Capítulo 19: Chapter 19
With the sun bearing down on them Veli, Gerdi and the other recruits of the guardians were running their usual track through Hoelbrak. While Veli was running his thoughts wandered to his friend Alvar who by now must be fighting with his instructor once more. Not for the first time Veli was curious what it must feel like to swing a sword or some other weapon at another being. Though not in a good curious way as Veli had always had a soft kind of soul and preferred to avoid conflict whenever one broke out. That was possibly the biggest reason he chose the guardian as his profession and the one big difference between himself and Alvar.
Turning his thoughts around a little bit in his head his eyes unconsciously wandered over his shoulder to the huffing and puffing Gerdi that was having a hard time keeping up with the rest of the group. Not for the first time Veli wanted to walk over and help his friend but he knew that such an action would only be counterproductive and in the long run would only hinder his friend in growing to become the best version of herself.
Swivelling his sight over to the other recruits that ran beside him his eyes strayed onto the firm butt of a girl that he had found himself drawn to since the first time he had laid his eyes on her. With a blush forming on his cheeks Veli couldn't help himself but let his eyes row over her slowly maturing form as the Norn usually grew rather fast, especially the females, which Veli not for the first time appreciated vehemently.
The girl he had developed a slight crush on had brown hair and soft brown eyes with a round shaped face that spoke of a kindness not unlike Velis own. Maybe that was why he felt such a draw towards her? A kindred spirit perhaps?
While Veli eyed the young girl up and down she somehow seemed to sense his burning gaze and met his eyes with a small smile of her own causing Veli to swiftly avert his eyes while his head began to boil in embarrassment.
With a slight laugh the young girl turned back towards the front while Velis thoughts were still in its muddled state after having been caught checking out his first crush by his first crush no less!
Though his thoughts were soon shoved to the back of his mind as their instructor ordered them to begin exercising with weights before they would once again start learning about tactics. Oh how Veli loathed that part of the day…
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Trying to keep up with the pack of other recruits was something Gerdi had slowly come to hate as her advancement didn't progress as fast as she would have liked. Yes, she had become stronger and her endurance had grown over the last couple of weeks but so had her fellow recruits and thus pushed her limits again and again! Even though she knew it would do her a lot of good to continuously push her limits she was still a child and thus couldn't help the burning seeds of jealousy that festered in her core as she was always in last place, not once being able to outmatch her comrades!
On top of her poor physical abilities in comparison her gaze rested on the main reason why she had joined the guardians in the first place. Since she could remember she had always felt drawn towards Veli and his soft and caring soul, but only in the later years did she come to the age when her attachment grew into a full blown crush, though the boy seemingly didn't really realise that little fact as she had registered in frustration.
On the contrary she had observed with anxiety and no small amount of emotional pain how her childhood friend and crush had developed a crush on one of the other girls of their group which the girl seemed to reciprocate to some degree and thus she had to watch in helplessness as the two began to shyly flirt with each other before her very eyes without being able to do anything about it.
With a grimace she observed the two shyly exchange heated glances until the group where told to start their weight training. Part two of her personal hell would begin soon and she already dreaded her time under the sun while stupidly heaving weights for a reason she had yet to find for herself…
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Alvar had been fighting with Sjorn for about three hours already and his muscles burned like torches under his skin. Even though Alvar had come to revel in the feeling of his muscles burning, at some point during the training even that enjoyable feeling went away, stripped to the bone until only agony remained.
With a grunt Alvar lifted his increasingly heavy sword upwards with the tip pointing directly at Sjorn but to his surprise his instructor motioned for him to lower his weapon. Normally they would continue fighting until Alvar was so tired that he had fallen unconscious in the beginning some times.
"Sheath your sword and follow me. Today we'll bring some variety into your training." Sjorn said while walking over to the rack where he kept a few different training weapons like swords, spears, shields, maces, axes, knifes and etc.
Doing as he was told Alvar sheathed his training blade at his hip and walked with slightly shaking legs over towards his instructor who in turn began to walk over towards the still partially frozen lake with Alvar trailing behind him like a little duckling.
Once they had reached the shore of the small lake Sjorn turned around and pointed his thumb at the lake over his shoulder. "At the bottom of the lake you will find a group of boulders, each one leading further towards the middle of the lake. While wearing your heavy training gear and weapon you will enter the lake and, while walking at the bottom of the lake, start to carry the boulders onto the shore where you will answer a few questions on tatics and warfare strategies. How much time you take to fullfill your task is entirely up to you though you have to carry the boulders. No rolling or pushing allowed. Now get going lad!" Sjorn explained after which he shooed the now groaning Alvar who was already dreading the upcoming exercise with a passion…
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES 
bobbarker12
bobbarker12 Hope you enjoyed the chapter :-)
Capítulo 20: Chapter 20
With a gasp for air Alvar's head broke through the lakes surface while droplets of the freezing cold water splashed into all directions. As the first strands of air entered his body the burning in his muscles slightly subsided but only for a second as Alvar was kicking his legs furiously to stay on the surface since his training gear was continuously trying to drag him back down into the freezing depths of the lake.
