Pieces of Sonder

Freya hid a yawn as she followed Indrek up a rocky trail. The early morning sun briefly blinded her view as they reached the top of the ridge. She shielded her eyes until they turned west and began hiking downhill towards the lake.

[Nightscythe: Sure you don’t want me to follow?]

Glancing at Indrek in front of her, Freya quickly responded.

[Freya Evenkey: I’m fine. Watch Kamdale and Botan.]

Smiling to herself at her relatively fast typing, she almost tripped over a tree root. She took a large lurching step to recover. Indrek looked back but continued unconcerned. 

Would he forget he saw me typing if he did see? Freya wondered. Unexplainable game actions were usually obscured for non-players. However, Freya didn’t fully understand the limits of this perception filter. It didn’t stop Sangen from suspecting her of having a Player Card back in Suen. Perhaps that was because he was informed about the game.

Indrek may know about the game. Should I try to ask in a subtle way? He doesn’t seem as unhinged as Sangen. I could claim I’ve heard about it somewhere. Maybe he could give me more information. He seems to be in a high position in the demoniclasts… I wonder why he decided to mentor me? 

That question had kept her up last night. Her chest twinged with guilt. She wasn’t planning to stick around and become a full-fledged demoniclast. 

“Here we are.”

Indrek stepped off to the side to reveal the end of the trail. A small black sand beach manifested out of the forest. It was much smaller than the beach where the first trial started. A small cottage would take up the entire sandy area. 

“This is where we will train for the next week. We’ll take advantage of the healing effects of the lake,” Indrek explained.

He put down his large backpack with a thud. 

“Are we going to be practicing sword fighting?” Freya asked, slightly concerned. 

Indrek laughed, “No, no. Although I do have a sword for you.”

Out of his pack, he brought out a sheathed sword. 

[Standard Demoniclast Sword]

[Item Class: Uncommon]

[A carefully crafted weapon made to slaughter demons. Forged by a demoniclast blacksmith]

[+0.5 Dex, +0.5 Strength]

Freya realized this must be the sword that was promised to her in the rewards for completing the event dungeon. She had wondered why it didn’t suddenly appear as most game-related things did.

The demoniclast handed it over to Freya and nodded his head, “Go ahead and unsheath it. It’s a basic design, but you got to start somewhere. Once your technique improves, and you discover your own style, you should request a custom one.”

The sword weighed heavy in Freya’s hand. The edge of the sword glinted in the sunlight. She held it far from her face.

“Whenever you get a spare moment, unsheath it and just hold it,” Indrek instructed. He drew his sword, “Don’t grip so hard. Try to hold it like this.”

Freya carefully observed him and corrected her form. She adjusted her fingers to match his. Indrek nodded his approval then moved his sword closer to him, with the tip pointing to the sky.

“This is a basic guarding position. Try to come back to this position whenever you are in a fight. Widen your stance a bit, yes, one leg out in front. Keep your blade in front of you, ready to deflect any attack. You can practice angling the sword left or right, but don’t point it at your opponent.”

Her feet and legs naturally fell into position, but Indrek moved her shoulders and arms a bit.

“Okay, move around, then come back to this position.”

Following his instructions, Freya let the tip of the sword drop to the ground, then reset. After doing this a few more times, Indrek called an end to their sword practice.

“Alright, keep practicing that when you can,” Indrek said. “Now, let’s move onto strength training.”

“That’s all?” she asked, frowning.

“Getting comfortable with a sword does not happen in a day. Any other techniques I teach you today will probably be lost. Besides, we can keep practicing sword techniques anywhere. We should take advantage of being near Lake Kel.”

Freya looked over at the water. What are we doing that requires healing?

At the end of the endurance trial, she used the lake to speed her recovery. It wasn’t a myth. The water lifted her fatigue and sped up the healing of a blister on her foot. Freya thought they might use the water to heal if she got injured fighting, but that didn’t seem to be Indrek’s objective.

The demoniclast took two empty sacks out of his bag and started gathering sand into them. He closed one bag and told Freya to take it. Holding it by the thick drawstring, she could just barely lift it. He filled the other bag with even more sand.

“Try to lift the bag like this,” Indrek said, curling his arm with the much larger sack of sand.

Grunting, Freya tried to mimic him. Her arm wobbled with the effort.

“All the way, yes. Don’t drop it down fast. Good, now do four more.”

Gritting her teeth, she pushed through the exercise. Then he had her do the same with her left arm. Her arm muscles were twitching by the end.

“Good, now go get in the water.”

Freya took off her boots and socks and got in the lake. The cool lake water instantly washed away the tingling in her arms. After just a minute, Indrek called her out. While she was in the lake, he had fastened two sandbags to opposite ends of a metal pole he brought with him. 

“Alright, try to lift this over your head. If it feels too easy, add more sand.”

She bit the inside of her cheek as she stared at the sandbags. This is going to be a long day, isn’t it? Now I see why we’re by the lake.