Some time had passed since Johan met Rey and they were sitting across each other on each side of a campfire, eating jerky. Next to Rey was a small leather pouch and the crossbow the katay shot Johan with. The temperature was much cooler and a light breeze flowed through the trees.
"So, Rey. Why did you insist on building a campfire when we don't have any meat to cook?" Johan asked, taking a bite of the jerky.
"Tsk, tsk,tsk. You youngsters don't know how to appreciate anything these days. It's all about how you feel, not what you do." Rey answered in a scolding tone. "So, Johan. You're clearly not from here so where did you come from?."
Johan was taken aback by the question. He wasn't sure how he should answer.
"You don't have to tell me you know. I'm just some old man. Don't feel pressured to answer my question" Rey continued after he noticed that Johan looked uncomfortable.
Johan was deep in thought. He could tell Rey the truth but he would seem crazy to the old man but he felt like he would explode if he didn't tell his story to someone.
"You see, I'm from very far away. My village was being attacked by demons. We lost. They demanded our protector's head but I gave myself up instead, to buy him time to get ready for a fight. I saw him flee as I was being escorted away." Johan said, sprinkling the truth in a fabricated story.
"Demons? You must be from the north. That's what they call the gray. How did you even escape?" Rey asked. He adjusted how he sat and momentarily glanced at his unloaded crossbow.
"I got my arms and legs cut off for trying to fight with a guard. So I was able to flee at night. And here I am the day after." Johan replied nonchalantly. He had gone through that very situation before and didn't bother to think of how plausible that would be in the world he was currently in.
"DON'T TRY TO FOOL ME YOUNG MAN. You are fine right now are you not? Are you trying to tell me you met a saint on the day you fled? Assuming you could even manage that much with no arms and legs." Rey barked, not believing a word Johan said.
"Sighh. To see is to believe. Brace yourself for something cool." Johan said.
He put his hand into the campfire and started moving it through the ashes. He silently cursed under his breath and bit his lower lip until it drew blood because of the pain.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Rey shouted, reaching towards Johan and pulling his hand out of the fire.
Johan's hand was full of third degree burns and pieces of burning ash stuck on his wounds.
"Calm down. I can fix it all up." Johan said. "Heal"
His wounds closed up immediately. Rey flinched at the sight but picked himself back up in mere moments.
"I was wrong. I apologize for insulting you.* Rey replied.
"Nah, don't worry about it. I wouldn't believe myself either. You fed me so it's all water under the bridge." Johan said with a chuckle.
Rey smiled faintly and then got a serious look on his face. He seemed to be deep in thought.
"Do you think you still have time before they retaliate?" He asked.
"I am not sure." Johan played along.
Rey stood up and walked next to Johan. He stretched his back with a loud yawn and placed his hand on Johan's shoulder with a deceivingly strong grip.
"With this body you won't be able to do anything against the gray. But worry not. You were quite lucky to have met me. I might be an old fossil but I think I still got it enough to help a kid like yourself out a bit." Rey said with a smile.
"What do you mean?" Johan asked.
"What else could I mean? I'll train you to be able to fight back against the gray. It's the least I can do for an interesting youngster like you. I want you to have taken down a tree by tomorrow morning. Doesn't matter how. I'll be back then and bring you some food. You can do that much, can't you?" Rey ordered, making his way deeper into the forest before Johan could get a word out of his mouth.
"I'm not doing that just because some random old man told me to." Johan said to himself.
He laid on the ground next to the fire, its gentle heat helping him calm down.
Maybe this place is not that bad after all.
Johan tried his best to fall asleep but he felt the guilt of lying to the old man creeping up to him to the point he couldn't ignore it.
DAMN IT.
Johan stood up and looked around for something that would help him bring a tree down. Preferably a tool.
After minutes of searching the best thing he could find was a big stone that was part of the campfire. He tried to get an edge on it by hitting it with another rock yet it was too tough to break and caused the other stone to shatter on impact.
"This should do." He mumbled to himself and started looking for the thinnest tree around yet all of them were large, leaving him no choice but to just choose one.
"YOU WIN" he screamed to the void as he started wearing down the tree hit by hit.
[...]
[...]
[...]
Hours had gone by and the gentle sun of dawn was lighting up the forest. Johan was slumped over the jagged stump of the tree singing to himself, half conscious.
"Chop, chop, chop, chopping down a tree…" he mumbled.
[Skill {Body Conditioning (F)} Acquired]
Johan felt part of the fatigue that was overcoming his body vanish.
"WAIT WHAT?" Johan shouted in surprise.
I've been trying to get this for so long. Why did it just work now?
"Oh, it seems you're done already." Rey said from behind Johan.
Johan flinched and turned towards Rey. Rey was holding a large backpack and his crossbow was replaced by two sheathed swords.
"Please for the love of god announce yourself next time." Johan asked.
"You should get sharper ears if you want to hear me coming. Now get up." Rey said, pulling Johan up by the arm.
"I haven't slept a wink. What are you trying to do man? And what's up with the swords?" Johan said.
Johan tried to stay as he was to get some sleep but Rey easily overpowered him and stood him upright.
"Oh come on. You're too young to be whining like that. This old man walked for so long to bring you something to eat." Rey replied.
He took a large cloth out of his backpack that was wrapped around something. He laid it on the ground and upon unwrapping it he revealed a large loaf of warm bread and what seemed to be an abnormally large chicken thigh. He then took out two large cantines of water and set them next to the food.
Johan felt his suppressed hunger and thirst strike critical mass. He immediately lunged at the food and started scarfing down. The bread tasted like sourdough and the chicken thigh even though blander than usual was nothing to scoff at.
"Who needs sleep?" Johan exclaimed after finishing his meal.
"Haha, that's the spirit. But sleep is very important. Never skimp on sleep." Rey said.
"Thanks for the food. What's with those swords anyways? Don't you use a crossbow or something?" Johan asked.
"Haha, I use the crossbow for hunting. But when it comes to fighting I'm a man of the sword. I could teach you how to use a crossbow but that won't put a dent on the grey. Or demons as you call them." Rey replied.
Rey grabbed one of the swords and tossed it to Johan who reluctantly caught it. Then Rey took out his sword and stood in front of a tree.
"Look carefully," he said.
Rey slashed at the tree eight times and pierced once yet it looked as if the tree had been struck five times. He struck diagonally, vertically and horizontally both downwards and upwards yet the strikes were so properly executed that the two different directions overlapped, giving the illusion that only one strike was thrown. The fifth visible strike was the piercing strike which left a large gash on the point the other strikes met.
"Those are the basic strikes that are the foundation of swordsmanship. Repeat them." Rey ordered
Johan nodded his head and tried to perform the strikes the same way as Rey had but his edge alignment was off and he hurt his wrist, dropping his sword.
"If you can put your hands in a fire you can withstand that much. DO IT AGAIN!" Rey barked.
Johan tried and failed over and over again being shouted at by Rey every single time. Yet after two hours of continual slashes and a few uses of his healing skill Johan finally landed a set of acceptable strikes. The directions did not overlap and were slightly off center but it was enough for a passing grade.
[Skill {Imperial Swordsmanship (F)} Acquired]
"Good job. I thought it would have taken you at least a week to do that much. It's about time I got one. I guess I should try to teach you that, shouldn't I?" Rey said.
"Teach me what?" Johan asked in-between rapid tired breaths.
"My personal sword dance." Rey replied with a smile.
