Adrex spent the next few weeks practicing the creation of the baton. He would spend each morning trying to create it and then each afternoon recovering in the library studying how this form of magic was discovered and adapted. The technique had started long before the formation of the schools when mages were used as weapons in the Five Kingdom Wars, mages would use their physical weapons and coat it in magic, much like nowadays with their messages writing it initially then using magic to form it.

When the magic schools were formed after the Demon Crusades the Knights of the Battle school and the battle Mages both studied this form of magic, the Knights eventually using the swords to direct the magic and the Battlemages to create pure magic weapons.

It took Adrex three months to find all the recordings and tomes to piece together the lineage of this growth, and even then he had to guess at several steps as nothing was recorded in certain times, or those recordings were lost during the fighting. However, he eventually had his timeline to follow and work through himself instead of just blindly practicing as he had been.

One morning about three months after he had started down this path of training he sat in the middle of one of the small training rooms, legs crossed and holding a small wooden baton in front of him, his eyes closed in focus as he coated the baton in magic, focusing on how it held together, how it initially formed itself. He held the magic for a time testing how it moved when he swung it and moved it through the air.

Adrex then let the magic go and set the baton down. All he had to do was replicate that, without the baton for support this time. He closed his eyes and put his hands together as if praying, he felt the magic that flowed through him, like a river of power that he could direct and control. He focused on the way the magic felt before when it was formed and pushed the magic to his hands and held it there. Slowly letting more and more out as he pulled his hands apart, forming and shaping it with his mind, holding it together applying the first lesson he was taught all those years ago, control, it was all about control.

Adrex opened his eyes and slowly wrapped his hand around the baton that he had formed; he could feel the power of the magic contained within it held together with the control he had exerted over it. He stood slowly, afraid that any sudden movement might suddenly cause it to explode. He swung it once, twice, a third time. It was holding, it worked. He heard the door creak as it opened and Vista walked in. Adrex turned to face her smiling, showing off the weapon he had created.

Vista didn’t express anything; she just crafted a staff with ease and stood facing Adrex. “You have completed the first step only; you still have much to learn. We will see how your weapon holds up to combat.” She said, before spinning the staff and attacking Adrex with a wide swing.

Adrex instinctively moved the baton to catch the attack, holding the baton at both ends. He felt the impact, not just in his arms, but through the item. It was like it was a part of him, an extension of being. It didn’t cause him pain, but it felt odd. He barely had a moment to process this new feeling as Vista attacked again with a second attack directed at his open flank, again Adrex caught the attack, feeling the pressure exerted on the weapon, he fed a bit more magic to keep it from breaking. It wasn’t over though as Vista attacked with a downward strike at Adrex’s head. He held the baton up to catch it, but the strike quickly shattered the baton. The magic, no longer contained, exploded outwards sending Adrex crashing to the floor and Vista blown to the other end of the small room.

Vista stood up and released the magic staff and it vanished like a spell, before letting out a massive smile. She crossed the floor quickly and helped Adrex to his feet. “Congratulations are in order; you did such an amazing job. I can’t believe it.”

Adrex looked stunned, not just at what happened but the total tonal shift he just experienced. He felt his head wondering if he hit it too hard. “What just happened?”

“A test.” Vista responded, “One that you excelled at, and did better than myself when I started.”

“What test?” Adrex asked, still confused, he definitely hit his head too hard, Vista never tested him like that first, usually she announced it first.

Vista looked at him touching his head, “are you okay?” She asked.

“I must have hit my head too hard, I don’t remember you saying you would test me.” Adrex said quietly.

“Oh, I didn’t tell you. I couldn’t.” Vista started, “I had to see how your creation would hold up under attack without you being prepared for it. That, unfortunately, means a bit of a surprise for the trainee.” Vista explained. “I only survived one attack when I got to this stage before my creation shattered.”

Vista led Adrex to the wall, where he used it to slowly lower himself to the ground. Vista knelt in front of him. “Are you feeling okay?” Vista asked.

“I’ll be fine, just recovering.” Adrex replied.

“Tell me, what did you experience during the test?” Vista asked.

