Tales of Vyscher Book 1

Chapter 3

Morning for the recruits came early, Gyrtek was striding through their barracks and bellowing for them to wake up before the sun peeked over the mountains to the east. Luckily, Vic and Fehrys had been warned about this before they joined up by Aichen's stories, so they were prepared for the rude awakening, and had let Luce and Rek know as well. As such, they were already awake and dressed in their simple training pants and tunics when the yelling started. There was a lot of startled grumbling among the other recruits, but they all quickly got themselves in order and out into the training yard.

Once everyone was outside and, in a line, they were subjected to some stretching and calisthenics, followed by a brisk job around the barracks. It wasn't anything too hard, but Fehrys had the feeling worse would come later. These early days were just going to acclimate them to the training and attempt to find some partner chemistry while they were sorted into their specialties. He knew that many of the trainees would transfer to something other than the Bishops, but he hoped he would be able to make it.

It took a while to get everyone worked into a good sweat, but then Gyrtek let them take a rest for a quick breakfast, and then they were back out in the training yard. Several pairs that had gone well on the first day, such as Fehrys and Luce went again, but with a different scenario. This time the totem spit out goblins, with a sprinkling of ogres that took more time to deal with. Once more, Fehrys and Luce matched well, clearing out the goblins and then teaming up on the ogres to take them down together. They seemed well suited through the matches, and it gave them a boost of confidence going forward.

After those pairs, Gyrtek matched Drem and Lornk on the goblins. Fehrys didn't think here would be much room in there with the two behemoths in the pit together, but they actually worked out well together. Because they had been so much larger than their partners the day before, they pushed them around by accident. But with someone their own size they seemed to be able to sense where the other was much better and were perfectly in synch. They dominated the training, besting even Luce and Fehrys' time from the previous day. The two men left the grounds to cheers from the rest of the recruits, and slapped each other on the backs in pride.

"There is no way we're going to let that stand!" Luce said with an edge to her voice. Fehrys smiled at her competitiveness.

"We'll take another turn later," Fehrys promised. He had also liked being at the top of the leaderboard and wanted get back there.

Vic and Rek were up next, having gotten their wish to pair up from Gyrtek. Where yesterday they had been bumped and pushed all over the yard, today they were like a dance. Fehrys was in awe of how well they moved together, like they had been doing it for years. Drem and Lornk had their turn to look upset as their new best time was beaten by the two ladies, and the two women didn't even look out of breath.

"Okay, we have a lot of practice to get to!" Fehrys said earnestly to Luce.

"We'll beat them both, yesterday we went first and were both nervous. Next time we'll be much better," Luce promised.

He couldn't be upset when Rek and Vic bounded up the stairs, their smiles wide. He gave his sister a big hug and congratulated them both heartily. In the long run, they were all on the same team after all.

The next training attempt wouldn't be that day though, as Gyrtek split the mages and the warriors into opposite groups to get specialized training. Fehrys found himself with Rek and the rest of the warriors while Vic and Luce headed off with the rest of the mages to an area safe enough to cast spells with Master Kucey, the senior Bishop Mage. The rest of the morning was spent with individual drills, with swords to start though they were assured they would learn many others in the future. Fehrys was already incredibly good with his longsword, though he did appreciate the practice. To his pleasure though, Gyrtek did agree to train him in the dual weapon style, and Rek as well since she was interested in it after seeing Drem in action in the arena. In fact, Drem was considered so good in his specialty that he was like a second trainer in the discipline.