19 Set in the Routine (1/2)

The next week worked like clockwork for Will. He woke up to a bucket of water while the stars were out. Since he slept outside under a tree, Michael was able to call it his 'daily bath' before training. After waking up, he would change into a plain white tunic and pants, closely resembling what Maya wore on her travels with him.

After changing, he and Michael sparred using the sparring swords Michael provided. After two hours, breakfast was served, but there was a catch. The breakfasts Michael made could only be considered hearty. Eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy, sausage, pancakes, fruits, and orange juice. The catch was Will could only join the table if he scored a point against Michael while sparring. In the past month, Will had been sitting on the floor at Michael's feet, only given a few biscuits and water to wash it down with. He could not get up from his spot on the floor until Michael ate both his and his nephew's portion of the food.

Within a week, Will had earned many welts from his uncle's weapon, yet all his opponent got was extra breakfast. Though it seemed cruel, the punishment motivated Will to put everything in his attacks, fighting for the right to sit at the table with Michael. He had spent any extra time he could get working on his sword form and doing the exercises Jonathan had him do before he made it to Crystallia.

Will spent most of the time analyzing his uncle's fighting style, learning a form from his opponent in order to find any weaknesses within his uncle's defenses. Each day Will sparred with him, he inched forward at least a step. Having only lasted less than a minute versus Michael the first day, he was able to continuously attack for a six minute period now. Of course the end result always left Will on his backside.

Will's defenses grew every day as well as his aura. Now when Michael attacked, Will's aura would detect it and he was able to deflect the advances. The time period of the assault was not for a lack of trying. Will's aura was only able to detect the attacks for that period of time. If he tried any longer, he would no longer be able to use his flames on the assault. He had to conserve what he had until he felt the time was right to use it.

Michael was able to use his barrage of strikes on Will for a period of six minutes before exhausting his opponent, though each time Will exhausted his aura, he was in turn exercising both his physical muscles and his aura at the same time. He could feel it come back even stronger each time his aura was restored.

After breakfast, Will would go out to the tree and meditate for one hour to review what he learned through his sparring as well as allow his aura to recover. Every time he recovered, his strength always went up a not so noticeable amount for one day, though over time it added up considering he was able to fend off his uncle for as long as he could.

After meditation, Michael attached weights to Will's feet and had him do laps around the cottage for a two hour period. At first Will was only able to do two laps due to the extra weight, more time than not he needed motivation from his uncle. Within the month, Will was not able to make it past the two laps for some reason, though his speed was almost a match for Michael's during his sparring matches. He had no doubt that his uncle had been switching weights on him after each day so he wouldn't notice the change. It was the only explanation Will could think of, he was an ex quarterback, he shouldn't be having as much trouble as he was.

After the laps around the cottage, Will took his place by his uncle's feet for his lunch biscuits while his uncle had roast chicken or beef. After the measly lunch, Will went to the tree for yet another hour of meditating. At first, Will had thought the meditating was a waste of time, but the more he did it, the more strength he had for the next fight against Michael.

In the evening, Will spent two hours balancing on a huge thin rock in the middle of the field. The first day, he thought 'this should be easy right?' he had no idea how wrong he was. There was only enough room on the stone for one foot. If he slipped and fell, it was a good seven foot drop and his uncle was at the bottom to 'motivate' him to get back up the rock. It took many motivations for him to trust his aura and balances to keep him in the rock the whole two hours.

After his balance training Will found himself sparring yet another one hour with Michael before dinner, one more chance to earn a real meal. If he couldn't score a point, not only did he have to sit at his uncles feet for his biscuits, but he had to take two buckets full of rocks to a lake two miles away, put the rocks in a well taught pile formation before filling the barrels of water and walking back. It was two buckets of water for a reason, the first one was for his morning 'bath,' and the second for his drinking water for the next day.

Will's training always ended the moment the last rays of light left the sky. For twenty days it was wash, rinse and repeat. In its repetitive nature, Will was always motivated to improve so he no longer earned a spot at his uncle's feet. He had to improve enough to take Michael on if he ever wanted a chance against the wraiths.

Will sensed it coming within three seconds before it happened. Rolling out of the way just in time, he felt the impact on the ground where just seconds ago he was located. The water only seemed to have fed the grass this time. Still not fully awake, Will sat up from the grass and opened his eyes. He stared at Michael for a second, trying to figure out what had happened. He looked at the bucket in his uncle's hand, Will's eyes went wide.

Jumping to his feet, Will looked at the spot in which he had just been lying seconds before, a look of startled relief flooded his features. It had been the first time he was able to dodge the water in his sleep. His aura had become a reflex even while his guard was down. 'Now no one will ever be able to sneak up on me while I sleep,' he thought bitterly as he remembered the last time he was caught sleeping, Maya was the one to pay for it.

Will was so tired of being woken up the same way, he could swear his uncle had a refrigerator hiding somewhere in that cottage, it felt much colder than should be possible in the warm forest climate they were in.

”Good job in dodging that water, it seems as though you are starting to instinctually sense things even in your sleep.” Michael said while clapping his hands.