Warning: Language, Violence

Secret Keeper

Training

Eight Years Ago: Scarmont Citadel

"Stand your ground, you worthless dregs!" A woman shouted as she paced behind a long line of younger men and women. "None of you are leaving this courtyard until every single one of you can knock over your training dummy!"

Shivering at the harsh wind whipping at his back, Rainer continued to hit his target. Bap! Bap! Bap! So, this is the Osladan way of becoming strong... He pursed his lips and struck at the stone statue as hard as he could. Bap! Crunch. The hooded man hissed as he pulled his left hand close. That's not going to be good, is it? His dark amber eyes made a quick sweep of the others around him. Bap-bap-bap! Fwam! Fwam! Fwam! Crrick! Crrunch-crunch! THUNK! All around him, Rainer heard his would-be comrades work to knock down their dummy; some succeeded while others miserably failed. A sickening symphony of sorrow and suffering soon filled the northern air.

Suddenly, a voice yelled from the down line. "These damned things are made of stone and twice our size! We can't knock them over with our bare hands!"

The female officer twirled her whip around in her hands and ignored the shout. "If you have to bleed to do it, then by all means, bleed! Your king expects no less from his soldiers! We won't let anyone rest until your dummies are knocked down!"

I must strike harder! FWAM! Rainer took a deep breath as he jabbed the dummy's torso with his right hand. Now for the left... FWAM! Crrunch! He screwed his eyes shut and bit back a pained cry. No, I will not show weakness. Especially here, of all places. CCRRRRUNCH! To his left, he heard his would-be comrade cry out in agony. Thud.

"You there! Up on your feet this instant!"

Inhaling sharply, the hooded man spared a glance at his fellow recruit. Blood dripped down to the tiled floor as the other recruit cradled his wounded hand. Clank-clank. Clank-clank. Two armored men appeared behind the downed recruit. Snapping his attention back to his own dummy, Rainer experimentally curled and uncurled his left hand. My movements are too stiff... He eyed the stone dummy once again and squared his shoulders. Using brute force alone simply won't do; I must approach this from a different perspective!

As the wind whipped at his body, Rainer focused solely on the figure before him: an imposing training dummy made in the image of a knight. It towered over him, easily dwarfing him even at a height of six foot eight inches. Doesn't help the fact that these things are spiked in some areas... Rolling his shoulders back, the hooded man sighed. Everything possesses some sort of weakness. There must be something I can—there! His focus lingered on a rather large crack on the statue's side. How did I miss that?!

My hands and arms can't handle more stress so maybe... Nodding at his course of action, the hooded man backed up two steps. I hope this works. He ran forward, teeth clenched in concentration. Pushing up off the ground, the momentum helped him as he sped for his target. His legs lifted off of the ground. Rainer made sure he lined up his kick with the weakness.

"Hyah!" KLAMPH! In an instant, Rainer dropped from his position in the air and fell on to the tile below.

Groaning as his side collided with the tile, he looked up at his training dummy. Crreeak! The stone knight tilted backwards before it landed back on its base. Of course... The young man pushed himself off of the ground; his arms trembled from the effort. I should've focused my attacks on that spot before attempting my kick. An angry voice filled the air behind him, seemingly distant. Slowly turning toward the voice, he bowed his head to the officer.

"You insufferable whelp! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" The sergeant crossed her arms. "Lying down on the job? After I said that no one gets any rest until all your dummies have fallen?"

Bowing his head, Rainer closed his eyes. "Forgive me, Sergeant. I made a mistake."

"Fool!" Sneering, the woman smacked him across the face with her spiked gauntlet. "You were given clear orders and yet you choose to disobey them?!"

Smack! Smack! "I..." Blood dribbled down his cheek from a now open wound; the young man clenched his hands into fists. A minor mistake and this happens?!

The officer took note of his fists and shoved the young man back. "What do you think you're going to do? Fight back? You'll surely lose."

This goes against my better judgment. Realizing his mistake, Rainer uncurled his hands.

"Bah, a whelp like you won't last here with an attitude like that." FWAM! Knocking the hooded man flat on his back, the sergeant leered menacingly over him. "Do you think you're going to get far if you can't even fight back?"

"I know my limits!"

Sneering once again, the sergeant kicked him in the side. "Yet you dare yell at an officer?!"

