Chapter 7 - Mercenary Training Site

The mercenary outpost, stationed near the northeastern edge of Colhen. As Colhen is a small village, I arrive at the outpost within mere seconds. It was a tall wooden building with a flag sticking out on one of higher floors. From the outside, I can already hear loud arguments inside. Something is definitely happening.

I arrive to see a woman with shining armor facing off against a man in a helmet and veteran mercenary gear. The two seems to be arguing.

"This case falls under the jurisdiction of the Royal Army. We're taking command."

"Not happening. Colhen is under the protection of the Crimson Blade mercenaries."

"The Royal Army outranks a band of ragtag mercenaries. You will vacate the premises."

"You forget, we don't play by your rules. We protected the citizens of Colhen from that giant spider from a few days ago while the Royal Army is in Rocheste like spineless cowards. Colhen is OURS to protect.

The two are too busy to pay me any heed. Instead I approach a calm, red, long haired woman also in veteran mercenary gear watching from a distance.

"Hey, you're the merc who went up the Bell Tower. You're new, right?"

I nod. She then turns toward the two in the centre of attention.

"What a way to welcome you into the Blades..."

The helmet guy's fists have balled up to his sides. He looks like he's going to break out in fumes.

"You army dogs are all the same! You just don't listen!"

"Watch your tongue, mercenary. I have the command of the entire Rocheste garrison at my bidding."

The red haired woman sighs at the loud argument.

"What a mess. Let's go to the back of the room. It's quieter."

Without a sound, I follow her into a room at the end of the main hall.

"This is better. Those two were giving me a headache."

It looks like she is the only other person in the room. I'll try asking her then.

"What's going on?"

"Oh. Marrec's got a vendetta against the Royal army, and it doesn't help that Captain Aodhan was injured at the Bell Tower. Marrec, of course, blames the captain's injury on the Royal Army's negligence. What a mess."

She repeats herself and sighs.

"Anyways, I'm Ceara. I train Crimson Blade rookies."

Suddenly, another voice joins in the quiet room. He quickly opens and closes the back room door. He had a brown beret on and a uniform of some sort, making him look more like an apprentice than a fighter.

"Lethita! I heard you were phenomenal at the bell tower. Everyone's talking about it! Wish I could've been there..."

Ceara: "Oh, and that's Ellie. He's with the Royal Army."

"Hey! My name is Ellis, not Ellie. And I'm not just any old part of the Royal army, I come as a representative of the Royal Academy. I'm a cadet leader!"

Ceara: "Well, that makes you 'with' the Royal Army, doesn't it? And Ellie's a nickname, a term of endearment."

Ellis grimaces.

Ellis: "That's an awful nickname."

Ceara smiles coyly at Ellis, and then turns back to me.

Ceara: "Lethita, you may have saved the day a few days ago, but you're still a rookie. You need training. I think the Mercenary Training Site is the perfect place for you to start. We have assigned another mercenary to guide you through it. She's waiting outside near the docks to take you to your destination. It's right around the corner from here. Can't miss it. I think it'll be a familiar meeting."

With a smile, she sends me on my way. Seriously? She wants me to train after taking out a huge spider?

Ceara: "Good luck!"

Wow, she does.

Ellis: "Yes, good luck, Lethita! Chances are, I'll still be here when you get back."

Ceara: "I just hope those two will have resolved their differences by the time you're back from the training site."

Heeding my superior's order, I take my leave out of the mercenary outpost. As I walk out from the back room, the arguments ring loud in my ears.

Marrec: "No, absolutely not!"

Gwynn: "Well, that's not up to you, mercenary."

Gwynn and Marrec are too busy arguing to notice me.

There is another veteran mercenary in the room. He looks like he's been watching this whole situation as entertainment.

"Okay, their argument is starting to get old."

He yawns but continues to watch.

Ellis: "That mercenary is bold. He's managed to really piss Gwynn off. Isn't he scared of her?"

Ellis looks scared himself. Ceara sighs again.

