Battle Through the Nine Realms - Chapter 16 - Everyone Partakes in the Pain (Patreon)

Magnus smiled as he watched the Lendmann drop the metal weight, sweat running down his bare chest.  Each of the older warriors’ tattoos was on display, and for a man of his size and age, Magnus knew there was a difference not just in the physical strength but in the power that came from those runes.

“What is the name of this program you’re making everyone do?” Reinn asked between breaths. 

Shrugging, Magnus smiled at the winded man.

“Brennor and Hrein both shared with me the things you all did upon getting to join a warband, but the truth is there is no specific training focus.  You all just occasionally lift some wood or metal objects, throw them, and run when the mood was right.  The rest of the time was spent fighting, but if we’re honest, I doubt even then the techniques and training were as focused as they should have been.”

Grunting, Reinn nodded as he picked up the metal weight the blacksmith had made and began lifting it under Magnus's watchful eye.

A little over a year had passed since the killing of the troll, and now, the entire village was taking part in some ways to make sure each warrior and young child was doing some form of Magnus’s program.

After he completed the number of required repetitions, the Lendmann dropped the metal weight on the ground and stood back, panting from the exertion.

“That seems… much harder… than it should be.”

Magnus shook his head.  

“Look at your son and ask yourself who trained him better.  What you had him doing or what I am doing with him?”

Glancing across the field, a group of fifteen young children were all busy lifting or pulling different objects. Reinn could only nod.

“If I didn’t see the results, I would never agree to continue supporting his eating habits.  I’m not certain where it all goes. If it wasn’t for how well Avitue did in her tournament, I wouldn’t be able to afford all of the stuff you have me creating. The prize money from her placement has all gone here.”

Bending down, Magnus picked up the pack he had sitting near him and pulled out three pieces of paper.

“Speaking of that, these are the objects I need created by the blacksmith over the next few months.  We’ve got less than two years to finish getting ready for the tournament, and my goal is to have everyone ready.  I expect once the jarl and the other Lendmann see what you’ve done with the three of us, they will gladly pay to find out how to repeat our success.”

Grinning, Reinn nodded and took a few more deep breaths before letting out a groan.

“Two more sets?”

Magnus nodded and motioned toward the others.

“I need to get back to working out myself.  If I stand around here too long, everyone will think I’m lazy, and then what will happen?”

Laughing, the Lendmann shook his head.

“No one believes for a moment you’re lazy, Einar.  Hrein would offer his daughter's hand almost after how well she did at the tournament.  Top ten isn’t something most can hope for, and yet she almost made it to the top five.  He says most of her success is due to you training her.”

Shaking his head, Magnus began to walk away.

“No, thank you.  I don’t have time for a wife right now.  Besides, having him for a father-in-law… someone would have to be crazy to want that.”

Reinn let out a massive roar of laughter, only to groan when Magnus pointed at the metal object waiting to be lifted up.

“You’re cruel!” he exclaimed before he stuffed the paperwork into a bag near him and moved back to the object of his pain.

***

“Again!”

Osvif came at Magnus, his shield and axe held as they had been trained.  Valgard and Hrein stood from the sides, watching as the two boys faced each other.  Neither had any doubt about how the fight was going to go, but with only two months until the gathering at Jarl Bior’s city, Kopanes, both boys needed every last bit of training.  

Two years had passed, and the boys before them looked nothing like the sticks that had once stood with the men when facing that troll.

Each of them bristled with more muscles than all the villagers and warriors could believe.  

Since the first few weeks after that fight with Guat at the gathering, Magnus worked in the fields, and the training he did with multiple men and both boys had changed everything.  Reinn and Arngrim had paid the local blacksmith to make a variety of wood and metal items for Osvif and him. Everyone in the village was now training with them, and it was as if Odin himself had come down, infusing the village population with muscle and Strength.

Many had teased and poked fun at the money and time spent on the objects he lifted, carried, and pulled, along with all the running, yet none could argue with the results.

A detailed plan for everyone had been given by Magnus, and at first, Reinn had considered it impossible.  Yet from the age of nine to thirteen, Magnus laid out a program built around exercises for the kids with just their bodies.  From thirteen to sixteen was another program of lifting, pushing, and pulling different objects.  After that was another regiment that got progressively worse from sixteen till about thirty.  

