Battle Through the Nine Realms - Chapter 15 - A Journey of Growth and Pain (Patreon)

“I’m not certain I can keep this up,” Osvif managed to get out between breaths.

Nodding, Magnus took a few more deep breaths and ignored the sweat running down his entire body.  

Both of them had been training for the last month each night, and the exhaustion had finally started to let up.  Training six days a week with just one day off had been brutal, but with a lifetime of working out and knowing how to train, Magnus had developed a program to get their bodies primed for what was coming.

Cardio and testing had been done the first week, each of them working to see just how far they could go.  Lifting and dragging wood logs and other objects had shown him just how weak the body Odin had given him really was.  

The perk of all this had been the joys of youth.  After forgetting that a teen's body recovered so quickly and with the right amount of food, he could already see the beginning of muscle forming in Osvif and himself.

Valgard had not been excited about his decision to include his friend, but something inside told Magnus that the runt, as everyone called the red-headed teen, needed to be just as strong.

“We’ve got three more rounds.  Trust me, we can do it.  You said it yourself when you promised not to quit.  Both of us can see how much stronger we have gotten.”

Sighing, Osvif nodded and stood by the log they were lifting together.

“Fine… just call out the timing.  Maybe a little slower this time.”

Seeing the slight grin on his friend's face, Magnus nodded and pointed at the log they were standing on opposite sides of.

“Let’s go!”

Together, they bent down, grabbed the 300-pound log, and lifted it onto their shoulders.

“Squats, five of them.”

Each of them grunted as they bent down, trying to ignore the slight height difference that made it even more difficult.  Once all five squats were done, each of them took a few breaths, knowing the next part would suck.

“Drive and thrust.  We’ll swap sides. Go!”

As one, they bent slightly, driving the log off their shoulder and upward, pressing with their hands before lowering it together to the other shoulder.

Magnus could see Valgard watching the two of them, smirking as they sweated, blood coming from their shoulders where the log scratched their skin was getting tougher.  

Time, food, and consistency.  Now, I just need to accomplish something even worse…

***

“Why should I join you?” Guat asked, his eyes never coming off Magnus’s upper body. “Every day, I hear from my mother how you are causing people to focus on you and not on me! Even Hrein and Brennor are giving you training time that could be spent on me!”

Three months had changed everything.  He had put on probably ten pounds of solid muscle, and the growth was almost impossible for him to believe.  The amount of food that Arngrim was purchasing each week sometimes made the older man complain during their lessons, but the evidence of how he and Osvif looked now had taken the town by storm.  

Every time they came for the monthly bath day, more and more people commented on how they had changed.  Brennor and Hrein both were struggling to believe the changes.

Guat was right about the amount of instruction he was receiving.  Training with those two men twice a week had taught Magnus a world of skills that seemed impossible at first, yet each lesson got easier.  His mind could recall the techniques and tricks.  His body moved faster, and the added muscle created a powerful strike each time.  Knowing how to use his hips surprised both warriors, and they even picked up a few small tricks that he showed them, causing them to be excited at not just training him but also improving their own skills.

Standing outside the walls, away from most of the prying eyes and crowd, Magnus sighed, shaking his head at Osvif, who had bristled at the Lendmann’s son’s response.

Something inside me tells me I need this kid to like me… between his attitude and his mother, I’m not sure which is worse…

Taking a deep breath and letting it out, Magnus made his case in trying to do what he felt he must.

“How many times in the last months have I told you I’m not angry or upset with you? There isn’t an ounce of evil will or intention inside me toward you.  I have never talked about our last fight or even spoken ill of you to those who might expect it.  

“All I want to do is become the best warrior I can be while helping those who desire to be one as well.  How many times have you told others you want to be a thegn like your father?”

Grunting, Guat crossed his arms, a frown on his face, but the way he had been glowering at Magnus lessened slightly.

“There is no other dream greater than that.  It is my duty to follow in my father's steps.”

Magnus nodded and tapped his chest.

“Look at me and Osvif and tell me the truth. You can see how much we have changed.  Imagine if you joined us and trained with us.  You could be growing like this, and in three years, when it is time to fight in Kopanes during the tournament, wouldn’t that help you place higher?  Surely, you know the advantages of being as strong and fast as possible.  Plus, with the training both Brennor and Hrein give you at home, as well as a few extra days at our place, which would help you even more.”

“And what will all this training cost me?”

Magnus saw the change in Guat’s face as his jaw muscles unclenched slightly.  The tanned face of the larger boy no longer looked like he was trying to break his own teeth.