Ceara: "They could argue for hours."

Not wanting to stay here any longer, I bid my fair wells.

Ceara: "Okay then. See you when you get back."

Outside the outpost, I take a right turn to the direction of the docks. It's actually more of 'A' dock. Considering Colhen is a small village, having 'A' dock is reasonable. From the 'docks', I follow the path alongside the shore.

In a short while, I come across a splitting path with a blonde mercenary in a brown veteran's cloak waiting beside the fork in the road. She stood there patiently waiting for someone, probably me. Her beautiful long hair fluttered naturally with the light breeze. Her slender figure in mercenary equipment reminded of the one at the bell tower. Speaking of which, I don't believe I have seen him ever since. Upon a closer inspection, she appears to be the injured girl I met at the inn across from my room. It seems that her arm has completely healed now. Magic really is amazing. Before I even opened my mouth, she has already initiated the conversation.

"...Lethita, I presume?"

"Yes, might you be the senior who will be guiding me through the training site?"

"...I am... I will be observing you as you tackle through the challenge..."

With a cool voice that confirms her experiences in battle, she gave me the details to what the training is about as we walked toward our destination, which is to the right of the road and not too far away from the town. From what I understood, in a few moments, we will arrive at the training site. It is mainly used as a gladiator arena for duels between mercenaries. Inside of it, there is a function reserved for new members to practice fighting against Fomor imitations. Through ancient magic conduction, the place is able to conjure up wood golems as a substitute for actual Fomors. Apparently magicians are hard to find now since they've all died out and even the most powerful ones cannot replicate this ancient style of magic. The wood golems will fade away when defeated and respawn every so often. In most scenarios, there will have no trouble in dealing with one. But the wood golems usually attack in packs and you will need to dodge their constant offense. So this training site is no joke. I will be pitted against many wood golems and within limited time. My ranking will depend on how many I defeat. I wonder how well will I do.

"I'm sorry. I don't believe that I got your name?
"...Fiona."
"Nice to meet you, Fiona."

With a look of disbelief, Fiona slowly shook her head side to side.

Fiona: "...Yeah... Nice to meet you too, Lethita..."

She was about to say something again but thought better of it and stayed quiet. Did I say something wrong? I shouldn't have. It was only a first meeting with her and I have said nothing rude so far. Wait, didn't Ceara say something about my guide would be someone familiar? I don't recognize her at all except for yesterday at the inn, but Ceara wouldn't have known that. Could it be that Ceara made a mistake?

Feeling uncomfortable with the brief silence, I tried to strike up the conversation again.

"So how long have you been here? Being a mercenary?"

Fiona stops to look at the clear blue sky for a moment before answering. Her eyes reflected of fierceness for a split second.

Fiona: "...I was the rookie before you came. I joined the Blades about two weeks before you... It's a custom for the previous rookie to train the next batch... But since there is only you this time... I get off easy."

"I see."

Not sure what else is there to talk about, we walked a bit until we reached the arena. The place is hidden behind a group of trees and rests near the edge of the forest. No sounds could be heard from the outside. Is it empty today?

Fiona: "...Are you ready...?"

Fiona asked as we walked through the wooden entrance.

"Yeah, I guess."

I mindlessly shrug as I unstrap my worn swords. We then proceeded to the centre of the arena, where the spotlight is. Surrounding me are rows and rows of empty spectator seats for their viewing pleasure. The dusty and rotted wood up in the stands tells me that there hasn't been any public event for quite a while. It seems like there are no one even taking care of it. Fiona glances my way a few times before finally opening her mouth.

Fiona: "...Are you really going to use those to fight?"

I look down at her objects of doubt. My pitiful swords are at their limits. Any more expectations from these will be their crumbling fate. I can't break them now, not these that hold the last memories of my past...

"No, I really can't... I will just be fighting barehanded..."

I smile bitterly at my lack of equipment. The Fomors took everything from me. Of course I would be missing many necessary items in my life.