Magnus had done as he promised Reinn. In one year, the village of Kroppr began to earn a reputation for developing young men and women after Avitue had been successful in the tournament.

A wooden axe slammed into the shield Magnus was holding, and a foot came at his feet.  

Osvif has learned quickly not just the fighting style the warriors in town taught but also the hand-to-hand combat that Magnus shared.  Many wanted to learn the technique he had used against Guat, which threw the boy so easily over his shoulder.

Dodging the low attack, another swing came, and Magnus blocked it while kicking outward with his own leg.  Osvif used his shield to absorb the kick aimed at his gut and still took a few steps back from the force of it.

All around them, the sounds of others training were taking place.  

The monthly gathering was no longer just games and celebrations.  There was a lot at stake at the next Symposia.  Those who performed well enough and placed in the top five for their categories could earn a rune from the jarl.  Every craftsman ensured their child or student perfected the techniques so their creation would earn them a reward.  

For those like Magnus, Guat, and Osvif, the potential to do well in the combat games meant the difference between a common rune and the victor taking home an advanced one.  

Dirt flew up at Magnus’s face, and he danced backward, unable to avoid a grin, seeing that Osvif had practiced Brennor’s fighting style more and more.

Two more attacks came, each one easy to read, and his friend still did not remember how to avoid using the same pattern of attacks.

Magnus dashed forward, hooked his friend’s leg with his axe, and gave a quick tug, sending Osvif to the ground.

“Break!” Hrein shouted.

“You need to stop repeating yourself,” Magnus said as he tossed down his wooden axe and held out his hand to his friend.  “Someone will notice you do the same things and easily counter you.”

Groaning, Osvif nodded and took the hand, letting himself be helped up.

“It’s really not fair.  No one here has an easy fight against you.  Hrein stopped after that last time you kicked his ass.”

A cough came from the red-headed man, and he shot Osvif a glare.

“He didn’t win… I let him.”

Everyone laughed, including Hrein, after a moment.

“Just don’t forget.  The axes won’t be wooden when the tournament takes place,” Valgard said as he motioned to one of the younger boys watching.  The child grinned as they picked up the water bucket and brought it over to Magnus and Osvif. “Healers will be there, and death is rare, but it can happen.  Once the rune spots open, you are fair game, and some may not hesitate to kill you if that is what it takes for victory.”

Giving the brown hair boy a tussle on his head, Magnus nodded and drank the ladle of water before giving it back.

“I know… Two more weeks and I’ll be sixteen.  Osvif is already sixteen, so can I use a real axe against him?”

“Odin, please don’t!” Osvif exclaimed, holding up his hands.  “I’m already on the short end of things, and getting killed before this event isn’t worth it.”

A whistle caught their attention, and everyone turned to see Reinn coming toward them with Guat in tow.  The boy was just as tall as his father now, standing about six foot and a half.  He had filled out even more after adopting the program Magnus had given him.

“Einar,” Guat said with a nod as they drew near.

Smiling, Magnus held out a fist and chuckled when Guat fist-bumped his.  

The look on their faces when I taught that never gets old.

The Lendmann shooed away the young water boy and waited till he was gone, motioning for the others to gather around.

“Three potential warriors,” Reinn said with a grin. “May Odin and Thor shine favor on us all.  Now then, I need you three to listen very carefully to what I’m going to say, and I don’t want anyone to speak about it. Tomorrow, we will ride for the barrier.  If the runes I hope for you three to have been equipped with happen before we reach the Symposia, we need to find some materials.  That means venturing into there and hunting down some reagents.”

Reinn motioned to Guat, who dropped a pack he had tied on his back.  When they opened it, the smell left much to be desired, but the Lendmann never flinched, reaching into the bag and pulling out a few bones and tusks.  

“I have some of the troll items we need, but the hard part will be getting the wolves.  They will run at the sight of us all.”

Magnus motioned with his hand, and Reinn cocked an eyebrow and looked at him.

“Guat, Osvif, and I can take care of the wolves.  I’ll just need an animal, a cart, shovels, and a few other small things.”

Hrein snorted and shook his head. 

“You’re seriously offering to go and hunt down the black wolves on your own? Surely, you have heard the stories.”

He shrugged, and the other two teens both grinned.  If either of them had learned anything in the last few years, it was that Einar had an uncanny knack for succeeding no matter what he was tasked with.

“Father, if he says it will work, it will be fine.”

