Chapter Forty-Three - Lunges

Ohhh, and I have some real art!

WIP By Sebastien!

***

Lucky stared at the clothes. “For me?” she asked.

“Indeed,” Swordmaster Thorn said. 

Lucky took the pants, which were neatly folded and looked them over. They were nice. Not fancy, but from what she could tell, they were well crafted. Definitely a step up from anything else she may have worn.

That was on top of what she was wearing already. Her feet were shod in new boots, something which was a rare occurrence. 

Back in Smithville there was a travelling [Cobbler] that rode by every spring and fall, and if they wanted something new, they had better not miss him. Some orders would be filled while he was in town, but fitted and custom items would have to wait a season and a half for his return, and good boots weren’t cheap.

What she had now was nice. Nicer than anything she’d ever owned, but Cricket insisted that she spend a bit more for something better than the bare minimum. Her old boots were in a very sorry state. The [Cobbler] they met here had shook his head ever as he poked a finger through her sole.

She had still paid to have them fixed, a second pair seemed smart, but still.

Now she had new pants as well. And a blouse, and a top, and a belt, even.

“Thank you,” she said. “How much do I--”

Swordmaster Thorn raised a hand, dismissing her question. “Nothing. The experience was worth it.”

That wasn’t true! The cloth had to cost something, and these were enchanted! 

[Reinforced Rider Pants]

Enchanted Pants - First Tier

“Oh! A skirt! I see, I see, so you wish to have me do more cartwheels, is that it? Hmm? Doth thou desire a peek at my underclothes, dearest maid?” Cricket asked as she held up a rather... frilly and complicated skirt whose length was a little scandalous. Well, not that badly so, it would reach to mid thigh, and the interior was filled with layers of white cloth, but still, on anyone but a [Jester] it would cause much staring and scandal.

“Swordmaster Thorn,” Lucky said, ignoring Cricket, which she had learned was the correct thing to do nine times out of ten. “You’ve done much for me, and yet I’ve never promised anything in return. I’m feeling the debt pile on.”

Rosario looked ready to dismiss her again, but then she paused and truly looked at Lucky.

There was something incredibly daunting about the woman’s gaze. It was worse than when she had encountered any strong monster in the wild. Maybe it was normal to feel this way when facing someone stronger, but Lucky hadn’t felt it from even third-tier Adventurers before. How much stronger than they was Rosario Thorn?

“Lucky... I want... friends.”

“Friends.” 

Swordmaster Thorn nodded. “Yes. Not servants. It’s why I allow Cricket here to tag along. For all that she’s a pest, she isn’t someone that I consider a burden, and I think that were I in need, she would help.”

“Oh, I’ll help you handle your needs if you ask nicely,” Cricket said. She wiggled her brows.

Rosario and Lucky both continued to ignore her. “I don’t know if I’m someone that can help you,” Lucky said. She was progressing well, at a speed that felt absurd to her, but she was still only a level 3 [Soldier]. 

“Because of your level?” Rosario asked.

Lucky nodded.

“I care less about that than I care about your personality and your willingness to try,” Rosario said. “The levels will come.”

Then Cricket said something silly again, and the swordmaster’s attention was snatched away. Lucky couldn’t help but linger on her words, though. Maybe not the exact words, really, but their meaning. 

It was very much the opposite of what she expected out of... everything, really. Her entire life, people had expected something from her, and it had little to do with her as a person, and more with her as a pair of hips. Sometimes it was just her as another set of arms to lift and move and work. 

Rosario wanted her to be more... herself? 

She didn’t know what that meant. 

But...

But it felt nice? It was one of the reasons she wanted to be a [Sword Saint]. There was a certain impression she had with the very idea of someone that strong, that capable and wise. That it was the path towards more than just mastery. 

She slept well that night, and felt energized and ready the next morning, at least until they were a few hundred paces out of the city.

