First Session

Austria, December 2nd 1791

4:02 PM

Elias walked closer to Lukas and Herman. He had finally arrived to the training place.

'Not as long as I expected actually,' Lukas thought.

"About time, Elias," Herman said. "Didn't you know we had training at 4 PM?"

"I'm not the one who has to arrive on time. I'm coming because I want to," Elias answered.

Herman sighed with a smile. "Well, shall we start, Lukas?"

Lukas nodded his head. "Alright."

"Okay..." Herman said as he walked towards the same bags he had previously brought.

Lukas watched his instructor. 'He brought more bags than yesterday. I wonder if he'll teach me about other stuff,' he thought.

Soon, Herman took a small bow out of the bag along with some sort of circle-shaped target.

"Fine, today I will introduce you to some more kinds of weapons. Besides, since I don't feel like making you do physical exercise during the trainings, I'll give you some "homework" to do everyday from now on, fine?" Herman said.

'Bruh... I don't want it,' Lukas thought, but he still answered it positively. "Okay, I'll do it."

Herman nodded his head as he placed the target on a tree nearby. "Okay, your goal is to hit the middle of the target. See? This little red circle," he said as he tapped it with his finger.

'Yeah, I'm not stupid, I can see,' Lukas thought.

"Well, since wielding a bow demands a lot of strength, I brought one that's specially made for children, so you won't struggle using it so much."

"Alright, thank you."

Herman happily handed the bow to Lukas as the blonde boy assessed it thoroughly.

'Wow, this is kinda cool,' Lukas thought as he roamed his hand through the bow.

"I see you like it," Herman said as he handed an arrow to Lukas.

"Thank you," Lukas said as he nocked the arrow.

"Okay, relax your shoulders. Grab the arrow with both your ring and middle fingers as you pull the bowstring," Herman instructed.

Lukas did so as he listened attentively to everything that Herman said.

'This still... demands a bit of strength. It's kinda tiresome,' Lukas thought.

Herman watched Lukas moving. 'Great. Even though he's still struggling a lot while aiming, he can still do it. This brat will gain a lot of physical strength as time passes if he keeps this up.'

"C-Can I let go already?" Lukas asked as his arms started trembling due to the effort.

"O-Oh, of course, Lukas. Do it. Try to shoot the target."

As Lukas prepared to let go of the string, both Herman and Elias watched him attentively.

'This boy doesn't seem to have any talent as a swordsman at first glance. But perhaps, he can show some talent at shooting. It would be a lot more helpful like that,' Herman thought.

'Let us see what you are capable of, Lukas,' Elias thought as he watched his son attentively.

Finally, Lukas let go of the bowstring which made the arrow be fiercely propelled forward.

Finally, the arrow went past the tree and landed on the ground a few seconds after that.

Herman was showing quite a disappointed expression right now. 'W-What?! He didn't even hit the tree?! Are you serious?!' he thought.

Elias sighed as he placed his hand on his forehead. 'Why do I even believe him?!' he wondered.

Once he saw where the arrow had gone, Lukas took the bow with his two hands and looked at it doubtfully. After that, he turned to Herman.

"Herman, dude, this stuff is broken," he said.

"It's nothing to do with it!" Herman said, pissed. 'What a shameless brat!'

'Oh my...' Lukas thought.

Herman cleared his throat. "Well, go get the arrow, let's try it again."

"What?! We are trying it again?!" Lukas asked, incredulous.

"Of course, we'll try as many times as we need," Herman answered.

Lukas quickly glanced at Elias and then looked back to Herman. "Fine..." he said with a loud sigh.

-----

After about half an hour of training, Lukas could barely feel his arms. They were numb from the strength he had used to shoot the arrows.

"Very good, you finally hit the target, we're on a good way," Herman said with a smile, looking at the arrow, that had just hit the target, however, it was still very far from the middle spot.

'It's not fair!' Lukas thought as he panted and sweat went down his forehead. 'My vision is still not 100% because I'm three years old... I guess,' he thought.

Herman sighed as he walked away. "Well, let's take a break," he said as he took a small gallon of water and tossed it towards Lukas. "Here, catch!"

As Lukas tried to grab the gallon, it hit his hands and rebounded against his face. "Ouch!" he complained.

Herman laughed as he watched Lukas. After that, he turned to Elias. "Hope you don't think I'm bullying him too much, Elias," Herman said.

"It's okay. Pain is what changes us. This will just strengthen him," Elias answered.

"Will you make him do the exercises everyday?" Herman asked.

"Of course I will," Elias answered.

Herman chuckled. "Well, I wouldn't want to be in that boy's shoes." he said.

Elias didn't answer. He just watched Lukas getting closer to them as he held the gallon.

"Well, there's something else I noticed Elias," Herman said.

"What is it?" Elias asked as he looked at Herman.

"Well, I don't know if you will like this, but by watching Lukas both today and yesterday, there's no doubt about it," Herman said.

Elias frowned. "What is it?" he asked impatiently.

Herman sighed. "Well, he uses both hands pretty well, but I came to the conclusion that he's left-handed. There's no mistake," the bulky man revealed.

Elias sighed. "Crap, Herman, I thought it was something serious! Don't scare me like that you idiot!" he said.

Herman raised his brow. "What? You are not worried about it?" he asked.

"Of course not! So what if he prefers to use the other hand?! Besides, how did you notice it? You said he uses both hands pretty well," Elias said.

"Well, I have fought along with a lot of different people for my whole life. And I noticed that even after a few years using their right hand, left-handed people still have some habits with it. Didn't you notice Lukas always crosses his arms with his right arm over the left one?" Herman asked. "We tend to protect our dominant arm when we cross them. See?" he asked while crossing his arms.

