章 28: Chapter 28

The next day Alvar woke up with a groggy mind, gazing as always at the ceiling while his mind returned from the muddled state it had been in the last few hours while sleeping.

Swinging his legs over the edge of his bed Alvar rubbed his face once after which he stood up and walked into the living room of their home, which was flickering in the soft glow of the remaining embers that were still smouldering in the firepit. After putting some pieces of wooden into the embers Alvar went into the kitchen and made himself some breakfast as was usual. While eating in silence he went over what he would be learning today and learned in the last couple of days.

He was soon ripped out of his thoughts though by his grandparents sleepily entering the living room, which was a rare occurrence as Alvar usually left the house long before they stood up.

"Good morning. Why are you up already?" He asked his grandparents who walked over tiredly and let themselves fall down into two chairs standing next to Alvars.

"Morning sweety. We forgot to ask you something last evening and as it is rather important we decided to do it this morning." Alvar's grandmother said to which Alvar nodded in understanding, his mind already thinking about topics that may be the point of their upcoming discussion.

"So, what was it that was so important? Does it have to do with my education?" Alvar asked, stumping his grandparents for a second after which they seemingly regained their wits.

"Yes, it does. How did you know? …It was a guess, wasn't it?" His grandfather asked with his eyes half closed in exasperation to which Alvar could only nod cheepishly.

"Thought so. Anyway, we have had a long discussion about this and we believe it would be for the best if you received some instructions from Isolde, concerning your dreams…" Alvar's grandfather said, his voice having taken on a sombre note which Alvar couldn't help but echo with an equally blank expression, his thoughts twisting and turning the idea, looking for any way he would not have to think about his vision but in the end came to the conclusion that he couldn't always run from what he had seen and thus slowly nodded in agreement.

"Good. Believe me, it is for the best. Your mother had the same ability and unlike with you we didn't do anything that time, which resulted in her nearly losing herself in the mists, which we could have prevented by doing something about her gift in the first place. This will not happen with you though. We've already spoken with Isolde and she has agreed to help you. Today after you finish your training head towards the great hall. She will wait there for you." Alvar's grandfather said to which Alvar nodded in understanding.

While Alvar returned to eat his breakfast, his mind now occupied with a new influx of thoughts his grandparents stood up from the table and after pressing a kiss on his head left the room to hit the pillows once again.

Left to himself Alvar absentmindedly finished his breakfast and after putting his bowl away left the house to walk towards the training grounds.

Stepping out into the fresh morning air he shoved all thoughts about dreams or training to the side for a moment and just marvelled at the beauty of the world so early in the morning when all kinds of beings woke up from their rest in order to start their days with renewed energy once again.

Closing the door behind him Alvar began his walk to the training grounds, all the while smiling in contentment at the serene atmosphere only the early morning could provide.

Not long afterwards Alvar arrived at the training ground though surprisingly he did not spot Sjorn anywhere, which made him curious as the man usually waited for him each day. Thus, Alvar sat down near the small lake in order to wait for Sjorn to arrive, enjoying the peace and serenity of the morning as long as he had the chance to.

Soon Sjorn arrived at the training ground though Alvar was surprised to see Sjorn not arriving alone. Trotting behind the man was a cow, covered from head to tow in frizzled looking brown strands of fur and two horns sporting at its head. After taking in the cows appearance an uncomfortable premonition made itself at home in Alvar's guts and from the grin that had bloomed on Sjorns face it must have shown on his face as well.

"Good morning lad! Hope you brought some energy with you as we'll need it today, hehehe" Sjorn said, causing a small shiver to run down Alvar's spine. Alvar though didn't know if the shiver was of excitement or apprehension making the lad wonder what the fuck had happened to his sanity under Sjorn's training regime…

"Now, I believe you are wondering why I brought this cow with me, no? Well, the answer is actually pretty simple. Yesterday, when we were sparring, I observed that your stance could use some work as I managed to push you aside by nothing more then a simple swing of my axe!" Sjorn said causing Alvar to sweat drop at the man's words while he was wondering what madness must be festering in the man's mind. Though maybe it was better not to know…

"In order to resolve that issue you will stand there with a tow bound around your torso which in turn will be towed around the cows neck. You, my dear trainee, will then attempt to not be moved from the spot through muscle strength alone. Should you fail then I'll throw some axes at you, which you'd better dodge, boy! Now, let's do this!" Sjorn said which caused Alvar to gulp at the prospects, though he had no choice but to comply.

Thus, Alvar was bound to the cow and it didn't take long for outcries and yelps to echo over the training grounds, dissolving any peace that had been present not long ago.

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Veli couldn't help himself but wonder what his friend was doing at this moment. The last few days had been very hard for Alvar and Veli had tried his best to support his best friend, though he knew that he could only do so much and it frustrated him to no end.

With another swing the boy smashed his mace onto the wooden dummy before him which caused his mind to wander to the sparring he had done with Alvar. He hadn't shown it but Veli knew that Alvar had taken it easy on him and Gerdi each time. No doubt they had improved their performance but it didn't really change anything as they were simply outclassed, something which had baffled the two at the time as not much time had passed since Alvar had begun his training, just like the two themselves.

Thus, Veli had recognised it for what it was. Talent. Pure and unadulterated talent if there ever was one. He was happy for his friend to have found something he was good at and enjoyed doing as it would help Alvar overcome his demons, at least he hoped it would help.

Veli himself was not that talented but he never had cared much about his profession if he was being honest with himself. The only thing he really cared about was helping people, as he had enjoyed that feeling since he had first done so, which had filled him with a sense of fulfilment and accomplishment nothing else had since that day.

Stopping in his practise for a second to regain his breathing Veli lowered the wooden mace in his hands and swiped the sweat off his forehead which had begun to run into his eyes over time, causing his eyes to burn a little from the salt in his sweat.

While he was taking a break Veli let his gaze roam over his fellow students, until they came to rest on his friend Gerdi who seemed to try her best but Veli couldn't help himself but wonder once again why the girl had picked the guardians as her profession as she really didn't fit into it, no matter how much leeway Veli gave her for still being young. In the end he discarded that train of thought though and simply went over to help his friend a little bit. After all, he loved to help people, especially his friends.

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Gerdi knew she had messed up the day they had begun to practise with weapons. She should have listened to her mother and the raven but in the end she had decided to follow her heart and thus ended up with the guardians.

With a grunt and straining muscles Gerdi tried again to move the damn wooden mace, she had come to hate in the short period of one day, but had to stop as her muscles simply didn't have the necessary energy to support her wishes.

Deciding to take a break she straightened her back and wiped the sweat that had gathered on her brows away while letting out a breath of exhaustion. Her eyes came to rest on her crush and friend Veli who as well seemed to be taking a break while watching his fellow students.

Gerdi couldn't help herself but stare at his form, her heart pounding in her chest making it hard for her to focus on anything else until she saw his eyes roam into her direction which caused her to panic slightly and in order to overplay her fumbling mind began to strike the wooden dummy once again, though she knew that her attempts must look rather embarrassing.

She watched from the corner of her eyes how Veli, after thinking about something, began to walk over towards her only to be stopped in his tracks by the girl Gerdi had come to loath with a passion, as she knew that Veli loved to help others and on top of that had developed a small crush on the brunette, and thus couldn't deny to help the girl, which should have been her instead!

With a new found fury at the brunette bitch, Veli and his helping nature and herself for being obviously inadequate, Gerdi began to swing away at the dummy once again. Gods, how she hated that bitch and everything right about now…!