful balance.

"Alright that's cool and all. But what's it matter? I'm just using my hands. How much damage can they do to that giant or that wolf that nearly killed me?" He asked, frustrated. And to be fair it was a viable question. 

"That lesson is coming. Just know that the human body is the best work of art." I told him, as I left. 

I observed everyone for the remainder of the day, giving them tips and tricks to master their weapon. While I was watching them I noticed Stacy standing there idly with no expression, as if she was in deep thought. 

"What are you thinking about?" I asked, while still observing the others. To be honest I was just making conversation as the awkwardness was killing me. 

"Oh, nothing." She said with a nervous chuckle. As I continued to stare at her, she finally broke. 

She probably found it awkward that a guy, whose face she couldn't see, was eyeing her like a piece of meat. 

"I was just thinking about my siblings. They were all quite young and my mom and dad were always working. I'm slightly worried." She said while feeling slightly depressed. 

"You shouldn't focus on that. It'll distract you and potentially get you killed. Instead, think of how you'll get back to them. Crying and being depressed won't do you any good." I said while I continued to observe the others. 

She looked at me for a couple of seconds, before she slightly nodded and continued to cheer for everyone else.

As the sun started to set. I could tell they were at their end. They couldn't even pick up their weapons anymore. 

"Alright, that's enough for today. Everyone go back inside and be back out here at sunrise again. On the dot, no slacking off, I'll come in myself and elbow drop you if you make me." I said as I remembered what they had done that same morning. 

They all trotted to the house and I went to sit on the hill and stare at the rising moon. I heard footsteps behind me as Luca started talking to me. 

"You know, you should come in. I'm sure it's cold out here and the others wouldn't mind." He stated. 

"I don't need it. I like it out here… under the moon." He said with an unusual pause, to which Luca was confused. 

"Alright. Feel free to come in at any point in the night." He said as he walked away. I didn't say anything and continued to look at the moon. 

At sunrise, I waited for them in my usual spot. And today they were on time. 

"Great. Follow me." I said as I began to walk. We went to the same place as yesterday. Only this time they were met with nothing but chairs. 

"Everyone put down your weapons and take a seat. Today I'll be teaching you about Ichor."