Growling, the hooded man hopped to his feet and tackled the officer. THUD. CLANG. The sound of flesh hitting stone died around them. This is one hell of a way to start my training... Rainer's eyes scanned the courtyard. Several heads turned toward the duo as the sergeant rose to her feet. Remembering the angry sergeant, Rainer turned his head to face her. FWAM! He winced, a jolt of pain suddenly ran through him. I will not falter! Rainer shook his head and inhaled. The young man rose on to his own two feet and dropped into a fighting stance. How dare she?! I will not tolerate this; better judgment be damned!

Before Rainer could react, a heavy object collided with his shoulder as the sergeant's voice filtered through his ears. "YOU!"

SLAM!

"WORTHLESS!"

SMACK! A sharp in take of breath from the young man.

"MISERABLE!"

SLAM! Augh! The hooded man collapsed for the fourth time.

"UNGRATEFUL!"

FWAM! The sergeant stood over the fallen recruit with a fire in her eyes.

"DASTARD!"

Clank-clank. "Sergeant Kruum, what's the issue here?" An older man clad in bulky, black plate armor approached with a gangly young man clad in sleek black armor at his side.

The sergeant's posture stiffened ever so slightly, before she turned her head toward the man. "Ah, Captain Chavdarov. I wasn't expecting your presence any time soon."

Captain Chavdarov curled the corners of his lips down. "I ought to see any prospective cavaliers, shouldn't I?"

"I suppose that isn't a problem," Sergeant Kruum crossed her arms and nodded to Rainer. "I wouldn't recommend this dreg."

"Why not?"

Scoffing, Sergeant Kruum gestured to the wounded heap on the ground once again. "He disobeyed my orders. Not only that, but he talked back! Osladan officers shouldn't deal with such behavior."

The gangly man tilted his head curiously, "Good woman. Pray tell, what were his orders?"

"Same as everyone else: knock down his damned statue."

Pursing his lips, the gangly man nodded. "I see. What if he were to, say, break the statue?"

"I'd sooner run into the castle in my small clothes than ever see a recruit break one of these statues." Sergeant Kruum crossed her arms indignantly.

"I suggest you retract that statement before you turn around then."

Kruum narrowed her eyes, grumbling about the gangly man's cheeky behavior. On the ground, the hooded man gazed up at his training dummy. She's right. No one could honestly break a statue. Rainer's eyes focused on the bits of stone crumbling off of the statue's side. Clunk! A large chunk of the statue fell on to the tile before him. I-impossible... That shouldn't have worked. A gasp off to the side followed after his realization.

The hooded man's gaze turned to Captain Chavdarov, who simply chuckled. "It's bound to happen these days. We've been using this statues since I was a young man."

As the sergeant mumbled to herself in bewilderment, the gangly man knelt down beside Rainer. "Congrats on stumping the sergeant on your first day."

"I...That...It's unthinkable." The fallen man gestured to the broken statue.

"Hell," Shrugging, the gangly man eyed the statue for a moment. "I bet if everyone tried as hard as you did, they'd break off a piece of their statue too. My father's not wrong in saying these things are old."

I suppose then, I can only measure this event up to being luck. "Huh..."

"Well, you're in the same boat as me then. Not everyone gets on the sergeant's bad side as quickly as you and me, eh? I'm Gideon, Gideon Chavdarov." The gangly, redhead offered his hand.

Nodding with a wary smile of his own, the hooded man took hold of the offered hand, "Rainer Schermer."

"Rainer, eh? My friend is going to have fun with your name for sure. Say, let's go see how she's doing with her dummy right now."

As he got on to his feet, Rainer rolled his shoulders back with a wince. "Might I know who this friend of yours is, Gideon?"

"Patience, Rainer, she'll want to introduce herself to you."

The hooded man limped after Gideon as they left the captain and the sergeant alone. I need to remain wary. Friendly man or not, this Gideon may turn out to be my worst nightmare... Rainer's eyes darkened as he followed close behind the gangly redhead. His eyes traveled to the other recruits who went back to their assignment. Bap! Bap! Crrunch! A cry of pain erupted from a young woman who attempted to use her elbow. Bam! Bam! BAM! The woman next to the injured party threw a series of other kicks and punches at her statue. The statue collapsed on to the ground after she threw a haymaker. Crrack-crack! As the knight statue collided with the tiled floor, it crumbled at its base. Breaking a part of my statue was enough for me...but for her to knock it over and break it... Rainer averted his gaze immediately. She could seriously wound me in a spar.