“All you have to do is follow the program I set for the three of us. You can ask questions, but you don’t get to quit.  Ask Osvif if you want. He’ll tell you the first few weeks were the worst, but now he barely complains.”

His friend started to laugh and shook his head while groaning.

“That’s a lie. Every day sucks, but I don’t complain anymore because I see the results.  Each day, I wonder what kind of torture Einar’s going to inflict upon my body, but it’s just enough to make me want to quit, yet never so much that I actually do. Besides, if you can stop believing the lie and acting like we’re trying to steal your honor, you might find out that neither of us is a jerk.”

“But his father!” exclaimed Guat as he pointed a finger at Magnus.  “Do you know what he cost my dad?!”

“I don’t even know,” Magnus replied.  He was frowning slightly, and the truth was that it was still a difficult topic in his house.  

Thora had only shared that his father had been a great warrior and that something had gone wrong in a fight where Reinn and Valgard were present. Some fallout took place, and no one ever found Gunnar again.  The man had vanished, and no revival ritual had ever brought him back.

Grunting again, Guat snorted and shook his head.

“I’m not certain my mother—”

“Is your mother going to fight for you in the tournament?” Magnus asked, cutting off the excuse the Lendmann’s son always used. “One day, you’ll have to be yourself.  Surely you’re the kind of Viking to stand up and declare you’re ready to decide the future Odin wants from you.”

A scowl formed and then vanished almost as fast on the young boy's face.  His mother was always a hard topic of discussion, and Magnus constantly heard about her temperament and attitude from many inside the village.

“Let’s say I agree to this.  When would I start?”

“Tomorrow. Talk to your father, tell him we invited you to train with us.  Promise me you won’t quit for three months and that you will give everything I ask.  If afterward, you don’t feel it’s worth doing, you can quit.”

Sighing, Guat nodded, his eyes moving back and forth between the two boys before him.

Magnus could see how their improvements were hard to deny that something was working.  

“Also, I’ll give you a list of things to prepare and plan on eating.  Just know it’s going to be a lot, and you’ll need to make sure to eat everything.”

“Just how much are we talking about?”

Osvif chuckled and tapped his flat stomach.

“Sometimes I get tired of chewing… almost more tired than I do the amount of shit that comes out of me.”

Magnus laughed and saw Guat’s expression finally soften enough.  He held out his hand and waited.

A few seconds passed, and the Lendmann’s son slowly reached over and clasped it, gripping it tight as they shook.

“All right. I’ll see you at my place tomorrow after lunchtime.  Bring a spare pair of clothes to train in.  Something you don’t mind sweating and wearing every day.”

***

“He’s cheating!” Avitue shouted as she blocked the shield slam from Magnus, only to take a wooden axe strike to her leg. 

“Einar isn’t cheating!” Hrein yelled back. “You’re slacking off! Use the shield skills I taught you and your Speed! Stop trying to match his Strength!”

The scowl on the red-headed girl across from him made Magnus smile even bigger.  That, in turn, led to her scowling even more and charging at him again.

A tiny roar of frustration and anger came out of her cute mouth as she swung her wooden axe and tried to use her shield in a combo attack.

Without hesitation, Magnus danced sideways, using his shield to deflect her attack, and spun, slapping her ass with the flat of his axe.

“Hey! That’s my daughter’s ass you’re hitting! Keep it up, and I’ll have to defend her honor!”

Chuckling, Magnus prepared for the combo of attacks that Avitue unleashed on him.  Her movements were good, but she was too obvious and repeated herself.  Even though he had told her that multiple times, the woman kept forgetting and falling back into the drills her father had instructed her in for the last few years.

An opening was going to come up again, as always, and when it did, his axe blade found her neck, causing Hrein to end the practice match.

“How?! How can you beat me so easily now?”

Osvif and Guat were both grinning, having stopped their match to watch Magnus defeat the one neither of them could.

“You repeat yourself again and again,” Magnus replied. “Ask your father if you don’t believe me, but you do the same six attacks, and that last strike always leaves your right side open.”

“It’s true,” Hrein called out as he moved toward his daughter, who looked ready to explode.  “You get upset and forget the other things you can do.”

Growling, she tossed her weapon and shield to the ground, stomping off toward the bucket of water nearby.

“Sorry,” Magnus said quietly. “I really wasn’t trying to make her look that bad.”

