Free Legacy of the Defender (The Defender Series Book 1) by Jacob Spadt Page A

to come later.  He taught me to control pain and to focus my inner strengths when battling fatigue.  Fighting when you have reached total exhaustion is a monumental feat.  Overcoming such exhaustion with the right frame of mind, that was the key.  Although my skills had begun to blossom, they were nowhere near what they needed to be.
    Seeing this man in action was a thing of grace and beauty.  I had always heard that most muscle bound fighters had no finesse.  His movements were like the flow of water, breaking upon his enemies with thundering force.  There was no wasted movement, as each strike set up the next one.  He gaited back and forth so fluidly.  I aspired to move as he did and took inspiration every time we sparred.  Each lesson filled my heart as well as my mind.  Multiple aspects flooded my mind daily.  It was up to me to apply the knowledge.
    We relocated to a different part of the land, with light all the time.  The sun never set.  I lost track of the hours and had to be told at times when to sleep and, sometimes, when to eat.  I focused so much that there were days I did not sleep.  The conditioning was fierce, but I could not get enough.  Each passing day was more grueling than before and more challenging, but my spirit cried out for more.  When sleep finally found me, my hands rested on my blades.  They became part of me.  In this realm, with swords in hand, I felt more at home than I ever had on Earth.  Through all of this, it never occurred to me to ask him about armor, and he never brought it up. 
    More time passed.  Eventually, my body developed its own clock.  Master began to drill me verbally.  His words inspired me to forget about tomorrow, especially when strength training started.
    "There is here and now and nothing else matters," Mathias drilled into me.
    "Yes Master," I said while holding a large bolder over my head.
    "Focus all your thoughts, energies, and skills on the task at hand," said Mathias.
    "Yes Master.”  The words bubbled forth with my head barely above water.  How I managed to tread water and hold that damn bolder over my head was beyond me.  "How does this have this have anything to do with fighting daemons?"
    The words had barley left my mouth when he smiled and hit me. 
    I sank.
     
    *     *     *
     
    Every time my swords were in my hands, excitement filled me.  Swinging those blades brought a smile on my face.  Joy knew no boundaries, for my path was set before me.  My mission was clear.  My purpose established.  Put daemons in front of me and they will die.  That was all that mattered.
    By this time, my physical stature had grown.  I was still about and inch shorter than Mathias, who stood at seven foot six.  He could still overpower me, but my speed surpassed his.  The lessons still hurt, but with each day my skills improved.  I learned more from live instruction than from watching the runes in the fire.  My mind was a sponge.  Lessons at the fire pit were painless compared to live instruction, unless I fell in.  The real advantage of the runes was rewinding and re-watching from different angles.  Also, they did not hit back. 
    With constant light, it was hard to track how long we stayed in this night less location.  It felt as if years were passing.  Even though I was present mentally every day of training, the relevance of how long we were gone did not become apparent.  So I asked.
    “Master, how long have we been here?  I feel like I am significantly older.  How many years have we been here?  I think I was with Teacher for over a year or more before you arrived.”
    He made a playful motion of looking at the sun that never moved.  He looked at me and how tall I was next to him, as if that mattered.  There was a long pause before he spoke.  “Time passes differently here than on earth.  If an educated guess could be accurate, it would be around ten years.”
    “Oh.  How many years have passed on earth?”
    “You