Chapter 103: 102 Drill Sergeant Strauss

"This the place boss? I can't fuckin' tell, they all look the same." A man with flaming red hair and a flamboyant personality to match kicked some pebbles out from under his feet towards the front of one of the many barracks buildings that stood on the Great Csillacra, his lance resting firmly atop his shoulders. "Why the hell are we even up this early anyways? I coulda gone out for a drink tonight!"

"We are up this early because Donovan and his crew were up four hours ago, maybe more, and I want to see what they're doing before they stop for the day. If what Donovan told me about was any indication, it might just be up your alley." Trebar put away a piece of paper, a map, and moved to make sure his scabbard was secure. "And yes, this is the place."

"Finally!" A girl with long green hair stuck a pair of shorter stabbing implements into the ground and stretched out her arms above her. "Think I'll get to swing my spears around a bit today?"

"Should you find Titanyana to be sufficiently talented for training, then as long as she agrees. Otherwise, don't go doing something that will upset me Zhoie."

"No problem boss! I'll go a little lighter than normal, just for you!" Her tone could be summed up as playful, if not outright flirting.

"A little?" Trebar's eyes narrowed on Zhoie.

"Okay fine! I'll make sure I don't break anything! You have my word." Zhoie folded immediately under a little bit of pressure.

The read-haired man snickered. "We all know what happens when little girls swing around more weapons than they're supposed to, Zhoie! Why don't you just keep it to one shaft in your hands at a time, like you're supposed to!"

This comment earned him two consecutive strikes to the head, one from a red-faced Zhoie, and another from the fourth member of their party, a black clad figure with a long blue ponytail protruding from the back of her hood.

"Keep your vulgarity to a minimum while in the presence of others, Cholst. Your breath stinks enough as is."

"OW!" Cholst's lance clattered on the ground as he held his head. "It was just a fuckin joke!"

"Joke or not, don't try that shit here. We are guests, Cholst. If I catch you saying such things to the women inside, I'll beat your ass myself. Am I clear?" Trebar was preparing to take a bite out of Cholst himself, only stopping because he was already facing towards him. He couldn't really make a clean hit on the back of his head from the front after all.

"As day! Clear as day!"

"Good, now let's go. We're wasting daylight."

- - - - -

"I take it you are Sir Trebar?" Rize had been waiting in the receiving room for quite some time now. He was permitted to wake up on his own time within reason because there wasn't much for him to do while Donovan was training. Normally he would spend his time watching them train or practice whatever Diana had taught him the night before, but today he was asked to wait for someone. Someone who was supposed to be very important.

"That would be correct. If at all possible, I would like to dispose with the pleasantries. I understand that we are somewhat late."

"Fine by me. They're in the courtyard still, they're probably on push-ups at this point."

- - - - -

'Just what in the hell is going on here?'

That was what Trebar wanted to say upon entering the courtyard. He had a feeling that his comrades where thinking something similar.

"DOWN! UP! DOWN! UP!"

Donovan was yelling orders to the four bodies lined neatly in front of him. He wasn't standing, it was only natural that he be down there with them given that he also needed this treatment, but he was still very much in a commanding position. 

"What are they doing?" Cholst leaned over to Trebar and asked the question that was on all of their minds.

Stumped, Trebar gave the only answer that came to mind. "Physical Conditioning. I think that's what he called it at least."

"Those are push-ups, and judging by the amount of mud at their feet they've been at it for around half an hour. They should be finishing that particular exercise pretty soon. Wall sits are next if Wall fucked something up." Rize leaned on the fence post and provided more detail to the curious party. "Notice how they aren't using much split, if any, to strengthen their bodies while they do this. The whole workout is supposed to go until about dinner time with a few breaks for water and food sprinkled throughout, but I've never seen them last that long. In the short time I've been here, they've only ever made it to shortly after lunch. Sir Strauss usually practices the blade with Titanyana after that."

"And how long does that go for?" What he had heard was insane enough, but Trebar wanted to know what Donovan could handle.

"Depends, really. Sometimes it'll only go half an hour, sometimes it'll go until Lady Titanyana can't focus from the exhaustion." Rize took a look at his benefactor's squad, currently engaged in a prolonged 'down' state. "Hmm, looks like he's going a bit easier on them today."

"And they do this every day?" Zhoie was visibly in disbelief, her lips open in awe.

"Yep."

Silence, the only sounds coming from the exercising group.

"Damn." Cholst was the first to break it. "What part of this was I supposed to enjoy, boss?"

"I was under the impression that you enjoyed pain, Cholst."

"Yeah, pain, not torture, which I'm assuming is what this is."

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"For once I'm with Cholst on something." Zhoie rested her spears on the wooden deck. "I mean this is just absurd!"

"Mhm."

"You planning on joining us!?" Donovan called out to them, finally taking note of their presence. "Take five for water and a breather boys, I'm going to talk to out guests."

This unexpected break was met with the closest thing to a sigh of relief they could muster, followed by them flopping down into the small amount of mud they had generated with their sweat and rolling over to breathe better.

"Welcome! I don't exactly know what it is you want to see, so you can just watch us as we go, I guess. Feel free to join us, though I have the condition that you do exactly what I say." Donovan received a cup of water from the approaching maid, downing it one go. "Any questions?"

"Yeah, I do, what's the point of all this? It seems unnecessary, detrimental even." Cholst was on the verge of being slapped by Trebar, saved only by societal convention.