“She’s hard-headed like her mother.  Worse yet, she has my temper,” the massive red-headed warrior replied.  “It’s better you kick her ass now, so she’s prepared for the tournament coming up.  If she doesn’t get that stick out of her butt, she’s going to find herself doing poorly.”

Nodding, Magnus watched as those green eyes glared at him, even as she took a drink from the bucket.  She held the wooden cup she had filled, and he studied her pose.

“Can I ask a question?”

“When has that ever stopped you?” replied the warrior as he grinned.

Both of them turned, hearing the sounds of axes and shields coming from Guat and Osvif, who had begun dueling again.

“Do you trust me to work with her for the next few months? I can give her some extra help with different areas to improve on and work on some flexibility that will improve her reach, Speed, and overall Strength.”

Hrein seemed to almost bristle at that question, and Magnus waited to hear the possible string of curses that sometimes came from the man.  Eventually, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“You’re not asking this because you want to do something that would require me to kill you once you hit sixteen?”

Laughing, Magnus shook his head.

“How much have you grown since we started training and you finally began doing some of the exercises I gave you to do?”

A growl similar to his daughter’s came from the big man, but he nodded.

“Enough to know you’re somehow blessed by the wisdom of Odin and Loki.”

Saying nothing and just waiting there, Magnus watched those green eyes study him before moving to where his daughter was, still pouting as she poured water over her.

“Fine. Twice a week, but if I hear you’ve done anything at all that deserves a beating, know I’ll personally administer it every day until I can end your life.”

Sighing, Magnus nodded.

“Fine.  You tell her, though.  I’m not sure she wants to hear it from me.”

A look of pain flashed across the large warrior's face as he winced.

“Gods, that’s even worse! You know she won’t want to hear that from me either!”

Shrugging, Magnus turned and watched Guat disarm Osvif, ending their duel as both of them laughed and talked about what had gone wrong.

“True, but I need her to listen to me from the start.  I’ll find a way to make her see the value of what we’re going to do.”

Nodding, Hrein moved to where his daughter stood, almost moving like one sent to certain death.

***

“This isn’t what I had in mind,” Avitue grumbled as she went through the stretches Magnus was demonstrating.  “How is all this going to help me be a better shieldmaiden?”

Without saying a word, Magnus moved into the perfect split position on the packed ground. Motioning for her to try and mimic what he had done, Magnus fought back the laughter he felt rising as she still had about six inches to be flat like he was against the dirt.

“You’re strong, but you are so tight. It makes controlling and moving that strength harder.  I wrote down a list of things you need to do every day at night before bed.  It should take you twenty minutes or so to go through the list, but if you do them, in about a month, you should be able to mimic what I’m doing now.”

“You do this every night?” 

He nodded, smiling as her green eyes stood out when her eyebrows rose.

“It’s not just lifting and running, but also making sure you can move your body. Forgive me for saying this, but everyone comments on how tone and strong you are, but you move like your father.”

She grunted and glared at him for a moment.

“And…”

“And that’s not a good thing for you.  He’s taller and stronger and honestly in need of losing about twenty pounds.”

Laughing, Avitue’s expression changed immediately as she nodded.

“My mother would have paid to hear you tell him that.”

“I already have, and I got a black eye that day during our training match, but he’s lost a little weight since then.  You need to be quick and realize your Strength won’t ever match his or a true thegn.”

Holding up his hand as she started to protest, Magnus shook his head.

“I’m not saying you’re weak; it's just that men and women are different, and we both know it.  No woman ever looks as big as the largest male warrior.  Even if you were as tall as your father and just as massive, do you really believe you could match his Strength?”

Slowly, she shook her head, frowning slightly.

“No… and he is much more skilled with weapons than I am.”

“He has had a lifetime to train,” Magnus replied. “You have only had half a lifetime.  What I’m going to teach you is the same thing Guat and Osvif are working on. Neither of them can do what I’m doing right now, and I’m not certain Osvif will ever do it.  He’s like a stack of sticks tied together.”

Avitue laughed and then fell backward onto her butt, rubbing the tight sections of her inner thighs.

“My father wanted me to make sure to report to him if you attempted anything unbecoming of you.”

Groaning, Magnus shook his head and winked.

“I’m pretty certain you’re going to hold that over me.  Now, just remember, if you ask me to do something and I say no, don’t complain to your father about it.”

She winked and moved to the butterfly stretch Magnus shifted to from the splits he had still been holding.

“I can’t promise anything, but if your training helps me like I’ve seen it help the other two, perhaps I can reward you in some way.”

I’m so going to die an early death…