"Of course not! Why would I even pay attention to something like that?!" Elias replied.

Lukas finally reached both Herman and his father. "Hey! What are you talking about?" he asked.

"None of your business," Elias answered.

"You are so kind," Lukas said with a bored

expression.

"Lukas, there's something I want to tell you before we continue our training." Herman said. He turned to Elias. "If possible, I would like to have this talk alone with him, Elias," Herman said.

Elias nodded his head. "Fine. Have fun you two" he said. After that, he started walking away.

"Listen, Lukas. I wouldn't like to have this chat with your father around because I know he has some strong ideals," Herman said.

Lukas raised his brow. "Please, tell me. I'm curious," he said seriously.

"Well, you are going to learn how to fight. And you're gonna do it well. That's something I can guarantee. Of course, how long it will take is up to you," Herman started.

"But you are still very young and you may not be ready to have such power," Herman said. "So, I am going to tell you this: once I conclude you don't have anything else to learn with me, you can go and do whatever you want with your fighting skills."

Lukas showed a surprised expression. 'What? I thought he was going to give me a lecture about something like "protect the weaklings" or shit like that,' he thought.

Herman smiled. "It's up to you to decide what's right or wrong. That's something completely subjective. You are a smart boy, so I am sure you will be able to find a good answer for that question," he said.

"Wow, you say cool stuff sometimes, Herman," Lukas said.

Herman laughed. "I do, right?"

Lukas smiled. "Looking forward to training with you, Herman," he said as he stretched his arm to shake Herman's hand.

Herman nodded his head. "Likewise," he said as he shook Lukas's hand.

"You can come back, father," Lukas said loudly, so Elias could hear from afar.

Elias sighed and started walking back. Once he reached the both of them, he asked. "Since when do you speak for Herman?"

Herman rolled his eyes. "Come on, Elias, don't be so boring," he said.

Elias sighed. "Whatever."

Herman turned to Lukas. "Are your arms better?" he asked.

"Please, let's rest a bit more. I'm pretty sure that if we keep going like this I will lose my arms in no time," Lukas said.

"Well, I would say that if you keep training like this, your arms will be like mine!" Herman said as he flexed his biceps in front of both Elias and Lukas.

"...Father, I don't know if I want to be this guy's pupil anymore," Lukas said.

"Yes, and I don't know if I still want him to be your instructor either," Elias answered.

"Pfft! You will not find anyone else like me!" Herman said confidently.

"Great," Lukas said.

"What?" Herman asked.

Lukas cleared his throat. "Nothing. Well, my arms feel better already. Let's get back to training," he said with a motivated smile.

Herman liked Lukas's expression. "Fine! Let's have another duel then!" he said.

Lukas's motivation immediately faded away.

'What?! That's so boring!' he thought.

"What's wrong? Weren't you all pumped up back then?!" Herman asked with a smirk.

"Huh..." Lukas relaxed his head back on his arms. "Y'know, the problem is that I will beat your ass too easily," he said innocently.

Soon, anger filled Herman's body. "What?!" he asked.

"Yeah, that's right," Lukas said. 'Did you really think you would be able to tease me without also being teased, you bastard?!' he thought.

Meanwhile, Elias just watched this whole situation. 'Oh my gosh, Lukas. If there's somebody you shouldn't tease, then that's Herman,' he thought.

Herman showed a wide grin. "Fine! Come at me, then!"

'What a scary expression. It's nothing compared to uncle Karl's though,' Lukas thought.

Soon, Lukas charged at Herman. 'This time, I will be attentive. I'm not gonna fall for his little traps,' the bulky man thought.

Lukas decided to start punching Herman, which he obviously defended easily. 'Let's see what you are gonna do now, boy. I am pretty sure you are going to pull some tricky move. Just do it! I'm ready for it!'

When Lukas had already landed plenty of punches to Herman, he decided to start delivering some kicks. 'Just as expected, he's got good flexibility.

That's normal for children his age. That's also something I should take advantage of for his training in the future.'

Soon, when Lukas noticed that Herman was starting to lose his focus, he decided to make his move. 'It's time!' he thought.

Lukas grabbed Herman's arm and started climbing it up towards his shoulder. Finally, he decided to deliver a punch to the side of his face, which Herman promptly blocked.

'He was fast this time. This boy has good mobility,' Herman thought.

Herman then decided to grab Lukas's hand and raised the boy. After that, he just let him fall on the ground.

'WHAT THE HELL?! IS THIS GUY INSANE?!' the boy wondered as he fell.

When Lukas was about to hit the ground, Herman held him by the coat.

When Herman saw Lukas's shocked face, he started laughing. "Oh my! You should've seen your face! Were you afraid, scaredy cat?!' Herman asked teasingly.

As Lukas watched Herman laughing as he crouched in front of him, his cheeks started to get red as he gritted his teeth.

'You're gonna see!' Lukas thought.

Soon, Lukas grabbed some dirt from the ground and threw it against Herman's face.

The man reacted and closed his eyes. "Hey! That's cheating!" he complained.

"Everything's allowed in a war!" Lukas said as he took advantage of Herman's distraction and climbed his back.

Then, Lukas started grabbing Herman's neck and pulled it against him, in an attempt of performing a deadlock.

However, after a while, Herman easily took Lukas and threw him onto the ground.

"Hey!" Lukas complained. "I was so close!"

"Nope, you were doing it wrong, boy," Herman said.

"Huh?!" Lukas asked with a shocked face.

Herman nodded his head slightly. "Yep, I'll teach you how to do it someday," he said. "Don't worry, you are too weak to do be able to do it to me anyway."

Lukas then, showed a huge pout. 'You gotta be kidding me!'