54th of Summer, 513AV
The sun was high in the Nykan sky, and the sounds of wood striking wood echoed throughout the school. Today was one of the few days Savio had off from work, and he used it to catch up on his gladius training to pass the time until he could finally training with Ximal. He had the training room to himself, since Sayren was off doing whatever and Ximal was nowhere to be found. And it was possible that Bones was off somewhere else to train by himself, perfecting his own skills.
Sweat poured from Savio’s skin was he attacked the dummy with vigor. He wielded the wooden Gladius in his left hand and slashed at the various appendages, and then stabbed at the manikin’s chest and head. Then he would then fall back and block an imaginary attack.
Savio was focused. He could almost imagine that the dummy was Bones. His stance had gotten slightly better, remembering how Bones had stood, and how the man held himself. Firm, yet flexible. Surprisingly, it was harder to achieve than it looked. Savio was used to being able to use his whole body for his acrobatics, but using a weapon was much different. He couldn’t leave himself open but moving around too much.
Savio took a deep breath as he stepped back from the dummy and surveyed it, thinking of new ways to attack based on what he had learned yesterday. His body still ached, and he had a few new bruises thanks to Bones. His hands also had a blister or two, but he ignored the stinging pain. It was nothing, really.
He wiped his forehead and resumed his stance. Break time was over. He then crouched back into his stance and lunged at the dummy again, once again completely focused and unaware of his surroundings.