Taking another long breath of air Alvar relaxed his legs for a little bit and allowed the training gear to pull him back down towards the lakes depths. Keeping his eyes open all the while Alvar watched in fascination how the surface grew further and further away from him. The further he sank the dimmer the light grew until only strands of light penetrated to the bottom, barely illuminating the sandy floor where a group of boulders of varying sizes had been assembled.
As Alvar's feet hit the floor, soft clouds of billowing sand spread out through the clear water though he didn't mind that little fact as he had seen it happen often enough by now. With steps slowed through the water Alvar walked over to the group of boulders and with a muffled grunt of exhaustion lifted one of them into his arms and began his track towards the shore of the lake that was dimly visible in the distance.
A few meters he had progressed until he returned to the rest of the boulders and picked up another one and carried it over towards the first he had left a few meters further towards the shore. Rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat. In between boulders he sometimes had to surface for some more air but in the last few hours he had done this exercise he became more proficient at holding his breath and thus managed to stay longer under water where he went about carrying the boulders towards the shore.
At just one such moment when he had breached the surface Sjorn told him to come to the shore and after he did so was told that they would stop here for today as it had grown rather late by now. Only then did Alvar realize that hours must have passed by while he went about carrying the different boulders. Thus after saying his goodbyes to Sjorn, Alvar left the training grounds with still dripping wet clothes on, marching straight home so that he could put on some dry ones.
Soon Alvar arrived at home and found his family already eating dinner at the bonfire.
"Alvar, you are finally home! Come, sit with us. We have left you some dinner!" Alvars grandmother said with a smile to which Alvar only nodded before disappearing into his small room in order to put some dry clothes on.
After he had done so he donned his training weights once again and walked over towards the bonfire where he unceremoniously let himself fall onto a chair that creaked slightly under his weight.
"Thanks, I really needed that." Alvar said after his grandmother had handed him a bowl of still steaming stew which he began to wolf down like a rescue victim that had gone without food for a couple of days.
"By the way I will be heading out tomorrow with a group of hunters to gather some more food for the next few weeks. Do you want me to go look for a specific kind of animal while I'm at it?" uncle Olaf asked Alvars grandmother who hummed in thought for a second before replying.
"If you can deer would be good since we've had mostly boar or birds of some kind for the last couple of weeks and one deer will give us ample food for some time. Though if you don't come across one pick whatever you think would be a good catch."
"Alright, I'll keep my eyes open for one. Though we have been told to check our outposts for any signs of activity the rangers have spotted concerning the sons of Jormag so we may take a bit longer with our trip then usual." Uncle Olaf said after a few seconds of silence only occasionally interrupted by the sounds of chewing.
"The sons of Jormag? Have you actually ever seen them yourself? What are they like uncle?" Alvar asked in curiosity while chewing his stew with a slice of bread in his other hand.
"Yes…We have a history you could say. The sons of Jormag do not only consist of men and women that have changed their allegiance to Jormag. Under the dragons banner a lot of other creatures march besides them, creatures sometimes consisting of animated monsters created out of corrupted ice or forests. Believe me when I say that you cannot imagine the horrors that are at the dragons command. Some of them strike fear into the hearts of the most seasoned veterans by only looking at them. Not to mention that once you join Jormag's forces you are bestowed a part of Jormag's magic, turning you into a being that is pretty much immune to frost and snow…" Uncle Olaf spoke with a grim frown on his face, obviously having witnessed a few of those horrors by the way his eyes scrunched up as he said his part.
"I see…What history do you mean though? Have you fought them before?" Alvar continued his questioning though after he had said his part he realized that he may not get an answer to his last question as a melancholic silence had fallen on his family and the room they sat in.
"Yes, I have fought them before, something I really would like to forget if I could. My history with the sons though is something you do not need to concern yourself with. Maybe once you are a little bit older I'll tell you." Alvars uncle replied to which the boy only nodded.
"You should head to bed Alvar. You look like you could fall asleep right there and then. Leave your bowl here, I'll clean it up later." His grandmother spoke with a slight smile though it seemingly didn't reach her eyes completely which made Alvar wonder why but in the end only nodded as his mind was already half asleep and was only eating on autopilot.
After wishing his family a good night Alvar fell like a sack rice onto his sheets and promptly fell asleep. As he sank further into dreamland he could faintly hear murmurs from his relatives echo in the living room though before he could make out what they were saying sleep took him away finally.
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES
bobbarker12
bobbarker12
hope you enjoyed it^^
Status de energia semanal
200+ Ranking de
Poder 
0 Pedra de
Poder Você também pode gostar
Comentário de parágrafo