Sorry for the lack of updates lately. The reason behind this is because of the terrifying evil known as school. Hopefully, I'll be able to release chapters quicker in the future. I'm not really happy with this chapter, if anyone knows how I can improve it please e-mail at strider_yoshi@yahoo.com. Again, don't forget to review!

Chapter 6

Max sighed as he ate his breakfast. He was really tired of all the attention he was getting lately. People gave him a wide berth wherever he went, whispering and gawking. He was being treated with an almost reverent awe in all his dealings, whereas previously he had been treated in a friendly manner. People were being very careful to treat him politely. Shopkeepers would give him discounts when he travelled into the village to pick up goods, and would flinch every time he made a sudden movement, as if he was going to break out into a murderous rage at any moment. It was somewhat unsettling to Max. He had enjoyed being a nobody, simply a farmer's help. Now, he was an instant hero, and he found the attention almost reminiscent of his travels during the battle against Darksol. Max did not appreciate it at all.

Even the Dracos were treating him differently. For a few days, they had treated him with the same kind of awe he had received from everyone else. Now, things had gone back to the way they were before, except that his relationship with Serena had changed. Whereas she had been cold and indifferent toward him, she was now warm, respectful, friendly. Max appreciated this. However, Max was somewhat tired of the questions she peppered him with. It was as if her personal goal in life was to find out as much about him as she could. She asked polite, carefully worded questions about his childhood, like where he was born, where he had grown up, had he ever been in the army? Max had never liked lying, and had to be careful that he wasn't caught in one. He tried to keep his story as factual as possible: He was born and bred in Guardiana. He was orphaned at an early age. He had left a few years ago, to travel. He had never served in the military, but had been trained by a great knight, who had passed away. Serena and the Dracos hung on to every word with relish. Max didn't like to lie to them, but he really had no choice.

A knock came from the front door. Max started to get up, but Serena smiled, and stopped him by gently pushing him down back onto his chair. She went to open the door.

"Peregrin?" she called. "Um, it's for you."

Max got up. He walked slowly to the front foyer, and blinked.

There, waiting on the porch, were about a dozen young men and women. They were all holding some kind of weapon, and currently, all twelve eyes were staring at Max, in awe. Max slowly walked over to them. "Uh, good morning. Can I help you?"

A young man, barely out of his teens, with somewhat messy black hair, stepped forward. "Um, a bunch of us, here, um, were wondering, if you could, wait. What we're trying to say, um, is, uh..."

A girl with long brown hair tied up in a neat ponytail, rolled her eyes, and slapped him upside the head. "What Victor is trying to say here is, we were wondering if you would mind training us."

Victor rubbed his head. "Lydia, you didn't have to do that."

Lydia shook her head. "Anyway, after you, um, disposed of those mercenaries, a bunch of us started wondering. What if that happened to us? Or our families?"

Victor, glaring at Lydia, spoke up. "So we were hoping you could teach us how to fight. That way, in case those mercenaries try something, we could stop them."

All twelve of them nodded. Max was nonplussed.

"You want me to train you?" he asked, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Why me?"

A bulky, young man with a lance strapped across his shoulder spoke up. "No one in this area has any combat experience, and judging from what happened a few weeks ago, you do."

Max scratched his head. "But you're all so young."

"Come on, you're not exactly a grizzled old man yourself," said Lydia, with a disgusted look on her face.

Max smiled inwardly. Although he was still a young man, to him, life was not measured in years, it was measured in experience. Max had seen enough things to last him a lifetime.

"Anyway, we're just a year or two younger than when Max, Hero of Rune, started training," Vincent finished. Max groaned. They had to bring up that example? He also didn't like the new title that the world seemed to have appended onto his martyred image.

Max was still unsure. "I still don't know if I'm the right person to be teaching you. I've never actually tried teaching anything. I'm not sure if I'm qualified."

Serena smiled. "I think you're qualified enough," she said. She nodded to the rest of the group hanging outside on the porch, and went back inside. Max blushed.

Max thought it over. Their reasons were valid. He could imagine Adom's Mercenaries coming back for revenge. If that happened, and people died, how could he live with himself? As well, Max remembered when Lord Varios had started to train him, on his own time. He had shown kindness, and a willingness to help others, rather then think of himself the entire time. Max thought it would be best to follow his example.

