A Bored Lich 12 A day in Jameson's shoes

"Very well," Reginald said, "Is there anything more to report?" he had a quill to a blank sheet of paper, but the war monk shook his head.

"I will be going now, there is much to do." Ashtehar bowed and left. As he walked out of the mansion, he tugged a frightened fourteen year old boy along with him. Jameson stayed in the library and let his men escort them out. Reginald rested his head on the desk and sighed.

"It's getting close." Jameson said. "You need to relax more, all this stress is eating away at you." he put a hand on Reginald's shoulder.

"I know, I know, but Thomas is nearly twelve." the noble lifted his graying head. "Jameson, I already lost my wife, I can't lose another. I can't go through that again. I need this to end, then I'll get some rest." he smiled and tried to get up, but fell back down.

"Are you going to live until the war?" Jameson leaned Reginald back and got him a pillow. "You're pushing your stress on Thomas and compare him to commoners that are better than him every day. I know as a leader, that's going to put a large burden on him. He won't come out of your training with a good mindset."

"I have to," Reginald looked at the painting of his wife and family on the library wall. "Thomas is strong like his mother. He's got a good heart and picks everything up quickly, but I need to push him further. I promised I would protect him."

"And when you're gone?" Jameson knocked all the papers off the desk. "Look at yourself. At this rate he's going to grow up without a father. Trust me, I've been through this. You'll regret leaving your son alone."

"You hypocrite, you're just as hard on your son as I am, and you're still connected to him." Reginald picked the papers back up and handed one to Jameson. "Look at this, our profits for the roses have doubled in the last year. The war monks have gone nearly in a frenzy. The year-long war is coming, we need to get stronger."

Jameson sighed at his friend, "I know we need to get stronger, but too much training has a negative effect. Take a day to relax, get with a woman, have some fun for just a day. I need to go train my men, try to get some rest." he bowed. Right after he left the room, he saw Doevm waiting. "We'll be training in the guards' barracks when you're done cleaning." The boy nodded and entered. Jameson sighed and made his way to the front yard.

All his men were still doing the drill with his second in command leading. "Weapons rest!" the ninety-nine spears stopped in unison in ten rows of ten. That was the ideal formation, but one was missing. Jameson stood in front of the line of nine men with one spot absent. "Squad three, where is Frey?"

"Helping his sister sir," the nine said.

"She slipped again?" Jameson mumbled. "Understood, continue drill. I'll go get him."

"Yes sir. One!" Jameson grumbled to himself as he made his way to the rose fields. He knew where Frey and his sister were just by the screaming alone. The farmers paid no attention to the noise and kept working. Jameson walked further away from the fields, eventually finding the shack that Doevm used to live in. Inside, Frey's sister was flailing around her small thin arms and screaming. Her long black hair was disheveled and flew everywhere. Her plain brown clothes were wrinkled and dirty.

Frey held her down: "Please, it will be over soon." He said, his voice as soft as a lullaby. He held a bottle with green liquid to his sister's mouth.

"Poison, poison!" The sister screeched. Only the right side of her body, which Frey held down, was moving. The other side was completely limp. Her words slurred, as even part of her mouth refuse to open. Jameson waited in the doorway until Frey poured the contents down her throat. She tried to spit it back up, but Frey covered her mouth. She bit hard enough to draw blood, but Frey held on. He massaged her throat until she swallowed every last drop. She fell unconscious, so Frey let go.

"I'm sorry you had to see that." Frey apologized. When he turned around and saluted his captain, his face was wet.

Jameson sighed, "What happened to her? I thought she was just clumsy."

"She was pricked by a thorn." Frey sat down and stroked her hair. "Most people die, but she had a slight resistance. Instead of paralyzing her whole body, it paralyzed her right side. She lived, but she's slow, both physically and mentally. She's nice most of the time, but when it's time to give her medicine she gets like that. She's recovering, but slowly."

'So this is where he gets his soft heart, and why he's so afraid of the fields. No wonder. If I imagine Rena like this, I would have slit her throat out of mercy.' "Well, is this all the treatment she needs? You don't have to skip from now on. Family is important after all. Let's get back to training."

"Yeah, let's get back to training." Frey left his softness by his sister's bed. He stood up as a soldier and returned. Jameson led them for an hour in spear drills, then moved everyone to the guards' barracks for training.

It wasn't a building, more of a cave they found decades ago near the mansion and away from Pedal Town. All it looked like from the outside was a hole in the side of a hill. On the inside, the rock and stalactites had been cleared out to be smooth. The walls and roof were reinforced with metal and wooden bracers. It had enough space to fit a warehouse, and had no real structures or furniture. While weights and training spears were put in the back, there was no other equipment. The had floor was too dangerous to train on, so dirt was moved in.

The reason they didn't use this facility when training with spears was because of the echo. Soldiers needed to move in unison. A hundred and one spears moved to make one sound, which was hard to tell with everything echoing off the walls. They didn't practice outside much because they didn't want outsiders to copy their techniques like Doevm had done.

In the soil were circles eight feet (or 2.4384 meters) in diameter. The soldiers paired up and drilled basic offense, defense, and dodging. Ten minutes into the training, Doevm showed up. "Everyone halt!" Jameson's voice echoed. Everyone stopped and faced him. He put a hand on Doevm's head. "This is the newbie, and he needs to be shown the basics. Frey stepped forward. "Not you, I don't hate Doevm that much." the soldiers laughed a little. "From yesterday, I'm guessing he already knows all this, but he still needs to learn our routine. I need someone his body size. Actually, I have an idea, continue as is, I need to talk to Doevm and Frey anyway."

"Yes sir." the guards boomed and continued their training.

"Sir, what did you need me for?" Frey asked. Doevm looked a little curious as well.

"Don't you know?" Frey shook his head. Jameson face palmed. "I forgot you've only been here for a few months, usually after live, I go over your fight with both of you. I cover your weaknesses and strengths.

"Doevm, you were craft and made use of your environment. You used the first battle to test Frey and act like you were tired to get an edge on him, but you relied on your spear too much in the third round. You gave up on attacking him with your hands because he was bigger than you. That cost you the match because Frey knew how to dodge your spear. Don't rely on your weapons too much, no matter how much more comfortable it is. Your body is a weapon. Use it, you know how. That feint for Frey's groin was good. You used past experience to scare him. Wipe that smile off your face when you fight, it's annoying."

"Frey, you were reluctant to fight someone weaker than you. That is called pity. Doevm said it best: You can take your pity and your spear and shove it up your ass. This is training for war. There's no pity. Don't throw down your spear because you feel you have a sense of honor. Kill your enemy, use any means necessary. You did, however, realize your mistake. You threw your pity away as soon as you realized he was strong. You acted calm, even when you were blinded. You knew he was going to aim for your heart, so you moved that area, and caught his attack. You knew to dodge when Doevm had a spear, and you dodged well."

"Overall, you two are opposites. One is soft-hearted while the other is cold-hearted. Strong against skillful. I want you guys to fight and learn from one another. Doevm, pick up Frey's bravery. You run too much, although that wasn't always a bad thing. If you stayed confident, you would have won. Frey, learn to have a switch for your heart. At one point, you can be soft, but the next you need to be a killer. Use your environment like Doevm did and throw away your sense of pride in battle. I changed my mind, you two will spar against each other. Frey, try not to kill him." Doevm paled.

Chapter end