The fighting association

Today I got up very early in the morning.
Gera and Nea are still sleeping.
So I try to be silent as I get ready, eat a little, and leave the flat.

Then I head to the fighting association.
They start very early there and I don't want to be late.

This time I'm alone and have to find the place on my own.
And even if I'm already somewhat familiar with the town layout, I wander around longer than I was hoping.

But soon I find the entry. It's recognizable from the outside what kind of place this is.

After entering the building, I'm in a huge wooden hall.
A bunch of older children and young men are standing around in some fighting uniform.
And a muscular man with a scar across his nose is standing in the middle of the room.

He spots me immediately.
He must be their trainer.

Oh, a newbie. You're late.
Fifty pushups. Now!

Intimidated by his strong voice I immediately drop to the floor and start. I'm really not used to this. I'm not even sure if what I'm trying to do is what he wants from me.

...three, four, ...

It's really not that easy.
But he is watching. Everybody is watching. I can't just stop.

...seven, eight, ...

By ten, my arms are already shaking.
But I still think I can do it.
And even if I can't, maybe I can at least get half of it.

...twelve, thirteen, ...

Oh no, I'll never manage to get 25.
But I'll at least I just got my 15.
Maybe I can keep doing a little more.

...sixteen, seventeen, ...

The twenty is close.
With all my remaining power, I manage to make one more pushup.

...nineteen, ...

Oh no, only one until 20. Maybe I still have something left.
But while doing the next pushup, I collapse onto the wooden planks.

I guess you're still very weak.
But it's your first day. You just have to get stronger.

He faces away from me to the group.

Then let's begin!
Everybody, get a partner!

I look around, and one athletic young man approaches me.

And remember, don't hit the head or below the waist.
And no weapons for now!

I'm a little overwhelmend.
Maybe it would have been easier if I had arrived in time.

First time fighting?

I wipe my palms on my pants.

Yeah, I'm from a village. The closest to this, which I did, was scruffling with my friends at home.

My fighting partner grins.

I'm sure you'll like it here. Very practical skills.
Let's stretch first.

He starts stretching and I just imitate his movements.
Some already hurt very much and a few are even impossible for me.
But generally it's a good warmup.

Soon we start fighting. The goal is to hit each others back.
Looks like we're free to choose how to train when it comes to the specifics.
But the general rules that forbid hitting some places still apply for this.

This reminds me a lot of scruffling with Bernd.
Or even more of Frederik. Despite being small, he always was pretty ambitious when messing around like this.
My partner has some nice tricks, but I'm pretty good at dodging myself.
He wins the first two times, but then I also manage to win once.

Oh, not bad.

Thanks. This is a lot of fun!

This might be it!
I might just stay here for my time in the castle town.

After a few more rounds of this game, my partner gets some kinds of pillows.

Let's do some exercises.
Punches and kicks.
Please hold this cushion.

I take the pillow. It's pretty dense. It will definitely soften the punches.
Then he shows me what to do. He starts with a basic combo, just left and right punch.
He does it multiple times.

It's your turn now.

I give him the pillow and start punching left and right, just like him.

Not like that. You have to turn your waist.

We switch back and forth a few times, and I quickly get the hang of it.

Great! Let's try some more things!

We do a few more simple punch combos.
Left, right, left.
Double left, then right. But only straight punches.
It's still pretty exhausting.

And it seems like the fighting trainer is walking around all the time to watch us, but he doesn't interfere.

Let me show you some more advanced techniques.

Sure.

I have to hold the pillow in various ways as he also punches from the side and does various kicks.
Once he just makes me fall down backwards by kicking me.
I'll really have to improve my standing.

Wanna try, too?

I nod. But when my partner takes the pillow, I hear the trainer.

Stop! Next will be sword training.
Please take a short break, drink something, and then get some swords.

Sorry, man. Let's do this another time.

Sure. No problem.

We go to a different room. Everybody has some bottles with them.
But I can just drink directly from the tap.

Then I sit down, and notice that I'm breathing very much.

Exhausted?

Yeah, somewhat.

You'll get used to it.