"Are you serious about this? It's going to be a lot of hard work."

They looked at each other, then looked back at Max with determined looks. Max took that as a yes.

"All right, I'll train you," Max said. They all broke out into grins.

"And I'm coming too," piped up Serena, who had come back from the kitchen.

"Are you sure?" Max asked. "What does your father say?"

"Oh, my father likes the idea. In fact, he's giving me time off my chores and you time off work."

Max hadn't thought about scheduling. He turned back to the rest of them. "When do you guys have free time?"

Victor spoke up. "Indefinitely. Our parents realize this is really important, should anything happen."

Max smiled. "Perfect." He glanced back at Serena, who was currently holding Edward's sword. "Serena, are you sure?"

Serena smiled. "Peregrin, when have you known me to be indecisive?"

Max grinned. "Alright. As our first task, we're all taking a run. Come on" Max set the pace, and jogged off. Everyone else, Serena included, followed.

*

Max shook his head as he looked at his "trainees." Every last one of them was lying on the ground, gasping for air. "Come on, we didn't run that far."

"We...must have run...10 kilometres," Victor wheezed.

Max snorted. "Once I'm done with you, you'll be running 20 no problem. Come on, everyone, get up."

"Give...me...a...second," Lydia gasped. She tried to get up, but collapsed back onto the ground. On the second try, she managed to prop her self up to her hands and knees. Max sighed, and waited. Soon enough, they had all climed back up to their feet, every single last one of them drenched in sweat.

"We'll be doing this every day." Max said. Everyone groaned. "Now, we're going to the weapons shop."

"Why?" asked Victor.

"Well, you happen to be holding a real axe. If you happen to accidentally hit someone with it, it's going to hurt, a lot." Victor nervously fingered his axe. "So I'm going to buy some protective padding, so we all don't kill each other."

They set off for the weapons shop. Once there, Max spoke to the shopkeeper. "I'm going to need fourteen full body suits."

The shopkeeper gaped at Max. "That's going to be custom work, it'll be expensive."

Max shrugged. The shopkeeper continued "I'm going to need 10 000 gold in advance, with 30 000 later."

Max dug out his gold bag, quickly took out a number of high denomination coins, and handed them to the shopkeeper. Serena stared at the bulging money bag. "How...how..." she said weakly.

Max grinned sheepishly. "I've saved my money really well."

Serena had an disbelieving look on her face. Max quickly led the group off on another run. The afternoon sun was burning in the sky, as they reached the Draco farm. Everyone except Max collapsed on the ground. Max rolled his eyes and waited for everyone to recover.

"Every day, we're going to be running like this." Max said, then waited for everyone to finish groaning. "As soon as I think you're all fit, we'll start on basic combat skills, then we'll move on to more advanced techniques, and eventually, full-fledged sparring."

"I want everyone to go home, get a meal, get some sleep." Everyone started to sigh with relief. "Because you'll be up at dawn tomorrow." Max finished. "Class dismissed."

Max's trainees went off, sore, but excited. Though they were all tired, they realized that they had been pushed to their limits, and beyond. They could already feel improvement in their endurance, and stamina. They knew that they were getting results.

Max watched them go off, and fell into deep thought, as he planned what he was going to do. First of all, he was going to whip them into the best physical shape they would ever be in. Next, perhaps some work on basic skills, like parrying, blocking, attacking. Next, some work on agility, then perhaps some sparring...

A hand laid lightly on Max's shoulder broke up his thoughts. "Peregrin, it's time for dinner," said Serena. Max realized that he had forgotten all about her.

"Sorry," he said guiltily. "I was thinking."

"No need to apologize. That's no crime." Serena said. She looked exhausted. She had dark bags under her eyes, and her long hair was tangled, and sweaty.

"How are you feeling?" Max asked.

"What every other one of your students feel. Tired," said Serena wryly. "Except for you, everyone else is beat."

"All that work on the fields paid off," Max shrugged.

"Indeed. What were you thinking of?"

"I was just thinking. What if I don't teach them well. What if Victor, or Lydia, or any of them goes into battle, and dies, because I didn't train them adequately? I'm not sure if I'm the right person to be doing this."

"Peregrin, you'll do fine."

"Thanks, Serena." Max smiled, as they went back to the Draco's house, where dinner awaited.