by Val'pold Aurelius on June 17th, 2012, 12:43 am
Finally they had slowed down the run and it had turning into a jog. Val'pold looked towards his mother and noticed that she wasn't even winded. She was clearly in a lot better shape then himself. He could feel his muscles beginning to ache as he finally stopped and leaned against the wall. His breath came in gasps and his longs seemed to burn, he didn't consider himself to be a weakling despire his slenderness. So why was he breathing so hard and why did he feel like he had just been beaten up?
Turning he looked at his mother as she looked him over with a half smile. "It is a lot of physical work. Being a Knight is just that work. Sacrificing yourself, your laziness for the good of others. As a squire you are expected to give of you time and give up your soft life, as a Knight more demands will be added on to you." Her wise eyes looked him over. "On a good note when you have gotten yourself into shape you only have to maintain."
She looked around again. "Take a few minutes to just walk around and then we will get back to drills. There is still a lot for you to work on today. Don't sit down your muscles will seize up." Val not understanding what seize up meant was still obedient and began to walk around the training area thinking about what had been said to him. She was inviting him to make up his mind, he realized, that was the critical thing about his lessons to this point. She would let him go another route, but a certian stubborness came upon him as he thought about it. He wasn't willing to give up on his dream just because he would be required to leave his comfort zone and give of himself. His blue eyes hardened and after two laps he returned, his muscles were still sore and he was still tired but his mother nodded as she saw the look in his eyes.
"Alright there are any number of blades and weapons for you to use, there are also a number of shield sizes all of which you will need to get used to. then you can pick which kinds work best with your style." She paused. "Lets give you a taste of the equipment." She walked over to the arms rack and enlisting an older squire brought over a series of weapons and shields. Val was handed a short sword first. "Lighter weapon. shorter blade, does allow for better control though." Val took the blade and holding it had his handling of the weapon corrected. So it contiuned that he tried a long sword, gladius, and finally they attempted to have him handle a two handed sword. That one didn't work out to well. As he handled these weapons he was taught the differences between them and how to handle them. They all had there tricks. He enjoyed the feel of the long sword. Extra reach with better control then the the longer blades. After wards he was shown the shields. He was handed different shields of different sizes and shapes. They also hand different handles and he was taught how to hold each kind. "Some times you just have to use the shield at hand and you have no say over what is on hand." She showed his a bit about how they were held in comparison to the blades that one would hold. Eventually she returned the equipment to its homes.
Val was still sore and tired by the end of the lesson and now his mind had a large amont of information stored in it. He was able to distract himself from his body pains as he walked home by focusing on the lessons that he had been taught.