Morning had arrived. Nain sat sleeping against a tree, her back resting on the bark. They had walked through the entire previous day without stopping — afraid the zombie monsters might follow them — and had only rested here.
"Jhed, starting today I'm going to teach you swordsmanship," Shine said. The two of them had woken up early.
Jhed had wanted to learn swordsmanship for a long time. For him, the idea of actually swinging a sword was something close to a dream.
"Okay—" he said quickly.
"Then come here. You see that tree over there? I've tied a piece of wood to it with rope so it hangs freely. You need to hit that wood a hundred times with everything you've got. Understood?" Shine said.
Jhed looked at the tree.
"Got it..." He lifted his sword and started walking toward it.
"Wait — where are you going?" Shine asked.
"To the tree. You just said to hit the wood a hundred times," Jhed said, looking back at him.
"You're going to use that sword?" Jhed was holding a real blade. If he swung that at the hanging wood, it would split the thing in half on the first strike.
Shine extended his hand and offered Jhed a wooden practice sword.
"Use this for training. Not that one." He placed it in Jhed's hand.
Jhed took the wooden sword and walked toward the tree.
"I've seen this in so many movies. Hit the training dummy. I always thought they were exaggerating — turns out it's real." he thought to himself.
Jhed raised the sword and swung with everything he had. The wood swung back on the rope — and came right back and smacked him square in the forehead.
"OW—" Jhed yelped. It had hit hard. He pressed both hands to his forehead trying to dull the pain.
"Why is he screaming..." Nain stirred awake at the sound.
"He's not screaming. He's training," Shine said. He was polishing his sword while keeping an eye on Jhed.
"Training for what?" Nain said, looking over at Jhed.
"Learning swordsmanship," Shine said, sliding his sword back into its sheath. The blade caught the morning light as it went in.
Nain watched. Jhed sat on the ground pressing his forehead.
"Pfft — haha—" Nain started laughing.
"Jhed, you need to keep striking without stopping. If you pause, the wood swings back and hits you again. And it'll hurt again," Shine called out.
"Yeah, got it," Jhed said.
He got back on his feet. Took a deep breath. And started hitting — again and again. Now the wood began swinging in every direction. Left, right, forward, back. Jhed had to keep his eyes moving constantly. But he didn't stop. He kept striking. The wood still caught him several more times — but he didn't stop.
In real battle, enemies would come from all directions too, just like this wood. That's what this training was building toward.
Morning turned to evening. Jhed had lost count long ago — but he hadn't stopped. Because every new thing feels worthwhile on the first day.
"Alright, that's enough for today. Come here," Shine said.
Jhed stopped. The wood swung back hard — but this time, Jhed stepped to the side.
"That thing's hit me so many times today that I can dodge it without thinking now," he said to himself.
Sweat soaked through his clothes. He wiped his face with his sleeve and walked over to the others.
"Same training tomorrow. We'll stay here a few days. There's a lake nearby so water won't be a problem, and we still have plenty of food," Shine said.
"Alright."
Jhed's eyes drifted to the cut on Nain's hand. It still hadn't healed. But he said nothing.
The cut was on her left hand.
Today hadn't been extraordinary. But Jhed had learned something he'd wanted to learn for a long time. In a world where you have no magic, swordsmanship is the closest thing to a lifeline. For those who can't cast spells, a sword is what stands between them and the dark.