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Alexandra was glad for a break from the usual intense workout that Jentus was putting her through. Doing that much work made her stomach empty and she knew that her body was complaining to her about the lack of nutrients in her system. After many helpings of rabbit stew, wild potatoes, leeks and some herbal drink that tasted terrible her body and stomach stopped complaining.
She was tired, but when Jentus brought out two wooden practice swords about the size of her short sword she knew that her rest would have to wait. Jentus handed her the practice sword hilt first and then began to speak,
“Alexandra I am going to train you a bit in the short sword. There will not be much to learn later when you move to a normal sword. For now you will learn how to use the short sword.
“You will be taught the slash, overhand swing, thrust and the parry. There are sword forms, but I will not be teaching you those in these next six months. Now, hold the sword loose in your right hand. Try to hit me.”
Alexandra held the wooden short sword in her right hand. It felt awkward as she clumsily swung the thing at Jentus with no specific target in mind. He put up the twin of her sword and blocked and parried her chaotic swing. The force of the impact sent her practice sword twirling into the air. Her right hand pained her. Holding her right hand protectively in her left, she turned to look at Jentus,
“Jentus I am not cut out for this. The sword just flew out of my hand.” She threw up her hands, and glanced over at where her sword went.
“That will be corrected in time. Everyone get's better with experience. So, you dropped the wooden sword, most do that when they first use it. Let’s continue your sword training.” Jentus picked up Alexandra’s sword, and tossed it to her.
Alexandra dropped the wooden sword over a dozen times, but kept picking it up and continuing her sword training out of Jentus’s urging her on. Her slashes and thrusts were crude, but at least she began to be able to hold onto the sword without dropping it. Every once in a while she would strike her own foot, knee or left hand. The pain that was caused by her mistakes helped her to correct them.
After a couple of hours of both Jentus and Alexandra exchanging thrusts, parries and slashes, Alexandra was better for it. She at least knew the basics of wielding a sword and had many bruises to remind her of how not to use a sword. Handing the wooden sword to Jentus, she fastened her sword belt on and placed her short sword, the real one, into its sheath.
The night sky was grey. Void of any clouds the stars sparkled like giant fireflies that danced on the earth and flew up and into the sky in many different formations. Alexandra enjoyed looking at the stars in the sky because it reminded her of a book she read. In that book, the author had said that not long ago a star fell to the ground. That star contained a great metal that if made into a sword, that sword would not grow dull and always would be sharp.
It was said that someone had made the sword, but that sword was stolen from the forge before it could be tested fully. The man at the forge told the author that it was made of a special metal that was a legend. Heroes of the past once used weapons fashioned of this metal and it was used in armour as well even though this was less often than a weapon of this metal.
The armour was said to fit whomever had the desire to wear it. But there was one problem with the armour, if you died in it you became a part of it. Thus, the armour had a skill of its own and was hard to control, especially if you obtained a suit of armour that someone had died in. After changing her training outfit to her regular leather armour, fastening her sword, her dagger and her traveling gear Jentus began his instructional talk,
“Be careful in the enchanted forest because the time you spend will be real, and is a must for your training. You will spend three months real time in the forest facing many perils. All hunters must do this after their basic training. I will come back in three months to give you more training. Remember to practice everyday while you remain in the Enchanted Forest. Now, go.” Jentus smacked her on the round part of her left butt cheek to urge her into the forest.