Fiona picked up on my dilemma and disappeared for a few moments before returning with a pair of short swords. She then places them in my empty hands.

"...Th-this is... I-"

Fiona: "...These are the staple supply of short swords we give to new mercenaries as they join the Crimson Blades... However, all of the experienced ones have switched over to their own preferences swords... All of the leftovers have piled up in the back rooms of this arena and in the mercenary outpost..."

Believing that she has explained enough, Fiona immediately walks out of the centre and towards a lever situated besides the throne seat up in the stands.

"Thank you very much Fiona!"

Fiona: "No need for thanks. I'm starting the training. Get ready."

With that said, she pulled the wooden lever and turned an hourglass over. A loud click can be heard from underneath. The activation of the ancient magic has started. I'm not even sure of how the mechanism works but suddenly 2 wood golems holding wooden maces about my size appeared out of nowhere. The blue ethereal magic held together six pieces of wood of different sizes to create a Fomor imitation. Their first sight has already been target locked on me. The golems lightly treaded over with weapons, intending to take me out. I hold on right to these short swords. Obviously, the length is short. I might just use them as daggers. They're about half the size of the ones I've gotten used. Otherwise, they serve their purpose of being temporary replacements.

Not wanting the wood golems to have the initiation, I lunge at the closest one and drive my swords in its magic-circuited neck. I then kick the golem backwards before it can retaliate. To my surprise, the wood golem falls apart like a puppet string being cut. The wood pieces clatter noisily on the ground. In mere seconds, a dark flame consumes the fallen, not leaving any remains behind. The other wood golem quickly launched an overhead swing from the side while I was busy with the first. Following the momentum from my kick, I turn and slash my swords at the golem before it can hit me. The tips of the twin swords left two rough cuts in the middle wood piece. The impact of the blow was enough to knock it backwards. It then tried to get up but I stomped it back down. And with a fluid execution, I cut off its head also. The lifeless body is then suddenly consumed by the dark flame again. It seems that every wood golem will return by the dark flame.

Well now, that wasn't too bad. Before I can finish my thoughts, the next wave of mobs spawned in mid air. 5 of them descended with a thump. Just like the last batch, they turned their sights onto me and moved closer. I hadn't noticed it during the fight earlier but these imitations are quite slow. Slow enough that I eliminated the 5 easily. I was able to get up close without much difficulty. I would have rather stayed at a distance and engage them whenever there is an opportunity but these short swords don't allow the distance to widen. In order to use these 'daggers' properly, I need to stick to them as close as possible. This strategy will be dangerous most of the time yet it will yield the best results and damage.

Fiona watched from the stands without a word. She narrowed her sapphire blue eyes as Lethita pummel through mob after mob. He has already defeated 5 waves of wood golems and is currently waiting for the next spawn.

'Who is this rookie?' Fiona thought to herself. She had never seen such amazing agility from anyone. The amount of time he used hasn't even reached half the sand in the hourglass yet. It's even possible that he spent more time waiting than fighting.

The waves began to spawn more and more mobs. At the 6th wave, 10 wood golems landed softly. While Lethita engaged the 10, wave 7 spawned prematurely, with the total mob count numbering 18. As he cleared them one after another, the mobs did not stop spawning.

Slowly, their numbers overwhelmed me. Without even realizing it, I was surrounded by a horde of golems. They have completed encircled around me and cut off any means of escape. I haven't taken any damage so far but can I break out of this injury free? Even though my wounds from the bell tower have only recently healed, any substantial damage may open them again.

I quickly take a sweep of my surroundings. They outnumber me about 60 to 1. This feeling is so familiar yet I just can't quite put my finger on. I can always give up right here and now. But... I know I won't ever forgive myself if I did that.

I take a deep breath.

"Haaaa..."

And I exhale.

Who am I to fear for mere imitations? Haven't I already done something more challenging than this? Back in my village, I had to fend off the whole attacking mob of Fomors. I won't fall here. Haha. Never will I fall here.

