Author note: There are many extra chapters available on my Patreon now. Skipping them won't affect your understanding of the story much. But if you want a thorough understanding of the story with in-depth details, then you can head to my Patreon page and get those extra chapters just by supporting this story.
Then, without further ado, let's begin the story.
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Lys walked into the front hall of the guild building. The morning light came through the newly built windows and made long lines on the wooden floor of the guild hall.
Pell stood behind the counter, working. He was sorting some papers into three neat stacks and did not look up when Lys came in.
There were two adventurers who were sitting at a table near the wall. They seemed to be eating their breakfast slowly. Their clothes had dirt on them, and their eyes looked heavy.
One of them was rubbing his shoulder like it hurt.
Lys looked at them for a second and thought they might have come back from a night mission or something. No one said anything to him when he entered, they didn't even look up.
He kept walking. He went straight through the back door and stepped into the drill yard. The rising sun could be seen from here, and the air felt warm. The packed dirt under his boots made a soft sound with every step as he entered the area.
Vessa stood in the middle of the yard. She had her arms crossed and watched a group of four people move through some kind of footwork drills. Her voice carried clear across the open space as she called out the counts.
"Left, right, pivot. Again. Keep your weight even. Oi girl, move your ass, fast. Don't let the boys beat you this early in the morning. Move it."
She saw Lys come through the door, though she did not stop the drill or change her stance. "Everything off," she said. "Leave your sword on the side and fall in with them."
Lys pulled his outer shirt over his head and folded it once. He set it on the low bench by the wall, also placed his sword next to it, and made sure the blade faced away from the yard, so that nobody would accidentally touch it. Then he walked to the back of the line.
When he first started, there were seven of them, but now there are only four.
Doran stood near the front. He was the rookie boy who always pushed himself too hard. His face was already red from the work.
Kord was next to him. He was the quiet guy who never said much and looked like something heavy sat on his shoulders every day.
Kira stood a step behind them. She was the brawler who moved fast but was somewhat bitchy type.
Everyone kept their eyes forward.
Doran turned his head just enough to see Lys. "Hey, you came today. Thought might've quit after one day." he said. His voice was short and low.
Lys didn't say anything to that.
Kord just gave a small nod. Nothing more.
No one asked where Lys had been yesterday. No one mentioned the merchant or the market square. From the looks of it, they didn't even seem to know about it at all. They just kept moving.
The yard already had its rhythm. Feet scraped the dirt in steady beats. Shoulders rose and fell with each breath. Lys fell into step at the back and matched the pattern like them. He kept his arms loose and his knees soft like Vessa had shown them on the first day.
They started with footwork. Vessa called the counts louder now. "Forward three, back two, turn. Again." The group moved together. Lys felt the burn start in his legs after the tenth repeat. Still, he kept his eyes on the back of Kord's shirt and matched the timing somehow.
----
After the first full set, Vessa made them switch to body positioning. "Chest up. Hips square. Elbows in." She walked along the line and tapped Kira's shoulder when her stance opened too wide. Kira grunted and fixed it as usual. It seemed like she didn't like Vessa much, but still followed her instructions.
So Vessa didn't say anything to her about it yet. She kept walking.
She stopped behind Lys for a second longer than the others but said nothing.
They moved to controlled breathing next. "In through the nose, out through the mouth. Keep the steps going." The air in the yard grew warmer. Sweat started to show on everyone's skin. Lys breathed in time with the counts and tried to keep his mind empty.
-----
During the first water break, the group stepped to the side. A barrel of water sat near the wall. Lys dipped the cup and drank from it. The water felt cool going down his throat. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and walked over to Vessa. She stood a few paces away and was wiping her hands on a cloth. He kept his voice low so the others would not hear.
"Uhh, Miss Vessa. About the merchant yesterday," he said.
Vessa did not look at him. She kept wiping her hands. She stopped for a second and folded the cloth once. "That's handled," she said. Her voice was flat and a little gruff. "It's not yours to think about now."
Lys waited a moment, looking at her. He wanted to ask what she had done and how she had fixed it yesterday. After all, it was connected with Sara's business. So he had to make sure that man never comes back to her shop again.
Then he saw the way her shoulders stayed tight and the way her eyes stayed on the yard instead of him. So he closed his mouth. He did not push her to answer it. If she says he has no need to worry, then he won't. His trust toward her has at least grown to this, seeing her nature till now.
---
The water break ended. Vessa clapped her hands once to grab everyone's attention. "Back in line, everyone. Let's do it harder this time."
She pushed the drills faster than before. Footwork patterns came quicker with it.
She made them repeat the same sequence ten times without pause. Then she added body positioning on top of it. "Keep the stance. Do not drop your guard when you turn." Every time someone seemed to stop or bend even a little, she would fix it instantly, not giving a simple way to slack between this.
Sweat ran down Lys's back with all this moving around. His shirt stuck to his skin. He felt the muscles in his legs start to complain, but he kept moving.
Till now, he thought his system had given him enough stamina that he wouldn't get tired with movement like this at least. But the last few days birthed doubt in his mind about it. Now he knows how lacking he is in the department of stamina compared to others.
Nobody was sweating like him after all.
Vessa watched him the whole time. Her eyes stayed on his feet, then his shoulders, then his hands. She corrected Doran twice and Kira once, but she spent more time looking at Lys. She did not say why. But Lys felt it to his core with all this push on him.
They kept going. And the sun climbed higher just like that. The yard completely transformed from morning freshness to smelling like dirt and sweat.
No one spoke except to answer Vessa's counts. Doran's breathing grew louder. Kord's steps stayed even but slower than Doran. And Kira seemed to punch the air between sets like she needed to hit something.
At the end of the long set, Vessa clapped her hands once more. Everyone stopped instantly like they were waiting for her to stop this torture anytime now. The yard went quiet except for heavy breathing.
She turned and looked straight at Lys in front of the whole group, which made Lys's throat go drier than it was already for some reason.
"That thing you did with the merchant yesterday," she said, not in a small voice. "That stillness technique. Use it on me. Now. While you move."
As she said it, the words hung in the air.
And all eyes turned to Lys almost instantly with a curious look.