Chapter 132 - Training Schedule(3)

He even highly recommended for King Michael to pay them, even if it is as low as 50 Gold Coins.

But with other expenses covered such as paying Spearfishermen, if he paid 100 Soldiers, it would mean that Gaster Kingdom will have an economic collapse. A wall can't be pushed with one's head after all.(Unless you are Kaleem).

So until Gaster Kingdom reached a stronger Economical standard, these Guards need to work for food, shelter and self improvement.

After completing their hour long Stabbing Lesson, they would need to run 3 more laps after a short break of course. Repeating the same thing over and over would be hard even if one just jumped over and over, so they need time to relax.

You would ask why Woldemir puts so much importance into running laps rather than learning more and more fighting techniques.

Well running has many benefits when it comes to Swordsmanship.

It was obvious to everyone in the Platoon that running laps became easier after constant daily laps. That isn't just a coincidence, running clears up the body which increases Stamina over time, it doesn't become easier just because of the developing muscles.

Shorty explained, the more you run, the more you can run.

Stamina is a vital upper advantage in battle. A Soldier who can land 20 blows and still keep going is always stronger than one who can land 10 and blow all of his or her Stamina at the end. The difference is obvious.

Apart from Stamina, running laps starts forming a more dependable defensive form due to the stronger legs formed from the training and of course although minor, lower abdominal muscle development would be noticeable as well, also perfect for burning fat, resulting in a more reliable body form.

After the second round of laps, half of  the Platoon would have shields up, while the other half would strike the shield with wooden planks to avoid breaking the shields who simply can't handle swords being bashed at them day after day.

Shields aren't indestructible after all and are only used to stop fatal injuries, the result of getting struck on the shield will often lead to bruises. Which is why Woldemir took a slow approach towards this instead of temporarily disabling the soldiers. Instead of one soldier continuously striking a shield, the attackers and defenders will switch places after every strike. Which no doubt enhanced order as well because they all had the urge to keep up with the singual rhythm.

After that of course Dinner followed at 12p.m. which was no doubt their favourite part of the day. The meal was enough to fill any stomach and weren't poorly cooked either as they were made by the Maids living in the Castle. Those old ladies sure know how to cook. The Soldiers would lick their fingers and even the plate until Woldemir told them that it is both disturbing and unnecessary.

Running another few laps after a big meal isn't the best idea, so the Platoon is given a 20 minute break after Dinner so the food can go to the right place, giving them both more time to relax and get energized from the food to handle the rest of the training.

So instead of running, they are taught a different attack which was used to mainly cut instead of stab.

For this exercise to be done without accidents, the Guards need to stay 10 feet away from each other.

The attack instructed to attack after lowering the shield once a Guard found him or herself withstanding an attack from the enemy.

Typically it would take a few seconds for the enemy to recover if the enemy's sword landed on a shield.

So using that opportunity, the Guard would need to use the split second to attack with a sideways single handed horizontal blow from the right which would lead to the enemies head being cut off, or simply cut part of the throat, or face being cut which would leave a strong scar if the enemy survived it, or at least the chest would receive a fatal blow. Which were all considerably life threatening injuries.

Now imagine what damage a soldier who practiced against mid air, basically battling his or her own body weight for hundreds possibly thousands of times, would do to someone in full body armor.

It would make them flee the battle, die in the spot or just curl into a ball, covering their own heads.

It was indeed a fatal combat move that every Level 1 Swordsman had to learn. Fatal enough to pierce armor.

Level 1 Swordsmen had only 4 training methods they had to master as you've read so far.

Running, Stabbing, Cutting and withstanting hits with a Shield.

With such basics they are completely capable of protecting a Kingdom.

After the cutting lesson, they would need to continue with a 4 lap Run, continuing their stabbing lessons afterwards for an hour and finally finishing it off with 2 Final Laps.

Such a strict training lesson proved no doubt troublesome and tiring. Almost half felt like giving up in the first week, but if they quit they would need to say goodbye to the Striped Marlin meat and settle for Barramundi twice a day.

While in the army they get two meals at work and two meals out of work for their families. Which was no doubt beneficial where food is hard to get. Before the four Striped Marlin Spearfishers arrived, people of this Kingdom were considered lucky if they ate 2 meals a day once in two weeks. Now they eat 2 meals everyday.

Also if they left the army, they would be considered weak, having their social status greatly decrease and would also prove difficult being hired by King Michael himself when other jobs are available. So they were more demotivated to quit than they were demotivated to keep up with the training schedule.

After 1 month of Progress however, most had no trouble keeping up with the morning laps even though they started off by failing at lap 2 in the very beginning. Which was astonishing progress and raised the Platoon's morale and urge to better themselves.

But still they are months away from beating level 1.

Woldemir predicts that this Platoon will be ready when they won't go to sleep at 7pm because of the training schedule. Which could range from 6 months to 2 years. Depending on each individual.