“Since we’re unlikely to find anything to fight today,” Rosario said. “We’re going to train your body.”

“Ohh,” Cricket said.

Lucky flushed and bowed slightly to the Swordmaster, Obviously she meant more physical training. “I’m ready,” she said.

“Good. Have you ever danced before?” Rosario asked.

“Ah, a few times? We have festivals?” She’d be rather embarrassed if Rosario asked her to demonstrate her line dancing. 

Rosario smiled and then set her feet in a sort of squared off position. “I’m going to teach you a step. You’re going to do it forward, twice, then spin, do it backwards, then spin again, and do it forwards once more, understood?”

Lucky nodded and paid attention as the swordmaster moved.

“Right, left, spin, right, left, spin, left right, spin, left right,” Rosario said. “Then you turn and do it once more. Try it.”

Lucky did as she was asked, the step was a little strange and halting, and she didn’t have a tenth of the grace that Rosario had. The woman had her repeat the move three times, going through the entire sequence with small corrections. Apparently it was important to keep her knees bent just so, her hips straight, and her posture level.

“Good,” Rosario said. “That’s the basic footwork pattern for shortsword fighting. Longswords are like so.” She demonstrated. It was higher, with a different way of extending the knee. “And finally, fencing, which is more... I don’t know how to put it, but it’s more lunge-y.” The last was far lower to the ground, and extended the leg more, with a sort of hop to it.

Lucky watched her and tried to copy the motions. Always she lead with one foot, finished the move, spun, did it backwards, then would start leading with the other foot.

“Now, focus on the first one only. Once you’ve mastered it, we’ll have you do all three in a set, once with each leg leading, both forwards and back. So... twenty-four lunges per set, if you do all three. But start with eight.”

“I can do that,” Lucky said. 

“Until we reach Markarfljot tonight.”

Lucky swallowed.

Then Swordmaster Rosario pulled out two buckets. “Also, extend your arms out to the sides.”

She did so, still in the midst of doing the steps. Rosario gave her both buckets, one in each hand. They were simple metal pails, the sort she’d used a thousand times on a dozen farms. 

“Keep your arms extended. T-pose. With each step, try to keep the arm with the pail perpendicular to the road until you spin, then the same in the other direction.”

It was only three sets before her thighs started to burn. Her arms were quick to follow.

“Once you’ve mastered all the steps, we’ll have you do the same but with some armour on your calves. And of course, we’ll fill those buckets up,” Rosario said.

Lucky swallowed, harder this time. This was... kind of insane, wasn’t it?

“What’s she learning from this? How to have her limbs fall off?” Cricket asked as she flounced along. She had been flouncing a lot since she gained new skirts.

“Footwork is important,” Rosario said. “I want it to be second nature to her, and that requires building up the right muscles. And the arms... well, swords are light until you hold them at extension for even just a minute or so, unless you build those muscles up as well.”

“She’ll get the stats eventually,” Cricket said.

“Do stats trump exercise?” Rosario asked. “Lucky, you’ve worked around men before, yes?”

“Um, yes,” Lucky said. She was sweating already, and the conversation almost had her tripping over the flagstone road. They were getting looks from some of the others on the path, but she kept it up. They wouldn’t stare so hard once she was a hundred levels higher!

“Are men stronger than you?” Rosario asked. There was genuine curiosity there.

“Yeah, I suppose. Most of the time. I’ve tussled with some of the boys. I can smack them around... but yeah, they tend to be stronger.”

“Even at the same level as you?”

She nodded and wished that she wasn’t holding onto two buckets because her hair was in her face. 

“That’ll be testosterone. I imagine that with the nature of stats by the time you have fifty or a hundred points in Strength, the difference is so minimal as to be negligible, but you won’t have a hundred points in Strength for another few months.”

Months? More like a decade or two!

“So, for now, exercise. If you break a bone or rip a muscle, let me know. I have potions.”

“Yes, Swordmaster Thorn!” 

***