NIMBUS AND THE KNIGHTS OF CENFERUM

Chapter 4

Learning...

Lonios had been with this boy for over a month, and with each passing day, he became more intrigued. Always punctual, obedient without complaint, and most surprisingly, the speed at which he learned. It reminded Lonios of someone from his childhood, someone he hadn't seen in a long time. As Nimbus's skill with the sword improved, he proved to be a cunning opponent. On that day, in particular, Lonios had been forced to use his cunning in combat twice to overcome him, and Nimbus showed no signs of fatigue.

They had started another round of training. Lonios advanced towards Nimbus and attacked with a diagonal strike, which, as expected, the boy managed to parry effortlessly. Lonios then aimed a kick at his leg to throw him off balance. Nimbus was quick enough to jump to the side and roll on the ground. After the body spin, he stood up, and Lonios was already on top of him, preparing for another strike. The boy parried the blow again, preventing the blunt sword from hitting his shoulder.

When Lonios raised the sword and prepared to strike again, the boy attacked. Quickly, Lonios managed to turn his attack into a defense with a sword spin, striking the blade of his disciple and deflecting its trajectory away. Nimbus took advantage of this moment to rise, and as an extension of the same movement, he spun his body and attacked again. Once again, Lonios defended himself.

He then attacked, attempting to thrust the boy with the tip of his weapon. This time, Nimbus defended and counterattacked by spinning his body and leveraging the force of the rotation to try to hit his master at the waist. Again, his attack was defended by the knight's sword. Probably, the boy had noticed that his master had struggled to defend against the last attack due to the great force from the spin. Nimbus attempted to spin his body in the opposite direction to deliver another blow similar to the previous one. However, when he did this, Lonios pushed him, and he fell face down on the ground. As he regained composure, he noticed that his master was pointing the sword directly at his face.

— Never try to repeatedly make the same attack. Whenever an experienced swordsman receives a blow, he instinctively memorizes it and mentally imagines what he should do to defend himself if he receives it again. — The knight lowered his sword and helped his disciple to stand.

— But I changed, once I spun to one side, and the other time I spun to the other side. — The boy spoke, after standing up again and starting to brush off the bits of grass stuck to his clothes.

— Small variations are not proper changes. In a real fight, you have to be as unpredictable as possible. Before making a move, think twice, or as my master used to say, do the second thing that comes to your mind, not the first. The first will always be the most obvious.

— All right, master, let's go, another round. — Nimbus took a combat stance.

— For today, it's enough. We have to rest, and it's already very late. Warriors need to take advantage of times of peace to sleep well because they will probably have to spend several nights without sleep, depending on the mission they are assigned to.

— But first, let's eat? — Nimbus gave a smile, sheathed his sword, and began to walk calmly towards the tent, until Lonios warned him.

— Eat? The first one to arrive gets the biggest piece. — When the knight started talking, he immediately began to run towards the tent. When Nimbus noticed, he was already well ahead of him. Lonios arrived first at the campfire and took one of the partridge thighs that had been cooking on the fire for some time.

— Master! That's not fair; you cheated.

— It was a fair bet; you had several meters of advantage. I didn't expect to warn you before running. — The knight took a generous bite. Nimbus staged a scene, as if he were upset, and they both laughed a lot. Lonios realized what an extraordinary boy he had with him, despite being a bit shy, he was gradually opening up in his presence, and they had even established a good relationship. After that, his training was lightning-fast; Lonios couldn't remember having an apprentice who learned so quickly. On that day, for example, he had exceeded expectations. However, he still had many areas to improve, the main one being a lack of self-confidence. After all, a knight must be, above all, a leader, and leaders must be good communicators and self-assured. But everything in due time; he would work on this aspect of the boy as the years passed. At least that's what he imagined.

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