Tales of the Wastelander Ch. 33 - Teaser (Patreon)

Ben was up early, just as dawn was lightening the sky and out in the stable yard behind the inn. Once there was enough light to see by, Ben doffed his shirt, stepped out into the yard and stretched. It took him a few minutes, but the man knew that if you didn’t stretch before any physical exercise, you would pull muscles. Pulled muscles were not something he wished to endure, so he went through his routine, warming up.

The moment he was done, Ben set himself in a stance and went through several basic motions. After several practice strikes with his arms and legs, he went into some basic katas. The man kept it simple, as he was soon joined by Ylva, Byanka, Byrgyt and the others in the convoy. They all filtered out into the yard, one by one, warming up and joining the man in his motions.

Once everyone was present, Ben took them through the proper forms of each strike. He had them do each one slowly, as form had to come before speed. If you were fast, but struck someone with sloppy form, you could hurt yourself just as bad as you hurt your opponent. Ben grilled everyone there on keeping their form, as he didn’t want them dealing with sprains or the like.

“Remember, focus on form. Perfect the form and speed will come,” Ben said as he stepped out of position and turned to inspect his students.

Everyone looked to be doing well, especially Ylva, whose form was a mirror image of Ben’s. He stepped in and looked over everyone else’s form and corrected it when it was required. Ben Helped Bellona and Gertrude with their form, as it was a bit sloppy, but after a few demonstrations, they got it. The man smiled as everyone else followed along, except for Byrgyt.

“Your strikes aren’t bad, but your posture needs to work,” Ben chided lightly as he looked at the woman standing oddly.

“I can’t do the strikes the correct way. My back hurts! Must have slept funny!” Byrgyt sighed.

“If your back hurts, take a beat and rest. Don’t push yourself if you’re in pain, unless your life is at stake,” Ben told the woman. Byrgyt sighed, but nodded as she stepped out of the ranks and took a breather. Everyone else continued on with the movement and attack drills for a few more minutes before Ben called for them to stop.

“All right everyone! That’s enough for today! Good work!” Ben called out as he clapped his hands. The entire convoy sighed and stepped away from the yard, heading over to where a few pitchers of water and mugs waited for them. As they got their water, they all heard a bunch of scoffing laughter and turned towards the source.

“What is this? Some sort of dance class?” said a young man who sauntered into the yard, laughing as though he was witnessing something funny.

“I’m sorry, but who are you?” Lawrie questioned.

“Fahrec! Toughest bouncer this side of the Expanse! Whatever it is you were just doing is pointless! It has no use in a real fight!” the man laughed as some of his friends joined in his mirth.

“You really think so? You think that learning such movements is useless?” Ben questioned as he took a sip of water.

“I’d own all of you inside of three seconds! Guys like me would drop you in a heartbeat!” Fahrec scoffed.

“Listen here, you little—” Ylva started as she stormed forward. She was stopped by Ben, who put his hand on her chest. Ylva glared down at Ben, who just looked up at her with a calm expression on his face.

“Let me handle this, Ylva,” Ben told her.

“What did you have in mind?” Ylva asked. Ben just winked at her and smirked, which made Ylva giggle. She then nodded and backed away, letting Ben take center stage.