Meeting

It was early in the morning, but the Mercenary street was already full of people.

Some went to get breakfast, while others went to blacksmiths to buy new weapons or try to repair their current ones.

A boy with short black hair, shoulder pad armor on, and a sword on his hip was walking towards one corner of this street.

It was Leroy. He had woken up at six a.m. and gotten ready to meet the Jackals today.

Harry had told him to meet them at the Singing Iron Inn at seven am.

'Finally, I can start to get a sense of order in my life,' Leroy thought. The past week had passed in a blur, as if a hurricane had come and ripped any sense of normality from Leroy's life.

Arriving before the Inn, Leroy could already see people coming outside. It seemed like this was a pretty famous Inn. Seeing that Harry wasn't one of the people coming out, Leroy decided to head inside.

Opening the wooden door, Leroy came inside and was met with a hall filled with people eating food.

Looking around, Leroy tried to see if he could find Harry until a voice was suddenly heard from the end of the hall.

"Hey, Leroy kid, come 'ere." 

Turning towards the voice, Leroy saw a large table at the end of the hall. About fifteen people were eating on it, and one of them raised his hand and waved towards him. It was Harry.

Leroy started heading towards them as he passed the other tables. People were already looking at him strangely.

"A new member of the Jackals?"

"It's probably another crazy bastard just like them."

People were whispering all around him while looking like they had seen an ogre.

'They know I can hear them, right?' Leroy thought, his eye twitching.

Finally, he arrived at the large table.

"You're here, kid. Come sit down and eat some," Harry said with a smile as he looked at Leroy.

Leroy sat down next to him, grabbed a plate, and started eating.

A moment later, the table erupted into laughter.

"It's true, captain. The kid doesn't care at all," said a man with hazel eyes and dirty blonde hair going down to his shoulders. He was wearing some light leather armor.

"I know right Henry?" replied Harry.

Leroy lifted his head up and stared at them as if they were idiots.

'You told me to eat. Do you think I'd waste such a chance?' Leroy thought.

Harry then went up on his feet and started to introduce everyone.

"From today onwards, we, the Jackals, have a new member, his name is Leroy," Harry said as he pointed at him.

"Now, why don't you guys introduce yourself, I want to eat too, ya know?" Harry said as he sat down and started eating as if his life depended on it.

Gulping down, Leroy opened his mouth and said

"As he said, my name is Leroy. Nice to meet you all. Let's talk after breakfast," he said, and then he started eating again.

Leroy didn't think he had ever had this much food in front of him in his life. At that moment, he felt like he was in paradise.

The other members just stared at Harry and Leroy as if they were some wild dogs.

A while later, everyone had eaten breakfast, so Harry took them outside. After a few minutes of walking, they arrived at a small field just outside the town.

Everyone darted around the field and found their spot, where they started practicing their sword skills with one another.

Turning towards Leroy, Harry motioned with his hand for him to follow.

After going into a corner of the field, Harry finally said:

"This is where we hold our training sessions when we are not out on missions, and this is also where I will teach you how to wield a sword."

"Shouldn't I get acquainted more with the others first?" Leroy asked 

"You'll be just fine. You're going to have more then enough time to get to know them all, but we have a mission next week, and i do not want you out there swinging your sword like a chicken," Harry said as he unsheathed his sword and aimed it at Leroy.

"Take out your sword"

"Wait, we are starting with a duel right off the bat?" Leroy asked, his calm expression finally cracking.

"No better way to learn than in practice. We don't have time to have you practice basic swings and all that. Just learn to survive for now," Harry said as he started running towards Leroy.

Immediately, Leroy unsheathed his sword as he tried to make a guarding stance.

"Left," Harry said as he swung at Leroy's right side.

Leroy's eyes went to his left, only to find Harry's sword at his neck.

"Never lose focus. No matter what the opponent says, don't listen to it. You're not strong enough to give that any mind. You're not fighting to win but to survive," Harry said as he brought his sword down and went back a few meters.

"All right, Again," Leroy replied as he put his sword in front of him again.

Harry once again launched himself at Leroy and tried to distract him, but this time, it didn't work, as Leroy managed to block the sword coming from the opposite side of where Harry had announced.

"Good, Left!" Harry said, and this time, his sword really did go to the left, but Leroy managed to block it once again.

"Good, that's very good. I only told you once, but you haven't made a single mistake yet." Harry said as he started pressuring Leroy while teaching him.

"Don't space your legs that far apart, or this happens," Harry said as he kicked Leroy's leg, causing him to fall, and then put the sword at his chin again.

They continued like this over and over again for two hours.

Finally, they stopped.

"Let's stop, for now, Leroy. That's it for today," Harry said as he looked at him.

"All right, Captain," Leroy said as he wiped the sweat off his face. His back was utterly drenched in sweat.

Harry was still looking at him. The look in his eyes had changed from the start of the battle, though.

'Monster, complete monster. I only had to tell him his mistakes once, and he didn't ever repeat them again.' Harry thought as the grin on his face started to get wider.

'Looks like the Jackals will be holding the title as the best mercenaries of SteelBurn for quite a while longer.'