We keep sitting there for some more minutes, not talking much.
Then my partner gets up.

Let's continue!
Do you want to do the sword training with me, or would you want to switch around?

No, let's stay together. You're good at teaching.

Thanks.

We grab wooden swords in some other side room and then go back to the training hall.

After I got a free spot with my partner, we are facing each other, holding our swords.

The trainer immediately approaches us and grabs my arm.

Thumb here, fingers here.
Move your left foot closer to your opponent.

The sword fighting is just as exhausting as punching.
But it's fun, too. When we're finished with that, I have the feeling that I at least understand the basics now.

The core training is over for today.
You're free to do whatever you want from now on.

I follow my partner and put away my sword, just like him.

Is there anything else you want to try?

I'm not sure. I just want to relax.

Maybe I can show you around. We can watch the advanced fighters for a little.

There are more fighters?

Of course. Follow me!

We go through some corridors and end up in various halls, where I watch different people training.
Some use daggers, others staffs, some even a bow.

It's really exciting. I would like to try all of these.
But not today. I really had enough for today.

Also the way the corridors lead to these halls is pretty intriguing to me. Not really sure why. It doesn't seem any special.

If you want, you can leave now.
You seem pretty exhausted.

Yeah...

But I'm really looking forward to seeing you again.
It was a lot of fun to teach a newbie.

Thank you very much. Without you it probably wouldn't have been that exciting.

Thanks. So will we see tomorrow?

I think so. But maybe I'll check out other places first.

Good idea. You should be sure you didn't miss anything. Else you'll always regret it.

I guess you're right. I'll look through the list of associations again. Any recommendations?

Not really. I'd be happy if you chose this place in the end.

Me, too. But I'll go home now. I'll be glad if I get home by myself.

Should I accompany you?

No worries. I only don't want to think about having to walk back home now.

We laugh and then I leave the building.

I'm glad to be outside.
It's still very sunny at this time.
And seeing these buildings in the bright sun is really nice.
I always liked the buildings of this town.

As I'm walking through the streets, I wonder if there's also some kind of buildings association. Might be worth a try.

But for now I have to get home.
Maybe after relaxing for a few hours, I'll be able to spend some time with the guy from the magic association this evening.

Soon I notice some alleyway between two buildings.
This should be a shortcut to my place. Else I have to walk all the way around this building.

The alleyway is pretty dark. It's almost a little scary.
But there's nothing to worry about. I'll be out again in no time.

As I'm walking through that alleyway, I suddenly notice a girl standing at the wall.
She has rather dark clothes and hair. Maybe that's why I didn't notice her at first.

She must be around my age. But something seems to be wrong with her.
Even if her dress looks fine, when looking at her face, she doesn't really seem healthy. And she seems sad, too. Or maybe kind of empty.
Maybe she doesn't have a home?

As I'm about to pass by her, I decide to approach her.
I'm rather cautious. When looking at her, I feel some hostility.
And as I'm getting closer, she even seems a little scared and tries not to look at me directly.

Hello, is everything okay?
Aren't you feeling well?

She faces me, her face seeming angry and annoyed.

Leave me alone! Go away!

I stand still for a moment and then feel a sharp pain throughout my body, but I don't understand what's happening.
Suddenly everything gets dark.
I try to keep standing, but everything feels weird. It already feels as if I'm floating. As if I left my body.
Did I just die?

Soon I open my eyes. I'm just lying in my bed.
And Nea is lying next to me.

I'm not really sure what happened. I know I wanted to visit the fighting association. And it was amazing there. Or was this just a dream?

I get up from the bed. Everything hurts.
So at least I have sore muscles from the fighting. So I guess I really visited the fighting association.

I notice a scratch at my neck.
Maybe something I got when fighting?
Probably this will turn into a little scar.

Then I look outside. It's dark. It must be in the middle of the night.
I probably was just really exhausted. I can't remember how I got home. I only remember leaving the fighting hall and starting to walk home.
I probably fell asleep immediately, and slept through until now.

Since I'm already awake, I might also look through the list of associations. I probably won't be able to sleep anyway now.