Gideon looked to the woman who knocked her statue over. "Great job, Adeline! Can't wait to see that strength of yours on the field!"

"Thanks, Chavdarov!" The woman, Adeline, responded as she wiped blood off of her knuckles. "When are you gonna knock one of these things over? Daddy can't coddle you forever."

The redhead laughed off the insult. "I'll punch these things bare handed when you can cast half as many spells as I can!"

"Not in your lifetime." Adeline grinned before turning her gaze on Rainer. "Nice job on being the first to break your statue, Schermer. Hope that strength is as good against a live opponent."

Calmly meeting the woman's gaze, Rainer slightly shook his head. "I'm not strong at all... I wouldn't last long in a spar against you, Adeline."

Adeline scoffed. "Not everyone will break their statue today, you know. You might throw a girly punch, but those kicks of yours aren't something to scoff at."

"Thank you," Glancing at his aching legs, the hooded man pursed his lips. I suppose my previous training worked in that regard then... Did she have to call my punches girly? "I'll start focusing more on my kicks in the future."

"Good!" Nodding, the woman turned back around to sit on her fallen statue.

Gideon nudged the hooded man in the shoulder before gesturing to a mint-haired woman standing at the end of the row. "Let's not keep my friend waiting."

Rainer nodded his head, trailing behind the redhead. I'm getting too comfortable around these people. Holding a hand to his side, the hooded man inhaled sharply. He stifled a pained groan as someone bumped passed him. Inconsiderate dastard. Dark amber eyes sent a venomous glare back at the person, only to see him disappear. Frowning, Rainer turned back around to see Gideon eyeing him curiously. If he didn't see the other man, then I must look like quite the fool. Averting his eyes once again, the hooded man kept his focus on the snow-covered, tiled floor.

"Are you sparing a glance back at Adeline?"

"Of course not, we've only met once." Rainer protested, glaring at the redhead. "Besides, I'm not interested in romance."

Gideon chuckled before turning back around. "Of course, you aren't."

What on earth is that green blur?! Before the hooded man could respond, the mint-haired woman from earlier tackled Gideon in a hug. "You came to visit!"

"Ah, there you are." Turning his attention on to the person latched around his torso, the redhead good-naturedly patted her on the head.

"Who's your new friend?" Magenta eyes peered up at the taller, hooded man and narrowed at the sight of his cross expression. "Giddy, are you bothering this poor guy?!"

Feigning injury to his heart, the redhead pouted. "Perish the thought, my dear. I'm only making conversation."

"It sure isn't pleasant then!" The woman chided before bounding over to the hooded man.

She's awfully...energetic and calls Gideon, 'Giddy?' Rainer looked down at her, his lips pressed into a thin line. "Greetings, Miss...?"

Mint green-haired woman grinned. "I'm Hadriana Acerbi, but you can call me Haddie!"

"Well then," The hooded man respectfully bowed his head. "Greetings, Haddie."

"I can tell right now. You, me, and Giddy are going to the best of friends!" Looping her arm with Rainer's, the woman yanked Gideon into the human chain.

Gideon snorted, "Was there ever any doubt?"

Wait, what? "Don't I get a say in all this?"

"Nope," Haddie removed herself from the chain and winked up at the tall man. "I've got a sixth sense about people, you know."

She's insane. Rainer subtly backed away from the duo. His eyes flicked back and forth between them. I don't want to stick around for any of this nonsense. The hooded man curled and uncurled his hands. They seem nice, but... I can't risk approaching anyone here with open arms. Nodding to himself, Rainer steeled his nerves. Either I stick around and see where this leads me, or I can leave and hopefully never be bothered by them ever again. He began turning away, only to feel a firm hand grab on to his wounded shoulder.

"Come now, Rainer. Let's be gentlemen and wait for Haddie knock or break her statue, eh?"

Sighing, the hooded man spun back around, "Very well." I suppose I'm stuck with seeing how this turns out.

I previously submitted this story a while back and then took it down. It needed edits and I believe readers deserve to read the best an author has to offer. I know not many read the notes after, but I honestly apologize for my mistakes.

A Background Exploration fic. Granted, some creative liberties may be taken here. It will take some time to reach the end, but please note this fic follows the personality progression of my OC. His change over the years is a deliberate thing and the focus is solely on major turning points.

Thank you for reading! Rainer's journey to who he is now is far from over.