I unclip my helmet and toss it to the side. That piece of shit is useless to me. I value offense more than defense. Having that on only slows me down.

The moist and fresh air invites me to their destruction. Thus, I began slashing my way through the golems. I randomly pick a direction to charge and slam into the mobs. I swing the swords overhead for a smash and split them at the height of their heads. Immediately two golems dropped like flies. The rest of them follow up at my momentary rest. I then spin my swords horizontally, mimicking a tornado. The wide circular sweep killed 4 more. Not letting up my momentum, I ram myself into the group behind the fallen. The collision knocked all of us down to the ground. I dig my swords into the downed enemies as I climbed back up. The horde from behind jumped at my back. I took my chance to roll away to instantly get back on my feet and horizontally slashed at their torsos. The impact forced their flying bodies backwards. I then jump away from the mess.

After the aggressive engagement, there are only a few of the wood golems remain standing. I clean up the rest without any problems.

On the killing blow of the last golem, the arena trembles with a loud roar. The shake caused me to lose balance and fall flat on my ass. Out of nowhere, just like the rest of the golems, the boss mob spawned. The giant wood guard stretched it's wooden arms out from its summoning. It stands about thrice my size. Then it locks onto me, like every other golems, which confirms that this is the final challenge of this training site.

Why the fuck is it THAT big? First it's the fucking spider. Now it's a giant wood golem. What's next? Giant Fomors waiting for us to kill? They think size means everything? Fuck no the hell it ain't.

I rise from my temporary seat and grasped the swords tightly. Without notice, the boss mob got on its fours and launched a frightening lunge at me.

"Eh-"

I could not even voice my surprise before it smashed me backwards into the ground. I coughed out a few droplets of blood. The fucker hit me right under the jaw. Lucky for me that I jumped backwards to lessen the damage a bit. I should probably play serious now.

"Heh."

I wipe away the blood with the bak of my hand and let out a laugh. Comparing this to the spider from a few days ago, this should be a piece of cake. The wood golem roared again and headed to me. I dash towards its right while dodging downward swing. This maneuver puts me in the perfect position for a rising crescent. I execute my move as the golem turned to face me. Unknown to me, as it turned, it slammed its mace into my ribs, knocking me on the ground again. Fuck, I gotta be careful next time. That was dumb of me to attack at that moment. Damn, how careless of me... Why can't i do better than that? Why am I...still so weak...?

I get back up to charge forward. The golem does the same. I feel a faint headache as we exchange blows. Our attacks pushed the both of us back. I grasp the side of my head due to the sudden migraine. The golem, on the other hand got on its fours with its head down. It seems to have taken critical damage. Did I do that? I don't remember much about what happened just now. We've only traded hits. Yet it appears to be almost dead... Better to worry about that later, I should quickly go end it before it gets back up. I jump into its back to decapitate its head.

Fiona watched in awe of the inhuman moves from Lethita. Even though he took two big hits from the golem, he demonstrated outstanding skills in such close proximity. As they neared each other, Lethita rotated around his target to dodge the golem's two hit combo while aiming his short swords at its ethereal joints. When the golem managed to only get one hit in by sweeping its whole body to the side, Lethita had already dished out numerous hits at its joints and followed with a kick to back off. But he was unable to escape the desperate sweep from his enemy. The result of the fight is what she is seeing now; wood golem defeated. Fiona quickly glances at the hourglass to reconfirm his time. He has only used three quarter of time to fully complete the training. She suddenly felt a chill up her spine as she saw an unfamiliar satisfaction is his hollow eyes. Who is this rookie? His last series of moves did not seem to be his style. It was like...he was someone different...

Or something different...

"Is it over?"

I pant as I asked Fiona about my training. After the fall of the giant golem, I waited a bit for any new appearances and the arena did not seem to be spawning any more.

Fiona: "...Yeah... Congratulations..."

Her cold yet unyielding voice made me realize that I didn't do anything worth mentioning. I guess I'm just like any other new mercenary completing the training site.

We walked back to the outpost in silence.