Author Note: I'm currently working on chapter 30 of this fic. Since NaNo ended I've been feeling burnt out and have slowed down a lot. It's still in progress though, and I expect to finish it by the end of this month.
When the dispatcher told Edric and Frederick that they would be assigned to the training hall for the day, Edric wasn't sure how he felt about that.
On one hand, patrolling was the worst. On the other, trying to train new spells was almost as bad. He hadn't bothered to work on the plant or healing spells, so he was sure to show zero improvement. It was certain to be another bad day.
Regardless, he had to go with Frederick to the training hall.
As usual, there were a few other coven members already there training. Unlike other days though, Frederick actually went to talk to one of them when they arrived.
"Hey, Nick!" He called across the hall to a witch who was practicing fire spells. The witch was in full coven uniform, so Edric couldn't see their face. When they looked over, Frederick waved broadly. The witch put out his fire spell and jogged towards them, seeming to recognize Frederick.
"Frederick!" He said amiably. "How've you been?" When he reached them, the two grasped hands in an odd sort of handshake. Edric lurked behind, not wanting to get involved in this conversation. If they talked for a while, then his suffering would be pushed back.
"I've missed our patrols together. Other than that pretty good, been showing our intern the ropes." Frederick released the handshake and then tugged Edward forward by his sleeve. "Edric, this is Nick. If I remember correctly, you met him on your first day here."
Edric couldn't recall meeting someone by that name. The only one coming to him was Mike, the coven member he'd patrolled with. "Hello." He said politely; it wasn't worth mentioning that he didn't remember him.
"Nick Ralph, at your service." Oh, so his last name was Ralph. Frederick was right; Edric had met him on the first day. Edric only saw him for a minute and he hadn't made much of an impression. "How are you liking the internship so far?"
Edric put on his best fake smile beneath his mask. "It's awful." He said in a saccharine sweet tone.
For a moment, neither of the men reacted. Then Nick burst out laughing, bending over slightly from the exertion.
"He's a gem." Nick said after his laughter faded, as he lifted his mask to wipe his eyes.
"We're working on discipline." Frederick seemed far less pleased. "And we have training to do."
Nick nodded, putting his mask back in place. "I have to get going to patrol anyway. See you around." He saluted, which Frederick returned, then walked towards the exit.
That meant conversation time was over, and suffering time was about to start. Frederick started moving towards their usual training corner, gesturing for Edric to follow him. "Have you been working on your spells?" He asked while they walked.
"Before we talk about that," Edric wasn't ashamed to stall for more time. Even if he had to ask personal questions. "How do you know Nick? You seem close."
Luckily, Frederick didn't catch on to the stalling tactic. "We went to Hexside together." He replied as they reached their corner. "He was on the abomination track and I was on healing."
That was news to Edric. "You were on the healing track?" That was surprising, given his skill in plant and illusion magic.
"I can do a lot more than heal bruises." Frederick replied, referencing the events of last week. "Speaking of, how is your chest feeling?" He sounded concerned.
The bruises had faded to a yellowish color over the weekend and didn't hurt as much to the touch. "It's healing." Edric replied, not wanting to go into detail.
"Good." Frederick nodded. "We're going to work on spells and some basic weaponry today, let's start with the plant spell."
Edric sighed, then lifted his hand to cast it. He drew the circle like he should, but then just like last week there was almost no effect. A single root wiggled up half an inch out of the ground. That was it. Without being able to see Frederick's face, Edric wasn't sure how he would react.
"Try putting your other hand on the ground." Frederick seemed to have far more patience than Edric, as he had already proven many times. "To better connect with the plants." He maintained a calm tone, which honestly Edric was not used to hearing in response to failure.
It was worth a shot. Edric knelt down on one knee and pressed his left hand against the ground. He used his right to cast the spell. It did lead to a stronger effect, but only slightly.
Now the root was an inch out of the ground, instead of just half an inch.
"We'll keep working on it." Frederick said, still sounding confident. He crouched down to cut a nick into the small root. "Let's try the healing spell now."
It would feel overdramatic to sigh again, so Edric just rose back to his feet and cast the spell. Similar to the plant spell, it had minimal effect. The cut was only partially healed.
"You're making progress." Frederick was being way too nice when he said that. "I thought of another useful spell for you, one that's great when working with a partner."
Oh no, not another type of magic. Edric prayed that it was an illusion spell.
His hopes were shattered when Fredrick pulled a collapsible flute out of his pocket. "It's an acceleration spell, super useful." He lifted his mask to sit on his head, then started to play the flute. A wave of magic came out with the music, which was a fairly simple tune. It had the immediate effect of making Edric feel lighter on his feet.
"Please no." Edric said bluntly. If it was possible, his bard magic was even worse than the other ones. He had tried a recorder once, nearly killed Em with the screeching sound.
Frederick stopped playing, almost pouting as he put the flute away. "Fine, but only because the other two still need work." He pulled his mask back down over his face. "What else was there today… oh yes." He hit one clenched hand into his palm as he remembered. "Wait right here."