“I, I felt the force of the attack within the magic.” Adrex replied, “it reacted and became weaker at the source of impact, so I had to add more to it to stabilize it.” Adrex said. “It felt weird, because I could also feel the physicality of the attack in my arms.”

Vista nodded a small smile on her face. “That is the hardest part of this type of magic, you must constantly use more to, as you put it, stabilize the weapon created. It is about fine control, and some only ever manage the basics of creation.” Vista said.

Adrex lay his head against the wall as he realised the massive task that he had taken, not only would he need to continue to master the control required to use weapons, but he realised, “I don’t know how to fight with a weapon!” He exclaimed.

“I was waiting for you to realise that part.” Vista said. “You will miss the next assignment to the Northern Watch, because you will be learning sword craft.”

“Are you going to teach me?” Adrex asked.

“No.” Vista responded quickly, “I don’t know enough to pass on, certainly not to any level beneficial to you. With the snowy season now passed you will begin training with the soldiers of our garrison here. This will include combat and fitness training in the morning, before you will start creating more weapons until you find one that suits your style, followed by more combat training in the afternoon.” Vista announced.

Adrex looked at her slightly concerned, “when do I start?” He asked quietly.

“Tomorrow, so I would get plenty of rest. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.” Vista said.

-

He had some idea of what morning training would mean since he had done his tour on the Northern Watch, but even with that knowledge, it didn’t help prepare Adrex for standing in formation in the courtyard of the castle with the other trainees with the dark sky still overhead. Most of the trainees had already had a few weeks of training since the end of the snowy season, so Adrex was at a slight fitness disadvantage from them. Their trainer, an experienced guard that Adrex had seen around the place for years, marched out in front of the formation, “Just a short run today in honour of our new recruit, Magus Adrex.” He said straight faced. “You will head out along the path to the bottom of the surrounding hill; from there you will run around the inner ring before returning along the path.”

Adrex looked slightly shocked, but hid it quickly. ‘Short run’ he thought.

‘You should kill that little runt.’ He heard Athridon say. It was hard to disagree with the demon in this instance, but Adrex squashed the demon down.

“Well? Don’t just stand there, run.” The Trainer said.

The Trainees and Adrex took off at once, running out of the courtyard and along the dirt path that wound its way out along the flat field outside the battle school castle towards the hill that formed a barrier around the school. Adrex started breathing heavily as he started to fall behind some of the others, especially those who had a few weeks more training than the others. 

By the time he had reached the hill he was already out of breath and panting heavily, his arms and his legs felt like they were on fire and were sluggish to respond and move, it was only determination and stubbornness that had kept him going, but he was dropping away from the rest of the trainees. He needed a way to keep his energy levels up, to make things easier for him right now. So he turned to magic, closing his eyes as he ran he focused his power into his legs adding more energy and strength. It had an instant effect on him, it felt like a weight had been lifted off of him and he could move more freely.

He wasn’t catching up with the others, but at least now he was not falling behind, and it didn’t take up too much of his magic to sustain this. It also helped him to focus on his breathing and control instead of focusing on the run and the others.

It took him much longer than the others, even with the help of his magical crutch, but eventually he made it back into the courtyard, where the others were slowly walking around or catching their breath. The Trainer walked over to Adrex, “You won’t be able to do that forever, and being fit will serve you well in battle too.” He said.

Adrex looked up at him, having bent over resting his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. He looked up, and saw the Trainer’s eyes glowing a dull white. “How?” Adrex managed to stammer out between huge pants.

“I developed too late, but Meister Vista gave me a few pointers.” He responded.

Adrex gulped, as he tried to speak, failed, and just bent back over trying to breathe properly. The Trainer smiled as he faced the rest of the trainees, “Alright, Form Up!” He ordered.

Adrex slowly got back into the formation they started in before the run. He forced himself to stand upright and look forward as the Trainer stood in front of them again. “Alright, that was a good warm up I’d say. Now fifty jumping stars,” He said, “count them off!”

Adrex let out a small groan as the trainees started to perform star jumps together counting each one they did, as the sun started to creep over the horizon lighting up the sky in a brilliant orange.

