“So, Mrs. Asrock and our teachers all said yes to us being trained by you during some of our school hours, huh, Brace?” Spliff asked. The boys had met Brace thirty minutes early on their first training day; he was ready to go as soon as the children arrived.

  “They did,” said Brace. He started down the road, knowing the boys would follow.

  “Are we gonna use weapons today?” Asked Axel.

  “Hahaha,” laughed Brace. “It will be many months, if not years, before I teach you two to use weapons.”

  Axel and Spilff looked at each other in disbelief. “But I thought you were going to teach us how to fight like you do,” said Spill.

  “There are many things you must learn before I can trust you two to use weapons correctly,” said Brace.

  “Like what?” Asked Spilff.

  “Dont worry about that now. Remember, I told you to do as I say without complaining.”

  Morning dew sat on the grass as the sky was filled with the colors of the sunrise. The town was still asleep, so it was quieter and more peaceful than usual. When the three reached the place that would become their training ground for the next few years, Brace rested his sword and dagger against a large tree in the middle of a clearing in the woods. Then, he sat down against the tree, opened the bag at his side, and took out a book and a pen.

  “Now, do as many pushups as possible,” said Brace.

  The boys considered protesting, but remembered that Brace had threatened to quit if they complained. So, they got into the push-up position and started counting the push-ups they had completed.

  The day continued in this manner, with Brace giving the children a new exercise each time the boys were too worn out to continue with any one of them. By the time the boys finished all of Brace's exercises, they could barely move from the exhaustion.

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  “The first chapter of your training will be honing your senses; we’ll sharpen your hearing, sight, and stealth. On top of this, you boys will need to achieve the physical requirements I’ve written on this piece of paper,” Brace said, pointing to the book he had been writing in while the boys were performing their tasks. “You’ll have to train on muscle strength and endurance on your own, and I won't move on to the second type of training until you’ve met all of the requirements written down, so don't forget to train in your free time at least three times a week. In this phase of training, we’ll develop your stealth. You'll be tasked with moving from thirty yards from me to three yards from me without being heard. If I look up and you're not at the thirty-yard start, you must restart and move back to the starting zone; however, if I take my blindfold off to find that you two are both still behind the starting line, then the starting line will move forward three feet for all your following attempts. Now that you know the rules, why don't you guys give it a try?”

  Brace walked thirty yards from the tree where he’d been sitting, drawing a line on the ground with his sword to mark the boys' starting point. He then drew a circle in front of where he would sit blindfolded, indicating the spot they needed to reach. “One more thing,” said Brace with a serious look on his face, “I dont have time to be teaching students who show no promise; each training test will have a deadline, and if you dont complete a test within the time I believe to be reasonable, then I won't continue to train you. See all these leaves on the ground. They are here to make the test more challenging, making it difficult to walk around quietly. However, they serve another purpose. When the ground is no longer covered with leaves, you must have completed this challenge, or it's game over. I'd say you have about two months to go. Now begin,” said Brace, rapping and tying a blindfold around his head.

  Axel and Spliff looked at each other in silence. Spliff picked up his leg and hovered it

  above the ground before him. Slowly, he lowered his leg and touched the leaves below him.

  “Gotcha!” Said Brace

  The boys looked up to see Brace with his blindfold off. He smiled and put it back on, and Spliff reset by stepping back behind the line.

  “We’re never gonna do this,” said Axel bluntly.

  “Come on, Axel, don’t be like that,” Said Spliff. “Why don’t you try?”

  Axel waited a while until he thought Brace wasn’t expecting an attempt. Then, he stepped down slowly onto the ground and waited. Brace said nothing, and Axel looked back with excitement at his friend. But soon, only after about three steps, Brace heard Axel and sent him back to the starting line.

  “We might need to get creative,” Spliff whispered as he picked up a rock. He looked at Axel with a devious smile. Spliff threw the rock past the line, trying to mimic a step. But Brace could tell the difference in noises and did not take the bait.

  “This is impossible,” said Axel.