"Why? It's not like we can do anything with technique yet? May as well build some muscle to get an advantage." Donovan shrugged in response to Cholst's accusations.

"Just use split!"

"And what if you don't have any left? What are you going to do when you are an hour deep in a protracted battle and your split runs dry? Are you just gonna let yourself die?"

"Of course not! I'd just disengage and recuperate, like any sane person would!" Trebar's palm was itching with the urge to make a neat crescent arc towards Cholst's cheek.

"What if you can't disengage? What if your enemies are faster than you? What if retreating means you lose something important? What if, for some unknown reason, you find yourself in a situation where you use split?" Donovan shot back at Cholst with a few good counterpoints.

Cholst's face was turning as red as his hair. "I'm hearing a whole bunch of hypotheticals and not a lot of answers." Trebar's urge grew further.

"Then you lack the creativity to see the obvious intent behind my words. What if you need that extra bit of strength to get the edge on your opponent? If your enemies outnumber you, can you be sure you can take a hit or two to keep fighting?"

The various bystanders nearby could not believe how fast this had devolved into an argument. It was like a bomb had gone off without a countdown.

"If I get overpowered by my enemies, then I will die a glorious death as I should! There is nothing else to discuss!"

"PUSSY!" Donovan's rebuke started with only a single word. "You're just gonna let somebody kill you? Like a little bitch? You're just gonna sit there and die knowing you could have done something to stop it?   What   a   fucking   coward.   Well, you're free to live and let yourself die a stupid, meaningless death while the rest of us struggle to see the light of another day. You see, we want to win, something I feel you might not experience often given your submissive and cowardly nature. I bet you've only gotten to this point on account of your pedigree, haven't you? Did daddy pay to for you to be here? Or was it mommy? I bet it was mommy given how much of a fucking sissy you are."

Donovan was up in Cholst's face at this point, a man who had found out that he was somehow an inch or two shorter than Donovan, berating him. Cholst was growing angry, obviously, but more at the fact that Zhoie and the masked woman were muffling their laughter behind him.

"I bet you haven't trained hard a day in your life, just living it up cushy like the rest of the spoiled brats around here. Yeah, I've heard about them, from both the maids and the staff, and you seem to match that description pretty damn well. You walk around sporting your pretty little face and fancy pants, basing your success on the women you woo."

All pretenses of holding back laughter were gone at this point, they were rolling on the floor laughing at the accuracy of Don's assessment.

"How many did you take home with you last week? Two? Three? I bet they rode on top you submissive little bitch. Actually scratch that, my guess is that they were the ones behind you." Donovan poked a finger into Cholst's chest, the aggression forcing him to take a step back. Even Rize had joined in at this point, Cholst just couldn't get a word in during the onslaught. "Did it hurt when you took it up the butt? I bet it felt god for you, especially considering how you seem to be okay with getting stabbed. Seriously, how the hell did you end up in an academy meant for warriors? Do you just wanna be somewhere you can get beat up all the time? Ooooh, I bet that really gets your rocks off."

All of the sudden, Trebar realized that the urge to slap Cholst had completely disappeared. Somewhere along the line he came to the understanding that Cholst was not going to win this engagement, Donovan would not take that sort of shit in his own home.

"Do you like it when a big, hot, sweaty man beats you up? Do you like it when a guy with well-toned muscles and a rocking body overpowers you? You got a snuff fetish? Degenerate! I'd ask you where you got off ruining everyone else's day with your perverted sexual fantasy if I didn't know that was exactly what got you off!."

Cholst couldn't take the embarrassment anymore, and made to punch Donovan for tarnishing his honor to this degree.

Unfortunately for him, his punch was weak, their close proximity not allowing him to get a good wind up even with the assistance of split. Even more unfortunate was the fact he had just put his arm in the perfect position for Donovan to perform a throw with.

"Oh my god! You even punch like a little bitch!" Don felt the sting of the punch, he would have to be numb in the face to not, but he could easily put up with the pain in order to deliver that extra little emotional damage as he flung the enraged Cholst over his body and into the dirt, putting his weight into it to guarantee he knocked the air out of him.

It would give him the extra fraction of a second he would need to secure a more restrictive hold.

Trebar, who had failed to react to the punch in time, watched in abject horror as Donovan put Cholst in a position where he could not break free.

Split, Donovan had found, did not help very much with the static strength of muscles for some reason or another, a property which he had confirmed independently on each of his subordinates (with their permission, of course). If he could put someone in a hold where they could not move their arms or legs, those appendages which people most often ran split through, he could restrain them as he would a normal person.

In essence, most people would be completely incapable of countering his holds and throws if he could get them tight enough, and Donovan was pretty good at getting them tight, something which Cholst was finding out the hard way. Unable to punch his way out and completely incapable of generating traction with his legs, he was completely at Donovan's mercy.

"Come on big guy, use split to get out of this one! You think muscle training is pointless don't you? Come on, GET OUT!" Slowly, Donovan increased the pressure on the joints, amplifying the pain and eliciting further struggling. "You can't, can you?"

Zhoie and the black clad woman weren't laughing anymore. They poked fun at Cholst for being an idiot manwhore, sure, but they understood he was one of the best fighters in the entire Sanctum at the moment, and he was being restrained by someone who didn't even register as a moderate threat. Trebar was even more concerned.

Trebar was the only one watching who understood Don couldn't use split yet.