His legs and arms felt heavy and he knelt to the ground when they reached the fifty required star jumps. He had never done so many in his life, though he didn’t need to use magic to complete it at least. The Trainer dropped to the ground in a sitting position, and the others slowly got down, Adrex just collapsed where he was crouching, already dreading what he knew was going to be said next. “Alright, next is sit-ups. Another fifty count.” The Trainer said.

Adrex closed his eyes and started to count off the sit-ups. He could feel Athridon’s glee as he pushed through. “I’m glad you didn’t kill him. This is fun.” The Demon sneered.

‘I’ll let you out, you try it.’ Adrex thought back, causing Athridon to laugh louder, causing Adrex to miss a sit-up.

The Trainer counted fifty, and Adrex collapsed onto his back. He couldn’t think, everything hurt. He sprawled out on the ground panting heavily, sweating was dripping off him and he just stared up at the sky as it started to change colour as the sun finally rose fully over the horizon bathing the school in the warm light. “That’s all for this morning, go get something to eat. Adrex, I will see you after, for combat drills, the rest of you have classes.” The Trainer said.

Adrex closed his eyes, took a breath, then forced himself to roll over and push himself up onto his hands and knees, before slowly standing up, his muscles screamed at him and he felt sick from the exertion. He finally managed to take a few steps to rest against a wall, and once steady he made his way inside to the battleschool to get a meal.

-

After his meal and as much rest as he could get, Adrex made his way into the yard where he saw the trainer with two swords and a wooden training stump. It was a wide wooden pole about the height of a person with thick leather tied to it. Adrex walked up to the trainer who nodded. “I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect you to come back, and you looked too exhausted to carry on.” He said.

“I need this training so that I can progress.” Adrex replied, “Whatever it takes I’ll do it.”

The Trainer smiled and nodded. “Then a small introduction; I am Halden. I am the swordmaster of the Magic Battleschool guardsmen.” Halden said bowing slightly.

Adrex bowed back before Halden tossed a wooden sword at him. Adrex clumsily caught it before holding the handle tightly and looking ahead at the training stump. “Try swinging at it?” Halden said.

Adrex took a step forward and swung slightly overhead at the target. The sword connected and jared Adrex’s arm, he was forced to let go and the training sword bounced away from the target to land on the ground. He looked between the target and sword before going to pick the sword up and return. “Not what you were expecting was it?” Halen asked.

“Not really.” Adrex responded.

“If you attacked a person like that, and actually made contact, you would cut into them, but your sword would probably get stuck, I’m not sure about magic though.” Halden said.

Adrex thought back to the test from Meister Vista and him having to put more magic into holding the object. That might kill him quickly. “It would not be effective.” Adrex admitted.

“That is why you are here though; first we will go over your stance and grip, before we even start swinging at targets. We also need to work out your preferred weapon, be it sword, spear, staff or other.” Halden said, explaining the training going forward, before he added. “Stand ready.”

Adrex took a stance facing Halden, holding the sword in one hand, feet wide apart, and one hand slightly forward facing Halden.

Halden approached Adrex walking to his left before tapping the inside of Adrex’s left foot with his. It slid slightly but Adrex collapsed to his knees. “Stand Magus, narrow your stance.” Halden said blankly as he continued to walk around him.

Adrex stood back up, took his stance and made sure to keep his feet closer together. Halden gently pushed his right shoulder from the back and Adrex almost fell flat on his face. “You are too stiff, bend your knees and relax.” Halden instructed.

Adrex again took his position and bent his knees, before his right leg was swept out and he ended on his knee again. “Feet.” Halden said sternly.

Adrex sighed loudly as he stood back up, feet closer together and his knees bent slightly. “Good, that’s better. Quick learner too.” Halden said.

Halden came to a stop in front of Adrex and looked him up and down. “Relax your grip on the sword, that’s what caused you to release it when you struck last time.” Halden said.

Adrex made sure that he was no longer holding the sword grip as tight, and then looked at Halden. “Good, your stance will naturally adjust, but this is a good start, look at your feet, remember to relax and not tighten your grip or body or lock your knees.” Halden said approvingly, “now we will start to practice some very basic strikes.” He said.