"Ok."
Frederick walked back across the training hall, towards the rack of weapons. He stopped at it and examined it closely, likely looking for the ones he wanted to use. He picked up two wood swords and started walking back with them.
It was sword training time. Edric knew this was coming at some point, but he hoped it would be later. Or never, never was ideal.
When Frederick was close, he tossed one of the swords to Edric. The teen barely caught it, almost fumbling it to the ground.
"You need to be able to defend yourself, so it's time to learn the basics." Frederick said, placing his own wood sword on the ground. "Show me how you should hold it."
Edric turned the sword so he could hold the hilt in his right hand. He spread his feet a little farther apart and brandished the weapon, holding that pose.
Frederick walked over and started correcting his posture, first by fixing his hand on the weapon. Then his knees, the width between his feet, and how he positioned his center of balance.
"The Emperor's Coven primarily uses the sword defensively." Frederick explained while Edric continued to hold the pose. His arm was starting to hurt from holding up the heavy wood weapon. "Can you cast with your left hand?"
"Yes." Edric replied. He could do it, but the spells weren't as strong as the ones from his right.
"Go ahead then, cast some illusions without dropping your stance." Frederick proposed the challenge, picking his own sword up off the ground.
It turned out harder than Edric expected, especially with his right arm starting to shake. He lifted his left hand to draw a spell circle, and was able to create an illusion stand to rest the wood sword against.
"Not exactly what I had in mind." Frederick said, though he sounded at least a little amused. "Go ahead and take a five minute break, then we'll work on deflecting."
Edric let the illusion drop, causing his wood sword to clatter to the floor. He stretched his arm, rubbing at the muscles to get blood flowing properly through it again.
"You'll get used to it." Frederick was watching him do the exercise. "And get stronger."
Edric doubted that, especially since he would not be continuing a career in this line of work. "That's unlikely." He sat down on the ground, might as well take advantage of the break. Once he was seated he continued to stretch his arm.
While Edric rested, Frederick lifted his wood sword. He gave it a few practice swings, then switched to a two handed grip.
Fredrick swung a few more times, going through a few routines, then called to Edric. "Let's get back to work." He gestured for Edric to stand up, which the teen did slowly.
Edric picked his sword up and resumed the stance he was in before. Frederick gave a couple instructions on fixing it, but not nearly as many as before.
"See, you're already improving." Frederick complimented his clearly sloppy form. "Now we'll work on one handed blocking." He lifted his wood sword, pointing it in Edric's direction. "When I swing, lift your sword to block."
Frederick took a couple steps towards Edric, swinging his sword in a slow diagonal motion. Edric quickly lifted his to meet the strike, and the two clashed together. The impact hurt against Edric's hand as the hilt jostled in his grasp. Frederick pulled back, and it took all of Edric's concentration to not drop the sword right back onto the ground.
"Keep your elbows up when you move." Frederick offered a correction, as usual. "Let me show you why. I'm going to come again, this time hold the position after you block."
Edric nodded, already exhausted. When Fredericks sword came again, he lifted his own to block it. He was slightly too late this time, and the two collided much closer to his body. As instructed, he held the pose.
"Right now your elbows are down, this is how blocking like that feels." Frederick leaned forward, applying pressure on Edric's block. It was heavy, and difficult to maintain the block. He almost sighed in relief when Frederick pulled back.
"Keep your sword up." Frederick reminded him, snapping Edric back to focus. He walked over and lifted Edric's right elbow, bringing his arm to a different angle. He then went back to put his sword where it was before. "This is how it should be, with your elbow in the right spot." Frederick again applied pressure to the block, but it wasn't nearly as heavy this time. It still took a lot of effort to hold and Edric was still weak, but it didn't feel out of control.
"Remember how that feels." Frederick said as he backed away. "Go ahead and return to your starting form."
Edric did so, his arm muscles once again complaining.
The pair continued working on this technique until lunch, and then for a while after as well. When Edric complained while they ate, Frederick explained that he was worried Edric would be injured even worse than on Friday without proper defensive training.
The bruising on Edric's chest made it hard to argue against that.
Edric did okay until the strikes started to speed up. He could either have the correct form, or be fast enough. To do both was just beyond him, especially after a long day of training.
"We'll keep working on it some other time." Frederick said after knocking the wood sword from Edric's hands during a failed block. "Go get a drink, then work on your plant magic." Edric was relieved; even going back to the plant magic was better than this.
That didn't stop him from taking his time getting that drink, of course. He had to sit on the couch in the lounge for a while to drink it properly.
By the time he made it back to the training hall, Frederick had put both wood swords back on the rack. He was working on some kind of bard spell, or maybe he was just playing his flute it was hard for Edric to tell.
Edric went far enough away from him that the flute playing could be ignored and set about working on his magic.
He didn't plan to work on the plant spell, no, he had something better in mind.
Illusion magic revenge for sword fighting.