Valgard laughed as he gave Reinn a pat on the back, watching the Lendmann rub his eyes a few times.

“Fine… you three can attempt that first.  After that, we’ll have to go a little deeper and look for some ore.  How long do you need Einar before you three can set out?”

“Tomorrow is fine.  I’ll go over the plans with Guat and Osvif tonight.”

Rubbing his teeth with his tongue, Reinn nodded and then motioned toward the Longhouse.

“I need to deal with being in charge.  All the fun of fighting seems to keep getting taken from me.  Perhaps Bior really got back at me for sleeping with his first wife by making me a Lendmann.”

Valgard and Hrein laughed as the three boys picked up the equipment on the ground.

“If we’re fighting tomorrow, we’ll rest tonight.  It’s going to be a long day.”

A collective groan came from Osvif and Guat, both knowing that any long day for Magnus meant an even worse day for the others.

***

The holes had been dug while someone kept watch at the barrier.  Each boy was covered with a sheen of sweat as they dug up the dirt and loaded it in the cart, transporting it to the other side of the barrier.

Magnus had shared his plan, and each boy considered it crazy, but both saw the merit of it.

“Where do you come up with this stuff, Einar?” Guat asked as he threw dirt out of the hole that was taller than him.  “No one in our village does stuff like this.”

“Ever since you hit me in the head, all I can do is come up with crazy things,” Magnus replied, making Guat groan while Osvif laughed.

“I’m never going to live that down,” he muttered.

“At least you took that fish out of your arse,” Osvif teased from the other hole.

The three of them all laughed, enduring an afternoon of digging holes, something Magnus was well acquainted with.

***

The wooden spikes were buried and packed into the ground, each boy mindful not to slip in lest they find out firsthand how bad the trap Magnus had created felt.  Slowly, they laid the thin sticks across the five-foot-wide opening.  They spread the foliage and started covering a thin layer of dirt on top to hide what was underneath.  Each hole was six feet deep and ten feet long.  It was angled toward the barrier with a single narrow entrance between the two.

“You’re sure you want to be the one doing this?” Guat asked as Magnus took the goat they had gotten from Reinn.  “If you die—”

“Which is why I won’t,” he cut off his hard-forged friend.

It had taken months to wear down Guat and the constant need the boy felt to prove himself.  As Magnus had started to fill out and continued to earn the respect of everyone else, eventually, the Lendmann’s son noticed that never once did he face another challenge or threat from the boy he had bullied for years.  

Nodding, Guat handed the knife to Magnus and ran to where Osvif was hiding behind the pile of dirt on the other side of the barrier. Both boys had their axes and shields, along with a few wooden spears they had crafted with the spikes.

The goat bleated in protest as it was led closer to the woods. Magnus smiled as the wind blew slightly to the southeast.  

“Sorry, little one.”

With a quick thrust, he ended the goat’s life, sparing it all the pain he could.  Once it was dead, Magnus started to cut the animal open, spreading blood and organs all over.

All that was left to do was wait, and that didn’t take long.

Howls came from the woods, deeper in, and Magnus wondered again how sensitive the wolves’ noses must be to get a scent so quickly.  Even in the later afternoon sun, those creatures were out, prowling the darkness of the forest.

Other sounds came from deep within, further out, and the game he had played years ago ran through his mind.

Everything in him yearned for combat.  Fighting that urge sometimes took more willpower than he remembered ever needing.  Martinez had always been the one who seemed ready for battle.  That memory reminded Magnus why he was taking these risks and doing these things.  He had to get stronger if he was ever going to save them.

Noises grew closer, and a yip came, causing the hair on his arm to rise a little bit.  Magnus steadied his breathing and prepared for what he knew was going to happen in a moment.  

In the darkness of the forest, four shapes emerged from the shadows.  The black outlines appeared first, each of them with two hovering yellow eyes that stared at him and the meat he held in his hand.  

Their black noses twitched as the blood that dripped from the corpse splattered against the dirt.

A louder noise came, and a larger form began to emerge from under the trees.  Those yellow eyes were a foot taller than the others.

As the pack of five black wolves padded slowly and cautiously from the shelter of the trees, looking across the expanse of the fifty-plus yards between them, Magnus felt a smile forming as he saw a wolf in the middle, a foot taller and almost a foot wider moving to the front.

God damn you, Odin!